That Sunday morning, we took them to church at an RV resort about 30 minutes away. That's because we know the couple well that have been pastoring this congregation for over twenty winters. Before they retired from full-time ministry, they spent eight years at our home congregation in Beaver, Oklahoma. During that time, Rev. Hardy performed our wedding ceremony. He also did the ceremonies of both of Denisa's sisters. So this is a special couple to our family, and Connie and Joe hadn't seen them for many years. It's a special Sunday at their church, and the Hardy's are dressed up for "Cowboy Church." He mentioned in his sermon that he got his first cowboy boots and cowboy hat the day he arrived in Beaver, Oklahoma. Great memories with this couple that God called to the ministry so many years ago!
Another day, we took our guests to the Citrus Festival parade. We eat a lot of the citrus here in the Valley, and we love it that the city of Mission celebrates it in a festival every winter.
The highlight of the event is the Citrus Parade, where most of the floats are decorated with grapefruit, oranges, lemons, and limes.
The above picture showed a little of the detail of one of the winning floats decorated by the local Catholic church.
The theme of the parade was "Adventure in Odyssey" so there were outer-space icons on most of the floats.
We thought it was interesting that Saturn and its rings were decorated with many of the fruits and vegetables grown here in the Rio Grande Valley. We see celery, onions, sweet potatoes, peppers, beets, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, cauliflower, etc. We had no idea that Saturn was such a healthy planet!
A vital part of the Citrus Festival is the crowning of the king and queen, and the many princesses. On floats throughout the parade we saw a long line of duchesses, dressed in their citrus-colored ball gowns.
While most of the floats went to elaborate measures to comply with the citrus theme, some preferred the more basic approach of simply strapping on bags of fruit.
The citrus parade is a good time to advertise other notable events that take place in other seasons of the year. The McAllen Lighted Holiday Parade should not be missed for anyone in the valley in the beginning of December.
The city of Hidalgo also has an amazing Christmas light display.
The weather forecast called for rain, and we were glad that we only got a few sprinkles. But this high school wasn't taking any chances of getting their uniforms wet, as they dawned matching rain gear for the parade.
We also road-tripped to the flea market at Don-Wes, and went to several concerts and a musical while our guests were visiting. Many of the entertainers that spend the summer in Branson or Nashville, spend their winters here in the Rio Grande Valley. So we have first-rate entertainment for bargain prices. One night we all went to the Mollie B concert. This is our third concert of hers, so instead of taking her picture, we opted for a picture of her Father doing pre-show entertainment with his button box.
Just to prove that we don't have sunny skies and things don't go perfectly all the time, we got a flat tire on one our road trips with our guests. Mark got to try out the sealant and air pump that replaces the spare tire option in Denisa's Mother's car. Something malfunctioned, spraying sealant all over Mark, the car, and the passengers hovering over his attempts to get us back on the road.
Mark and Joe got the tire fixed the next day, and now we're back in business. Connie and Joe finished up their two week-stay in the valley with Connie's birthday celebration. We made birthday goodies, and let her plan her special day. It included bean bag baseball. That included her hitting two home runs. Even though we had been sworn to birthday secrecy, Denisa decided it was time for that group of 70 people to sing "Happy Birthday" after that second home run. We forgot to take pictures of her, but we did get a picture of Joe after his home run. In appreciation for such expert bean bag throwing, the team escorts the home run hitter back to their seat.
That day we also played table shuffleboard, and games at Denisa's Mother's house. Then we celebrated with a meal at Khan's Grill, complete with birthday cheesecake. Connie had the honor of striking the gong in celebration of another year. The gong was surprisingly loud, and her reaction was priceless.
They left early the next morning after her birthday, making that long drive back to Oklahoma. While they were here, we enjoyed having them for a little road-tripping in "The Valley!"
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