Don't Mess With Texas

Texas time!

Cowgirl Lucy,

10 weeks old on her first trip......to Texas!

Lucy loved the cowboys!

Look at her face, and look at those cowboys!
The airplane!

James had some work to do in Dallas, and since his sister Launi lives 15 minutes from the hotel he would be staying at, Lucy and I decided to travel along!
We visited sites in Irving, North Richland Hills, Grapevine, Keller, Dallas and Ft. Worth.

********

Ft Worth Stockyards
The most impressive cows we've ever seen!
Every day at 11:30 and 4:00, they have a cattle drive down main street.

We had never seen cows with horns before.

Wow Texas Longhorns!!!
We had our first taste of Texas fried pickles!

We were able to spend a day in Dallas. We visited the 6th Floor Museum and the Grassy Knoll, where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. James and I both love American History, and found this part of the trip really interesting!
Launi and I, by the Grassy Knoll and in front of the 6th Floor Museum.
There are X's in the street, showing where JFK was shot.
Launi took us to the best of the best Texas restaurants.
We had lunch at Central Market (the most amazing store),
dinner at Love & War in Texas (Seth's favorite), ate at Yucatan Taco Stand (Derrick's favorite), and The Feedstore (Eli & Gideon's favorite),
and enjoyed all of the yummy food that Texas has to offer!

We loved hanging out at the Walker's house.
A pool, a hot tub, and a basketball team....they have the perfect party house.
This was the first time James has played basketball since he broke his nose 6 weeks ago!
He is definitely back in the game!

We had to take our favorite Texas Rangers to Yogurtville,
their equivalent to Orange Leaf!
Look at all that yogurt!
Our 4 tough Texas Nephews.

Derrick, Seth, Eli and Gideon with Uncle J
(Baby Lucy is tucked away in the back corner).

We loved hanging out with the Walker's....
bbqing, basketball playing, movie watching, and sight seeing!

What a fun week! Thank's for showing
us a great time Walker Family!
We love Texas!
We packed Lucy up, and flew back home!
She was missed by many...even more than Mom and Dad.
When we got home, Abby, Kate, and friends Kaylee and Maddie all wanted to hold Lucy and kiss her and love her! They sat in a circle and passed her around! They are so sweet to her!
They missed her so much and couldn't believe how much she had grown in a week!
Thank's Papa J and Grammy for taking
such great care of Abby, Kate and Ella while we were gone!

Koi Fish

This year the Easter Bunny left us a couple of unusual surprises. He left us 4 koi fish for our pond. Ella's koi fish is black with spots and she named it James. Kate's koi fish is white and transparent in color, and she named it Jewels. Abby's fish is white, and is named Pearl. Lucy's fish is spotted gold and is named spot. It will be fun to watch these fish grow!

The fish were left in a bucket from the Easter Bunny,
so we named them and let them swim into our pond.
We already have about a dozen gold and black fish in the pond.
It will be fun to add more friends to our fish family!

Hoppy Easter

Happy Easter!!!
Tami always has the best parties! We enjoy her Annual Easter egg hunt. The Easter Bunny came, as well as a dozen real bunnies to hold.

We had a very "Hop"py Easter!

We had fun catching and petting the bunnies!

They gave the kids cute Easter Baskets, and the kids hunted until they
found a plethora of candy filled eggs!

Easter Dresses

Easter Morning was wonderful!
We hunted for Easter Eggs, watched a movie and talked about the Resurrection, and
then dressed in our Easter best.
We headed out into the backyard for some Easter photos!
We love our girls!
What a sunny and beautiful Easter Sunday!

Pretty Toes

Lucy's Blessing Dress

Lucy's Blessing Day

Getting Lucy Dressed in White

One of my favorite opportunities as a mother of 4 girls,
has been to dress each of my girls in their individual blessing dresses.
It is so sweet to bathe them and dress them in white,
in preparation for their special blessing.

I am so grateful for James, and for the
worthy Priesthood holder he is.
He gave Lucy a beautiful baby blessing!
We choose Lucy's name, knowing that Lucy means light. We named her Grace because of God's Grace in sending us a healthy, beautiful baby girl. We are so grateful she is apart of our family!

Our Family on Lucy's Special Day
(Ella 3, Kate 5, Abby 7)

A day of traditions:

• Each of our girls have their own blessing dress. Abby was blessed in my dressed, being the oldest daughter. Each of the other girls have their own dresses.
• Each of the girls were blessed in this white blanket I brought home from Bethlehem, when I went on BYU Study Abroad.
  
• Grammy made each of the girls a bonnet to be blessed in. When the girls are ready to be married, we will cut the ties and turn the blessing bonnet into a handkerchief to take to the temple.
• Grammy gave us these sweet booties, and Abby, Kate, Ella and Lucy have all worn them on their blessing day.

Family
Nathan, Emily (Pregnant with baby boy #3), James, Lori, Amy, Janet, Roger

Lucy (8 Weeks), Lori, Grandma Karen, Great Grandmother Tami

Lucy is lucky enough and blessed to have 2 Great Grandmothers still living.

Maurine Guymon (91) and Allie Derrick (92).
We love them both so much and are so grateful they could come and be apart of the blessing.

Sweet Mommy Allo (Age 92), holding Lucy Grace.
Ashley & Sophia
BreAnn & Jon

Maggie, Ashley, Me, Amanda
James is so grateful for his brothers, Brian and Dan.
They have a bond that goes deeper than basketball
(although they play a lot).
It is so fun to live near each other and see them often!

Friends

Emma, Riley, Ella, Tommy, Abigail, Kate, Tyler and Addie
We have so many wonderful friends who came to support us on Lucy's special day!
Thank you Bakers, Nicoll's & Stevenson's!
Melissa and Jon
Lori - Lucy - Grace - Viv - Adelaide
The feast
BBQ Pork Sandwiches, Salads, Fruit, Veggies, Desserts