rees genre

I found these dahlias at a farmers market last week and couldn't resist a photo shoot.

Our flight for this trip was out of San Antonio, so we stayed the night there and met our friends, the Smiths, for a visit. We had a great time catching up, eating barbeque, swimming in the hotel pool, and seeing a little of San Antonio. Too soon it was time to return our rental car and get on the plane yet again. Airports are no easy feat for us. There are so many things to worry about, packing the correct weight in as few of suitcases as possible, verifying that you have everything you need on the plane for any random contingency as long as it is not more than 3 oz of liquid, making sure that you didn’t forget the proper identification, etc. After arriving at the airport, parking the car, dragging two suitcases, two car seats, backpacks, and two boys onto the shuttle and then off again, we try to keep them happy while we check luggage, etc. Then it is time for the security line. Davin is fascinated with this process and rightly so. He likes to play pretend security line when he is at...

As we were already in Austin, we thought it only appropriate to stay awhile and visit. We had a great week visiting with Chris’s family and enjoying Austin. Here are a few highlights: Zilker Park This is one of my favorite haunts in Austin, though admittedly we nearly melted in the two hours we spent there (the highs during our visit varied from 100-105 degrees!). The kids loved the play ground and the train ride was great! Schlitterbahn Ever since we were married, Chris has made a big deal out of Schlitterbahn, the world’s largest water park, though we haven’t been able to attend for various reasons (wrong season, kid with broken clavical bone). This year was our year and we managed to make it to the park twice during our stay. Chris’s sister Becky, her husband Wayne and daughter Paela, as well as Chris’s parents Diane and Brigham joined us for our first visit and we had a blast. Chris’s parents are wild water park goers so be warned if they should ask you to go. Rowan was apparently ...

In addition to attending Grandpa’s birthday party, we were honored to attend his baptism as well. Chris had the privilege of performing the ordinance and his brother Karl performed the confirmation. It was a beautiful service for a long awaited event. Of course, we didn’t mind the amazing supply of Grandma’s butter cream cake that we enjoyed afterwards.

Chris’s Grandpa Nissen had the good fortune of turning 80 a few weekends ago and we decided that it was an event to celebrate. We (and everyone else who doesn’t live in Austin with the exception of Bryan who is on a mission) traveled to Austin to surprise Grandpa. We met at an Austin classic, County Line, for barbeque and our surprise. It was a good thing that Grandpa had a pace maker! He seemed pretty excited to see everyone and was probably more excited about the barbeque. Later that evening we attended a party in Grandpa’s honor at his church building. It was also a surprise and put together beautifully. We had a great time at the party and we were honored to celebrate this special event with an amazing person. Happy 80th Grandpa!

One night for our activity after Family Home Evening, Chris had the clever idea of taping two toilet paper rolls together to make binoculars for the boys. I would like to say that there was some deep and profound spiritual truth that was applied but sadly it was just fun with toilet paper rolls.

We recently met our friends Dodie, Alana, Ian, and Emily at the Dan Nichols Park, one of our favorite NC destinations. The boys always have a great time and we especially enjoyed meeting our friends.