Rose Parade

Last Saturday we went to the Tyler Rose parade with B,L,T&T. Tyler is the "Rose Capital of the Nation" - bet you didn't know that. For about 6 months of the year you can buy roses for $2.00/dozen on many street corners. Every October there is the Rose Festival in which a new Rose Queen is chosen. Now, this isn't your ordinary "pageant". There is no talent portion, no interview, no beauty contest, no nothing except who’s Daddy pays the most money to get his daughter chosen as the next queen. I kid you not. To even be able to "apply" to get to be queen you must pay $100,000. That's just to get the "judges" to read your application. Then after that it's a matter of who can ante-up the most. IF your daughter is chosen you then get to buy her the gown for the Queen’s Coronation - those usually run another $40,000 or so. All this for what? To get your picture in the paper, ride on a fancy float in the parade, and stand in a covered platform in the Rose Garden. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I can think of a few other things to spend my money on.
(All this being said, we did enjoy our time watching the parade. The boys especially seeing the dogs, horses, tiny jeeps, and motorcycles. They weren't especially impressed with the fancy dresses for some reason.)

Without further ado...


Rose Queen 2008 on her float


The Queen's train...think I could get a dress like this to wear sometime?


The Shriners mini jeeps...was quite entertaining.


Commoners Lesha, Brad, Trace, and Trevin


Commoners Jacob and David


The real queen...and her Mom. As you can see, Queen Lia was taking in all the sights with much excitement! Yep, she slept the entire duration of the 2 hour parade.

This is how...

I spend a lot of my time.


No wonder there's a lot that needs to get done around here. Oh well, my babies won't let me hold them forever. And the other stuff can just wait.

Texarkana

We just got back from our annual convention. Many wonderful thoughts were shared and I have a lot of "work" to do. Now it's back to reality...and many loads of laundry!! Also tending to Jacob's "souvenir" he brought home...a cold. ;(

Texarkana has a sandbox that all the little kids LOVED to play in. At first I didn't think I wanted Jacob to play in it and get all dirty, but then I decided that was ridiculous as the other kids were in it and they were all having a ball. Besides that, it worked off some energy, was a great "babysitter", and I was able to enjoy visiting with the other parents.


Jacob kicked back and relaxed in the sand box.


Bryce V. having a good time.


This is only a fraction of the kids that were playing. They all had a great time.


Hanging out in the V's camper.


My sweet baby doll. ;)


Cousin Caroline and Lia.


Cousins Allie and Jacob having a great time. They're only 2 months apart.


My sweet babies.


Yep, they've both got me wrapped around their little fingers.


First convention as a family of 4.

My Baby Daddy...

and my baby...

they make me smile!

A Plug for Our Uncle

So I'm following my Aunt Susan's lead and doing a little "advertisement" for David's Uncle Jorge's blog. Simply known as "Tio" to us. David's Grandparents, Mom, and Uncle came to America from Cuba in 1966 - his Mom was 15, his Uncle 13. Tio has also written a book chronicling their voyage from Cuba to the US. It's very interesting and makes one appreciate what freedoms we enjoy in our country. (At least for now.) ;) Tio wrote "We left everything behind: family, friends, and earthly possessions. We now had to start all over again. It was a new beginning but we were willing to give up everything for the opportunity to be able to dream again with freedom and without fear. We knew that if we were willing to work and to strive with every ounce of our strength, we could succeed again because we now had the freedom and opportunities to do so. Our destiny and our failure or success now depended on us". It would be nice if more people had that attitude!

In this post Tio tells about when he was asked to speak at a naturalization ceremony in Atlanta. He recounts his speech.

In this post he recaps the trip he made back to Cuba for the first time in 38 years. He got to take that trip with his 2 children and Father.

I enjoyed this post as it "features" David, his brother and 2 cousins. I realize not everyone will appreciate it like I do, but it is fun to look back at how styles have changed since 1973. I also only know what David looked like with hair through old pictures as he hasn't had any since I've known him. In the first pictures Tio and David BOTH had hair, now neither one of them do. Oh well...I've always heard "God only made a few perfect heads, and the rest he covered with hair". ;)

Enjoy Tio's blog...and leave him a comment if you venture over there. I know he would appreciate it. He's a really nice guy and won't bite. ;) And it's always nice to know someone took the time to read what you took the time to write!