(Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES - Former President George H.W. Bush will make his endorsement of Mitt Romney official Thursday in Houston, where the two men will meet and then address reporters.

The meeting was first reported by the Associated Press and later confirmed to ABC News.

The meeting comes after Bush's endorsement of Romney back in December, when the former president called Romney while the candidate was on his campaign bus in Berlin, N.H., ahead of the New Hampshire primary.

"I had no idea that was coming," said Romney, stepping off his campaign bus on the way to knock on doors and speak to voters, about the call. "I thanked him for his support, his leadership, his heroic life, and his friendship."

"This is much more important to me personally than even politically," added Romney at the time.

Bush had also made public his support of Romney in an interview that same month with the Houston Chronicle, telling the paper, "I think Romney is the best choice for us. I like Perry, but he doesn't seem to be going anywhere. He's not surging forward."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry later dropped out of the race in the days leading up to the South Carolina primary in January.

Bush's wife, former First Lady Barbara Bush, has been even more outspoken than her husband when it comes to helping Romney's campaign, recording robo-calls for the candidate during the Ohio and Vermont primaries.