A wonderful week in Texas
Tuesday, July 3rd I arrived in beautiful Texas. I have never seen such amazing white puffy clouds as Texas has. Emily picked me up at Bush International then we drove back to tiny little LaMarque. Gia & Luca are growing so fast and baby Rocco is just the cutest baby ever! He has a cute little dimple on one cheek. On July 4th I helped Emily prepare some food for the church potluck that evening. I made salsa and bruchetta with some home grown tomatoes someone had given her. The next morning we packed up the kids in the minivan and took off for Austin. What a beautiful drive. I love the hill country. After a quick run to the grocery store we arrived at Emily's dad's house right on lake Travis. That evening we left Gino babysitting so Emily, her sister Wendy, baby Rocco and I could go out for dinner at Shady Grove.

Friday was a relaxing day. Drove into the city to see some sights and do a little shopping. That afternoon we attempted to go to the pool but got caught in the rain. Back at the house it cleared for a moment and we enjoyed a beautiful rainbow over the lake. Saturday we did the most amazing road trip ever. We drove two hours northwest of Austin to the family ranch near San Saba.

The countryside is just so scenic and green. We went from horse country to cattle country.... through little towns like Llano, Cherokee, and Carmine. Some of these little towns were population 350. Imagine! It's beautiful country. It just makes me want to go back and see more. Back in Austin we did a little shopping before leaving Sunday afternoon back to Houston. All in all it was a wonderful visit. It seems like every time I go to Texas I feel like I leave a little bit of my heart there.