Breakfast at the Villa

We came through the kicthen on the way to breakfast. Deedle was busy making Salute to the Troops parfaits. Banana and strawberry rockets, 13 blueberries for the original colonies, and real whipped cream because our soldiers are cream of the crop. It was lovely.

She looks very sharp in her hat and apron.

Her beautiful dining room. I love her built in. I am so counting the days until Dearest puts mine back in.

Lil'Bug led the group in our family prayer. We each get a turn sharing what we are thankful for and ended with Amen. I always feel a little nervous about making others feel uncomfortable, but right now my heart is bursting with thankfulness for all of our blessings, especially on this trip. I may be stranded in TX, but no one was hurt. I do have a place to stay and my family is gathering and supporting each other like I have never seen.

My girls lasted through 2 of the 3 courses of a formal served breakfast, then they were very awake and needed to move and dance and be loud so we excused ourselves.

This was the 3rd course: German Apple Pancake. It is more like bread pudding meets apples and pecans. I would eat this with ice cream at home. It is made in a cast iron skillet type that I don't have. I am going to find one before I leave TX, that's for sure.

I'll post more later. I have come up with a list of things to keep my girls occupied.

First Day in Galveston

This is Aunt Deedle. She's been a rancher and a realtor and an antiques collector and a mentor and a friend and so much more. Now she owns a B & B in Galveston. I am lucky to have her in my life and even more blessed that my girls can get to know her.

The seawall at night.

The pictures are blurry because it was night, the darkness required that I play with settings on the camera and I need some practice.

The hit the beach running. 2 day in the car resulted in a whole lot of girl energy that needed to be worked out. The beach was almost empty, the sun was setting, and there was still a bit of oil spill globs washing up. It was really lovely, despite the residue of environmental pollution. The fresh gulf air of Hurricane Ida moving in really cooled the air off. From here we went to a local seafood joint called Casey's and ate fresh fish and bay and gulf shrimp with deep fried zucchini. Then we pulled up next to the Rainforest Cafe and watched the volcano flare up. Lil'Bug was exhausted and asked to go to bed, which after eating ice cream and strawberries we brought from our farm, she did. The girls slept all night and had to be woken up at 7. Way later than our farm time.

First day in Houston

Even in TX Lil'Bug finds the fantastical. This is a faerie egg. If anyone knows what it really is, please comment. We're bringing it back to Iowa so I hope it isn't a super invasive alien destructo egg.

My beautiful cousin C.. Her Mama is dying and she is the absolute example of kindness and grace under fire. I hope she doesn't mind me posting her picture, but Lil'Bug picked it out and said C. is an angel.



My cousins have an awesome sense of style and humor. Blueberry is the 4th gnome.

God bless you all. If you have a chance, hug the people you love and hold them close.

Henderson, Texas- An Unexpected Stop

My girls. I love them so much. They were troopers for true. Here Lil'Bug and Blueberry were writing notes to A and L of Sugarcreek farm to let them know they are ok. You know, since I was posting to FB and blogging the same.



My Dad is calling the deer Micheal Jordan because of the "hang time".....we had come to a complete stop when 3-5 seconds LATER the deer landed on the windshield. God bless the engineers who came up with the type of glass windshields are made of. I don't know of the picture shows it well, but the glass was caved in almost to my Dad (the driver) and the impact also made a good sized hole through the glass.

Look closely and you can actually make out the outline of the deer...um, twice- once on the hood and once IN the windshield. There were also hoof prints on the roof.

We are so blessed. This could have been a tragedy to pile on top of the suffering and sadness our family is already weathering. By the grace of God it was not. God blessed us again when, after driving the back roads the mile from the hotel to the collision center, a gentleman followed us into the shop. He said he was the owner of the local Saturn dealership, he saw our out of town plates, and he wanted to let them know that he has all the parts we need in his shop right now. He said he'd just order replacements for what he needed them for so we could have them. That saves us a little bit of time. He offered us a ride to Houston too, but we were just too many with too much luggage to make that work. The collision shop ladies were wonderful too: they made my kids comfortable, arranged for a rental car for us, gave my Dad a ride to it 30 minutes away, and were just all around nice. The shop was tidy and clean. The insurance claim went smoothly too. These are all little details compared to the fact that we are all unscathed, you know?

That said, all is well. I have to stay in Texas until the car is done and then we'll get a rental to Henderson and pick it up. For the trip home I think we will stop and not drive through deer country at night, you know? I am thinking we will stop and see Great Grandma in KC, MO too. Maybe go to the zoo. So I'll just need an overnight stop between Henderson and KC. Maybe Dallas? Maybe Arkansas? We will just roll with the waves and put our trust in a higher power.