Dallas Didn't Disappoint

Dear Calder, Well, our trip to Dallas did not disappoint! We had such a great time! I'm exhausted! There are so many great things about a sixteen-year-old trip with one of my sons...one of them is I live like a 16 year old -I stayed up way too late, eat way too much, and it's awesome! Being with Henry was the best! He's such an awesome kid. We have a lot of fun together. I was remembering when we went on our 16 year old trip to Boston but I was in a similar situation before we left. I don't know if you remember, but we had just hiked Mount Timpanogos the Monday before we left on Thursday and my knees are killing me! I was limping around the house wondering if I was going to even be able to walk when we went to Boston. I remember Angela McElroy came over on Tuesday or Wednesday before we left. She was my visiting teacher at the time. I was sitting on the couch with ice on my knees and my feet up. She asked if she could work on my knees for a minute. I gladly accepted her help. She began to massage my IT bands and tears were filling up in my eyes it hurts so much! But she worked miracles for me that day. They felt so much better after words! This trip was tricky because my arm. I am so painfully slow nowadays! It is very frustrating. Plus it is so painful! Not all the time, but when it is moved a certain way it sends shockwaves of the back of my legs. And it happens a lot. Anyway, at times I was frustrated that I didn't feel 100% but I think that overall Henry didn't notice and that it was a great trip. I'll give you a quick rundown… We left for the airport on Thursday afternoon. As we were walking to our gate, we ran into Dallin Parr who had just left for the airport. He was waiting at his gate. It was awesome to see him! I sent him a picture and she was so grateful. He had been sick and worrying all morning and wasn't eating anything. The picture that I took of him has food in his hands. She was so grateful to see that. When we got to the car rental place they gave us a Mustang instead of the cheap car we rented. Henry was thrilled! It was a pretty cool car to be driving around. We went to an awesome Italian restaurant and walked over to an ice cream place that was about a 30-minute walk. Once we got there and ordered, they told us it would take about 40 minutes for ice cream to be ready. We are already into it this far so we waited. It was pretty good. We took an Uber home! We stayed in the downtown Westin. It was an awesome place to stay. Dallas is such a cool City. On Friday morning we made our way out to the Lahngi’s. She was awesome! And super friendly. I hope you got everything. We were trying to think of things we could get you. Hopefully it will come in handy. Most of all we just wanted you to know he love you! I'm dying to hear about cornelius's baptism. I'm sure it was awesome. From the Lahngi’s we went to Six Flags Over Texas. Henry was so excited! And you know how I love amusement parks! I was grateful for my arm because I did not want to ride any of those rides. It was super busy and hot. I don't quite understand why Henry likes brother coasters. I've included a picture of him in the elevator on our way back to the hotel room after we spend the afternoon at Six Flags. He was so sick! We had to go home and lay down for a while in order to get ready for the highlight of our trip. The Highlight was going to the Dallas Mavericks game. They played Toronto. And our favorite Luca played! It was a great game. There are not that many people in attendance because of Covid. We had such a great time cheering, eating, laughing! So much fun! Saturday morning we drove out to Flower Mound. It has changed so much!!! We found our house on 3616 Timothy Drive. I was feeling all sorts of sentimental. it was really fun to be in that area. It was such a blessing in our life to live in Flower Mound. I will forever be grateful for the people we met, the character that we developed, and the memories that were made. We ain't got a Tex Mex restaurant that we loved when we lived there. Surprisingly, the food wasn't as good as I remembered it! but Henry loved it. Haha. One thing about Dallas that was very different from the six-year-old trips I spent in Boston and Philadelphia was that we did a lot more driving! I felt like we've been driving around all morning and told Henry that we could skip going by the hospital where he was born. But no, Henry wanted to see where it all began. So we made it stop by Baylor Medical Center in Grapevine Texas. We did a little shopping for souvenirs oh, and went to the Perot museum of science. I had actually thought we'd go to a different Museum but because of the new rules with covid-19 cats were sold out. I was bummed but the Perot Museum ended up being by far the better choice for Henry! They had a Guinness Book of World Records special exhibit there and he spent a ton of time trying to beat the world record for basketball. It was awesome. We had a great time at the Museum. I think we were the last ones to leave. After the museum we ate at another Asian Restaurant. Henry loves Asian food! We went to a movie that night, which was really good but we knew nothing about going into it. And actually hit a little too close to home. It was about a man with dementia and how he navigated the disease with his family. It was Billy Crystal who is a great comedian oh, so it was funny. But we decided that neither dad nor grandma should watch this movie. We thought a ton about you this morning when we woke up and drove to the airport. It was a massive downpour! I almost had to pull off the freeway because I could hardly see while I was driving. I couldn't imagine having to ride a bike through a storm like that. It reminded me that Dallas has a lot of rain storms like this. I'm sure you've come into contact many times with these types of downpours. You're a good sport! I guess I forgot to tell you that after we saw Nicole, we drove around your area for a little while. We couldn't help ourselves! I felt really lonesome for you. I'm super grateful for you. Was fun to see the area that you work in. I knew we wouldn't see you, but Henry was really hoping that we might! I think it all worked out just the way it was supposed to. I was sad to leave Dallas today. I felt like part of my heart was staying there with you. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that our family is having through you and your mission. Thank you for being so generous in sharing with us and building our testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I had some good conversations with Henry while we were together. He's got a good heart and hopefully he can continue to do the things that help him draw closer to the savior. It's so important! These opportunities to be one on one are one of my favorite parts and memories of being a mother for me. I have the opportunity later this summer to go on a twelve-year-old trip with Gwen to Sacred Grove. That and I decided that I would take the girls on the 12 year old trips and the boys on the 16 year old trips and he would take the girls on the 16 year old trips and I will do the 12 year old trips. I can't wait for this opportunity. I've included a bunch of pictures. I don't know why they're always so messed up once they get sent to you. You'll have to comb through and guess which ones are which. Can't wait to talk to you tomorrow! I hope it's been a wonderful week! I feel more at peace since we talked last week about the missionaries leaving for Ukraine on May 27th. I'm praying that you feel more at peace as well! I read some more about it during the week and it sounds like the missionaries going in on the 27th will be at Phase 0. That means they will be much more quarantined than you are now. I know you could do just fine in that kind of a situation but it is amazing that you have the opportunity to Street contact, go into people's homes and teach them, and eat with the members. It will be hard to go back to more of a quarantine situation. But who knows... time will tell. Please know how much I love you! And more importantly how much the Lord and your Heavenly Father cares for you. That is crystal clear to me as a mother. Have a wonderful week. I'm praying for you! Love you tons! MOM (aka - your BFF)