We drove to Austin, TX recently to be there for our oldest granddaughter Elizabeth's graduation from the University of Texas on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009. She got a B.S. in Marine Biology and plans to go on to graduate school in a year. Liz is almost 26. She took 7 years to earn her 4-year Bachelor's degree. Her dad (our son Ron) took the same amount of time to graduate so he couldn't say anything to her! She changed her major from Architecture after her sophomore year when she went to California for a year. She came back to UT and decided to major in something she enjoyed - the water. While in CA she took up surfing and she has
always enjoyed camping, hiking, scuba diving, and fishing. I am pictured above with Liz and our son Ron.We're so happy she completed the first phase of her college. She wants to go to graduate school and can't apply until next Dec. so she plans to work for a year. She will be looking at schools that offer graduate study in Marine Biology. We would like for her to go to a school on the east coast (Woods Bay,MA or Charleston,SC) but I think she would like to go to Hawaii). We'll have to wait and see where she decides to go. In the photo, I am presenting
her with a graduation gift from Jim and me.
On Sat. before graduation we spent the day watching football on the big screen TV in their spacious den with a fire in the fireplace. It was extremely cold while we were there, unusual weather for Austin. We watched AL beat FL, and later TX beat NE. Both were such good games. Our other granddaughter Allison came home from North Texas Univ. for the week-end but we didn't see too much of her. She had to go to San Marcos to get certified for her scuba diving class at school. She hopes to graduate next Dec.
Liz came over on Sat. and made tamales for dinner - from scratch! They were so good, and especially so since we didn't eat until the game was over, almost 9 p.m. Her friend Chad cooked the chicken on the grill early in the afternoon and then she pulled it apart and put some on the tamales and then steamed a big pot for dinner. She made her green verde sauce from scratch. Yummmmm.....
Ron and Cindy have a beautiful home in Glen Lake area, on top of one of the many hills surrounding Austin. The Colorado River and Lake Travis are located at the foot of their hill. Ron is taking a break from work and enjoying being at home. He has a big home office and enjoys his 3-screen computer monitor. He has a deer lease with 2 other friends and spends a lot of time there at their cabin. His wife Cindy is an accountant and her office is nearby, near the bottom of the hill.
On Sat. before graduation we spent the day watching football on the big screen TV in their spacious den with a fire in the fireplace. It was extremely cold while we were there, unusual weather for Austin. We watched AL beat FL, and later TX beat NE. Both were such good games. Our other granddaughter Allison came home from North Texas Univ. for the week-end but we didn't see too much of her. She had to go to San Marcos to get certified for her scuba diving class at school. She hopes to graduate next Dec.
Liz came over on Sat. and made tamales for dinner - from scratch! They were so good, and especially so since we didn't eat until the game was over, almost 9 p.m. Her friend Chad cooked the chicken on the grill early in the afternoon and then she pulled it apart and put some on the tamales and then steamed a big pot for dinner. She made her green verde sauce from scratch. Yummmmm.....
Ron and Cindy have a beautiful home in Glen Lake area, on top of one of the many hills surrounding Austin. The Colorado River and Lake Travis are located at the foot of their hill. Ron is taking a break from work and enjoying being at home. He has a big home office and enjoys his 3-screen computer monitor. He has a deer lease with 2 other friends and spends a lot of time there at their cabin. His wife Cindy is an accountant and her office is nearby, near the bottom of the hill.
We went to the large UT arena for graduation on Sunday afternoon at 2:30. The ceremony lasted about 2 hrs. They had graduation on Sat. also for other groups. After graduation we went with Liz and some of her friends to eat at a place students go to eat. Food was great.
On Monday, Elizabeth came to take me shopping - just the 2 of us. We had a good time. She spent a lot of time with us in the summers when she was growing up. Then we left on Tuesday to come back to Ala. It takes us 2 days to get to Austin. On the way out there, it snowed all morning in LA and the Houston, TX area. When we started home a few days later, there was dense fog and rain. It was a tiring trip but we had a wonderful visit with our son and his family. Just wish we could be with them more often.
Cindy loves animals and they have 4 big dogs and 3 pretty cats, who all stay inside. They have pet doors to go in and out. They took the 2 biggest dogs to the kennel while we were there (great dane and dalmation). Pictured here on the back porch with Cindy are Liz's dogs Luna and Marley. The white/black spot dog is Lily, Cindy's dog. Their animals are all very well behaved. Pictured is Lily carrying her dish to the kitchen which means she wants something to eat. Cinnamon (cat) likes her perch so she can look down on the other animals, and so they won't bother her!
