Day one and two of our vacation

We left home Friday afternoon immediately after work. As we headed south we could see we would be contending with a fair amount of rain. We drove in hard rain all the way to Oklahoma, but were thankful we were still making pretty good time. Our original plan was to stop just south of Oklahoma City for the night...but when we got there it was 10:15 and we felt like we'd rather get a little further. We continued to drive until about 1:30 Saturday morning. By that time we were definitely ready to stop. We stayed in the north side of Dallas in a hotel. The next morning we headed further south to Austin. After stopping to get a quick haircut, we headed to the assisted living home where my grandfather and great Aunt Margie live. George had never met either of them, so it was exciting for both of us.

We sat and visited for awhile with grandpa, he showed us his room, and shared some of his pictures and wood projects he had completed. His mind is not what it used to be. He frequently thought I was his youngest daughter, but there were some very sweet moments, where he was very clear and reflected back on sweet memories. His generosity, humor, and caring spirit were still very present. We shared the wedding pictures and then let him rest, while we went to track down Aunt Margie.

She had a stroke just about a year ago and has made remarkable recovery, but enjoys her new home and has been a great blessing for grandpa. We sat and visited with her for awhile, then joined them in the dining room for dinner with Uncle Dickie and Aunt Charlotte. After dinner we returned to Aunt Margie's room to watch the wedding video. It was nice to be able to share it with them, but also fun for us just to reflect back. We then said our brief goodbyes, and headed to Uncle Dickie and Aunt Charlotte's beautiful home. We stayed up for several hours visiting, sharing stories, and laughed together until the early hours of the morning.

The first swim...

Before I begin journaling our vacation...I'd first like to share some pictures from last night. We are fortunate enough to have a large pool in our apartment complex and have utilized it more than we thought we would. Last night we invited Ben, Julie, and Hannah to come join the fun. Although they have their own private pool, it is under repairs and hasn't been "up and running" yet this summer. Thus, it was Hannah's first pool experience. She seemed to really enjoy it, but did become quite cold by the end of the evening. I am sure with more and more experience and warmer water, she will find it even more fun.

Daddy sitting on the edge easing her in.

Beautiful family!!! This my favorite picture of the evening.

The shivers had kicked in at this point, so her smile looks a little forced.

Home Again! Home Again!

Since last Friday we have been on the road enjoying our first vacation as husband and wife. We were blessed to see many family and friends on the journey, but also able to do a little site seeing as well.

Over the next few days I hope share the adventures and some pictures as well. We arrived back home late on July 4th, and were blessed to see many firework shows as we traveled. At the end of our trip, we pulled into our apartment complex at 11:45 pm, and looked at the "trip odometer" to see exactly how many miles we had traveled only to find out we had traveled 1776. We got a good smile out of the irony.

House Searching

I go through spurts of searching online for houses every few weeks. I have several other things on my list to blog about...but I thought I would start with sharing this weeks finds.

House #1 is a cottage-style home. The kitchen is dated, but we actually want a dated kitchen to be able to put own own stamp on our house, as well as add value for when it comes time to sell. The interior living space appears to be in good shape, with beautiful floors and fresh paint. The negatives of this home are it doesn't have a garage and is located on a busy street. We have not actually made an appointment to go look at these houses, but I would really like to if we have time this week. There are no pictures of the two bathrooms, so those may also need a little TLC.



House #2 is a quaint house...that is much larger than it appears. It would not only need an updated kitchen, but through out the house there is wood paneling and it appears very dark, but still has potential to make a beautiful home. We are not sure what area of the city it is in...but we may find time to drive by this weekend and check it out. This home is also missing a garage...but the blessing is...that it is significantly below our budget so we would be able to make some improvements. I just look at the front and think about how much fun it would be to landscape the front yard for some curb appeal.

Happy Anniversary Ben & Julie!