December days in Houston

Time for connections…with special friends

Mark and I spent a few days with our good friends Craig and Pat who live in Pearland, Texas.  Pat treated me and herself to pedicures and manicures.…we loved being pampered! It was only the second pedicure in my entire life…what a great Christmas gift she shared with me! 

We are sharing with Mark how pretty we look…to this day my toes still look great!  Too bad that now they have to be covered with 3 layers of footwear, in addition to the boots at this time of the year. What a fun afternoon for us!

While at the Pat's house…my good friend Gwen stopped by for a visit, in addition to Rachael and Eliza, Pat's daughter-in-law and granddaughter…I just LOVE all of these ladies! I am constantly enriched by wonderful, good women! 

The week flew by….but I was able to stop by my former school, McRoberts Elementary, and visit with a few principals and teachers.  I love my co-workers…here I am with Geraldine. We worked on the same team for five years as reading specialists. Good memories we share.  

I visited with Lynn and others also but didn't get pictures….but am so glad for the connections I can still make with former co-workers at my school.

Caroline spent Friday with us….after taking her last final on Thursday evening.  We had fun shopping, playing games and hanging out together!  We went to Jamie's office for lunch with him.  He joined us after work and they spent the night at Brian and Diana's with us.  

Mark and I pose by Brian and Diana's Christmas tree on the night before we were to fly home to Poland.

We had a quick but good 9 days in Texas.

We had a great Saturday breakfast and lunch, and played even more games together before we had to leave for the airport in the afternoon.

Thank you Brian and Diana…you are wonderful friends and we love YOU!

Our two families have wonderful December memories over the years…we have loved growing up together!

Merry Christmas….we just need Melissa with us!

Mark and I left Houston at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 15.  We would be arriving in Frankfurt late morning the next day, and arrive in Warsaw at 5 p.m.  Fortunately, we were able to sleep for 5 or 6 hours on the flight over the Atlantic ocean.  That helped with the inevitable jet lag after we arrived home.

During our layover in Frankfurt, Germany on Sunday morning, Mark had a typical German snack while breaking out his laptop to work.  Though on vacation for 2 weeks, he worked many days…but such is the nature of the job that he has at this time.

Mark looks pretty relaxed as we board a bus that will take us from the plane to the airport terminal.

And then we were home….December 1-16 flew by for Mark and me!  We were happy to go to the U.S. once again…and happy to be returning home to Warsaw.

Christmas arrived in Poland while we were away….

….scattered throughout the airport were decorated Christmas trees.

We gathered all of our luggage and were ready to take a taxi ride home. We are always happy when we retrieve all of our luggage! 

Yea for us…we made it home! We loved the first half of December….making connections with our children, friends, and family in both Utah and Texas. We loved shopping and bringing a bit of the U.S. home with us to Warsaw. 

We looked forward to the 2nd half of December also…Christmas in Poland once again…but this time we would be joined by a special family member….we were excited for her arrival!