Visitors

Last month, my parents came out for a week long visit to Texas. It was a crazy busy week, but it was fantastic! A few months before coming out, my mom placed an order for a good thunderstorm while they were here and the forecast was perfect!

Monday afternoon, my parents flew in and we went out for some BBQ and check out the state capitol. I learned some fun facts that I didn't know like Texas has a part-time legislator that meets every other year. Also the capitol building is taller than the capitol building in Washington D.C. and is the largest of all the other state capitol buildings. It's also open until 8 PM on weekends and 10 PM on weeknights. If you go in the evening like we did, parking is free too.

On Tuesday, Jonathan went to work as usual but no one else was there so he came home and we played! My parents had the goal of seeing three temples during their visit, so we headed up to Dallas to see the temple there.

It is so much prettier in real life. Pictures don't do it justice at all!

I caught Mom & Dad taking a selfie together!

After the temple, we headed over to Fort Worth to see a real life cattle drive.

We got there just as it started.

After the cattle drive, we wandered around the area.

Texas has it's very own trail of fame. We saw many familiar names as we walked around.

We also checked out the Cowtown Coliseum next to the stockyards.

Sometime Jonathan and I will go to a rodeo here.

On Wednesday, we were invited to our friend's neighborhood 4th of July Parade. 

It was the real deal with a marching band and lots of floats.

We had plans to spend the evening with some old friends from Roseville and they live close to San Antonio. We decided to head down early to see the San Antonio Temple as well as the Alamo and River Walk. This was the first really humid day for them and as we were driving to our friend's house it turned into a big beautiful thunderstorm! When we got to our friend's house we hung out on the front porch and enjoyed the storm.

On Thursday, Mom and I hung around the neighborhood. I showed her some of my favorite stores including the 4 story Restoration Hardware. It was such an enjoyable day that I didn't take any pictures.

On Friday, Mom and I headed down to Waco. She's a big fan of Fixer Upper and the trip would not be complete without a visit to the famous Magnolia Market at the Silos. I have done enough research to know that going on the weekends is a terrible idea because it's crazy busy with lines that are reminiscent of Disneyland. Don't worry, it was still plenty busy!

 

The staff was very busy, but very helpful.

After shopping, we headed outside. It was really hot so while I waited for our pizza, Mom got us giant (must be Texas-sized) slushies.

A visit would not be complete without a picture in front of the silos!

Our next stop in Waco was to Harp Design Co. It's a cute little store with a lot of really nice products.

On our way back, I was able to do some digging and found a few of the houses in the area that had been on Fixer Upper. Since I've only seen little snippets of the show, my mom said that all of the houses were still in very good shape.

Saturday was another big day since Jonathan was around to play! We headed down to Houston to see the our third temple of the trip and then to Galveston to see the beach. It was a beautiful day with big fluffy clouds.

I fell in love with the Houston Temple both the building and the grounds. I can't wait to go back and go inside.

After the temple we drove past the Houston Space Center. Yet another thing Jonathan and I will need to check out on another day. We then headed down to the beach! Along the way, the heavens opened and it was pouring down rain for a few miles and then it was back to big fluffy clouds. The water in Galveston is a lot murkier than Mustang Island Beach, but it still felt great.

While we were enjoying the water, we saw another storm roll by.

I've never really seen pelicans flying around before. When they land on the water it seriously looks they are dive bombing as they crash into the water. They are not particularly graceful birds.

On Sunday, we went to church at our normal time of 8:30 AM. We were able to introduce my parents to a few people before we ran off to Primary. After we all had Sunday naps, we had dinner and watched the British Grand Prix together. Okay, it was mostly Jonathan and I that were watching it, but it was still on the TV.

On Monday, we visited Jonathan while he was at work and he gave us a tour of The Home Depot Technology Center. It was my first time there as well as my parents. I am really impressed with their office and the work that they are getting done there. They have very strict security and we had badges made up for us and lanyards for us to wear them. My dad asked if he could keep it since he collects keychains and lanyards. The security guard was nice enough to let him keep it. We all went out to lunch before my parents needed to get to the airport for their flight back. Fortunately, they got to the airport with plenty of time before their flight. Unfortunately, there was a big storm that delayed their flight for hours.

It was fantastic to spend an entire week with them so they could see a bit of Texas and our wonderful life here.