Saturday, May 22, 2010

Holocaust Museum


Yesterday we drove to the Museum district of Houston and visited the Holocaust Museum there. Amid the large but somber groups of high school students, obviously there on a field trip, we slowly made our way around the exhibits. No stranger to World War II history, I knew what to expect and I knew that I would get emotional so I came prepared with tissues. We read the information boards about the Nazi Party's rise to power, Mein Kampf, the Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht and the Final Solution as we viewed various artifacts like the Star of David arm band, prison uniforms and denied emigration requests. We went inside one of the train cars that the Jewish people and other "non-desireables" were packed into in order to ship them to the concentration camps and read devastating but inspiring stories of loss and survival.

As though taking a cue from the atmosphere in the building, Russell remained relatively silent the whole time. He was so good and I actually held it together pretty well emotionally until we watched a film where Holocaust survivors who had relocated to Houston after the war told their stories. Most of them ended in "and that was the last time I saw him/her/them/ my baby/my my children/my husband" etc... It was incredibly heart breaking. I looked at Russell and imagined what I would do if someone ripped him away from me. I looked at Ken and imagined what it might feel like to be separated from him for so long and not even know if he was alive. Well, there was no way to hold back the tears after that.

It was a melancholy and solemn experience but definitely one worth having to be reminded of one of the darkest moments in human history in order to appreciate the blessings in my life.

J

P.S. I would have taken more pictures but we weren't allowed cameras inside the museum.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Texas Ho!

Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

The Devil's Tower, Wyoming

We are finally here!! We arrived yesterday afternoon to a hot and sweaty Houston. Fortunately, our apartment has some great air conditioning along with two bedrooms, two king sized beds and two en-suites...woot woot...not to mention a great little kitchen complete with dishwasher and washer and dryer. I know this may not seem like a big deal to a lot of you but to us it's awesome. Our balcony overlooks a beautiful little courtyard with a gazebo. Russell loves to play out on the balcony; he always tries to fit his little body through the bars. Thank goodness he's not that skinny...but he is VERY whiney! He's been drooling a river, complaining our ears off, has a fever and has a runny nose which can only mean one thing: he's teething again!! The horror!

It was a loooonnnnggg drive but still fun. We watched wild horses in Montana, visited the Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming, and waved hello to four famous presidents at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. We were bored by the agriculture in Nebraska, were detoured through Colorado (due to construction), hit 40 m/h winds in Kansas and were extremely annoyed by the loud roads in Oklahoma. Jane nearly had an apoplexy in Dallas as she attempted to navigate the snaking, confusing and furious traffic of the big city while Ken casually commented on the architecture and Russell screamed in the back seat. Finally, we rolled into a balmy Houston where we immediately acquainted ourselves with the nearest mall called "The Galleria" (so Jane could buy shorts), IKEA (to get Russ a high chair) and the closest Walmart (for everything else).

We think we can safely call this road trip a success. Jane didn't shoot Ken (although she does claim her right to bare arms as is the American way), Ken didn't throttle Jane and nobody harmed a hair on the head of the little screech owl (although we were tempted to strap his seat to the top of the car).

We are definitely looking forward to getting to know Houston better but we miss everyone back in Calgary too.

But...now I'm off to the pool sucka's!

J

Happy Birthday Russell-Pants!



On April 29th my little boy turned 1 year old! I can't believe it. Where did the year go? He walks everywhere now, chats my ear off with wonderful nonsense, uproots everything that's not nailed down, collects objects and relocates them to secret places (which drives me nuts sometimes) and now refuses to let me feed him which has made meal time very, very messy!

We had a couple of parties for Russell with lots of family around and, more importantly, lots of cake n' icecream. Thank you to everyone who helped make Russy's birthday(s) tons of fun!

J