Day Three in Austin

It was a beautiful Lord's Day morning in Austin, Texas and we attended Hill Country Bible Church this morning with Sabrina and her family. What a great place to worship! Pastor Phil has been teaching a series on "The Monsters Within", and today's "monster" was anger. He is basing his teaching from what Jesus taught in Matthew 15:18-19 -- "... the things that come out of the mouth come out of the heart ... for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander ..." And so they have been talking about the condition of the human heart and how to get our hearts to align with the heart of Jesus. Anger and forgiveness was a good topic today. I did not wonder if it was a coincidence that this sermon was being preached on the 17th anniversary of the death of my father, because I have struggled for so many years with issues of anger and forgiveness about him. It was a provocative sermon, and one to think and pray more about.

After church, we went out for lunch. Andrew suggested the Hula Hut over on Lake Austin. It's a really pretty location and a great restaurant. We have eaten there in year's past. I especically like their tortilla chips and salsa.

Mr. Jones and I split a meal of chicken enchiladas, and Sabrina and Andrew split a dinner of specialty meat fajitas (steak, shrimp, chicken). The dinners are too huge for one person to eat anyway, and splitting the meal helps to keep the cost in check as well. I took some pictures in and around the restaurant for you to see.
There is a nice little marina here, beautiful flowers, and outdoor terrace -- it's all very beautiful and tropical.
When Mr. Jones and I were in Hawaii a year ago, this is basically what Hawaii SHOULD have looked like if it had been nice weather; but it rained 5 of the 7 days we were there. From what I hear, however, Austin has had their share of rain this year too.
After lunch, we went home and everyone took the prescribed Sunday afternoon nap and felt much refreshed when we woke up. We played with the little kids inside for awhile. This next picture is of Karis and Jackson playing hide-n-seek on me ... see their little feet from under the curtain? The funny thing about it, though, was that grandpa was IN this room with them but I was in the other room (outside the door). They ran and hid behind the curtain so that grandpa couldn't see them; but in fact, they were hiding from me and I could clearly see them through the glass on my side of the door! Funny kiddos!

See their little feet?
"Here I am!"

We played for awhile outside in front of the house.
This is Karis and her special bunny ...
Jackson riding his two-wheeler
Sabrina got out their Nemo sprinkler pad
to keep the little kids cool ...
They really enjoyed splashing and playing --
isn't Karis a cutie?
Jackson and Karis play really well together.
Karis copies everything her brother does ...Jackson kept filling his mouth with water from the
puddles and then spitting the water out on
whomever or whatever he desired ...Jackson is like a little fish around water.
It's so much fun to play with him ...
Look how long baby Karis's hair is!
Livie got a new bike this summer.
Andrew had to make a few adjustments today
to her handlebars, but he fixed the problem and away she went ... I think this was supposed to be a game involving throwing
and catching a ball ...
However, it turned into sword fighting
(a man thing)
This is the cream pie Olivia and I made last night ...
This is the main living area at Sabrina's house ...
everyone is relaxing and enjoying the evening.

The days are flying by. We are almost half way through our trip! Being in Grand Rapids, so far away from everyone, is really difficult. This four weeks of being with the children and grandchildren is really special to us!