My mom made it to Texas first. She flew into Dallas on Tuesday. There was lots of hugging and celebratory Chick-fil-A.

Then we drove the kids over to Shelly’s so mom and i could go to the Dallas Temple.

The Dallas Temple has some gorgeous artwork inside. It was really nice to go and spend time with my mom.

Back at Shelly’s, Hazel could not wait any longer and needed Grammy to get her suitcase out so Hazel could try on the Athena costume Grammy made her.

We met up with one of our favorite Oklahommies for dinner, Bryce Tucker! We ate at Babes and shared a huge family style meal of fried chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Grammy was teaching the girls some restaurant etiquette while our waitress took our order because we discovered as we drove over, I don’t know how many, if any, sit down restaurants my kids have been too. (It happens when you are dental school kids + covid babies).

Then with time to kill as we waited for some of the Dallas rush hour to pass, we explored the cute downtown of Carrolton. Super cute. Lots of small shops with some serious Gilmore Girl vibes, complete with a white gazebo in the middle.

After lots of squeezes to Bryce (he gives the best hugs) we were Waco bound with a quick stop at IKEA before we left Dallas.

Wednesday is Marc’s day off, so mom and I spent the afternoon hitting every antique shop in town. It helps that four shops are all with in a half mile of each other down La Salles Road. It was just a real fun time just the two of us going through lots of junk and treasures. We hit up some of down town and checked out a few boutiques. And we found my new favorite ice cream spot, Splendid Oaks on Franklin. It’s real good.

Thursday was the kick off day to Silobration at Magnolia Market, so we decided to scope it out and find a place to park later in the week when crowds were going to be crazier.

We had a grand old time sitting on the lawn, eating kettle corn, and listening to live music. The opening cover band, Music from A to Z, was so good. We just sat, listened and hung out for an hour while they played Adele, John Mayer, Ed Sheran, and classic oldies.

It was really nice just to have mom in town. She did school with Ruby and I got to sword fight Levi and chase Hazel.

Jo and Margo’s flight was delayed a few hours because of the crazy wind but they made it safe and sound and we all stayed up past our bed time and ate are fill in flop overs, roasted sweet potato, and salsa.

Friday morning Jo came with me to high fitness to get our sweat on and for Christina to meet Jo. It made sense for my Texas sister to meet my real sister.

After lunch Grammy had a “special surprise” to pick up. Ruby was not too happy to be in the car again but she happied right up when she saw that the surprise was Abby at the airport! Reunited and it feels so good! Then we were off to the Land of Chip and Jo.

And we walked, shopped, snacked, played , lost Levi for a hot second, found a Takahashi cousin, and wore all the kids out till they couldn’t take any more fun. Then we stuffed them all full of corn dogs and traded cars with Marc so he could take them all home to bed. (He really is the best) Ladies night! Oh yeah!

That night we ate our way around Union Hall. So much good food! Abby even said that the French fries from Whizz Bang Burgers with house sauce and bacon are the very best fries she has ever had. So naturally, we had a second round of those.

We also stopped at Fabled, did some window shopping, then had second dessert at Splendid Oaks for ice cream again. #OnVacation

Saturday we had plans but dumped them and went back to the Silos for cupcakes and live music on the lawn.

It’s important to know that my mom, Abby and Jo are all fantastic interior decorators. And they have all helped hang and decorate every place I lived in Mesa. So it makes sense that having my own home with empty walls made me feel a bit homesick. So the rest of the afternoon they spent royally spoiling me and helping me get things to “home up” my house. When we made it back to Marc and the kids and brought all the bags in, it looked like Target and Hobby Lobby threw up all over my room with the stacks of home decor. But there was no time to put any of it away or set up because we had a Halloween party to get to!

But my favorite part of the evening was Jojo dancing around the house in her black morph suite while she mercilessly attacked unsuspecting flies. what a riot.

Sunday we did church in the morning and decorating in the afternoon. My room feels like a luxury hotel suite now. Every time I walk in I find my self letting out a large calming breath and my shoulders relaxing. I just feel so blessed to have Mom, Jo, and Abby in my house.

Then to get some pre-trick or treat wiggles out everyone went to the park while I whipped up some butternut squash soup and apple cake with caramel sauce. I was going for all the fall feelings. Then we costumed back on and got our fill marching down the street collecting candy.

Trick or treating is serious business in our neighborhood. The houses are all pretty close together and most neighbors just sit on their driveways to pass out candy. Ruby was actually pretty disappointed that she didn’t get to actually walk up and knock on peoples doors. Ruby is such a people person and stops and said hello to every person we passed and complimented them on their costumes. You can call her miss congeniality. Abby said she will make a fabulous missionary or make tons of money selling door to door.

Monday Jo and Margo left first thing so we hugged them hard. Margo is my girls favorite sister-cousin. We spent the rest of the afternoon running around town with Grammy and Abby, enjoying just being together. Then Abby needed to stop and get some more Whizz Bang fries before she left town. So we made that happen. Duh.

Tuesday we drove back to Dallas with Mom. We made our second stop at IKEA to stock up plants and the like. I could seriously just spend all my money there. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon helping Caitlin McGrath unpack her new apartment with her one month old baby. Then we unpacked boxes until we had to rush Mom to the airport. And we hugged and hugged her till she was gone.