Surprise Trip to Dallas

I've been wanting to do this post for almost a week now, but obviously haven't, so here I am finally getting to it. A few weeks ago my brother-in-law, Mark, called me to see if I wanted to go to Dallas to surprise my sister, Sarah, for her birthday. I LOVE surprises so I readily agreed. Kathryn and I flew down there on Sarah's birthday (May 16th) and Mark and my niece (Adriana) picked us up from the airport. He had told Sarah that they were going to work on a project for her birthday so she wouldn't be suspicious of anything. When we got back to their house, he let me out in the driveway while he pulled into their garage. I waited a couple of minutes and then rang their doorbell. My sister answered and she was really surprised and shocked to see Kat and I on their doorstep. The look on her face was priceless. Anyway, it was so great to go down there and we had such a fun time together. Our two little girls had a blast too. Here are some pictures from our trip...

These first ones are all from the Dallas Arboretum (botanical gardens). It was so beautiful and a fun place to take pictures of these two cutie pies.

There was a spot with little benches and chairs that were just their size.

These are a few of my favorite flowers we saw there...

Speaking of beautiful flowers, I went running several times while we were down there in preparation for the 10K I ran on Memorial Day. It was fun to be on a new trail and it really made me think about how much the Lord loves us. I think being in a new place made me notice all of the beautiful things around me more and think about how they were all created for us. He didn't have to create all the things He did, let alone more than one type of flower/tree/butterfly/bird/other animals, etc., but He did for our enjoyment. It just felt so good to remember that in that way. I love being outside and I am so thankful for all of the beautiful things we have to enjoy and make life more interesting. Anyways, back to the rest of our trip...

While we were there we also got to see my cousin and her family, which was really fun. We also went shopping at the outlet mall where we found lots of good deals, played games, watched movies, hung out, went out for a delicious Mexican lunch, and even tried taking a dip in the pool. Unfortunately the water was pretty cold and neither of the girls liked it very much.

Oh well. We'll try again another time. They DID have fun in the bath though.

It was so fun to watch Kathryn and Adriana play together. Adriana loved kissing...

hugging...

(Can you tell how much Kathryn liked this?) :)

...and feeding Kathryn (sorry no pic). Just like the last time we were with them, Kathryn picked up something new from Adriana (last time she learned how to wave). We had seen her clap her hands a couple of times, but while we were there she really refined that skill. It's really cute and I love the sound her tiny little hands make. Kathryn loved having a playmate her size and has been bored without her since we've been home. They definitely played hard!

We did, too! We only got a couple of pictures of the two of us, but here's one since Leslie asked :) I thought about putting it on before, but my hair is kinda big in it. Maybe it will appear too small to really tell. Here's hoping :)
Thanks Sarah and Mark for having us come. We had an awesome time and can't wait to see you again!