Clara's Baby Blessing

Clara was blessed today! Mitchell did a great job giving her the blessing (in front of the whole congregation, too!) even though Clara wasn't too pleased with the whole thing. :) It was a wonderful blessing. See this link for more information about baby blessings in the LDS church. I had some trouble hearing the blessing, but Mitchell helped me write down some of the things I missed a little later. Our sweet girl sure is lucky to have such an awesome daddy!

We were so happy to have family with us today, too! My dad, stepmom and Alex came up so Dad could stand in the blessing circle with Mitchell, Colton, Austin, John (Liz's brother) and our bishop. It was so hard not to see Jeff standing in the circle next to Mitchell, but we could feel his presence and I know he was so proud of Mitchell. Tammy, Liz and Jenna put together a yummy luncheon after church to celebrate and everything was just great that day.

I love Clara's dress. I found it at a kids' resale shop (Kid-to-Kid) and fell in love with the simple fabric and cute pink flower and ruffles. It came with a funky-looking, pioneer-ish cap but I opted to use the pretty white-rose-and-pearl headband that Nana got her for Christmas. I was a little worried the dress wouldn't fit because Clara is so petite, but she looked adorable! 

Back: Tammy, Bryce, Colton, Liz, Austin, Mom, Mitchell, Me, Clara, Dad, Alex

Colton, Mitchell, Clara, Dad, Austin. John and Bishop Woodrum weren't able to get in the picture. 

Clara and Nana

Such a precious girl!

Nana loves this picture. Clara looks unimpressed with our photo set up, haha!

Love this! 

She had so many admirers, she didn't know where to look

Snagged one of those sweet, sweet smiles. She is just so precious!

She's still working on tummy time, but she's getting better!

We are so glad you are forever a part of our family, Clara! We love you so much and can't wait to see you grow!

Dinner with my Dad

My Dad drove up for some training he had to complete this week and we drove out to have dinner with him tonight. It was so fun! We met at a Jack in the Box (there aren't any of those near my dad) and introduced him to their bacon burger. I definitely inherited my love of bacon from my dad. :) I still make bacon sandwiches with bacon, mustard and cheese, just like he does. This was his first time meeting Bryce and Derek talked and talked Grandpa Bazemore's ear off, lol. It was nice to catch up and hear about how family in the southern part of Texas is doing. Can't wait to see him, TexAnne and Denise for Bryce's baby blessing after Christmas!

Grandpa Bazemore and grandson #2!

Proud Grandpa

My dad brought this awesome puppy puppet book and a box of felt food for Derek

The face I got when I asked Derek to say "cheese"... little stinker. :)

Derek loves being read to. 

Me and my daddy!

Mitchell and Dad had a good time talking about guns and planes. :) I guess Mitchell got his testosterone fix tonight, haha!

Merry Christmas Part 1

Merry Christmas! We had such a good time hanging out with my side of the family this year. Next year is the Heath year and we can't wait to get together!! Colton (Mitch's youngest brother) will be home sometime in November/December and I have a new nephew due the 14th of next month (Woohoo Sereen! Almost there!), and hopefully we'll have a place of our own sooner than later. Yep, 2012 is shaping up to be a great year.

Papi (my stepdad) helps Derek unwrap a gift at Nana's (my mom)

Derek took his time trying to figure out how this Thomas the Train pop up fort works

He figured out how to crawl in the attached pop up caboose to get to the pop up Thomas engine

Derek was pretty protective of this Thomas toy

Opening presents with Ganka (Jeff) and Gankama (Tammy)

Everyone loved this car floor mat

Gammy (my grandma) got him a robot puppy since he couldn't have a real one - he loved it!

Another gift from Gammy and Papa (my grandparents) - this frog blanket is too cute!

One of the gifts from Grandpa and Grandma Bazemore - it's a toddler sized string-the-beads-on-the-lanyard game to help fine motor skills. Surprisingly, this is one of his favorite games.

Speaking of my Dad, Derek and I went down to Ingleside to visit for my Dad's birthday. We carpooled with my sisters and had a great time! Unfortunately, Mitch couldn't get the time off work but he had a nice, quiet week of sleeping undisturbed. ;) My Dad rented an entire house for us to stay at in City by the Sea, TX. It was such a cute little house! Two bedrooms upstairs complete with kitchen and living room and downstairs was a one bedroom stand-alone apartment. Derek and I slept downstairs while Kelly, Amy, Valerie and Denise slept in the two bedrooms upstairs. I loved the beach theme that was displayed throughout the house and the fact that the house was built on a canal that opened up to the bay. So cool! There were always birds out in the canal and Derek wasn't sure what to think of them. He loved to be taken out onto the deck to look at the dead fish in the canal though. Kind of weird.

Keeping an almost-2-year-old occupied for an 8 hour car ride is very tricky

Luckily, Aunt Val shared her headphones. :)



Derek is sad to see Shannon leave

Derek has his first crush! My friend, Shannon! Don't let the look fool you, I think she was flattered. ;)

We met Craig and Shannon while Mitch was stationed in Del Rio. Then Craig was transferred to Corpus to continue training. We're so glad we got to see them again (But Mitch was bummed he missed it)!

Self-proclaimed King of the Chair

Poor Ryan didn't want to sit in the chair with Denise and Derek

My cousin Suzie (Ryan's Grandma) helped him take a picture with Denise and Derek



Derek and Ryan played so well together! They certainly went to bed tired and happy that night. WARNING: turn your volume down - the kids are screaming

Derek was fascinated with my Dad's birthday cakes and I'm so glad to see my Dad happy! Happy birthday, Daddy!!



Blowing out candles with Grandpa



Aunt Val was a big hit again on the trip back to Dallas. WARNING: More screaming.

Saw these bumper stickers on the back of a 18-wheeler and my sisters begged for a picture. Notice one side says "passing side" and the other says...

Derek's Baby Blessing

We blessed Derek in church today. What a beautiful blessing! I'm so thankful that I married a worthy priesthood holder. Derek was great and didn't start crying until the very end. My dad, TexAnne and Denise were able to make it up for the blessing but didn't stay long. Miss them already. Our friends from ROTC, Ben Larsen and his wife, Annastasha came! We were so glad to see them come over for Derek's special day. Of course, Mitchell's siblings were present (his brothers helped bless Derek) and Tammy's mom (Cloverne) and sister (Kathy) came. Aunt Kathy brought Katie, one of her daughters. She's so cute! We only stayed for sacrament and then we all went over to Grandma Allred's house for a brunch. What a freaking nightmare! I couldn't get the chicken broccoli casserole made fast enough and felt bad that everyone was waiting and hungry. It was a great get-together though. Thank you so much to everyone who made this day so very special!

I love how everyone is jostling for position

Everyone say, "Family!!"

Missing a set of grandparents, but so glad Jeff, Tammy, my dad and step-mom could make it out!

Finger-sucker already :)

I think he was getting a little cold

Tammy and Derek

Jeff and Derek