Flooding in Texas

Memorial Day weekend in Texas wasn't very good.  We got A LOT of rain!  It caused a lot of  flooding throughout the state.  We went down to San Antonio on Saturday to spend the day with Mark and Bonnye.  We hadn't planned on spending the night, but the weather got so bad they closed down the freeway!  There were tornado warnings and flooding all over.  So we spent the night and left early Sunday morning.  Things were looking just fine on the freeway and then all of a sudden there were cones directing us to exit.  There wasn't any signs or detour arrows or anything, so I had to just follow the other cars that had gotten off.  We drove through San Marcos.  At first we wondered why because we hadn't seen any sign of flooding.  At one traffic light just before the freeway entrance, we looked to the left and then we saw it.

Back to Life, Back to Reality!

We were happy to be home, but coming back brought us back to reality...in kind of a hard way.
While we were gone, our freezer had warmed up--I can't remember now if I had turned up the temperature for the fridge.  I remember thinking about it because we didn't have much food in there and it wasn't going to be opened in 2.5 months.  But I may have accidentally turned up the freezer as well.  Or it may have just happened.  But our good friends were even better friends when they came the second week to check on the apartment.  The first week they thought there was a slight smell in the apartment.  They thought it was just that no one was living there and slightly stagnant air.  But by the second week, they knew something was wrong.  And wrong it was.  All the food in the freezer--all the frozen meat and the freezer meals and ice cream and such--ALL of it went bad.
And stinky.
Really, really stinky!
When they opened up the freezer, they knew they were in a bad way.  So they not only checked on our apartment each week while we were gone and brought in our mail, but they had to deal with the stinky, gross, rotting food from our freezer.

Souvenirs!

Wednesday morning after unpacking everything, I decided to take pictures of the souvenirs we bought.  

We're Home!

Tuesday May 19 around midnight--so I guess technically Wednesday--we arrived home!  Yay!  Our flight had gone well.  The movie screens and sound all worked well for us and we all enjoyed watching several movies on the way home.  

Last Meal in Spain

After our flight from Zurich to Madrid we rode the metro one final time.  

Adventures with Othmar and Esther Day 3

Monday May 18 we drove the short distance from Othmar and Esther's apartment to Rhine Falls, where there are some spectacular water falls on the Rhine River.  

Adventures with Othmar and Esther Day 2

Sunday May 17 we had breakfast at 'home' and then went to church.  I forgot to take a picture of it, but that's okay.  We LOVED attending this ward!  There was something about it that was just so amazing!  The people, so different from one another and some so different than us, were beautiful and incredible.  They were so kind and welcoming and we felt so loved as we worshiped with them.

After church we stopped at home to get something to eat.  Then it was back into Stein Am Rhein.  We entered through a different gate this time.

Adventures with Othmar and Esther Day 1

Saturday May 16 we said good-bye to Geri in the morning and got picked up by Othmar and Esther Weber.  They took us a scenic route through Switzerland, where we stopped at a few places to get out and see them.  Our first stop was at Alpschaukäserei Schwägalp.  It is a little cheese factory/shop in the mountains.  Othmar had been a cheese-maker by profession so he wanted to show us different places that make cheese.  He hadn't worked at this location, but we went anyway!

Off to Switzerland to visit Geri

Wednesday May 13 Paul went to work in the morning, finished up what he needed to there and then met Glenn and I at the metro stop at the airport.  We made sure we were there with enough time to get through security and not have to rush.  They had a little playground inside which was fun for Glenn and we were very grateful because our flight was delayed from a departure of 3:30 to 5:30.  So we were there all afternoon!  We finally boarded the plane and it seemed as if things were going fine.  Then a man a few rows in front of us shouted out, "Vive Espana!"  He was acting strange and eventually the steward invited, or rather escorted him off the plane.  We had to wait for that to happen and for the security to come and get him.  We had never been on a flight in which this happened.  Kind of interesting.

Traditional Madrid Meal

May 11, our last full day in Spain, we made sure our bags were packed, went to Retiro one last time, checked out a few more souvenir shops and then had dinner with our new friends Daniel, Paloma and Estrella.  While walking to the metro from the souvenir shops we took a few last pictures.

Madrid Temple

May 9

Paul and I took the opportunity to attend the Madrid Temple two times while we were there.  It is a another beautiful building, but instead of being extensively decorated and touristy, it was peaceful and quiet.

Retiro Park Again and Again

Our time in Madrid was coming to an end.  We wanted to enjoy Retiro Park as much as possible.  So after breakfast and listening to an audio book--which was our daily routine--we packed a lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches,Glenn's workbook and a reading book for me.  Then Glenn got his scooter and we made our way to Retiro Park.  We first fed the pigeons and other birds. 

Happy 30th to Me!

We headed out to San Agustin del Guadalix to visit the Hubers on Thursday April 30.  We had a long weekend and decided to spend the night at their house.  We watched the kids play soccer, we played games and we had fun.  Paul got a cake at a grocery store nearby and we celebrated my birthday with the Hubers on Friday May 1. 

Templo de Debod and New Friends

As our time in Spain was coming closer to an end, I wanted to take Glenn to the Egyptian temple.  He hadn't remembered going 2 years ago and I thought he would really enjoy it.  April 29th Glenn and I took the metro and found our way to the Templo de Debod.

Parque Rio

April 25th we were set to meet up with the Hubers again at the park--the same park this time.  And that park was Parque Rio.  We took the metro there and had fun running and chasing through the hedge mazes.

Burger King

April 22 Glenn and I ventured to a restaurant on our own.  Glenn had completed the 1st grade workbook that we brought along, so we decided to go out for lunch for a change.
Glenn chose Burger King.
After getting out food we went upstairs to eat.  They also had a little interactive playroom.

Paul and Glenn Sunday Walk

April 19 Paul and Glenn went for a walk.  If I'm remembering right, that was the Spanish Mother's Day.  They went out to let me have a nice quiet afternoon nap.

Carnival at Parque Juan Carlos

Saturday April 18 we had plans to meet with some friends at a park in Madrid.  In our emails back and forth, we got mixed up on which park it was.  When we got to the Parque Juan Carlos and the proposed meeting spot, Paul called them and found out that they were at a different park.  Because of timing and money, we decided to just stay where we were and meet up with them again another day.  We were lucky to find that at Juan Carlos there was a fun carnival going on!

Jardin el Capricho

April 11 we met with the Huber family at the Jardin el Capricho.
It's a less-know garden in Madrid but it was beautiful!

All the Extra Pictures from March and April

March and April were filled with little adventures and fun moments.