Time in Texas

Ryan had Fall Break last week, so we decided to make a trip back to Texas to see our loved ones. We first dropped Wally off in Nashville with Brandon and Jill. It was fun hanging out with them for the day before leaving the next morning for Texas. The boys were so cute playing Wii.

Of course we were very excited to see our family and friends, but we were also excited about all the great places we wanted to eat while at home. Contrary to popular belief, Kentucky is not known for its Mexican food, so we were ready for some good ole' Tex Mex! We arrived in Texas on Saturday and spent the day with Ryan's mom. We ate lunch at Cadillac Bar, which was one of our favorite Mexican food restaurants in Houston and then we had dinner at Shady Oak Barbeque. If you've never eaten at Shady Oak, you are really missing out! It was one of my favorite meals of the week.

On Sunday, we went to La Madeleine after church and to Uncle Julio's for dinner. These are both restaurants that we wish would make their way to Kentucky. It was so much fun hanging out with Ryan's mom.

We headed out to Ryan's dad's ranch on Monday. We spent some good time with his dad and Terri. We even got our first pair of cowboy boots so we would have them to ride horses. That night for dinner, we met Ryan's cousin, Tim, and his wife, Therese, at Mama's Pizza, which is a favorite among the boys in Ryan's family. We were so blessed to be able to catch up with them.

On Tuesday, we headed to Ryan's grandparents' house for lunch and games. After a good homemade meal, we played the marble game. I had never played it, but it's very similar to the game, Sorry. Ryan played on a team with his grandmother, "Gamie," and I played with his mom. Ryan and Gamie killed us! His grandfather, "Dagy" kept trying to help me and Ryan's mom, but we still lost two games in a row. Oh well! We had Taco Bueno that night for dinner--what I wouldn't give to have a Taco Bueno here!

Ok, I know I'm obsessing about food, but these are luxuries that we only get once a year.

Anyway, on Wednesday, we had lunch at Freebird's with Mandi, who is a dear family friend. Freebird's, for those of you who aren't familiar, is famous for their monstrous burritos. Seriously, they're huge! After lunch, my sister, Jenna, and I went shopping. It was fun playing around in the different stores. We spent so much time laughing. That night, we had dinner with my dad and his new wife, Janet. We hadn't gotten to meet Janet yet, so it was great getting to know her.

On Thursday, we met Brandon, Michelle and Luke (Ryan's cousin) for lunch. They came to visit a couple weeks ago, and we were so blessed to get to see them again. That night, we went with my mom and Steve to Texas de Brazil, which is a Brazillian steakhouse. Holy cow! I'm normally not a huge meat person, but my plate was overflowing with meat that night. They have "gauchos" who walk around with skewers of different kinds of meat giving you as much as you want. It was delicious!

We went and rode horses at Ryan's dad's ranch on Friday. We had only ridden horses once before so had to be trained a little before we got on. It was a lot of fun. Ryan rode "T.C." and I was on "Maud." I had no clue how many muscles I used to ride a horse--I was so sore the next day. After riding horses, we went over to see Ryan's best friend, Kyle, and his wife, Jessica. They are such sweet friends, and I really wish we got to see them more. That night we hung out at my mom's house and played with Steve's kids.

We spent Saturday hanging out at my mom's house. Steve's parents even came over that night for dinner.

We flew back to Nashville first thing Sunday morning. We got to hang out with Brandon and Jill for a few hours before heading back to Louisville.

The week went by quickly, but we were thankful for the time we got to spend with our family and friends.