Catching Up in Kerrville

For the past 3 days we've been working on details here in Kerrville. Things like checking the storage units (that was scary!) to see which of our things we could get to (don't eve really want to THINK about that now!), go through 4 months of mail (a formidable task!) and prepare for our trip to Boise to see our 4 children and 12 grandchildren. We found out that we had absolutely NO idea where our luggage was in the storage unit... so we headed down to our local Belk department store and bought some more (after scouring the thrift shops). Fortunately, we found a a et that was half price that will do nicely.

The BEST part of the past few days has been reconnecting with friends.  We attended our home church on Sunday and saw many friends and acquaintances. Our good buddies Russell and Vicki came over to check our our new travel trailer. It was great to see them again!

Yesterday I did some shopping for our Boise trip, and much of today we packed for the trip. This evening, however, was dedicated to friends.

We started by attending a girls' high school volleyball game. The girls' volleyball team from the school at the children's ranch where we used to live as volunteer grandparents was competing in Kerrville, so we had to stop by and visit with friends.

All the girls are alert and ready for action.

Coach Chris and Miss Kelly, two of the dedicated teachers at the school:

Then we stopped by to visit Dean and Susi Mitchell, who were also grandparents at the ranch with us. They recently moved to Kerrville and bought a house. Just 4 months ago as we were leaving on our trip, we stopped to say goodbye. At that time their backyard was a narrow strip of Texas dirt and rock, looking straight uphill into their neighbors' backyard. We could not believe what they've done in only 4 months! This is a tribute to the knowledge, expertise, and dedication Susi and Dean have. We felt like we had arrived in Costa Rica!

What a beautiful place to visit with good friends!

Then onto an event that was one of my favorite activities when we lived in Kerrville. In addition to teaching music lessons (guitar, mandolin, piano, ukulele) I also took classical guitar lessons from a well-known local performer and teacher, Kevin McCormick. About 5-6 times a year, Kevin holds a Master Class (group lesson) for his students. The adults all meet at one time, the younger children at another time, and the intermediate children and teens at yet another. The adult Master Class is always great fun. In addition to performing for each other and then having Kevin teach on a topic that's of interest to all of us, we have an opportunity to socialize around delicious food. It's such fun to enjoy the progress everyone makes in their guitar playing from month to month, and to visit with friends from all different walks of life, whom we might not see in other settings. You can see from the photos that we have a great time. There's lots of camaraderie, laughter and encouragement.

It was great to see some of my guitar playing friends again. I certainly do miss the music contacts I had...but I'm hoping to find some musicians in Rockport play with.

Tomorrow we're off to Boise. It will be great to see our children and grandchildren. I know it will be an action-packed week!