That time we flew to Alaska and surprised my sister

About the time I started feeling really homesick for Alaska, my mom called and asked if we had enough airline miles for a ticket to Anchorage. We had enough for one ticket, mom and Scott funded two more tickets, and we made our reservation dates line up with my baby sister's college graduation.

We decided it would be fun to surprise Brittany. Honestly, I am shocked that her husband (also named Josh) and my brothers were able to keep it a secret. Not to mention I stopped calling her the week prior to our trip so I wouldn't accidentally let something slip. I breathed a sigh of relief when we boarded the plane and Brittany was still unaware of the craziness headed her way.

The last leg of the flight was rough. Trent cried himself to sleep and the girls could not get comfortable, resulting in a fair amount of crying from them.

We arrived around 11pm, but luckily my brothers had kept Brittany at my mom's house. We simply walked in the door and yelled, "Happy Graduation!" More tears, this time happy.

After some much needed sleep, I woke up to find the girls at the counter eating Fruit Loops for breakfast (they were extremely excited because we never buy sugary cereal).

The three-hour time change didn't sit as well with Trent.

We survived the long graduation ceremony and then celebrated at Brittany and Josh's. (Also, this picture of Noah and me is my favorite picture ever. I love that kid so much.)

I'm so proud of Brittany! She is going to accomplish so much good in the field of social work!

I didn't meet up with any Alaskan friends because we were only in town for a few days. Pretty much every waking moment (and many hours when we should have been sleeping) was spent with my family.

We sure love our Alaskan family and treasured every moment together!

And in case you are wondering, the flight home was much better. Each seat back had a screen, so the kids watched Frozen and other Disney shows (or, if you are Evie, Frozen in English and then in Spanish). Lottie and Trent quietly fell asleep on the second flight home and the three-hour time change didn't cause any problems. A happy ending, for sure.

Oh, Alaska, you are so much prettier than Texas. I look forward to seeing you again soon.