tripping in texas

Although Dan has traveled back to Texas to visit his family more often, the children and I had not been since our trip to the Frio River in 2007. So, we decided to make another road trip to Texas back in early June (yes, this is a very tardy post). There was really only one week during the whole summer that everyone was available (between VBS, mission trips, and Lauren’s college classes) and it required leaving the evening of the day that Lauren and Max returned from the Middle School mission trip to Chattanooga.  They were so tired from being on a long trip in a 15-passenger van, only to leave six hours later on another long trip in our minivan…but, they were troopers!  Once we were packed and ready to go, we found the battery on the van dead – not even a click-click-click.  After some finagling with jumper cables and a can of coke, we were good to go.   But, I had a bit of concern since, if you didn’t know, this is the same van that DIED at 125,000 miles while driving through Houston on a previous Texas trip.  It was brought back to life with a new engine, though, and has survived another 125,000 miles.  I started wondering if that was a magic number with Toyota Siennas. 

We made it to my cousin’s home in Magnolia (a suburb of Houston) where we stayed Saturday night, went to church with them Sunday morning, and then shared a great lunch together.  Shortly before we left Alabama, I realized that Desmond’s Uncle Paul (his biological mom’s younger brother) had recently moved very near Magnolia, and in fact, was on the route we took to Dan’s sister’s house in a nearby suburb.  We decided to surprise Desmond:)  We kept talking about heading over to Aunt Cathy’s house, all the while driving to Paul’s house.  When we stopped, Desmond said “Aunt Cathy sure has a nice house”.  We all just smiled as we got out of the van.  As Desmond and Dan started walking up the sidewalk, Paul walked out and just stood and smiled at Desmond.  It took Desmond a few seconds, and then he just ran and hugged Paul.  It was great!  Later, Desmond told me that, when he first saw Paul, he thought “wow, Eric (Cathy’s son) sure looks like Uncle Paul”.  We had a nice visit with Paul, his fiancé Shannon, and Shannon’s mom and sister before heading over for a quick visit with Cathy, her husband Scott, and their oldest son, Eric, who recently graduated from High School.    It was great to be able to see everyone!

Then, we headed on to Boerne and arrived at Dan’s parents home to find that his sister, Annie, and her family were also in town.  What a great surprise!  His older brother, Ben, and his wife, Beth, were also there to meet us. 

We had a wonderful time with family during the five days we were there.   It was also Natalie’s (Annie’s daughter)seventh birthday and Ben and Beth invited us all over to celebrate.



They have remodeled a quaint little place near downtown and I just love it.  I really like how they have their photographs displayed. 



Here is the birthday girl!  Don’t you love the cute birthday cookies made by her cousin, Haley?



Dan’s brother, Paul, along with his wife, Sharla, and their son, Corey, drove down from San Angelo one day.  I was able to get a picture of Dan with his family (minus  Cathy, who was still in Houston) as well as the cousins that were able to be together for the day.



We had such a enjoyable time with Dan’s parents and family.  We won’t wait so long for our next trip:)

We usually take two days to get home, but found out as we were traveling (on a Friday) that Lauren would be going on another mission trip (leaving around 11 pm Saturday for Michigan!), so we drove straight and arrived home in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday.  Lauren got a few hours of sleep in her own bed before heading out for another week of sleeping on a floor.

"Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone -

 especially to those in the family of faith".  Galatians 6:9-11