Another Family Visit from Missouri (and a Baby)

Mimi and Papa stayed the weekend with us as they made their way to South Texas for the winter. Grandparents two weeks in a row! That's a treat for a family that hasn't lived near family for the last 17 years or so. 

These two aren't related or anything. They Never exhibit the same mannerisms. :-) 

Sitting around talking.

And now the progression of two siblings on the couch and their rivalric interactions.

Jon getting two fingers in the pic.

Phoebe makes her way in.

"Oh, is that a camera?.....

"I didn't realize!....."

"You're not doing it right, Harrison."

"Head. Right there. Now smile."

Mimi mentioned going to the Japanese Tea Gardens since she knew Harrison enjoyed it. Sunday afternoon was just the perfect weather for the Gardens. About 70 degrees. Not too cold or hot.

And come to find out, Liz had never been there either! Where has she been all this time? It's a great place for photography.

Jon must give all grandparents a mini concert when they are at our home. If you have a gift a music, you should share it, right? 

Harrison was super tired and snuggled on Mimi's lap the last night they were here. He's still a snuggle-bug. He's nine, so that may not last much longer. Get all the snuggles you can!

He reminds me of the kid in "Love You Forever." 

Remember that book? The one where the mom rocks her boy and says, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, My baby you'll be." Okay, I'm just not that soppy, but I did read the book a lot when I was a kid. And I do like my kids quite a bit. 

Jon is taking Driver's Ed now and also carrying quite the high school freshman load. He's really learning how to manage his time. We're pretty proud of this boy.

And we got some baby time!!! 

We haven't held a baby in a while. The New Braunfels youth minister and wife have a new baby, and we were pleased to take care of him for a few hours while they went to dinner. Phoebe put him to sleep.

Liz took selfies and took care of him till she had to leave.

Jon was the one really pushing to get baby JP over here (JP is for Jalapeño Popper. That's what the youth group called the baby until the parents had a name. But JP is stuck in our heads, so we'll see if the real name displaces it.) 

Jon played "We Lift Our Hands in the Sanctuary" for him. 

JP's father woke Jon and his friend up at CIY every morning with this song. 

Phillip and I each got our share of baby snuggles too. He is THE MOST contented baby. Very precious time.

It's Been a While Since We've Been to Louisiana

Mom is in Louisiana. 

The Beaumont youth group had an overnight event going on that Liz wanted to attend. 

An I-10 trip from San Antonio, TX to Crowley, LA was a must.

Houston at 7 am on a Saturday is bliss. So little traffic!

We stopped at a gas station in Beaumont. They had interesting touristy things for sale: Be-jeweled Bible covers. Huge Texas-y purses (I offered to get one for my sister ~ she said that looked more like my style). And these nice American cowboy hats. 

Flags in Crowley. 

There were so many beautiful flags going through Houston, but I couldn't get a picture. Phoebe saw a YouTube video where foreigners were telling of things they found surprising in America. The number of flags we fly was one of those surprising things. We do have a good-looking flag; I don't blame us for flying it. 

Through a discussion of that video, we also decided that Texas is to America as America is to the rest of the World. At least in attitude. 

We were only in Louisiana for one night, and we had a list of things we wanted to do: pet the alligators at the Jennings Park, go for a hike, bowl, see Teressa, and eat Cajun food.  We did all of it the first day! Checking things off a list is my love language. I was very proud of us. And we had a great time with Nana. 

The kids above are climbing the "family tree." It's an old live oak, so Uncle Gerald is not allowed to cut it down (it's going to fall on his trailer some stormy night, no doubt). My mom and her siblings all climbed that tree. My sibs and cousins and I climbed it. Now my kids climb it. Tradition.

My mom made some sticky chicken and rice & gravy for lunch. She follows in the tradition of so many Louisiana cooks ~ no restaurant can beat them! Those home cooks just spoil Cajun food for me. I've been to expensive Cajun restaurants, and they don't hold a candle to what my momma and her friends can do in the kitchen.

My mom had the idea of going for a hike. I love hiking and we've lately lived in areas where hiking is catered to. Lots of trails. Louisiana - at least Crowley area - has yet to join the hiking craze. I suppose people there do enough fishing and hunting and camping that hiking has not been a felt need. 

So we had to drive a good hour to get to hiking areas. We found delightful trails at Sam Houston Jones State Park near Lake Charles. We took the River trail and saw beautiful homes along the river side and a nice classic swamp on the other side. It was gorgeous weather, no mosquitos, and only a mile and a half of walking so that we weren't totally tired out. There were a lot of people camping and we could smell their campfires. Just the best. 

We actually arrived at Gas and Oil Park in Jennings first thing. I had a few minutes before my mom was going to meet us there, so we stopped at Boudin King to get a piece of boudin. My mom and I ate it at the park while the kids played. It was perfect.

Gator Chateau is always a winner. 

Pet the baby alligators. Go see the big ones in the fenced area. Grab a cup of coffee. 

Play at the park. 

I was remembering how we used to come to this park when I was a kid. We came maybe once a year with the church or friends or something. I think we would fish. I mostly remember walking on the concrete and rocks that border the lake. It was adventurous. I also remember the playground toys. There's an oil rig tower for kids to climb on and it's still there. They have updated equipment as well, but I'm glad to see the old stuff still around. 

So after petting gators, having lunch at Nana's, and going for a hike, we decided to go bowling. I've been wanting to take the kids bowling, and Nana loves bowling. Lake Charles had a nice bowling alley with lots of lanes, and we were already there for hiking. Perfect.

They haven't been bowling in many years, so this was really like a new learning experience for all of them. I started out great with a strike. It was pretty much downhill from there for me. At the end Jon, Harrison and I all had 94 points, and then I got a spare, so I pulled ahead with 101. But they all did really well and had fun. I think we can talk them into doing it again. Phillip, after all, used to be on a bowling team.  

Teressa and I with a Zachary photo-bomb. 

After bowling, Teressa had us over for chili and hot cocoa. A very yummy rich hot cocoa with cream and chocolate chips. Mmmm, the night was cold, the stars were clear, the chili was delicious, and the company was (the thing you do when you kiss your finger tips to your lips and then open your fingers up ~ like Italians do) (and I just googled it and it's called the Italian Chef kiss) (that's what supper at Teressa's was like. An Italian Chef kiss). 

So I wish I hadn't been so tired at Teressa's. We had a good time, yea, but it would have been fun to play games. Phoebe suggested it. I think she likes winning. But I had been up since 3:30 am, so we headed to bed instead.

We attended church services the next morning. Jayda, Teressa's daughter, was part of the worship team and was just lovely up there. She has a beautiful voice. I'm very proud of her.

I was lucky enough to be there on the Sunday they had the Gumbo Cook Off.  I got to sample 10 different gumbos and vote on which one I liked best. The preacher ended up winning (he is a Northerner, but I guess he learned well). The one I voted for ended up having been made by the youth minister. He called it the Italian gumbo. It didn't taste like traditional gumbo. While I really appreciate a traditional gumbo, the non-traditional one was the taste I favored. That being said, I had duck gumbo and I think maybe squirrel. I don't know what it was, but I don't think it was chicken and I had heard rumors of "wild game" and "squirrel." Anyway, whatever it was, I was glad to try it. I love trying new foods.

Whew. Whirlwind of a trip. We are back home and I can't wait to go to sleep tonight. 

Harvestween

Our church had a Harvest Party, and we had trick or treating in the neighborhood for Halloween. It was a cold one! The last two Oct 31sts have been rainy. This one was clear, but cold. The boys came up with the perfect costume for the weather (fighter pilots). All those poor little girls walking around in thin princess dresses though..... 

Phoebe and I were at the bouncy house/slide for the church's Harvest Party. The church had a ton of activities to do! Phoebe was inside there the whole time helping kids get up the slide and making them behave. 

Harrison and neighbor doing the basketball activity that Jon was in charge of. That banana costume has sure been put to use. He was going to be a banana for trick or treating too, but Jon came up with his cool plan. 

Jon took Harrison trick or treating, so this was the first year I didn't Have to go. The little neighbor girl wanted me to go along, so I went down one street with her, but then I headed home and Jon did the rest with H. 

I took our mini Pringles and the next-door neighbor's chocolates (she asked us to hand it out for her) and went to the main street to hand out our treats. Not many come down our cul-de-sac because most of the homes don't hand out candy, and the kids get discouraged and leave before they make it to our door. After a while I left that street and went to an even busier one (the next-door neighbor had a lot of chocolates!), and then another neighbor invited me to sit with them in their garage, so I finished there and got to know a neighbor that I regularly walk by when I exercise. 

Phoebe has had a cold. She watched a movie and handed out treats until I came to take over. 

Liz hung out with friends in New Braunfels. The cutest scarecrow ever!

St. Margaret's Episcopal Church

Our van is finally kaput, so we were Episcopalians this morning.

Since we couldn't all fit in the truck to go to church, we decided to walk together as a family to one close by. The most viable one was an Episcopal church. I have visited Catholic Churches before with friends or for funerals, but Episcopal was a first for all of us.

It is surprisingly a lot like the Catholic church service in form and yet was a more comfortable building/service, if that makes sense. There was a lot of liturgy and congregational response. About half of the songs were familiar to us (we went to their contemporary service). They had some small stained glass windows. Their building was welcoming. Phillip noted how everything was pointed toward the Lord's Supper. The congregation sat in three sections all pointed toward the stage. The table in the middle of the stage held the bread and wine. The bishop (?) only went up on stage when it was time for Communion. Everything else was done from the main floor. 

I was glad they had everything spelled out in the bulletin ~ the songs, the readings, congregational response. They did have it in two different sections that we had to go back and forth on. We were confused at first but figured it out. We loved how serious and sound it was: Scripture, the Lord's Prayer, the Nicene Creed, thanksgiving, prayers. It was filled with doctrine, and we were glad to see that as a part of the service.

The sermon was short, but it was Scriptural and to the point. The kids were nervous about Communion because it was different than our tradition. A greeter had told us that any baptized believer could participate. We all went forward and knelt around the stage. Then the bishop (rector? priest?) came by and gave each person a wafer cracker saying, "The Body of Christ, Bread from Heaven" to each of us.  Then a lady in a white robe passed by with a chalice of wine and said, "The Blood of Christ, Poured out for us." (I think that's what she said.) Some people dipped their wafer in the wine and some took a drink from the cup. We all dipped. Except Liz. She thought she was supposed to eat the wafer, and therefore did not have a wafer to dip. And she didn't drink; so she is now the only one in our family who has never tasted wine. 

Our family sitting together for a liturgical church service which we walked to from our home. It was quite a cozy throw-back experience.

We have acquired a new-to-us van since this morning (good work, Phillip!), so we'll be back to our regular church next week. But we did enjoy the excursion.