Houston

Jason and I just spent 5 days in Houston, Texas with his family. our 14 year old nephew, Mason, was diagnosed with brain cancer about 8 months ago that is very aggressive. he suffered a stroke from the tumor only a couple days before his surgery to remove the tumor was scheduled, and they had to do an emergency surgery in order to save his life. he now has physical limitations from the stroke and is slowly regaining his ability to walk, talk, and use his hands. he has made incredible progress since then but it has been a rough battle for him. their home is in Gilbert, but they have been living in Houston with Jason's brother for the past 6 months because they have the best possible treatment for him there. on top of all this his mom, Nikki, who was previously in remission for colon cancer found out that her cancer has returned and spread to other parts of her body.  she is now going through chemo while trying to comfort her son and aid him in his treatment. it is an awful situation and they have been so unbelievably strong throughout all of it. I always try to think how I would handle that situation and I don't think I would handle it as well as their family has. while I say that I also believe that humans are incredibly adaptable and we quickly learn to deal with the challenges we've been given. when put in situations that seem impossible our instinct is to fight to survive. that is what they have been doing, but I especially admire their ability to stay strong, positive, and retain their faith throughout the whole thing. it is extremely difficult to stay optimistic when dealing with so much and having their lives changed forever but they have managed to do so. they have so many people supporting and praying for them to help them fight. 

Mason has been really wanting Jason to come to Houston to visit him so we decided to drive there. his little sister Madi has to stay in AZ for school and they try to get her to Houston at least once a month so she came with us. we left at midnight on Tuesday and didn't get there until about 8 pm on Wednesday. we had done the drive before on our road trip but we only went to San Antonio and we slept in an abandoned gas station for a couple hours when we got tired. we were able to make it there safely with out any breaks by taking turns sleeping and driving. 

luckily while were there Mason and Nikki were feeling good and had energy to go out and do things with us. we explored the city and did some fun things while also spending some time just hanging out with them at the house. 

our first stop in Houston was Bucee's. we went there last time and we have been looking forward to going back since! it is a gigantic gas station with smoked meat, fresh fudge, candy, and tons of unique snacks inside. we tried their smoked meat that time and it was good but nothing amazing. we mainly went there for our Dr. Pepper fix and ended up going with Mason and his family there every day. I think we also love it cause it seems like something distinctly Texan especially with it being 10x bigger than any other gas station in AZ. 

we went to this nature preserve that was supposed to have alligators but they were all hibernating. I got some pics of Nikki and her family there. 

 we ate way too much food while we were there but it was all so delicious. we had some good ol' authentic Texan bbq at Joe's BBQ.

we were able to go back to Torchy's Tacos which we originally had at a food truck in Austin. I have been craving Torchy's ever since we went there and every taco I have tried elsewhere has been disappointing in comparison. the one in Houston was an actual restaurant and very busy but it was worth the wait. we ordered way too much food but we wanted to try everything since we're not there very often. 

 the waitress that took this completely cut out Jason's brother. she took about 5 pics and this was the only semi good one.

 we went to Galveston which is a city near the coast and explored the downtown area. I guess Galveston is the next biggest place for Mardi Gras after New Orleans so they were setting up for the parade. we went into a candy shop in a cool old building and watched them make the taffy and got free samples. we then went to this amazing antique shop that was in a historic old hotel. I was a little sad I couldn't take any of the beautiful furniture pieces home but I did leave with a couple vintage dresses. they had a ton of salvaged architecture pieces that the owner personally tore out of old buildings. if that place were in AZ I would go there all the time to find treasures. 

 we went to the Galveston beach for a little while but it was windy and freezing.

 we took the ferry to the peninsula and explored a little bit. Madi kept making fun of Jason for wearing his silly headband that he wears while running to keep his hair back.

 we went to downtown Houston one day and they took us to this neighborhood with some awesome graffiti art. we took a bunch of pictures there and it was probably my favorite place we went. 

 

 this Ironman art is amazing and is perfect for Mason. he is a huge comic book and Ironman fan and his Facebook group for those supporting him is "Iron MAsoN -the super hero fan club".

we had a great time in Houston and I'm glad we got to go spend time with them and help get their minds off of what they're going through. Mason adores Jason and you could tell he was so happy to have him there, and if we went anywhere he wanted to go along with us. while it is difficult for them to be away from home for such a long time, I am glad they are in Houston getting the best possible treatment they can get.