Thanksgiving in Kerrville - 2002

Picture Album

Random Recollections
  • When Melissa studied in Oxford, England for a semester in 2001, we more or less adopted three, then four girls from China who are attending ACU with Melissa. Their names are Peggy Tang, Jasmine Wong, Jaymee Ma (all from Hong Kong), and Carol Iu (from neighboring Macao).
  • We decided that it would be a great idea to show the girls American culture and family life, as well as give them a mini-tour of San Antonio, by taking them to Kerrville for Thanksgiving with my family. At this time, my sisters both had twins who were all about one year old, and the Chinese girls really seemed to enjoy playing with the small kids.
  • When we went to San Antonio, we spent time shopping at the large mall which was converted from the old Joske's department store near downtown.
  • We toured the Alamo and told the girls that Laura had distant relatives who had died there.
  • After shopping in the morning, we took a tour of the Riverwalk by boat. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and it was a great way to see the downtown river and its surroundings.
  • In the late afternoon, we went to the top of the Tower of the Americas. Everyone enjoyed the great views of the city in all directions. We were able to look straight down at the Alamodome, and look a short way to see the Alamo itself, and the tall buildings in downtown San Antonio surrounding the Riverwalk.
  • After enjoying the view, we had supper on the balcony at Landry's on the Riverwalk. Landry's is a seafood place with fresh fare. The girls had missed seafood desperately in Abilene and were quite appreciative of the meal we had that night.
  • We learned what kind of seafood lovers we had at the end of the meal when Jasmine broke the tail of the fish she had ordered into three crispy pieces and shared it with the other girls. It did not look appetizing to us, but Jasmine said it tasted just like a potato chip. She was even disappointed that they had removed the head of the fish before serving it.
  • Nevertheless, we all greatly enjoyed the seafood, and the girls really enjoyed seeing more of the United States, as well as our niece and nephews. It was clear that they were becoming part of our family at least in some small way. A month later, they lived with us for three weeks over the Christmas holidays when ACU makes their students move out of the dormitories.