Highlights

Our trip to Texas was great. Here are a few highlights from each day:

Day 1 (Sunday) - It was a little difficult to get on the road by 3am to get to the airport on time, and I will NEVER drive myself and park in long-term parking then try to haul myself, two wheeled suitcases, a carry-on, and a baby in a stroller a quarter of a mile to the terminal again. Nope, not going to happen. But there were no real problems and we arrived on time in Dallas. It was great to see my folks.

Dad and Ellie

Day 2 (Monday) - I got to see Jenny and ride in her veggie-oil powered car!! Mom kept Ellie so I could go be a "real" person with other "real" people for a few hours. :) Thanks, Mom.

Jenny in her veggiemobile

Day 3 (Tuesday) - Ellie and I went to play with Charlotte and Alyse for the afternoon! It was fun to see the girls playing together, and we went for a nice walk around the neighborhood since it was a beautiful afternoon.

Ellie, Alyse, and Charlotte

On Tuesday, Dad had to make an unexpected trip to Kansas to be with his parents, who were both in the hospital, though in different cities. My grandmother has Parkinson's and fell, causing her trip to the hospital, and my grandfather felt weak, so called an ambulance and ended up having triple bypass surgery a couple days later. It was good that my dad was able to go up since he was on Spring Break, but we missed him. My mom is up in Kansas now, and my grandparents are in a nursing facility recuperating while she helps keep things in order. I would appreciate your prayers for them as they recover.

Day 4 (Wednesday) - I went out to eat with Angie while my mom showed off my baby to "Grandma" Bennie and to one of the doctors at the clinic. I have missed good Mexican food. Sorry, Bozeman, you just can't beat the good stuff at The Jalapeño Tree.

Day 4 (Thursday) - I ate dinner with the Hubers. It was fun to see their kiddos and to catch up with Dana. Next time I see her she'll have another little girl!! Little girls are the best (says the unbiased mom of one.) ;)

Day 5 (Friday) - Since Robert's employer has moved to a four day work week, he was free on Friday. So Robert, Mom, Ellie, and I spent the day in Tyler. We ate at Bennigan's for lunch, then strolled around the mall. Mom got an awesome painting for her newly remodeled kitchen / dining room / living room. On the way home from Tyler Ellie babbled or growled or giggled or squealed or blew spit bubbles the entire way home. She was noisy for almost an hour solid. Oh yeah - this day also marks Ellie's first taste of a caramel cream Frappuccino. Thanks, Mom. ;) I have to say, that girl has a sweet tooth and it was the cutest thing ever to see her taste the drink, then smack her tiny lips after every little taste!

Day 6 (Saturday) - Angie came over for a girls' night of scrapbooking. We had a lot of fun, took some silly pictures, and scrapbooked for hours. This is also the night she gave Ellie the cowgirl headband.


Ellie also took a bath and looked super cute wrapped in the towel Mommom made for her!


Day 7 (Sunday) - Today Ellie got to see everyone at Kilgore Bible Church. They ooh-ed and ah-ed and she acted just as sweet as could be. She certainly knows when to behave herself! This was also the first time she has ever been in a church nursery. She's just too busy to keep in the service these days, so when she got wiggly we took her out. But she was great in the nursery and just played with the toys and watched the other kids.


Day 8 (Monday) - Because our flight out of Dallas was early Tuesday morning and my dad was still out of town, my mom, Ellie, and I headed to Dallas on Monday night. My dad had a meeting he had to attend in Fort Worth Tuesday morning, so he drove down from Kansas and we all stayed in a hotel together and had one last night as a family. It was wonderful.

Day 9 (Tuesday) - Dad, Ellie, and I woke early to head to the airport. From there, Ellie and I headed back to Montana, Dad went to a meeting in Ft. Worth, then headed back to Longview, and mom checked out of the hotel and drove up to Kansas to be with my grandparents. Once we got back to Billings, we met up with some people for the afternoon before heading back to Bozeman and finally arriving home around 7:30.

Whew. What a trip. It was busy, but it was great. Ellie learned to do a few new things on the way, too. First off, she talks and wiggles non-stop whenever she's awake. Mom got a walker for her and she pretty much went wherever she wanted on the tiled area of the house. She was a big fan of making a bee-line for the cat whenever she saw him, but he was too fast for her!
Ellie learned to smack her lips (like little kisses) and that was very cute. I also saw her army crawl and "real" crawl for the first time one day, but neither stuck. She still prefers to half- crawl and scoot her way around, though she's getting much faster at it! She is a busy, busy baby. But she loves her Mommom and was happy to be entertained by her any chance she got. Now that we're home, I think she's bored with me. =)