New Houses!

The Warrens bought a lovely home in McKinney near one of my high school friends who also just moved there in March. First, the Warrens' new house.

 As you enter their house, the living room is to your left where the piano also is.

 The dining room (with my sister Jane) is down the hall.

 Between the living room, guestroom/study and dining room is this open area across from the dining room.

 Next comes the kitchen and family room.  Above are Leah and Richard in the kitchen

 Todd, Doug (my nephew) and Eli are in the family room. . . .

 With Dave in the recliner :-)

Not too far from Leah and Todd's, is my friend Kathy with whom I was in Girl Scouts, German class and church.  Kathy stopped by to see us at Leah's and invited us over to her "new" home which was very elegant.

My favorite was their outdoor living space, fireplace and beautiful view.

Kathy's favorite is her beautiful wood paneled study (including a paneled ceiling).

Her husband, Lee, is standing by the most elegant garage cabinets I've ever seen.  These maple cabinets were salvaged from their new house that caught fire.  McKinney is very lucky to have two such wonderful families join its community!

Warren Family in McKinney

 Eli found all of his firemen's gear while we were unpacking!

Although we went to Texas to help the Warrens with their move, we didn't actually move much---just a few items from their apartment to their house via my suitcases and bins. 

 We also helped Eli "rest" in the afternoons.

 I helped Eli decorate his room.

 But, we also got a chance to see "old" McKinney---the town square. . . .

 the candy store "mmmmmm". . .

 dinner at a great restaurant. . .

 a little sight-seeing (Eli is at the old jail). . .

And, I sat beside Anna who would pat the space beside her and say, "oh, ma!" (or was she channeling her German heritage and calling me "Oma"). . .

 But, I also picked Eli up from Bible School each day (in the center front). . .

And, we got to see his program "Shake 'em Up" which was the same VBS program our church was doing this week too!

Family Reunion Frisco

Coincidentally, my cousin Kathleen and I were both in North Texas visiting our children at the same time.  We used Eli's birthday as an excuse to have a mini-family reunion.  Pictured above are me, my sister Jane and our cousin Kathleen.

Jane's daughter Lynn joined us from Ft. Worth for Eli's "May my 4th be with you" party.

Kathy's grandson Kyle really caught my granddaughter Anna's eye.  Fortunately her dad and Uncle Richard kept an eye on them.

Since we were driving down, Kathleen entrusted us with an oil painting from her dad's office which Harvey wanted.

We had many photo opportunities---above are Jane and Lynn---somehow, I missed getting a photo of Harvey :-(

But, here is their youngest daughter aptly named Delaney on Dave's lap.  She looks like she is giving me the raspberries.

Eli really enjoyed meeting his new cousins Josh and Nathan!

And, Harvey's misting system which makes sitting outside delightful!

As you can see Anna never got too far from Kyle.

Here are Josh, Becki, Nathan and Richard.

I love this photo of all of the boys (Kyle, Eli, Nathan and Josh) playing with my ipad!  We had a great visit---it was so good to see so much family together.

Eli's Birthday

I was afraid Eli's birthday would get lost in the shuffle of his mom and dad closing on their new house and not having many friends yet.  But, I think he had a GREAT birthday.  We met him and his family at La Peeps for breakfast.

 Then, after his mom and dad got back from closing, shopping, delivering for the new house, we had pizza and birthday cupcakes with presents from his Mom and Dad.

 Anna insisted on eating her cupcake with the decorative pick---so lady-like!

 A couple of day's later, we went to the our cousins' house for a family party. Since this was his 4th birthday, the theme was "Let my 4th be with you."  Leah made "light sabers" from pool noodles and duct tape.  Eli in the red shorts is playing with his newly met cousins: Josh and Nathan.

 He got lots of great presents from his cousins and grandparents.

Anna really enjoyed the cupcakes. . .and her boy cousins. . . more to follow.

Warren World

We have been helping Leah and Todd with their move from St. Louis to Plano to McKinney.  They have been living in a two bedroom apartment (to the left, top floor, above the satellite dish) in an interesting area-----kind of a "new" urban environment with shops, hotels, restaurants.  Dave said it reminded him of Europe.

We occasionally have had to improvise using a crate and a pillow so Anna had a TV seat.

We had a lot of fun with the kids while Todd and Leah closed on their house and welcomed the movers.

Leah and Todd came home the first night while Dave and I stayed at the Marriott diagonally across the street.

We took the kids to IKEA for breakfast. . .

Anna and I did a little shopping. . .

While Eli played in their childcare area and Grandpa read upstairs with free coffee refills.

After naps, we went swimming in the apartment pool. 

Due to some miscommunication, I couldn't find their water vests so had to use that old swim lesson trick of letting one in the water at a time.

There was plenty of Grandpa lap-sitting.  Please note Anna's "baby" a white rat we found at IKEA.

We also enjoyed the lake in front of their apartment (and the Marriott) and the kids proudly showed me their "sandbox."  Hopefully Leah cleaned out the cigarette butts before she let the kids play.