So we are moving forward toward the mission! A little bit at a time. First, though, we got to be with Lara on her birthday. She is as beautiful as ever at her new age.
She chose a tiny cheesecake so there would be no leftovers. It was a good time to be together.
On that same day Dad went to get an eye checkup and order some distance glasses. He got to experience Dr Steed, Heather's boss. When he got his glasses he said, ok, the tv is a lot clearer now! Maybe he will use them driving, or not. They stay on his tv table for now.
After that we were asked to give talks on, "How to prepare for a mission at any age." The bishop gave us a choice as to when we wanted to give the talks and I said I would like to get it over with before we had visitors so we wouldn't have to worry about it while we were supposed to be having a happy time. Or else it wouldn't be a happy time. So he let us do it on the 18th, the weekend the Evanses arrived.
The next big thing to happen here (besides Heidi, Atticus, and Alice having birthdays) was the visit from the Evanses!! They came on Saturday afternoon and we had dinner with them and the Barneys.
We had hamburgers and made s'mores after Dad got the fire just right. The boys played in the playhouse too and swung on the ball swing. It was a beautiful evening with the weather perfect and great company. Sarah became the master marshmallow roaster of the evening.
Sunday after church and after our talks were over and we could relax, we hung out in the living room, amidst all the furniture from our house and some of Heather's. We have moved her completely out of her storage unit so she can save that rental money and have her own stuff here in the house. She means to put our stuff away and have her own personal touch on her surroundings. It will be fun to see what she does with the place.
On Monday morning we took off for Bolivar Peninsula and the beach house they had rented. It was a very comfortably arranged house and fit us all. Erin arrived at our house in Kingwood Monday night and drove out to the beach house Tuesday after lunch. The house was perfectly situated between an empty lot and a grassy park area and directly on the beach so that there was no one else around. Perfect privacy and freedom to do as we liked.
A nice big kitchen with all the necessary utensils.
A big dining and reading area for everyone to have room. They had a TV that we used to show the kids some of Heather's videos. They liked Ice Age and we had to play the slide scene over for Erin when she came. It's the best part I think too. We also did a couple puzzles all together. Susan brought one and there was already one at the house, along with some toys for the kids. Erin and Bobby and Susan showed me how to play Settlers of Catan which was fun. I didn't do too badly for the first time playing. I had played it before years and years ago, and couldn't remember anything. Dad says board games are a spectator sport, so he just listened to us and checked his computer.
A great big deck that went all around the house (on stilts, of course, since this is on Galveston Bay)
Awesome deck chairs to let us see over the railing to the beach activities.
And the view of the beach. Of course the people are very small in the picture so that you can't see them, but we could see them well and enjoy watching them play and play and play. The water was very shallow so that the kids never got out over their knees, but they had plenty of water to play in. They had a wonderful time and found shells and dug holes and played happily together for hours.
And do you see the ships in the distance? There were many many ships. I counted 12 all lined up at one time, waiting for their turn at the docks, bringing and taking important commodities.
On Wednesday we took the ferry across the bay to Galveston to eat lunch at the Rainforest Cafe which was like the Tiki Room at Disneyland with all kinds of jungley things around the room and overhead, and animals in the bushes that made noise and moved. Then we went to the movie with the little boys seeing Peter Rabbit with Bobby (wonderful Bobby) and the rest of us seeing Wrinkle in Time. It was a lot better than I thought it would be. I loved the book, but wasn't impressed with the previews of the movie, but it turned out to be much better than I had thought. Happy surprise! Alice got to choose since it was a birthday celebration for her. She is eleven!! Just like Atticus. Where has the time gone?!
The kids loved the water and the spray and the noises and the birds following the ferry and on the pilings. The announcement said, "Please feed the birds from the back of the ferry," naturally assuming we would be feeding the birds, which lots of people were doing.
We went home Wednesday afternoon after dinner so that I could make a doctor appointment the next morning. And then after the Evanses got on their way back home Thursday morning Erin came back to our house and will stay till the end of the month. She has this wonderful job that she can do from anywhere so she can hang out here all day working and then play with Heather in the evening when she gets home. But now we get to have the pleasure of her company till we leave on Thursday morning for Utah.
Yesterday Heather mowed the grass for the second time and Dad is comfortable that she knows how to start the mower and use the whip and blower. Today he will show her how to start the generator in case the power goes out while we are gone, and right now he is showing her how to find different places that she isn't sure about reaching from here. We want her to be comfortable in what she needs to do.
There are a few more things that we need to do before we leave, but mostly we are just waiting till time to go. Had our last sacrament meeting today and said goodbye to everyone. We are looking forward to seeing Utah family and getting started on our next great adventure!!
We love you all more than words can tell. We are so happy that you are part of us and we can know you and love you forever.
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