Texas!

 Before we knew it we were off again. This time it was just Brandon and I. 

We flew to Texas for business stuff. Brandon, Travis and Guy were having their merger meetings and other meetings about the practice and finances. So us wives tagged along this time. I was excited to get to know Guy's wife Kristin a little bit better since our husbands are going to be doing business together for the foreseeable future. We arrived Wednesday night and a storm was blowing in. The last little bit of the flight was pretty bumpy. Actually the most turbulence I have had on a plane in a really long time, possibly ever! Then after waiting for a while to get our rental car we drove to our hotel. While we were on the road heading to our hotel we head on the radio that there was a tornado watch going on in the area we were staying at. There was some lightning going on by the time we got to our hotel and we heard that the watch was in affect in our area and that we were supposed to get huge hail. So Travis and RaQuelle decided to call it a night and head to bed. Brandon and I however wanted to go get some gelato. So we found a place we wanted to try out that was still open at 10 oclock at night and headed out. We thought of walking but I didn't think it was the best idea with my leg hurting. It would take me a long time to walk that far and probably cause some pain. Plus it was starting to rain. Brandon agreed and then decided to go grab the car and come pick me up since he would be faster than if I tried to hobble over with him. As soon as he took off running the rain really started to pick up. By the time he got back to pick me up it was pouring!! 

So we grabbed our gelato from this place called "Amorino" and took it to go so we could eat it in the hotel room. Plus we wanted to get the car back and park it in the parking garage just incase any hail did start to fall. We didn't want to get that kind of damage on a rental! Thankfully, no tornadoes or hail hit our area. Brandon and I enjoyed our last little bit of our first night away eating our gelato and watching some of "Legend of Tarzan" on TV. The gelato was amazing!!!! I was a full on fan and we planned to go there as many times as we could before the end of our trip! 

The next morning the guys were in meetings. So us ladies took off to go shopping!

Nothing better than trying on something expensive that I would never buy! hahaha 

We met the husbands at their meeting for lunch. Then we joined in for the financial meeting stuff and then we were off to do whatever we wanted for the rest of the day. 

That night we went to a fancy steak place for dinner!

Our table had a Birthday card on it and said "Congratulations!". We were not sure why it said that because no ones birthday was anywhere near then. haha We decided that it was the birth of the merged practice. haha We told our server what we were celebrating and they even brought out this little congratulatory dessert! Its as a very tasty dinner! We all left so full that we could barely move. Its hard to want to waste any food when it is expensive and you have no way of saving it. So we just ate as much as we could so we wouldn't waste it. We were so full! 

Near the hotel was a Kilwin's ice cream. We walked inside just for fun. They had this massive chocolate bunny on display! I am still not sure if it was hollow or not! Travis joked about buying it and taking it home in their luggage for their kids! haha 

Friday was our fun day. We all met up to go have some fun. We started off with the Arboretum first. We didn't know we had to pay for it and we didn't realize how packed it was going to be. It was still fun though and the tulips were all bloomed! It was pretty! 

It was nice to just get out and walk around in the nice wether! 

After we did that we headed out for some lunch and then some top golf. 

Top Golf had a wait time so we put our names in and did some mini golf while we waited. It was really cool that this top golf had a mini golf course with it! Great way to kill time while you wait for your booth to open up. 

We played a few holes and then we were buzzed saying our booth was ready! It was way quicker than we thought it would be. They said it would be like 2 hours and it was only about 30-45 minutes. 

It was fun eating some appetizers and playing some golf with everyone. My knee was still hurting and I wasn't sure how much I would be able to do. I did fine for a little while and then I felt it pull and had to call it quits. 

After playing for an hour or so it was time to go. We were meeting up with David and Hayles that evening. 

So we dropped off Guy and Kristin at a mall since they didn't have a rental car and then made our way to David and Hayles place. It was so fun to see them and their little house with their puppy! 

We went to this yummy BBQ place with them!

It was really yummy!! My favorite part I would have to say was the green beans! haha They were seasoned so well that I couldn't stop eating them! haha 

Then we hung out for a little bit longer just chatting and catching up with them after we walked "Deep Elsum" with them and then said our goodbyes until next time we see them. It was a fun evening hanging out with them! 

Then as if we were not full enough Brandon and I decided it would be a good idea to get get gelato again! haha 

It was so worth it! We waited in line for close to an hour to get our gelato. However, the weather was really nice and Brandon didn't mind standing around because there were super nice cars driving by constantly! So Brandon was in little boy heaven! :-) haha 

After that night of stuffing our faces way too much I was ready to give up on food all together! haha 

By the morning my stomach was not happy with me. I felt nauseous and could care less to eat. However, we were meeting up with old Dental School friends for breakfast Saturday morning. So we got up and headed to the Gaylord hotel to eat some food with them. 

It was so fun to catch up with the Cooks. They were and are such a great family! The conversations were just so natural and easy. It made the 2 hours we were there at the buffet go by super fast. We got our plates and then just sat and chatted while we ate. We could have talked for longer probably if Brandon didn't have to meet up for golf at a specific time. So eventually we had to say bye and take off. 

Brandon headed off to golf and I headed off with RaQuelle and Kristin to go explore a different shopping center. 

We walked around the "Grapevine" shopping area for a while and then stopped for some lunch!

I couldn't even think of eating by that point so I just drank some water and chatted. 

A little bit more exploring before we took of to go walk around and explore a lake! 

We were kind of limited on what we could do. One, because I was a gimp because of my knee. Two because we were not in swimsuits to feel like going in canoes and possibly getting soaked in our close. So we just walked down near the water and chatted and enjoyed the nice weather. 

Then we headed out to meet the guys as they finished up golf. 

After reuniting with our spouses we headed back towards our hotel which Brandon and I had already checked out of because we were flying home that night. Or so we thought! We wanted to go back to Legacy West shopping center and eat at the Legacy Hall. On our way back to that area we go a notification that our flight had been delayed 4 hours!!!! ugh!!! That put us leaving after midnight!! So Brandon spent a good chunk of our time at Legacy West on the phone trying to figure things out. Turned out that our plane was probably not going to make it that night so we just rescheduled to fly out on an earlier morning flight. After figuring that out we tried getting another room at the same hotel we stayed at and they were completely booked up. So we ended up getting a hotel room at a hotel closer to the airport. Which was definitely not as nice as the other hotel we had been staying at. I did not sleep as well that last night sadly! 

Anyways, after figuring all of that stuff out we finally were able to enjoy the evening and we ordered our food and spent the last few hours with our friends. 

These tacos were really tasty. We got a chicken and waffles taco and a cuban taco. I actually have to say that I really liked the chicken and waffles taco. I may have even liked it better than the cuban one. haha The waffle tortilla part was slightly sweet with a hint of maple syrup and the rest of it was just tasty!! 

We also got some Asian teriyaki bowl which was also tasty! 

Then we spent the evening watching nice cars drive by and the rest of the crew got some gelato. 

Brandon and I were pretty much sick of eating so we past. haha 

I feel like I have not eaten that much in a very long time!! It felt like a weekend of stuffing my face till I hurt. It felt like I could have gone days without eating after that! haha 

After spending a little time walking around and sitting by the cool water fountains we took off. 

Said bye to a couple more expensive sweet cars and then Brandon and I headed to our not as nice hotel for the night. 

The next morning we got up early to take the rental car back and get to the airport. We were a little worried about how everything was going to workout because online it said that the rental place wasn't open up 6 and we needed to be at airport really shortly after that. We were worried we were going to cut it too close and miss our flight home. We got up so that we could be at the rental drop off place right as it opened. As we were heading to our car Brandon noticed that the guy at the hotel never gave back our parking ticket. So as we walked to our car which we had to walk up like 5 floor because the elevators didn't work, Brandon found a parking ticket stub on the floor. So he picked it up and then we used that on our way out. Which we were super lucky that it was a ticket stub that was only for a 2 night stay instead of more nights. We had already paid for our 1 night stay and now had to pay for 2 more nights of parking that we didn't even use. Really annoying but a blessing that Brandon found that parking ticket or we wouldn't have been able to get out of the parking garage. There was no one at the front desk of the hotel because it was too early in the morning. So it was a good thing even if it cost us extra money. We made it to the rental car drop off and thankfully they were already taking peoples cars back and we made it right onto the shuttle before they took off to the airport. We made it through security without a problem and hangout for a little while as we waited to board. 

As soon as we made it back to Denver we grabbed some breakfast and then headed back home to see our sweet boys and get everyone ready for church so we could go to church and see Papa give his talk. 

The boys were so excited to see us when we got home. They couldn't stop telling us about things. Then after church we told them that we had a surprise for them. 

The kids couldn't believe how big these gum balls were. haha We told them that Texas has a slogan "Everything is bigger in Texas" so even their gum balls are bigger. They thought that was the coolest thing!haha 

The best $1.50 I have every spent!! haha 

It was a fun quick trip but I was glad to be home and to not be going anywhere for a long time!! It had been fun going on all of these trips but I was ready for just some regular, boring, staying at home life! haha 

Back to reality!!!