What Oct 2024 Looked Like

 

Bea was in a horrible bike accident.

She had a traumatic brain injury and we weren't

sure if/how she would recover.

A few of us got together to make a gift for her.

We made this big banner for her

and also put together a photo book.

She was in the hospital in Winston,

right across the street from my work, so

I got to stop and visit with her on my way home

from work and drop off our gifts.

She looked SO much better than I was expecting.

Her memory is a little slow, but her personality is

still there and we're hopeful she'll make a full recovery.

Big win on Wingspan!

General Conference weekend!

The one time a year I make cinnamon rolls!

Yummy yum yum.

A beautiful sunset over Oak Hollow Lake.

Those giant inflatable ducks crack me up.

Andrew and I watched a pro Loboton match at 

Spencer Love. Pretty entertaining.

My 6.5 40+ team won our daytime league!

Yippee!

Went out to lunch to celebrate!

Unfortunately, we lost the playoff

match and didn't get to go to States.

Neither of my teams got to go. It was so sad.

I had been to Wilmington for several years in a row!

Got to watch an online training for World Relief.

I LOVE their mission. They are very Christ-focused.

This was one of the scriptures they shared. Loved it.

This random pumpkin was growing by the side 

of the neighborhood walking trail!

Bird walk with the bird club at Southwest Park.

I love when Jayne gets to come with me.

And Pam, standing next to me, is one of my favorite birders.

She's better than my Merlin app!

It blows my mind!

A random glimpse into our fridge.

I'm not sure why I have this pic....

Thursday nights = SOFTBALL!

We've loved playing together this year.

And my teammates loved having Andrew.

Bea made it home from the hospital!

Yippee! Carlos sent me this pic of her with him.

Whitney Ave!

McKayla is moving, so she's getting released as our second counselor.

That calling kind of feels like the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher--

we're always looking for a new one! The four of us loved serving together.

Me (1st counselor), Mykie (secretary), Rebecca (president), McKayla (2nd counselor)

I never know what the Khats are going to send home with me.

This week it was this mysterious green fruit.

Google believes it is a passionfruit?

The Khats never know the English words

for the fruits, so it's an adventure!

Bea was up for a short visit.
Jayne and I stopped by for about 15 minutes.

Oh, how we loved hugging her neck and 

catching up for a bit.

Some gorgeous flowers around the

Texas temples.

I think this was in San Antonio.

Look at their stained glass!

It was GORGEOUS!!

And my Camilla started to bloom!

I always love those pink blossoms in the fall.

Emily and I got to go to the temple together.

Love spending time with her.

A couple of Halloween pics of Caroline at silks.

Always beautiful!

The trees around the neighborhood lake are at peak!

Found the tiniest dead baby snake on my walk.

More fall beauty!

My Halloween "costume" this year 

involved just putting these stickers on my face.

I loved it!

Except I kinda waxed my eyebrows when I took them off....

And not in a good way.

Texas Temples Field Trip Oct 2024

My parents invited me to come out to Texas and visit some temples with them. Yes, please! It was so much fun to have them to myself for a few days. We made it to three temples: Houston, McAllen, and San Antonio. 

It was my first time flying standby with B's flight benefits.

It's so fun!

I can't believe it works!

First temple: Houston

Each of the temples we visited was so beautiful.

I don't get to be in the temple with my 

parents very often, so it was such a treat.

Actually, the last time we were together in the

temple may have been 1997, when I got married! Wow!

Ate lots of yummy food

My parents are on a quest to find a geocache in

every county in Texas--all 254 of them!

We found a few new ones on this trip.

The grasshoppers in TX are HUGE!

I remember them as a kid, but I wasn't

sure if I was mis-remembering them,

because I haven't seen one in a long time.

Nope, they're still there and still HUGE.

Buc-ee's!

I can't buy everything that I see when I'm flying,

so I had to use restraint.

Another cache!

A teeny tiny one!

And another!

And more yummy food--we ate lots of Mexican

Fun waffles at the hotel

We spent some time in Goliad.

They have a couple of cool, old missions.

This one is at Goliad State Park.

We did some birding in that area and I got

a couple of new lifers:

Golden-fronted Woodpecker and

Green Jay!

So gorgeous!

Had fun looking around at the artifacts.

Love these pretty old doors.

Thought this was interesting decor 

on the side of the mission.

Beautiful inside.

And more pretty doors.

We have relatives that were buried there in Goliad.

My third great Grandmother,

Refugia Ramos Garcia

Her son, my great-uncle

Merced Ramos Garcia

Near the cemetary is another historic site,

the Presidio la Bahia.

There's the historic Six Flags that have flown over Texas,

but there are actually NINE flags that have flown over Goliad!

Interesting to read about that history. 

Another beautiful chapel.

This flag was kinda gruesome,

with blood drops falling from the arm...

can't see it clearly in my pic.

After our historical tour,

we headed to downtown Goliad. 

They had some cute shops.

And a cool courthouse.

We went to Dairy Queen.

In TX, they always hold them upside down

before they hand them to you to show you how

thick they are. I love that! It reminds me of Grandma Cuca.

Got to see a few scissor-tailed flycatchers.

I love them!

They're common in this part of TX,

but it's the only place I've seen them.

Also got to see a new lifer--

the crested cara cara,

those two on the left of this picture.

Yay!

Aguas frescas!

Yum!

Ummm...

I need this restaurant in NC.

Why aren't there more healthy options for eating out???

Next stop: the McAllen Temple

Isn't the architecture beautiful?

Oh, I love it!

We got to do an endowment session here in Spanish.

It was the best!

They put closed-captioning at the bottom and with

that, I understood almost all of it!

So exciting! It made me want to serve a Spanish-speaking

mission RIGHT NOW.

A close-up of some of the details on the exterior.

Another yummy Mexican place for dinner.

The next morning, we were off to San Antonio!

Our third and final temple of this trip.

What a spiritual feast!

Lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings where we could

watch the first half of the BYU football game.

Perfect!

Then off to our hotel to watch the second half.

My mom's cousin, Andy, works for Marriott and

was able to get us a nice room right in 

downtown San Antonio.

He had these beautiful charcuterie boards

waiting for us in our room. So thoughtful!

That evening we went down to the 

River Walk. Andrew had been there for

work years ago, but I had never been.

It's such a great downtown!

There happened to be a Mexican dancing performance

at the amphitheater while we were walking around.

There are lots of souvenir shops in the area.

Happy to see Andrew and Andrea together. :)

Also fun to see Sweetheart and Hottie together.

On Sunday we went to church in a ward

there in San Antonio.

Had dinner at a BBQ place.

Took dinner to our cousin who's in a nursing home, Danny.

It was good to visit with him.

He's young (50's?), but had a stroke and left him

unable to walk or work.

Found a few more caches throughout the trip.

A pic from our room balcony with the hotel pool in the background.

And in the morning, we took a quick walk to the Alamo before

heading to the airport for me to start heading home.

The flights home were all full, so I ended up having 

to buy my ticket instead of flying standby.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

We're still learning the ropes.

So grateful for these few days to have my parents to myself, to visit with a couple extended family members, and to spend lots of time worshipping in the temple. Loved it.