Easter Weekend

This year, Easter weekend was also Wedding Weekend for my extended family. On Saturday, my cousin Jessie got married in Weatherford and I had the privilege of being a bridesmaid. For me, though, the weekend started fabulously on Thursday night when I went with Kelley to themidnight premiere of "Water for Elephants." It was amazing, btw.

Blake and I headed to Desdemona on Friday for a quick hello to my parents and to pick up my cousin Emily, who was also a bridesmaid. We then headed to Weatherford where Emily & I would meet up with Jessie and her other bridesmaid and Blake would go visit his brother. The girls stayed at a hotel that night--lots of fun and laughter.

The wedding was at 5:00 Saturday evening at Willow Lake Gardens and it was beautiful. It was great, as always, seeing all the Hagoods (my mom's side of the family). I am so blessed to be a part of such a close and loving family. And it's not as if we hadn't just seen each other at Christmas, but we sure acted like it'd been a year. Haha! During pictures after the ceremony, it turned cloudy and threatened to rain, but it held off until we were all finished and in the reception. Thank you, Lord, for holding back the rain. :)

Emily dancing down the hall at the hotel.

On our way to Walmart (the first time)

At the rehearsal, after we had been appropriately caffeinated.

Before the festivities kicked off. (I LOVE the color of Blake's shirt.)

Ahh! She's married!! :)

brother & sister

In the middle of dancing, I made him stop and take a picture.

Understatement: My cousin Maggie is super tall. (She is Emily's younger sister.)

More cousins! Ryan & Garrett (brothers)

Father-daughter dance

Birthday Weekend

This year I had a fabulous birthday! Blake & I have recently made new friends from church, Jaci & Jeremy, and in the course of our conversations while hanging out over several months, Jaci & I discovered our birthdays are 2 days apart. Hers is the 1st, mine is the 3rd.

Jaci & me at Red Hana before the show

This past Friday I was invited to go see Legally Blonde the Musical for Jaci's birthday. We got all dressed up and went and ate before the show, then after the show (which was fabulous!) we went to a karaoke bar. We only got to sing 2 songs because of the large number of people there, but it was fun regardless!

On Saturday, I had made a checklist of things I wanted to do as part of my birthday weekend. For example--go to Sonic for Happy Hour, eat at Chick-fil-A, go to Barnes & Noble, etc. We started with lunch and then stayed in the mall for a couple of hours. Later in the day after we are home, Blake asks if I wanted to go to the drive-in that night and I said sure but when we look at the listings, nothing really appealed to me. I suggested we go to a regular movie, with movies starting between 7:10-7:30. By this time it's about 6:20, and Blake says that's

not enough time for him to go to Shallowater and get back in time. He has to go give a check to our friend Dusty for their softball team a and they won't be at church tomorrow and Dusty needs it by Monday morning. So that busts the movie plan. He suggests that I ride along with him to Shallowater then we come back and he'll grill some steaks and we can rent a movie on Netflix. I say okay.

When we get to the McDonald's house, I notice Jaci & Jeremy's car in their driveway, which is strange because they're supposed to be on a date that night for her birthday. When we walk in, people shout "SURPRISE!!" and I am totally shocked. I had no idea anything was going on & I was so excited to see all my friends there. Jeremy, Blake and Misty had planned this party for Jaci & me and we were both completely surprised.

It was a great night--we ate brisket, sat around the fire pit, played games (some of which turned slightly violent) and laughed and talked until almost 2 am.

Wearing our birthday tiaras.

"A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 17:17

"Every good and perfect gift comes from above."James 1:17

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. " Psalm 107:1

"I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High." Psalm 7:17

"Let them give thanks to the Lord

for his unfailing love and his

wonderful deeds for mankind."

Psalm 107:21

Kelley & me

Cake!

Fighting over spoons :)

This says it all... :)

Traci, Kelley, me, Misty, Kim, Jaci & Kirsty (standing)