Lili loves to read

Lili loves to read. Here she is reading before family prayers.

Happy Easter

The girls woke up early to look for their Easter baskets.  They got a lot of good things this year.  Lots of candy, pillow pets, watches, coloring books, jump ropes, etc.  However, this is the last year we are doing Easter the worldly way.  It just doesn't seem right to do it like that anymore.   Any who, the kids got their Easter dresses on and off to church.  After church we had a nice Easter dinner with Dave and Sean's families at Sean's house.  It was really nice.  We haven't gotten together for sometime now, because all the spring sports have started for all of our families.  It was such a nice evening all together.  We also celebrated Mark's birthday.  He got a spider man candle.  He liked it!  It was very nice spending Easter with family.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Random photos with Abuelitos

Here are some random photos from while Enrique's parents were here.  I didn't realize we didn't take so many.  Usually we take a ton but not too many this time.  The kids had a great time with them while they were here.  Isabel hasn't stopped talking about her trip to "MexEco".  It's hilarious.  She loved being there, everyone there loved having that special time with her too.

Gaby's on lds.org

One of our neighbor's works for the church in the media department.  He's been all over the world making videos for the church.  He's told us over and over that if they ever needed children he would choose ours to be in it because he thinks they are the cutest kids in the world (I have to agree)....well the time came. 

Back in January, he called me and asked if Gaby could be in this video that they were doing at the Church History Museum.  We had to be down in Salt Lake at the Church History Museum at 7am.  Gaby woke up super early because she was so excited, got ready and left. 

We arrived and someone took us up to where they were setting up all the equipment.  Holy moly, I can't believe all that has to go into making a 3 1/2 minute little video....abut 4 hours of videoing I guess. 

The children were videoed the first time in all the areas playing with everything then they did another round of the tour guide telling them all about the exhibits and asking the children what they knew about those particular stories from the Book of Mormon.  The last round was still photos in all the different areas.  Finally they interviewed each child individually.

I think Gaby's favorite part was at the end where they got to dress-up and dance.  She did so great there.  She absolutely enjoyed all of it but especially the dancing.

It was a wonderful experience for Gaby and for me to observe her and enjoying it thoroughly.  I am so grateful that our children know the Book of Mormon stories and prophets.  At one particular part she told everyone the story of the Liahona.  That is why they asked her again in the interview to talk about it.  They were very impressed that she knew all the details of it.  What a blessing it is to follow the prophet and his council about having family scripture study.

It was suppose to be posted to LDS.org about a month ago, so I've been checking the website like an obsessed mom and it just arrived this evening.  You can go to the link below and see the article and they also have the video on it. 

http://lds.org/church/news/museum-exhibit-engages-children-in-book-of-mormon-history?lang=eng

The funny thing is on Saturday we had a big birthday party for Enrique and our friends brought a magazine and Gaby was on the cover! It is of her dancing at the Church History Museum and an article about the whole exhibit on the inside.  So if your wondering....I have a few extras if anyone wants one. hahaha   Oh, by the way, the article is in Spanish.

Enrique's 30th Birthday

7 We had a big party for Enrique's 30th birthday.  Lots of family and friends came and it was a great evening.  I was super happy that it didn't rain.  I really didn't know how that many people would fit in our house, but it was perfect outside.  Enrique and his dad had set up the outside and had put the trampoline up and some of the playground equipment on both sides of the house (our yard is like a block u shape with the patio in the middle).  Everyone ate and talked and ate some more.  Then we did cake and ice cream.  Yes, some people brought presents even though they were NOT suppose to bring them.  Then it got cold as soon as the sun set and a lot of people left.  It was nice to see so many come out and support Enrique.  He is such an honorable guy and loyal friend and doesn't ask much in return, so I asked this time and it was terrific.  Happy Birthday Love!

Easter Egg Hunt

 So we went to this Easter egg hunt with Sean and his family.  The kids got tons of eggs.  All had candy and some had stars on them you turn in for prizes.  So they all got prizes too.  Then after the kid one there was an adult Easter egg hunt.  It was hilarious to watch.  They had the adult egg hunt on the playground equipment, so people were climbing through tunnels, going down slides, monkey bars....It was fun to watch.  I stayed with the kids while Sean, Enrique, Enrique's dad and mom went to do the hunt.  They all got some eggs with candy on it.  Celia got an egg with a number on it.  Then we had to stay and wait until her number was called to find out what the prize was.  She won a season pass to Lagoon.  Hahaha  We thought that was so funny.  Oh, by the way, her number egg is the only one she got!  All in all, we had a great time. (Poor Lili was an orphan that morning, then she started eating candy and was super gross, but she loved it too!)

 

Bathroom Quick Fix

We finally painted our bathroom today.....yup I made Quique work on his birthday!  I'm terrible but I couldn't stand the bathroom anymore.  The only thing we did was paint.  Look!  It's like an all new bathroom.  We've been waiting to remodel it to paint but the bright yellow that it used to be is history now!  Now I feel like our house is ours.  I know it's silly.  It's been ours over 3 years now but we finally have it the way we like, with out the major remodeling of course.  However, thanks to my birthday present from my mom (the shower curtain) it gave me the kick I needed to finally paint the bathroom.  Nothing over the top because that's not us, just simple and elegant.

Rainy Day Fun

 So it's been raining a lot lately and the kids can't really play outside.  The other day we got a packge that was a huge box.  So the Gaby and a friend colored it and decorated it.  I cut widows for them and it became their little fort.  Lili loves getting in it with Gaby and going "night night" in it.  Haha She is so funny.  It's been hours of great pleasure!  Yup just a plain old box!!!

Bike Ride

So we went on a bike ride on the new bike trail along Legacy Highway.  It was nice.  We'll have to come for sure when Isabel is back from Chihuahua since Abuelito taught her how to ride a two wheel bike.

Prayers Answered

 Yesterday Isabel left with Enrique's parents.  And guess what....I was a wreck to say the least.  We prayed about it and we got the 'green light' to let her go.  Isabel started packing her bag as soon as Abuelita invited her to go.  She was ecstatic!  I on the other hand wasn't so ecstatic.  I was excited and happy for her but I was emotional about it.  hahaha

So I cried almost the entire day yesterday.  I was just so consumed by my terrible thought of them getting into a car accident and well not having a good outcome.  I was so dumb!  I should have trusted the Lord when he said it was ok to let her go but I just couldn't shake that thought of an accident.

I asked Enrique to give me a blessing when he got home from work.  Poor man.....he had a hard day at work and I just made it that much harder for him too.  Anyway, he gave me a blessing.  In the beginning of it he was saying 'nice things' but I was pleading with Heavenly Father, " I NEED to know if she will be safe and coming home to us."  I know, I am horrible begging for my prayer answered but I wouldn't have been ok until I knew.

Heavenly Father answered my prayer!  I cried super hard thanking him and then begging for forgiveness for needing that answer right away.  I also got chastised in the blessing too for not trusting in Him the way I know I should.

It was a very special spiritual experience for Enrique and I.  I don't know why I have to put it on the blog I just feel it needs to be here, because believe me, I wouldn't have done this but I need to trust the Lord and follow the promptings the spirit gives me and not question it.  Thank you Heavenly Father for answering my prayers!

****I just got the call from Enrique's mom, they just arrived.  It took them almost 25 hours to get home because they stopped at Arches National Park to take their friends through.  We took his parents there a few months ago.  Yup, Isabel is loving being there.  Their trip down was great she said.

My Girls

I love these 3 little girls so much.  They are my sweet little happy girls.  I would be lost without them.  I am so grateful that I am able to stay home and raise them.  It has its challenges, but I am the luckiest mom in the world.  These 3 girls are so precious.  I love you girls! 



Mark

 The girls love Mark.  They all wanted their very own photo with him.

Priesthood Session

Enrique's dad got tickets to attend the Priesthood Session of General Conference.  He wanted to take Enrique & all my brothers but could only get 3 tickets, so Enrique and Mark got to go.  They all had a nice time together.

 

Family Photos

So we took a family photo so Isabel could take it with her to Chihuahua.  We took the first one, got it printed at the store, then Mark got home from work.  Isabel said, "Oh no Mommy, Karkus wasn't in our family photo.  We have to take a new one."  So we did. 

Feliz Aniversario

Happy Anniversary!  Enrique's parents have been married 33 years.  We went to out to dinner at the kids favorite restaurant.....Texas Roadhouse.  We had a really nice time.

Conference Weekend

 Enrique's parent came to visit this past weekend.  Originally they were coming for Enrique's birthday next week & kept telling me they weren't coming for conference weekend.  However, they had some friends coming that ended up they couldn't make the 20+ hour drive because the husband had just had surgery.  So they asked Enrique's parents to drive them.  So they did.  They arrived Thursday at 6am.  It took them 26 hours to get her because it took them over 4 hours to get through the border.

So Thursday we went shopping in the morning, took them down to Temple Square so they could all get their tickets for conference, then went to their hotel (the friends, Enrique's parents stayed with us of course).  The kids loved having them here.  We didn't tell them they were coming, so they woke up and here were Abuelito & Abuelita.  They were just a bit excited to say the least.

So about Enrique's birthday you ask?  Yup, they will be back in 9 days for Enrique's birthday because they already planned that trip out.  So guess what we are doing......we are letting Isabel go back to Mexico with them for 9 days too.  Are we just as crazy and his parents? I think so....hehehe  She is super excited.