So Long St. George, Howdy Houston!

 

When we were told to go home due to Covid last March we initially thought that we likely would not be able to return to Texas before being released in March. We were happy that we could continue to serve remotely via technology from home. Later, we started to get the feeling that we needed to go back, especially when we realized that the Houston East mission nurse was going to be released in early November. We told our mission president that we would be willing to come back and within a day or two we got an email saying that we had been approved to return. We were so excited!! Now we need to catch up on some photos from our time at home and our trip back to Texas!

We loved every minute we were able to spend with our grandchildren! Here we are at Pasta Factory with the Zitting kids.

Lilly and Liam making a magic formula out on the patio.

We got to be there for some birthdays too, which we mostly celebrated at the Bloomington Country Club pool. This was Liam's 6th Birthday.

It as a dinosaur theme of course!

This is President and Sister Peterson who presided over the Houston Mission until July when they were released and came to their home in St. George! They hosted a picnic with some of the senior missionary couples that had served with them.

Another bonus of being home for a while is attending the Orem High School Class of 1975 Reunion! This was a band of class members that entertained us.

I can't believe we didn't get a photo of John since it was his reunion, but I was so happy to run into these two - Warren and Ann Royal. Ann (Cragun) was our neighbor when I was in 3 - 5 or so, our families lived up Provo Canyon at a heavenly placed called Springdell. She was also in John's class at Orem High. Warren's parents and my parents were dear friends and we got together a lot when I was young. We had a great time catching up. 

Lauren and her family took a trip to northern Utah and stopped by for a window visit with the Grandmas.

We got to have a visit as well. They started allowing visits in a tent outside, but it was only on Thursdays and we never could make it up for one of those visits.

We got my mom an Echo Show and it was so nice to be able to drop in on it to visit. She ended up testing positive for COVID-19 in October and had to move to a special facility in Salt Lake for those with Covid. She didn't have any symptoms other than a little extra confusion.

Shauna and her family came to watch conference with us - so fun to be with them!

Near the end of October, it was time to pack up the car and start that long drive again! It might not look like it but we did bring less this time around.

We also took a different route, going to Jacobs lake where we stopped for lunch -

And then on to Mesa, Arizona where we stayed with Lisa's sister Anne and her husband Veryl. Her sister Wendy and husband Noel live right around the corner so we saw them too and even made it to their restaurant Mi Amigos for dinner.

Reese Law, John and Veryl Law

We had breakfast with John's brother Alan and his wife Debi and their family. It was Debi's birthday so we had fun celebrating with them. Then we were on the road again.

This giant road runner is in Las Cruces New Mexico.

We stayed at a newly renovated old Hotel in El Paso - they had just opened and we got a nice welcome!

From El Paso we went to San Antonio and stayed along the famous River Walk -

It's always nice to be able to dine outside during the time of Covid! From San Antonio it was on to Houston where we had to stay in a hotel for nine nights so that we could do some training before the mission nurse and her husband headed home since we are living in their apartment. 

The hotel was very basic but it worked. One day we were heading down the hall to go for a walk and we saw many police officers around an open hotel room door. We could see someone on the floor of the room and hurried past. Luckily John saw the sign that said police training in progress! He got some photos when they were cleaning up and heading out. It was getting close to Halloween so it seemed appropriate that it was extra spooky!

Luckily the hotel was near a nice neighborhood where we could walk every day.

One day we came across this man walking s lot of dogs and were amazed at how he was able to control them all!

These signs will be a reminder of what this year was like!

Sister Melzer and I doing some training on being the mission health advisor. 

There is a lot to learn - I'm still trying to get it all down but it is getting easier.

We got to stream our granddaughter Eliana's orchestra concert - 

she is getting really good at the violin and it was fun to get to be a part of it. 

Finally we got moved into our apartment and we got to take a walk down by the river again. 

We saw this snapping turtle that we had never seen before! At first we we thought it was a small alligator.

This is a photo we found on the internet of what they look like out of the water. 

It was good to see our old bird friends again - 

And eat at some of our favorite Houston restaurants.

One of the first things we did on a P-day was to take a trip down to Morgan's Point. We intended to go the first time we were here and were sad that we hadn't when we had to leave.

It is so beautiful - this is an old governor's mansion.

This area has been hit hard by hurricane's  - it make sense to build a home this high off the ground!

We finally made it to the Gulf - 

We found a good spot for lunch not too far away and got to drive over this beautiful bridge on the way.

The restaurant was called O'Neal's on the Water - again we were happy with outdoor dining,

 it was a beautiful day,

with a beautiful view.

They had great cajun food like we hadn't had since leaving Louisiana (Shrimp Po Boy, Cheesy Grits with Shrimp) - delicious!

They had a lot of cats wandering around outside which was unique!

I got to take these sisters to a doctor's appointment (Hermanas Ross and Reynolds) - being among the young missionaries is one big reason why we were so excited to come back!!

They had both had Covid and recovered so I could even give them a hug!

It was goodbye for now for another couple, the Cluffs. Luckily they live in the Salt Lake area so we can see them again!

We got to meet a new couple from Utah, the Dickman's, who replaced the Cluffs as Mission Office Secretary and Car Czar! We had a quiet Thanksgiving dinner with the Dickman's and our local friend Laannia who we met last time we were here. 

Good food and great company!

John almost bought this giant cowboy hat but then realized we would have to find a place to pack it when we head home!

We saw these two bumper stickers that reminded us of Ian and we had a good laugh.

We still feel a huge hole in our lives with Ian gone. He brought so much laughter and fun and he also was a big help to us in so many ways. We love watching his boys grow and seeing similarities in little Lincoln who is so much like Ian. What a great blessing! 

We love being missionaries and serving with these amazing young missionaries. They are so full of enthusiasm and energy for sharing the Savior's gospel. They time seems to be speeding by but we are soaking up every minute of it!