Houston - Part 7 (Days 8 & 9)

No signs that the trip was winding down ... we still had lots to do and people to see!

Day 8 (Thursday), we all went out to help Grandma get a new grill, then Eddie spent the afternoon putting it together for her. Its very nice - I should have taken some pictures of his hard work!

Later that day, we got to visit with my older (half) brother, Ricky & his family: my sister-in-law, Beth & their SOOO grown-up kids, Lauren (15) & Josh (13). Its amazing what puberty does to a kid ... I mean, I almost didn't recognize my neice at all! Again, I don't know what happened to my brain, but a picture of Josh & Jake is all I took this day. Argghh.

After dinner and baths, we left the kiddos with Grandma and Eddie & I went to dinner with Ricky & Beth. It was just like old times. They are always a riot to hang out with and we had so much fun laughing & catching up. It was a short visit compared to what we would have wanted, but better than none at all! We miss living close to them!

On Friday (day 9), Eddie took his mom to a doctor's appointment (for her ankle), then Ed, the kids and I met my dad in Huntsville (where we went to college & met) for lunch. I was really glad we got to spend a little more time with my dad and he brought a nice surprise: a box full of rings from his days as a jewelry man! He told me to pick what I wanted with NO limit! Say what? I brought home a bunch of new rings ... they will always have more sentimental value than anything else. I will treasure them. It was a great surprise.

After lunch, we drove by our first house to see how it had changed. We lived there 1998-2001 and we were so proud of our little house. It was funny to see the tree in the front yard that was just a little twig of a tree when we lived there!

Later that day, we met up with some of our original small group friends in Houston. We got to see Chris & Steph, John & Stacie, Travis & Cammie, Jeff & Cindy and all their kiddos! Including ours, there were 13 kids. What's funny about that is that our small group began as the young marrieds at Fellowship of The Woodlands in 1997. A lot has changed in 10 years! In many ways, it felt as if no time had passed, but looking at the kids, it was clear lots had! I wish I'd gotten a picture of the ladies, but only managed one of the silly guys.