The Visitors

So, Brian was gone for two weeks for training and I was left to create a busy social schedule and have fun taking Mommy & Son photos...

Daddy arrived home and immediately snuggled the family

A WONDERFUL surprise: My sister and her youngest, Timothy (who just turned 1 year old), came for an impromptu visit from California for the weekend. We had family on our dad's side flying in to see our grandparents in Houston and we all wanted to be together -the first time in seven years.

Timothy needed a bath to loosen up after the long flight

Crystal with her, excuse me -I mean "their" nephew.
Family visit in Houston!

Second cousins: Remington and Timothy

Aunt Ruth with Wilder

Grandma Anne with her great grandson, Timothy, who played the pots and pans with spoons

Relaxing in true Cameron fashion -in the LaZBoy

Timmy, Grandma Anne and Uncle Tom. A smile to die for!

Aunt Carol and I (pictured) and Aunt Ruth and Crystal strolled the neighborhood with our sons on a blustery day in Houston.

Timmy and Aunt Ruth

Aunt Carol snagged a suitcase full of photos from our great grandpa Earl's house and we spent the afternoon looking at tremendous photos of our heritage.

We had only seen turn of the century photos of strangers in antique stores. Now we saw piles of ancient photos of our Norwegian relatives and heard Grandma share stories and lineages we had never heard before.

Grandpa Doug's mother

Grandma Anne's mother's class photo

My father at Portage Glacier just outside of Anchorage, AK

My father in England

Grandpa Doug, Uncle Russ and Timmy

Crystal and Grandma Anne

Second cousins Timmy and Bailey

We had a family dinner out and managed to pass the 2 hour wait for dinner happily while catching up

Grandpa Doug and Wilder

The whole gang (Uncle Tom's taking the picture.) I am so thankful we all got to spend this time together. It did my heart so much good to be with my father's family -all united for the first time since he passed away 7 years ago.

Back in Georgetown! After church we took Crystal and Tim to Duke's for some excellent BBQ. Couldn't let them leave without having a taste of Texas.

With the courage needed to do the responsible thing, we found Smoke a new home. He kept marking in the house and with Brian deploying soon, it was too stressful having to watch him like a hawk, clean up after his purposeful "accidents" and deal with his separation anxiety. God was so good in providing him a wonderful new home in the country where he would be the special buddy of a sweet teenage girl and her family who owned several other Australian Shepherds, as well as many horses and a few other dogs. They reported the following day that he is doing excellent and fitting right in -hasn't missed a beat. Though Savannah has missed her buddy, it's made us pay more attention to her, take her on walks and runs and has significantly lowered my stress level.

It was magnificent having Crystal and Timothy visit. Now we're just trying to figure out how to get the family moved from California to Georgetown. There is a house for sale in the neighborhood that would suit them very well...

A dentist or plastic surgeon in the making.

Bath time! Can you believe he's 3 months already?

Crystal finished a sewing project with me and was pleased as punch to be partaking again in the domestic fine arts.

Too funny.

The kids at play

What a tremendous, though short, visit! I already miss them so much, but am so thankful they were able to come and see all the reasons they need to move here. :)