Our Trip to Katy.....

began VERY early!!! I could NOT believe we were on the highway heading out of Dallas by 4:00 AM!!

Louis Dean drove the whole way and I slept until the sun came up. We made the trip with just TWO stops!

We arrived! Amber and Mike's new HOUSE!!!

And here was Amber waiting to greet us!

However.....as much as she wanted to see US.....

there were two little critters she was even HAPPIER to see!!

She was THRILLED to have her kitty cats back home with HER after being apart for over a year!

These may seem like mere animals to YOU......but to Amber they are PRECIOUS!!

July is 18 years old....

Snowball is 13 years old.

After the cats had clearly decided they were HOME,

we lit our special candle to celebrate the new house and got to work!!

There was cleaning to do, groceries to buy, things to move, boxes to unpack!

Amber and Mike have had all their things in storage for a LONG time.....

Everyone made quick work of it, though!

It was a piece of cake for these strong young guys!

Louis Dean worked HARD!

He was rewarded with a bottle of his favorite beer which Amber made sure to have on hand for him!

They have a great covered patio which they will use much as we do our gazebo!

What a great place to sit and sky watch!

We put Louis Dean in charge of THAT!

Amber served dinner on moving day night using her Christmas Spode China!

She knows how to do things RIGHT!

She made a home cooked meal every evening in spite of cleaning, hauling, painting, and unpacking!

She can seriously throw together a wonderful meal in less than an hour!

Louis Dean spent as much time with the cats as he could!

He is really attached to them!

As busy as we were I still found time to check my Facebook!

While Louis Dean made cinnamon rolls....as requested by Mike!

Last December in Scotland, LD made some of these for Mike....but he used Sweet 'N Low (in a canister) thinking it was sugar! Those rolls really had an after BITE!! But Mike ate them anyway!

He had to improvise! Of ALL the kitchen things Amber has.....

a rolling pin is NOT one of them! Yet!

After dinner we watched one of Amber's Red Skelton DVDs.

She has a whole collection! She LOVES Red Skelton and I love to watch HER watch HIM!

Amber and Mike gave a little dinner party on our last night there.

Good friends, Carla and Dave, and Barbara...their realtor!

It was a great evening of delicious food.....Amber's cooking and Barbara's tasty Mushroom soup!

Dave and Carla brought some bubbly wine and the eating and visiting was underway!

After the guests left we all relaxed and talked while Mike had one more cinnamon roll and a glass of milk.

Snowball had been eyeing Mike's glass from her position on Louis Dean's lap (of course!).

When Mike set the glass down, she daintily stepped from lap to coffee table and proceeded to put her entire head in the empty glass hoping to find a remaining drop or two of milk!

These cats are "LOADED with personality" to quote Louis Dean.

All too soon it was time to say good bye! We had lived in their new house as long as THEY had!

It was time for them to be 'Home Alone'.....

No trip up (or down) Interstate 45 is complete without a stop at Sam's Restaurant in Fairfield, Texas.

This is at exit # 197 and is the half way point between Dallas and Houston.

Louis Dean got the full buffet....I had the SALAD buffet......now he is contemplating the desserts.

Being Louis Dean.....he chose TWO!!!

All he left was a fork.....and it was bent!

We made it home in just TWO stops! (This is a record for me!)

The Collin Street Bakery is another one of the MUST stop places on I 45.

The bakery was decorated beautifully!

Love these! Looks like garland looped over the light and then embellished.

Great idea to use NEXT year!

Now we are back home and I am busy cleaning and decorating and cooking and baking  and sewing!

Christmas is almost HERE!!!