Family Reunion - Surfside Beach, Texas

For the reunion this year, Mister and I found a wonderful house right on the beach in Surfside, Texas.  It had seven bedrooms and was perfect for all 24 of us.  The beach sloped right from the front deck out into the warm Gulf and had such a gradual depth change for everyone to easily enjoy.

Travel for all was by air and car and everyone met up in Freeport for a great lunch at Baytown Seafood.  The food was amazing and the service even better.  They were able to accommodate our large party and it was fun to watch everyone re-connect.  Then we were off to the house to unload everything and get set-up.  It was work time!

It did not take long for cousins to get together playing and for people to change clothes and get into the ocean to have some fun.

The absolute best part of these trips is watching the little ones together.  They all love their time with "cousins" and look forward to it each year.




This year I was the oldest (as usual) and Master Caleb was the youngest member of the family.  Elena is welcoming him in style here.

Some of the most memorable times are around meals when everyone is together at the same time.  Amanda had worked out a kaper chart with chores and so we all took our turns cooking and cleaning and no one person felt overwhelmed.



I especially love the times where I get to visit with each of my children, their spouses, and the grands.  I live so far away that it is such a treat for me and one I always treasure.




Seeing moments where people are relaxed and just enjoying each other and the romantic moments that a beach (and grandparents watching little ones) provides are extra special.  Capturing those moments reminds us to always look for them and continue making more.

Evenings are spent playing games and laughing with each other.  Why is it that Amanda always seems to have her hair in a towel?  Hmmn.

Cards are a family favorite and the games can get quite competitive.  We also can be loud and when some people are trying to sleep -- well I guess it can be bothersome.






I have the cutest grands in the whole world.  Anyone care to argue with me on that one?  I thought not.

For the most part everyone gets along so great and shares nicely.  Oh sure, we have our squabbles, but overall times are amazing. Aunt Jenny had brought a tub full of toys which helped out during the hot hours each day.

For me, watching and working with my kids in the kitchen is just oh so fun.  It takes me back to some great holidays while they were growing up.  Now, having a grandaughter and a daughter-in-law helping makes it extra special.

It was Italian night -- oh yum.  Spaghetti, salad, and bread.  Isn't this such a nice big kitchen?

Aunt Becca and Elena -- cute shot.

The next day was all about beach!  Umbrellas went up, sand toys went out, and we had a blast.  The sand castle contest was under way.

Becca and Zyra -- for some reason Zyra kept rubbing her eyes with the salty water and sand.  She was a trooper and loved the water though.

Ah, yes, the sandcastles are finished.  Creativity at it's finest.

As the afternoon heated up, Gammy (that's me) to the rescue with a couple of new movies and planned crafts.  Here my grandsons are all lined up quietly.  A rare moment.

Before leaving Dallas, Cass and I had baked dozens of sugar cookies and made frosting for an afternoon activity for the kids.  I'm not sure who wanted to do it more - looks like perhaps Cass, Jen and I.

The boys did have fun and it was great to watch parents jump in and help out.  Aunt Cassie was always there too -- enjoying her time with nieces and nephews that she doesn't get to see very often.




Grandpa (Mister) took out the stunt kite and the oldest grands and some of the kids took a try at it.  Amanda loved it and so we will remember that in the future for a gift.  Jonathan was also pretty adept at it.

Cassie had spent time preparing a night of entertainment with her version of Minute To Win It.  As I said it is an incredibly competitive family and yet the laughs were everywhere.

At one point Rebekah commented that, "this is the best family ever" and warmed my heart.  Any pre-teen that thinks that means we are doing something right.

She was partnered with her mom and in their first round went up against Rhiana and Kyle pulling tissues from a box one at a time with one hand behind their back.  I don't remember who won.

Aunt Rhiana feeds Caleb and watches on while Kyle's task is to stack cans at an angle.  I think she is enjoying the show.


There are tasks that require blowing feathers in the air, stacking ding dongs, and fishing.









The mass wiggling of bums to get ping pong balls out of the now empty kleenex boxes was hysterical to watch.  Way too fun.







One required putting an oreo on your forehead and getting it into your mouth using only facial muscles.  Now seriously, is this not the best picture ever?  I just know that Cass will love me for posting this one.




Amanda won the one where you had to unwrap a roll of crepe paper as fast as possible.  Doesn't she look amazing?

It was such a fun night.  Soon, the sun was down and it was time for our night swims and crab hunting.  All the kids were in bed and the beach was beautiful and beckoning.  Warm water and great relaxation before bed.  I wish this was out my door every evening.

Mister got up early the next day to see the sunrise on the beach.  I watched from the deck and it was magnificent.

Another day in the sand and water.  It was perfect!  We could not have asked for better weather.

We spend so much money on toys for kids and all they really needed were sticks and buckets.

This day's craft project was to stamp pillowcases that the kids could take home to remember their family trip.  Once again parents helped out during the hot afternoon and everyone walked away with a finished project.

Shirts were taken off so that they didn't get ruined with the ink and Miss Zyra was so contemplative that Mister had to get a photo.





I loved watching the boys draw and create what they remembered the most about the beach.  Look how serious they are about it.

Bekah was determined to get her perfectly straight and worked diligently on it.

Grandpa had bought a huge book of paper airplanes for the boys to build and Hyrum was so proud of his.  He instantly posed for a picture with it.


As everyone finished, it was quiet time again with a second movie that was somehow in my suitcase.

I asked Mister to take some pictures of the kids and their families for me.  What a treat!  I never know when I will get these opportunities to have everyone together and so I like to take advantage as much as possible.  I'll just let the pics speak for themselves.




Rhiana's family.

Jen's family.

Amanda's Family

Matt's Family

Cass and Scott

I had asked for a picture of my 5 beautiful children.  I was not there for this picture, but was told that it was quite funny as they were getting ready to make mom happy.

And happy I indeed was as this is the finished project and I have a framed one hanging on the wall in my home as a gift from Mister.  Lucky me.

I'll leave this post with one last shot -- Miss Elena thoroughly enjoying her time in the water.  The beach will be missed by all.

Grands Making Dessert

We were lucky enough to have Jake and Bekah staying with us for a couple of nights.  They wanted to have a little fun in the kitchen and so I let them make dessert.  They made Mini Mocha Tortes and even did the cute chocolate swirls for decorating them.  I think they turned out awesome.

Zoo Fun

We were lucky to have a couple of days to spend with family over the 4th.  We took a little bit of our time together and went to the zoo for a few hours.  The kids loved feeding the giraffes and just playing around a little.

All five grands on elephants.  What a great pic!

Robotics and Tae Kwon Do in Austin

Yay! Austin!  Woohoo!  I do love this city and have since the first time I visited it.  This trip down was to be supportive grandparents for two different and unique competitions.  Miss Bekah had made Nationals in Tae Kwon Do and so the first day down was spent watching her compete.  She did so well for her first competition at that level.  Yes -- she is a black belt.

She did well and learned many lessons of competing at this level.  It was fun to watch her handle the stress and still maintain her composure.  To even had qualified for this event is a statement to her ability as a martial artist.

The next day was a Robotic competition for Jon.  He had built the Lego Robot and programmed it himself.  He was very nervous about the whole thing, but overall did quite well.  Each time he moved forward in the brackets, his self-confidence rose.  By the end he was thrilled to have gotten 3rd place.

Check out the age of the person he is competing against.  They could not see how the other person was setting up and so had to guess as to where to set there robot.

Next shot shows what happened in that set-up.  Yay Jon.

Tae Kwon Do with Bekah

Off to Austin to spend time with Jen and have a little fun.  First up was a Tae Kwon Do competition that is the qualifier for Nationals and we all have our fingers crossed that it turns out well for Bekah.  She has a good day even though everyone certainly looks serious enough.  She will be heading to Nationals next month.  Woohoo!  Yay Bekah!

We kept Bekah with us over night at the hotel and took her wandering down to SoCo for awhile.  It was a hot day and since she had competition again the next day, we made her wear my hat.  She felt out of place for awhile, but then let's remember where we were.  Austin!  Keep Austin Weird!  After just a short time of watching others and how they were dressed -- suddenly my hat was not so bad at all.

Lunch was at the Purple Bean Cafe - one of the great little food trucks that Austin is so famous for.  We had a mufaletta that was so very good and they actually had lefse as well.  I had to give in and try some and they did a really good job on it.  Yum.

Once in a Lifetime -- Padre Island

One of my Valentine gifts from Mister this past May was that he adopted a turtle nest in my name.  We were then able to track when the eggs were laid.  Truly amazing --- it was on my birthday!  Now it is late June and since I had let Sea Turtle Inc know that I was interested in being there when the hatchlings were about to arrive, I received a call early this morning at work.  Was I still interested?  My nest was likely to hatch that day, but if it didn't, there would be others that were and I could be a part of all of that.  They said that I would be able to help check nests and do the release.  I absolutely did not have to be asked twice.  I said that I was 9 hours away but would hit the road within the hour.  I called Mister and told him I was heading to Padre Island if he wanted to come along.  Well naturally he did and so off we went on a mad dash.  We arrived after they had closed and so checked into our hotel, grabbed a quick bite and went to bed as there was going to be an early release the next morning.

We were up bright and early the next morning and stopped at the office.  We told them we were the "turtle people" from Dallas and they invited us in.  They were preparing the hatchlings from another nest for release and we were able to peek in at everything.  They took me into a dark restroom where there was styrofoam cooler with over a hundred little babies "frenzying" and wanting to get in the water.  So, let's get them there.

We drive down to the release point and help set up the ropes to keep people from interfering.  Sea Turtle Inc. has a hotline that tells when and where they will be doing releases and for the most part, they are open to the public to view.

By the time we are ready, a fairly large crowd has arrived and so the hatchlings are placed on the sand quite a distance from the water.  They need to work to get there.  As soon as they are on the ground, they start the journey towards the water.  It takes over an hour before all are in the water and it is remarkable to watch their flippers rapidly spin when the waves rush in.

They do not have very good chances of making it.  Only 1 in 1,000 will reach adulthood.  Ugh.  At least we are trying.

Soon the beach is clearing and many of them are on their way.  I am impressed with the crowd as they are staying until the last one makes it to the water.

Just enjoy the next few pictures - nice sunrise huh?  Gotta love Texas.

When this release was finished, I was pulled over and introduced to the crew.  We would be working together that day and hopefully into the night.  I cannot tell you how excited I was.  This is an amazing group of people dedicated to sea turtles.

They told us to take a break and check back in later on as they had been up most of the night with the hatchlings.  So we drove around South Padre and into Port Isabel to have a meal and see the old shrimp boats.  Very cool.

When we returned to the island, we went to headquarters to witness the effort that is taking place there to rescue and rehabilitate injured sea turtles.  They also have an education program which was in full swing with tours for local school groups.

We had the chance to talk with Jeff George and the staff to learn what we would be doing later on.  We agreed to go have some dinner and then meet to check on the nests.

Naturally, we were able to find a local brewery and so we stopped in at Padre Island Brewing Company for a sampler.  Aren't these pretty?

We go another bite to eat and then meet up to go check on the nests with Justin and  ??.  For the life of me I cannot remember her name.  Drat.

When the turtles nest on the beach and after mama leaves, the nests are dug up and moved to an area where they can be protected better.  We walked out to the enclosure and then dug down into the sand on the nests that should be hatching soon -- one of which was mine -- yay.

We find baby turtles that have indeed hatched and are starting to dig their way out of the sand.  We discover that they may reach the surface that evening and so put everything back the way it was and go back to the hotel for some sleep as the call will come around midnight if my babies are ready.

Now, the rest of the story has to be told without pictures as it was dark and who had time to take pictures anyway.  We get called around 11:30 that we will be picked up about half an hour later.  Yay -- here we go -- my nest is ready.  The hatchlings are almost out of the nest and ready to go.  We go straight to the nest and finish digging it out, placing the babies in that same cooler.  From there it is back to headquarters to count the live ones and the ones who didn't hatch.  This number has to match the number that was recorded when the nest was moved.  They are then each measured and weighed and that took awhile but I got to handled each and every one of these precious creatures.  The next step is to release and since it is a midnight release, the public is not notified and so we don't have to set up all the barriers.  The hatchlings have a better chance at night as well.  We are out on the beach for a couple of hours by the time they all make it to water and a check of the beach is done to make sure that no one came back a slight distance away.  It was incredible.  I cannot believe that I was fortunate enough to have this experience and will forever be thankful to Sea Turtle Inc. for providing it for me.  What a way to make an old woman happy.

A Luscious Dessert!

Mini Mocha Tortes.  I had a little fun tonight with dessert.  Oh and they were yummy.