Finally, eight years after she moved there, I made the trek to Texas (which I often refer to as Hell. Hence the title.) to visit my sister and her family this last week! I've been meaning to go for so long but life always got in the way... as it has tendency to do with many things. I'm so glad I was able to make it work, because I really had one of the best weekends I have in a really, really long time. Let me tell you the ways.
Well, first of all, have you ever been to Texas? It's a lot like Hell, only wetter. Our plane landed at midnight and it was still hot. Like, really damn hot. Whatever little breeze may have gone by wasn't even refreshing. In fact, it was hardly even a "breeze".... it felt more like a flame thrower launching fireballs at your face and hitting you every single time. How people actually LIVE in places with weather like that I'm not really sure, but I much prefer more mild weather. I don't handle heat or humidity super well, and I was worried I'd end up just being sick all weekend but luckily that wasn't the case thanks to air conditioning. It was nice to finally see her house, which is beautiful and fully equipped with a time capsule. (OK, so really it's a bathroom that has all the decor from our old house in California in it... but being in there is like stepping back in time, so I call it the time capsule.)
Aside from it being Labor Day weekend, Monday was also Shelly's birthday, so we made the whole weekend a celebration. My niece, Lexi, was so cute and had so much fun picking out cakes (yes. Plural. We bought two. And a bucket of ice cream. Don't judge.) and balloons and flowers for her mommy's birthday. And I'm pretty sure we sang happy birthday 500 times over the weekend. In fact, Lexi sang to all of us, all weekend. She is getting so big, it's hard only seeing them once or twice a year because each time the little ones are whole new people! She had songs about turtles, and big blue whales, and an alligator that snatches monkies from a tree, and bumble bees. So. Many. Songs. Each one cuter than the next. Breken, only being a few months old, didn't say or do too much this weekend, mostly just looked really cute and pooped on grandma a few times. You know, things babies do. :-)
My sister's husband, Nathan, is a police officer in San Antonio and works a lot. Especially because of the holiday weekend and being on drunk duty patrol his shifts were long and exhausting so unfortunately we didn't get to see a whole lot of him, but my mom and I still had a complete blast with my sister and her two little ones. It was a great 'girl's weekend' to say the least. SO many laughs, and so many memories made. Delicious food. The best company. It really was a weekend made up of the things in life worth living for.
The weekend came to an end and Mom and I flew back to Utah last night. It is always so hard saying "see you later" but hopefully someday Shelly and Nathan will move and be Utards with us, and the last piece of the puzzle will be in place to have the whole family together. I can't think of a single thing that would make me happier! Until then, we will get visits in when we can.
As I watched my sister and her kids this weekend, and watched my mom helping her own daughter so happily in the kitchen, I couldn't help but to once again feel overwhelmingly thankful for the family I have. I can't imagine a life without them. I am preparing to embark on my own journey through motherhood, and I'm certain I will get a lot of things "wrong" but I feel so lucky to have these examples of strong beautiful women around me, who are such good representations of the kind of wife and mother I truly aspire to be. The quality of role models that my children will have in their extended family- aunts, uncles, grandparents- is such a blessing.
Well, first of all, have you ever been to Texas? It's a lot like Hell, only wetter. Our plane landed at midnight and it was still hot. Like, really damn hot. Whatever little breeze may have gone by wasn't even refreshing. In fact, it was hardly even a "breeze".... it felt more like a flame thrower launching fireballs at your face and hitting you every single time. How people actually LIVE in places with weather like that I'm not really sure, but I much prefer more mild weather. I don't handle heat or humidity super well, and I was worried I'd end up just being sick all weekend but luckily that wasn't the case thanks to air conditioning. It was nice to finally see her house, which is beautiful and fully equipped with a time capsule. (OK, so really it's a bathroom that has all the decor from our old house in California in it... but being in there is like stepping back in time, so I call it the time capsule.)
My sister's husband, Nathan, is a police officer in San Antonio and works a lot. Especially because of the holiday weekend and being on drunk duty patrol his shifts were long and exhausting so unfortunately we didn't get to see a whole lot of him, but my mom and I still had a complete blast with my sister and her two little ones. It was a great 'girl's weekend' to say the least. SO many laughs, and so many memories made. Delicious food. The best company. It really was a weekend made up of the things in life worth living for.
The weekend came to an end and Mom and I flew back to Utah last night. It is always so hard saying "see you later" but hopefully someday Shelly and Nathan will move and be Utards with us, and the last piece of the puzzle will be in place to have the whole family together. I can't think of a single thing that would make me happier! Until then, we will get visits in when we can.
As I watched my sister and her kids this weekend, and watched my mom helping her own daughter so happily in the kitchen, I couldn't help but to once again feel overwhelmingly thankful for the family I have. I can't imagine a life without them. I am preparing to embark on my own journey through motherhood, and I'm certain I will get a lot of things "wrong" but I feel so lucky to have these examples of strong beautiful women around me, who are such good representations of the kind of wife and mother I truly aspire to be. The quality of role models that my children will have in their extended family- aunts, uncles, grandparents- is such a blessing.
No comments:
Post a Comment