To all of you who may or may not be interested Laura Grace Chandler was just born today at 4:50 est. She weighs just over 7 lbs and is 22 inches tall.

Melanie and the baby are doing great and all is well with Luke too. Check back for pics or updates soon!

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-UPDATE-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

I was recently informed, thanks to you (you know who you are), that I may have been perceived as one Davy Lopez of California or the same Davy Lopez who is Chico Lopez' brother. No offense to Davy, but I am the original DAVID Lopez of the proud state of Texas and now residing in Temple Terrace, Florida. By original I mean that I am older than he and niether of us are the David Lopez that is on the FBI's most wanted list.

If this causes some to flee my blog, never to return, I am sorry but no deception was intended. I am sure that somewhere along the Lopez family mesquite tree Davy and I are related somehow, but for his sake and for mine, I am David and he is Davy. If he has a blog here I am not sure, but perhaps we should link to each others so that no one else will be misguided. To all visitors, "work as unto the Lord" and Carpe Diem!

Beaumont TX to El Paso TX: 742 miles
Beaumont TX to Chicago IL: 770 miles

World's first rodeo was in Pecos TX .... July 4, 1883.

The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in
North America built over water.

The Heisman Trophy was named after John William
Heisman who was the first full time coach for Rice
University in Houston.

Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other
area in North America.

Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North
America's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.

Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.

The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in 1900
caused by a hurricane in which over 8000 lives were lost
on Galveston Island.

The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was
"Houston."

El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas.

Laredo is the world's largest inland port.

Tyler Municipal Rose Garden is the world's largest rose
garden with over 38,000 bushes with 500 varieties on 22 acres.

King Ranch is larger than Rhode Island.

Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record
of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July 1979.

Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY,
instead of by annexation. (This allows the Texas flag to
fly at the same height as the US flag.)

A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.

Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.

Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period
after Dr in Dr Pepper.

Bordon Milk Company was started at Bordon, Texas between
Columbus and Weimar.

Texas has had six capital cities
1. Washington-on-the-Brazos
2. Harrisburg
3. Galveston
4. Velasco
5. West Columbia
6. Austin

The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only capitol building in the U.S.
which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington D.C.
(by 7 feet).

The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas"
meaning friends. Tejas is not Mexican for Texas.

The State animal is the Armadillo.

An interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they
always have four babies! They have one egg which splits into
four and they either have four males or four females.

The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in
Houston.

And of course, Texas is the home of the one and only Bluebell
Ice Cream. The best Ice cream in the country.

AMERICAN BY BIRTH.
TEXAN BY THE GRACE OF GOD!

Here is a short interlude of my youngest son Jake playing with his pet alligator.