Taylor's baby blessing

We were so excited for Taylor's baby blessing!  We were very blessed that so many family members were able to come out for her blessing.  Jeff's mom, Nancy, Mitch, Bryton, Mason, Sydney, Katie, Matt and my mom and dad were all able to come out for it!  Taylor was blessed on July 22nd 2012.  It all started with Jeff's family coming out the Friday before, which was also the opening ceremony for the Olympics.  Annette ordered Hacket Hot Wings (our favorite place for hot wings in Joplin) and we pigged out and watched the opening ceremony.

Saturday morning, my parents showed up and we all decided we wanted to go on a tour of Route 66.
We started at a local diner and everyone got ice cream.

After the diner, we started our Route 66 drive.  In Carterville, there is a cute bear statue holding a Route 6 sign.  We just had to get our picture taken in front of it.

Also in Carterville, just up the street from the bear, there is an area that has vehicles with eyes.  That is right, you read correctly.  Vehicles with EYES!!!!!  I think they tried to make them look like they came from the children's movie Cars.

While we were taking pictures in front of the vehicles, the owner came out and talked to us.  He told us about where the "real" Mater from Cars is located.  It is in Galena Kansas.  We have lived in Missouri for over a year and had no idea that we were so close to Mater this whole time!  We had to check it out....

The kids were so excited to see where the real Mater originated from! 

Sunday was Taylor's baby blessing.  I never would have thought I would be so excited for a baby blessing but I couldn't wait.  First, I got Taylor dressed and ready. (Looking back, I should have gotten myself dressed and ready first)!

Taylor looked beautiful in her blessing dress.

It was a great excuse to get family pictures taken!!!

It was such a special time in our little girl's life and we strongly appreciated everyone who was able to come out for Taylor's special day.

Visitors: Brione

I was very lucky for my dear sister Brione to come out a couple of weeks after Taylor was born.  Brione and I are best friends and we do not get to see each other in person very often, so when we do we have a good time!  Taylor's first trip was to pick Brione up from the airport in Kansas City Missouri.  I was so stressed out about taking her on a 3 hour drive.  There was a time that Taylor cried quite a bit during the drive, and we pulled over and did not know what to do!  Ha ha, new parents.... Anyway, we picked up Brione and drove back to Webb City.  Brione loved spending time with her little niece.

While Brione was staying with us, we decided to take more pictures of Taylor all cutsie like.  This photo shoot went a little smoother then when we took Taylor's pictures with Nancy.  This time, Taylor was asleep most of the time.  Yay for sleeping babies!

We had a great time taking pictures!  I love that Sidney was willing to pose with Taylor as well!


While Brione was staying with us, we had a lot of time to just talk and giggle and snuggle the baby.  I went back to work after 2 weeks, so I was working when Brione came.  Brione also does medical transcriptioning so we sat on different couches and worked at the same time.  Jeff had to work late that week so when Taylor would get fussy, Brione and I would take turns holding her and calming her down.  We had a great time!

Brione stayed for a week.  When it was time for her to go, Jeff, Taylor and I took her back to Kansas City to the airport.  Before we dropped her off, we went to the Liberty Jail.

Jeff and I had visited the jail before, but this was Brione's first time.  We also went to eat at Red Robin (Taylor's first time going out to eat) and we went by the newly built Kansas City Temple!

After the Temple, we took Brione to the airport.  It was sad to see her go.  After Brione left, Devin and Dana came to see us.  Unfortunately, we did not get any pictures for some reason.  They celebrated their anniversary here and saw some of the interesting things to see in this area.  It was so nice to see everyone that came to visit!