A Day at Jeff's

Sunday night we stayed at Jeff's.  Winston and Betsy were still there and we really enjoyed visiting with them until they left for the airport about noon on Monday.

The bounce house had gotten sprinkled or rained on

 and needed to be dried off before it could be enjoyed.

Good job for two Grampas.

Karl decided to get a little exercise.

Good try.

 Play Time!

 Now that was a workout!

  Totally tuckered!

 

 During the kid's nap time Jeff took Karl and I to explore model homes.

 This one was a favorite.

 I want, I want, I need.

 Dinner at Christina's Mexican restaurant, packing up 

and our brief time with Jeff's little family was over.

Ahhh....it was so hard to say good bye.

We just couldn't get enough of this cute little person

...especially knowing how much she would be changed by the next time we saw her. 

 The hard part of being "Far-away Grandparents"

Birthdays and Blessings

Saturday, November 1st, we (Chad's family and I) loaded up and drove to Dallas for some big events...

 Presley's 3 year old birthday party and Emersyn's Blessing.

Unbeknownst to us...the Texas highway department decided to shut down a section of the freeway we were on just on the outskirts of Houston.  After a frustrating hour+  of crawling traffic we maneuvered an exit, executed our own detour and were finally on our way.

Good-bye Sam Houston.
[We did keep ourselves busy getting out of Houston playing a kind of "I spy"...I would make of lists of things to watch for (i.e. American flag, yellow car and huge turkey balloon)  and Violet and Lucia would watch if it.Then they would make up a list for me.]

 Bucee's was a welcome place to stop, stretch and get a bit of refreshment.

We arrived at Jeff's alittle late for Presley's party

but just in time for  the cake and ice cream.

 The birthday girl sporting her fairy wings.

 Bounce houses always make a party fun.

 ...but Presley's playroom was really where the fun was at.

 About this time Karl pulls up in his rental car.

That is NOT the little Hyundai I had reserved.

 Cousin Time!

Emersyn's Blessing

 Sunday November 2nd

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 Emersyn all decked out in her Blessing Day best

...a blessing gown made by Gramma Jan.

 

 The Tobler group...just keeping it real :)

Now time for some serious jumping.

 and bouncing

 and sliding

and a little visiting.

So thankful for family
 and events that bring us together.

My wonderful week in Houston

That Monday (November 3rd) Clark and Rachel flew off to Costa Rica for a Wedding 

and we just kept having fun.

We played a lot of  games.

 Our favorite was Sequence
(Thank you Kyle and Kimberly) 

We practiced the piano (keyboard) to get ready for Violet's upcoming recital.

I also managed to do a little mending, cleaned and organized a few cupboards and closets, helped with laundry and cooked a few meals.
 An extra pair of hands really helped

...so Janet could re-paint the bathroom.

The Houston Zoo. 

Tuesday we picked up Violet from school and headed to the zoo for the afternoon.

Because the zoo closes at dark we had limited time so we had to choose what parts of the zoo we wanted to explore.  Just as they announced that the zoo would be closing in a few minutes we decided to make our exit through the primate area.  That was the longest, twistiest, poorly lit path and we were the only zoo guests going that way.  It was dark and creepy as we tried to find our way through it.  I felt like the place had been abandoned and I  was a bit worried that when did find the exit we'd find the gates locked.  I was relieved when we finally saw lights, a few people and the exit.

The moon was really beautiful when finally got out the zoo gates.

Violet's 1st grade Patriotic program

Violet dressed so patriotic and so cute.

They even included a slideshow of the children's relatives that are serving or have served in the military.
This was probably the first time I've teared up at an elementary school program.

It was very good.

To celebrate we went to Jimmy Changa's afterwards. 

 A favorite place.

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Hmmmm....

'

Fries.

I love that Janet cuts Chad's hair so I had to get a picture. 

 She does a good job.

Seabrook has wonderful biking/running trails!  We went jogging one day with Benicio in the jogger (I don't carry a camera or phone when I run).  Another day we were able to squeeze in a bike ride out to Dragon Park.

We ended up doing it while the girls were in school so we had to make it a very quick trip. 

Benicio may have been a little hungry at this point.
Gravel must have good fiber.

Vegas doesn't have any trails that looks like this :(

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We may have enjoyed our ride a little too much and had to  race to get  home in time for Janet to pick up Lucia from Pre-K.

Can"t get enough...see Janet prospective.