So Long Houston

We'll be leaving Houston this week, and although these last six months were a bit tough because we didn't know how long we'd actually be here, there was a lot we liked about this place that I want to be sure and remember:

• Trees! Who knew? I sure didn't know before I came here, how green Houston is! Especially up where we are in The Woodlands, the trees are tall and green and beautiful.
• The view from our house. We are surrounded on three sides with forest. It is so wonderful to wake up in the morning and open the blinds and all I see is green forest! It feels like we're in the country, even though we aren't. Unfortunately, all that vegetation caused the bug and critter population to be out of control!
• Our ward. The Oakwood ward in the Houston North Stake is so great! People were so friendly and inviting, even though they knew we wouldn't be here long.
• BBQ--People here know how to do it right. We ate at several BBQ's in the area, but our favorite is Pit Master on Rayford-Sawdust Road.
• Library. Although the buildings were a lot smaller than what I was used to at the Salt Lake City library, there were some things that I definitely liked. I liked that you could return your books to any library within the system. I loved the children's programs. I loved that they had a little book shop where you could buy books for 50 cents and magazines for 10 cents! They had lots of children's DVD's to check out, and I liked how they displayed their new books. Oh. And Ty loved playing in the Conroe Library's school bus.
• Parks and pools. Almost every subdivision has their own park and pool. Although it was too hot to use the park all summer!
• Grocery shopping. So many choices! I loved getting my circulars and deciding what two stores I would shop at that week. Randalls(Safeway), Kroger(Smith's) and HEB were my favorites. San Antonio doesn't have as many choices in grocery shopping. HEB has kind of choked all the other stores out of business.
• Small town Texas: we have loved going to all the small town festivals and gatherings just outside of Houston. It will be fun to get to know the small towns outside of San Antonio, too.
• Sunsets. The sky here is incredible! And the sunsets with the tall tress as a silhouette are breathtaking.

P.S. I don't know when that picture was taken, but I've certainly NEVER seen the freeway that empty!