Every year we try to visit Haydee, an old friend of Jav's family and godmother of Jav's sister. She has been a cloistered nun for 25 years now, and her "nun" name is Sister Maria Rosario. She is Cuban and quite a character. Her home for the past five years or so is the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin, Texas. Even though she is Tia Sandie's godmother, she is a little closer to Jav. She was thrilled when she found out we were going to be parents and made us promise to raise them right and be sure and visit her often. This trip is old hat now to Gabriel, who was a bit freaked out by the nuns the first couple of times we visited. I was concerned about how Joel would react, but in typical laid-back Joel style, he just accepted everyone with a big toothless grin. We complain about the trip every year, because it takes all day to go there an back, sometimes into evening, and it's just tough to do car trips with little ones. But we invariably end up having a really nice time. The drive there is very pretty, and the convent itself is absolutely beautiful, surrounded by huge East Texas pine trees. It's so quiet all you hear is birds singing. And the nuns are ever so sweet. They love it when kids visit and several always drop by to say hello. Most of them have great senses of humor, which for some reason surprised me at first. They have to stay behind the railing seen above, but can hug over it. They also let the kids be behind it some too. I still need to find out exactly what "cloistered" means one day.
Here is the third walking stick we saw this year. I think they are so cool.
Joel talking to me from inside. Notice Zoe looking at me too.
Really pretty almost full harvest moon. It was supposed to be one of the brightest moons we've had in a long time, and it was beautiful. My picture doesn't do it justice.
My sweeties having a blast in the backyard. Our grass always gets really thick and pretty this time of year, but this year it's even better. It's like walking on a really cushy wall-to-wall carpet. In a vibrant shade of green!
Gabriel in his Beatles cartoon tee he got for his birthday, which has caught the attention of lots of people every time he wears it!
The almost-perfect (Joel looks sad, but he's just not liking the bright sun in his face) end of summer picture, with my lantana in full bloom. We had tons of butterflies, bees, and even hummingbirds eating and pollinating it all summer.
Every year we try to visit Haydee, an old friend of Jav's family and godmother of Jav's sister. She has been a cloistered nun for 25 years now, and her "nun" name is Sister Maria Rosario. She is Cuban and quite a character. Her home for the past five years or so is the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin, Texas. Even though she is Tia Sandie's godmother, she is a little closer to Jav. She was thrilled when she found out we were going to be parents and made us promise to raise them right and be sure and visit her often. This trip is old hat now to Gabriel, who was a bit freaked out by the nuns the first couple of times we visited. I was concerned about how Joel would react, but in typical laid-back Joel style, he just accepted everyone with a big toothless grin. We complain about the trip every year, because it takes all day to go there an back, sometimes into evening, and it's just tough to do car trips with little ones. But we invariably end up having a really nice time. The drive there is very pretty, and the convent itself is absolutely beautiful, surrounded by huge East Texas pine trees. It's so quiet all you hear is birds singing. And the nuns are ever so sweet. They love it when kids visit and several always drop by to say hello. Most of them have great senses of humor, which for some reason surprised me at first. They have to stay behind the railing seen above, but can hug over it. They also let the kids be behind it some too. I still need to find out exactly what "cloistered" means one day.
Here is the third walking stick we saw this year. I think they are so cool.
Joel talking to me from inside. Notice Zoe looking at me too.
Really pretty almost full harvest moon. It was supposed to be one of the brightest moons we've had in a long time, and it was beautiful. My picture doesn't do it justice.
My sweeties having a blast in the backyard. Our grass always gets really thick and pretty this time of year, but this year it's even better. It's like walking on a really cushy wall-to-wall carpet. In a vibrant shade of green!
Gabriel in his Beatles cartoon tee he got for his birthday, which has caught the attention of lots of people every time he wears it!
The almost-perfect (Joel looks sad, but he's just not liking the bright sun in his face) end of summer picture, with my lantana in full bloom. We had tons of butterflies, bees, and even hummingbirds eating and pollinating it all summer.
