Tuesday, February 11, 2025

July 2024




Grandma Ann turned 90!!

I know she reads my blog, so this is a shout out to
you, Grandma!


Thank you for being a wonderful example in my life of hard work,
perseverance, and love!

You have always been there for me as long as I can remember.
You have the best welcoming response when I step foot in your home.
It feels like I am the most important person on the planet when I am in your presence.

Not many people can say they have had strong grandparent influences in their lives.
 I am proud to claim you!
Just the other day, a woman couldn't stop commenting on what a wonderful
person you are, I had to agree!

Memories run deep in this house.

I'll never forget your forest green station wagon that had the fancy
automatic buckling seat belts.
Your love for Trident gum, and Stouffers  macaroni
and cheese that stocked your freezer.
That you watch the news faithfully every night.
Your Clinique filled medicine cabinet, and oodles
of free makeup samples us girl cousins would fight over!
I still yearn for your organizational skills!
Never a birthday or Christmas card missed.
 

I am happy you are still here with us!!




 





I wish I knew what Casey was laughing at!






Night swims are the best.






Rusty and Trey playing golf in the sweltering heat, 
prepping for the Freshman team.







I can't remember what movie we saw,
 but somehow it turned into a family event!





Both of us enjoying a surprisingly relaxing brush massage!





Family camping, more on that later!






Anna left me in nursery to go marry a boy, WAHHH!

Our last Sunday together.



I took a solo trip to Wyoming with the 3 younger kids.
More on that later, too!





We made it back by a prayer in time for the big wedding!!








Anna and Vincent.
Casey must had escaped to the car.
Mental note, never get married in July, oof!






Lane was at High Adventure and missed the wedding.
It looks like he didn't have any fun at all:)











From smiling....



... to unsure, ha!









SO much history with these kids in our stake.
They are all beyond amazing kids.




I loathe mandatory  Summer dance camps.





Monsoons are the best!!
This one was a doozy.






I came home to kids jumping in the pool!












They don't last long enough.
But the sky aftermath is breathtaking. 






Senior yearbook pictures.
HOWWWWW?????
How did we get here?







I didn't end up buying them.
I will get pictures closer to the end of the year without his braces on.







I am dead!
Why do they do such serious poses!








He picked this one for the yearbook.








We attended  4 baptisms on the Goodman side!
This was Mavericks, we watched Junie so Val could be attentive
for her sons baptism.

She was getting sleepy and legit fell asleep on Della!






She is the sweetest!
And Della is buff for being able to hold her like this for that long!





Rusty winning his younger cousins over with his phone.






I cry when it's meet the teacher night because that means Summer
is over.
WAHHHH, again.

I just need it to go a couple more weeks.
I am not a fan of the year round mumbo jumbo schedule.




Lindi's last meet the teacher.
It's a hard year of lasts, it seems.

Mrs. Qualls




Yay!!
Della got Ms. LeSuere who we already love so much
from when Rusty had her!






Lake days are the best days.








But can get dicey with the weather that changes on a dime.
It's hard to see how windy and rainy it got!

They don't care, it helped give better waves
for the tube.
They are psycho's, lol!!









Last half of Texas




Schlitterbahn, round 2!

It was nice knowing what to expect this time.
We did a few rides before jumping over to the other side.

First in line!
I laugh at the eagerness of getting to a water park early.
Seems silly, but very necessary!






I carried my camera this time to get some action pictures!
It was tricky filming with the thick water case AND 
holding it steady while being tossed and shoved down water chutes.

My apologies for all of the pictures of my feet, mmkay?
 




 





















It was fun getting shot straight into the Comal River!












Our many treks back for more slides!









See how dreamy it is?
You walk right along the river.





I guess I don't have any pictures of the other side.
It was basically a typical waterpark, with no river water feeding it.

They have the longest chute ride in the world, and it was a blast!

Farewell, Schlitterbahn!
You lived up to the hype!





Mexican food always hits the spot after a day in the sun!






So does a second round of Buc-cees!!







The mechanical woes  continued with a flat tire on our truck!

We hobbled to Discount Tire and left it over night.
We crammed everyone into the bed and cab of the Kovacs truck.
Which ultimately brought the major giggles to everyone!






We left the kids sleeping the next morning to get it sorted out.






We stopped by the oldest bakery in Texas for some
goodies to take back to the kids.





It had a German flare, which all of New Braunfels was like that!


It was weird seeing gingerbread men in the middle of Summer.







Buc-cees round 3 on our way to our next adventure!
We originally planned to tube the river, but the kids 
vetoed saying the had enough of the tubes from the waterpark.






The kids wanted nothing to do with the Natural Bridge Caverns!





 Instead they were pumped to sweat their brains out on the ropes course!













We were dripping from every crevice of our body!
No amount of shade was helping.









Bowling indoors is more like it!















Our last meal we went authentic and ate at Krause's!
Had to try some German grub.

We were laughing at Della's chicken wings!
She definitely got the whole wing!!
 





If you are ever passing through Texas with a trailer,
stay at the Canopy!

It was truly lovely there.








I enjoyed the Texan sunsets every night.






More swimming!
This time they had a blowup water slide!

They loved bouncing between that and the pool.








The girls got a kick out of showering in the pool house before heading back to 
the trailer.






We left bright and early for our 14 hour trek home, all in one day.
It was a doozy of a drive, clearly, since I have not one picture to show of it.


But it was worth it!

An interesting twist, the Kovacs ended up moving to New Braunfels!
They had no plans of moving.

Funny how life can take twists and turns!

So lucky us, we get to go back to visit them!