Texas trip: days 15-19

On Thursday, Audrey was gracious enough to drive Jed and I down to New Braunfels  - even though it was right during Andrew's nap time.  We planned to stay with the Porters until Monday, when we had a flight home.  I have known the Porters since I was 13 - also a military family, they were stationed in Virginia at the same time as my dad and then moved to Germany when he did.  It is unusual to be near someone in more than one place, but we got lucky.  But between me getting married and moving to DC, and them being stationed in Korea, I haven't seen them for the last 7 years.  I forgot how much I loved being around them.

They currently have a beautiful house in Texas, with tons of yard space.

The weather was beautiful, and the kids spent much of the weekend outside.  They played on the playset in the backyard, the hedges in the side yard, and the tree in the front.  Underneath the tree, on the flagstones, Cym set up the water table.  It was a big hit, and the kids got wet and dirty:

In the garage, one of their cats had a litter of kittens (she actually had them on Elijah's bed, but they had since been transferred to a safer place in a corner of the garage).  While we were there, they became old enough to leave their little nest and start exploring the whole garage.  Jed (and all the kids) loved playing with them, and I loved taking pictures of the cuteness:

Saturday night, Stephan ordered a pizza.  It was HUGE:

We had such a fun time hanging out with the Porter family.  They have 8 children still at home, and the younger ones are all VERY friendly, so there were plenty of people for Jed to play with.  Between the new friends, new toys, and lots of space to run around in, he was in absolute heaven.  I really enjoyed getting to know the Porter children that I hadn't met yet, catching up with Cym and Stephan - SO much has happened in the last 7 years! - and just hanging out with their family.  There is so much love in that home and I was so glad to be a part of it for a few days.

Jed holding hands with his new friend, Isaiah,
who is 6 months older than him

Monday morning Cym took us to the Austin airport and we flew home.  I was SO sad to leave (partly because leaving meant actually traveling home!).  We were incredibly lucky, and got a seat by the window with an empty seat next to us.  Jed, while not unhappy for the most part, was very wiggly and it was nice to have a place to set him down on occasion.  I wish that we had an empty seat next to us on all of our flights!