Berry-picking

We've been on a blackberry kick ever since our little picnic yesterday.

Dad had the great idea to eat leftovers on quilts out in the pasture.

It was perfect.



Afterwords, Clay, Q, and I poked around a little bit and managed to fill 2 Solo cups to brimming with ripe berries.

We couldn't find the illusive tart recipe from our childhood, so we decided to go with a cobbler.




It wasn't bad by any means, but we knew it could be improved upon.



So, after church today (and after Q drove us all home, and I thought I would have to dig Mom's fingernails out of my leg)...



... the three of us set out again, this time armed with long pants, boots, and buckets.

After 3 hours, we came in the door with 20 cups of black berries!!!

(P.S. We call them blackberries now. After extensive online research, we have concluded that you can call them whatever you want. Dewberries, blackberries, snozberries. There is no clear answer out there, so I'm going with blackberry for everyday use, and dewberry when I'm feeling nostalgic for my PawPaw Wells. Snozberry, probably never, but the reference makes me smile)



Tonight's recipe:



Oh heavens.



Indeed.



Happy campers all the way down to the floor.



Now, on to other recipes!

The last few weeks.

This past week was a special one.

We FINALLY got to spend some time with our entire team that's going to Prague! We went on a retreat together in the Hill Country to talk about and cast vision for our future in Prague.

It was good just to be in the same room with everybody.



And talk and talk and talk.




Sweet Jack and Shirley let us stay at their ranch for the week.



The kids had a blast.



Can you find Clay way up in that tree?



He reminded me of one of those baboons you see on TV way up in trees in the jungle :)



Team Prague!



So good to be in Texas!!!



And to be with good friends.



On our way out they took us past this castle. Wow! Can you believe this??



2 Happy Texans.



Cute Autumn and Morgan.



We stayed up past midnight on our last night getting some final work done.



When we got home.... bonus! Rob was home! It's Q's birthday this weekend so the family is heading this way.

Today we ate Mel's for lunch, then headed out with Gma to feed the neighbors' horses and enjoy the pretty day.



Her daddy was born on this land.



When the horses see us they run to the fence. They know they're going to get some carrots :)



She was so brave. Go Gma!



We had a fun time checking the progress of the dew berries. They are getting close!



They are EVERYWHERE!

That entire bush in the foreground of this pictures is covered in them!



We snagged a few early bloomers.

So good! We can't wait for tarts and jelly!



I can't get enough of this land.

It makes me so happy.



We lost track of time, and pretty soon the cart started losing battery power.

Luckily we had other forms of power :)



Then Rob discovered he could pull more power if he went in reverse.



I was laughing so hard by this time.



There she goes!



And all the way home!



I am a happy happy girl.

Flittering

One of the nice things about home is that once you're there, you kind of feel like you always were.

I was surprised just now as I counted on my fingers how many days we've been home.

Just 4.

But they've been packed. And so good.

We've been flittering around, back and forth between houses. We've eaten A LOT. And around laid on couches and talked and talked.

One highlight was riding around with Gma in the back pasture on her new golf cart. Clay, Gma, and I squeezed in the front, and Rob and Q hanging onto the back. We exceeded the weight-limit big time so the boys kept having to hop down and push when the cart refused to move. It was so fun.

Yesterday Clay and I went on a little date. It was great because we've been so busy the last few days we haven't had too much time together.

We went to the Woodlands and ate at La Madeleine's. Tomato basil soup never tasted so good. The table we sat at was the same one we sat at over 5 years ago- the evening Clay proposed. That night we were supposed to go to some Spanish restaurant for tapas but after he asked the question my stomach got so unsettled with nerves that all I could eat was soup. That makes me laugh.

We needed to go to the mall, and in the past would have driven ourselves across the street. But when we noticed the distance was about what we used to walk back and forth to the grocery store in Huy, we decided to hoof it.

And it felt good to stretch our legs. It was a sweet reminder of the last 2 years.

Home.

Our days in Charlotte passed quickly but they were great.

The rental place only had a convertible so we got to cruise in style.



We spent some time with Billy and Kate and their sweet new baby Rush. We also spent some good time de-briefing with some folks within our organization.

Then, home to Houston.

Our flight got in early so I got to sneak up on Mom while she was ordering at Starbucks.



It was so much more fun carrying all those duffels TO the car rather than FROM the car 2 years ago.



We grabbed some Chic-fil-ay.

We stopped at Gma's.



Then HOME!

It is so beautiful right now! So much green and the temperature is perfect. Texas is welcoming us home.



A big hello to my kitties!



Then it was time to go find some Sandozes.

Driving to their house was the first time I had driven in 2 years. Wow. It didn't feel strange at all either. It felt great.



It was a great afternoon catching up and drinking coffee.



Then all the Pasches came over to celebrate in true Sandoz fashion- a big barbecue! Pork chops, pork loin, sausage! Oh man.



Kenny made us some pinatas to celebrate. We laughed a lot.




It was just so good to be together. Nothing like it.



And then this morning, a HAIRCUT!



I can't describe how awesome it felt to talk in English to the person cutting my hair!

Thanks Chandra! Well worth the 2-year wait.




And now I am doing laundry and watching Nacho Libre with Q.

Things are really really good.