Abilene Fun

Last week, Ryan was at camp with the Jr High ministry, so the girls and I took off to Abilene. Abilene, TX is a very special place in my heart for many reasons! I was born in Abilene but then my dad got transferred to Odessa, TX when I was going into 1st grade so I was raised in good ole West Texas. :) Then, my mom had family in Abilene so it was a place we visited a lot and did many holidays there. Finally, I went to Hardin-Simmons University and met Ryan, dated 3 years, and lived the first 5 years of our marriage there, so Abilene has some very deep roots and fond memories.
My aunt still lives there and they just put in an amazing in ground pool with a huge cabana, outdoor grill, and flat screen tv! Its beautiful and built right, if you know what i mean!!! LOL ;) Literally, every night after dinner, we would spend hours out there talking outside. The girls and my sister's kids would spend hours swimming. My sister and her kids came across, along with my mom and my aunt so we had a blast, it was a nice treat to all be together.
While in Abilene, we hit some local favorites. We went to Grace Museum in which I showed the girls where we (me and Ryan) had our wedding reception. Its sooo pretty and Addie really appreciated it, i think her eyes even sparkled when she was in the ballroom and I was telling her some stories. :) So cool. Then of course, we had to go to Candies by Vleta's....OH MY, so good, it will always be a favorite place for a small town treat. I love their white chocolate covered grapes and dried apricots, then the dark chocolate heath is yummy, and taffy..mmmmm, ok enough! lol:)
We celebrated my cousin, Ashley, who turned 21 so we all ate downtown at a steakhouse that is delish for sure.....love The Beehive. Here's a pic of all the cousins at the restaurant. :)



(Chandler was sitting next to me, he didn't make the cousin picture)

We love Abilene...and with Ryan on the board of young associates at HSU now, it will be nice to spend some more time there.
It was a GREAT trip. :)