Goodbye TX

After a wonderful stay in Raleigh, we packed up, and prepared for little CZ’s first flight.  Overall we were not too worried because she is such an easy going child, but we also knew it was a preview of the 16+ hour flight from DFW to Sydney.  Fortunately, she slept most of the flight and we were able to use her carseat on the plane, since the flight was not sold out.  The only hiccup was a diaper incident while going through security.

We had quite the welcoming party at the Dallas airport because we had enough luggage for two cars.  Ray and Christina met my dad and Alison at the airport to assist with taking us back to the house, and they brought Joe along to be the muscle for the luggage.  It is a blessing to have such great family and friends, and their excitement over meeting CZ helped energize us until dinner.

Dinner was the first of many excellent meals while were home, and Dad’s stuffed peppers will be missed while we are in Australia.  Although, nowhere near as much as his legendary breakfast burritos.  He actually made a special trip to Lockhart just so we would have the best brisket and sausage to go with our fresh tortillas from the Plano Tortilla Factory.

While Dad’s cooking is always superb, the star of the trip was Mom’s Thanksgiving dinner.  Sure, Dad helps, but we all know it’s Mom who really makes it happen. This was my first Thanksgiving at home in several years, and it was every bit as delicious as I remember.

Aside from all the delicious food, it was great to have so much family time, and we appreciated Mom inviting everyone over to the house the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We enjoyed seeing as many people as possible before we headed out to Sydney. Everyone had a great time, and CZ enjoyed meeting them all. It was also super adorable to watch her and her 7 month old cousin Everett together. Their combined cuteness was almost too much to handle.

Following 10 days of great fun with the family, it was time for hugs and goodbyes, but not before we got a family portrait.  It only took a bit of patience, a creative “studio” setup, and our neighbor’s teenage son pressing the shutter to create my favorite family portrait to date.