Visit from Jeff Tew Fam

Thank you Jeff, Heather, and family for making what was going to be a regular weekend turn into lots of fun by coming to visit!  

 

Miss K decided to try out J's Jumper.  She loved it :)

Sea World was the big hit this trip.  Here they are waiting to feed the dolphins. 

The little kiddos played in the water while the "big boys" went on the roller coasters.  A is almost tall enough.  She said, "Next time I come here, I will be a big girl.  Big enough to ride the Steel Eel!!"  I thought that was cute.  
Jax loved the little splash pad they had there!
I didn't take a swimsuit for him with me but next time I will for sure. 

 Highlights of this visit: 3 games of Settlers of Catan, lunch at Chachos and Chaluchi's, a day at Sea World, and dinner at Bun n Barrel.

New (to me) Tews Come for a Visit

Mark's uncle, aunt, and cousin came to SA for a little get-away a few weeks ago.  It was my first time meeting them and it's nice to know we have some fantastic family members as fellow Texans! :)  We had dinner together on Friday and then did a few things on Saturday before they went on their trek back home to Houston.  We went to the "other" missions (besides the Alamo).  They were really neat!  The first one, Mission Concepcion, had some neat architectural features.  We liked how they found and left some of the original paint colors on the walls.  Also, they still do Mass here on Sundays.  I think it would be interesting to go sometime. 

 

Cora showing how small the doors were.  Mark pretty much had to pull out some yoga to get through :)

 Mission #2 San Jose (below)--This one was also pretty cool.  I liked how it showed how the people lived--their little (very little) houses, the community areas, the big water wheel, how they cooked their food, etc.  It was interesting. 

 Check out the cactus on the roof (top l).  This Mission had some serious detail on one side (top r).  You can't see it that well in the picture, though.  I guess life is always better when it's real as opposed to pics.  :)

Thank you other Texan Tews for coming out for a lovely visit!

On a Walk...

One of my favorite things about San Antonio so far is our {almost} daily walk on the beautiful trails here.  I just love it!  It's relaxing and beautiful all at the same time.  We go most mornings and there are a couple of parks that are real close to our house, which is nice and convenient.

 Join us on one of my favorite trails.....

 This kiddo is ready for some fun!  He is such a good boy on our walks.  He looks around and kicks his little chubby legs over and over.  We often see people walking their dogs and he gets excited flapping his legs and arms and smiling when he sees the puppies. 

I'm rocking my tie-die shirt today :)  True hippie. :)

This is my view on the trails.  I love it.  Look at that cute little foot! 

Sights on the trail...

  I've always loved flowers.  The wildflowers on the trails are so pretty.  I particularly like that one with the dainty red flower.  San Antone's landscape is interesting.  There is cactus but also jungle-looking plants too.  We see and hear all sorts of beautiful birds. ("Just one more and I have exotic bird bingo!" What movie???)  We've also seen quite a few small deer.  It's strange how tame they are.  They don't even really flinch when they see people walking around.  They just go about their business.  

 Thanks for joining us on our walk (via blog)!  Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Vegas

 We (Lace and Jax) took a little trip to Vegas where we met up with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Ed.  We had  such a great time!  It was such a needed, enjoyable get-away.  We both enjoyed the swimming, going out to eat, Jabbawokees show, and just hanging out.  I love just hanging out with my peeps.  It's delightful!....and makes me a little homesick just thinking about it. 

On with the report: 

 We walked around the Belagio one afternoon and were amazed at the artsy flower arrangements.  Now I want to be a Florist.  (Kimi--when are we starting up our business???)  We even talked to some arrangers for a minute.  They re-do the arrangements every few days.  It sounds like a cool job to me but maybe you would get sick of it if you were doing it ALL THE TIME.  I'm not sure.  Their creations were really cool!   

 We were also amazed by this bakery/shop inside of the Belagio.  Look at this woman made of chocolate!  ORNATE is the best word I can come up with for these little treats and cakes.  (Ornate is one of my mom's favorite words too so it's perfect!) I bet they tasted as good as they looked too!  Now we officially have an entire wedding planned with the flowers and the treats...no one is getting married at the moment but we are prepared when the time comes.  :)

 The summer-themed flower garden was also picture-worthy.  We loved the flags along with the upside down umbrellas.  Who dreams up these things??!!  Creative. 

        This is the view from outside our window.  We thought it looked just like "The Capitol" from Hunger Games.  (It did!!!)  

And...some of the people in Vegas looked "Captiol-ish" as well.

 We went swimming a couple of times.  Jax loves swimming.  He loves to splash his hands in the water. These are pictures of the mini-zoo inside of the Mirage.  

We met up with Diane and Chris, Tishelle, and Kiddos for a few hours. (Thanks again for making the drive down.  And thanks Tishelle's mom for letting them borrow your SUV). There are dolphins behind us, if you cant tell.  They did a few jumps out of the water. Just like Sea World! 

 Above: The little boy cousins together.  I have to add in that at one point, Cameron had Jax laughing almost to the point of tears by jumping and throwing a paper up in the air about 50 times.  Simple Pleasures.   

Below: These white tigers were cool too!

Rrrroooaaaarrrrr!  

Extra things:  

-We went shopping at ROSS...twice... and spent a lot of money on some mega-cute items.

-My mom bought a CD from a street-rapper.  She's so nice.  Way to encourage the arts and music, Mom! ;)

-Why are there no pictures of Dad?  He was there too.  Or Diane?  She was there too.  (Because I didn't take my camera and these are just a few Smartphone pics from the Smartpeople)

-What are Mormons with young children doing in Vegas?  Just hanging out.  Clean fun only.

Thanks for the fun visit, all of you!

Rain.

The rain storms here are CRAZY.  I had forgotten since last time we lived in Texas/Arkansas!  I just thought I'd document it.  It's amazing what the weather can do in a matter of minutes!

7 months

Happy Independence Day!

We started the celebration by going to a San Antonio Missions Baseball game with John, Maddie, and Eli on July 3rd.  The weather was pleasant;; We had great seats; It was $2 Tuesday; The home team won!  Couldn't have asked for a better kick-off to celebrating USA!

The 4th was filled with yummy BBQ food, family Farkle game time, and just lounging around chatting.  It was so laid-back and enjoyable.  Thank you John and Family for joining us.

 

Maddie and I made our own version of this Patriotic Poke Cake and she had the brilliant idea to put a star on it with blueberries outlining it.  We were so proud of ourselves when it was all said and done because it was looking a little scary there for a while :)  So we documented our success by taking lots of pictures :)

We have enjoyed living near the military folk for the last few years due to Mark's jobs on Army posts.  It has truly given us a deeper appreciation for the sacrifice they and their families make.  We appreciate our great country and the freedoms we enjoy daily.  I love how the spirit of patriotism is almost tangible on days like this.  What a great holiday and reason to celebrate!

 GOD BLESS AMERICA.