Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Thursday, September 25, 2014

TEXAS Trip to Visit Family and Friends (9-18 to 9-24, 2014)

On the Road to Texas,  we stopped to see Noccalula Falls in Gadsden,  Alabama (9/18)
George and I had a wonderful trip this past week to Texas ---to visit family and friends... I have two (of three) sons who live there  and since I lived there for 12 years (before moving back to Tennessee),  I have TONS of friends there also... SO---we took this trip to get lots of hugs and love from those wonderful Texas people!!!!

Today I will share with you some of the personal photos we took while there... AND--as you can imagine,  we did alot of things while there, so I'm sure we will show many more photos in upcoming blogs telling about this fabulous trip.

The photo above was taken on our way to Texas on 9/18.  We love to break up our trips by stopping to see some waterfalls.  This time we stopped at Gadsden,  Alabama at the Noccalula Falls Park.  You can't tell it by this photo--but that waterfall is 90 feet high..  This is a gorgeous waterfall AND park --so if you ever get to Alabama,  check it out. 


Our first night in Texas (9/19),  we had dinner with my son,  Mark,  at Jimmy Changas Mexican Restaurant;  Mark is my middle son --who lives in League City, Texas.



The next day (9/20),  we drove to Galveston, Texas where my eldest son,  Bert (who is called Tre except to family and old friends) lives in a beautiful resort area on the west beach of Galveston.  (Mark is on the left and Bert is on the right.  These two brothers look alike although Bert was born in 1963 and Mark in 1970.)


Three of the FOUR men in my life:  Son Mark,  Sweetie George and Son Bert;  (Wish you could have been here,  Jeff --my youngest son).


Mom and son,  Bert,  on the Strand in downtown Galveston



Mark,  a HAPPY Mom,  and Bert



We took a ride on the ferry boat from Glaveston Island to Port Boliver (and the Boliver Peninsula)--and,  as you can tell,  it was quite WINDY!!!! ha..   BUT--our weather the entire time while there was EXCELLENT.  It wasn't too hot/humid --and the rains stayed away!  Yeah!



Three wonderful Men:  Mark,  Bert and George,  on the ferry boat toward the Boliver Peninsula;



We drove to San Marcos (9/21) to see Mark's oldest daughter,  Bay Lee,  who is in college at Texas State University.   We had a fantastic day with this beautiful young lady --and her pooch!!!



Here is a very happy Papa--and his beautiful Bay Lee.   Mark is a fantastic father to his two daughters, and I am very proud of this Granddaughter--and her Daddy.



On 9/22,  we spent 4 hours with about 35+ friends at Clear Lake United Methodist Church,  where I worked for 12 years before moving to Tennessee.  This photo is  of just some of the people we saw--since it was a 'come and go' get-together.  It was SO much fun --and many of these people had not met George.  SO--I enjoyed showing him off to my friends!!!


"George and his Women" ----George was in 7th Heaven with all of that attention.  I told all of those beautiful women though that they couldn't have him.  He is MINE.... ha



Hmmmmm--wonder what these guys (Mark, George and Bert)  are looking at on TV??????? There was a beautiful woman on there --and it captured ALL of their attention...  They didn't even notice that I was taking pictures... ha ha   (This was at Mark's apartment on 9/22 --before we went to see his daughter, Brooke, play softball.)





Mark and his other beautiful daughter,  Brooke.  On the evening of 9/22,  we all went to Brooke's softball game and then out to dinner.  Brooke is a Senior and will be going to Texas State next year also.  I love this photo of Brooke and Mark. 
Well---you can see that we had a great trip ---and saw a lot of people while there.  We went-went-went from early morning to late at night every day!!!!  My goal was to spend time with both sons (Bert and Mark) --and also two Granddaughters,  Bay Lee and Brooke, who live in Texas.   AND--I wanted to see many old friends,  most of which I have caught up with on Facebook since being gone from that area for 14 years.  AND--we did all of this!!!

As I said above,  we will talk about some of the things we did in other upcoming blogs.  BUT--I wanted to show off my family/friends in this post.  Hope you enjoyed seeing all of them!!!

Hugs,