Hustle & Bustle!

To say this last week has been pretty busy is almost an understatement! (I am sorry I don't have any pictures for this part, but I promise to do better for the rest of the weekend!) Andy has been doing an externship at Wilford Hall at the Air Force Base this last week. There have been more days this week when he didn't see the kids than when he did. It is giving us a taste of how an oral surgery residency could be. During that week I have been to a baby shower, shopping (clothes and groceries), get things ready for enrichment and trying to entertain the boys.

Enrichment turned out pretty well I think. We had a "Hi Y'all, Bye Y'all" to say hi to new sisters and wish those moving one good luck! We were locked out of the building until it was almost time to start, but no one seemed to mind that we were a little bit frazzled. I made BBQ beef and the sisters brought things to go with it for dinner, and everything was great! We were able to visit with each other and sign cards for the sisters leaving. WE had a little bit of trauma in the nursery because there is NO ac in there! We had to move them into the Primary room because they were all red faced and sweating! The Leon Valley ward was great to help with the children's class. Thanks!!

As everything was getting started I realized I didn't have a list of the sister who were to receive the cards. We had to call the R.S. Pres., Diane, who was in Utah visiting her new grand baby! She saved us clear from Utah. Thanks Diane!

Then I realized I didn't arrange for a priesthood holder to be there with us. It is a good thing we were sharing the building with another ward. Marc Hofhiens stayed until we were all ready to leave. That is like the third time he had done that for us. Many, many Thanks Marc!!

Last night we went to a banquet where Andy was initiated into a honors group called Omicron Kappa Upsilon or OKU. It was jacket/tie and cocktail dress. Do you think I have a cocktail dress? I do now! It was fun to shop for something a little more fancy than a dress from the sales rack at Wal-Mart or something at Good Will. I will have pictures of my "little black dress" later. I forgot to take the camera!

This morning we went to an awards breakfast for all the graduating class. Andy received three awards and was recognized for the OKU status. I am extremely proud of him! I will post pictures of him with his awards later, I forgot the camera again! I am going to remember it for his graduation.

This weekend we have family coming to share in the celebration! We are excited to see all of them. Andy is also running in a Marathon relay on Saturday in Corpus Cristi, TX. Then he graduates on Sunday. Then the movers are coming Monday morning! As you can see we have been hustling around and still have a lot going on. We will continue the updates as time permits.

Zoo Trip

Our time in San Antonio, TX is rapidly running out, so we are trying to see all of our favorite things one more time. The zoo just opened a new section they have been working on for most of the time we have been here. Andy had a day off after WREB and before his extern-ship at the AFB started, so we went to the zoo.

I don't think you can go to the zoo without getting pictures by the Lions when you first walk in.
Bradley had to sit on every one of the lions before we could continue!
There were three baby Komodo Dragons! It was fun to watch them run around and climb all over everything.
This is a picture of the baby monkey (gibbon) and his mother that was born the same day as Daniel. At 1 yr old Daniel is definitely bigger, but not nearly as mobile!

Taking a lunch break. (Notice there isn't anything on his forehead.)
Before we left for the zoo Daniel did a face plant in the hall and hurt his nose. You can see that it is a little bit red and swollen. (Accident #1)

We loved seeing the alligators! The glass magnified the water so it looked like they were closer than they really were.
This was a huge python, or boa, or something. Anyway, it loved Daniel! I think he thought Daniel would make a lovely snack!
The boys loved watching the snake "dance" next to the glass. It would raise up so its head was the same height as Daniel.

Bradley tripped and hit his head on the wall, or at least we think that is what happened. WE didn't see it we just heard him after the fact and saw all the blood! He was pretty brave and let us clean it and get the bleeding to stop. He had a descent sized goose egg for a couple hours. (Accident #2)
We found a worker with a band aide. The band aide made a big difference.

Bradley couldn't pass this statue without taking a ride!

We had a lot of fun and we were exhausted by the time we left. The boys both slept on the way home. We were glad our Dad had time to enjoy the day with us.

The Missions of San Antonio

Last week we decided to go see the other missions in San Antonio. We heard about them from a couple friends and I wanted to see them before we move. Andy didn't have school that day and the weather was perfect, so we packed up the kids and headed out!

This shows all 5 missions. The Alamo isn't included in the National Missions Park like the other four. (That is why we didn't know about the other missions!)

This room showed some of the old wall paintings. It would have been beautiful to see when it was first built. I imagine all the walls and ceilings were beautiful.
This is a stepping stone on the grounds. I just thought it was too funny! Texans really are very proud of their state!!
Andy in front of the chapel.

They still hold Sunday services at all four of the missions.

This was a light presentations at the visitor center at the San Jose Mission. You can see the San Antonio river and where each of the missions are built along it.

This is one of the cannon holes along the outer wall of the mission complex. Bradley had so much fun looking out the holes and yelling who knows what.

This is the chapel part of the mission.

I thought these stairs where pretty cool. They are made from wood.

This is the only portion of the chapel we saw that still had the original painting on it. It would have been so cool to see the whole building painted.

Bradley loved going in the chapels. I am sure it was partly because even a whisper echos in there and because of all the candles that are lit inside. I caught him on his tippy-toes trying to blow one out! I don't fully understand the significance of the candles, but I am sure they didn't want so rowdy two year old saying "Happy birthday to you" and blowing them out. We had to keep him out of the chapels after that.

The stone carvings where beautiful! There was so much detail.

We thought this map was pretty neat. It shows their perception of the world at that time.

Unfortunately the mill wasn't running when we were there, but we did get to see how it would work if it were running.

This is the granary. They had a really cool display in this room, but the glass around it showed a glare from the camera. The display was a diagram of the mission and showed what and where the residents did during the day.

This mission hadn't been restored like the first two had. It was kind of neat to see all the walls and foundations though. Bradley really liked running around and climbing on the walls.

There are Friars that still live at this particular mission.

By the time we got to this last mission we were all hot, tired and hungry. Bradley was running around and we had been telling him all day that he couldn't climb on the walls and to stay on the sidewalk. I was finally lost my temper and spanked him just before the last couple of pictures. That is why he is laying on the grass crying instead of standing and smiling. Andy told me after we got back to the car that when I spanked Bradley there were 3-4 people who had just walked out of the chapel behind me and the guard had just walked out of her office. They all saw! Andy carried Bradley crying back to the car and when they pasted the guard she asked if he was okay, then she glared as I past. I was a little bit embarrassed that so many people saw me loose my temper. What can I say...if I didn't have anything else to work on I would be translated already right!? :)