Home for the Holidays

I've just returned to Fort Worth after 5 days in Ruston for the holidays! It was great to be home, to forget about school, and to enjoy time with friends and family. Daniel and his brother, Joshua, came home with me, so we spent much of the time introducing them to people in my world. He and his brother both are super easy-going, and of course, everyone loved them and welcomed them!

Some highlights from the holidays:



TAKING STEPS
My cousins' baby, Annie, is now walking!! (She celebrates her first birthday next week!)



MEMORIES
At my granny's house, we spent time after lunch telling one another what we are thankful for and remembering memories people in our family who no longer share holidays with us. Walking down memory lane is so much fun - especially with family. There's so much history there!!!


STORIES
Listening to granny tell stories about how our family ended up on the "Fowler Farm" - the land where granny, mom and dad, and now Laura (my cousin) and her husband and baby live.


COUSINS
Seeing family that I haven't seen in a while. As we've gotten older, some have married and moved away from Ruston, others have gone off to college, and well...I'm not in Ruston anymore. We don't get to see each other all of the time like we used to. Getting together always brings a lot of laughter and fun!


MAKING SENTENCES
My cousins' baby, Abby, is now speaking in sentences!!! She would say, "Give me this!" Or when asked what Santa will bring her for Christmas, she said, "Dolls and toy-ees!" ("toy-ees" - our southern 2 syllable word for, 'toys'!)



PUZZLES
Putting together a 1000 piece puzzle - started it Thursday night after Thanksgiving dinner and finished it Friday afternoon!

OPEN FIELD, OPEN SKY
Mom and dad live out in a wide, open field. It was so nice to be away from the city and be at home. It's so quiet there. The sky is so big there. Nights are beautiful - bright white lights meeting the deep, dark black...GORGEOUS! I even saw a shooting star! Daniel and I bundled up one cool night for a walk beneath a blanket of stars.

BEST FRIENDS
Hanging out with 3 of my best friends from high school!The four of us have not been together since before I left for Egypt in 2002. We've seen each other separately, but not all together! FUN TIMES and LOTS OF LAUGHTER and walking down memory lane! I love those girls!!!!

CAFE ISTANBUL
Saturday night we came back to Texas and Daniel and I went out with some friends of his that he knew from the time he served in Turkey. We ate at a Turkish restaurant in Dallas. It was great to meet some people from his world. He'd had such intense days in my world! There were 16 of us at Thanksgiving lunch with my mom's side of the family and 20 of us at dinner with my dad's side of the family...plus, random friends who wanted to meet him. I was glad to have a taste of meeting new people. He was glad to have conversation with friends of his and reunite with them! His friends were great and we had a nice dinner with them. For you Techsters who read this and went to Turkey with the BSU in 1999, you may recognize Ryan Smith in this picture - blue eyes and beard. He was a journeyman when we went that year...SMALL WORLD!

Well, it's back to Fort Worth now and lots to do in the next week and a half - a couple of assignments for classes, but mostly a lot of studying for finals, which are next Monday thru Wednesday! Daniel and I will be back in Ruston this weekend for Kristin Kilpatrick's wedding as well. Hopefully I can get some studying done during the drive. I'm looking forward to December 7, my last day of finals!! Then...a LONG break!!! Praise the Lord!