Spring Break

Barbara and Karim are very dear friends of ours. We met through church, and have had many an adventure with them. Barbara is a pastor, and right now she's appointed to a small church in South Texas. Karim has kept his job near us, with the hopes that someday soon (please, God!) she'll be appointed closer to home. Karim spends weekends with her, but it's hard during the week. She's in a small town, far away from the people she loves. And while she likes many of the people there, she's still quite lonely. So, when we can, the kids and I load up and go invade her all too quiet town. Which is what we did the first few days of spring break.

One day, we went drove to Corpus Christi. We had planned to go for a walk on the jetties or boat docks, or go see a movie, but ended up on the beach. We were all wearing jeans - clearly not well planned. Still, the first beach experience of the year is always the best!! So we rolled up our pants legs, and enjoyed it.

(Thanks to the position of the sun, I could only get photos from behind.)

Soaking wet and covered in sand!!!

No towels. No change of clothes. Oh, well. That happens sometimes when spontaneous fun occurs.

Another day, we went over to see King Ranch. At 825,000 acres, it is the largest ranch in the US. To put it in perspective, it is almost the size of the state of Rhode Island!! Unfortunately, we didn't have time to do the hour and a half long tour that they offer. It was fun to learn more about the ranch.

The "running W" is the symbol of the ranch, and is branded on all cattle... and just about anything else they can put it on!! :-)

Barbara and me (in the bright, bright sun)

Cow!!!!

We live in Texas. We see cows all the time. But for some reason, it's always fun getting close to them.

It was a great visit, although short. I always feel our crazy, loud visits help her appreciate the quiet and solitude a little bit when we leave!

More coming about Barbara and Karim. We are celebrating Newroz - the Kurdish New Year - with them this weekend.