https://youtu.be/1q3WULtoMJO This is a link to our YouTube video of Texas.

We decided to change things up a bit and came to Texas for our last three weeks of our Abroad Experience. My sister lives in Texas and this was the perfect time to spend three weeks visiting her and her husband.

We stayed in Bayou Vista in a beautiful house on the Ocean Canals. We enjoyed some cool weather for Texas, in the high 60’s up to the 90’s. Most of the time the humidity was relatively low too. It was perfect.

We paddle boarded out from the backyard dock and the little girls enjoyed swimming in the ocean canal water. Zeke and Luke even got daring and jumped from the elevated deck into the water. Soon Sicily was jumping off with her brothers too. We paddle boarded, fished, played games and relaxed.

Fishing

We learned in Texas you can fish with an underwater light. This was Awesome! There was a light attached to the dock that went under the water and when it was on at night you could see the fish swimming around and collecting above the light. Luke loved putting a shrimp on a hook and casting his pole in. He caught catfish, black drum and trout. All the kids took turns catching fish, it was fun!

Aunt Dena took Brooklyn and they went and bought a Crab Trap. They added some meat to the trap, tied a rope to it and threw it off the deck. Sure enough, they caught about 8 crabs over the course of two weeks. It was interesting because I had no idea that Texas crabs were similar to the Maryland crabs that we ate years ago when we live there.

Galveston

We went several times out to Galveston Island, which was just a few minutes drive from where we were staying. We enjoyed a day looking around at the Galveston Sea Wall. This wall was built after the. hurricane of 1900, where 6,000 to 8,000 people died. This wall was build for protection from future hurricanes.

We also went to the Stewart Beach on Galveston for some swimming and playing in the water.

Game Nights

We played the game Bang! with our family and my sister and Jeff. This game is Luke’s favorite, so he was thrilled with my sister and Jeff had the game and an expansion pack to go with it.

Zeke’s 16th Birthday

My son Zeke turned 16 in Texas. We had a fun time celebrating him. Zeke enjoys golfing and so we went to Top Golf, which was really fun for everyone. Zeke also likes food, so together, Zeke and I cooked ribs for dinner. They turned out very delicious. Zeke is a kind son, he enjoys his phone, games, football, golf, family, friends and good food. I am grateful he is my son.

Returning Home

We have had some time pondering our time abroad. It really was such an incredible experience and I feel so grateful to have had this experience. I asked each of my family members a few questions and gave them some time to think and ponder. Here were the questions:

Over the last six months:
What have you learned about yourself?
How will you behave differently when you return home?
What improvements have you made in your life?
What things bring you happiness?

These are my responses:

What have you learned about yourself? 

1. I learned that it doesn’t matter where you are, family prayers, family scripture study and exercising, take planning a commitment to accomplish.

2. I learned I need to plan things daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.

3. I miss having all my family around me and as much as I would like to have a farm or live other places,

I want more to live around and near my family.

4. I like spending time with my family, and I also like having some quiet personal time.

5. I miss sewing things and selling them.  

6. I like making goals.

7. I like going for walks. 

8. I have also learned when I pray to the Lord and ask for his will to be done he does provide and guide me.

9. There are certain things that I learned I could do without:

clothes dryer, vehicle, lots of bedrooms, and an extravagant Christmas.

How will I behave differently: 

1. I will make sure we have more family time together (games, get together).

2. I will make financial goals for myself.

3. I will read more, to my little girls and myself each night.

4. I will walk more (to the store and around the neighborhood).

5. Have a weekly council with each of my kids individually.

What improvements have you made:  

1. I have improved with my time and relationship with Justin and my kids

2. I have improved with my roll in Come Follow Me

3. I have improved with my daily prayers

4. I have been able to take a break from the things of life and been able to reset my life and am excited to do things again

What brings you happiness:

1. My family and extended family
2. The gospel
3. Helping and doing things for others
4. Sewing and selling my crafts
5. Eating yummy foods
6. Going for walks, being in nature and pondering and praying 

These are a few things I have thought about as I have returned to my home in Utah. I am so grateful for this experience to live abroad these last six months.  The things I have seen and experienced were magnificent.

Thanks for reading.