Houston

We had a wonderful weekend in Houston with my family. As I mentioned previously my little brother Jack just got home from his mission in New Jersey and so we met up in Houston for him to meet all the new family members. While Jack was gone he gained 2 brothers-in-law, a sister-in-law, and a niece! So we had a lot of catching up to do. Half of us arrived on Friday afternoon and the rest came late on Friday night. We hung out at my brother Jason and his with Nicole's apartment Friday just talking and eating dinner. Jack is still the same brother that I've always loved but he's a better version of himself since his mission. Sophie was so happy to see my family again, ESPECIALLY grandma!! She always remembers my mom and they can't get enough of each other when they're together.

Saturday we had a very full day. We woke up early and drove to NASA. Sidenote: Sophie woke up at 3:00 am Saturday morning and didn't go back to sleep until 6:00, we slept for an hour and had to get up. There was a ton of stuff to do there and we didn't get through half of it before we had to go get lunch! Sophie really liked the parts where there was open space for her to run around. It was awesome having so many helpers to keep an eye on her. I get tired of chasing her around and make her sit still but since we had 13 adults there was always someone willing to go with her so she could play some more. Consequently as soon as we laid her down in the stroller to go to the car she was fast asleep from all of the activity. We went to Wendy's for lunch and even though we tossed her around in our arms a bit she didn't stir. It reminded me of when she was brand-new and could sleep through anything. After lunch we were off to the beach in Galveston. I have always loved the beach but I haven't ever been somewhere where the water was WARM and I mean warm... it didn't even feel cold the first time I put my toes in! The water had to of been over 80 degrees, it was seriously wonderful. All the guys went out to play in the waves and were gone for hours. Most of the ladies stayed on the beach playing with Sophie. She was having the time of her life!! First of all Sophie loves the sand, second of all she loves the water she thought the waves were so fun. It was nice having it be shallow so she could walk around in the water. We didn't bring beach toys but my dad had the presence of mind to grab two plastic spoons from Wendy's. Sophie didn't let go of them the whole time we were at the beach and I let her keep one of them which was her toy of choice the rest of the trip!

After we were done at the beach we were treated to dinner at Saltgrass Steak House right there on the coast by James and Jason. Thanks guys, it was so GOOD!!! I don't think it's just because I was so hungry after playing all day either. :) As you can see, Saltgrass is "Texas to the Bone."
Sunday we had a much more relaxing day Sophie slept all night (YEAH!!!) and we went to church. After church we went to Jason and Nicole's apartment for dinner and birthday cake (it was my Dad's birthday on Monday and James' on Wednesday). We watched a funny movie called Hoodwinked after which almost everyone fell asleep on the floor. Sophie walked around harassing all the sleeping bodies. Then we went to a couple parks and let Sophie run wild, she had such a great time. Houston really is a beautiful place, it's so green there are flowers and trees everywhere. I enjoyed seeing all the unique plant life, and so did Sophie, she picked up all sorts of leafs and pine cone like things.

Monday we went to the Galleria Mall in Houston. It is HUGE!! I haven't ever seen such a big mall, they have every store on it's 3 stories you can think of plus many restaurants and a skating rink in the center. We got in as much shopping in the morning as we could. Sophie enjoyed trying on accessories while we tried on clothes, she ran around the Buckle showing everyone there her hat and necklace. Something happened there that really surprised me... she saw the big letter "B" on the wall there (it's their logo) and pointing at it said, "Bee!! bee, bee!!" It was probably a coincidence but who knows? Maybe she's just a smartie. I think my favorite store we went to was Dylan's Candy Bar they have all sorts of candy, all the old favorites and new varieties of everything. I couldn't resist getting Sophie a PEZ dispenser, but I'm pretty proud I didn't buy any candy for myself... it wasn't easy. For lunch we went to The Cheesecake Factory, I hadn't ever been there before although I have heard such great things about it! It was wonderful, we had a wonderful meal together. I decided to splurge and get Sophie a kid's menu macaroni and cheese for $8, I really wanted her to eat something substantial instead of just off my plate. Bad idea, I couldn't even get her to TRY it!! How frustrating, but she did eat all of Joni's soy beans out of her salad... silly girl.

Then that afternoon we headed over to Jenny and James' apartment to go swimming. They have a 25 yard pool so we had an official Quincy race. For those of you who don't know, all of my family (myself included) with the exception of Jenny, swam on the high school swim team. Jack excelled the most but since he hasn't been able to swim for 2 years and Jonathan is just getting started we had to have a race to settle things. Jack still won, but I think Jonathan has a fighting chance if he keeps swimming hard and getting stronger, he's only 14! Sophie wore herself out in the pool and slept on Dan's chest for a couple hours after we got back to the apartment. During the quiet time we had while Sophie slept Jack talked to us about his time in New Jersey. It was so much fun to discuss the gospel with my family, it's been a long time since we had family home evening together. When asked what was the biggest thing he learned while serving his mission Jack said it's hard to choose but he said it was the worth of one soul. And how much a difference one person can make in many other people's lives. That made me think about my parents, they had 7 children! What a wonderful thing it is that they taught us all the gospel and now we are spreading across the country teaching and serving others. I guess I never really understood why members of our church are so encouraged to have many children, but it just clicked! I love my family so much and am so grateful for each one of my siblings, their spouses and my parents. We ordered pizza that evening and ate it in the park, the weather was beautiful! Once again, I must say that taking care of Sophie was so much easier!! I love having 12 babysitters around, it's heavenly. It is difficult to play in the park with Sophie because she's at the age right now that she can climb up things but doesn't know how to get down safely, so she's constantly in peril on the playground. For dessert we had a Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake we got from the restaurant earlier. Mmmmmmm..... it was so good!!

Tuesday was our last day in Houston; Joni, Matt, and Josh went home Monday night; and Jenny, James, and Jason had to go to work Tuesday morning. But the rest of us (me, Dan, Sophie, Mom, Dad, Jack, Jonathan, and Nicole) were able to go to the temple before our flight. The Houston temple was stunning, it has a different look than any of the other temples I've attended with exquisite gardens surrounding it. My parents and Nicole did a session while Dan and Jonathan did baptisms, I played with Sophie until Dan and Jonathan were done. Then I got to do some initiatory. What a great way to end our reunion, on such a high note. I truly love the temple and am so glad that I was able to spend time there this weekend. Sophie had a blast on the grounds, she loves sidewalks and paths and there were tons! I also loved how curly her hair was in the humid Houston air, so cute.

A big THANK YOU to my parents for paying for our hotel and renting the mini van, we couldn't have done it without you. I also appreciate everyone for taking such good care of Sophie and putting up with her tantrums (she can be quite the pistol these days), that really made this seem like a vacation even more! (The picture of the left is what I had for breakfast every morning in the hotel, let's hear it for FREE Continental Breakfast!!!)

Well, that's it!! Congratulations if you made it through the whole post! :) It was a whopper and took me all day, so I commend you for reading the whole dang thing. And for those of you who just looked at the pictures... you didn't miss too much!!

Oh and by the way, I plan to change my template soon from a Spring to a Summer theme... but today's not the day. Dan now refers to blogging as World of Warcraft for women because I spend so much time doing it, he's right it's time consuming!! But so much fun, and so worth it... right?