Serious catching up needed

Guillermo had hernia surgery the day after Fernando and family left for Sweden.  That went well and he recovered quickly.  Maybe too quickly because he was out digging in his garden I believe it was 3 days after his surgery!!

Fernando and family had a good visit in Sweden this past summer.  The bonds were strengthened with family members over there and Leo came back speaking so much Swedish.

We drove to Austin on August 20 to pick them up from the airport there.  It was decided that I should drive Fernando's new car to go pick them up because after much juggling around of possible scenarios, it seemed all their luggage would fit the best in his car.  I had never driven his car yet, so it was a little worrisome using it at first - especially taking it on I-35.  That highway can be so crowded with big trucks!  Anyway, it turned out to be no big deal driving up there.  We stopped in Kyle to get a burger at Whataburger and then parked at the airport to meet them at their exit gate.  Leo ran right to us.  To them it was probably about 10pm but Leo seemed the liveliest of them all.

The drive home was a disaster.  Traffic became a problem almost immediately upon leaving Austin.  It would clear up slightly at times but it never got really good.  At first Leo was taking it all in stride.  But the closer we got to New Braunfels the more distressed Leo seemed to become.  For him it was about 11pm and I'm sure he was exhausted.  Then the big traffic jam where traffic was basically stopped.  We decided to take the detour that Maps suggested and as we are about to exit the highway, Leo gets sick in his car seat.  Fernando and Eva, fortunately, could tell that was coming and were prepared.  So we're all distressed now and hopefully doing the right thing by following Maps' suggestion of how to get around the traffic jam.  Of course, we're on this detour with others trying to get around the jam so it wasn't smooth sailing.  Then we get stopped by a train!  What ELSE?!?!?  But finally the extra long never-seen-such-a-long train finally passes and shortly we are back by the highway.  We decide to stop at a gas station so that Leo's clothes can be changed.  Leo seemed happy to get out of the car for a while - tired as he was.  We found out later that a semi truck had rolled over on its side on the highway and was blocking the entire road.  They were diverting all traffic to the access roads so it WAS a good thing we took that detour.  Back in the car and back on the highway past the roadblock, traffic was moving but not by much.  Leo got sick once more in the car but our mission was to just get home at that point.  We actually had rush hour traffic practically all the way to our house.

In the morning, after a good night's rest, Leo was back to his old self and it was good having them all back home.

At the beginning of September, we went to a Marriott resort here in town to celebrate both my and Eva's birthday.  We had a LOT of fun and now we want to make this an annual event!

Floating down the lazy river on the hotel grounds.

We loved the sandy beach at this resort.  Not sure how they deal with all the sand that makes its way into the pool at this beach.

They had lots of water slides at this hotel so we all had a good time.

I also had hernia surgery at the beginning of October.  It's been 11 days since my surgery and things have gone well so far.  It's so true what they say - those first three days after surgery are very painful. If I could do it over, I would take it a lot easier than I did in the first week after surgery.  Guillermo says the same thing.  But we both felt not that bad so that made us think we could do more than we actually should have.

Latest trip to Tucson and Fernando and family off to Sweden

Today Fernando, Eva and Leo left for Sweden.  We drove them up to Austin where their flight was going to leave from.  They will return in mid-August!

Going back to the month of June, Guillermo and I left for Tucson on June 28th.  It's a long drive over there but it's kind of a nice drive.  We've been doing it so frequently now so, as we drive along, it's nice to see the changes to the landscapes during the different months we go.  As usual, we stop in Mesilla, New Mexico for the first night.  We used to do the trip in one day, but we find it's just more leisurely to break the trip up this way.

It's been a nice tradition on our trips to Tucson to stop in Benson to have lunch with Roy.

It was perfect weather to enjoy Rebeca's pool.

Scotty with one of his magna-tiles creations.

 He can still fit in this little bin! (but barely)

Enjoying water play at the Children's Museum

Snack time at the museum!

He's loved getting on this police motorcycle since he was about one year old!

With his Lego creation he made at Lego Time at the local library

We had so much fun at the Marriott Starr Pass Resort one weekend.

 They have a lazy river there on the grounds!

The view from the patio

 Enjoying dinner on the patio

The next morning Guillermo and I walked on a trail a little.  It was already hot at around 8:30 so we didn't go far.  But we were excited to see several Mule Deer!

Guillermo and Scotty playing tic-tac-toe at El Charro after leaving Starr Pass. 

Scotty loved creating scenes with dinosaurs and playdough.

We went back to the library another day and saw they had put the Lego creation he had made on display!

One of our big goals this trip was to get Scotty into swimming classes.  Here he is on his first day of class.

And here he is on his third class!  The instructor said he is a fast learner!

Scenes from the drive back home.  We are looking out over Las Cruces from a rest area.

Nice roadrunner at the rest area.

We got back home on July 14, and on July 16 we drove Fernando and family up to Austin for their flight to Sweden.  It's now July 17th and they are spending the night in Stockholm.  The hardest part is over for them and tomorrow comes the fun part spending time with family.  They'll be there a whole month.  Our house sure feels empty and quiet...

Big Rig "Petting Zoo"

Funny name for an event.  But it was pretty impressive.  They had just about every piece of construction equipment any kid would be happy to see up close and several other vehicles like this police car...

this fire truck...

and a city bus.

The only hard thing about this event was that there were so many kids and each kid just had a few seconds to fantasize on the equipment before reluctantly getting off and letting the next kid in line on.  As you can see in this photo, that girl on the left was just itching for Leo to get off.  Most kids weren't that blatant and waited patiently.

 We ran into Rebeca's friend Laura there with her daughter Madisen.  Here they are both on the same forklift.  

It was also very loud at this event as the sirens from the police cars were constantly going off and all the equipment had horns that every kid was more than eager to punch.

Leo was fascinated with the garbage truck but at the same time, a little nervous about being so close to such a loud thing!

Happy Birthday to Guillermo - yesterday actually!

It was a low-key day, but a nice day nonetheless.  Guillermo and I went out to lunch at Beirut Mediterranean restaurant.  The food was very good and we enjoyed that lunch.  Later that day, we celebrated with cake and pie at home!

I love it when little kids are around birthday presents.  They are in charge of opening them!  So precious!

These are the good ole days.

Yesterday Rebeca, Jason and Scotty came in to town after visiting with Jason's family in the Dallas area.
Oh, the anticipation we felt when they let us know they were about 20 minutes away from arriving.  Leo and I just waited on the couch, talking and looking so very much forward to when we would hear them at the front door.
Guillermo was sitting at his desk in the front room and so could see that they pulled up so he announced that they're here and we ran to the front door with excitement.  We saw Scotty getting out of the car and after a second of hesitation, he ran to us.  We hugged and kissed and were so happy.  Leo was just beside himself with happiness to have his cousin with him again for a little while.  The two boys got right to playing and we were just happy to sit back and watch them interact.  Fernando and Eva came home a few minutes later (they were out picking up an ice cream cake for Leo's second birthday celebration!)
These are moments of true happiness.  When the whole family is together again.  We are just so grateful that Rebeca and Jason took the time to swing by San Antonio so that we could see them and Scotty and so that Scotty and Leo could play together again.  There are no words to describe how much we loved the time that we were all together.

Shortly after they arrived, Rebeca and I took the boys to a splash pad at our local Y.  Rebeca's friend Laura met us there with her daughter Madisen.

 That's Scotty on the left filling up his water gun, Madisen in the middle and Leo getting sprayed by Madisen's water gun.

Madisen's turn to get sprayed!

Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday when we got back home.  

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I hit stop and when I started it again, that video is too long to upload.  I will try to shorten it and get it uploaded.

Oh well, didn't get to show that last candle being blown out, but that's the most of the video I was able to upload!

Later that afternoon, we all drove over to Mom's house.  We visited for a little while - the boys enjoyed the swing in the back yard - then we all went out to dinner at Taco Cabana.

Afterwards, we took group pictures and then headed back home.

 

The next day we took some pictures recreating the scene that was taken 4 years ago.

First two funny ones

Then working hard to be serious.

Here is four years ago.

Rebeca, Jason and Scotty left mid morning the next day.  It was a really good twenty four hours!