Life is a Highway

Blog Post about Summer 2020

The house where we stayed while we were in America was a little removed from city life, and we loved it. I don't know if Keira missed all the busyness of the city or what, but a couple of times I saw her perched on the fence at the end of the driveway either reading a book or looking like she was waiting for visitors.

Back in July, when we arrived back in America, Kylie took a trip to Florida to see some ballet friends, and while she was gone, Doug did some car shopping.

On July 8th, we bought her a car, but she didn't see it until July 25th when we arrived back in Texas, and then she had to learn how to get in it with her leg brace.  She had four days to figure out how to get in comfortably because we had already scheduled her driving test before we knew about her surgery. 

In case you didn't know, it was difficult for many people trying to get driver's licenses or car tags during the early days of Covid. DMV offices were sometimes booked two months in advance!

On Monday, July 27th, Kylie started physical therapy back in Texas.

On Tuesday, July 28th, we drove to my hometown to see some of my side of the family, and then

On Wednesday, July 29th, Kylie took her driving test and Karis got her driving permit!

Another thing we try to squeeze in when we go to America is haircuts.

The first night we arrived (the 28th), we stayed outside and social distanced. We (my family and my brother's family) were also all staying at hotels or guest houses to make sure we were Covid-safe.

My sister and her family couldn't come in because the numbers in Texas were a little too scary at the time, but we surely missed having them there; however, we were finally reunited with Caleb after he had spent one month in Dallas with his cousins.

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One thing that happens when you live overseas is that sometimes you order things that you want but that can't be or you don't want shipped overseas. That was the case with Caleb.

He had saved his money and bought a specially designed light saber, but he didn't get to see it for over six months until we got to Texas. His cousin already had one and they had grand battles planned together.

While we were at my parents' house, these boys wrote, filmed, and edited a small movie about Siths and the Dark Side. We were all pretty impressed. These are some still-shots from the video.

We also sat around while my brother read us a funny story. It took him forever to get through it because he kept cracking himself up, and I think all of us ended up crying we were laughing so hard. 

We were missing three cousins, but for the seven present, these birth order heights seem to have changed a bit over the last couple of years.

July 30, 2020

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay with my family long, because Kylie had physical therapy on the 31st, so we had to get back.

Where's my Car?

When I go to the mall, this is what I'm faced with when I come out with my groceries.

Rows and rows of white cars.

This is after-school pick up at Karis and Caleb's school.  

White cars everywhere!

Even the beige taxis melt into the white.

I went to the crosswalk to take pictures, and every time I snapped...white, white, white.

Granted, there are the occasional dark ones, but after living here, I think I've realized something.

No one wants a dark car because the summer sun would make each vehicle more of an oven than it already is.

So, I have two things that help me locate my car:

1) The blessing of a "clicker" to unlock my car, which causes the lights to flash, which I use quite often.

AND 2) Doug put a small Texas A&M decal on the back window, which I'm guessing is a one-of-a-kind find in this country.

Here's to always being able to find my vehicle. :)