Everything's Bigger in Texas.

Who's in for a spontaneous weekend trip to Dallas? We are! If only it were that simple or sounded that fun when we were booking the plane tickets. 

My Grandpa Miller {William Thiele Miller} passed away, Wednesday, July 18, 2012. Grandpa Miller had been sick for a while suffering from kidney failure; I would say his passing was a blessing in that he is not suffering anymore and that his children are no longer bearing the burden of caring for him. 

Sadly, the last time I saw him was in 2006 at my cousin Kristi's graduation from Texas A&M. Of course the Aggie Man would be there. ;)

Me and Grandpa in 2006

We got the call Wednesday night. Jon and I started the plane ticket search. Before we could blink, it was Saturday, and we were getting on a plane to Dallas! We were both pretty excited, despite the circumstances.

Aunt Claire and Uncle Dave picked us up from DFW Saturday morning {side note: I really love the simplicity of GSP}

The itenarary for the weekend went as follows:

• Saturday: arrive in Dallas, head to Lake Texoma Hideaway {the home of Claire and Dave}, spend the afternoon on the lake, sleep in cabin 6
• check out Lake Texoma Hideaway here! I know the owners; they're pretty great! ;)
• Sunday: lake morning, Uncle Greg and Aunt Elena's for family time, visitation, back to cabin 6 
• Monday: little lake morning, funeral, reception at Uncle Greg and Aunt Elena's, hotel by airport
• Tuesday: home sweet home

One thing my Aunt Claire commented on was the fact that this trip was one last little gift we received from Grandpa Miller - the gift of spending time with family I don't see often enough.

I learned the importance of family. I learned that when you leave this world, the people you left have an opportunity to evaluate your life, an opportunity to determine whether you were a "good" person... or not.

An initial reaction might be that God is the ultimate Judge. When we leave here, we answer to Him only. That is very true. I also feel challenged to think on the times in scripture that God calls us love others well - let the fruits of the spirit flow freely, serve one another, honor our parents, love our neighbors, love our wives, respect our husbands, teach our children, etc. I love that we serve a relational God! He surrounded us with other human beings not to battle against, not to disregard, not to feel hurt by, not to make as idols, not to hurt, not to love before God -- He put them here for us to cherish and hold close, for us to build each other up, for us to walk alongside, for us to encourage, for us to treat others as ourselves. He is a God who built in us a need for Him and for others. A God who desires to fill every empty nook and cranny of our broken, sinful hearts.

Below are pictures from our trip!

we made it... out of the Dallas Airport! phew. that place is huge.

the Marina that houses Claire and Dave's boat

jon and his best friend

jet ski hair. i love it.

Tia {83 years old, mind you} and Gramps taking the jet ski for a spin

Aunt Kathy and Great Dane Dillon

Dad in his element

Dad, Aunt Claire, and Gramps

he's huge.

dad with his twists and turns

Aunt Kathy and Aunt Claire

me with Aunt Kathy

me with Aunt Claire

dad skiing it up

jon skiing! first time! woo hoo!

view from Claire and Dave's

another view from their house

the funeral chapel. it was so pretty.

beautiful stained glass windows

me and my cousin Daniel acting like he's still in the Navy ;)

me, daniel, tia, dad

Aunt Elena, Kristi, Daniel, Uncle Greg {this is the only one I took! you guys are blurry and uncle greg's eyes are closed - whoops! also, kristi, i don't know why i didn't get one with you! bummer!}

Tia and Daniel

aunt claire, daniel, aunt kathy

dad, daniel, uncle dave

me, daniel, jon