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January Visit

Posted on Feb 3, 2014 by | 0 comments

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My mom and sister flew in for a visit this past week. It was a pleasant winter getaway for the most part. The weather was all over the place, aka typical for around here, so we were able to enjoy warm days and not feel so guilty for being “shut in” by the chillier days. We did so much crafting that we ran through several glue sticks, and the sewing store we found in town could recognize all of our faces by the end of the visit. Anna and Auntie made a wall-full of button, cotton ball, and googly eye art. My mom and I got Anna’s grandmother’s garden quilt in order and divvied up the last of the quilt top work. We made another baby blanket and a skirt and that was on top of all our sight seeing.

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We got our fill of eating out with our guests: Lupe’s, Kennedy’s, Chuy’s. We visited our touristy stops, showing them the giant boots at North Star Mall, the River Walk, the Alamo, an of course the zoo. Rachel even requested a short stop into Saks since we were at North Star. So fancy. And apparently Meme used to frequent such fancy establishments pre-kids.

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On Saturday we went out to find Auntie some church clothes. We found some great dresses and Anna loved hiding in the clothes racks and bringing Auntie random shirts she could reach, “here try this one.” We did a good amount of shopping together this trip. Clothes shopping is always more fun with someone to entertain the kid and another person to bring you more clothes. We also did some shopping for Anna. When we first walked in to the little girl’s store, she walked right up to some dresses and we talked about how cute they were. I found a cute dress with sail boat and pointed it out to the group, she walked over and fingered the dress and said “that is aDORable!” We loved shopping with her. She love love loves her new dress with red hearts on it. She would rather not wear any thing else in the world. (See Zoo Pics).

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When Auntie bought a drink at the checkout after a quick Target trip Anna wanted one too. She doesn’t even like soda but I finally figured out she wouldn’t mind a smoothie so we hit up Starbucks. She pointed out the princess with the crown in the logo. I told her that there was also a fish tail, what did that make her? “A mermaid!…but why does she have two tails?” I think we all have wondered that at one time or another, Anna.

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We had a pretend birthday party at Anna’s request. Jacob loves encouraging her spontaneity. We made cake, sung, had ice cream, and Anna blew out all five candles. She isn’t really five, she’d tell you, she is only two and a half, but we are pretending.

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Sunday’s weather was so nice that Jacob strung up the hammock for Anna. My mom and sister watched the AFC championship. And I stayed busy in the kitchen, loving that I got to have my windows open in January. We even tried to take some family photos but maybe the day was too nice, Anna refused to look into the sun.

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Anna loved showing my family the temple. We visited on a Monday to enjoy the quiet of the grounds. Anna was pretty cooperative and Meme just wanted a picture of the view. Our little temple is placed on the top of a hill that can see even downtown from. I didn’t mean to pose so wildly but I was imitating my very silly daughter who looks good while silly. Later that evening Anna sang about Nephi and told the story of the brass plates with the help of Jacob and her magnets. I like it when Anna takes over FHE.

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I think my family really enjoyed the zoo. Meme didn’t want to miss a thing, we snapped some awesome pictures of the energetic hippos. Anna needed help being brave in the bat cave that I didn’t even know our zoo had, but Jacob was up to the challenge. In the Africa section we spotted an elephant getting a pedicure and the new baby tigers were out wrestling with each other, a resting mom lounging in the background. Anna spotted an antelope, I think a topi, and said “look, a reindeer!” We couldn’t let our family leave town without seeing our famous two headed turtle. We were also lucky enough to see lots of babies, like the tigers and the baby monkey snacking on apple bits. Adorable.

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“Look a reindeer!”

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We toured the Alamo and afterwards took a River Walk cruse tour. It was nice to see parts of downtown I hadn’t explored yet. Anna loved being on the boat and really had fun taking pictures. We met Saint Anthony himself and were completely blown away by the mock-up of the battle at the Alamo in the gift shop. Anna asked if a certain group were the “bad guys.” My mom simply replied, “depends on what side you are on.”

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Ducks - taken by Anna

Ducks – taken by Anna

Meme - taken by Anna

Meme – taken by Anna

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Us ladies played a lot of cards. Meme showed Anna how to play concentration. Anna picked up quick that you have to tap your finger on your chin and say “now, where is that four?” or whatever number you turned over first during each turn. We played mean and nasty and Anna’s memory game too.

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Towards the end of their trip we had an ice storm. We woke up to a sheet of ice on everything. Icicles on the street signs, stay-icy temperatures. It was awesome, odd but awesome. Rachel still requested that we go out to eat since it was our last day and it was great to get out and see the trees still covered in ice while the sun was setting.

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Rachel was the brave aunt who entertained Anna non-stop, strapped her in everywhere we went, and barely took a break! My mom put up with all our scurrying around town and stores and sites, and she loved playing with Anna. From play-doh to legos, Anna loved having Meme to play with, too. We had a great time with them and are so so glad they were able to come for a visit.

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