Roadtrip to Texas and the Story of The Finger

Okay, I've been putting off writing this blog post because frankly we had such a fabulous time that I knew I'd need some serious time to recapture it all. But here goes.

So I have family in Texas. Quite a bit of family from my dad's side. Unfortunately, I never really got to know them growing up, because the only time we got to see them was for funerals and such. But lately, I've been feeling like we needed to pay a visit to this wonderful side of my family--so that I could catch up with them and so they could meet my husband and kids. So Boyce and I decided spring break would be a good time to go.

Just so we're clear, it takes a full 18 hours to drive from our house to Dallas, Texas. Boy am I thankful we've got kids who are good travelers because we were in the car two very full days. We made the mistake of making the drive through New Mexico and staying the first night in Albuquerque. Very bad decision, by the way. NM was not pretty AT ALL. Anyhow, we left on a Friday and arrived in Dallas Saturday night--just in time for the tail end of my dear sweet cousin Danielle's engagement party. We were welcomed with open arms by my cousin Nedra (technically my first cousin once removed), who escorted us around introducing us to everybody. We didn't stay too long at the party because we had two very tuckered out kids. So us and Nedra and her husband Vince left and went to their house where we'd be staying.

Sunday--For our first full day, we got up early and went to their church, The Church of Christ. Boyce and I had no idea really what to expect but we thoroughly enjoyed the service. And as an added bonus, their nursery is three FULL hours and they even take babies and have cribs for them to nap, etc. So wow was it a peaceful service for us!

After church, we went to eat as a family with Nedra, Vince, and Nedra's daughter (my second cousin) Jan and her husband Don, and then their daughter Danielle. I knew we were in the south at that point, because man alive was there a lot of fried chicken on the table. :)

Later that evening, Nedra and Vince hosted a Bible study potluck at their house, and a lot of their church friends came over. It was fun to get to know them better. And it was kind of fun to see them discover that Nedra has some family who's "Mormon!" After a wonderful dinner that Nedra prepared, we studied a lesson from the Bible and then watched a fantastic video of a man in Jerusalem elaborating on some of the sights mentioned in the New Testament.

I should mention, Gracie and Connor immediately took to Nedra and Vince. They felt that family connection right away! And PS, Gracie's highlight of the potluck dinner was the nice lady who came wearing a ring that lit up, which she then gave to Grace.

Monday--On Monday, Nedra and Vince took us to the Perot Museum of Science and Nature in downtown Dallas. This place was huge! The first floor is totally devoted as a children's museum, which of course the kids loved. Another floor was a sports exhibit, where one of the exhibits was one that you could choose an animal (dinosaur, cheetah, etc.) to race against, and then you race that animal down a small track. Grace did this seriously like 50 times. We also saw a bunch of dinosaur and other animal exhibits. There was a weather/natural disaster exhibit where you could choose what kind of earthquake you'd like to experience. We went on that several times. Then there was a geological/gemstone exhibit that was beautiful, and even Grace enjoyed looking at the "pretty rocks." We were there pretty much until we were all exhausted.

That night, Jan and Don offered to take us and Nedra and Vince out to this fancy restaurant called Stampede 66. And sweet Danielle even offered to babysit the kids for us. We had such a fun time. As soon as we sat down, Nedra saw a waiter with a meal and asked, "Well, do they bring your dinner out on a wooden board?" That got us laughing. We were laughing pretty much the whole time as we confessed how much we loved their Southern accents, and especially how they pronounce Boyce's name "Boy-iss" (emphasis on the second syllable).

Tuesday--On Tuesday, Nedra took me (and Connor) to this huge mall in Dallas, where we walked and looked and shopped. Nedra bought a cute little dress for Gracie. That afternoon, Danielle and her fiance came over and chatted with us while we ate dinner, and then later that evening we went to Braum's (a local ice cream place we don't have here that I LOVE). That night, after the kiddos were asleep, Nedra and I spent a few hours talking about our family history. We got online and looked at my family tree.

Grace in her cute new dress from Nedra. Not sure what is so fun about pulling it up but apparently it is. :)

It was during our little family history discussion that I discovered what we will call The Finger. Yup. As we were chatting about my Grandpa Odis, Nedra says, "Oh, I used to have so much fun showing my friends Uncle Odis' finger." (Quick backstory: My Grandpa shot his finger off when he was young while trying to shoot some doves) WHAT? I was appalled. "You guys kept Grandpa's finger?" I was speechless. "Oh yes, we still have it." WHAT. I am dying. Seriously. My jaw is now on the floor. Even Boyce, who was doing something else on his computer, became very interested in our conversation. "You still have Grandpa's finger? Where is it?" She replies (extremely nonchalantly, might I add), "Oh Bobby Jack has it." (Bobby Jack's her brother) "Bobby Jack has my grandpa's finger," I repeat back. "I want it."

Yes, people. Don't think I'm crazy. All of a sudden I became very curiously interested in this treasured, dismembered part of my grandpa. So then you know what happens next? Nedra calls her brother, Bobby Jack, and tells him I'm interested in getting The Finger. (to be continued)

Wednesday--So as it happened, on Wednesday we drove out to Bobby Jack and his wife Ida's because Ida was going to take us to the Ennis cemetery so that I could see my grandparents' graves. Obviously, I don't have the opportunity to go see them often and I felt like it was important to visit. So we picked Ida up and before we went to the cemetery, she took us to this beautiful meadow in the countryside full of blue bonnets. We all got out and took some pictures in the blue bonnets. It was really so lovely.

After that, we drove to the cemetery in Ennis and Ida led us to my grandparents' gravestones. It was really neat to spend a few minutes there and, really without meaning to, I got a little emotional. My grandparents were really, really good, humble people.

My grandparents' headstone.

My great-grandparents' headstone.

Nedra with her late husband's headstone (and hers).

Nedra's father's headstone (my grandpa's brother).

Connor and Grace playing on this beautiful wooden motorcycle made by Bobby Jack.

Anyhow, after the cemetery, we spent some time driving through the little towns of Garrett and Palmer looking at where my Grandpa's brother used to own a store and then seeing some of the houses where family used to live. It was a wonderful little "family history" trip.

The store that Nedra's father used to own.

As we were driving through Garrett, I saw these street signs and had to take a picture!

(The Finger--continued) When we got back to Bobby Jack and Ida's house, Bobby Jack called his son Robert (who currently possessed The Finger) and asked him to bring The Finger over so that I could have it. I should mention, each time someone brought up me taking possession of The Finger, Boyce would shoot me this look that I'm pretty sure said, "Really? You want to take this old, gnarled finger and bring it to our house? Are you crazy? Am I married to a crazy woman?" So anyway, a short time later Robert came over with a small box and sure enough, there was my grandpa's finger. The Finger. Old. Blackened. Shriveled. But with the fingernail still attached. It definitely looked like an old finger. Robert took it out of the old box and promptly put it in some tupperware with some newspaper to keep it safe during our travels. And so yes, now we have it.

But I should add a little bit more of the story. My grandpa KEPT The Finger because he wanted to be buried with it. And then Bobby Jack forgot about it when the time actually came for him to be buried. Lest you think I am completely crazy, my plan is to bury it for him. But for the time being, I keep telling Boyce that I have a little piece of my grandpa with me. :)

Okay, enough about that. All in all, it was a wonderful day reconnecting with this side of the family.

Me and Cousin Robert.

Me, Ida, and Bobby Jack.

Bobby Jack, Nedra, and Joe (siblings).

Thursday--This was our last day there. We decided to spend the morning at the Dallas Arboretum, which was SO beautiful! We didn't have too much time, so we spent the whole time in the Children's Adventure Garden, which Grace and Connor absolutely loved. In addition to just beautiful flowers, there were countless hands-on activities for the kids to do. I wish we had something like that here!

Behind the waterfall. Can you tell?

Connor loved these water exhibits.

Playing in the sandbox.

A big treehouse. I could keep posting pictures but I had better stop. It was just so breathtaking.

After the Arboretum, we met up with Nedra and Vince at this fabulous Tex Mex place called El Fenix for lunch. It was so good!

Both Connor and Boyce liked it!

Then later that day, Nedra took us to her daughter-in-law Margaret's house so we could meet her and her daughter-in-law and grandson Charlie, who was Gracie's age. Those two played great together. They live in Rockwall out in the country, and their house backs up against this huge, lovely pond. We went out in the backyard to take it all in, and all of a sudden we noticed a giant snake slithering through the water. So gross! We couldn't take our eyes off the thing until it made its way across the pond and onto shore, and then we decided to go inside. :)

Charlie and Grace.

That last night, Jan and Don and Danielle had us over to their house for dinner (their house is so amazing!) for a BBQ. It was great. They made a huge meal and some really yummy strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Nedra's son Gerald, cute Danielle, and Jan.

Danielle and me.

Gerald, me, and Jan. Isn't Jan beautiful!

Friday--Friday morning we got up early and said our goodbyes. We were all so sad to go...even little Grace was so sad to leave Aunt Nedra and Vince. We stopped for lunch in this little town of Childress, Texas, because we'd heard good things about the bakery there and that we could order kolaches. Um, that bakery was amazing. If ever I am in Childress again I will be back to that bakery! We opted to avoid New Mexico the trip home and instead went the Colorado way, which was much better.

One very tired, stickered toddler at the end of a day of driving.

Ah, goodbye Texas and all my wonderful family. How we love you!