Still in Houston--Birthdays, 4th of July and a Baby Blessing

Kent went to Vancouver for 10 days while I stayed in Houston. He was gone the end of June until the 5th of July, which is why he isn't in any of the following pictures.

I spent a couple of days at the beginning of July with the Stinsons to be there when Kiera had her birthday.

 We ate at a restaurant called "Sweet Tomatoes" for Kiera's birthday dinner.

 The Lees came to celebrate the 4th of July and have a barbecue at the Stinson's house.

I gave the grandkids some patriotic pinwheels.

 After the meal the kids got into their swimsuits to have a water balloon fight.

 Jason kept the kids supplied with water balloons.

Carson taking a little break with Grandma.

 Baby Parker celebrating his first Independence Day!

July 6th was Savannah's birthday party at a fun house place called Monkey Joes.

As you can see, there were lots of little girls there to help Savannah celebrate her birthday. 

Savannah and Carson at one of the bouncy slides at Monkey Joes. 

From the ridiculous to the sublime--the next day was Sunday, and it was Parker's blessing day.

I LOVE this picture of Carson with Parker. 

 Adri made Parker's blessing outfit, with help from me. Unfortunately, he wasn't very cooperative in his pictures.

I made him the flannel quilt, in the same style that my mom used to make there for her great-grandchildren.

Kent was back in town in time for the blessing, of course.

Tuckered out Grandma and Parker taking a little snooze together.

 Russ and Kent took Sophia and Grace fishing while we were there. Both girls caught fish,

 but it was a "catch and release" pond. The girls thought fishing was very fun, even if they had to get up early to go to the fishing lake.

We helped Adri out by taking the kids to some of their activities, like swimming lessons...

and Grace's dance class.

Some fun random pictures with Kent and the grandkids.

Cute grandchildren photo!

 Kent's brother, Greg, lives in the Houston area, so we went out to lunch with him one day. Plus a picture of Sophia and Grace showing their distinct personalities.

Carson testing out the play car at the store. 

While I was there I started working with Carson on his potty training. It was a slow process!

On Adri's birthday on July 16th we went to the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory, which was about a 45-minute drive away from their house.

Here's all of us who went--Russ was at work.

Tasting the ice cream after watching through the windows to see how it was made.

It was Parker's first trip to the Blue Bell factory!

The ice cream cartons were set up to look like an American flag, which was very cool.

I made Cafe Rio pork, plus a chocolate and peanut butter cake for Adri's birthday dinner. 

 Carson helping his mom blow out her candles.

 The Stinsons came, plus some of Adri's other friends, to her party. Afterwards we took a picture with all of us, since Kent and I were due to leave the next morning.

The kids were very sad to see us leave, especially tender-hearted Grace. 

 It was hard to say good-bye after being there for almost five weeks, but it was time to move on and visit the rest of the grandchildren. We're glad we were able to stay as long as we did to help out after Parker's birth.