It's all good . . .

Lily's Mission Conference

**Since I wasn't there for this event, I figured that I would get Lily to tell the story of her day in her own words.**

Hello, everyone! Lily here--well, Sister Brown, at the present--to tell you all about my Mission Conference!

Not just any mission conference, though--this was one for all service missionaries in the entire Southwest United States! And I got to be at the building it was broadcast from! It was such a cool experience.

But before we actually got to the conference, Dad and I made a quick stop at the nearby Round Rock Donuts to try out their world-famous donuts. We each got a regular glazed donut and a maple donut, and they definitely lived up to the title of "world famous". They also sold GIANT donuts!The conference proper started with all of us getting to work on a service project. We decorated lunch bags that would be used for lunches for preschoolers! It was a lot of fun, and I had fun chatting with my fellow missionaries as we did it. At one point, four of us decided to draw whales.

After that, we headed into the chapel to begin our instruction. The first speaker gave us a great lesson about how we as missionaries should try our best to make sure to study from Preach My Gospel, even though we weren't teaching missionaries. Then, we split up into smaller groups for more lessons. My mission leaders, Elder and Sister Burgett, gave one of these smaller lessons. They taught us about how we can feast upon the word of Christ. Elder Burgett wore a chef's hat, and the two leaders passed out fork-shaped wooden bookmarks for us!

After the lessons, we went to have lunch. They gave us chicken salad sandwiches, but luckily for me, I was able to get one of the croissants before the chicken salad was added. My dad was not as lucky as me, so luckily for him, we also had cookies!

Then came time for the a actual conference and broadcast--though as I said, we were the building that was broadcasting, so I was there in-person for all the talks! But the coolest part had to be the closing song. Why? Because MY mission was the ones to sing it! A few weeks prior, we got together to practice singing "If The Savior Stood Beside Me", and then we got to sing it in front of everyone to close off the broadcast!

After that, there was still an hour left for us who were at the building. That hour was spent by all of us missionaries playing a guessing game, followed by a lesson on what it means to be a disciple. Well, and photographs, of course!

On our way home, Dad and I made a couple of stops. Our first stop was Rosa's Tortilla Factory for some dinner. I got some crispy tacos, and Dad got some burritos. We also got some extra tortillas to bring home. Then, later on, we stopped at Buckee's for some BBQ sandwiches as a second dinner, and we saw a ton of birds outside!  This was all in all a really fun day, and I'm so glad I was able to have this experience--and that Dad was there with me!

Arthur's Veteran's Day Concert

Because Arthur is in the fourth grade this year, it meant he had the opportunity to audition for the school Honor Choir.  He made the choir, and so every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 7:05 am, he has been going to choir practice.  The night before Veteran's Day, they had a special choir concert and Veteran's Day celebration, and so the whole family went to watch.

They had a color guard from the Reagan High School ROTC come, and the choir sang the National Anthem - they did fantastic.

All of their songs were patriotic and fabulous, but my favorite was probably the military medley, and Kevin got to stand up during the Army song. So fun!

They even gave out medals to all the veterans in the audience, and Arthur got to give one to Kevin. It was such a fun night, and we are so proud of Arthur and how great he did! this was his first ever choir concert, and we look forward to many more years of watching him sing :).

Here is a video of his performance :).

Beginning November

November snuck up on us, just like all the months and days seem to do.  I feel like the older I get, the more quickly the time slips through my fingers. Luckily, we were able to find some moments to remember in the hustle and bustle of life.  For example, Kevin just happened upon an opportunity to be a guest at the pre-opening of a Black Bear Diner in San Antonio, and so the two of us got to be there as they trained their staff.  We had a delicious dinner - on the house - and they even gave us cute little chocolate cream pie samples for dessert.  Such a fun time! And totally worth driving to the bottom of San Antonio to go there.

On Saturday, Kevin asked me out for a golf date, and we had so much fun!! The weather was gorgeous and the man who played with us was very nice, and he even forgave me for the two times my shot went straight for him in his cart, almost hitting him. Luckily, he also learned not to trust that my shot wouldn't go astray, and to stay beside of behind me - ha ha! I even played my best round so far, finishing thing up on the 18th hole with a 145 yard uphill drive that landed ten feet from the hole on the fringe. And I two putted for par!! Wahoo! I love golfing with Kevin.

Another thing that happened was that Kevin went to ward choir (after four personal invitations from our Bishop, who just happened to be directing the choir)!! It was a miracle, and since he went, we made it a family affair. It is pretty fun going to choir as a family, and I think everyone is actually enjoying it, although Arthur's favorite part is getting the treat at the end ;).

Sunday night, we had sundaes for dessert, and Arthur was not only excited about the ice cream, but about the pretty ice cream dish he got to eat it in.  Good times!

Speaking of Arthur, Tuesday just happened to be a day off of school, and so I took advantage of the opportunity to cut both Derek and Arthur's hair. Arthur begged me for "spikey hair," and I did my best to oblige (even if the clippers malfunctioned a little.  Luckily, once it is spiked, it all works great, and more importantly, he LOVES it. And now he actually fixes his hair every morning. Total win!

Derek took advantage of the day off of school to go to the San Antonio Temple to perform baptisms for the dead. He went all by himself, and I was so grateful that my sweet boy loves being in the temple as much as we do.

When I dropped Derek off, I stopped in at the Distribution Center to visit Lily, who was working a shift there. I hadn't been in since they had finished the remodel, and it was so nice and pretty in there. She loved getting to show me around.  Later, Derek stopped in to visit her on his way home, which was very fun.

Wednesday, we were all back to our normal schedules, and Arthur was super excited, because all the students got new Chrome Books to use at school. They used to have only one set for the whole grade level, but now there are enough for each student, which is awesome.

As for me, when I haven't been busy subbing, I have been busy designing and pricing cabinets. One day, when I had a lot of pricing to do, which meant I didn't necessarily have to be stuck at my desk like when I am drawing.  Because of that, I was able to do it while I watched a Hallmark Christmas movie.  I know it's a bit early for Christmas, but it's all good.  I am ready for a little extra Christmas cheer this year.  It is the perfect way to begin November.

A Happy Halloween Weekend

Our Halloween Weekend was packed full of fun activities and we starting things off on Friday Night with a costume party murder mystery night, Murder in Sin City that my friend Jana put on.  She had transformed her house into a Casino in Vegas, and each of us had roles to play. Kevin was Bobby Flynn, casino owner, and I was his wife, Allana Flynn, former Miss Las Vegas - which meant I wore a tiara ;).

There was fantastic food, dancing, entertainment, and even Elvis. We talked and laughed, sometimes in character and sometimes not.

And let’s not forget the murder. I even got a prize for being one of the four people who guessed the murderer. What a fun night!

Then on Saturday evening, it was our ward Trunk or Treat.  Actually, we combined with a second (and much larger) ward for the night, so the place was packed! Arthur was Harry Potter, and we were so happy with how his costume turned out.  He wore Derek's Gryffindor tie and a scarf and glasses Kevin bought, and I even spray painted his hair black and drew on a scar.

Lily dressed up in my witch costume, and so Arthur wanted to cast spells at her.

And Derek had just finished a shift at work, and so he went as a McDonalds Employee.  When we got to the party, the boys found their friends and had a blast,  I had to get pictures, especially when Derek was sitting with his friend, Paul, in the "Kissing Booth" their family had put together.

Kevin was the super amazing one though. He had set up a mini golf hole - “Mini Golf of Doom” - where you had to pay a piece of candy to play, but you a chance to win 2, 3, or 4 pieces of candy if you got the ball in the hole.  He had a huge line all night long, and even though there were only ten winners for the entire night, everyone had fun and nobody cried . Kids even came back to play more than once.

The craziest part of the whole thing was that the bowl of candy on the right that we brought to give away is still full, and then we came home with the one on the left that was filled with the payments the kids made to play the game. The house always wins .

On Sunday evening, Lily and I made caramel apples, except that we experimented with cutting the apples first.  They were so yummy, and easier to eat, but the juices from the apples made the caramel melt and ooze, so it was a very messy endeavor, and sort of negated the ease of eating them because of the mess.  Oh well, they were still delicious ;).

Monday was Halloween, and so for fun, I went to the school and read a book to Arthur's class.  It was very fun, and I love getting to do things like that for the class. After school, we had our traditional "mummy dogs" dinner, but this year I cut them in half and tired using puffed pastry instead.  I liked them, but it sort of made them look like swaddled babies instead of mummies.  Oh well. Ha ha! And I had bought a pumpkin pie at Costco for dessert, so all was well with the world ;).

Kevin had had a Halloween party at work, and was kind enough to get all dressed up in his costume for me so I could get a picture.  He was Yukon Cornelius from the movie "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer," and it was perfect! So fun!

Then it was time for trick-or-treating.

Arthur was once again dressed as Harry Potter, and I was a little better at spray painting his hair this time.  Derek wore Kevin's old Chewbacca costume and took Arthur around trick-or-treating, and Lily handed out candy.  It was awesome! Kevin and I were totally free to do whatever. Good times. And wow, the boys got a ton of candy.

It was a great Halloween weekend, and so much better than our stress filled adventure the year before when we were in the middle of renovation craziness.

October Comes to a Close

The month of October seemed to fly by, but mixed into the business of life were some pretty wonderful moments.  I especially loved the spectacular sunrise on my walk the other day. The sky was ablaze with light, and there was our house, right there in the picture. It was one of those special moments of peace and reflection.

One of the really special highlights recently was on Tuesday, when I got to attend the temple with my sister, Wendy. I can't tell you how truly grateful I am to live near her, and we have decided to have monthly temple dates. Not only was the temple great, but then we got to have lunch and talk for a while before she had to head back to Austin.  Such a blessing!

Something else that happened this week - I finally gave up on the giant mum I bought at Costco.  I think it came diseased, as most of it never even opened.  I have never had a mum die on me before, especially like that.  Oh well.  I tossed it in the trash.

And then I had to get a few more cool pumpkins from HEB to take its place.  They look so pretty! And they were on sale, so I was able to get a bunch of them - and I can keep them out until Thanksgiving.

One super fun and exciting thing was last week when Kevin got to be a Watch DOG (Dads Of Great Students) at Las Lomas. I just happened to be teaching that day, which made it extra fun. He spent the day at the school, and started things out helping with PreK and Kindergarten (talk about baptism by fire - ha ha!), followed by helping in the library. He had a little free time and Arthur's class was out, and so he came and hung out with the class I was teaching in 4th grade. He got to go out to recess with Arthur and even played Gaga Ball with him. After that, he got to go to lunch with Arthur (and it just happened to be the Cook Out day where Mr. Massi grills for the teachers, and so he got extra special lunch). And at the end of the day, he was able to help with dismissal. I think both he and Arthur had so much fun!

On Saturday, they were having a special event at Texas Cookie Shop, and our friends, the Middletons, just happened to be there as well.  And of course, we had to get a selection of cookies to eat later - yum!

Monday found Lily and I at early voting at the library.  It was her very fist time getting to vote, since last year she was in Idaho and didn't technically have Texas residency yet. I am so glad we voted, and I loved being there with my girl. And yes, we did have to wait in an hour long line, but it was worth it.
Last Wednesday was our night for our Primary Girls' Activity, and we decided to paint pumpkins with the girls.  They absolutely loved it, and I wish I had gotten a picture of each of their finished pumpkins, as they were so cute! I am so blessed to get to work with these amazing girls!

Something fun and random that I did this week, was to fill out this chart of how much you have traveled and experienced the United States, where you got points for living in a state, visiting it, or even passing through.  I was pretty happy with my score, and at some point I really need to hit all those New England states that I am missing.  And Alaska and Hawaii, although I have no clue when or how I will ever get to North Dakota - ha ha!

And to finish off some of our fun and random adventures, Kevin and I went to a brand new drink place that opened up near where we live, Drank: Lone Star Soda Shop.  Places like these are Kevin's favorites, as it means soda with extra fun flavors.  In fact, we have a cupboard full of syrups for when he wants to make one at home.  They also had flavored lemonade, which was so very yummy! I got one called Cactus Juice, and it was so good!

Good Times with Friends

Last week I got a text from a friend who was throwing a 50th Birthday party for our good friend, Sharon. They were going to go hiking, go out to dinner, and then stay the night in New Braunfels at the Schlitterbaun Resort (because you can get great deals in the off season). Well, I knew I couldn't make it to the hike and dinner because of the Las Lomas Fall Festival, but decided to join up with the ladies at the resort for the slumber party portion of the fun, and I am so glad I did!

I arrived just before the group, and then we got checked into our rooms, and headed straight for the pool.  It was really nice out, and we just hung out in the pool talking for over an hour.  Then we went back to the larger of our two rooms for a party. We started off with singing to Sharon and having dessert, which is always fun.

Then we played a "How Well Do You Know Sharon" game, and even though some of the questions were a bit tricky (as in, Sharon didn't even know the answer), I managed to get third place and win a prize - wahoo!!

We then proceeded to stay up until almost 2:30am talking and laughing.  It was so much fun!!  The next morning, after sleeping in a bit, Jana made us all a fabulous breakfast. Then some of the group had to head out for other things, but a few of us went to Gruene and wandered through their fun shops. We even found some interesting things, like this gigantic wind chime shop.  Who knew??

It was so much fun, and I sure loved filling my bucket with all the laughter and conversation.  I feel so incredibly blessed to have such a fantastic group of friends here in Texas.  The Lord really blessed me, that's for sure, and I am grateful for times together like these that allow me to strengthen those friendships.  (and I am still kicking myself that I didn't get a picture of our entire group - there were 9 of us there.)

PS. The day was not completely over, because when Kevin and I were on our date, I told him about one of our conversations about his beard the night before, which led to him braiding it at dinner (gag!) and good times ensued as I texted the pictures to the ladies.

Oh, and Kevin and I FINALLY got pie at the Buttermilk Pie Company, which we have been waiting for them to open for six months or more.  Good times.

Fall Festivals and Fun

I love all the fun things that Autumn brings, and although some of those things look and feel a little different here in Texas than they did in Pennsylvania,  there are still fun adventures.  One of the things we do a little differently is to paint our pumpkins instead of carving them, because like it was in Georgia when Derek and Lily were little, they only last a couple days once they are carved.  Well, Arthur's school has a Storybook Pumpkin contest where the kids make their pumpkins into characters from books.  Arthur couldn't do it last year because of the chaos in our home, and so this year he couldn't wait to create his pumpkin - a Picachu pumpkin. Lily helped him with it, and it turned out great. 

One of our recent adventures was when Derek had to cook three meals for his Health and Nutrition class.  We also had to document it all with pictures, and so I had plenty of pictures to choose to remember it. He did a great job, and I was proud of him.  I wish I had my kids cook more often, but it seems like they are always gone or busy that time of the evening.  I mean, Derek doesn't even get home from school until almost 5pm.

As part of our autumn fun, for our Primary Activity girls, we had them made cookie haunted houses.  They had a blast, and because the boys were decorating cookies, they gave us some of their extras, and so the girls got to decorate more than just their haunted house. And their favorite part was when they got to eat them.  Good times!

Like I mentioned before, Arthur's activity was also decorating cookies, and he had a blast.  And he gave me a couple of them as a treat.

The weather has been beautiful - the heat of the summer is going away, and so the afternoons and evenings are just perfect.  Lily decided to take advantage of it by hanging out in the hammock in the back yard.

On Friday evening, it was time for the annual Fall Festival at Arthur's school.  It is always a fun night, and we really look forward to it.  And this year, Lily got to come as well.

We had a bunch of tickets, which we could use for games, food, and other activities. Arthur headed straight for the bounce houses, and since we went there first, there was no line. He also got to do the ax throwing (luckily they were foam axes - ha ha!) and got a bullseye.  Then it was on to the different games put together by the grade levels, which is always a good time.  Luckily, Arthur didn't win a fish at the fourth grade game.
After a bit, Arthur was able to find some of his friends - Wyatt, Jack, and Oliver. They had a great time hanging out.  I even got a picture of him with Ms. Branch (his fourth grade teacher) and Ms. Brown (his 3rd grade teacher).  And Lily won a pumpkin pie at the cake walk, keeping our streak alive for the second year in a row.  It was definitely a good time.

On Comes October

October is here, and the days have cooled down into the high 80's and low 90's, which has been so nice, especially because the lows are now in the 60's. Such beautiful weather, and we are still in our shorts and t-shirts around here, with possibly a hoodie for the morning. Speaking of the morning, one really fantastic thing about Arthur's school starting at 7:30am and us needing to be there around 7am, is that we get to watch the sunrise. So pretty!

The beginning of October also meant Derek had his first choir concert, which was really good. His choir always sounds amazing, and we love getting to see him perform - and I always love my handsome boy all dressed up in his tux.

He is in the Kantori choir, which is one of the varsity choirs, and they usually have a song with all the variety men only, which is fantastic. And this time they had a combined varsity choir which was fantastic.

Here is a video of his performance.

October also brought us the National walk/bike to school day, and Arthur loved it. Especially when there were a few boys from his class there as well. I never could get them to slow down so I could take a decent picture, but it's all good. 

One of the days I didn't have a sub job, I decide that it was pizza night, and so we (I, with a little help from Arthur) baked a bunch of pizzas, which was awesome, and delicious.

One special adventure, was when I got to get together for a last minute breakfast with my good friends, Brandi and Erica. We met at a fun bakery at The Pearl, and had the best time talking and catching up, since Brandi moved back to Vegas this summer. Although we had some misadventures from our quiche being not fully cooked (can we say violent food poisoning that hit all three of us, and knocked me out of commission for days, including making me cancel a sub day), we still had the best time.

Saturday was another choir adventure for Derek, with Kevin taking him to the Regional Choir auditions out in Seguin, TX. He didn't make the choir, but he only missed it by six slots, and improved immensely (like 20 spots) from last year. So proud of our boy!

Speaking of our boys, one of Arthur's favorite parts of October, is that we get to "Boo" people, which means we leave a basket of goodies on their front porch, ring the doorbell and run away. HE loves doing it, and even more than that, he loves when we get booed.  The other night, his wish came true, and we got a fun basket of Halloween goodies.  Just look at that smile!

With the beautiful weather in the evenings, we have loved having more time outside, and while I read to Arthur from our book, The Ickabog, he played and relaxed in the hammock :).  I love being outside.

Speaking of outside, you may have noticed my dead lawn and sad bushes in my back yard. Well, our crazy dry summer, mixed with the normal heat, mixed with the fact that a few of the plants I planted were not really meant to be planted in South Texas, meant that I have quite a few dead plants.  It is so sad. That said, some of my plants are just flourishing, like my jasmine, my Texas Sage, my Texas Mountain Laurel, and my bougainvillea. The bougainvillea started as a tiny little plant, and it has grown huge and just thrived in our climate. Every time I walk past it on my way in and out of the house, it helps me look past the dead lawn and other sad plants, and it makes me happy.

Another thing that makes me happy, is when I not only have enough time in the morning to get in a good workout, but the view of the San Antonio Temple as I am out and about.  The other morning, it was so beautiful that it was striking.

And that same day, there was also a beautiful full moon to look at. Although my walks are usually filled with the views of people's houses and cars, it is beauty like this that helps me see past it all, like seeing past the dead things in my yard, and finding the glimpses of beauty.  

And so, October is upon us, and just like life, it is full of beauty, hardship and great things to come.

Playing with the Relifords

A few weeks ago, when my old roommate and one of my best friends in the world, Pamela, mentioned that she and her family might be able to visit us on their way home from trip out west, I was so excited! Late on Monday night they made their way to San Antonio and we had a few days to play.

Tuesday I had a few things going on during the day, so we only got to see each other in snatches, but it's all good.  I love any time I can get with Pamela! That evening, before we had to rush out to Derek's choir concert, she and I went and picked up some great Texas barbecue for dinner.

While we were getting the food, Arthur swam with her kids (well, all except their oldest, Wyatt, who has a different break schedule and couldn't miss school.). We had a great time.

On Wednesday, we had the whole day to play and explore.  We started things off downtown at the Alamo.  Every time I visit there, I learn more about the story of the battle and what lead up to it, and it is so fascinating.  While we were in the gift shop, Madison totally made me laugh as she kept begging me to take pictures of her with different items.After the Alamo, we walked down to the River Walk, which is always fantastic.  And after wandering a bit, we found a yummy place for lunch right along the water.  As we ate, Lexi, Pamela's older daughter, had me teach her math - it was so funny and awesome.
After lunch, we headed out on the Mission Trail, something I had always wanted to do, but had never done. We visited each of the other four missions of San Antonio, and it was amazing to think about the communities that lived in these missions back then.  The first was Mission Concepcion.

My favorite of the missions we visited, was definitely Mission San Jose' - it was the biggest, most well preserved, and the architecture was just beautiful.  I would love to come back and take portraits there sometime.

Each of the missions had a chapel where they still hold services, some of which were really pretty.

Somehow I didn't get a picture of Mission San Juan, but it was probably the least exciting and least pretty.  Mission Espada, the final one on the trail, was actually really pretty, but everything was closed, and so we couldn't go inside.  The outside was really cool though.

We finished up all touring in time to get home and get the kids some dinner and head out on a double date.  Derek and Lily watched the kids, which was great, and Kevin and I took Pamela and Cliff to Torchy's for some street tacos, followed up by gelato at a great shop at the Quarry, because gelato is always a good idea. We were having so much fun talking and eating, that I forgot to get a picture of the four of us. Oh well. When we got back, the kids were so bummed to stop playing, but I am glad they had such a good time together.  It was so wonderful to have them visit, and we can't wait until we get to see them again!

The Amazing Keith Urban Surprise

Derek has been a Keith Urban fan since he was two years old. In fact, he begged us to get him a guitar so that he could learn to "play it like Keith Urban." We bought him a guitar when he was ten and he has been taking lessons ever since, and he still LOVES Keith Urban.  Back in October of 2018, I took Derek to see him in concert, and he was in heaven, and so when I saw that he had Ft. Worth, Texas on his current tour, I knew that I had to take Derek. 

So, we planned a weekend trip to visit Kevin's brother in Dallas, and although it was a fun trip to see family, Derek had no idea that the main reason for us going there was for me to take him to a concert. On Saturday morning, I gave him a box with a paper inside that said he was getting to go to the concert that night, and he was in total shock and completely blown away.

I made sure to pack both of our shirts we bought from the last concert we went to, and so Saturday evening, we headed 45 min to Dickie's Arena in Ft. Worth. First of all, I was super impressed with the venue, not only was it clean and beautiful, but it had a great selection of food and treats - after the NO desserts to be found a few weeks ago at the AT&T Center, it was awesome to get ice cream.

The venue was also a little smaller, which meant that every seat was a good one, and we had a fantastic view of the stage, since we were on the back wall.  It was perfect! The concert started at 7pm with two opening acts, which was a little bit of a bummer, since it meant we had to wait longer to see Keith play, but luckily they were both good. The first one was a girl named Ingrid Andress, and although she was good, I only knew one of her songs. The second one was a guy named Tyler Hubbard, and I just couldn't figure out why he looked and sounded so familiar, even though I hadn't heard of him. Turns out he was the lead singer for Florida Georgia Line, which had just broken up, and so that was why. Nice.
When Keith Urban finally took the stage around 9pm, the whole arena became electrified, and wow, did he put on a show! He played for two hours, and it was amazing!
We had the best time singing along to every single song, and Derek pretty much had a grin plastered on his face the whole time.

One of our favorite moments was when Keith told us all that for the seventh set he always pulls a lever to randomly chose what song to play, but since we were the only concert he was playing in Texas on the tour, and he hadn't gotten to play it in any other states, every single choice was "Texas Time." That was totally fine by us, because it is one of our favorites. In fact, as we left our home in PA when we moved to San Antonio, I played it to the kids in the car, and we all went from sad and crying to laughing and singing.

He sang so many great songs, and an awesome mix of his old ones and his newer stuff. We just loved it!

There was a part near the end when he came out into the audience and sang a song, which was super cool. And he even gave away a guitar to one of the people in the audience.

When we thought he had played the last song, and knowing we had an almost hour drive back to Brian's house (and it was 11 pm), we headed down to the exits, but just before we left, we heard Keith come out for his encore, and we just happened to be by an opening neat the back corner of the stage, so we stepped back in to listen to him sing his encore.  So cool, and the perfect way to finish off a spectacular night.

Here is a little video of Derek's surprise, as well as some fun bits of the concert.