Trip to Texas-Day Three

 More Giberson Family Time----

In the morning we headed to the Grapevine Rec Center for some physical activity.

Jena shot baskets and made some new friends.

Rick, Linda, Valerie, and Kristen played racquetball...

And I walked the track above the basketball courts and racquetball courts....I walked just under 3 miles while they played.

After heading home and cleaning up, we went to downtown Grapevine which declares itself to be:

And there was a lot of Christmas stuff everywhere--we ate at an upscale food court where you placed your order and then they texted you when your food was ready.

Had to get a picture of their vintage railroad and re-built train station...

Some of us as we are eating or waiting for food....

They had a display to honor people involved in some local peace talks between the native peoples of the area and the "white men."

Some photo moments in the Christmas Square---

Not sure what about the camera or the angle of the sun made these photos odd but there are the cousins...

Valerie and Kristen

Tana being silly!!! because look at that background!  It was made for silly.

Fun times at the Grapevine Christmas Displays!

We headed home for the BYU bowl game (disappointing) and more games and conversation which were all great.  Linda and Rick made the most amazing food for breakfast and dinner.  It is a treat to stay at their "bed and breakfast."

We got to visit briefly with Sandy, Scotty's mom when she stopped on her trip from California to shower and change clothes before the wedding dinner and rehearsals.  But we didn't see anyone else until the time of the wedding itself.

Another wonderful and late night day.  So great to be with my siblings and some of their children.

Trip to Texas-Day Two

THE DALLAS TEXAS TEMPLE:  Robynn has served in the Dallas Temple on Friday mornings for 17 years.  That is amazing!! Other than being married and being a mother, I haven't done any assignment that long!  That meant that when Jena and I went to the temple on Friday morning we got to see her as we entered for our 9:00 session and then again when we did initiatory at 11:00.  It added to the sweetness of returning to the Dallas Temple which I love from our years there and also that this was the temple that Jena was sealed to us in.  I had many sweet feelings and spiritual experiences throughout the morning.  I cried almost from the moment I entered the temple until after we left.

You will have to take my word for it because I don't have the actual photo on my computer but this is the same place where we took a picture of us with our family on the day that Jena was sealed to us.  (Now the temple has been remodeled since then and things moved a bit, so it might not be the same actual door, but it was the east side of the temple near this location.)

She has grown a bit since that day when she was 10 months old.

Views of the temple----

It was hard to get the whole temple into the same shot.  It has an unusual design with the pillars on the ground in front rather than on the roof--similar to the Boise Temple.

After the temple, we headed north again to McKinney, Texas, for lunch.  One of our missionaries, Sister Marcia Horrocks, has a son who owns and runs a small restaurant in downtown McKinney.  McKinney has an historical downtown with lots of antique shops and art galleries and small shops...and it takes Christmas time very seriously. 

It took a while to find parking because it was Christmas time and lunch time, I guess.  People were everywhere, shopping, taking pictures, and eating.

We went to the Square Burger and following Sister Horrocks' suggestions, I ordered the sweet potato fries which were amazing.  We didn't get to see Brandon as he was busy shopping at the time we were there, but we did get the Brandon discount on our bill.

Here is the outside of his shop which sits in the town square  across from the city building.

Jena joined Prancer(?) on a park bench.

Walking back to our car, we passed the Hall County Library--quite an impressive looking building for a library.

I love clouds as you know and Jena took these two pictures of the cloud cover as we left McKinney and headed to Grapevine for Part two of a trip--Family time with the Gibersons.

Before we even ran the door bell, I had to take a couple of pictures of their new home.  This was the first time that we have been there since they had it built.  I love their whole house, but I was really drawn to the handing ornaments in their front fence...so beautiful and looked good, day or night!

These were old skates of Linda's mother that she repurposed for this Christmas display on their front porch.

Conversation began immediately as my brother, Rick, his wife Linda, my sister, Valerie and her daughter, Kristen were there already and we were soon joined by my niece Tana as well.............and it really didn't stop except for times of sleeping, Church, and maybe for some serious moments during game playing.  My nephew, Duncan, arrived later that evening as the Ward Christmas party which we attended.

They had Santa Claus come at the end and after all of the little kids visited him that wanted to (and some who didn't), Jena decided to make a visit as well.  I love this picture of her talking to Santa.

Later, I got to talk to Santa myself (out of costume) as Rick had told him that we were serving a mission doing interviews of mission presidents and their wives.  He had been interviewed earlier in the year by another missionary that we know.  He and I talked for about 45 minutes while everyone else was busy cleaning up.  He shared story after story about his experiences.  I loved listening to him and I kept saying, "I hope you recorded that one."  Each time, he said that he hadn't told that story in his interview.  It makes sense, because it is impossible to record every story and experience you have in that type of service.  I was glad to share that time with him though and hear those sweet stories.

Meanwhile, Jena was vacuuming the gym floor, so she was fitting right in!

Trip to Texas- Day One

We had to get up very early to catch our 7:30 am flight to Dallas.  Jena and I were going there to attend the wedding of my nephew, Scotty Giberson to his fiancée Kayla which was taking place on Sunday in Valley View, Texas.

Here is a shot of one of the new walkways in the terminal in Salt Lake.  It is announcing a 7 minute walk to B terminal.

I loved stepping out of the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport into 74 degree weather.  We grabbed our rental car and took off on new roads to travel to Plano.  They have developed a larger system of toll roads including almost a straight shot to Plano which avoids other freeways with heavy traffic.  It was quite amazing and a little disorientating to travel to Plano on it.  

Despite the different route we took, I was able to find the Thiots' home with no trouble.  We had a great visit with Robynn and it was so nice to sit in her kitchen again after so many years and still feel those connections and love that we have had since we met back in 1992.

Jena enjoyed the hammock as we moved the visiting outside for a bit.

This is our home on Singletree.  The shutters are either new or at least a different color, they have a new fence, and they removed and planted new trees.....

...on the side of the house which is on Mission Ridge.  We have heard that major renovations where done on the inside as well but I wasn't brave enough to knock on the door and ask for a tour.

Through the windshield, this is the park connected to the school that the kids liked to play out.  It was here that some of them got to ride up and down in a hot air balloon.

Wells Elementary where the older kids all attended at some point of their school career--

That evening we headed to Mexican Restaurant and met up with the Martins.  It was so great to spend time with them as well and we talked more about their service as mission leaders in the mid-2000 in California,  Robynn told me later that she loved hearing them talk about it and that she had not heard many of the stories before.

Dick with Robynn to the right, then me and Jena
Back left:  Gemie and Jerry Martin

We spent the night at Thiots--all happy to head to bed around 9:30 after a very long day of travel and fun.  I wish it could have been longer, but it will have to wait until another time!

Day One was in the books!

 

More Missionary Moments

On Tuesday, December 14, I heard that Matt Heiss had "cleaned his office" and there were signs!!  So I headed up to the third floor to see it for myself.

And Sister Winn--who is of German descent--and VERY tidy about things did love it!

Wednesday morning, December 15,  I got a text alert on my phone around 6:15 am saying that due to the storm the buildings on the Temple Square complex would be having a late start at 10:00.  Sure enough, snow on the ground.  We spent some time sending emails and texts to all of our missionaries to let them know to stay home and then we went back to bed for awhile.  Snow morning---

When it was time to head out to the Church History Library, the sun was shinning and the world was glistening.

During the day, I headed up to the 3rd floor to find someone and noticed this piece of art work--a baptism in the river.  I don't know if it was the way the light was hitting the piece or my mood, but it caused me to stop a moment and ponder about the faithfulness of the early converts and missionaries...a stop in a busy day at the Church History Libray.

More scenes from the snowfall of the night---

One of the disadvantages of the late start was that we were planning on having donuts and saying goodbye to the Twelmeyers in person at prayer meeting.  Late start meant no prayer meeting--but the staff from the COB had still come into work and I had 4 doz. donuts waiting to be picked up.  Fortunately, there is a tunnel from one place to another so I carted the donuts to the Church History Library Winter Quarters Room and we gathered all of the missionaries there and staff and shared donuts as a mid-afternoon break.  They were yummy and the staff enjoyed sharing with us.

I had to return the cart by 4:00 and on my way out of the cafeteria, I came across the "Free Hot Chocolate" stand.  I love hot chocolate especially on a snowy day!  I stopped and got a cup which warmed me on the walk up to our apartment.  A sweet blessing for being a missionary today!

That night, we dressed up and headed back to the JSMB for our Mission Christmas Fireside.  It was done by Glenn Rawson (historian and storyteller) and Jason Tonioli (pianst).  It was very nice.  Brother Rawson shared some Christmas stories and while he talked, Brother Tonioli played.  They shared that it is not scripted but after years of working together, it blended together in an very nice way.

Afterwards, we got boxed lunches which we took to the 6th floor and ate in the lobby there.  (We had to pick up something from missionaries on the 6th floor which is how we ended up there--in case you were curious.)

Then we walked home in truly a winter wonderland!

I am not a snow person at all, but even I see its beauty in the glistening sun or the dark of night!