Visit with MeMaw and PawPaw

We were able to make a quick trip to Tyler, TX this weekend to visit our dear friends MeMaw and PawPaw. I cannot believe it had been an entire year that had gone by since we had seen them last. Claire used her own money to buy a nice flower arrangement to surprise MeMaw!

Claire spent the morning making snickerdoodle cookies and teaching MeMaw how to make "hamburger cookies"

The finished product!

We took these two lovely people out to lunch and spent the afternoon at the arts and craft fair and playing games before heading home. It was such a nice visit and I sure to treasure our relationship so much! These were the first two people to take us in when we moved to Texas and the first two people to come and visit us in the hospital when Claire was born. We met them in 2008 and I am so thankful they are still a big part of our lives! 

 

Claire in the blue bonnets

 We have lived in Texas for 15 years and have never done blue bonnet pictures (I know, I should be ashamed!). So I finally convinced my family to head out today and get find a spot to get some photos. I am so glad I did! The pictures turned out so good!

Blue Bonnet family pictures

Here are some family photos in the blue bonnets!

 

More baking!

Claire worked hard at making little cupcakes for St Patty's day....

Her finished product!

Then she made some bars...she clearly was not in the mood for photos during this baking session! She has the "what do you think you are doing" look on her face!

Trying to hide before I can get a picture taken! Fun to joke around and laugh with this girl!!! I will take every moment she is willing to give me!

 

Fleet pool party

To celebrate the end of short course swim season, Fleet hosted a pool party for the families. It was fun to see everyone together and having fun in the pool instead of only being in the pool to swim laps!

The "Trio"...Claire, Madelyn, and Abigail are called the "Trio" by their coaches! Guess they make it known that they are good friends during practice!

They held a game of Sharks and Minnows which was fun to watch with so many kids in the water at once.

The girls made a new friend and helped him work on his diving during the party!

 

March Cotillion

 Claire had her March Cotillion class and looked gorgeous as always! It has been so fun watching her get excited to get dressed up and willing to wear her beautiful hair down instead of always in a ponytail! I can't believe how fast she is growing up....

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo!

After living near Houston for 15 years, we decided it was time to attend the much talked about Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It is a state fair combined with a rodeo (including roping, barrel racing, bareback riding, and bull riding) and completed with a concert. We met our friends, the Moores, and got to spend lots of time with them as well.

We just had to check out the pig races! Haven't ever seen something like this before! Each section of bleachers got assigned to cheer on a specific pig!

Claire and Emily went on a few rides. This was called the Cliffhanger. They both had lots of fun on it!

Jeff wanted to get the fried dessert sampler to try. It contained Oreos, Nutter butter, Twinkie, Snicker, and Oatmeal Cream Pie...all very deep fried of course! None of them were something either of us would buy again but it was fun to try them once.

On our hike up to the top of the NGR stadium for the rodeo and concert, we stopped to get a selfie of the fair in the background.

This picture is priceless...I took it as Claire watcher her first roping event. She was in shock that they would choke a cow and flop it to the ground. To be honest, it was tough for me to watch too....

A view of the rodeo from our seats...Thankfully we could also watch from the screens and we could see better than what this picture shows.

Lauren Daigle put on a very good concert. We only stayed for about half of it since she didn't start until 9:30pm and Claire had school today. It was nice to beat the crowd out of the arena so I guess it was good to leave before it was over!

A few fun photos in the Rodeo sign outside the stadium before heading home. We had such a great time and look forward to going again next year. I can't believe we have missed out on this fun event for the past 14 years!