MLK Weekend in Longview!

Michel and I spent our long weekend in Longview. I'm not sure if everybody knows this, but I LOVE Longview, TX - for more than one weekend! I love the drive to Longview because east Texas is really very pretty. I'm always so amazed at the amount of land you can get with your house in Longview, and for what price - the cost of living is so much cheaper than anywhere in the DFW metroplex. But my main reason for loving Longview is because my whole family is there. My brother-in-law (sister's husband) already lived in Longview when he and my sister got married, so she moved in with him (obviously). I always loved going to see them - I'm very close with my sister. When Michel and I first met, I was so surprised to discover that he had grown up in Longview, and his parents and one set of grandparents still live there! So when we go to Longview, we get to spend time with a lot of people that we love!

Anyways, Michel and I had already planned on spending Martin Luther King weekend in Longview several weeks ago because at the time, we thought my sister was going to have a baby somewhere around January 9th, and we thought this would be the first opportunity that we were going to have to meet him. My nephew actually ended up being born over the Christmas holiday, so we had already gotten to meet him, but we love our niece and nephew (and everybody else living there!) so much that we still wanted to come.

Our plans changed a little bit because Ryan's (my brother-in-law) nephew had a last-minute birthday party thrown for him that Michel and I went to. Yes, I'm even close to my brother-in-law's sister and her family...that's a long story, though. :) This video is Ryan and Michel showing off their maturity by playing with one of Ryker's (he's 7!) birthday presents. Michel is 26, and Ryan will be 30 in February, and they got so much enjoyment out of a present for a 7-year-old. If you remember what Gak was in the early '90s, this is basically Gak/silly putty that farts!

When we got back to their house, I took some random shots of everyone/everything.

I was so mad when I was going through my camera - I took his bib off to get a close-up of his shirt because Michel and I bought it for him as a Christmas present, and I accidentally deleted it!

I just love this little girl! She's so cute and has a fun personality!

My parents also came down for the weekend, but they came on Sunday rather than Saturday. They can't miss time with their favorite two grandchildren :)

I don't know why the coloring is so bad on this picture - I had my flash on and everything!

The funniest moment of the entire weekend happened on Sunday, though. I wore some high-heel boots to church that morning, and brought a change of clothes with me, so when we got back to Janette and Ryan's house, I changed my clothes and left my shoes on the floor next to where I had my church clothes. Karys loves putting on people's shoes, so she put my boots on and I just had to take pictures! She was even able to walk in them - I was really impressed with that!

After awhile, she decided that she needed help from Granddaddy :)

First time in high heels! If she continues to take after me in petite stature, she better get used to heels if she wants to be anywhere close to everybody else's height!!

Now you can see why I love Longview so much - it's always very entertaining!!!