Party. Party. Party.

The first day we were in Texas, the Rawling's hosted a get-together at their house. While our kids were growing up, we spent every Friday afternoon with Charlene and her kids. It was interesting to see the boys pick up the swords and start sword fighting just as they did when they were younger. Everybody brought different finger foods. The food and the company were great! I enjoyed sitting at the table with some of the women from church. We spent the evening chatting. It was so fun! I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time. One thing I love about the Valley is the diversity. Even at this table, we each came from different backgrounds and are in different situations and yet we all loved talking, learning, and sharing with each other.The next morning, we had breakfast at the Jorgensen's. Michelle makes the best apple or banana pancakes with real maple syrup from Wisconsin. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. The Rawling's family joined us for breakfast and a picture. Yes, that is me behind the kids. I'm sure Esteban was standing up hill from me. He can't really be that tall.
The Magallan family invited us out to their ranch for FHE. The Trevino family also joined us. Emma made some yummy Italian food. Again, my mouth is watering. We watched the kids ride the four wheelers and jump on the trampoline. Then we all piled in the back of a pickup for a drive over to the lake in their ranch community. We decided if we saw Border Patrol we would all have to make a run for it. Each man for himself. (I love south Texas border humor.)

We arrived at the lake about sunset. A few months ago, Ethan told me he missed looking out and seeing the horizon. In Utah, the mountains get in the way. Here is a look at the Texas horizon at sunset. We had a great FHE lesson and activity after root beer floats.Later in the week, we visited the Watkins family. Our dear friend Sister Hartman was there as well. We had another delicious dinner. Home cooked food tastes even better, having eaten fast food and picnics all week. Brother Watkins entertained the kids with a variety of games and activities.
Sister Hartman gave us a bag of candy for each of the kids for the ride home. She has always given the kids little treats and she knows AJ especially loves butterscotch candy.

We also had the opportunity to visit the Sustaita family. They are great friends and have been since we first moved to Texas. Elena is an amazing cook. She made the best botana I have ever eaten. I'm going to try to duplicate here at home but, I'm telling you now, it won't the same.

Like I've mentioned before, we met them shortly after moving to Texas. Esteban and Ernie were babies back then. This is them now.
They spent the evening trying to figure out which or both of them could fly to visit the other one sometime this summer. When you are twelve, life seems that easy.

As you can see, the highlight of the trip was seeing so many of our close friends and those we haven't seen for so long. We love this area of the world and mostly that is due to the friendly hospitality we are shown.