A Week With Family in Hillsboro

Gloria Enjoying Her New Tub

Our major purchase in early May was a new walk-in bathtub with jets and all the bells and whistles a handicapped person could ask for in a safe-t-tub. These tubs cost a small fortune, but this investment will decrease Gloria’s chances of a fall. The hydro­­­­­therapy seems to help her legs when they are painful. 

Central Baptist Church Picnic 

Our church celebrated the first Sunday of the month with an afternoon picnic at a ranch near Hillsboro. It was a great time of fun, fellowship, games, and food. You will find a photo of our church building at the end of this post. The group photo above taken by Jerry made the Hillsboro weekly newspaper.

Dallas Museum of Art

Gloria and Courtney at the Arboretum

Gloria returned to Parkinson's Voice Project in Richardson for an evaluation. Then we spent a free night at a Hanpton Inn motel in Dallas, compliments of our Hilton Honors points. The next day we visited the Dallas Museum of Art prior to going to DFW Airport to pick up our daughter, Courtney, from San Marcos on the Lake, Guatemala. This was a wonderful week-long treat. She and husband, Josh, own an elementary school and kindergarten in that quaint, lovely town of 3500 people. Their students are a mixture of indigenous children and those belonging to the many Internationals who are temporary and permanent residents. We had not seen Courtney since November; we regret that she could not bring young daughters, Althea and Mirabai. Josh took good care of them along with performing his school administrator duties. This visit gave us the incentive to again tour the Dallas Arboretum. Courtney always enjoys a visit to our Hillsboro Antique Mall, and we accomplished that. She and Gloria also did their thing at the local outlet mall.

L to R: Jerry, Gloria, Lucie, Steve, Lincoln, Stephanie, Courtney, Jack

During Courtney’s visit, Stephanie's family from Wimberley, TX also came to see us for a few days. That meant lots of bocce ball (see below) and joker with teenagers, Jack, Lucie, and Lincoln. We were delighted to have the entire family together in church on Sunday. Gloria is no longer able to handle heavy-duty kitchen duties. The children and grand children worked together as a team to create great meals and snacks. Stephanie, our family artist, also helped Jerry frame many photos in preparation for his first attempt to sell his work at a local festival.

Lucie, Jack, Courtney with the ball, Lincoln

It was sad when we had to take Courtney back to DFW Airport. We don’t know when we will get to see her again, but hopefully we can work out something this winter. Fortunately Stephanie’s family lives only a few hours away. We are glad everyone got to visit when the sunflowers in the fields of Hillsboro were at their peak.  ­­­  

Springtime In Texas

Springtime in Texas

Our Backyard

In contrast to last year, we have had several wonderful showers this year in Hillsboro, and the weather has been perfect. Our backyard garden is lush and green. We like the peaceful presence of our new metal yard art, “Cowboy and His Horse at the Foot of the Cross.” We have spent considerable time in Dallas and Fort Worth. Gloria enjoys going back for refresher voice therapy sessions at the Parkinson Voice Project in Richardson. As well, we are new members of the Dallas Museum of Art and the Dallas Arboretum. Texas does have its share of cultural exhibits, but they are not to be found in our little town of Hillsboro. We have enjoyed great times with our neighbors at the North Texas Airstream Community (NTAC). Duplicate Bridge is a new addition.

Tom and Anne

Good RVer friends, Tom, from Green Bay, Wisconsin visited us for a couple of days on their way home after spending the winter in Texas. The above photo was taken of them standing on a rainbow bridge at the Dallas Arboretum, where we spent an afternoon with them. Tom is a great professional barber, so he provided stylish haircuts for both of us.  In addition to all of the above, we enjoyed an evening of Bridge.

Lucie & Daughter Stephanie

Oldest Grandson Jack

Daughter Stephanie’s family visited us a couple of times from Wimberley. Grandchildren Jack, Lucie, and Lincoln are active in the home school debate club, and the competitions are often in the Dallas Metroplex. Being located right on I-35, we are a convenient stopover point. The three teenagers are doing a great job in debate and usually finish high among their competitors.

Beautiful Austin, Texas

Christy & Son, Mark, from Kingsport, TN

Ethan

Lincoln in the River

Stephanie's Husband, Steve

In late April, we pulled our trailer out of our attached RV port for the first time this year. The purpose was to travel to Austin, one of Texas's most beautiful cities, to attend the Annual Inscape MindLab Conference.  Our company has been selling Inscape training profiles since 1984, and the conferences are always beneficial. Robin, our eldest daughter, is our business partner in Northern Virginia, so she flew in for the conference. Son, Mark, recently lost his job due to a company merger and downsizing. He is also an Inscape distributor and hopes to develop his own business in Kingsport, TN. He, along with wife, Christy, and son, Ethan, also drove to Austin. They extended their trip in order to spend more time with Stephanie in Wimberley. We spent 10 days in a premier RV park on the San Marcos River, and everyone mentioned above gathered there on a couple of occasions for cookouts and playing in the river. It was there that we celebrated a surprise birthday party for Gloria. Stephanie made sure the decorations included the Airstream. We only wish that daughters Courtney and Andrea with their families could have been present to enjoy the fun.                                                  

Birthday Decorations

Robin, Daughter and Business Partner, with Us

After taking Robin to the airport for her departure back home to Northern Virginia, our GPS routed on a rural venture through  Lockhart. Texas is famous for it's elegant courthouses, and Caldwell County was not to be outdone. We stopped to take some photos and enjoy a terrific brunch at highly recommended Henry's. We continued to enjoy family fellowship and good food at Stephanie's home in nearby Wimberley until it was time to head home and park our rig for the month of May.

Caldwell County Courthouse, Lockhart, Texas