Mama Judy & the Dyer Darlings

Scroll down to get the whole story - It is backwards in the blog and I can't figure out how to change that . . . the beginning is the end or something. You'll see . .

Next Stop ~ Kilgore, TX and then to Frisco . . . Finally!

Four generations of my maternal line are pictured here. We LOVE our Mama Judy and she always takes great care of us when we visit. We can't wait to see her again soon. Our great maternal line of names includes The Geoke's, The Matthew's, The Williamson's and The Leavitt's!

My sister Angie's girls had a great time with their baby cousin. You can read Angie's blog for a funny story about how the girls reacted to Bethany's crying fit one night. We had so much fun and really appreciated the Dyer's letting us stay with them for almost an entire week! We had such a great visit! Thank YOU for putting up with us.

Sisters - Can't wait to be only a few mintues away from you!

So, our Dallas area trip was successful . . . we also were able to get some other quick visits in with Jennifer, and the Keene's ~ Molly, Ollie and Steve!

One of the big highlights of our time in the Dallas area was deciding on a home in McKinney to build & move into in August . . . but that will have to be a whole other blog . . . I have so much to say about that! Hooray!

Hope you enjoyed the update!

:-) Ryan, Lori & Bethany

Easter & Spring Flowers

EASTER MORNING

I have had my picture taken in front of these flower bushes for Easter since I was a little girl and it was Bethany's turn to continue the tradition.

The Williamson Farm Home

Vidor, TX

Home of the Williamsons ~ Mama Leslie & Grandpappy

We next visited my parents for a few days and relaxed in the country atmosphere. It was great to hang out and do a whole lot of nothing! We ate barbecue and gumbo, took naps and Ryan even helped my dad plant his tomato garden!

Bethany and Grandpappy in the easy chair.

Visiting with more cousins - Aunt Irene and her twin grandsons on the porch swing at her little farm.

This is my FAVORITE tree . . . my aunt had it dated and it is supposedly between 450 and 600 years old. I love this oak tree. It had kinda become a family tradition to take pictures on the tree when we visit there. It makes a great climbing tree. Isn't it beautiful!?!?

Our little family on the tree on my Aunt Irene's farm . . . I love it there. So beautiful!

Easter Bunnies & Babies

BABY COUSINS

I think the pictures can speak for themselves. My sister had the cute headbands and the moms had way to much fun posing and propping up the babies for Easter pictures in the backyard. We were successful in getting some great shots! How fun!

Highlights From Our TEXAS Visit!

Umm . . . grab a snack and get comfy . . . this may take a while - ENJOY!

SPRING BREAK ~ March 2008

New Braunfels, TX

My sister Deanna and I had our baby girls just two weeks apart. This was the first time they were together! Sophie and Bethany have the same Gymni so they both enjoyed it for the picture.

My cousin/college roommate/longtime friend Alison lives in New Braunfels now so we got to visit for a short while! It was so great to see her and catch up. She kept us laughing with all her silliness! Alison, I LOVE YOU!

Deanna's oldest daughter, Caroline and our little Bethany. Caroline was so sweet with her while we stayed with them.

Mama Leslie and three of her sixteen grandchildren!

My beautiful sis, Deanna and her beautiful baby, Sophie with the Leavitt gals! We had such a great time and packed a lot into only a day and a half!

Happy Easter!

We just want to wish everyone a very Happy Easter! I really love this time of year and all that spring time brings. I hope that this Easter is special for all of you and that we can remember the beautiful blessing of the Resurrection of our Savior.

I am also enjoying the yummy peanut butter Easter eggs I got in my Easter basket this morning - mmmm, yum! I will post some pictures of Bethany's first Easter when we return to Vegas. We are now heading out for the next leg of our Texas trip up to my grandmother's house in East Texas tonight and then to Dallas on Monday afternoon! We are so happy to be here and are having a grand time!

:-)

Texas, My TEXAS!

Oh how I love this place . . .

We are here in Texas all this week and next and are having so much fun. We first enjoyed a few days in New Braunfels with my sister Deanna and her little family. She had a baby girl just two weeks after I had my baby so it was fun to play with the "twin" cousins, Sophie and Bethany and enjoy some family time. We took some really cute Easter pictures of the babies and kids that I will post up later! I also got to visit with my cousin/college roommate/long-time friend, Alison while there. We laughed and had a fabulous time. It has been a great trip so far and there is so much more to come!

Now we are at the Williamson Farm Home - the place where I grew up. We introduced Bethany to mommy's hometown and have enjoyed some yummy BB-Q and Tex-Mex while we've been at my parent's home. The azalea bushes are in full bloom with their fiery pink colors so we will take more pictures this weekend for Easter before we head to Dallas next week for more adventures. Oh the fun!

Sunday Afternoon . . .

This is how we spent our Sunday afternoon. Me - trying to get Bethany to smile for her pictures and her NOT smiling! She goes stone cold when I get the camera out to take a picture. She laughs and smiles all the time now and stops as soon as I am trying to document it! Alas, I will push on and keep on trying.

I realized today that every time I get home from church for about the past 6 weeks I keep thinking I will take Bethany's picture in her church clothes but then I forget. I remembered today and she was a willing participant, minus the smiling of course. She also got to spend some time in her exersaucer play-thingy that her daddy calls her command center. Her feet don't even reach the bottom but she likes to hang out in it while she kicks her dangling legs. She and Dulce kinda have the same expression on their faces in the pic - funny!

We are getting VERY excited for our two week trip to TEXAS starting this Tuesday. We can't wait to see all the cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas and friends on our visit! Ryan is looking forward to the yummy Texas BB-Q and I can't wait to taste some delicious Queso Mariano from La Hacienda Ranch - MY FAVORITE! There's just no good Mexican food like Tex-Mex! We'll keep you posted on our Texas adventure.

:-)

Another Addition

We decided that Bethany was now old enough for her very own set of wheels! Who knew that Jeep made a stroller? Crazy! As if we need more stuff, right? Actually, we've had a jogging stroller on our wish list for quite some time but could never seem to justify getting one. I really wanted to start power walking/jogging with Bethany at the park across from our house but couldn't really do that with our regular Chicco stroller. Grandpa Leavitt got wind of this and he fixed the problem for us! THANK YOU Grandpa . . . we are so excited! We had the official road test yesterday afternoon at the park and Bethany slept the whole time . . . it must be a really smooth ride for her. I guess this means now I had better use it everyday, huh? Maybe one day I will actually reach my goal to run a marathon ~ this definitely helps out! Thanks again - WE LOVE IT!

Addictions With A British Accent

I must confess - I am addicted to BBC movies and Masterpiece theater lately. I quess you can call me a BBCmaterpiece-aholic. I have always been a fan of the historical-British-romance kind of movie and now am I just can't get enough. Seriously, these movies are like a drug, especially when I have to wait to watch the next one.

So here are some of the movies I recommend to any one who takes pleasure from movies based on classic novels and other BBC/Masterpiece movies . . .

Aside from all the Jane Austen books and movies (which I have seen all of them and love them of course) ~ here are the others I have fallen prey to:

By Charles Dickens:
Bleak House
Our Mutual Friend
A Tale of Two Cities

The Brontes:
Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights

Others:
North & South
Lorna Doone
Tess of the D'urbervilles
Daniel Deronda
The Forsythe Saga
MiddleMarch
Wives & Daughters

On my list to see:
Woman in White
Monarch of the Glen
The Inheritance
Berkely Square

If you have any other suggestions or know of any others I can add to my list to see please don't hesitate to tell me!

:-) Lori

Friends

Friends

“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote really sums up what has been weighing on my mind lately. I don’t really know why I have been thinking so much about friendship and those wonderful people I call friend, but here are some thoughts on the subject.

I consider myself to be a pretty friendly, dependable, social and outgoing gal. In the past it has never been too difficult for me to meet new people and form many positive connections in some way or another. I have been extremely lucky in my time to have some truly amazing and loyal friends come into my life. Some of these relationships have existed for only a short time, others a lifetime. No matter what the length of time I have always tried to be a good friend in return and hope that others would consider me so.

Here is a list of some of the friends, many of whom I still have regular conversation and interaction with today . . .

Friends from the important stages of my life include:
~ childhood, high school, college, working environments and the single life after college ~ No matter when they came along the important thing is that they did come.

I have enjoyed many late nights of mischief, wild & crazy adventures, heart break, deep conversations, holidays, fun vacations, camping trips, movies, weddings, baby arrivals, yummy dinners and looong road trips with some of these wonderful people (just to name a few). These experiences are written into my memory mostly because of the feeling that came with the memory – a feeling that I was loved and cared for and that what I felt and had to say (or do) was important to someone else.

So here is to all of the great friends in my life. I love you and miss you and hope you feel our friendship is special! My challenge to all of you today is to go out and hug your other friends, tell them you love them, do something nice for them, send an email or give them a call just because.

I am convinced that friendship makes the world go ‘round and I am so blessed to have all of my friends as part of my world, however small it may be.

~ Lori Ann


"I pull you from your tower, take away your pain, show you all the beauty you posses if you'd only let yourself believe" - Sarah Mclachlan

"See you and me have a better time than most can dream of, better than the best, so we can pull on through, whatever tears at us, whatever holds us down, and if nothing can be done, we'll make the best of what's around." - Dave Matthews Band

Bop Bop Boppy

Bethany did something great this week - She LAUGHED out loud for the first time! It was so cute. Her Grandpa Leavitt was playing with her on his lap making faces and noises at her when she suddenly gave out the sweetest, cutest baby laugh. I got another small giggle out of her today. Oh the fun . . .

You Are My Sunshine

You all know that we live in Las Vegas - Valley of the SUN! That big orange ball shines brightly down on us just about every day of the year minus three or four. So this week and last I have been taking Bethany out to the park across from our house for walks. She likes her stroller rides and has recently been able to sit up in the seat. We've had so much sunshine that the poor baby can't even open her eyes at all to look around outside & enjoy her view.

Yesterday I had to exchange some items at Babies-R-Us and found some hats and sunglasses on clearance so I snatched them up! We had lunch at a friend/neighbors' house just down the street this afternoon & I was able to take Bethany out in her new accessories. She looks ready for summer, don't you think? She is my little sunshine girl . . . and she does make me happy in so many ways . . .

In one of the photos you can see the reflection of me taking her picture ~ I thought it was kinda neat. These pics are on our front walkway. It was actually a beautiful day ~ nice and about 70 ish. I am definitely NOT looking forward to the fast approaching Nevada summer, but at least I have my baby outfitted for her first (& hopefully only) experience with the HOT Nevada summer & the brutal sun that accompanies it.

Cutie Patootie

Bethany LOVES her bathtime! She is such a mellow baby anyway but she really doesn't mind a bath. She was so adorable the other night I had Ryan snap this picture just after getting out of the tub.

Just Because

These pics are from last night. I am posting them just because I want to . . . and I am sure all the grandma's don't mind!