Fruity Surprise

We've been doing the Bountiful Baskets program for several weeks now and  we've enjoyed it.  We like the surprise factor of it and the produce has been good quality too.  We came across a surprise fruit in our last basket!  It looks like a cantaloupe on the outside.  When I cut into it, I just thought it was very under-ripe but then I tasted it and no....it was sweet and delicious! We kept going back and forth.  Is it a honeydew? Is it an albino cantaloupe?  Or is it something else????

It turned out that wikipedia saved the day (and the little sticker that was on the melon--ha ha).  Yep, it IS something else.  A Galia.  They are delicious!  The cantaloupe and honeydew got married and this is their offspring.  If you ask us, it's better than a cantaloupe or a honeydew.  But then again, I think it was perfectly ripe and when you get practically ANY fruit (except papaya) in its prime perfectly ripe and that sweet juicy flesh bursts in your mouth, you think in your mind that it must be the best fruit in the world.  At least that's what I do.  This now makes our list of absolutely delicious (and a bit surprising) fruits.  You should try it!   

8 Months

July Randomness

Mark has been playing a little ball.  His team took 2nd in the league!  They were all TICKED that they lost (for a variety of reasons which I won't go in to) which made the end of the game awkward for me and my little baby.  But, I was proud of my hubby for totally keeping his cool and making some great plays during the game too.  He is an all-star.  And, no, I'm not biased or anything. :)

  It was PIONEER DAY!  I wanted to celebrate since were Utahns at heart and have ancestors who sacrificed so much for us and the gospel.  Next year I'm committing to making homemade taffy and doing some activities.  But this year, I settled for Pioneer Brand Biscuits for breakfast (with homemade peach-blueberry jam).  This was  such a yummy breakfast-- unhealthy, yes, but festive and delicious!  We also watched the 17 Miracles show.  I was again reminded of the sacrifices so many made for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   

 Does it ever amaze you how strong babies are?  This was J's favorite spot in our rental house.  He was awfully proud of himself every time he managed to get up on this thing. 

 We tried out BBQ Pizza from this website. 

 We loved it and highly recommend it to you.  It's not really the prettiest dish but it sure tastes good!

Jax loves Cheerios.  This month, he managed to go from being pretty inaccurate with picking them up and missing his mouth frequently to  picking them up and eating them so fast that we can't keep up with him.  Good job, little buddy!

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!