Arkalalah, Halloween, Annual Users Conference, Birthday Party....what else??

I apologize for my tardiness on this post but I get overwhelmed every time I think about it! A few weeks ago, we took an 11 day trip back to KS, OK and TX. It was so great though...we were able to spend time w/ family and friends and even had a few days to relax!

We started in KS and OK (my mom and step-dad live in OK, just a few miles from KS) w/ Arkalalah. For those of you that don't know about Arkalalah...shame on you! :) This is a yearly festival in Ark City that includes a carnival, parades, lots of food booths, friends and family! Speaking of parades, Carson participated in his very first Arkalalah kiddie parade! All of the kids dress up in their Halloween costumes and walk down the main street. It is so cute! Carson was a dragon this year! Here's me and Carson before the parade. I promise he had more fun that what this picture portrays!

We had a free afternoon while we were in KS/OK, so we (me, Greg, Carson, mom and Chet) took a drive over to Hewins, KS. I know what you're thinking...where the heck is Hewins, KS?? It's about 45 minutes east of Ark City. This is where my mom grew up. We all have so many great memories from that area. I learned to drive on those dirt roads, spent endless hours fishing, riding with my grandpa in the tractor, checking on the cows, playing in the hay barn and exploring throughout the fields, creeks and river! Needless to say, this was a trip down memory lane!

Here are a couple of pictures of the bridges in the area...beautiful.

After four days, we headed to TX! Lots to do down south...Halloween, my company's conference and Trey's 40th birthday!! We'll start at the beginning....

We went over to Trey and Jen's on Halloween and Carson got to dress up again as a scary dragon!! Carson has soooo much fun running around with Wyatt and Sophia! And I'm pretty sure they love running around w/ him too. It is so sweet watching them play together! Here's a picture of the 3 cousins in their Halloween costumes!

Later in the week, my company hosted our  Annual Users Conference. This is always such a great time! Don't get me wrong, it is a lot of work...feet hurting, back hurting, face hurting (from smiling so much), throat hurting (from all the talking) and running on little sleep but it's well worth it! We had 1,400 customer travel to Dallas to see us! It was a success and our biggest conference yet!

Ahhh, finally the weekend. Saturday we celebrated Trey's 40th birthday! You heard me right...Big T is the Big 4-0! Jennifer worked so hard to find a babysitter for Carson (thanks again Jen) so we could enjoy the entire party. It was so great to 1) having some adult time w/out chasing around the little monster and 2) catching up with family and friends!

Here's a picture of the entire Hodges crew! Starting at the bottom and then going up and left to right: Jennifer, Trey (in the middle), Cheryl (hugging Trey), then starting from the left - Mickey, Missy, me, Karen, Julianna and the back row - Greg, Justin, Gerald and Brad on the far right. What a great looking group!!

I'll say it again - we had such a great time seeing all of our family and friends! But, like anyone, we were ready to sleep in our own bed, so the journey back to California began! Greg and I counted up the number of times we loaded and unloaded a car w/ all of our suitcases...20 times...yikes! Needless to say, we have this down to an art!

Thanks to all for the great memories! Love you all!