Valentine Trail

We celebrated Valentine's Day in Texas, but forgot about the trail, so we did it a little late.

 
Oh yeah, and Luis also made us pancakes with heart-shaped strawberries and pink milk.  So cute!

Texas - Volume 5

On Valentine's Day, Luis, Raquel and I went on a family date to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.  They were pretty, despite the fact that it was winter, and we loved being able to stroll around, have some lunch, and enjoy the beautiful weather!

These plants are from Lu's motherland.

This sign says Mexican Ash.  Yes I am.  Really!  Anyone who eats cactus for breakfast (and likes it) must be Mexican.

Luis and I kept trying to get a good Valentine's Day "couples picture," but we kept getting these dead trees in the background.  How stunning!

Luis very romantically surprised me with my very own Valentine's Day roses (which he took pictures of at the garden and then showed me later).

Raquel's and Anthony's V-day gifts.

That night, we had dinner with the Coles.  Brother Cole used to be Luis's bishop, and the two families are good friends.  Brother and Sister Cole actually have 5 kids, but 3 of them were not here for this picture.

Another of Lu's cousins, Jorge, came by the next night.
(From left to right: Victor, Luis, Raquel, Jorge, and Ricky.

The day we left, we had one final set of visitors - Lu's uncle and his family.  We had to wake Raquel up from her nap so she could meet them, but surprisingly, she woke up very pleasantly and even went straight into a stranger's arms without protest.  My girl changed a lot this trip!

Tia Delia and Raquel

Tio Jesus and Raquel

Luis and I still can't figure it out.  All the gifts people brought throughout our trip were for Raquel.  I think they must have forgotten Luis and I were coming.  Raquel was spoiled rotten!  Check it out:
Dolls

Clothes (including some of the hair bows you see)

Toys

Other gifts not pictured:  a pink unicorn, bibs, teether toys, sippy cups, baby mesh feeders, bath toys, and $20 cash.  Every time we turned around, someone was offering her a gift.  What gives?

This was our final picture before we left, and the first one to include our entire Moreno family.
(From left to right: Victor, Mom, Anthony, Raquel, Me, Dad, Luis, Esmeralda, Melissa, and Ricky)

It was so sad to say goodbye!  Although, one of the funniest moments of our trip happened as we were circling around giving hugs.  We were all a bit weepy, some more than others.  Suddenly, I realized I hadn't said goodby to Anthony (Lu's nephew).  I looked around and noticed he wasn't with us.  I glanced over to the kitchen, and there he was, standing on a chair, quietly sneaking some forbidden snacks from the cupboard.  As soon as we made eye contact, he froze with an "uh-oh" look on his face.  It was classic!

We love our Morenos and miss them terribly.  Raquel keeps asking where her fan club is and wondering why everyone isn't crowded around her taking pictures.  Life is pretty dull with just having her mommy around all day:)

One of the most exciting parts of this trip was hearing our Morenos talk more than ever about how much they want to move to Utah when we do.  Wouldn't that be a blast?!?  I want my kids to know both sides of the family and it would be WONDERFUL to have them both close!  I know my family has also talked about this and have said how much they would love having the Morenos join our family get-togethers.  I think the Fergusons and the Morenos were meant to be together.  All in favor say I!

Valentine's Banner

I found this idea and said to myself, "Ashley, that looks easy."  I agreed, so I made it.

A Whole Bunch of Firsts

Before my mom returned to Utah, she made Luis and I go on a date.  "Oh mom, do I HAVE to?"

Being the bold and adventurous people we are, we decided to try something new.

 Okay, so maybe Olive Garden isn't that new to us, but we DID try new entree's.  Mine just happened to be one of their healthy options.  Delicious: yes.  A rip off:  yes.  They pretty much brought me a salad plate with a miniature chicken breast, 4 pieces of brocolli, and 2 asparagus sticks and charged me the same price as everything else.  (Slight over-exaggeration added.)  How was the breadstick experience you may ask?  We had to beg and plead for more.

To satisfy our after-dinner-still-growling tummies, we had to buy an entire cheesecake.

We ended our date with a romantic night of Family Home Evening with mom and daughter.  (Smiley face.)

We had a good time and will probably be our last "out on the town" date for a while.  Thanks mom!

Valentine's Day brought lots of firsts around here.

It was Mom's first ever Valentine's Day trail.

 As you can see, she needs some practice sticking with her own trail.

It was Raquel's first trail.  She absolutely loved it and hasn't stopped talking about it ever since. 

Raquel got to wear her first Valentine's Day outfit.  Again, she was thriled.

Raquel got her first Grandma bath. 

We had our first Valentine's Day family photo.

Grandma and Raquel got their first tour of Lu's school.  As soon as we stepped into his classroom (during lunch hour) a whole chorus of "ohhhhhs!" rang out and a flock of women scampered over for a look.  I wasn't expecting to see anyone, so I was super paranoid that they were all breathing on Raquel.

One of my favorite parts about Lu's school, and what really sold me on the university, are these incredibly creepy statues they have scattered about.

 

Raquel then got to join us for her first fast food experience...although she didn't get any.

Later that week, Raquel had her first "Grandma's cookie party."  First, we made our cookies.

Then we Skype'd with the party-goers in Utah while we frosted cookies.

And then we ate our cookies.  Raquel seemed to be full, so I went ahead and ate her cookie along with mine.

Other firsts include:

First daddy-daughter feeding time,

first chocolate chip cookie making,

and first piece of mail.

And now for some random pictures of Raquel because everything babies do (or don't do) is adorable and needs to be photo'd.

3 weeks old