Weekend in Dallas

We had a 4 day weekend for President's day so we decided to take advantage of it and go to Dallas. We hadn’t been for over a year. The main reason was to go to the temple. We usually go to the Memphis Temple, but thought it would be fun to go to Dallas and see old friends and family and do some shopping too. We left Friday morning and made great timing to Dallas. The kids were so excited to go on a mini-vacation we only had to stop 1 1/2 times (once for lunch and 1/2 for Kaylee to go to the bathroom). Jim and the kids dropped me off at the temple. Walking into the temple felt like coming home. I love the Dallas temple and have missed living close to it. It is the temple Jim & I were sealed in. It is the temple I grew up going to. I loved being there. I ran into one of my friends there. She did a double take seeing me. It was nice to visit with her for a bit. I love the spirit you feel in the temple, the peace.

Jim and the kids picked me up, they had gone to the LEGO store and had so much fun. We went back to the hotel for a little while so they could play with their new Legos and I could change and freshen up for dinner.

The kids were so excited about their new Legos and got right to work building them.

 

We met Dave (Jim’s cousin) & Nellie for dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant Siciliano’s. The kids had so much fun talking and visiting together. I liked listening to their conversations. The adults enjoyed catching up with each other and the yummy food. Here’s a picture of the 8 kids outside the restaurant.

Saturday morning we got up and enjoyed a delicious breakfast, I LOVE the omelet bar! We headed to Ikea. We weren’t there for very long, I knew what I wanted and we got out in under an hour, which is fast for Ikea! I wish I had more money to spend there! We went to the Lego store, again! The kids loved all the Legos that you can play with.

Do you like Averi’s black eye? She fell the Wednesday before we left and hit her face on the TV stand in the playroom.

 

The kids chose some smaller sets to get.

We did a little more shopping and picked up In-And-Out and went back to the hotel so they could play with their Legos some more. We had dinner that night at my cousin Marcie’s house. The kids love going to “Landon & Blake’s” house and playing. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday we went to our old ward, the Sachse ward. It was fun to be back and see so many old friends. The ward has changed a lot since we moved out, but we still have some great friends there. It still feels like my “home” ward, we were there so long. We went to Jeff & Brandy’s and spent the night with them. The kids all played really well together. They loved it! I loved hanging out with Brandy We even had time for a little craft. I wish I could talk them into moving to Arkansas!

Our cute kids, Kaylee was into making goofy faces!

Thanks for letting us stay the night with you Jeff & Brandy! You need to plan a trip to Arkansas so we can return the favor!!

The kids were worn out on the way home. They crashed shortly after we got in the car.

Averi didn’t want her picture taken.

It was a great weekend in Dallas. Next time we will have to make it out to Trophy Club/Roanoke to see our friends there!

The Cabin

The “Cabin” has been in the family since the 1920’s. Jim’s mom grew up going there every summer. It has slowly been added to over the years. Jim and his family went every summer growing up so he has lots of fun memories of the place. A couple of years ago a tree fell on it during a heavy snow storm. Jim’s Uncle Ron and a lot of other family members have worked hard to repair the cabin and even make it a little better.

(Spencer Hale took this picture)

Jim and I haven’t been to the cabin since we’ve had kids. Our kids were so excited to get there. I was kind of dreading the cabin. Our last visit everyone got really sick, it was super hot and pretty miserable. I put on my game face though and didn’t complain. It helped that we stayed in the condo in Park City until Saturday; so I got to go and sleep in a nice bed and had a shower that works really good! Jim and I talked and decided we needed to do whatever we could to make sure our kids had a fun time. That meant not a lot of down time or relaxing for us, but our kids had a BLAST!

Kaylee loved picking the wild flowers.

Thomas trying out the airsoft gun. He really wanted to play with the big guys, but he couldn’t get them to promise not to shoot him so he was content to watch and cheer on Jim.

All the guys ready for Airsoft!

Roman going over the rules and boundaries for the game.

Grandma Anderson had the freezer stocked with plenty of popsicles.

Uncle Jake made walking sticks for the kids. Thomas loved his!

We took lots of walks to the fishing pond.

Saturday we rented a bunch of ATV’s for the day. I only got a picture of Matthew on one. Jim and I took turns going out. It was a lot of fun. I went out with Emilee for a while and we went all the way to the top of a mountain. She drove up and I drove down, it was pretty crazy and fun!

Poor little Averi got pretty dirty at the cabin! She loved it though.

Don’t look too close, you’ll se how dirty and dusty we are from riding ATV’s.

The kids were excited for the campfire and s’mores.

A full living room-our 3 older kids slept on the air mattress together. I think someone ended up in bed with use each night!

The Alpine Slide

Back to the Utah trip, I still have a few more days to blog about.  On Thursday we did the Alpine Slide in Park City. We got Mike, Dawn, Derrick & Maddy to go with us so Thomas would have someone to  go down with. Dawn stayed at the bottom with Averi who was napping in her stroller. I just used my iPhone for pictures. I was scared I’d drop my nice camera on the chair lift.

Matthew liked the chair lift, but said it was a little scary. We agreed with him. I have a slight fear of heights and it is a little freaky to have your kids so high with you. Jim and I kept a tight hold on Kaylee & Matthew.

Thomas rode up with Mike, Derrick & Maddy.

We enjoyed the beautiful ride up the mountain. Utah is so pretty and I love the mountains. It was a beautiful day as well!

Jim did video while he and Matthew went down, but I won’t bore you with that!  We had a lot of fun doing the alpine slide. After we finished we headed out to the cabin to join all the Anderson’s.