TEXAS! Longest post ever... :)

We're back! We've actually been back for a week, but we've been recovering from being gone so long. :) There's a million things I could say about our trip, but for the sake of time I'll give a few highlights of each "stop" throughout it. Overall, it was an awesome trip for Beck and I!
Oh, and of course, the ONE thing that didn't make it to Texas with me was my camera. It got left in Lindsay's car when she dropped us off at the airport. :( Thankfully, my phone has a decent camera on it! Ok, here we go... I won't be offended if you don't read all--or any--of this. Feel free to just look over the pics if you would like. :)
Salt Lake:Our friend Lindsay was going down to Utah to hang out with her brothers, so since she's amazing she let Beck and I tag along with her. We stayed in my aunt and uncle's condo in SLC Friday night (thank you, Kent and Sue!) since our flight left so early the next morning. But we still had time to have a little fun before we hit the sack. We hung out on Temple Square (the weather was perfect!) and hit up Taco Bell.





Plane ride: We got to the airport a few minutes late (my fault), and then my bag was 10 pounds over, so I went from a light carry-on bag to a stuffed carry-on bag and a huge backpack, not to mention a 25-pound baby. And of course, my gate was the very last gate, and I was coming from the very first check-in spot, so I had to haul, while carrying about 70 extra pounds. Great start to the trip, eh? :) Beck did awesome on the flight though, and didn't cry once. He loved the lights, and the people, and the windows--pretty much everything. It was so cute, every time someone came over the loudspeaker, he would jolt and then look around the whole time trying to figure out where the voice was coming from, and then give me a look like, "Mom, don't you hear that?!" It was so funny. While getting off our first flight, an amazing couple helped me carry my bags, and it turned out they were headed to San Antonio too, so they took my bags and my baby and let me rest during the layover. And then we sat by each other on the second flight. They were definitely angels sent to help me survive! :) I appreciate them--and the Lord for sending them to us--sooooo much.


Elise's:It was so fun to see Elise and her little family! Dallin is so grown up now, and it was so fun to meet Tanner for the first time. And of course it was great to see Elise after a year and a half! And David, too! While there, we went shopping, went to a little Mexican restaurant, made and glaze-frosted amazing sugar cookies, went to the park and fed ducks, witnessed how crazy/energetic Beck is, played Rummikub and just caught up on life! Elise was a great hostess and was very accommodating, and made great meals every day. Thanks for letting us come visit, Elise! Here are a few pics:








Granddaddy & Hanne's:Adam's grandparents live just outside of San Antonio, so Beck and I were able to stay with them for a few days too! Beck is their only great-grandson, and they were finally able to meet him. And let me tell you, it was love at first sight, both ways! While there, we saw cows and chickens, rode on a tractor, shopped (thank you, Hanne!), ate some amazing bbq at the City Market in Luling, ate real schnitzel and other yummy cooking of Hanne's, and banged on the coffee table (Beck did, anyway--he was obssessed with the thing!). It was so cute to see the instant bond between great-grandparents and great-grandson. Now the only grandparent Beck hasn't met is Great-Grandma Jojo. :( Hopefully sometime soon! Here are some pics:









Houston: Granddaddy and Hanne were nice enough to pick us up from San Antonio, as well as drive halfway to Houston to meet up with my fam, who hadn't met them either, so that was fun! We had lunch at Schobel's (thank you, Granddaddy and Hanne!) and then said goodbye, which was so sad. :( We stopped by a cool airplane museum on our way out, and then headed on to Houston. ANd there we basically had a mini family reunion; we had everybody there except Adam and my brother-in-law, Alex. While there, we ate a lot of yummy food (Los Cucos, Rudy's, Chick-Fil-A, Church's Chicken--all amazing!), shopped, played games, made homemade chicken divan and fudgy brownies, got lost and/or stuck in traffic (x 10), went to an aquarium, looked at Tim & Aimee's soon-to-be house by a beautiful lake (which I got 19 mosquito bites from!), took a tour of historic Houston homes, went to the coast (Galveston), went to a Halloween play date and carnival/trunk-or-treat, had cousin pictures taken of Jared and Beck, experienced IKEA (LOVE it!), almost got in two car-wrecks, and I also finished the 7th (and last) Harry Potter book while there! We attempted to go see the 6th Harry Potter at the cheap theater in celebration, but we got lost. :) It was so good to be together again as a fam, and was so nice to get a break from changing diapers--thank you, Mom!






























Plane ride #2: This time we were running late again (someone was blocking our car to get out of the parking lot), and my bag was 15 pounds over this time! I'm not usually so unprepared, I just didn't have a scale. So I ended up with a stuffed bag and backpack again, but thankfully there was another angel on this flight! I was the last one to board the plane, and there was a lady standing right at the front that said, "There you are! I heard a baby and waited so I could sit by you and hold your baby." Something out of a fairy tale, right? I couldn't believe it. She sat across from me and played with Beck almost the whole time! I also sat by a very nice man and had an amazing flight attendant who did so many little things to help (thank you Morgan of Southwest!). I was so grateful I was surrounded by helpers/angels on all of our flights!

Whew, that's tiring just thinking about all that we did again. Beck and I were so exhausted by the end, we were happy to get home! Adam picked us up from SLC and after hitting Tucanos (yum!), Beck and I were both able to sleep a little bit on the way home (yes, he is getting better about falling asleep in his carseat!). It was such a great trip!
...I hope at least my mom or someone looked at this whole post because it took forever to do! At least it's done, finally. :)