Galveston, TX

It seems like forever since I sketched or posted anything. My final week in Texas was a real whirlwind of activity and travel!

We drove to San Antonio, picking up Bill who flew in from Kansas, then headed to the Alamo and River Walk. Even with the holiday crowds, we had a fantastic time . . . . Bill and I decided to return to celebrate our 40th anniversary 2 years from now.

Bill and I then drove to Austin for a few days with our son, Matt and his family. Though Misty had to work much of the time, we greatly enjoyed our time with them. Three yr. old Quen and I painted together in my smaller sketchbook; I was NOT happy to find that I forgot the sketchbook when we drove back to Houston. They left the following day on a train trip to Chicago, so it will be a while before they mail it to me.

Our daughter, Kristen, has been so busy on the Galveston hospital job that we took 7-yr. old Mikala with us to Galveston to play and spend time with Kristen. I LOVE Galveston! A large portion of the population has not returned since the hurricane; there are still many buildings boarded up, abandoned. Yet there is also new construction going on. We spent Thursday and Friday at the beach.

Then the L-O-N-G drive home to Kansas, followed by unpacking (after vacuuming up excessive cat hair everywhere), laundry, catching up on bills, depositing rents, updating bookkeeping, etc. I may even have to buy groceries soon . . . .

What a wonderful time I had with kids and grandkids these past 3 months! How blessed to be able to spend time with them all --- now our youngest son, Jeff, is looking at colleges in the Houston area for when his enlistment ends in December. Texas still has quite a draw for us.