Every year my mother celebrates her birthday in Texas, and most of the time that means far away from her kids.  This year I surprised Mom (and Dad) and arrived on their doorstep (with Allan) on Monday, January 16th.  It was my mother's 79th birthday.

We took my parents to Olive Garden for supper that evening.  It was delicious!  The wait staff also brought a chocolate birthday cake with a candle and sang Happy Birthday.

It was a wonderful evening, but maybe we ate a little too much.  Mom and I each had a baked salmon dinner and it was very tasty.  So was the cup of French onion soup.

Mom gets many cards for her birthday from family and friends.  Some are sentimental and some are funny.

We spent part of the next day across the border, where we shopped for Mexican things and ate seafood enchiladas up on the second floor of Angels. 

Someone at the table next to us offered to take our picture.

Sidewalks at Progresso were packed with Winter Texans so Mom took us into the street as we headed back to the bridge over the Rio Grande.

You couldn't exactly call if jaywalking.  You might call it Follow The Leader.

Thousands of vehicles cross each way, all hours of the day, between Mexico and the USA.

As we walked over the bridge back into the USA, we threw more coins to the little (and big) beggars shouting at us from below:  "Hey, Lady!  Hey, Lady!" and then "Gratias.  Gratias."

It's peaceful and beautiful inside the Alamo Country Club where Mom and Dad built a new home several years ago.  Allan and I went for a couple walks to enjoy the landscape and warm weather, since we'd soon be returning to Minnesota snow and cold.

Mom has a collection of clowns that are signed by a well-known Mexican artist.  When we were in Mexico, we looked at more clowns.  Now it is difficult to find The Thinker, The Dreamer, The Happy One, and The Authentic One.

One of my mother's many quilts adorns a wall in their Texas living room.  It seems made for that wall and for Texas, where rabbits chase back and forth in their back yard … where there is also a blooming poinsettia … and geraniums ...

There is always a new quilt underway.  This one will feature not just the Dresden pattern but also embroidery patterns downloaded for Mom's brand new sewing machine.

It's beautiful, Mom.  I also love your colorful creation upstairs in my own home.  You might recall that I have a page in Sue's Album dedicated to that quilt of Mexican motif.

Allan fiddles with my camera as we prepare to leave after breakfast on Thursday, January 19th.

In Texas my parents do not contend with mowing the lawn, as you can see.  Dad loves it.

It's always been difficult to say goodbye.  Love you,  Mom and Dad.