Houston Trip

Justin and I went to a conference this week for youth ministers and their wives. We had a great time! Marley had to come with us, of course, but Carter and London stayed with their grandparents (both sets--they have to share!). The conference was really good, as it is every year, and since it was in Houston this time, we were able to catch up with a lot of our friends who live there. I drove to my parents' house on Friday with all 3 kids and Bear (our dog)--3 1/2 hours with no stops! Actually, we did go through the drive thru at McDonald's, but we never got out. We all stayed there for the weekend, and then Marley and I left on Sunday to head to Houston. I never got my camera out while we were at my parents' house or Justin's parents' house, so I don't have any new pictures of any of our extended families! Oops!

I did remember to get it out in Houston though. Here I am with Kim, one of my best friends from high school. Her two kids are the same ages as my oldest two, and I had a good time visiting with her whole family. Her parents were there, and it was fun to catch up with them too!

A friend of ours from college is a youth minister too, so he was at the conference. Here is JT and his wife, Abby:

On Tuesday, I left the conference a little early and headed to my friend Karla's for lunch. She is my other best friend from high school and Kim's twin sister. She had her little boy in December, and this was my first time to meet him. He's precious!

I set the timer on my camera to get this picture of the 4 of us. Pretty good, don't you think?

Kyle and Marley are already best buddies!

Here is a picture of Marley and Justin relaxing in our hotel room. Justin started flipping that remote in his hand, and Marley was cracking up! That's the only time I've ever heard her laugh when someone wasn't tickling her. It was the cutest thing...she just laughed and laughed and laughed!

The conference ended on Wednesday afternoon. We headed to Ikea because we had heard so much about it and there was one right near our hotel. It was fun--I've never seen anything like it! We didn't buy anything though, just looked around. After that we headed over to see some other friends from college--Mathew and Leigh and their 2 kids.

We wished we would have had Carter and London with us to play with all of our friends' kids, but it was hard enough to have Marley with us at the conference...although she really was a perfect angel during the sessions. They had so much time with their grandparents and cousins, so I don't think they would have wanted to be with us anyway.

We're glad to be home after so much time away. Tomorrow is going to be another adventure though, so stay tuned...although it will probably be a few days before I can get the pictures posted!