Our Family

A week with Aunt Vicki, and a really long post!

2011-04-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

The week of March 28th, the girls were on Spring Break and Aunt Vicki came to spend the week with us. So, thanks to my Library Adventure Pass, we had lots of fun things planned. Tuesday we went to Dinosaur Ridge, it is a spot where they have found lots of Dinosaur bones and tracks on the mountain, so we took a little bus ride around and got to see lots of cool things!

That darker spot on the rock behind Mia is a dinosaur bone

Then on Wednesday we went to the Wildlife Experience which is just a small museum about wildlife, but they had this cool exhibit on frogs that usually isn't there, so we really liked the frogs!

Then on Thursday I got tickets for Ariana, Tycee, Vicki and I for Disney on Ice. It was the Princess Classics. The girls had a lot of fun and absolutely loved it!! Ariana said to me after, that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity!! Unfortunately for us poor people it kindof is! We usually can't afford stuff like this, but I am glad we were able to this time.

These were our seats! Second row on the lower level!!

Friday we went for a hike, and you can see more about this day in the next post!!

Saturday was Conference, so we spent the day listening to conference, and making scrapbook pages of our week. Thanks for coming Aunt Vicki!! We had lots of fun!!

April Fools!!

2011-04-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

I don't typically do anything for April Fool's, but this year I did, and I have to admit, it was kindof mean, but I had a good laugh!!

I was out for a hike with the girls while Aunt Vicki was in town, and Sal and I had plans to go on a date that night. So Sal let me know that he was home early from work and waiting for me. About a half hour later we were on our way home, and I decided to pull this prank. I sent Sal this text:

"Tycee fell, I think she broke her arm, on the way to the hospital"

Now, let me put in here that I really didn't think he would believe me with it being April Fool's and all, but here are the text's that followed;

Sal: "Oh...Crap!"

I didn't respond

Sal: "I will meet you there"

I still didn't respond

Sal: "Sky Ridge Hospital?"

Me: "ya"

Sal: "call me"

So at this point I was laughing pretty hard, and I was just going to have Tycee run in the house and shout "April Fool's" but I was afraid he was really going to take off to the hospital before I got home so I called him and he didn't even say hello, he just said "what happened?!?!" so I had everyone shout in the phone "April Fools!!" He was so mad!!!! He said I was going to have to take him to the hospital cause he was going to kick my butt so hard it was going to break his leg! Then he told Tycee to tell me that he was not laughing!! I apologized, but was still laughing pretty hard!! He did say that at first he didn't really believe me, but because I wasn't responding to him, that I was carrying Tycee or something and couldn't respond so that is when he started to believe it. He did admit later that he would have laughed if he had done it to me!

Treasures

2011-02-07T13:27:00.001-08:00

It may just be me, but I think homemade decorations are WAY BETTER than any decoration I can buy in the store!! This little beauty was made by Tycee, with no help at all!!

Mia's day out

2011-02-07T13:08:00.001-08:00

I got a free pass to the Wildlife Experience, so Mia and I went, just the two of us, and it was a lot of fun!! She was a little scared at first, there are a lot of animals, and weird noises, but after a while I think she realized that they weren't real, so she liked looking at them. Then, at the end, we got the chance to touch a real snake, I didn't think she would do it, but I guess by then she was over her fears, and she touched it no problem!! It was a lot of fun to go out with just her, I usually try and do things when all of us can go, but I realized I am not going to have her alone all day much longer, so I need to spend a lot of quality time with her, especially with her being my last baby!!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-25T10:03:00.001-08:00

We wish everyone a very merry Christmas, and the best wishes for the New Year!!!!

Tens!!

2010-12-10T09:26:00.001-08:00

Sal and I had our 10th Anniversary on the 1st of December, and he took me to this amazing restaurant, The Fort. It was so cute, and the atmosphere was so nice and quiet, yet fun at the same time. The food was amazing as well. I had a lamb shank, and Sal had a buffalo steak. It was a great night!! I can't believe that it has been 10 years, it went so fast, and although we have had our ups and downs, I wouldn't change anything for the world!! I love you so much!!

This is what they made us wear, then they did a huzzah for us with the whole restaurant!! If you can't tell, I am wearing a fox, and Sal has a huge buffalo hat on. (You can see them better in the next picture.)

This couple was there celebrating their 50th!! He came over to congratulate us, and to give us a little advice. He said, "No matter what happens, or no matter the situation, she is always right!!" They were so cute!!

Thanksgiving, and a little Christmas!

2010-12-10T09:05:00.001-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving, I was so excited to have ALL of my family come to my house!!!! It was crowded, but so much fun!! So the total number of people was 22, 11 adults and 11 kids, amazing, but we actually got everyone at the table in my dining, and family room!!

And of course, the best part of Thanksgiving, we had a total of 12 pies!!!! Thanks Nikki for making them all!!

We decided that since the whole family was together, we would do our gift exchange, so we had a little Christmas in November!!

We decided to just get a fake tree this year, kindof sad after how much I loved my real tree last year, but I think it turned out pretty cute!! Mia, being the goofball that she is, put on her "socks"!!

And Poki found her new favorite spot!!

Birthdays

2010-11-16T20:10:00.001-08:00

Ariana turned 9 on the 14th of October, and it just completely scares me that next year she will be a pre-teen!!!! Anyway, the day of her birthday, we just had a cake for her and opened some presents, she got some movies, a new scripture case, a new bike, and a couple of gift cards, and of all of it, the gift cards were her favorite!! She had a ball shopping for what ever she wanted, (I wonder where she gets that from?) and felt so grown up being able to pay for the stuff herself, she bought some clothes, a couple more movies, and some little kits that have makeup, and little notepads and stuff in it. Then the next day we took her and one of her friends to a place called Li'l Biggs. It is kindof like a Chuck-e-Cheese, with pizza and games and they had a bunch of bounce house stuff.

Then , Sal's birthday was the 11th of November, and we just had a few friends over for dinner, then had cake, and yes, I put all 33 candles on the cake!!

Tycee for some reason had her vampire teeth in, and Mia was wearing one of my old dance dresses, I have no idea why, anyway, it was lots of fun!!

Swimming Lessons

2010-11-02T08:31:00.001-07:00

Sal did some work for this Swim School, and in return they gave our girls some free Swim lessons. They absolutely loved it, even Mia was so excited to go to swim class every week. I was so amazed at how well she did, she just took right off and did everything the teacher wanted her to do.

Jumping in the water
Learning how to kick with legs up behind her

Learning how to hold herself and walk along the wall

and learning how to swim under water

Ariana and Tycee almost didn't even need lessons, they could already do everything they were being taught, they loved it anyway!!

2010-10-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

Well I guess since it has been a couple of months, it is about time for me to catch up. For halloween this year, the girls picked out these matching costumes, they just each picked their own color, so this was all their idea, I had absolutely nothing to do with it, I even tried to get them to pick other things, but they were adamant about these, which is fine, cause they are super cute!! Anyway, we started our parties with a trunk-or-treat in Sal's boss's stake, and they go all out!! Games, prizes, cupcakes, toys, and all this even before the trunk-or-treat begins. So they came home with bags full of treats from this. Then was our wards trunk-or-treat, and this year it was really big compared to last year being pretty small. They had a nacho supreme dinner, and games for the kids, then the trunk-or-treat.

Tycee did more handing out this night than she did getting candy!

Ariana was gone the whole night with her friends going around and around, so she made up for Tycee not getting much.

Even Mia wanted to keep going around, and she wouldn't even let me touch her bag to help her, she had to do it herself!!

I even got in the action with a VERY hot pink wig!!

Then Sal got some free tickets to Elitch Gardens, we even got VIP tickets, so we didn't have to wait in line, which was great for Sal and I so we could go to the front of the line, then just take turns on the rides that we wanted to go on. It was great! Ariana is getting to that point where she is getting to big for the kiddy rides, but not quite big enough for the big rides, so here she is not very happy about the kiddy swings, she did go on the big swings later and loved it. So I decided to let her try a roller coaster, just an up and down one, no upside down or loops. She was really nervous, but she did it, she was kind of scared during the ride, but she did great, but decided that she would wait and try again next year, or the year after!!

Mia is old enough now to go on the kiddy rides and she loved the boats!!

So this year we had a great Halloween and hope all you did too!!

Our newest addition!!!!

2010-08-16T10:17:00.001-07:00

Our local animal shelter was overcrowded with cats, so they were giving them away for free, so we though this would be a good chance to get the pet that the girls have been begging for!! So we took them to the shelter for our family home evening one night and we met this little cuttie!! We had a hard time deciding between her and another grey cat, but the deciding factor was this one was only 8 months old, and the other was 2 years. The Hawaiian word for cat is Popoki, so we just shortened it and named her Poki.

She has taken over Mia's chair as her own, and then Mia put a towel on her as a blanky so she could sleep!!

Peaks and Gorges

2010-08-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sal's brother and family came to visit for a week this summer, so we took a little camping trip. First we drove to the top of Pikes Peak which is 14,115 feet high, and silly me, I forgot my camera, but here are a couple that I stole from my brother-in-law. The drive is very pretty, but a little scary, it is a small dirt road that pretty much has a straight drop off one side. And it is so steep, that they actually have a break check about halfway back down, if your brakes are to hot, they make you stop and wait.

A very pretty little lake that was so clear and warm, but the chipmunks are crazy!! The kids had a hard time holding still for this next pic, cause there was a chipmunk that kept chasing them!! Then we went to Royal Gorge, it is a huge gorge that has one of the biggest suspension bridges in the world.

This is one of the little trains that takes you down into the gorge.

You are crammed into these little cages, standing only, then you go down the track very slowly!!

The view looking down, you can't even see the bottom!!

looking back up

A view of the bridge

now looking down into the gorge from the bridge

This is looking down between the cracks of the bridge, yes that is a real train down there!! This river is the Arkansas river.

And here is another shot of the bridge, those are cars on there!! It is 955 feet high, and 1260 feet long. It is said to be one of the top ten scariest bridges in the world, and we walked across it!! I couldn't stop walking though, cause if you stopped, you could feel the bridge swaying from the wind!!

There was this cute little area there that was like a little old town that had lots of fun stuff to play on, this chair was one of my favorites!!

Sal wanted a pic of him doing a hand stand on the bridge, crazy!!

And then, a very pretty sunset over the mountains!! Lots of fun!!

Butterfly

2010-06-22T12:16:00.001-07:00

Tycee started an insect section at school and started learning a lot about butterflies. They even took a field trip to the Butterfly Pavilion. During this time, we found a chrysalis (I learned from Tycee that it is not a cocoon, those are for moths!!) on our front porch attached to the rocks. So we watched and watched for a couple of weeks, and nothing happened. I started thinking it was dead, but finally, on our way home from Tycee's last day of kindergarten, as we were walking into the house, Tycee noticed the butterfly. It was beautiful!! I was expecting a Monarch or something more common!! We sat and watched it for about five minutes, even Mia sat and watched it, and kept pointing to it saying "pretty!" Then it climed up the wall and flew away. What a fun experience that was, to check on it everyday, and then lucky enough to see it when it came out. If we had been just a couple minutes later, or gone in another door we would have missed it!! Tycee was so excited!!

Isn't it beautiful? I love the blue at the bottom! You can see the chrysalis to the left, amazing that it fit in there!!

*I learned that this is a Tiger Swallowtail, usually found in the eastern United States, and that it is a female, the males do not have the blue on the bottom. How lucky we were that it came this far west!!

Camp-in

2010-06-22T12:07:00.001-07:00

We finally finished our deck a few weeks ago, so we decided to camp out on it, so after getting all set up, and snacks and movies set up, it started getting really windy, and the tent almost blew into our neighbors backyard!! The girls were so sad, so we decided to just take the tent inside. We had just as much fun sleeping in the tent inside as we would have outside!!

Jungle Quest

2010-02-23T12:39:00.000-08:00

Sal's company gave him some gift certificates to Jungle Quest for Christmas. We had never heard of this place, so Sal took a day off and we went. It is way fun!! It is a bunch of zip lines, huge rope swings, rope bridges, and rock walls, all for kids!! They can just keep going as much as they can for an hour and a half. They were a little nervous at first, but after a while they were doing tricks! You can see Ariana flipped upside down on the swing. Lots of fun!!

Can't touch this!!

2009-12-31T11:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas of course!

2009-12-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

We got this tree at the local grocery store for $30, (after looking at tree lots and not seeing anything under $60) so we didn't think it was going to be that great, but after it started warming up, it really plumped up!! I loved it!!

Mia even got in the action of decorating, but it didn't take long for her to just take them right back off!!
The final product!!!! It was so pretty!! And smelled really good too!!

Christmas morning, they came in my room about 7:00 and we made them lay down for another hour, then I made them wait until I could get the camera ready so I could get this great shot of their faces!!

Lots of Wii games, movies and a few new dolls, and this cute little quad that we can't get Mia off of!! Over all it was a great Christmas, not a lot, but it was so nice to have Christmas in our own home!!

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-21T11:43:00.000-08:00

We wish everyone a wonderful Christmas, and very best wishes for the new year!!!!

Special Days

2009-12-06T19:09:00.001-08:00

Going back a couple months again, Ariana had her 8th Birthday. I can't believe my little girl is 8!!!!

The day of her birthday, we went to Mr. Biggs and did a little bowling, eating and playing around.
Then we made a quick weekend trip to Utah where she was baptized by Sal. She was very excited but kept telling me beforehand that she was nervous!

Her cousin K.J. was getting baptized as well.

After she was confirmed by Sal (who gave her an amazing blessing) she started crying a little and told me that she knew it was the Holy Ghost telling her that what she was doing was right!! What a special experience for a Mother!!!! Or it could have been because I was crying so much, Either way is was very special!!

After we got back, we FINALLY closed on our house!!!! So that night we got a bunch of blankets and slept on our family room floor!! We didn't actually move in until a couple of weeks later, so I could paint the girls rooms while it was still empty (I will have to post pics on that later!). This is us the next morning eating cereal on the floor!!

Then for Halloween, Ariana wanted to be something scary this year, not just another princess again, so she decided on a witch (a little to cute to be scary though!) and so Tycee didn't want to do the norm either, so decided on a cowgirl, I had to make sure I said cowGIRL if I said cowboy I got in big trouble!!

and Mia was just a cute little Minnie Mouse who never wanted to keep her ears on or get her picture taken. I had to bribe her for these with candy!

Then Sal had is 32nd birthday, where we went to his favorite, Joe's Crab Shack, and they made him run around the restaurant knuckle bumping everyone while they all sang to him. It was pretty funny! Then we went home for cake and presents, where the spoiled boy got a MyTouch phone!!!! Anyway, that is a quick (kindof) update on the things going on with us, and hopefully I will keep a little better updated. We hope everyone is well and wish everyone a wonderful Holiday Season!!

Merry Christmas!!

Mia's One Year Photos (a couple months late!!)

2009-10-12T19:55:00.001-07:00

Here are the latest pics of our cute little one. No words are needed, the pictures speak for themselves!!

Isn't she just the cutest?!?! We did have a hard time trying to get her to smile.

That's a First!!

2009-09-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

We finally went camping again after two years, and this was the first time we went as just our little family, usually we go with someone else, but this time it was just us, and it was also Mia's very first time, and she loved it!! (except for a few tumbles) We started out going on a hike up a waterfall, this first picture below is the very bottom of the falls. (You can see all the pictures on my facebook page)

Then we took another hike that had this amazing view of seven falls at the end, this picture does not do it justice at all, but you get the idea!
Then we went to our camp site at a place called 11 mile lake. It was really fun there. The rangers did lots of fun stuff for the kids so they could become Jr. Rangers.
Mia loved being outside, but had a hard time walking on the uneven ground, so she took a few tumbles, usually on her face! This pic was right after she tumbled into a prickley bush and got half of her face all scratched up!
Tycee took a tumble too, but just happened to hit a rock, other wise she would have been fine

Mia loved it though she was always smiling and having fun!!

(I guess who wouldn't be happy with a donut and bottle in your hands!!)

One night the rangers took us crawdad fishing, and the girls had fun for the first five minutes, then started to get a little bored, but then Ariana got a bite, so we had fun trying to catch the thing, it was to smart, as soon as we pulled it out of the water, it would let go, so we had to wait for it to grab on again, I finally got a box right under it so as soon as we pulled it out it fell in the box.

The big one is the one Ariana caught, then another girl gave us the little one. We kept them over night, then we let them go in the morning.

Our last day we went to a rock park called Garden of the Gods. It was really cool there, it has all these crazy rock formations, and lots of places to hike and rock climb. This next picture is of the two kissing camels.

This is just another wierd rock formation.

We had lots of fun, to bad summer is over, I can't wait to go camping again!!

Realization!!!!

2009-08-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

So, after thinking about it for a little while, there really are other things going on in our lives, I am just consumed with getting my own house!!!! (does that make me a terrible mother?) Anyway, the girls started school the end of July. It is year round school where they are going now, so the school year actually started the beginning of July, they just happened to get on a track that didn't start till the end. So Ariana started the 28th, and Tycee just had a meet and greet the first two days, then she started kindergarten on the 30th, I can't believe my little Tycee is in school!!!! She was so excited, she has been wanting to go to school ever since Ariana started two years ago!!

Then we had our trip to Utah. This is what 8 hours of trying to keep a baby happy in the car looks like!! You can't really see it well, but she was covered in chocolate from eating Oreo's

And of course, she got another birthday party so the family could celebrate her 1st birthday!!

She loved this Elmo and didn't want to put it down!

She loved this crown too, she would walk around with it on just smiling, If it came off, she would put it on again!!

The main reason we went to Utah, Sal's brother Nefi and his family were sealed!! We are so happy for them!!

This is all of the grandkids on Sal's side (except Mia who we couldn't get there in time) This is a very rare moment!!

I'm really sorry about this, but I can't help adding more about the house, because now it is finished!!!! All the appliances, carpet and everything else is in now, all that is left is touch up work!! EEEEEEEEEEEE I CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE IN!!!!!! So anyway here are some pics of the last few things that went in this week.

Can't wait to use my flat top stove!!!!

Maybe now I can post more of everything else that is going on and not just a log of the house progress, although it has been lots of fun for me, I am sure it got old for everyone else. So I apologize, and hopefully my posts will be more interesting now!!

How do you like me now!!

2009-08-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

I know I pretty much only post about my house, but that is pretty much all that is going on in our lives right now!! So after being gone for a week (which is something that actually happened to us that is not related to our house, which I will post about later!!) lots of things changed, one of the biggest changes being this,

They finally painted!! I love that it lookes like our house now, and not like all the other houses going up!! The next thing, which is comparable in biggness (does that make sence?) is the cabinets are all up!!

The wood floor was just getting started when I stopped by in the morning, when I stopped by again later, it was all done, but I didn't have my camera!

This is my tub and you can see the corner of the shower floor with all the tile and flooring in.

and this is the cabinets in my bathroom!

Love it love it!!!!

Only one more month!!

House update

2009-07-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

The drywall is all up and the outside is completely finished except for the painting. I can't believe how fast it is going up!! We had a walk through with the superintendent, and he said he has things all schedualed to be finished by September!!!!!! I can't believe it!! I really wasn't expecting them to actually finish when they said they would!! So anyway, here are a few shots from the inside now.

This is the living room looking in from the front door.

The family room

The kitchen

One of the bedrooms upstairs

And this is my bedroom!! WOW am I excited!!!!

Partying, Biking and Building

2009-07-18T11:53:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby is ONE!! We had a quiet little party for her at home with cake and presents, as you can see she really enjoyed her cake!!

What a joy she has brought to our lives, she is such a sweet, good natured baby. She is walking all over the place, and loves to follow her sisters around, and try to copy everything they do!!

I realize I am a little late in doing this, but we really haven't had a good place to teach her, but we finally got the training wheels off Ariana's bike. She got a little frustrated the first day, but the next day, she just took right off, now we can't get her off the bike!!
Here is the latest of our house. Now that the frame is up, things have really slowed down. All the inside stuff comes seperately, so it takes a little longer, but they are still ahead of schedual, so we are looking at moving in around the beginning of October sometime, I can't wait!!!!

Another video of Mia walking!!

2009-06-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

Mia's Walking!!!!

2009-06-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Crazy!!!!

2009-06-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

So life has been very busy for us these past couple of months, so I will try to keep this as short as possible!! First, Tycee had her 5th birthday (I am really behind, I know!!) The beginning of April we were in Utah, so she got to have a big party with all her cousins even though it was a couple of weeks before her actual birthday. Then on the day of her birthday, she wanted to go to Casa Bonita, then we came back home and opened presents and she got her very own big girl bike!! She then asked me if she could go to school now, because she had kept asking when she would go to school and we would always respond "when you turn five" so now she is five and wanted to go to school!! It was kindof hard trying to explain how the school years work and that she had to wait until school starts over again, nonetheless, she had a great birthday and is very excited to be 5!!

Mia is just growing by leaps and bounds!! She has already taken a couple of steps on her own, and she is just all over the place, crawling and pulling herself up on everything, she has definitely made up for her being early!! She loves to be with her sisters, if they are playing in their room, she wants to be in there with them, and if they are in the bath, she gets mad if I don't let her in there with them!! She is still such a happy baby and we are so blessed that she is doing so well!!

Next, we moved to Castle Rock where we are building our house. Our lease was up in our old place and to extend just for a few months was about $200 a month more, so we found a place here that was $200 less!! So we will be able to save a little money until we are house broke!! Plus we are going to be able to start the girls in the school they would be going to for our house, so we won't have to transfer them at all, and we get to watch the progress on our house better!! Anyway, we had lots of family come and help us, then we got to play a little with them, it was lots of fun!! Below is some of us at Casa Bonita again!! (we love that place!!)

I had my 32nd birthday (man where does the time go?!?!) and Sal took me to my favorite resaurant, Macaroni Grill the night before, then he made a cake for me and got me a new MP3 player. ( He actually got 32 candles on the cake!!)

Last, but definitely not least, our house!!!! It is going up really fast!! We just sat in front watching them work on it for like a half hour, it is so fun, but hard waiting!!

(back view)

Learning from our mistakes

2009-05-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, Ariana got really frustrated about something (I don't even remember what it was now) and threw a very expensive Wii remote on the floor. After spending about 10 minutes in the corner, we had a long talk about ways we can vent our frustration without being destructive. Today, I was really getting after her to do her homework, so she very politely came up to me and said "Can I go scream in my pillow?" I am glad she is learning!!

Our Empty Space!!!!

2009-04-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

We finally got the sold sign to put in our lot, after Sal put it in, of course, Ariana and Tycee had to push it in too. So it may be an empty space, but it is our empty space!!!! (and hopefully it won't be empty for long!!)

Mia's on the Go!!!!

2009-04-13T20:50:00.001-07:00

Sweet, Simple Faith

2009-04-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

(This is Tycee at 14 months old!!)

A few days ago, I was running late for an appointment, and could not find some shoes. Tycee, in her sweet young innocence, said "Mom, I will say a prayer that we can find the shoes". In my mind I laughed and thought this was silly, but of course didn't say that to Tycee, she then proceeded to say a little prayer that we would find the shoes so we wouldn't be late. About 10 seconds later, I found the shoes, and was taught a very important lesson. I told Tycee I had found them, and she said "See Mom? Heavenly Father hears my prayers!!" I learned that nothing is to small or insignificant for Heavenly Father, he just wants to hear from us. Now maybe he won't answer my prayer to find some shoes, (he saves that for the cute 4 year olds!) But he will listen to our small problems, and answer them, even if we think they are silly. And in the mind of my little 4 year old, she learned that He really does hear and answer our prayers. And that he loves her enough to listen to her prayer!! What a great lesson in some sweet, simple faith!!

Mia

2009-03-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would post some more pics of Mia because she is just growing so fast!! You would never guess that she was a preemie!! She is over 16 pounds now, and progressing just as good as a full term baby. She is sitting up and rolling all over the place, and she loves to laugh at her sisters. The other day she was sitting in a grocery cart, and Ariana started jumping along the side of it, Mia started laughing so hard!! She is a very serious baby, just like the other two were, so to hear her laugh is so fun!! I kept telling Ariana to do it again!! Anyway, here are a few cute pics of her now.

Breakfast in Bed

2009-03-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, my two cute little girls got up early and suprised me with breakfast in bed. They both walked in carrying this tray with my breakfast consisting of Corn Pops and Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch mixed together, a piece of toast with Peanut Butter an inch thick, a tall cup of Milk, and of course,

a cup of Marshmallows!!!! Too cute!!!!

Phantom!!!!

2009-03-19T19:46:00.001-07:00

Sal and I got the chance to go see Phantom of the Opera while it was here, it was so amazing!! We had front row seats in the balcony which I thought was perfect. The acting was a little on the dull side, but other than that it was great. They did a great job on the effects, and of course the music was great!! It was so much fun to get all dressed up and go out, that doesn't happen very often!!

This is the grand staircase in the Opera House.

This is the cast list.

This is where we went to dinner before the show. We had to go through these doors and down a huge marble stairway. Very cozy and romantic!! It was a little pricy, but VERY good!!!! I had a Salmon and it came with Brussel Sprouts that were amazingly wonderful, and I hate Brussel Sprouts!!!! Such a fun night!!

Fun City

2009-02-28T11:39:00.001-08:00

I have realized that I live in a very fun city!! Sal and I went to a Denver Nuggets game last night, and a few months ago we went to a Colorado Rockies game. Both games were jam packed and all the fans get very into the spirit of the game. It was a lot of fun!! Now I just need to go to a Bronco's game, but that will be very hard, because the fans are so into them that tickets are VERY hard to come by! You have to be a season ticket holder for the last 20 years or go on a waiting list for the game in 3 years!! Such a great city, I am going to be sad to leave!!

(I am seven months pregnant here, so don't mind how chubby I am!!)

Catch up again!!

2009-01-27T20:39:00.000-08:00

Here I am trying to catch up again, I am not so good at keeping up on things!! Mia is now 6 months old, I can't believe it!! Here she is eating cereal for the first time!! She loved it and ate a whole bowl full!! The second one is her opening her mouth for the spoon. She lifts her head clear up and then opens her lips just a little, it is really cute!!

I love this pic of her, she was just playing beside me and decided she was tired so she went to sleep!! I love the pose the best!! Poor baby!!

Ariana received Honor Roll this quarter at school. She was so excited because she had been struggling a little with a couple of things, so we worked really hard this quarter and she got it!! Sal gave me the best compliment too, he told me that it was because of my dedication as a Mother that she is doing so well!! Thanks Honey!! It is little moments like these that make being a Mom so great!!!! Good Job Ariana, you deserve it!!

Sal got to take a day off and hit the slopes (I am so jealous because I haven't been in 4 years!!!!) but he said it was snowing all day long (as you can see in the pics) so the powder was awesome!!

Mia's First Christmas!!

2009-01-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

Mia, of course, is to young to understand what is going on, but for her first Christmas, she got to see Santa lots, and she got one BIG present.

(I love this one, Santa took the time to come and hold her and get a pic for Mom!!)

She is not quite sure what to do with it yet,

but finally she gets the hang of it and now she loves it!!

Christmas for the rest of us!!

2009-01-01T20:38:00.001-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year. Starting out with going to Utah a little early to see Sal's Uncle (see post below) It was great to spend some extra time just being with family. We were able to go to lots of immediate and extended family parties, see lots of friends, and just have a lot of fun!! Christmas Eve we went to Sal's parents house for dinner, the kids all put on a show for us, then we had to wait until midnight to open presents. Christmas day Santa went to my parents house and we were all very spoiled. The girls got almost everything on their letter to Santa, Sal got a Wii, and I got some new clothes, shoes and purses.

Tycee and her pile

Ariana and her stack

Sal and his Wii

A trip to Temple Square to see the lights

And of course a big fat Snowman!!

Tio Hugo!!

2009-01-01T20:21:00.001-08:00

We were able to take Ariana out of school a little early to go to Utah to see Sal's Uncle (Tio) Hugo, who Sal has not seen in 20 years. Hugo and his wife Alma have been living in Australia and haven't come here until now, they were here from the 2nd until the 18th, so we had to get there in time to see them. It was great to meet more of Sal's family and for him to see his Tio who he was really close to when he was little!!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-21T21:36:00.001-08:00

We wish you all a very merry Christmas, and best wishes for the New Year!!

Happy Anniversary!!!!

2008-12-02T21:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was mine and Sal's 8th anniversary!! I can't believe how fast time flies!! We didn't have a babysitter, so we took the girls with us to our traditional Macaroni Grill, and Sal wrote me a beautiful letter that made me cry in the middle of the restaurant!! We didn't have a lot of money so we didn't do gifts, so we just enjoyed being together!! I love you honey, more today than yesterday, and will love you more tomorrow!!

Tina in Real Life!!

2008-11-20T19:51:00.000-08:00

I watched this movie last night and the first 15 minutes gave me a glimps of my future!! A 17 year old begging to drive, a 15 year old who thinks she is in love with her boyfriend, and a 10 year old trying to convince her Dad that she is not a baby anymore. All of them had lots of emotions and drama!! What have I gotten myself into?!?! If you haven't seen this movie, I recommend it, it is very funny, and pretty clean!! Although I am very nervous about my girls becoming teenagers, I wouldn't change anything for the world!!!! I LOVE MY GIRLS!!

Halloween!!

2008-11-03T21:52:00.001-08:00

Wow, this Halloween was a busy one!! Monday the 27th, the local High School had a Halloween party where you could go trick-or-treat around the rooms, and they had lots of games and activities for the kids to do. Then the 29th, Sal's bosses stake had their trunk-or-treat which always has a huge turnout!! They also have games like cake walkes and tossing bean bags and so on. Then on the 31st our ward had our trunk-or-treat, which has a pretty good turn out! After that, we walked around our complex, cause you always have to knock on doors!! So needless to say, we have candy till next Halloween!! It is lots of fun though!! Ariana dressed up as a Snow Queen, Tycee was the Diamond Princess from the newest Barbie movie, and Mia and I were butterflies!! I love dressing up, maybe next year I can get Sal to dress up too!!

Mia's Blessing

2008-11-03T21:46:00.001-08:00

Mia was blessed Sunday October 12, 2008 by Sal who did a wonderful job despite him being nervous!! We were very lucky to have most of both of our family's here with us for this very special occasion!! Her dress was made by Sal's aunt, and I made the headband so they didn't completely match, but it worked out ok anyway!!

Day at the Zoo!!

2008-11-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

The Denver Zoo occasionally has free days, where you can go to the zoo completely free!! It gets really crowded, but it was lots of fun!! The polar bear kept swimming back and forth on his tummy and back, it was really funny to watch him. He would swim to a rock wall, climb up on it then fall on his back in the water and float for a while, then turn on his tummy and go back to the wall, and do it all again! Then the leopard had three cubs which were so cute!! There is also lots of museum like exhibits which are really fun to walk through! It is a really nice zoo and a fun way to spend a Saturday!!

Good Job!!

2008-11-01T19:47:00.001-07:00

Ariana's school just had their quarterly awards ceremony where Ariana received three awards! The most out of anyone in her class!! She got a perfect attendance, academic achievement, which means she only got A's and B's, and a citizenship award which is only given to two kids in the class for being a good helper, following rules, and always participating in class. Good Job Ariana, We are so proud of you!!

Who am I?

2008-10-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and appreciate the kind way you always handle things.

Allright!! I like Esme!! Yes, this sounds like me, at least I think so!

Great big sisters!!

2008-10-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

I have two of the greatest helpers in the world!! Ariana and Tycee love to do everything for Mia, that I hardly have to do anything at all. I may have to make the bottle, but it seems that I don't ever get to feed her myself!!

Way Behind!!

2008-10-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I posted anything, so I have lots of updating to do!! Ariana had her 7th birthday and I can't believe that my baby is that old!! It was a great day, we had lots of our family in town so we all went to Chuck-e-Cheeses where the kids played and had a ball, ate lots of pizza and sang happy birthday to her.

Sal got to take a little weekend get away to Moab with lots of friends. He had a great time biking and hiking when he wasn't flying over his handlebars!! He came home with lots of cuts and bruises, but he said they were all worth it!!

Tycee begged and begged me to get her ears pierced after she saw Ariana putting on some cute earrings. I didn't really want to do it quite this young, but she wouldn't stop asking, so we finally took her to the mall and did it. She cried after the first one because it got stuck in the little gun thing, but after she saw it, she was so excited and didn't cry at all after the second one. She then had to tell everyone that she did it!!

Gotcha!!

2008-09-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

Caught a very cute moment, She isn't really smiling yet,

but I just happened to take the picture right at the perfect moment!!

My girls!!

2008-08-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

Just some more cute pics of the girls. Ariana and Tycee are just loving their new baby sister, they can't seem to keep their hands off of her!! They are such good big sisters though, they want to do everything they can to help me out. They are such sweet girls!! How did I get to be so lucky?

Congrats!!

2008-08-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

A big shout out to Brenley, Isaiah, and Leilani who were all baptized on the 2nd. We are so proud of you, and love you very much!!

She's Home!!

2008-08-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

After two and a half long weeks of living in the waiting room of the hospital, our little girl came home on Saturday, August 2nd. She gained almost a pound, leaving the hospital at 4 lbs 12 oz. She has done amazingly well. She kept pulling out her feeding tube in the hospital, so the nurses decided to try giving her a bottle, and she just took right to it with no problems at all. Usually when they are that small they forget to breath while they eat, but she had no problems! They were saying that she would have to stay for at least 4 weeks, but she did so well that she showed everyone that she wanted to go home!! Ariana and Tycee are loving it that she is home and they can hold her whenever they want, they just want to kiss her and hold her a little to much and keep waking her up!! We love it though, finally having all of our girls home!!

I did it again!

2008-07-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

Well, It happened, once again I could not make it to full term. My water broke again, and of course she had to be breach, so I had to get a c-section. So our beautiful new baby girl was born 6 1/2 weeks early, weighing in at 3 lbs 14 oz and 16 inches long. She is doing so well though, thanks to the steroids I recieved last week. She had no problems with her lungs or anything!! The only thing we have to wait for is for her to gain weight by herself, then she can come home.

Proud Mommy and Daddy right after she was born.

She actually has hair!! Neither Ariana or Tycee had hair!

And just a couple more pics of her cute face!!

By the way, after having such a hard time trying to name her, we finally decided on

Mia Kealani Gamez.

More baby news

2008-07-08T18:19:00.000-07:00

Well I have a little bit of bad news today, I had a test come back positive, which basically means that the glue that is supposed to hold everything in is starting to come out, so that means I could go into labor at any time. I am only 32 weeks, so it is really early, and I am just not ready for her to come yet. So in the meantime, I have to go on bed rest and try to keep from going into labor at least for the next two or three weeks, which would still be early, but I am now getting steroid shots to help the babies lungs develop faster, just in case I can't make it. I am not dialated at all, which is a really good sign, but that can change quickly. So I would really appreciate your prayers and thoughts for the next couple of weeks that the baby will be fine and come when she is ready.

Thankfull!!

2008-06-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

I had another checkup today and things are looking very good!! Which means I don't have to go on bed rest!! So I am so thankfull for all the prayers and thoughts that everyone has been giving to us! It has helped. I still have to take it easy, but I am not stuck to my bed!! So now we just have to hope that she doesn't come before August, if I could even go to the middle of August that would be even better, as long as I don't have to leave her in the hospital at all! Here is an ultrasound that I got today that is of her face which I think is so cute!! If you tip your head to the left, her left eye is the little slit looking thing right in the top middle of the picture, and you can see her left cheak and her nose and lips, her right eye is in the shadow right below the left eye, so it is completely sideways. I hope you can see it cause I just think it is adorable!!

Nauvoo

2008-06-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

We just took a trip where we were helping my brother Brandon and his family move to Kansas City and my family decided to make a church history tour out of it. Here is the Nauvoo Temple which is so amazing. There are so many stories and places that are so spiritual that it really puts a new perspective on everything. It makes it so real to actually see where the saints were and to hear what they went through.
This is the Carthage Jail which we stopped at on the way to Nauvoo.

It is very hard not to cry here, the spirit is so strong, and to hear the story

while looking at the bullet holes in the door and walls is very humbling. Joseph Smiths Home and grave in Nauvoo.

Us in Adam-ondi-Ahman on our way home from Nauvoo.

Liberty Jail

What an amazing experience to actually see where everything happened. I have been to Palmyra New York and to walk through the sacred grove and seen where it all began, what an experience to now come full circle and see where it all ended for Joseph Smith. I can't begin to imagine what they went through because of their faith in the Lord, how hard yet wonderful it must have been! If you ever have the chance to come here, I would definitely recommend doing it!! It is definitely a big testimony growing experience!

Graduate!!

2008-06-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

Ariana's school had a big graduation ceremony for the kindergartners. It was so cute. They sang songs and did the sign language to "Proud to be an American". Ariana did it so well, I was amazed! They also sang a song to the tune of "New York, New York", but changed the words to "First Grade, First Grade" It was really cute! I think I started crying when they first walked in and didn't stop until we had left!! I am just so amazed at how quickly time flies and they grow up so fast!!

Suggestions

2008-05-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

I would still love to hear suggestions!! We are definatly still open to new ideas!!

Poll change.

2008-05-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

So our poll has changed, we still can't decided what we want. So tell me if you like Mia or Selia better!!

I think we have a winner!!!!

2008-05-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

I think we have finally named our little girl. We wanted to try and put our names together somehow, and we were brainstorming in bed last night until about 12:00, and finally came up with Selia. Sal is definate on this one, he loves it, I think I am still trying to get used to it, or I am just waiting for the click that says "wow, this is the one!!" I really like this name, I think it is cute and we could just call her Lia for short, but I still think that we are just going to have to see what she looks like before I settle on a name for sure!!
Thanks to everybody for your cute suggestions, I really liked them all, I don't know why I am having such a hard time!!!!

Baby Girl Number Three

2008-05-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

We are sure having a hard time trying to name our third little girl, nothing seems to feel right, we have searched websites with baby names, looked in books, and there are none that we can decide on!! So if anyone has some cute suggestions I would love to hear them!! We are looking for an original name, that isn't very long, and goes well with the middle name we have picked out which is Tialani.

Anyway, things are going good, The girls are so excited, Ariana was a little dissapointed at first, she really wanted a brother, but as it gets closer, she is getting more excited. They love to feel the baby move and they always talk to her and when we all say goodnight to each other they always say goodnight to the baby too!! They are also very into trying to name her!! Ariana gives us lots of suggestions all the time.

The Doctors are keeping a close eye on me, I have to go every two weeks now to get an ultrasound and extra tests to see why I deliver early and to try and keep this baby in here longer this time!! I really don't like to hear women say that they just want the baby out. I want to keep this baby in here as long as I can, to make sure she is ready. My comfort is not worth the risk of the baby having to stay in the hospital because they came to early!! I would give anything to keep this baby in as long as I can!!