Texas Visit Summer 2011

**Blogging from mid air, this entry was written June 17** Right now I’m sitting here on the IAH Houston to AMS Amsterdam KLM Dutch flight, kids are finally asleep and myself wide awake as usual. We are probably about 3000 miles from Houston in the air right now, and have just flown over the ocean off the coast of Newfoundland. I’ve watched a couple movies already, but I decided to write a blog entry to a document because, well, there is so much on my mind! We have had a very enjoyable time in Texas covering Houston, Sugar Land, San Antonio, El Campo and Port O’Connor! I miss my husband and can’t wait to see him, we have been in Texas a month without him. I’m sure I will have a guest post from him when we get back about his travels around Europe, Africa and the Falkland Islands with work while we were gone.  

This flight has been a little rough, at the least. Its about 9 hours air time. The airport was a challenge in itself. First of all, I did some shopping when I was back in Houston. And boy did I shop...First I bought lots of sundresses and summer clothes for everyone for our time in Texas and our Mediterranean cruise later. I hit the Nordstrom Anniversary sale for Fall Clothes and Shoes for everyone and that filled up one overweight piece of luggage! All of that and some food items I wanted to bring back added up. Once again I had 6 pieces of luggage to check in for us 3! I turned in our Rental Car and tipped a gentleman to help me get all my bags to the bus to head to the terminal. Then I had to find a bell man to help me get my bags from the bus and to the check in. He waited with me in that long line which was so helpful!! $200 in baggage overage and additional bags later, we were on our way. Then came the long line through security. It seemed like so much work but we were finally at the gate and walking on the plane. Luckily with kids I was one of the first people to board. Here we go! About 2 hours into the flight, we started having a few turbulence. There were a little more than I usually experience so I immediately put Trent and Landon’s seat belts back on. Right after that we had a huge one that made everyone jump out of their seats. It was like a wild roller coaster ride and the pilot made the announcement for everyone to buckle their seat belts and remain seated. We’ve hit changing air or something. A couple people sitting around us even got a little sick. And so this lasted for about 1.5 hours which seemed like FOREVER. I just prayed we would get out of this, nothing makes me more nervous on a plane. I was not enjoying it at all, meanwhile, my boys were laughing loud very loudly saying “WHOA, WHOA, this is so fun!” Trent turned to me and said Mom this is such a wild ride today, with such a big smile. I just had to put a smile on my face and stay calm. Trent started telling me he had to go potty again, and I had to tell him we couldn’t yet. When it seemed like things quieted down, we attempted to go to the toilet when a flight attendant told me we could not get out of our seats. I was surprised they were so strict, usually with a child I can get up, he said his side was hurting. After about 30 minutes I told the flight attendant again I didn’t think he could wait.  Fortunately they turned off the seatbelt sign then. Believe me, there were people rushing out of their seats to get to the toilet.  We ran as fast as we could to get there. Whew, I saved a change of clothes on this one.  Its been pretty smooth since, hopefully the remaining 2.5 hours will be smooth sailing! This will be my first international flight with the boys by myself, so I will be happy when we get back. Landon loves to have my attention every second though and Trent trys to be the big boy who can stay up all night, so I have to bribe him to go to sleep. Not sure if he would be able to walk with me to our connecting flight if he didn't sleep some. We will arrive about 12:30 am Houston time, 7:30 am Amsterdam time. We catch a connecting flight from AMS to ABZ Aberdeen at 9 am Amsterdam time which arrives in Aberdeen at 4:30 am Houston time, 10:30 am Aberdeen time. So since I don’t sleep, I’m so tired! Counting on Jon for some help when we get back!

What a summer it has been! I arrived back in Houston by myself for my sister Katy’s Bachelorette party and final wedding preparations. We stayed at Hotel ZaZa and had a blast with shopping, pedicures, El Tiempo for dinner, a Lingerie Shower at the hotel, and then a night out on Washington Avenue in Houston. She has so many wonderful and fun friends, we had a great time! During the week I had dinner with a few friends from home including margaritas and fajitas at El Tiempo, YUMMMM!!  Katy and Clark were married the following weekend. My sister Jill and I were her Matron’s of Honor. What a special day! Jon flew in with the boys and they all were in Tuxedos for the wedding. Trent and Landon were so handsome as Ring Bearers. Katy looked absolutely stunning and I couldn’t be happier for the couple. We are so happy to welcome Clark to our family too. Trent and Landon already love hanging out with Uncle Clark!

Jon was only in Texas for 11 days so we spent 3 nights the next week at the bayhouse in Port O’Connor, where we did some trout fishing. Trent and Landon want to fish all the time now since we caught so many! We also made a trip to Port Aransas with my family, Gamma, Gampa, Aunt Jill, Uncle Kyle, Ally, Uncle Eric, Megan, Uncle Neal, Uncle Jason and Alyssa which was a blast. We love staying at the Port Royal! We went back to Port O’Connor on Father’s Day to have lunch with some of Jon’s family, Nanny, PawPaw, and Uncle Ramsey. It was a great week together but it flew by. Daddy went back to Aberdeen so it was the boys and I for the rest of the time. The next week we spent in Sugar Land at my in-laws house and it was great spending so much time with Nanny and Paw Paw! The boys loved fishing in the pond and going to the movies along with dinner at Carrabbas. On a couple Tuesday and Thursdays they went to camp at the SLWCP and they were excited to see Ms. Becky, Ms. Nisha and Ms. Stacey along with all their teachers  and friends these past few years. A few swim parties and Chucke Cheese with friends were also a must!  We also saw the new Cars movie with some friends, so much fun. The next week we stayed at Aunt Jill and Uncle Kyle’s house along with baby Ally. She turns One this next month and is an absolute doll. We loved playing with her and even helped her take her first 6 steps across the room. The boys are in love with her and love playing  with her. She is such a special little niece!!

July 4^th weekend we went back down to Port O’Connor for watch the fireworks from our boat Hydrocarbon. Best of all, Aunt Stacey, Uncle Jess, Drake, Carter and Myatt were back in town!!! The boys couldn’t wait to play with their cousins and we loved seeing baby Myatt. He is such a cutie and smiles all the time. The last time I saw him was the week he was born so he has changed a lot in 6 months!!!  After the weekend we headed to stay at their house for the week. The boys had a blast hanging out together. And Stacey and I even got a night out with friends from Sugar Land!!

The following Sunday we left with my family to stay at the JW Marriott Hill Country in San Antonio with my family. We love this place! The slides, the lazy river, the pool, the smores, so much fun. Mid week we left back to Port O’Connor to watch the boats during the POCO Bueno tournament. And Saturday we went to cousin Lauren’s wedding in El Campo. In between everything we stayed at my parents house and it was so nice to sit outside in the evenings and let the boys run and spend time with Gamma and Gampa. They had fun riding the combine, cotton picker and playing baseball in the yard. We will miss everyone!! It was a great time, and we would love to go back next summer and visit again! 

**We made it to Amsterdam and had plenty of time to make our connecting flight to Scotland. I love the Amsterdam airport, such a great modern airport and easy to get from one terminal to the other, so it was easy. Although Scotland welcomed us with a little cold and rainy weather, we are all so happy and thankful to be spending time together as a family... God is Great and its a wonderful Life!

Note: Please see next blog post for additional pictures...

Ring Bearers with Cousin Ally

At the farm

Grandma Eddie's Birthday

Visiting GiGi

Nanny and Paw Paw

Visiting Grandma Leopold

Cousins at the Bay

Cousin Myatt

Visit with Grandma Schoenfield

Boys and Ally with Gamma and Gampa

Mom, me, Jill and Katy (sisters)

Texas Bound...

Texas Our Texas...My family is soon to be Texas bound for the summer. We have made it through one school year overseas as we have been living here for 8 months! We arrived in Aberdeen, Scotland in early October, visited Texas over the Christmas holidays, and it has been about 5 months since I have been back. That is the longest time I've been so far away from "Home".  How far away you might ask? 4,625 MILES away - a 10-11 hour flight from deep in the Southern part of the United States to across the ocean and into the Northern part of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. My home will always be Texas, where everything IS bigger and better, and oh how I miss living in that great state!

Things we are looking forward to:
* visiting so many family and friends
* witnessing my sister Katy's wedding which my boys will be attending as Ring Bearers (and wearing their little tux)
* watching my boys play with their Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and friends they have been missing
* having a few drinks with other Mommy friends back home
* eating some great Mexican food (Salsa and Queso please!) and drinking a Margarita on the patio
* listening to country and American radio
* having my groceries sacked for me in the store
* bigger parking spaces and not having to pay at each parking lot
* enjoying some hot Texas weather
* plenty of drive through coffee or dining (Starbucks, Chick Fila, Whataburger, Sonic drinks with Sonic ice, oh and I hear there is a Taco Cabana now in Sugar Land! The boys are wanting some Chick Fila and Ranch Dip as well as Chucke Cheese and some Donuts from the Donut Shop)
* swimming in an outdoor swimming pool (maybe I'll get a tan and wear a bikini!)
* driving on wider roads with a bigger car
* shopping at Target and the Galleria
* talking to people with the same language accent (where I can understand you and you can understand me)
* getting more for my money (everything costs more here with the exchange rate)
* cheaper gas and pay at the pump (yes, we pay approx. $9 per gallon here and I have to always hold the lever the whole time and walk in to pay)
* watching more American TV shows
* going to the farm, bay house and the beach and going fishing with my boys.

Although we've had our bumps in the road, we've been enjoying our time here in Scotland and we have visited so many wonderful places and have been making great memories. We are trying to take in all of the new experiences here and I am starting to really enjoy flying (did I really just say that!)  For those of you who know me well it is something I really did not like and throw an overseas 10-11 hour flight on top of that...enough said. Landon and Trent are fascinated with airplanes and we often are at the airport watching them. They love KLM airlines! We have been to Edinburgh (the Capital), Glasgow (shopping), Aviemore (skiing), Inverness (Loch Ness), Stirling (William Wallace Monument), which are all in Scotland and we have visited many Castles here as well including Crathes Castle, Castle Fraser, Dunnottar Castle and the Balmoral Castle. This Spring we visited Paris, France where we stayed at Disneyland Paris and visited the Eiffel Tower. We also went to London, England and saw so many things including the Westminster Abbey where the Royal Wedding took place just 2 weeks prior and Buckingham Palace where we watched the changing of the guard. My baby is graduating from the ISA PreSchool this year and will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall (tear!) Trent is so ready for Kindergarten though, we are so proud of him. He can't wait and has been visiting the classrooms this week and even ate lunch in the school cafeteria. Landon is going to be the Big Pre-schooler next year. He is excited as well and is already writing his letters. This week he started writing his name. This summer we are going to Barcelona, Spain and then going on a Disney Cruise to Italy and France, so we are looking forward to that after Texas.

Moving overseas has been both one of the most exciting and yet one of the hardest things I've ever done. It was not easy to leave so much family and so many friends behind and go to a new place where I knew NO ONE except for my husband and two children! I was fortunate to have met a girl through a blog I found who had moved here years before us from Houston who had two small boys. What a blessing, Christi Hollis has been an amazing friend to me and my family. Her family has helped us in so many ways while learning things here.

It has been a whole new way of life here and we have had our ups and downs. Jon has been busy with his new position which he really enjoys and has been doing some traveling to Norway, Croatia, Egypt, London, and other places. I have stayed busy with the household domestic duties and keeping up with my boys after their school gets out at 2 pm. As an expatriate, during the first couple of months here I experienced excitement and interest as this was going to be a great adventure. The Castles, the Men in Kilts, and Snow, Snow and more Snow. So follow that with a state of Culture Shock, I had the feeling of not being independent anymore, as if freedom was suddenly taken away from me. Everything here changed, different foods, different people, different ways of doing things, different terminologies, and I had to find a new balance as I went from a very fast pace lifestyle in Houston to a slower pace. I was very homesick after my parents left from their visit and even physically didn't feel right. I prayed for strength and was thankful for my husband, family and friends to help me get through this. My boys were resilient after this move, so seeing them smiling, having fun and happy everyday made me happy! My boys have a way with giving us kisses and hugs, so much energy and enthusiasm, they brighten up my day any day, what a blessing God has given to both Jon and I.

This time period was also a stressful time as we were finding out how to get medical treatment (which is very different here) for our children as well. Anxiety took over at some point, it was a lot to handle at once. Trent developed a horrible rash all over his body which he was first diagnosed with as chicken pox and then after 4 weeks the Dr's could not identify what he had. He had no fever the whole time. He kept getting more and more spots all over him which looked like Measles, eventually covering his face. The nurse said she has never seen anything like it. It was questionable whether I could even take him to school and sometimes I kept him at home. This lasted for about two months and Jon and I just prayed everyday that it went away. We still do not know what this was. We have some of the best medical care in Houston, and I will always appreciate that.

Those harder months have passed, and I started to adjust to living here. I started working out again, getting more involved with the American Women's Group here, volunteering more at my children's school,  and decided to be on the PTO board at the International School of Aberdeen. I have met so many wonderful woman from across the world who I have been enjoying working with during these past couple of weeks for the next school year. I'm excited about taking on this role for the next two years. But for now, I'm going to enjoy my summer in Texas!

Crathes Castle, the first castle we visited here in Scotland

Landon with his Teachers - Ms. Karen, Ms. Andrea and Ms. Carol

along with Trent

Trent with his Teachers - Ms. Karen, Ms. Irose and Ms. Lauren 

along with Landon and the other preschool teachers

Last Saturday - Night out in Aberdeen 

Out with Some American friends in Aberdeen - Christi, Vanette, and Kristin