Texas, Our Texas

We are back in Shanghai after our whirlwind house-and-school hunting trip to Austin. I cannot think of a time when the bluebonnets have looked more beautiful, the skies more blue, or the Tex-Mex more delicious. While the trip was BUSY, it was nice to be home surrounded by friends and family, and it made us excited for both our official move in June and our last few weeks in Shanghai.

A quick recap -- we landed in Houston on Friday 3/19 and headed for Brenham. After the long Shanghai winter, I was very anxious to enjoy a warm Texas spring. Imagine my shock and horror when we woke up on Saturday morning to rain. Very cold rain. [And let me pause to say that John did not actually wake up to the rain, because he in fact stayed awake from 10:30 pm Friday when we landed at IAH, all through the night, all through the morning and lunch, before finally passing out at 1:30 pm Saturday. Fun.]

Tommy went to Austin on Sunday, while the kids and I camped out with Papa and Grandma Valerie for the week. We checked out the Brenham library, played with Lucy and Mischka, and tried to get used to life on Texas time.

That Friday, the kids and I joined Tommy in Austin, where the first stop was dinner at Phil's with friends. Yay, friends! :-) Nana and Grandpa Larry arrived the next day, and the great Rudy's-Mighty Fine meal marathon began. Nana and Grandpa helped with the kids while Tommy and I handled work, house hunting, doctor's visits, school tours, more work, more house hunting, and so on. There were plenty of fun outings, too -- we got to play at Kiddie Acres and ride the train at Zilker Park with Shae and Mason. We got to spend both Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday with our Redeemer family, our first time to be in the new building for worship -- incredible! And I got to make a VERY quick trip up to Dallas to see my girls, which was a special treat.

The last weekend, Tommy was busy with NI Tech and I was busy with the packing and sorting and last minute Target runs. We got to see the Roches and G and Grandpa and GiGi on our last Saturday -- thanks for the impromptu birthday party! -- and Justin added another trip to his resume of pre-dawn trips to IAH to drop off in-laws for their flights to Asia.

So, after 3 weeks of fun, family, and Chick Fil A, where do we stand? Well, we didn't find a house, but we do feel like we have a good idea of where we want to live. We will stay in corporate housing for the first month we're back while we keep looking. We did decide on school for John and enrolled Betsy in the same nursery school John attended before we left, so we do have some things settled.

And now we're back in Shanghai, enjoying our time with friends and preparing to come home. June 1 is going to be here before we know it!