We had the opportunity to go to Rockdale, TEXAS to see our little niece, Leila, for the first time!
But first, a few quick pictures of our Autumn time in Minnesota.
Tree climbing with Daddy...
Project time...
and raking leaves with Daddy...
Okay, now about the Trip to Zakina's (short for Zach and Katrina)
A Great Deal
Jeremy had some vacation days that he had to use before the Hormel fiscal year ended. He was saving them for family emergencies, but thankfully none occurred. Since we hadn't been able to see Zakina this year, we decided to look for airplane deals to go see them last minute. With just 5 days notice, Zach found us a deal that we couldn't pass up. Even though it was only a 3.5 day trip, we had an awesome time, and we managed to get a lot of pictures!!
(Tanner thinks the airplane safety pamphlet is an "airplane book." He loves reading it all by himself)
I prayed that this trip would be stress-free with no broken, lost or stolen items, and that the children would stay healthy, do well with all the flying and driving involved and that we would be safe. (I forgot to mention that one of the themes of our DC trip was losing things, so that's why I made a specific request regarding that this time). My prayers were all answered! The trip was actually very relaxing (for me at least, haha). The boys did really well on the flight and with driving, no one got sick, we didn't lose anything or have anything broken or stolen. God is good!
Car Adventures
With short notice and short budget, we all just piled in Zakina's station wagon. Zach looked up the laws for the state of TX, and he learned that we could legally hook up two car-seats in the trunk because the trunk had car-seat anchors. It took us about 30 minutes in the airport drive-up to figure it all out, but we got everyone to fit!
We had a lot of bonding time in the car. We drove over 500 miles during our 3 days with each other.
Katrina gets a special award because she also drove long distance for school one night, and then went on a special temple trip with her friend the same day that we left. I never heard even a sigh of complaint from her. She's simply awesome.
Tanner and his cousin holding hands!
Dallin eventually got used to his spot in the backseat.
Remember my prayer for safety with driving? I really believe angels were watching over us, especially in the city. There was a car accident in the lane directly next to us on the freeway. I'm so grateful we were spared, and it looked like those in the accident were okay, and no children involved. We should probably get a rental van during our next visit, though.
Hangin' Around the House
We had so much fun playing together at Zakina's house in their very little town in the middle of Texas.
Tanner is in love with Uncle Zach
I think Leila liked Jeremy better than me.
Katrina taught us how to make caramel apples!
The kids did lots of rough housing with the daddies.
And the daddies had some fun of their own in the backyard.
I asked for a brother picture, and since they thought that was corny, this is what I got.
I tried dressing Leila one morning, but she didn't like the outfit I chose for her, so she went to her dresser and picked out this one. I guess I don't have baby girl fashion sense.
Playin at Parks
The weather was in the 80's; we were in heaven!!
Dallin and Leila are less than two months apart. They were exactly the same size and weight when we visited! They looked so cute swinging side by side.
Katrina played at this cool park with the kids while Jeremy and I drove around Harker Heights, which is one of the cities Jeremy served his mission. I'll post more about his reminiscing adventures later.
Eating Out
We ate at one of Zakina's favorite Mexican restaurants in their town. I had stuffed, fried avocado, YUM!
It was close enough that we walked to the place!
Jeremy requested to eat at a real BBQ place like the ones he went to on his mission. This place met the mark!
Everyone loved the food.
We went to a Czech bakery. It happened to be the same one Jeremy went to multiple times on his mission. We loved the kolaches!
And we got to meet up with one of Jeremy's friends from his hometown. We ate at a gourmet pizza place with Peter's family in Dallas.
Stock Yards in Fort Worth
We spent an afternoon here enjoying all the cowboy traditions of the stock yards.
I felt like this part of Fort Worth was the land of the west in a theme park like Disneyland. Only this was the real deal! (other than the cars, haha).
Jeremy had his special Texas belt buckle on.
Here we are waiting to see the cattle drive.
All seven of us. Can you find Tanner?
Dallin loves Uncle Zach
Tanner's eyes are on the longhorns coming down the street.
It was cool hearing the cowboys yip and the hooves of the cattle clip clop along the cobblestone street.
We also enjoyed the petting zoo. The goats and llama got really aggressive for their treats!
Leila and Dallin let the animals eat right out of their hands. They loved petting the animals and Leila even managed to kiss some of them! Tanner was more hesitant, which was to be expected. He gets very anxious around animals.
Tanner was in love with this hat the minute Aunt Katrina put it on his head.
Slumber Party
To help minimize the amount of driving in one day, we all stayed in a hotel in Dallas. The kids and Uncle Zach loved jumping on the bed.
Tanner and Leila became really great buds.
Thank you, Uncle Zach, Aunt Katrina and sweet cousin Leila for letting us come visit you with such short notice! We had SO much fun!! And thank you for putting up with all the driving that was involved. I feel pretty special to have you as family. These Zavorals are some of the coolest people on earth!
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