Dinner with the Piper Family

Some time ago we had this Relief Society meeting in the evening and everyone had to fill out a card with their name on it and some information. Then we traded cards and we were suppose to do a service for the sister we got. My sister was visiting her sister and I made her bread, whole wheat which is what she requested. Sister Piper got me and invited me to dinner. However I had a slight cold and she was 8 months pregnant so I asked if we could cancel. She let it go for then but after the baby came and a few months later she invited me over to have dinner with her family, the Elders and one of our new and absolutely outstanding sisters, Sheila Brown and her son. We had a GREAT dinner with all kinds of food I love and great conversation. I found out that Sheila drives truck for a FEDEX contractor and her son is a HVAC tech for Pappa's restaurants. It was a really great evening. They have an amazing home and a great family. Brother Piper took the picture. Sadly, our ward was reorganized last Sunday because a new ward needed to be made cause ours was so big after only 2 years. Brother Piper was called to be a counselor in the Bishopric in the new ward so we lost them.

Labor Day Weekend - Greatest Visit Ever!

It seemed like this weekend would never get here. Toni, Trevor and Sophie came to visit me and we had a great time. After I picked them up from the airport we went to Steak n Shake for linner because they had not had lunch but it was getting close to dinner. We then went to our hotel where we took a walk to the Barnes & Noble store cause I love books and then to Michael's for a picture frame and then to La Madeleine's for some treats. Baylor football game back at the hotel. 

The next day we went to NASA. It was such a great place. We are glad we got there early and took the tram rides around the park before it got busy. We went into this big long building where the Saturn V rocket that launched the moon trips was on display. It had been outside on display but because of weather it began to deteriorate so they built this big building and restored it and it is magnificent. And they had information posters on all the missions to the moon. It was all very fascinating. We also got to see the 2 control rooms they used and use. The newer one is used for the Mars mission which is in the planning. There were lots of displays, games and interactive things to do. And then it rained a good hard Texas rain for Toni and Trevor to see. We were there most of the day and I don't think we saw everything but we needed to get Sophie home cause she was getting tired. But first we had to get pizza at my favorite pizza place in Texas, Mellow Mushroom. It was great. The secret ingredient in their pizza is molasses. Sophie and I watch the pizza makers throw the dough in the air which everyone enjoyed including the pizza guys. Swim time  for Sophie at the pool at my apartment which she enjoyed so much along with her mom and dad.

The next day was the Sabbath so we rested from all our cares and enjoyed our fast Sunday meeting. Toni and I made dinner and we had a wonderful day.

Monday was my last day with them, so sad but we made another great day of it. First we went to La Madeleine's for breakfast. Then across the street  to the Container Store which of course Toni loved and we bought 2 hampers for her. Then to my favorite store, Sur La Table which appeared in an earlier post so you know what a great store it is. Toni got some new muffin pans and a rack and some other odds and ends. And Sophie fell asleep after sinking her teeth into a spatula which we then purchased. We cruised by the temple and then down to the Aquarium in downtown Houston. Sophie loves fish and these she had a good time looking at. After visiting all the fish we had lunch at Landry's restaurant which is located above the Aquarium. It was a great meal and we shared a large lava cake topped with ice cream. Very yummy! Inside the restaurant was a giant fish tank, floor to ceiling with some really big fish, eels and sting rays and a bunch of small fish. Sophie had the greatest time and she ate good too. Last thing was the shark train. It was a long wait in line and the ride was OK but the sharks were amazing. 

Last thing was the airport. I didn't GPS it so it took a bit to get on the freeway which was very upsetting for Sophie but we finally made it and away they went. 

It was a wonderful trip and I can't wait to see them again.

 The Saturn V

 Inside displays

 Asteroid

 Sim time at the apartment

 At the Houston Aquarium

 Watching the tiger

Goin to the Car Wash

I happened to be shopping at a Kohls store way down FM 1960 on a Saturday before returning to the temple and I heard all this marching band drum music, they kind they play when they are maneuvering, all percussion. I could not figure out where it was coming from but needed to stop at Walmart across the street and that is when I saw them. It was one of the local high schools raising money for their school band. I had to stop because it was so clever. they were attracting lots of people so I joined them and had my car washed. It was the 1st and only time I have washed my car since I bought it well over a year ago. It look so nice and shinny and pretty!

July 24th Pioneer Day Off

On July 24th we had the day off so we decided to spend the day seeing the sites of Galveston. First we stopped to eat breakfast at Panera Bread. Sister Diamond had never had the pleasure. Go figure! Then on to the Pier 70 where the oil rig museum is located. It was very interesting!!! We were able to walk inside and outside and we watched a movie about how oil is discovered and pumped out of the ocean floor. There were also displays of the different types of rigs, some stationary and others on ships. This was a smaller rig that had been retired. 

Next we went to the Great Storm theater to watch the movies about the 1900 hurricane that destroyed a large portion of Galveston island and killed around 6,000 people. They had a book store there so I had to buy a couple of books. One was Isaac's Storm written by the great historical author, Erick Larson, my favorite. The film was about 20 minutes long. We ate pizza at an Italian restaurant across the street while we waited for our boat tour. The boar tour took us out to the bay where we view a cement ship that had seen it's better days. Yes I did say cement and it did float and there was about 40 of them. This one is forever stuck and will probably last like forever or so. There were also dolphins swimming and diving ahead of a container ship. That was pretty cool. I tried to get some pictures of them but they were too fast or my phone camera was too slow. The boat ride was about and hour and pretty OK. You can see just so much water and I'm not a boat lover.

Next we went to see 2 of the mansions that survived the hurricane. One was called the Bishops Palace. It was a self guided tour with listen things so you could learn about the history of the mansion. It had once been a high society show place but was later sold to the Catholic church and a Bishop lived in it. It had beautiful wood carvings and decorations. Here is some info on it:

The Bishop's Palace, also known as Gresham's Castle, is an ornate 19,082 square feet Victorian-style house, located on Broadway and 14th Street in the East End Historic District of Galveston, Texas.

The Gresham mansion was made all of stone, and was sturdy enough to withstand the great hurricane of 1900. The Greshams welcomed hundreds of survivors of the hurricane into their home.^[2]

The house was built between 1887 and 1893 by Galveston architect Nicholas J. Clayton for lawyer and politician Walter Gresham, his wife Josephine, and their nine children. In 1923 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston purchased the house, and, situated across the street from the Sacred Heart Church, it served as the residence for Bishop Christopher E. Byrne.^[3] After the diocesan offices were moved to Houston, the diocese opened the mansion to the public in 1963, with proceeds from tours being used to help fund the Newman Center, operating in the basement, serving Catholic students at the nearby University of Texas Medical Branch.

The home is estimated to have cost $250,000 at the time. Today its value is estimated at over $5.5 million.

The house is owned by the Galveston Historical Foundation and self-guided tours are available daily. A portion of each admission supports the preservation and restoration of the property.

After we went to the Bishop's Palace we went on a guided tour of the Moody Mansion, the famous financier. The tour guide was great. In person guides are so much better than handle held recorders. I should probably get a book about the Moodys. Here is some info on their house which they did not originally build but bought from a widow who used her children's inheritances to build it and they never spoke to her again because of it. Money, the root of all things miserable.

The Moody Mansion, also known as the Willis-Moody Mansion, is a historic residential building in Galveston, Texas located at 2618 Broadway Street. The thirty-one room Romanesque mansion was completed in 1895. The home is named for William Lewis Moody, Jr., an American financier and entrepreneur in the cotton business who bought the home from Galveston socialite Narcissa Willis. The mansion was added to theNational Register of Historic Places on May 13, 1994. Tours are offered, and the facilities can be rented out for weddings and other events.^[2]

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Construction and history[edit]

The mansion was commissioned by Galveston socialite Narcissa Willis in 1893.^[3] Throughout her life, Willis had asked her husband, entrepreneur and cotton broker Richard S. Willis, to build a grand home. Willis demurred as he preferred to keep his assets liquid to be distributed among his ten children on his death. After Richard Willis' died in 1892, Narcissa had the home she and her husband shared torn down and began plans to build a more opulent home on the site.^[4] For this act, Willis was estranged from her family until her death in 1899.^[2][4] Her children never visited the opulent mansion designed to bring them back to Galveston.^[3] Willis lived alone in the house with a single housekeeper who was paid $1,000 a year, three times the wages domestics earned at the time.^[2]

Willis commissioned an English architect, William H. Tyndall, to design the home. Following the style of Richard Norman Shaw, Tyndall used elements from different cultures and periods, leading to an eclectic appearance. The interiors were designed by Pottier & Stymus, a famous New York firm of the time that also worked for such clients as Thomas Edison, William Rockefeller, and President Ulysses S. Grant.^[3]

Upon Narcissa Willis' death in 1899, her daughter Beatrice put the home up for sale.^[4] Libbie Moody, who lived in a home nearby the mansion, asked her husband, William Lewis Moody, Jr., to put in a bid for the mansion. After the Hurricane of 1900 devastated Galveston that September, many of the bidders pulled out of the sale. Moody won the mansion for $20,000, a fraction of the mansion's over $100,000 worth. Moody, his wife and four children promptly moved into the home and celebrated their first Christmas at the mansion in 1900.^[2]

Members of the Moody family resided in the home until 1986 when it was turned into a historic museum commemorating the Moody family.^[2]Hurricanes continue to affect the history of the home. In September 2008, Hurricane Ike lead to the flooding of the basement. Libbie Moody's potting room and the period kitchen were lost.^[2] As of July 2014, the basement was opened as the Galveston Children's Museum.^[5]

And then after a hot but great day we headed home. Another great adventure in Texas.

Oil Rig Museum

 Picture of Peanut Butter Warehouse

 Dolphins were swimming and jumping ahead of this ship and it was going pretty fast

 The cement ship

 It's sitting on a sand bar which is most of Galveston island.

 This was a fishing boat. the birds were all crazy on it trying to get the fish.

 If you look real close you will see dolphins

 Oil rig being serviced and readied for the gulf

 Bishops Palace

 The piano in this room is just like my old one

Dining room celing

 Outside of the Bishops Palace

 Moody Mansion

 No pictures inside - phone died