And So This Was Christmas...

By some strange aligning of the stars, we have had a totally calm and pleasant Christmas season. I finished all my shopping on black Friday, we don't know anyone besides my family so we had no parties to go to, and my Christmas cards were mailed by the first week in December, so we just relaxed and enjoyed the holiday spirit the rest of the month.
We did a lot of driving around, looking at lights. Did you know there is a club for people that like to build model trains and that use their entire backyards to set up tracks and tiny cities and landscapes? And two weekends in December they open their homes to the public and we got to see their miniature worlds. It was very cool (pictures are unrelated, as I am challenged in the rembering to bring the camera and use it department)

We went to see the temple lights a few times, once with our friends the Wilson's, which made it that much more fun. Aren't these boys adorable? (seriously, only cold night of the year.)

We also drove around lots of neighborhoods and visited other festive sights. We didn't make it to any of the shopping centers that had artificial snowfall at night. Don't know why we missed that. We did go to a local Lutheran church's "walk through bethelem" which was complete with hummus to taste and a real donkey in the manger.

I made new pijamas for everyone to wear on christmas eve- a tradition passed down from my mom.

We opened family gifts on Christmas eve while we were together - Gabe is modeling his new boots from Jimmy and Allison, while trying to figure out the rope.

Lucia got her first baby doll, also from Jimmy and Allison. She is adorable and pats it's back and puts the pacifier in its mouth.

Mario got his first pair of althletic pants that are actually long enough. Did you know it is almost impossible to find jogging pants in long sizes? xxxxxxl, no problem. Large/tall, don't make them. He is undefeated after his first two tennis leagues, and I thought he may need them when he plays in the cold january nights coming up. We have a deal, if he plays 41 games undefeated - Federer's record - I'll take him to Italy. (makes us both care about his tennis games!) He's 15 - 0 right now. Think he'll make it?

Gabe was totally thrilled by every gift. It was so fun. Here he is checking out hungry hungry hippo.

Lucia is trying out her new slide.

While we consciously do NOT want to promote a future of "cowboy" for our son, it's what he loves right now, so his Christmas seemed rather centered around those things. He was beyond thrilled that santa got him a truck and horse trailer.

Us coming down the stairs together at a very reasonable 8:30am. I love the look on Gabe's face as he excitedly tells me "look momma, Santa came!"

We truly have had a wonderful holiday season, filled with peace and joy and time to reflect on the meaning of the savior in our lives. One highlight was a visit to the temple with a large number of the adults in my family. I am so blessed to have the family that I do, who taught me that the God and his son Jesus Christ had done all that they have and continue to do, so that I and my family might have JOY. We hope that your holiday season has been filled with happiness and joy that will continue throughout the coming year.

Quotables

Gabe just got out of bed and came a told me "el viento paro mama, quiero el viento"
-"the wind stopped mom, I want the wind"

Confused, I followed him back to bed where he pointed to the heating vent. He wanted the heater back on.

Pre-Holiday Wrap Up

Living in the desert has it's benefits. And a day so hot a jump in the pool sounds good in the middle of November is one of them. All the cousins were over to play this really fun game where they ride around a tennis court on their bikes, and Lindsay and I try to hit them with tennis balls. They got hot, and wanted to jump in the pool so I rounded up swim ware and they went running and jumped in without testing the water. Their screaming and Khloe's near-drowning experience due to being too cold to swim deterred Gabe. But he jumped in later and came out crying from the cold. Remember I said jumping in the pool sounded nice, not that it actually was a nice idea. Gabe continues to ADORE his cousins, and talks about them non-stop. Or maybe it's just that the talking is so non-stop I sometimes don't know if it's about the cousins or not. Seriously. non-stop talker this one. Just tonight they were trying to play a game with him but he wouldn't stop talking long enough for them to explain how it works.

Lucia is hilarious and I enjoy her so much. She's getting quite verbal. About two months ago she delighted us with her first word: tickuh = tickle. Yes, that was her first word. Her next words in order of arrival are: gieb (Gabe - she calls him non-stop throughout the day), no, and finally, ma. Yes, "ma" was her FORTH word. I'm only mildly insulted. Now she comes up to me and pats my legs and calls "ma" and expects to be picked up immediately. If not, she lets out a shriek. Not a yell, not a cry, a true glass-breaking shriek. I don't really know what to do about it, so I just pick her up. I'm creating a monster here, I know.

But she's funny and adorable and generally content and good-natured most of the time. She likes to suck on toothbrushes, pull all the toilet paper off the role, climb up the stairs but not down, and will eat anything, including the German cabbage dish that my family makes for Thanksgiving. She goes to bed easily but doesn't stay asleep so well. She pulls the bows/flowers out of her hair and then looks at me and says "no no no no". Does she think the flower is called "no no no no" Is she confused that it is supposed to stay in as adornment?

Misty, Ashley and I took the kids to Bass Pro Shop where they had free pictures with Santa and Christmas crafts. Fun afternoon, and we didn't have to buy anything (nor was I tempted!)

Gabe goes to a Lutheran preschool. At first, Mario and I were a little worried about indoctrination taking place that was not inline with our beliefs. But I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I love that at shool he talks about doing what Jesus wants him to do every single day, that he learns new bible stories, that he prays before snack time, and that their Christmas pageant was not about Santa or snow, or reindeer or anything secular, but was a Christmas party for Jesus, where they learned the cutest songs to go with the theme: "Jesus is my Best-est Friend". The program was adorable and surprisingly, Gabe stood on stage and sang every word to every song and was great. We totally thought he would see us and come running off the stage, as he remains VERY attached to us and afraid of new people/situations. But he didn't, and we were thrilled.

Gabe, as part of his complete adoration of his cousins, is obsessed with being a cowboy. He plays with horses and cows all day long and makes them corrals our of whatever is available. He tells me "mom, be nice to me because I'm a cowboy." I respond, "Gabe, I'll be nice to you because I love you." His English is amazing - he's totally caught up with other kids his age, and now we're worried about reinforcing Spanish at home. A few funny things he says: Mom, I wanna "moshu" something, instead of "show you" something. I'm not sure if it's just like dyslexia, or if he's confusing show and monstrar, the Spanish equivalent. But I don't correct him because I think it's cute. Also, when we finish a book instead of saying "the end" he says "bien" hey, it almost sounds the same, easy to confuse.

Lucia looooooooooooves her blankie. When she first gets it after not having it she shoves it in her mouth and does a little dance of joy. Then she grabs it with her right hand while her left thumb gets popped into her mouth. I'm sure there are a thousand other little things I want to remember about my kids right now, but of course I don't remember them when I have time to sit down and blog. But they are funny and smart and totally challenge me every single day.

Mario continues to win all of his tennis league games, study a ton, and sneak in a golf game when he can. I participated in my first Black Friday shopping spree and loved it. I got pretty much all my holiday shopping done and now am free to enjoy the month of Christmas parties, concerts, lights, etc. Saturday we hiked to "hole in the rock" and are excited to enjoy the outdoors beforethe heat drives us in again. We're thinking a trip to Havasupi in the Grand Canyon is in order in May. Want to join us?

Halloween in just better in the USA

This is me, beaming, because I am thoroughly enjoying a halloween in which the only thing I did to prepare was BUY my kids costumes. I didn't plan a party, or a dance, or have to decorate a cultural hall. I didn't have to make signs and posters and try to get people excited for a holiday they don't normally celebrate. And going against all my DNA, I successfully squelched the guilt and just simply bought Halloween costumes. I did no online research to find something adorable, I made no trips to the fabric store, I sewed not a single item, not put makeup or accessories on my kids. I'm sure in years to come I will go back to trying to be the super crafty mom. But this year I was too overwhelmed with everything else in life, so I just enjoyed laziness. Oh, and the fact that there are wonderful schools, churches, pumplin patches and everything to fill in so I didn't HAVE to do it!
Kallie the witch, beaming lazy mom, Lucia to bumblebee, Khloe as Pocahontas, Gabe the horse and Cade the American Indian. Oh yeah, bought that cute at bag as well.

Totally relaxed and enjoying Gabe's preschool fall festival. We had a great time.

Cade and Gabe enjoying the enormous inflatable slide.

Fun trunk-or-treating. Gabe was very excited and boldly walked up to the cars and pronouned "twick o tweat" and "tank u". He then had to eat what he was given before being able to proceed to the next car. Clearly didn't understand that efficiency would net him more in the end.

We figured if we all did the cake walk together, we would dramatically improve our odds of winning a store-bought baked good. What happened to the days when parents could actually make something that tasted good and bring it to a school?

Gabe the horse checking out the animals in the mini petting zoo.

baby Olive came with us, but her mom didn't love her enough to get her a costume. (just kidding Lindsay)

Everybody loves a bounce house. Not.

I had seriously had THE cutest little bumblebee ever.

Two cousins that adore each other. Cade spent most of the night making sure Gabe was correctly holding the reins of the horse. He does not tolerate improper handling of horses apparently.

Picture before we left the house, when Gabe hadn't succumbed the peer pressure yet and was still refusing to put on his costume. We're thankful for cousins to help show him the path of fun.

We also carved pumpkins at Nana's house.

Lucia just likes to be in the middle of everything.

Kallie and Birdie carving away.

We also made a trip to a local farm/pumpkin patch. There they decorated pumpkins with stickers. It's a good idea - they don't rot immediately like the carved pumpkins do.

I put stickers on, Lucia picked them off. It was a good system.

It's nice to have papa able to do fun daytime activities with us.

Lucia's 1st Birthday!!!

My baby turned one, and in a feat of determination she started officially walking the day before her birthday. She's also had two more front teeth come in, so she's looking far more like a toddler than a baby. My one year old Lucia is:

1. fearless. I put her at the bottom of the slide at the park thinking she'd just hang out, and before I could finish attending to Gabe she had climbed the stairs and was ready to throw herself down the slide. I sat her down and let her go and she LOVED it.
2. Opinionated. She is generally happy, but will let out a shreik only dolphins can understand if she wants something. Anyone have advice on how to make that stop?
3. Laughs a lot. really, she's a funny baby and one of my favotie things is to lay on the floor and tickle her and listen to her giggle.
4. Addicted to her blankie. When it's timeto go to bed I hand it to her and she snuggles her face in it, sooooooooo happy, pops her left thumb in her mouth and goes right to bed. She doesn't stay asleep great always, but she goes down easy.
5. Great eater. She'll eat almost anything, and eats a lot - more than Gabe most days. But she'll only drink milk if it's warm. And she loves to rub her food in her hair. If I was fanatical about her having clean hair I'd seriously have to bathe her after every meal.
6. She adores her mom, and the feeling is mutual.

We had a family party for her on her birthday and here is the pictoral evidence.
demolishing her cake. At least I removed her shirt first.

toddling around, loving all the people to give her attention.

Ready to blow out her candle, or just grab at it.

We played games that were all about Lucia. Since she loves to eat anything and everything off the floor, she had a race to see who could eat the most cheerios. I love that Lindsay has abandoned playing and is just shooting Matthew with a water gun as he attempts to compete, that Misty does it while holding a baby and that my dad is as into it as any of the kids.

eating baby food. Lucia is a great eater, of anything but baby food actually, but it worked for the game. racing in diapers full of lemons. It was difficult to determien a winner since all confessed to cheating.

The birthday girl and her papa.

Lucia and Kallie on her new horse.

Waiting for the party guests to arrive, in the 2 minutes that her headband lasted on her head.

So happy this girl is in our family!

My Roger

Mario plays in a tennis league, and Wednesday night after Lucia's birthday party (post coming soon when technical difficulties with photos are resolved) all the adults at the party transferred over to the tennis courts to cheer him on for the division championship. HE WON! Sexy and plays well, I'm ready for some endorsement deals!!!!!!!!

10-10-10

Sunday was my magic birthday. 10-10-10. That will never happen again. Crazy thought. It was also magically fabulous. My big day coincided with a trip I had to make to a work meeting on the east coast, so I stayed a few extra days to see all my wonderful girlfriends in DC.

Oh, and Ashley, Lindsay and Olive decided we needed to make it a super girls trip so they accompanied me. It was fabulous.
I flew home on my birthday day, and Mario had prepared an adorable little party with pink plates, pink napkins, pink balloons, pink suckers, and pink candles in a chocolate turtle cake. And in the not pink box was a new sewing machine. YEAH! (and my mom said he did it all himself!)

Lucia and I at the botanical gardens with the US capitol in the background.

In old town Alexandria where we only entered 4 stores but I still managed to spend too much money. We had to go to carriers because boutiques aren't made for strollers. I love Olive totally passed out from exhaustion.

Lucia and Olive hanging with Lindsay at Eastern Market while we waited for our crepes.

Marianne and I. I LOOOOOVE this lady. I want to be her when I grow up. Because I suck, I somehow missed getting pictures with Linsey, Emy, Holly and Catherine, other fantabulous girlfriends I saw on the trip. Man how I miss these girls in my everyday life.

Lindsay, Ashley, Noah, Marianne and Lucia outside DC cupcake.

As you can see, our weekend went something like this: talk, eat, talk, shop, talk, eat, talk, eat, talk, shop. Living abroad for so long one of the things I desperately missed were the interesting converstaions with my educated, witty, intelligent, thoughtful, insightful, politically up-to-date friends. This weekend was like water in the desert and I soaked up every bit of it.