Latest Storms

This spring has brought a lot of storms to our part of Texas. Last night we had tornadoes in the area.  Deborah, Daniel J, and Daniel S were over.  We all piled into the hall closet, aka The Cave, along with Collin Muttley and Deborah/Daniel's German shepherd, Sandy.  Now that everything's all right, it was pretty funny.

This morning, I had a chance to get out and look at the garden.  Several plants were beaten down by the storm.  We had Swiss Chard, lettuce, and tomatoes from the garden for dinner.

The extremely high winds last night tore the canopy on the porch swing.

Several plants were broken by the high winds.

Broken limb on the apple tree.  It lost one apple.

The carrots are kind of droopy now.

Not really sure what the onions are doing.

The wind was strong enough to move bricks, too.

Fallen lettuce plant.  We had salad for dinner.

Purple cabbage

The beautiful Easter Lily

Swiss Chard had quite a few broken stems.  Chard for dinner, too.

Petunias didn't handle the hail and wind very well.

The yard is beautiful bright green.  It enjoyed the 4+ inches of rain.

Last Stops in Austin

Before we left on Sunday, Randy, Daniel, and I went to see the turtle pond on campus.  That's one of my favorite parts of the UT campus.

Little baby turtles

Pretty pigeon by the turtle pond

Lots and lots of turtles

From there, Daniel and I visited the Co-op.  Daniel had never seen so much Longhorn stuff in one place.  Of course, I could spend hours there and come out broke.  LOL!  We did pretty well this trip.  

Notice 6'3" Daniel at the bottom of the picture

Bevo had a graduation gown, too

Love this picture...

After our shopping excursion, Randy, Daniel, and I had lunch at my favorite Austin restaurant, Veggie Heaven.  Then Randy and I took three kids (Eli, Deborah, and Daniel) and headed to Dallas.

Vegetable ried rice - Randy's usual choice

#17 Hawaiian luau -  doesn't get any better

Open Sesame - sesame noodles - pretty good

Saturday Commencement

Saturday evening the University held an outdoor commencement by the tower for all 7,300 graduates.  Randy and I watched the live stream on the internet.  Bennett and the kids went to campus.  Kay Bailey Hutchison was the keynote speaker.  We really enjoyed listening to her and to President Powers.

These pictures were taken of my computer screen.

Orange tower in honor of Graduates of 2011

President Bill Powers speaking

Fireworks after the ceremony

Thanks to Andrea P for these pictures.  She was sitting with Sarah during the commencement.

Graduates marching in to the commencement

Cool grad

the stage

The tower pre-ceremony

Sarah and Andrea

Mesquite Exes - Sarah, Britney, and Andrea

Blowing bubbles

Hayley (Sarah's roommate), Andrea, and Sarah

Afternoon of Graduation Day

Randy and I took a nap while the "younger" generation went exploring around campus.  They haven't given me any pictures, so I'm not completely sure what they did other than feed a squirrel.  Check back for updates.  Maybe they will leave comments telling of their adventures.  (Hint, Hint...)

Graduation Day #2

Friday night Cheryl, Lea, Daniel S, and Rob had to return to Dallas.  Saturday morning Daniel J and Bennett joined us in Austin.  We started the day with lunch at Casa Colombia.  The food was delicious and the fellowship unsurpassed.

Casa Colombia

Pechuga Rellena

  Grilled chicken breast stuffed with cheese,

  mushrooms, spinach and pico de gallo 

  served with mash potatoes, salad and black 

  beans

Pechuga de Pollo

  Grilled chicken breast topped with lemon

  butter and garlic sauce served with green

  beans, rice and green plantains

Aborrajado

  Sweet fried plantains stuffed with   

  mozzarella cheese

After lunch, we all convened at our hotel room.  Sarah had special shirts for everyone.  A couple of months ago she petitioned the university to add to their Texas "Family" shirts of Mom, Dad, Madre, Padre, Grandma, and Grandpa.  Her request was approved and she was able to get Texas Sister, Brother, and Uncle.  Also approved by the university were Aunt, Niece, and Nephew.  Way to go, Sarah!