big D, little a, double L, A, S

This is officially blog posting day. I plan to play catch up on all of our exciting adventures in the last 10 days : ) Previously I shared a bit about our anniversary in Dallas & how sick we were. We had a great time before the sickness set in visiting with friends & family. Unfortunately, I stopped taking pictures after I started throwing up so we are missing (in photos) the fun we had with my moms' side of the family.

The trip to Dallas was planned around Robby's company Christmas Party that we so look forward to each year. It works out great to turn it into a long weekend so we can catch up with our friends & family. Here are some photos of our visiting:

A tradition within the last year of trips to Dallas: Lunch at Uncle Julio's, you guessed right, we are addicted to Mexican food : ) This trip, Andrew, Renata, Jocelyn & Levi joined us for the delicious meal. The Jensen family was short one person, sweet little Owen who we missed so very much but we enjoyed visiting with his mom & dad before they headed to Brazil that evening.

After lunch, Jocelyn & I loaded our two kiddos into her back seat & headed over to my friend Halie's house. Char & Levi were so funny checking each other out, humming random things & pointing at each other. Levi practiced saying "Charlotte" which was absolutely adorable. Charlotte cannot even say "Charlotte!" We let the kids run in the back yard with Halie's dogs....both kids LOVE dogs & are not intimidated in any way. Levi spent some time barking at one of the dogs : )

Here we are with our little ones....who aren't so little anymore

I do love flashbacks so, on the left is Jocelyn & me in April 2009 at 26-27 weeks pregnant with our first babies. We were only 1 week apart with our due dates & ended up 10 days apart with our oddly similar deliveries. On the right, I am almost 15 weeks & Jocelyn is almost 19 weeks with our second babies! She had found out the day before that they are expecting boy #2 which is super fun! It has been a blast to visit each other & let Charlotte & Levi get to know each other. We hope to keep it up after the new babies arrive!

Above is a photo of me & Rob before heading to dinner with all our friends at Cogent Company

And below, me & Halie. I just LOVE Halie. We worked together at Parkland, starting just a few months apart & later, tag teamed the Bereavement Committee before I moved. We were just becoming good friends when we left Dallas & the Lord has been so good in deepening our friendship over the past 2 1/2 years. She is a budding seamstress & quilter who has an eye for matching fabrics & always has some project going...we would totally get into trouble if we lived close ; ) She & her husband Eric came to visit just after Charlotte was born & we were not surprised to see Robby & Eric hit it off with all of their similar interests. We miss them terribly & of course wish we lived closer but as always, we enjoy our visiting!

The Cogent Co. Christmas Party was at Ozona's Bar & Grill where we enjoyed more hot salsa & fajitas after eating at Uncle Julio's. This picture is a tad humorous. In 2008, when Robby started working with these guys, the men pictured below comprised the entire company. Our Christmas Party was with the 8 of us & it was wonderful : ) This year we had about 40 people total & that was missing a few employees! God has provided so much work to be done by these talented men. We definitely mixed up & chatted with all sorts of people but what do you know, it clears out & we are down to the originals from 2008! Each of these individuals are incredible people that we are blessed to have in our lives.

Thursday night while we were at the party, Charlotte spent the afternoon & evening with Grammy, Grandpa & GG. This trio did lots of playing & reading while Charlotte did lots of entertaining for them in return. Fun was had by all! The next morning, Charlotte & GG got to pick some persimmons of the neighbors tree!

For lunch, Charlotte, GG & I went up to Jeannine's school to enjoy a pizza lunch with her 4th grade class. Apparently the kids have been dying to meet Charlotte after watching all of her videos on Jeannine's phone. We had a blast talking to the kids & watching them enjoy Charlotte's antics. She put down 2 full pieces of pizza (which she threw up later) but she enjoyed eating what the big kids were eating!

That evening, Robby's Aunt Anne & her 4 kiddos joined us for dinner at the Valentine's house. It was wonderful to catch up with them & let a few of them meet Charlotte for the first time.

Another flashback photo that we couldn't avoid. It was the eve of our wedding anniversary & we were actually hanging out with our flower girl & ring bearer! How often does that happen? Thomas & Caroline have definitely grown up as you will see in the photos below : )

Just after dinner was when the throwing up began & if you missed out on the rest of the story, feel free to catch up via the previous blog post.

Over all, it was another wonderful visit to Dallas. My only complaint is there is NEVER enough time & there are always so many people we love but can't see every visit. We will return I am sure!