Weekend of Fun

This weekend was a lot of fun for us. Friday night, our friends, the Walkers, came over to play a game of Spades. They brought their two girls, Courtney and Morgan, so Callie had some friends to play with for the night. They even put on a show for us at the end of the evening. Saturday started out early with the Derrick Parade in Corsicana, TX. Corsicana was known in the past as part of the east Texas oil boom. Kevin's company Allied Waste was in the parade. So, all three of us got on the back of one of the trucks and threw candy during the parade. It was a lot of fun. After the parade, we went for lunch in Ferris and saw that the Annual Brick Festival was going on. They had some rides and we got free snow cones! Saturday night, we hung out with the Walker's again and went to the drive-in movie theatre to see Nim's Island. Before the movie, everyone participated in a game of charades. Finally on Sunday, we went to church and then a spaghetti dinner and pie auction to help support the youth at the church. Kevin had his eye on a coconut cream pie and kept talking about how he as going to bid and win it to bring home. Well, he did end up winning the pie. However, when we were walking to the car, this huge gust of wind came by and tossed the pie from his hands. Fortunately, it landed right side up but without the meringue on top and pie all over his hands, shirt and pants. We were told that the pie was good though. :) Below are some pictures from the weekend.

Callie the Gymnast

This past Tuesday, Callie had a gymnastics program at school. During the school year, she attended a gymnastics class on tuesday mornings. The parents were invited to attend the program to see how the kids have improved. First the first graders performed, and then it was off to the second graders. Callie did an awesome job and received a medal at the end of the program. Here is a video of our gymnast!

Rangers Game and Concert

Yesterday, we headed to the Rangers game with a group of friends from church. We had a great time. Before the game, there was a concert on the left lawn outside the stadium. As part of the Faith Concert Series that is sponsored by the Rangers, a Christian rock group name Third Day performed. It was a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful for an outdoor concert and baseball game. The Rangers didn't do too well against the Blue Jays, but in the end we had fun! Below are some pictures...

Texas Bluebonnets are in Bloom

While driving around this weekend, we saw many places along the highway where the bluebonnets have come up. It is pretty neat to see a blanket of blue patches along the roads. Below is a little history of the bluebonnet and some more pictures that we took.

On March 7, 1901, Lupinus subcarnosus (also known as Buffalo clover) became the only species of bluebonnet recognized as the state flower of Texas. However, Lupinus texensis (Texas bluebonnet) emerged as the favorite of most Texans. The flowers' deep blue blossoms can be seen from March through May in many areas of Texas. As a result of this popularity, in 1971 the Texas Legislature made any species of bluebonnet the state flower, including L. subcarnosus, L. texensis, L. concinnus, L. plattensis and L. havardii. Lupinus texensis remains as the iconic Texas bluebonnet. [1]
A popular spring pastime in Texas is photographing children, family members, and pets among the bluebonnets. Many families return to the same spot every year for photographs as part of a family tradition.
Another Texas tradition was started by Lady Bird Johnson, after her return from Washington, D.C. as First Lady to President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Lady Bird persuaded the government of the State of Texas to seed bluebonnets and other wildflowers along the highways throughout the state. Every spring the flowers return as a legacy of the First Lady.

Check out this website for more history on the bluebonnet...

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/flowers/bluebonnet/bluebonnetstory.html

The Abbott Soccer Star

Callie has been playing in her spring soccer league. The girls are now playing against nine year olds and we have found that some of the girls are a lot taller. One of the girls from today's game looked like she was almost 5'6". Maybe not quite that tall, but definitely taller than all of the other girls. The girls haven't won a game yet, but today they looked real good and are definitely improving. They are starting to pass the ball to one another and getting more aggressive each game. There are only a few games left in the season, so hopefully they can win a few more. Below are some pictures of Callie from the past couple of games...