Labor Day Weekend

We were glad to be able to get time off to enjoy our labor day weekend. What made it even more enjoyable was having Collin's parents stay with us that weekend. They are currently in the process of moving from Virginia to California. So they decided to come across our neck of the woods and spend time with us. 

On Friday, they arrived just shortly after I got off work. They really wanted to experience Texas barbecue, so we went to Rudy's BBQ. I love Rudy's! It has kind of a friendly, rustic feel to it. At the same time, their food is delicious. You can order brisket, sausage, or chicken and smother them in as much BBQ sauce as you want. :) Collin and I hadn't been there in a while, so everything tasted amazing! Since everyone was tired from a long day, we played a game of Ticket to Ride by the end of the day. (We played this game a lot when they were in town. :) ) It's become a family favorite game.

On Saturday, we went to a sandwich shop called Schlotzsky's. It's really close to where we live. Another really good restaurant in Austin. :) Afterwords, Jim and Julia (my in-laws) decided that they wanted to explore Downtown Austin. The first thing that we did there was get a tour around the Driskill Hotel. It's a historic hotel that was built in 1886. It was really beautiful inside and outside. It had a nice, 19th century Victorian style to it. We loved learning about the history behind the hotel.

Later, we stopped by the Texas State Capital. We didn't go inside the capital, but we took pictures from the outside of it. Someday, Collin and I are going to go on a tour inside it. From there, we went to Moojo. In my last blog, I mentioned that it was an ice cream sandwich place where you can create your own ice cream sandwich out of cookies and, of course, ice cream. :) Talk about loaded with sugar, but they are so good! We came home and watched the epic BYU football game. I'm sure everyone knows what happened, but they scored a touchdown ending the game! It was pretty incredible. Julia and Collin made a delicious Mexican meal. Everything tasted so good. We even had some Texas-shaped tortilla chips to go with it. :) Collin was very sweet to help his mom out with dinner. 

Sunday, Collin's parents came with us to church to meet our wonderful new ward. Soon after, we had dinner with Jim and Julia's good friends. They had known them for almost 30 years! They are a fun and lively couple. 

Monday was our last day with Collin's parents before they headed to their next stop in Colorado to visit my sister-in-law and her family. We got to Skype with Collin's brother Miles and his wife Mikaela. They are now living in Jordan for the fall! It was fun to hear about their latest adventures in the Middle East. We managed to squeeze a couple of rounds of Ticket to Ride before they left. The men ended up dominating. Now I know where Collin gets his game skills from. :) It's always hard to see family go especially when it was such a good weekend. But we knew that Collin's family had to get everything settled in California. I can't wait to see his family, as well as my family again when we come to California for the holidays!

We ended our labor day with a small hike at Mount Bonnell in Austin. There, we watched the sunset with another couple in our ward. It was so breathtaking! We really enjoyed our labor day weekend.

It's a Julia sandwich!

One of the best sandwich shops EVER!!!

From inside the Driskill Hotel

I loved the beautiful, Victorian rooms in the hotel

   Infinity mirrors!

Texas State Capital

She's such a doll! :)

I love this place! You just need to remember those moments of joy. :)

They're the greatest! So happy we had them stay with us. :)

 On our hike at Mount Bonnell with the Harrisons

 Our picture where you can overlook a view of Austin

 What a view! I'm so glad we live here. :)

 Hailey and I

 Good company, good sunset, good times. :)

This is the Texas Life

It's September!!!! We are coming up on fall quickly which makes me really excited! I can't wait to see what this fall has to offer in Texas....

I think I owe you all (y'all) an update on what's been happening with Collin and I. Collin is really enjoying his job at GM as a software developer. He basically analyzes error reports and documenting scripts. He has really great co workers. His supervisor is really laid back which makes his job easier. :) He has test driven a few of GM's modeled vehicles, like the camero. :) 

What's going on with me, you may ask? Well I wasn't working all summer, but I just got a job about a few weeks ago as a nanny! It's part time, so I work about 3 hours a day. I nanny for 4 children that are between the ages of 7-12. As many of you know, it was back to school time recently. Since these kids have just gone back to school, they need someone to transport them from school to their homes. On some days, I have to take them to soccer or cheer leading practice. I guess you can say, I have become a soccer mom. :) It has been a really good experience so far. 

I just got a calling in our ward as a primary teacher! (I knew I was going to get a primary calling... :) ) I teach the CTR 4 class. I absolutely love it! The kids in my class are very sweet and smart. They make me proud. :) There is also another girl who helps me out in my class which makes it very nice. Collin really likes his calling as Sunday School First Counselor. There is only two people in the Sunday School presidency so far, but that will change soon. We really like our ward. It's really warm, friendly, and not to mention, HUGE! We've already made some great friends.We love the Austin area. We have found that there is so much to do here. Here's the photos about our recent adventures...

 I am probably obsessed with Sunsets, but Texas has some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen! This was from Lake Pflugerville. Collin and I were having a picnic.

 More sunset pictures... This was taken right next to our apartment! I love my canon camera! :)

Did anybody get slight case of deja vou from the Lion King?

 Experimenting with long exposures on my Canon EOS. This was taken at 20 seconds...

 It's amazing what you can get with long exposures. This was taken at 30 seconds..

Taken from my smart phone

 Oh... and we got a new fish tank. We decorated it ourselves. It's an ancient civilization theme with real plants.

 Our fish!!! Collin has always wanted a beta fish, so we got one along with neon tetras. (we originally had 5 neon tetras, but one died. :( ) We even have two shrimp, and apparently one of them had two babies... Our community tank keeps getting bigger! Our original pet fish Syrena is in Utah with a good friend of ours. We miss her, but we love our new fish friends.

We had a fun rest of our summer just exploring more of the Austin area. This was at Lake Pflugerville with some friends from our ward.

Before I started work, I had extra time to have girl's days with some friends. :) This was at Barton Springs near Downtown Austin.

 Our friend Hailey from our ward. She's so fun! :)

 Another good friend from the ward. This is Velvet. She's amazing! :) This was taken at an ice cream sandwich place called Moojo (Moments of Joy). We love it there! They even have swings for seats which made me laugh. :)

Next blog to be continued.... :)