The Cajun Experience

Well we all had a great weekend this Memorial Weekend, but first things first...I FINALLY GOT A PICTURE OF BENNETT SMILING!!! I have been trying and trying to get this picture, but every time I pulled the camera out he would get so distracted with the blinking red light he would just go into a trance and sit there. My favorite part of his smile is his eyes, which crunch up just like Matt's. :)

Mary (Matt's mom) was born Cajun in Louisiana, and this weekend we got to hang out with her family, who are the funnest people I have ever met! They are all about relaxing, eating seafood and having a good time. The reason we were all there was because Mary's cousin's daughter, Courtney, was getting married in Palacious, Texas, right on the Gulf of Mexico, so we got to go! It was fantastic!

This sign pretty much sums up what is available in Palacios, Texas.

This is The Luthor Hotel, where we shared a suit with Mary, Wayne, Bekah, Nathan, and Sarah. (It was a pretty big suit, with two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room.) This hotel is SUPER old...and somewhat haunted. In it's heyday though, it was like, the place to stay, and there were pictures and letters from movie stars like Shirley Temple up on the walls. You should look it up on the Internet...it's pretty cool.

This is a shrimp boat, just like on Forest Gump! There were A LOT of these here! One of Mary's family members owns a pretty decent shrimping company, so we got to go on his boat (this picture isn't of his boat, but it looked pretty much just like this.) We had a big lunch out on the dock, and guess what we ate? SHRIMP!!

And me and Bennett got to sit in the Captain's chair!

Bennett and Matt getting their sea legs. "Ahoy, me Mattie!" :)

After the lunch on the dock we took Bennett to the beach to have his first swim in the ocean! The water in the Gulf is pretty warm, so we decided it would be ok to strap him up and let him go!




He didn't really appreciate it at first, but once he got used to it he was a natural. But of course, the binki had to come along for the ride.

Just chillin'.

Drying off

All bundled up. What an easy-going guy we got!

After our swim we played on the beach a little.

And I made a sad little sand castle, but I was still pretty proud.

The actual wedding was beautiful. It was the first wedding I have been to that was of a different faith (it was in the Catholic church) and it was pretty cool. This bride's dress was AMAZING!! It took a year to make, and she worked with the designer to ensure it was perfect. Wow.

The flower girl's dress was an exact replica of the wedding dress, only miniature. It was so cute, and the little girl was pretty cute too.

This was in no way a "low budget wedding." This is the limo that took the couple from the church to the reception hall...four blocks away.

I wish we would have gotten more pictures of the actual reception hall, because it was like out of a movie. There were ice sculptures everywhere, two huge wedding cakes, a live band, and an entire room full of endless food! It was all catered, and I am talking about a full course meal of chicken, beef, green beans, rice, mashed potatoes, pastries...and of course, shrimp!

This is the stage where the band played. Dancing was a ton of fun!

Even with all this fuss though, Bennett was none too impressed. He spent the majority of this weekend sleeping and looking cute. But even with this totally non-social attitude he made more friends than I have ever had, and completely stole the show. :)

Rabbit Fest!!

This last week was very eventful! We OFFICIALLY moved into our home! I organized the last closet, and cleaned everything...literally. It took forever, but it was worth it. We also had some friends over for dinner on Thursday night, and we planted an orange tree in our backyard Friday. The best part of the week though, was the weekend.

The third weekend in May is Copperas Cove's Rabbit Fest, a small fair that hearkens back to the days when the locals would arm themselves with clubs to round up those pesky bunnies in one fantasticly violent showdown. However, thanks to modern inventions (and PETA) Rabbit Fest is now a family-friendly carnival, complete with rides, food, games, and a "Bunny Parade." I really don't know why, but I have been looking forward to this day like no tomorrow, and I was not disappointed! And, to make matters even better, Bekah and Nathan (Matt's sister and brother-in-law) came up for the weekend and got to go with us!

The day actually started out very rainy and stormy, and we were all very sad. We made the best of it by renting "Taken", which, can I just tell you, has convinced me that Bennett will never leave the house by himself until he moves next door at the age of 37. It was terrifying. Then we made some delicious oatmeal cookies and talked till the rain stopped.

We finally made it out to Rabbit Fest around 4:00 in the afternoon and it was GREAT!!! Hardly anybody was there at first because of the rain, so we never stood in one line. And these rides were pretty good sized, too! We went on ride after ride until Matt and Nathan got sick and I got such an adrenaline rush I felt like I could run a hundred miles. Bekah spent most of the time with Bennett (Thank you Bekah!) but she did go on the Tilt-A-Whorl after much prodding. All in all it was a really fun day...and we are all glad it didn't involve any clubs. :)


Bennett is an excellent helper in the kitchen. Here, we are snapping green beans for dinner with the Lake family. We had delicious ribs (by Matt) steak (by Kevin Lake) and a plethora of side dishes (by me and Bennett).

Matt has always wanted an orange tree in our backyard, so Friday they went on sale and he finally got his dream. It's pretty little now, but we will water it with love and affection and it should give us oranges almost all year round. Texas whether is great.

Bennett and Bea

Uncle Nathan

It was pretty chilly outside when we went to Rabbit Fest, so Bennett got to wear is little camo jacket for the first time...

...and so did Bekah. :)

Matt and me on one of the carnival rides at Rabbit Fest. It was pretty intense, but we made it.

The dreaded Tilt-A-Whorl! There is a movie of Matt and Nathan making poor Bekah scream on this ride, but it took way too long to download, so you will just have to use your imagination.

Because of all the rain it was SOOO muddy, so some genius decided to spread hay all over the mud, thinking it would help. Instead, it created this thick, brick-like substance that stuck to everything, including the wheels of the stroller. Needless to say, we were practically dragging that thing by the end of the day. It was well worth it though!

Aunt Bekah was fabulous! She took such good care of Bennett AND me! We sure do love her! Thank you Bekah!


Me and Bennett-Boo. This isn't the best picture of him, but I had to redeem myself after posting that horrible picture of me last week. See? I do still do my hair...sometimes.

Bennett has learned to really enjoy taking baths lately. He coos and smiles at me the whole time, and it is one of the best parts of my day. This is him all wrapped up in his yellow duckie towel.

My Fabulous Mother's Day Weekend!!

I LOVE BEING A MOM!! This weekend proved to me that nine months of morning sickness, an intense 16 hour labor with extensive reconstructive surgery following, and 6 weeks of little to no sleep and zero personal time is TOTALLY worth it to be able to eat in bed!! :)

My Mother's Day weekend started Saturday when we decided we had had enough of the inside of our house and it was time to get out into the sunshine. We started out with the intention of going to one of the many lakes surrounding our area, but on the way there we ran into our city park and decided that was good enough for us! It is a beautiful, BIG park, with a public swimming pool, creeks and ponds (with ducks!), and about 10 baseball fields. We spent the morning walking around and watching all the different baseball games going on.

That night we were talking about how we had gotten a brand new tent right after our wedding that was still in the package, and we agreed that it was a shame it hadn't been used yet. We chose to remedy the situation, and set it up in our living room! Then we played Monopoly in it, and I DESTROYED Matt, even though he had Boardwalk and Park Place (So take that, Mr. I-Think-I'm-So-Good-At-Boardgames!! Ha, Ha, Ha!!)

Mother's Day was equally as good, complete with a delicious breakfast in bed, chocolates, and cards from both Matt and Bennett. I also got my Mother's Day Flower from our ward, hand delivered by a happy little deacon. Life is so good, and I LOVE BEING A MOM!!

This is us walking by one of the smaller ponds at the Copperas Cove City Park. Matt is a pushing-the-stroller kind of guy. He loves to take walks with Bennett and tell him all about how much fun they are going to have when he gets big.

Ducks!! I am so excited, because there is nothing quite like feeding a duck!

Bennett is a happy boy whenever we are outside.

He is also very sociable, and waved to everybody we met along the way. :)

Just the three of us! (looking at myself in this picture reminds me why I am always the one behind the camera."Do your hair, Woman!")

Matt and Bennett playing Monopoly in our tent, in our living room...and did I mention I won...like, by a lot? :)

My Wonderful breakfast in bed and my chocolates and cards. I am so happy to be married to a man who can cook!

This is the cute card "Bennett" gave me, signed personally by him with his little hand print. It was a music card that played the song from Jungle Book, "Wanna Be Like You", and as you can tell, he was very excited about giving it to me. Matt gave m a very nice music card too, sweet guy. I am so lucky!

Oh, To Be A Cantoneere!

This was a fabulous weekend! For those of you who have not heard of Canton before, it is a tiny town in Texas that has one of the biggest trade markets in America. I have heard about the wonders and glories of Canton from my aunts and my grandma for years, and have looked forward to the day when I, too, could join the ranks of thrifty shoppers who happily sift through endless piles of assorted junk to find that one item they can not live without. Oh, to be a Cantoneere! And this was the weekend for me!

Matt, Bennett and I loaded up the car early Friday and headed for Dallas, where my Grandma and Grandpa Hazard live. It is about a three hour drive from where we live, and is absolutly beautiful in the Spring with the wildflowers and green grass all along the highways. We spent Friday night watching a movie and showing Bennett off to Grandma and her Bridge-Playing Friends, and caught up on all the latest Hazard family gossip. :)

The next morning, we woke up early and headed to Canton...and it is HUGE!!! It's like, if you took every craft store and food stand you could ever imagine, and smashed them all into a dozen ginormous warehouses with enough people to populate a small town. We spent the day walking around, buying stuff for our house (we are officially DONE spending money on this dang house!) and eating food that will probably stay in our artaries for years to come. It was great!

Bennett was a trooper and slept in his stroller most of the time, and Grandpa only got lost a few times. :)

Just hanging out with Great Grandma and Grandpa. We love them!

These two are a couple of par-tay animals!

Bennett was so good the entire weekend! It was his first official "trip" where we actually packed luggage and stayed overnight at a different house than our own, and he was fabulous. Unfortunately, me and Matt were so on the ball we forgot to bring his stroller for Canton. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa had this little beauty, so we were saved from having to carry him around ten miles of craft booths. Yay for good planning!

So although there is some really cool stuff at Canton, there is still the occasional questionable item...


...and the occasional questionable people! (Don't ask me what they are doing here--I think they were actually talking to each other!)

Matt pushed Bennett tipped back like this all day, since he is too little for this stroller still. He is the best Daddy! I am such a lucky girl to have my two wonderful boys!

Here is our living room with my big metal thingy we got from Canton on the wall. I really like how it looks, and I finally feel like this room is almost done now!

We also found two big decorative square things to go above our bed, since we don't have a headboard yet. This is a pretty bad picture of them, but they look really good with the bedspread in real life. (There is a cool decorative pattern on them if you look close.)

And here's Bennett. He is looking more and more like a baby and less and less like a newborn. He is even beginning to try out his funny little smile and is developing quite the personality. We sure love this guy, and can't imagine life without him!

Oh, and my "Picture Of The Week" is of Matt after burping our gassy little boy! I tell you what, this baby has got some power! I never knew so much could come out of someone so little! :)