If you follow Alixa on Instagram you probably recognize that
hashtag, as you saw it attached to many images of Alixa and her extended family
doing fun things all over the DFW Metroplex. If you don’t follow Alixa on
Instagram, you probably shouldn’t be reading this blog because I don’t think we
are friends. A few weeks ago Alixa’s dear old mom became a sexagenarian. To
celebrate this event Alixa decided to get all of her siblings to come to Dallas
for a long weekend full of fun things. A considerable amount of time and energy
was spent figuring out all the logistics. There were also more than a few close
calls where someone would mention something about the event in front of or to
PJ before catching themselves and escaping trouble. There was also the problem
of PJ’s nosiness, which manifest itself when she was snooping through Alixa’s
email and read an itinerary that Alixa had put together and sent out to the
entire family. Fortunately PJ just figured it was an idea and doubted her
family’s ability to put any of it into action, so she didn’t give it a second
thought. But we might need to look into changing some passwords around here.
Wednesday, 4/23 was airport day. Alixa took an afternoon
trip to DFW to retrieve Sam, Eva and Emmitt. Jarom stayed late after work and
then swung by DFW on his way home to get Zak and Mikah. The original plan was
to have Alixa and siblings go over to PJ’s house and surprise her that night,
but Abe didn’t land until midnight and they thought that might be too late. So
Lix called her mom and asked her to do some babysitting in the morning. PJ said
she would, and the trap was set. All that was left was to enjoy an evening
catching up with the visitors and to retrieve Abe from the airport. The
chatting was great, but Alixa sent Jarom back to DFW to pick up Abe, which was
less than ideal because Abe was actually flying into the other airport, Love
Field. But eventually everyone got home, and bodies were strewn all over every
bed, couch and even some floor space in our home.
We stopped by Costa Vida on our way home from the airport
I'm not sure Abe or Mikah will ever have kids after this trip
Thursday morning Alixa set things up for PJ’s arrival. After
coming inside, her kids made their appearances one at a time. It was great. You
can enjoy the video. Thursday was mostly just hanging out and catching up,
which was great. Friday began early for the boys, who headed out to play a
round of golf. Mario was flying in from Canada and actually drove straight from
the airport to the course. It was a beautiful morning. Zak retrieved a few
dozen golf balls from the rivers and holed the winning chip from about 40 feet
out. Everybody ate lunch and then it was family picture time. Who knows when
everyone will be together in one place again, so pictures of all the families
were taken. It went pretty well until Zak thought it would be a good idea to
tackle Jenna. The photo shoot took place alongside a Frisbee golf course and
the highlight was probably when a nice guy came through with his border collie.
Emily about lost her mind because she wanted to play with the puppy so badly.
So he was nice enough to bring her over and she sat still in front of the kids
while they patted her for a few minutes. Also, the pictures were great.
A candid during family pictures
Saturday was an adult day. The Garza girls were all hired to
come over and watch the kids and the grownups headed to Fort Worth to ride
segways, see the stockyards, have a great dinner, and attend the rodeo that
evening. It was a lot of fun.
Looking sporty on the segways
Family picture on the longhorn statue
PJ loved being sung to for her birthday
On Sunday everyone got to go to church together and we had a great family dinner. We also managed to squeeze in a bonfire and burn off some wood that Jarom has been stock piling in the back yard. The kids had a great time roasting mini marshmallows and Opa was more than happy to eat said marshmallows. The kids had a great time playing together and it was nice to have a down day.
It was a big fire on a hot night
On Monday we packed everyone up and headed to the Perot
Science museum, which was awesome. It is great for kids and has some really fun
stuff that Jenna and Bo loved, but it is also had a bunch of stuff that Jarom
thought was cool too. After playing with the exhibits, enjoying the children’s
area, and racing a T-Rex, everyone headed over to Klyde Warren Park to enjoy a
food truck lunch and splash around in the fountains for a bit. In the evening Zak
and Mars and Jarom went to play a little Top Golf and Alixa took her mom with
her to her volleyball game.
Tuesday it was back to work for Jarom, but more fun times
for everyone else. To the zoo, zoo, zoo… The crew spent a beautiful, cool,
morning and early afternoon there, followed by a stop at Alixa’s favorite place
in the world, Chuys. Tuesday night was spent playing games and chatting, as
most every other night was.
Twinner day at the zoo
Mimi was nice enough to get the kids umbrellas after the zoo
On Wednesday everyone had to leave, including Alixa. She was
headed out to Utah for an early Mother’s Day present: a 5-day weekend without
kids. Since Jarom couldn’t take the rest of the week off to babysit we imposed
on some of our amazing friends, dropping Bo and Jenna off with the Combs and
leaving Emmy in the loving paws of Indie Halverson. Jarom enjoyed the contrast
of an empty house for a few days as compared to having people and suitcases
laying everywhere. It was good to have a couple of days to catch his breath
before he picked the kids up on Friday afternoon after work and tried to keep
his head above water until Alixa got back late Sunday evening. Nobody died,
everybody made it to all of their scheduled events, and there were some walks
and assorted other outings to boot. Emmy did get a little sick while under his
care, but he also got her to take her first steps and did his best to share it
with Alixa via face-time. So we’ll call it a win. And Alixa had a great time
learning all about how to improve her marriage, her life, and herself. She got
to hang out with all of her Utah friends and the female members of Jarom’s
family. And she really loved hanging out around BYU and seeing all the places
she remembers so fondly. And Jarom and the kids were very excited to have her
back.
The ladies Winn
Best friends for ten years
