|| Whirl Wind ||

As I sat eating my dinner at Hu Hot with Jenni last Sunday it dawned on me that I had only been home for a week but if felt like so much more! This is strange because usually my trips home fly by and I am left wondering where all the days went. The difference this time must be the amount of things I have done in this short week! It also might have to do with how much I am missing my husband. Which is a lot, like so so much! He is in Tonga right now doing a service trip with a group from his school. I am so happy he has this opportunity and he is having a blast! I always miss him when we are apart but I am usually texting him through out the day and face timing him every night but with the time change and him being without internet most of the day, I hear very little from him. Which isn't good for this needy wife. Needless to say Friday cannot come soon enough!

Any who here is a little breakdown of my whirl wind week!

Sunday - I woke up at 4:30am and Brett drove me to the airport! I hated saying goodbye and like always fought back the tears at the drop off. It never gets any easier. Dang it. I then flew to Great Falls and my momma was there to pick me up! We then drove straight to Paxton's hockey game and caught the last period. He played awesome and is really becoming quite the little athlete! He is the only defenceman in our family so it's always cool for me to watch one of my brothers play that position and he does it so well! He sees the ice and passes the puck so well! I have always loved going to my brothers games and never felt forced! I often joke and say I was pretty much raised in an ice rink and I wouldn't have it any other way. After Pax's game we rushed over and I got to watch Mitch's game! I hadn't had a chance to watch him yet this year so that was so much fun. He is the bomb dot com people. He is so humble and hates when I say nice things about him both privately and publicly but whatever it has never stopped me before and probably never will. He played so great and had such a sweet assist! I know I am biased but he really is the best player on the ice. After all the hockey we went home and I got to meet the newest member of our family, our new puppy Harley. He is so cute! I have spent a lot of time with him this week and I just can't get enough of him! I'm obsessed and I need one. 

Both boys are #6! 

He loves to watch my shows with me! He is the best puppy in the whole wide world. Except when he bites me.

We also got another amazing letter from my favourite missionary Anziano Maxwell! He seriously kills me with his letters! I laugh, I cry, and then I laugh some more! I sure miss him! He is doing so awesome though and I could not be more proud of him. He has a hard mission and I know he probably has hard times and struggles but you would never know because he is so positive and never says a negative thing! He works hard and he is doing his best to enjoy the journey. He is such a great example to me!

This was his description of this photo: "My comp was kinda mad that I got on this boat but I was like I'm going on that boat." I told you non stop laughing!

Monday - Wednesday:

My momma and I decided sort of last minute to make a quick trip up to Edmonton to visit my baby sis! I was so excited because I miss Joce all the time and because when us three get together it makes for the best time! So we braved the snowy roads and made the trek up there. Our few days were full of shopping, food, late night chats, laughing, matching outfits, and more shopping! We also slipped in a mini photo shoot in the freezing cold. This was actually Lisa's idea but obviously I was totally down! The pictures actually turned out really cute! We just had the best time together and saying goodbye was so hard and I hated it. Goodbyes and me just don't get along. Period. I also snuck in a quick lunch date with 2 of my favourite girls, Amber and Presley! I just love when you make life time friends. We can go months without seeing each other and the second we meet up not a beat is skipped! We chatted the whole time and tried to squish as much in as we could in our short time together! Bestie's for life, us two.

I forgot just how DANG cold it is here….

Here are some photos from our little Maxwell girls photo shoot… Oh and ps it might be hard to tell which one is our mom cause she is a babe and looks more like our sister. 

I couldn't love these two more.

To say these two are close would be a huge understatement! They talk all the time and laugh at each other constantly! I am sometimes jealous of how close these two cuties are!

I told you, constant laughing!

This hot momma is the best and greatest lady I know! I wouldn't be where I am today without her!

She loves me.

Heavenly Father knew I couldn't make it through this life without her and wouldn't laugh near as much! I am so blessed to be her big sister.

"Because I have a sister, I will always have a friend."

We love our mom and she is the funniest! I can't wait until the day we are neighbours and this is a daily occurrence! 

Thursday - Friday

On Thursday morning I woke up bright and early (7:30am which if you know me, this is out of the ordinary) and stayed awake. For some reason I was up and there was no changing it. I had a text from Kates that mentioned something about coming to see her and her cute babies and a free lunch so obviously I was sold! I spent the day hanging out with the Wildes and Bethy and Laikey for a bit and it was so fun! I love that I can just sit and do nothing with Kates and still have the greatest time. Sign of a true friendship right there. That's what 20+ years together with do to ya. 

On Friday I slept in (much more like me) and played with Harley for most of the morning. Then we got to go watch another of Mitch's hockey games! He seriously plays so great in every game! I am so glad I have gotten to watch some games while being here! 

After the game I got to have lunch with Mitch, Nolan, and my Dad! I know lucky me I got to join guys night lol I just laugh the entire time I am with those three! The funniest guys I tell ya!

Saturday - Sunday

During this whole thing I was texting Jenni and we decided it was probably a real good idea to make a quick trip to Kalispell the next day! So bright and early Saturday morning we headed off to shop till we dropped and we did just that! We always have so much fun together doing crazy things and laughing so loud we get weird stares from strangers. It is the greatest!All you single ladies out there marry your best friend's brother, it's the bomb. Any who we shopped all day Saturday and then on Sunday we slept in, ate breakfast, lazed around, went quadding, and took some selfies! Overall it was a very successful trip and I can't wait to do it again!!

Okay so you feel me with the whole "this week felt like forever" thing right? I had a pretty packed and fabulous week! I am one lucky girl! I also did a little face timing with my hubs… I swear we were both really excited to talk to each other haha 

Only 2 more sleeps, only 2 more sleeps… you can do this, you can do this! I just miss him okay. I love doing fun stuff and everything but trust me when Brett is around it makes everything I do 1000000x more fun, exciting, worth while, and just plain old better. 

Bueller, Bueller… if anyone is still reading you deserve 5 gold stars! Sorry it was so long but I had to document it all! I am so far behind that when I have any energy to post I have to take advantage! Okay that's all! I hope you all have a great weekend!

|| Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Muffins ||

As many of you know I have been cursed with the dreaded Celiac Decease. It is a huge part of my life effecting me in so many ways other than just that I can't eat my favourite sub at Subway anymore, but that is another post for maybe another time. I have had Celiacs for over 5 years now so I feel pretty dang good at being able to tell you what gluten free foods suck and what ones are so delicious! I struggled for the first 3 years with finding things that I liked. At the time of my diagnosis being "gluten free" wasn't a fad and very little people knew what it was but fast forward to today and it's the new "it" diet! Couldn't be happier about this. Almost every restaurant I go to now has a gluten free menu or can at least tell me what foods are sans gluten. It is the bomb! One of the biggest struggles I found was finding good flour to use. I tried everything. It wasn't until my Aunt Cathy told me about Mama's Almond Blend All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour that my life was truly changed. (You must have xanthan gum also when cooking with this type of flour) It is the best gluten free flour I have ever used. It is awesome! I have been able to bake so many more treats and goodies that even Brett will eat! Which is a huge accomplishment because he refused to eat anything gluten free. He claims he has gluten only disorder. So I thought that I would try and post some gluten free recipes on here every once in awhile (cause I suck at blogging) that I have liked and that actually are Brett approved!

First up are these delicious GF Chocolate Bananas Muffins! {side note every time I spell bananas Gwen Stefani's voice pops into my head and then that song is stuck in my head for the rest of the day, but nobody is mad about it. Also I am not a huge banana fan but I LOVE these muffins. Weird I know.} They are so yummmmmy! We went home to Alberta a few months ago and Brett's mom made these and they smelled so good, which is surprising because I usually hate bananas as mentioned, but I couldn't eat them cause they were chalk full of gluten. So I had to watch Brett eat about 5 on our drive to the airport. Rude right? So when we got home he gave me the recipe that his mom used (thanks Robyn!) and I substituted the flour for Mama's Almond Blend All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour and presto a favourite GF treat was born. So here is the recipe!

|| GF Chocolate Banana Muffins ||

Ingriedients

1/2 cup marg

1 cup sugar

1 egg

3 mashed bananas

2 cups  Mama's Almond Blend All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour

1 tsp xanthan gum 

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 pkg mile chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. Put margin, egg, and mashed bananas in a bowl and mix well. Then add the flour, baking soda, and sugar into same bowl and mix well. Add chocolate chips and mix. Pour batter into muffin tins (I used muffin cup liners to help with easy cleanup). Leave in for 23-25 mins. Take out let cool and then enjoy!

|| Morgie Porgie ||

If I wore a white shirt and overalls she would wear a white shirt and overalls. If I wanted to play dolls she would play dolls. If I slept over at grandmas she would sleep over too. When I got an email address I made her one too (sorry about that morgieporgie6 lol). If I got married she got married too ;)

Morgan is a lot more like a little sister than a cousin. She was my best friend growing up and I would have picked to hangout with her and her family over anyone and still would! The amount of memories we have together is ridiculous. When you spend as much time freezing in ice rinks, eating KFC Sunday dinners, battling it out with the boys during endless backyard games, playing dress up for hours and staying up way past our bedtime, you become close. Really close!

I got the chance to photograph her wedding this summer and it was such a special day! I am so happy that she has found such a great guy like Jordan! They make the perfect couple. I am so proud of the amazing women she has become and for the choices she has made. I love you morgs xoxo

Here are just a few of the highlights from their day! More real "wedding photos" to come on my photog blog…

After the wedding, since all the Maxwell cousins gathered together for it, most of us went and spent some time in Waterton! It was so much fun. We did the usual get ice cream, go to the Price of Wales Hotel, walk around and see the wild life, go to the falls, and lastly hike Bears Hump! These are my favourite people ever and I love them to death! So glad we got to spend this time with them. Also Brett and I finally got our photo in front of the falls so we can really be married now! Yay us. 

Overall it was such an amazing weekend and I wish we could do it all over again!