SPRING HAS SPRUNG Y'ALL...

April is one of my favorite months of the year. It ushers in springtime, as evidenced by all the beautiful wildflowers and Texas Bluebonnets and it projects the feeling of new beginnings. April is also the month that I honor and celebrate the birthdays of 3 of my favorite young, beautiful and precious girls (Chrissy, Amber and Kaylee) and, of course, we celebrate the birthday of our very special and very precious Uncle Archie! April also holds a very special place in my heart as I remember and honor the passing of my precious nephew, Jason.

It goes without saying this is the time of year that we give praise for the most sacred and blessed time of all ... the Passover, Easter and Resurrection Sunday celebrations are some of the chief tenets of the Christian faith and is a time to remember the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for all of mankind!

With the backdrop of the breathtaking display of the beautiful TX Bluebonnets (fondly known as SMURFS ... thanks Jason!) and the array of wildflowers along the roadways, the stage was set for the on-going birthday celebrations. From Chrissy's front yard celebration to a lunch dining experience at Rise French eatery with my girls Chrissy, Amber, Kaylee and MJ, to a yummy dinner at Mesa Mexican Cuisine with Chrissy, Cole, Amber, Jack and Carter, and the grand finale was the special Holmes Girl's Road Trip and weekend get-away with Chrissy and MJ to Fredericksburg. There was no shortage of great food and sweets throughout the month as we made up for the 2020 lock down that postponed all previously planned celebrations.



HOLMES GIRL'S ROAD TRIP!

The Fredericksburg area is always such a delightful adventure and offers so many options for food, fun and entertainment. Of course, fabulous German food and pastries were plentiful and hard to resist. With Chrissy at the wheel and me as trip planner and navigator, we covered a lot of ground and sites. On this special girl's road trip, we took in the fabulous wildflowers along the scenic route to destination Fredericksburg. We found the neatest accommodations at the Fredericksburg Herb Farm Sunday Haus Cottages & Spa. The back story of these quaint little cottages is that German settlers would build these small “City Houses” to use on weekends when they came to town to buy provisions for the week and to stay over to also attend Sunday church services. The Sunday Haus Cottages at The Fredericksburg Herb Farm are patterned after three of the most popular historical designs.



While in the area, we enjoyed touring and hiking at Enchanted Rock State Park with Chrissy leading the way with map in hand. We felt a tremor in the force and happy thoughts of Jason crossed our minds as we reminisced of the wonderful shots of the beautiful and majestic granite rocks he captured while here. After hiking and experiencing the rocky trail I have a whole new appreciation of what Jason must have endured to lug his camera gear up the trail and maneuver the rocky terrain to capture the perfect shot!



After checking in to our accommodations, we enjoyed burgers, funnel cakes, sopapillas and live entertainment in the nostalgic tiny unincorporated community of Luckenbach (all 4 or 5 buildings). Unfortunately, there were no sightings of Willie on this trip!



On Saturday morning we were up early and headed out for breakfast at The Airport Diner, a classic 1940's vintage diner located next door to the Hangar Hotel that is a WWII vintage hotel. There were about a dozen old WWII planes on display on the tarmac all lined up for an air show scheduled for later in the day. I felt a strong connection to Dad and the photos and stories that I recalled from his time spent in similar planes during WWII. He would have loved this venue.

About 30 miles to the South we visited “The Coming King” Sculpture Prayer Garden and home of “The Empty Cross” at Kerrville. This has been on my bucket list for many years and it was well worth the drive. From the moment we stepped out of the car I felt the reverence and presence of spiritual peace. There was just too much to take in during the short time we had to spend on this visit and we plan to return in the near future and allow time to meditate and appreciate all the love and devotion the artist committed to this masterpiece. The structure is a 77' 7”-tall, 70-ton steel tribute to Christianity. The cross tops a hill, the side of which is a sculpture and scripture garden. The entire 300' cross-shaped plan given to the artist by the Holy Spirit was exactly twice the length of the original Tabernacle of Moses and is at the same latitude as in Israel.



The next stop was the Wild Seed Farms & Nursery. The farm consists of over 200 acres of wildflowers in various stages of development. We walked the trail through the fields of wildflowers that were in season, such as several fields of Red Corn Poppy, Ox-Eyed Daisy and various other local wildflowers scattered about. Naturally, we had to stop by the gift shop and nursery on our way to the car. Lunch at the Altstadt Brewery was a special treat that included a live German 4-man band that entertained us during our meal. We sat at a long wooden table and enjoyed the ambiance and a tasty meal. I highly recommend the Bread Pudding and the Altstadt Peaches & Cream!



In the afternoon we returned to our cottage and relaxed with facials at the Herb Farm Spa. We squeezed in a stroll of the shops in downtown Fredericksburg before enjoying dinner at the famous Rathskeller German Restaurant. It is located in the basement of the old Keidel Hospital, built in the 1800's, that served the people of Fredericksburg until the larger and more modern Hill Country Memorial Hospital opened in 1971. The now restored Keidel Hospital building houses the Rathskeller German Restaurant and the Gourmet Kitchen Store, Der Kuchen Laden, owned by the granddaughter of Dr. Victor Keidel. After dinner we drove about 12 miles north to the Willow City Loop for abundant displays of Bluebonnets and wildflowers this time of year.

On the drive we stopped at a scenic overlook to snap a few pics of the beautiful landscape just as the sun was setting on the horizon.



Sunday morning our day started with an early morning breakfast at a favorite of the locals, the Sunset Grill. Yummy food and great service had us on our way in no time. As we headed out of town we took a slight detour in Stonewall, TX (just outside of Fredericksburg and Johnson City). After we checked in at the TX Wildlife Reserve Office we took the self-guided tour of the entire LBJ Ranch complex, including the school, cemetery, aircraft hangar, LBJ’s boyhood home and, of course, the “Texas White House” before heading north.



As we passed through Glen Rose on our way home we took advantage of the opportunity to search for dinosaur tracks at the Dinosaur Valley State Park, a 1,525-acre scenic park set astride the Paluxy River. Limestone, sandstone and mudstone of the Glen Rose Formation were deposited along the shorelines during the early Cretaceous Period, approximately 113 million years ago. These layered formations have been eroded, dissected and sculpted by the Paluxy River and planed off sizable exposures of rock and dinosaur fossil footprints in the river bottom. Chrissy and MJ were delighted to spot a couple of tracks in the riverbed. Since time was limited we had to cut our visit short and get back on the road to get MJ home for dinner and pick up food ourselves.

Back at home I was reminiscing about the wonderful and fun trip that I had with my girls, I recounted that we had checked off 9 different sites/venues on our trip, not counting the great eateries we enjoyed. This is one for the record books!

APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS & MOTHER'S DAY & BIRTHDAYS

May is an especially favorite month of mine because of the opportunity I have to honor my beautiful and amazing mother on Mother's Day. There are no words fitting enough to express the love and gratitude that I have for my precious Mom. She is the matriarch of our family, the glue that holds us all together and she sets the bar high for all of us. She prays for us, encourages us, entertains us and loves us just as we are. I hope to be just like her when I grow up one day!

Another very important reason to celebrate the month of May is to honor the birthday of my beautiful and precious sister, Patti. What a loving and generous-hearted lady whom I love so very much! She brings the party wherever she is and no matter what her circumstances.

RECONNECTING WITH MY PEEPS

With the COVID “scam-demic” scare behind us now, for the most part, life has returned to somewhat of a normal pace for me. It was so nice to get back to attending church service live ... I have really missed that and I am so grateful that we could watch virtual church services during the lock down. I was also able to resume live training sessions of Gateway Women's WILD 2 (Women in Leadership Development) which ended mid-April. I feel God has called me to continue to serve in women's ministry and I will co-lead the Women's WILD 1 Class in the fall.

Equally nice was to reconnect live with friends at the Propel Women's Bible study group that meets once a month. Propel Women is a Christian ministry founded by Christine Cane that comes alongside women as they develop their leadership and potential, helping them to go further and take on new challenges.

After waiting for almost a year due to COVID, I am finally able to begin volunteering on site at Pregnancy Help 4U (PH4U) as a Client Advocate with responsibility for welcoming and receiving new clients at the center and helping them through the intake process, assisting with their sonogram procedure, connecting them with our resource center, doing client follow-up, etc. This is the center where Amber has graciously volunteered her time for the past few years as a Client Counselor and she does an amazing job. PH4U is a non-profit organization that provides free and confidential services for clients in need of support throughout their pregnancy. At PH4U, we do our best to show them the love of Jesus and, if they are open to it, we pray with them as they consider their options concerning their baby's future.

TRAVEL BECOMES THEM - COLE & AMBER'S JOURNEY TO AZ!

In early April I had the pleasure of house/dog sitting and hanging out with my awesome g'kids for a few days (time that I cherish so very much) while Amber and Cole traveled to AZ to celebrate Amber's birthday. The photos they sent back of their adventure and the landscapes they enjoyed are breathtaking. Their 5-mile hike to Devil's Bridge must have been one to remember and I was shocked to see the pic of Cole perched very high up on the edge of the bridge. Obviously, he did not get his mother's permission to do that dare devil stunt! They visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross that sits high atop the red rocks in Sedona and was inspired and commissioned by a local rancher and sculptor Marguerite Brunswig Staude. A trip to Sedona, AZ most definitely remains on my bucket list!