Trip to Dallas, December 4 - 6

In May of 2007, Mom's death happened so quickly and came as such a shock to us all that after her cremation we had a lot of questions regarding where she would be kept. We finally, as a family, decided she would stay in Colleyville where she very happily spent the last 23 years of her short 62 years. We chose to put her ashes in the foot of a beautiful granite bench at Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Park. The bench is next to a tree and faces a serene man-made lake and fountain. There is space in the other foot of the bench for when the inevitable day comes and Papi will join her there.

So on Friday, December 4th, 2009 our immediate family got together to remember Mom and bless her ashes as we placed them in the bench.





Dan's dad, our family Deacon, was kind enough to come from Houston and say a few words. It was short and sweet and a nice day to remember Mom as a group, rather than singularly as I know we all do. I remember he talked of her being enveloped in peace and that thought warms my heart...

It was also a great trip because we finally got to see Papi! He moved to Miami some months ago and we miss him greatly. Unfortunately Dan had been sick all the week before our trip so he stayed home to get better. Sofia got a kiss from Daddy goodbye early Friday morning



only to arrive in Dallas greeted with a kiss hello from Bobo!



Sofia had a lot of fun playing with Matthew and



Jakey had a lot of fun playing with Bobo.



Sofia and I stayed with Emi all weekend. It was so much fun! Emi was the cool aunt growing up and she seems to be keeping the title with the next generation. We met with David and Julie at a sports bar on Saturday night. It had great space for the kids to run around and play video games. Sofia really just climbed up and down from the chairs and pushed buttons but Matthew is getting so big and he's more than capable of playing the games and even made new friends.



Jake just sat in his carseat like the best behaved baby in the world and did what he does best: look adorable.



Matthew decided to come over to Emi's for a slumber party that night. I don't think I've ever seen Sofia so excited as she was when she realized that Matthew was coming home with us. They stayed up late and danced and laughed to Tom & Jerry cartoons. It is beyond fun to watch them together.



The next day we went by Dave and Tracey's house to pick up Grandma (who Sofia calls Grammy.) She was in town for Mom's memorial service and since John left early she hitched a ride home with us. It was great to get to see Sofia's Coussirat cousins, even if just for a short time. They are such beautiful girls as you can see.



Sofia was excited to have Grandma there to entertain her on the way home. She was especially happy to have Monkey (she says "monkey" so funny, it sounds like she's Jewish, like "mah-Kah-ney" it's funny) even though you can't really see him there in her hand he's there. She loves all of Grandma and Grandpa's stuffed animals. It is especially cute when she feeds them her food and makes little chewing noises for them!



So as you can see it was another fun-filled trip to Dallas! We love to see all our family.