Bittersweet Weekend

What a weekend! My house is sort of a wreck since I got NO time to tidy anything up as I try to do on weekends ... but it's for a good reason. Friday afternoon we drove down to Houston to visit Phoebe, my SIL-to-be ... and by good fortune, my brother Peter, who arrived in town for the same reason on Saturday! We also got to hang out at the Houston Children's Museum, stay with a very dear couple whom Phoebe knows, and spend lots of time with our pals Jon and Rebecca (Jon has become a friend of ours via my two brothers, and he and Rebecca are lots of fun ... some day I'll relate the story of how we accidentally gave them a half-eaten Chicken Nugget as a wedding gift!). Here are a couple photos, from Saturday lunch:
Check out that face! Caroline bonded with her new aunt.

The group, ensemble.

So after that merry excursion, today's was a little more somber. After our church meeting, during which Tim and I served with the kiddos (Shrinky Dinks with the 4-year-olds, hurrah for SD's again!), the adult members of his family (kids were happily occupied at our house by my sis and her husband) headed down to Seguin to visit the grave of Tim's brother, who was murdered about 16 years ago but only identified and given a proper burial 3 years ago. Yesterday would have been his birthday, so we wanted to visit and plant some flowers and reminisce and pray together a bit, especially since there have been some recent developments in the case -- which I can't talk about since it will hopefully go to trial. Truly, it was calmer occasion than it probably sounds like, but I think brought some more closure to the family members and a few friends who joined us. It's weird for me, a bit, because I never got to meet him and so only have a few old pictures to go on, plus stories. Never heard the sound of his voice, haven't seen any videos or anything, so I feel like my role at an occasion like this is not to grieve or remember personally, but to support my husband and his family.

And I can't believe it's already Monday tomorrow!