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!

Sweet Brothers

These two boys are peas in a pod!

Cuddles with Grandma Wade

Derek and Bryce have loved having Grandma Wade here. She has been so kind to pause her sewing projects occasionally to shower hugs and kisses on them. Of course, they lap it up! Haha! We sure are going to miss her when she leaves. :( 

 Grandmas give the best cuddles!

 She is the only one who can get away with this, haha!

 Clara gives just as many cuddles as she gets

Who can resist that face?

Fort Worth Zoo

Mom has mentioned wanting to go check out the Fort Worth Zoo for a while now. We woke up to a beautiful crisp day, packed up the kids and just went! It was great! There's a lot more foliage and covering than the Dallas Zoo, so it made for a more natural feel, I think. Love the Dallas Zoo, too though. Derek was so independent today. He wanted to give his ticket to the ticket lady by himself, go through the gate by himself, push the stroller by himself (he couldn't push it with Bryce in it, little chunk), and even walk with his cousins "by myself." Uh-huh. The zoo wasn't really crowded, so we were able to give him some greater freedom than we usually do in public places. Bryce was pretty chilly so he was content to sit in the stroller with blankets packed around him and watch from the lap of luxury, haha! Clara was a doll. She wanted to see everything, but ended up sleeping most of the time in her carseat that we snapped into the double stroller. Speaking of the double stroller, we ordered that thing at the last minute and it was a perfect choice! Thank heaven it arrived the night before we left or we wouldn't have had such an easy time carting Clara's carseat and Bryce around the zoo. It was an awesome trip and I wish the Fort Worth Zoo wasn't so far away. We can't wait to go back though!

 Derek wanted to give the lady his ticket all by himself. He's growing up so fast!

 We were greeted by an African Bongo

 The flamingos are always magnificient

 The boys jumped at any photo opportunity. They thought this was a super cool elephant.

 An incredibly rare black rhino

 Andrew and Derek watching cheetahs prowling the enclosure

 Two other cheetahs played nearby

 Nathan contemplated the cheetahs

 Katelyn is so cute!

 Isaac was so excited!

 Loves from Uncle Colton

 Derek, Andrew and I went ahead of the group and spotted them in an observation deck behind us.

 Derek and Andrew are such good friends... and good troublemakers in Primary, but that's another story.

 This massive silverback Western gorilla was incredible

 It's always an experience to look into the eyes of one of the great apes.

 This massive Indian elephant was only 20 feet from us.

 Derek insisted on hugging this baby elephant statue

 The kids were petting and baby-talking the baby elephant statue, haha!

 Bryce-sicle! He was kind of cold.

 Still working on taking turns :S

 and still not sharing. Who knew the penny presser was such an amazing, irresistable machine?

 Greater One-Horned Rhinos - I love that they look like they're wearing armor

 Gorgeous white tiger! The kids were really excited about being able to press themselves up against the glass and be, literally, inches from a real, live tiger.

 Bengal tiger sunning itself. 

 Gracie did great the whole time in the front pack

 Emeri was pointing to all the animals and talking about them, but she refused to take the binkie out, haha!

 Clara needed a feeding while we were watching the lions. Mitchell called dibbs. :)

 These Black-necked Swan cygnets were ADORABLE!

 My little cygnet is cuter, though. :)

 Derek, Isaac and Andrew rode the Komodo Dragon off into the sunset

 Ah, to have the carefree, kickback life of a kangaroo

 Derek was in an exceptionally hugging mood today. He also tried to climb onto the back of the kangaroo, but that didn't work so well.

 And, the train, of course. Derek is obsessed with trains and made sure I took a picture. :)

 Here's one for Grandpa Bazemore. Derek was a natural.

 Kisses from Grandma Wade! Don't let these faces fool you - they like it. 

 Derek found the awesome Wells Fargo wagon!

 Everyone wanted to jump on the wagon! Haha!

What it's like to stand inside a tornado. Derek wasn't fazed but the other kids pretty much enjoyed it for about three seconds. I certainly enjoyed watching Colton trapped in a little tube trying to calm down what ended up being four upset kids and an oblivious Derek. Hahaha!