Deep in the Heart of Texas

We arrived back in the Great State of Texas yesterday, and I have to say, I am very happy. The trees have new green leaves, the flowers are in bloom, and it is warm. It is always hard to leave our families, but returning to warm weather makes it a little bit easier (okay, a lot easier).

We left on Sunday morning, which was earlier than we had planned, due to the fact that we needed to out run a winter storm. We headed through southern Utah hoping to get as far south of the storm as early as possible. We still had patches of treacherous roads. The boys learned the term "white out" this trip as they witnessed their first blizzard. They were very excited about all of the "white outs" we had to drive through. Aaron and I were not. We were grateful that we left early because we were past all of the bad roads before nightfall. He did the majority of the driving again. I don't mind letting him drive till his heart's content.

When we crossed the Texas state line, we all broke out singing our family's rendition of the song, Deep in the Heart of Texas. I know that is cheesy, but at 11 p.m., after being the in car for 14 hours, and facing another 12 hours, everything is a little warped. It is nice to return to warm weather (it was 90° when we arrived) and even more so, the humidity. I love humidity. It is hard for me to get in the habit of using lotion. The poor kids skin and even worse, their lips get sore. I'm just not used to giving them lotion and ChapStick. I decided I'm just not a good cold weather mom.


The kids changed into shorts & T-shirts and headed for the backyard the minute we arrived home. AJ told me he is glad to be home because it is faster to go outside. He can just walk out the door here. He doesn't have to look for a missing glove or boot. Ethan has a stick (old broom handle) that he loves to play with in the backyard. He spends hours playing with his stick. Sometimes it is a gun, missile launcher, or sword as he battles in world wars, aliens, or Orcs. Esteban has been riding his bike all over the neighborhood and climbing trees. Savanah is happy to be reunited with her Dora doll house and Vanessa has been busy transposing the dishes from the cupboard to the pantry. Aaron is back in school today and I am ignoring the suitcases that need to be unpacked. The boys don't have to go back to school until next week due to spring break. They decided they'll call their break Sunow (half sun, half snow). We are going to take it easy the next few days. It was so nice to see our families, we had a great trip, but man, it is so nice to be home.