Well, the wait is finally over! Our family has been looking forward to celebrating the marriage of Uncle Brian to his beloved Alyssa for a whole six months :) We were all SO excited that the wait felt like forever. Kyle and I were a little freaked out at how exactly it would be traveling with our family of six, with four carseats, several suitcases, stroller, kids, bags, snacks, etc etc etc... Okay the snack part was not hard, it was the snacks that kept us going.
Anyway, traveling was awesome going there, and tricky heading home (there were tornadoes in Texas and Oklahoma that messed up the airports). However weather aside, it was an AMAZING week in Texas. I feel like I can't adequately write down all the amazing memories and "take-aways" from this trip. I will try to hit the highlights:
- A thousand gifts: I started to write down a list of blessings along the trip, because by the time we first sat down in our airplane seats, I already had a list of 15+ things in my head where I very clearly saw things to be thankful for. Unfortunately, the list got recycled by accident before we deboarded, and despite my intention to get it going again, I never was able to get it back down on paper (this is my one regret from the trip). But God knows my heart, and heard each time I whispered things like "thanks for that full can of Diet Pepsi from the flight atttendant" and "thanks for placing that stray luggage cart right there next to the rental car drop off" and "thanks for allowing the battery life on the kids tablets to last hours longer than they should have" and "thanks for helping my hair to cooperate when I was frazzled on wedding day"... I mean seriously, you should have heard some of my thankful prayers. I was all about the big AND little moments on this trip. It made my experience personally, so much more tender and special.
- We rescued a kitten: okay so while in Texas we did experience tornado sirens, and a power outage in our rental house, travel delays getting home, BUT generally speaking we had no personal problems with the weather. The morning after the storm, however, on our walk to the Farmers Market, we heard a tiny "mew, mew" in a storm drain. There all alone was a tiny kitten, separated from his mother during the storm. So we rescued it :) The kids got an enormous kick out of us carrying this baby cat around the city all day, giving him milk from the local coffee cart (or was it non-dairy creamer???!!! ack, no wonder he didn't want it), and eventually found a shelter that took him. We assured the kids he would be adopted out... Or maybe he was sent straight to cat heaven... (eeeek)... anyway, a fun adventure :)
- Our rental house was amazing. My mom found it online, and wheeled and dealed until we got the place for half price. My parents were able to come on this trip with us, to celebrate Brian's wedding and also to help out withe kids. So awesome. It was almost 3000 square feet of beautiful space, and we even had access to a couple swimming pools! I was too busy keeping my kids afloat to take many pictures, but here is one of Maxy with his cute face at the pool.
- Our visit with Scott & Brooke: we were so excited to have some time with Kyle's best friend from childhood, and his awesome wife and kids. We strolled around the children's museum, and then sat outside and enjoyed pizza together while the guys chatted and got caught up on life. Brooke saved me (!!!) by providing us a pak & play, and high chair for our week there. What a blessing to NOT have to lug those things on the plane :) So thankful to have time with this precious family.
- Guy time: I am obviously writing second-hand about this part... Kyle, being that we were there for his brother's wedding, got lots of time to hang out with the guys. There were several gatherings with tons of activities & opportunities to affirm and share what Brian means to them. Kyle came home very impacted by his time with Brian and all the fellas. He was just very impressed at the quality of friendships, and the character that these men had. It was a tremendous blessing to Kyle to be around these guys, see their lives, see how they affirm one another, see their commitment to God, just see them be MEN. It is Texas, after all :) Awesome. Here is one picture during their massive shooting expedition (like I said... TEXAS)...
- Family dinners (meet & greet the Texas fam, rehearsal dinner, outing to Rainforest Cafe): we had so much FUN gathering for meals with our own family, and Alyssa's awesome family. We just really have fun together :) So much love and warmth in this group of people. Can't say enough about how much we enjoyed them...
- Sisters: at the rehearsal dinner of John & Stephanie's wedding, someone snapped a photo of all the sisters (Mara, Paulette, me and Steph)... this picture has been hanging in a frame in Nana's house ever since (13 years!)... people always laugh because there are two red-heads and two brunettes, two sisters and two sisters-in-law... the bio sisters are one of each hair color, so it always makes people think "who is related and who isn't???"... not that it matters, we are all sisters :) so the brunette team is pretty ecstatic to have gained another member... we tried to recreate the photo, so there can be a new "sisters" picture in Nana's frame! We try to be serious, but it's hard... :)
- Wedding day: such a beautiful ceremony, amazing acoustic music, two beautiful people that are meant to be together, seriously SO AMAZING!! The best dance party ever at the reception, matching cousins, so many pretty people (inside and out), the best family trip EVER!!!
Well that's a wrap... An amazing trip, wonderful people, special town... LOVE!!!!
