Working on our happily ever after.

Love this boy

2012-01-10T13:02:00.000-05:00

He can float on his back forever. Usually with the biggest smile. :)

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2012-01-07T20:20:00.001-05:00

sorry no picture today. I left my phone at a friend's house.

2012-01-06T19:01:00.001-05:00

Homemade pizza, games with all my boys, hot cookies...almost perfect. Unfortunately, Stella has some awful stomach bug. I hope she gets better soon.

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Sleepover

2012-01-05T18:04:00.001-05:00

We had a super fun day with old friends. We first met these three in Spain. Coincidentally, we both ended up in Brazil. The kids (and the moms) have so much fun together.

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Beach day

2012-01-04T18:42:00.001-05:00

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Native

2012-01-03T18:17:00.001-05:00

We've gone native. You can't tell me that a little boy doesn't look adorable in a speedo. Especially, this little guy.

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1/2/2012

2012-01-02T11:38:00.001-05:00

Today we made play dough. Our new recipe turned out great.
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/4 cup salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Food coloring
Mix everything and cook on medium heat until thickens. Knead and play.

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1/1/2012

2012-01-01T15:06:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!!

These 3 are in heaven. They could build Lego's for hours.

Seven months later...

2011-12-14T06:05:00.001-05:00

It's moving day!

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Because once just wasn't enough

2011-12-03T17:38:00.001-05:00

Don't ask me why we needed to go to another mall, that's not important. What is, is that Santa and his entourage travel faster than our Brazilian mini-mini-van.

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Papai Noel

2011-12-03T15:52:00.000-05:00

Brazil knows how to do Santa! No line and a good personal visit. Even a little sage advice from Santa. The kids didn't even let the language barrier stop them. When Stella asked for a "cachorrinho" (a puppy), Santa was wise enough to recommend the "stuffed" breed. Great way to kick off our Brazil holiday season!

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Buenos Aires

2011-10-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

Day 3
We went to the Zoo. It was so great. It was the perfect size, enough animals to see all your favorites but not too big that you can't see everything. The weather was perfect. The animals were so active.

The Buenos Aires Zoo is amazing.

You can buy animal food and feed the animals.

Here they just fed the elephants.

This rhino was huge.

2011-10-03T20:57:00.000-04:00

The kids really liked the sunset tonight. I didn't quiet catch it but here's a snapshot.

close call

2011-09-30T19:36:00.000-04:00

We had a really fun afternoon. We met some friends at the pool. The kids played. They swam. They laughed. The mom's enjoyed the warm sun, hoped for a tan, had a lovely conversation and nearly missed getting pooped on. Then we ran, laughed some more and said good bye. I'm so excited that Spring just started for us. We get to enjoy the beautiful outdoors for a long time. ;)

miracle

2011-09-29T20:08:00.000-04:00

Hers's the best update ever. My Mom just found out that she is cancer free. They took out half of her thyroid and after dissecting it her doctors have told her she doesn't have cancer. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. We are all feeling really blessed.

Looking good

2011-09-21T16:22:00.001-04:00

My Mom's surgery went really well. We are still waiting for her to wake up. Thanks so much for the prayers and comments.

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prayers and faith

2011-09-20T22:06:00.000-04:00

About a week before we left for Brazil my Mom was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I was at the movies with my kids and a few friends and in the middle of the movie my Dad called and told me the news. I was shocked. You never want to hear the word cancer. Luckily, my Mom was diagnosed early and so tomorrow she goes in for surgery. She could use any extra prayers possible. I know she's going to be okay. I have faith that everything will work out according to the Lord's plan. I know she is a strong woman. She can overcome cancer. I love you, Mom! Good luck tomorrow. I wish I could be there with you but I know Dad will take good care of you. I'll be praying for you.

I've been busy

2011-09-15T20:57:00.000-04:00

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth yet. I've just been busy. Doing what I'm not exactly sure. Just busy. Mainly it's been associated with school. My school, the older kids school, finding Joaquin a school, starting Joaquin is his new school and homework. Drew's been busy with his work too. Don't worry, we never forget to play! I promise to blog more tomorrow and with pictures. Good night!

so thankful

2011-09-04T09:15:00.000-04:00

I've been really stressed about our finances in brazil lately. So much so that I've let it get in the way of enjoying our time here. I need to focus on my blessings and trust in the Lord. So here's the beginning of my list of all the amazing things about Brazil.

-The People. I've never met a happier, more loving and inviting group of people. It's going to impact my kids lives so much. I hope we can really incorporate these traits into our lives.

-The food. It's so good. I love beans and rice. The fruit is so sweet. The juices are so fresh. I like almost everything I've tried.

-Living in Portal. I was hesitant to live in here. The apartments are smaller than I was expecting but everything else about it is amazing. It's so close to the kids school. We have so many friends here. Each one has been such a blessing in our lives. Pasta night. The playgrounds. The Jungle. The freedom.

-Friends. I don't know if I have ever moved anywhere and had so many close friends so fast. It has been such a huge blessing. I feel like each of us has multiple good friends. We've only been here a month but with the friendships we have it feels like forever. Thanks guys!

-My Kids. This is by far one of my biggest blessings. I have three amazing kids. They are so good at adjusting. They have embraced everything about this move. We're living without all our stuff except the clothes we brought in our suitcases and they haven't complained once. They sleep on hard crib size mattresses all in the same room and love it. They have been so great. I love them so much.

-My Husband. Drew is the best husband I could ever have. He works really hard to provide a great life for us. He works really long hours but makes such a great effort to be a part of our lives. He loves each of us so much. He makes me laugh. He's fun to be with. He's a great example of living a Christlike life. I'm so thankful for everything he does for me. I love you babe!

So far Brazil has been great. I'm loving it! I can't believe we made the move. It was such a good choice for our family. I'm so thankful for this opportunity to grow so much. I hope I can do a better job of remembering it.

Grocery shopping

2011-08-24T20:15:00.000-04:00

I know I promised pictures of the apartment but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I went grocery shopping today. It's quite the adventure. I took Zeli and Joaquin with me for help. You might think grocery shopping is a normal everyday occurrence. Maybe in the States but not here in Brazil. Especially not if you go on Quarta-fiera at Extra. Quarta-fiera is extra offerta dia. I wish you could here how it sounds on the loud speaker. You'd laugh.

Little portuguese lesson...

Quarta-fiera = Wednesday

offerta = sale

Back to the store. Everything in the store is a little overwhelming. Add tons of brazilians trying to get the current offerta and you have a madhouse. It was totally entertaining and kind od fun. We started in the in the meat section. This is nothing like an american meat section. They have all kinds of weird cuts of meat. They have every animal imaginable too. We bought a few cuts of beef, chicken breasts, some pork chops and bacon - but not american bacon - this stuff isn't refrigerated or cut in to nice even slices. It's a hunk of pork. Zeli said it's delicious. Next up was the fish department. This scares me. I like fish but I really don't like seeing dead fish all over the place. I prefer Costco frozen fish already marinated in its nice little prepackaged individual size pieces. Nothing like that here. So we bought a tilapia. The fish butcher cleaned and cut it up for us right there. Not bad. We also bought a bunch of salted unrefriderated meat to make feijoada. I'm hopeful.

feijoada = super yummy black beans with meat

Then we went through the produce section. It was crazy busy. Tons of offertas. We are all loving the fruit here so I stocked up.

Next was the bakery. They have the most amazing bread here. I'm not sure what it's called but it's delicious. They make it fresh several times throughout the day and it's cheap. It has a hard crust and super soft and is light and soft inside. We all love it. The only problem is it only lasts until midnight. Then it turns hard and crunchy. I also grabbed a yummy treat for dessert. I have no clue what it is but it looks good. It was also an offerta.

This box of cereal is so deceiving. They made the box at least 3 inches taller than the bag. What's up with that? Cereal costs a fortune here. I want the whole box full.

Our soda, juice supply (pear, apple, peach and grape), milk (it comes in a box and no it's not refrigerated either), water

We bought a lot of other new to me things. I'll post about them another day. Let's just say grocery shopping is a totally eye opening experience here. It also costs a pretty penny. After checking out I spent R$508.96. This will hopefully last me a week.

Winter weather

2011-08-23T19:32:00.000-04:00

It's winter here in Brazil. And I'm feeling it. I remember thinking, "Why do I need to pack for cold weather. I'm moving to Sao Paulo, Brazil. It doesn't get cold there." Um. I was wrong. It has been so cold the last couple days. If you check the weather it doesn't look that cold but it is. When you have no heat it feels ten times colder. It also doesn't help that we don't have our stuff. I packed warm blankets and even electric blankets in our air shipment but it's stuck in customs. Gotta love customs. Besides the weather we are doing great. Tomorrow I'll post pictures of our new house. It's totally bare but it feels so good to have a home.

quick glimpse

2011-08-18T18:33:00.000-04:00

I can't tell you how much I'm loving Brazil. I'm shocked. If I give you a quick glimpse at my day maybe you'll understand.

Wake up, get Isaac and Stella off to school, get an unexpected but always welcome visit from a friend, get dressed, go to the kid's school, gather a few friends for an impromptu lunch at my house, said lunch cooked by Zeli (Zeli, is enough to make my life awesome. She's our maid/nanny/cook/portuguese teacher/personal assistant.), group grocery shopping experience, pick up kids from school, play at playground after school, meet some new friends, come home to a clean home, enjoy playing with my kids because I don't have to clean/cook, do a load of laundry (just because I can- our washer was delivered today), help kids with homework, play hide and go seek in our empty house with tons of closets for perfect hiding spots, have a dance party, cook dinner, eat together, email Drew to thank him for bringing us to Brazil, now I'm off to get my kids to bed.

I don't know why or how but I feel so comfortable here. I'm loving every minute of it. That doesn't mean I don't miss all my friends and family. So still plan on coming to visit!! Then you can enjoy my good life.

hoping

2011-08-14T17:23:00.000-04:00

I can't believe we've been here for two ana a half weeks. The time has gone by so fast. So here's an update on everything....

Housing. The first few days we looked at everything in our price range. It was overwhelming. We found a few really nice apartments, a lot of really dumpy apartments and a few so so apartments. We finally decided on an apartment in Portal do Morumbi. It wasn't the nicest apartment we saw but the quality of life is the best. The grounds are amazing. It's every kids dream. We have 4 pools, 2 indoors and 2 outdoors. Playgrounds scattered throughout. A jungle. The kids love to roam all over the jungle. A gym, tennis courts, soccer field and lots of freedom. The jungle was probably our biggest selling point. I love that the kids can just explore and be so happy. We also have multiple families in our ward that live in Portal. I'm really excited to be one of them. Hopefully, this week we can finalize the contract and move in.

Our Stuff. Who knows when it will ever leave the USA let alone get delivered to our apartment. I'm hoping for a year from now but it could be longer. So in the mean time we ordered a few essentials online. We are hoping 4 beds, a sofa, table and chairs, desk and a vacuum are delivered soon. The problem with ordering online is it might take a month to be delivered. I really hope it's delivered sooner, as in the next few days, but who knows.

Air shipment. Part of our package included 1000 pounds for an air shipment. Sounds good until you think about what a 1000 pounds is. For us it includes a lot of toys, kids books, legos, air mattresses, bedding, a few kitchen essentials and I don't really remember what else. It was packed in mid May. It's been a long time. Anyways, we knew that whatever was included would be all we would have for a long time. Now I'm just hoping we get our air shipment soon. It was hopefully already sent and is possibly waiting in customs (where it could sit for a few weeks) but more likely we be sent next week and then sit in customs for a while. I hope it comes soon.

School. The kids are loving school. They've made a few good friends. They love their teachers. They rave about their school lunch. So far school is a big hit.

Car. Our plan is to buy a car tomorrow. I'm excited to get a car with air conditioning, power steering, power locks and windows, an automatic and hopefully a programable radio. That's everything our rental car didn't have. I'll let you know what we decide to get soon.

Friends. We have so many friends here. It's awesome. We play almost everyday. We have playdates lined up for the following week. I can't believe how different life has been here compared to Madrid. Brazilians are so friendly. The other American families are so friendly. The families at school are so friendly. I love it!

Sports. Isaac and Stella are signed up for soccer. I'm excited for them.

Life in Brazil has been great. I think we have all adjusted well. Now we just need to really learn portuguese.

A lot of driving

2011-08-08T20:31:00.000-04:00

Today was one of those days where I should have slept in. Here's why...

Reason #1- On our way to school I noticed all the traffic going the other way. I thought, "Wow, it's going to stink getting back home." It did. What usually takes me 25 minutes took 2 hours. Traffic stinks but it was especially bad due to the warm weather and not having air conditioning and not being able to roll down our windows (for safety reasons) on top of that our rental car is a manual transmission. Which equals a good workout. ;) When I finally pulled up close to our hotel I saw Drew walking to work. I stopped and gladly gave him a ride. Then proceeded back to our hotel. Dropped the car off at valet and went upstairs. In the elevator I realized I left my iphone in the car. In Brazil you don't leave anything in the car unless you don't care about ever seeing it again. I quickly went back down and had them bring the car back. Luckily my phone was still there. I keep it in the trash bag just in case I get robbed. Nobody is going to take my trash, right? After getting back up to our room I get an email from Drew. He had forgotten his paperwork at the hotel and needed it. So I gathered it and went back downstairs to get the car from valet. Then took everything to Drew. I called him when I was a few streets away and he asked if I had his passport. No. So them I had to go back to the hotel to get it. Reparked the car with the valet guys. I tried to explain that I just needed to run up for 2 minutes but they still parked the car. Two minutes later I ran down with the passport and asked for the car again. Then for the last time I was off to Drew's work to drop everything off. I'm just really glad we had Zeli watching Joaquin at the hotel. He would have gone crazy.

Reason #2- After all the driving around I went to the gym to work out and tripped and scraped my knee up. Not a big deal but still.

Reason #3- We went to lunch and I ordered arroz e feijão (rice and beans) for Joaquin and myself. They bring out brown rice and lentils. Normally I would have been fine with that but Joaquin was having a rough day too. He really wanted a peanut butter and honey sandwich. No such luck in Brazil. So he wouldn't eat. They also made his chocolate milk super chocolaty so he wouldn't drink it.

Reason #4- After lunch we walked to the grocery store. I wanted Zeli to teach me how to make arroz e feijão. So we needed to buy the stuff. We did and then needed to take a taxi home with all our goods. The taxi driver took us to the wrong hotel and then got mad at me. We gave him the correct address and name and he messed up and then charged me extra. I was super bugged.

Now here's why I did get out of bed today.

These two are hilarious. Isaac's dancing like his Dad and Joaquin is singing Justin Bieber. We created quiet the crowd. Brazilians love kids especially one's that perform. I love them too. I'm so glad I have all three of them along with me for this crazy brazilian adventure. They help me remember to laugh.

so much to tell

2011-08-04T20:29:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling so lucky to be here in Brazil. It's been an amazing experience so far. I'm really loving it. We're all loving it.

Isaac and Stella started school today. They were both really excited to meet new friends, learn portuguese and meet their teachers. I dropped them off this morning and then went to a "parent's coffee". I met so many new moms and dads. It was great to hear all the advice, some concern and to feel a whole lot of love from everyone. It feels really good to be at this school. I think it will be a great fit for our family. After school (I drove for the first time to pick the kids up!) everyone jumped in the car yelling how great everything was. Isaac loved his teacher, lunch and all his new friends. Stella loved her teachers, her new friends and that fact that she has no homework all year! Joaquin was excited to have his brother and sister back.

I hope the love for school continues.

lost in translation

2011-08-01T20:26:00.000-04:00

My portuguese is awful. I'm learning but until then I speak portunal. Which is half spanish and half portuguese with an american twist. Luckily, brazilians are very willing to help understand me. They are also very direct on the phone. Tonight I called the front desk with a question and after trying to speak portuguese I gave in and spoke english. They transfered me and the the man answering, in a nice voice said, "What do you want, Lady?" I laughed because if you said that in the US it wouldn't come out so nicely. I love Brazilians.

In other news, I think we found the apartment we want. We made an offer today and we are waiting to hear back. I'll let you know as soon as we know. Wish us luck!!

Brazilian bbq & jungle exploring

2011-07-30T20:12:00.000-04:00

We went to Graded, the kids school for lunch today. They invite all the new families for a bbq. It was delicious. When they bbq here they go all out. I was too busy eating the food to take pictures. Sorry. We met a lot of really nice people. I'm so excited to be part of the graded community.

After lunch we went over to Davis and Asialene's apartment to check it out. They also live in Portal do Morumbi. This is the place we are hoping to get into. The apartments aren't the best but the grounds and the freedom more than make up for it.

Here are a few pictures of part of a playground and jungle area in Portal.

Graded

2011-07-29T19:33:00.000-04:00

Today was Isaac's school orientation. It was also his first time seeing his new school. He was so excited. He really loves school and can't wait to start. It started off with cookies and juice. We met the director of the school and she gave him his name tag, teacher assignment and new school t-shirt. I think it was love at first sight for him. He was in his element. He's completely comfortable with school. He loves to meet new friends, learn new things and develop his independence. Isaac then went on a tour of the school and saw his classroom. When he came back he was beaming. He can't wait to start school.

I think Graded will be a great match for him. He loves to learn and to be challenged. I felt really good about the atmosphere and teachers that will teach him. Tomorrow we have a new family bbq. I'm excited to meet some more families and try this brazilian style bbq. I promise I'll take pictures tomorrow.

Housing

2011-07-28T20:28:00.000-04:00

We have some big decisions to make in the next few days. One is our housing. I'm trying to decide what's most important. What's most important to you when it comes to housing? Living in Sao Paulo I want to feel safe. I want to be close to the kids school. I would love to be close to friends. I want something comfortable. I want something affordable. Hopefully in the next few days we can find that perfect place we can call home. I'll let you know as soon as I do.

(I'm also going to start taking the camera so I can take pictures.)

and the adventures begin...

2011-07-27T19:14:00.000-04:00

We made it. I can't believe we're here. So far so good. Here's my top ten first impressions in no particular order.
10. I can play slug a bug again. I had to explain how to play to Isaac. Yes, I just taught my eight year old to hit his brother and sister!
9. Brazil is crazy expensive.
8. Having kids in Brazil is a huge bonus. Today we were able to bypass all lines in the airport because of our three. Major time savor.
7. The food is amazing. Yes, it's expensive but it tastes so good.
6. It's a little dangerous. On our way into Sao Paulo we saw a guy in a security car with a loaded gun pointed and ready to shoot. Scary.
5. They love cough drops. We let the kids pick a piece of candy after lunch and they chose watermelon flavored Halls cough drops thinking it was candy. Nope, it was a cough drop.
4. Apartment hunting is kinda fun except when you have three tired and rambunctious kids.
3. Walk fast. They don't stop or slow down for pedestrians.
2. I miss my iphone. Tomorrow I need to pick a plan and start using my unlocked iphone 4!!!!
1. We're in for a crazy adventure and I can't wait. I'm so excited.

knee update

2011-06-08T09:26:00.000-04:00

I wanted to get a second opinion on my knee because it was still hurting really bad and a little swollen. After talking to a few friends who have knee problems I found a doctor. He was so knowledgable and the first doctor I've seen in NYC that was nice. Usually, New York doctors are very educated and book smart but not so good with their patients. Yesterday, I had my appointment. I really just wanted to know how to make it feel better. I'm really glad I went. I found out that I do have a torn meniscus. He said that surgery would have been the best way to fix it but because they didn't do surgery and it's been two and a half weeks I might be able to avoid it. Yes! If you know me well, you know I hate needles and anything to do with them. So no surgery is always the best answer for me. He wants me to ride an exercise bike for 45 minutes a day for the next month. Hopefully, this will alleviate the pain and strengthen the surrounding muscles to give my knee more support. As long as the pain goes away I don't need surgery.

Good thing I have a gym membership. Now I'm off to the gym to ride the bike.

Loving life in NYC

2011-06-05T23:06:00.000-04:00

So we're here!! We flew in Thursday night and on the plane, right before landing, Isaac looked down and said, "YES! It's my city!" I know exactly how that boy feels. We love it here. We also love being together as a family. It was a long 2 months apart.

Friday morning we went to the gym, met Dad for lunch, did a little shopping at the American Girl store, ate Magnolia cupcakes and met friends at the park. It was also Stella's birthday. Happy Birthday Stella!!!

Saturday we went up to Westchester for a friend's baby shower. The shower was great. It was especially great to see so many good friends. It reminded me how much I love New York.

Thanks everyone! We can't wait to play more this summer.

The marathon

2011-05-28T01:10:00.000-04:00

I ran a marathon!!! Yeah, I know the timing wasn't the best but when we first started talking about it Brazil was not in the picture. I've wanted to run a marathon for the past 15 years. I don't love running but I loved the idea. So I asked everyone I knew if they wanted to run a marathon with me. Some said yes, most said no but somehow I never actually trained longer than a month before deciding I didn't want to do it anymore.

Last October...

We were at my cousins wedding, and outside the St. George marathon was going on. The runners were coming in and we were about a mile from the finish line. You could see the excitement in their eyes, the determination and the exhaustion. I knew I wanted to do it. So the next day we signed up for the runner's series. It was a guaranteed way to get into the St. George marathon and Drew was going to run it with me. I was so excited.

Novemberish...

Shortly after we signed up we heard about the Huff to Bluff marathon. Drew was so excited he was the first person to sign up. After thinking about training for the St. George marathon in the middle of summer I quickly decided to switch marathons.

January...

A friend asked if I wanted to train for a 5k. I told her about the marathon and quickly convinced her to do it with me. Jordan was on board. She had always wanted to run one also. So we came up with a training program. We started with a long run on Saturday and two 3 mile runs during the week. It wasn't the best training for a marathon but it's what worked for us.

Skip ahead to April and May...

By now we had decided to move to Brazil. Drew had started working in New York and I was in Arizona until the kids finished the school year. This created a little bit of a problem with my training. Thankfully, I was able to find plenty of babysitters to watch the kids for our long runs and I had the gym to use for my short runs. I also had to organize the house for an international move, taxi the kids to various activities and a million other things.

The week before the race...

The movers came. They packed our air shipment. Then the rest of the house. The kids had their last day of school. We drove up to Blanding.

The day of the race...

I was ready. I had trained and felt good. I had had some knee problems but my biggest worry was trying to keep my heart rate down. My goal was just to finish the race. I didn't care about my time. I just wanted to finish.

5:45 am

We picked up Worthy and Kim and headed down to the staring line. It was freezing. I was excited/anxious/scared to death. But I was ready. We met up with Jordan. Took a few pictures.

6:00 am

The gun went off. We were actually running the marathon. It felt good. I ran with Drew and Jordan until mile 6. I knew I was slower than them and I wanted them to leave me. I would finish but I didn't want to slow anyone down. So they went ahead. I made a few new friends.

8:33 am

I was feeling good. I hit the 13.1 sign. I was half way!! I was making good time.

around mile 16

My left knee started to hurt. I had had this problem before but I was hoping it wouldn't be a problem.

mile 18

It felt like my knee popped. It hurt really bad. I started to walk/run. I had no doubt I was going to finish the race I was just hoping I wouldn't be last. I had made a friend by this point and he stayed with me. He had run 14 other marathons and said he didn't care about his time. I felt bad but I enjoyed his company. Talking to him also distracted me from the pain.

mile 23

I started to wonder when this marathon was ever going to end. By this point I was in a lot of pain and it felt like we had gone uphill a lot more than I had planned on.

mile 25

Jordan drove up looking for me. She had finished and won our age group. She was excited and gave me the boost I needed to finish.

12:03

Six hours and three minutes after I started I finished. I was so happy. It felt great to finish. It felt really great to come in and see Drew and give him a big hug. I was so proud of him for finishing. I was also super proud of myself. I never had to run another marathon again. I finally was able to check it off my list. :)

After the race my knee really hurt. I went to the doctor Tuesday and they thought it was a torn meniscus. So they sent me to Cortez, CO for surgery. After the mri they decided I didn't need surgery. I had just overused my knee. It still hurts but it's getting better and I'm super glad I didn't have to have surgery.

Isaac's party

2011-05-22T15:36:00.000-04:00

What do eight year old boys love more than video games? Lego Ninjago.

This was such a hit. We started out building legos and after everyone arrived we set up the Ninja arena.

Everyone picked a ninja spinner and then we battled.

They played and played. I had to stop them and ask if anyone wanted cake and ice cream.

They did. It was a fun party.

Stella's Party

2011-05-14T10:43:00.000-04:00

Stella and Isaac wanted to have a way to say good bye to their Arizona friends so we had going away/birthday parties. They each were allowed to invite 5 friends. I wanted to keep it simple.

Stella's party was last night and it was a blast. It started off with a lot of loud high pitched screaming, running and pure joy. What do you except with 6 year old girls? The girl's played and laughed. They made tangled headbands. They painted a one of a kind canvas. They sang. Ate cupcake. Laughed some more. Screamed some more. And then watched Tangled.

It was so much fun to see Stella in her element. She's a great friend. She loves to be with others and have fun. I love my little girl. After everyone went home she came up and gave me a big hug and thanked me for letting all her friends come over and for the party. That was my favorite part. She was sincerely thankful. I love her sweet spirit.

Kindergarten Play

2011-05-14T10:22:00.000-04:00

Stella was so excited for her big part in her kindergarten play. It was adorable. Her class acted out The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle. It was delightful. The costumes were so bright and put together. The kids were all so animated. The teachers were so proud, as they should be. And the parents were beaming. I love kindergartners. They are so innocent and sweet.

May 12

2011-05-14T10:08:00.000-04:00

Eleven years ago I made the best decision ever. I married Andrew Earl Glover. I love him so much. I can't believe we've done so much in the past eleven years. It's been the best adventure ever. I'm so thankful I married this man.

And now where off for more crazy adventures!! I'm one lucky girl.

I love being a mom

2011-05-09T23:50:00.000-04:00

This weekend was great. Drew flew in Thursday night to be with us for the weekend. Friday we had a BBQ with some great friends. Saturday we shopped, ran errands, played and then went on a date. Sunday I really wanted to sleep in so I told everyone I didn't want breakfast. It was great. I slept until 8. (This is sleeping in for me.) Then I opened presents. I love presents. Especially ones that come in a little blue box with a ribbon on it. I love the homemade kind too. I was spoiled. The best part of my day was at dinner when everyone told me everything they loved about me. I love being a mom. It has changed me. I can't image my life any other way. I've been so blessed to be given the opportunity to raise my three kiddos. I'm so thankful for them...and their Daddy.

I'm also super thankful for my Mom. She's such a great example. I'm so lucky to have her and to learn from her. Thanks Mom. I'm also very thankful for Gail, Drew's Mom. She's like a second Mom to me. Thanks!

Trains

2011-05-05T00:50:00.000-04:00

I love this activity. So does Joaquin. All day he played trains. We built multiple tracks. When Stella and Isaac came home from school they built too. It was so fun to see them all play so well. I love trains!

(I have photos but blogger won't let me add them. I'll try in the morning.)

Suessical

2011-05-04T02:03:00.000-04:00

Tonight we went to the school talent show. I wasn't super excited for it but I'm glad we went. Stella was so excited from the moment she heard about it. The kindergartners did a little Suessical skit. It was really cute. I loved seeing Stella shine. I had no clue she would want to be on stage. She's usually very friendly and energetic but she does have an occasional shy streak. I just wish I had a picture. It was dark and my iphone camera just came up black. My favorite part was seeing her dance. The girl has moves.

Love my kids

2011-05-02T00:44:00.000-04:00

I'm so glad this past week is over. I was stressed about everything. Thankfully, everything went well. Our garage sale was a success! I didn't die on my long run, even though I thought I might. I even slept in this morning. It's going to be a good week.

From my kiddos...
-Tonight at the dinner table
Isaac- "Mom, I fasted today."
me- "Really? I thought you had a bowl of cereal this morning."
Isaac - "Yeah, I did but it doesn't count because I really wanted pancakes and bacon."

Stella this afternoon, "I'm total hottness!"

Joaquin before bed. "I need medicine. I got stuck boogers in my nose."

I love being a mom.

overwhelmed and under the weather

2011-04-27T00:03:00.000-04:00

I know I haven't posted for a week. Don't worry I haven't gone back into blogging hibernation. Yet! I just haven't been feeling well and I'm starting to realize that we're moving in 3 weeks. So I'm a little overwhelmed. I also started a new semester this past week. Upper level classes are hard. What was I thinking? So I'm off to work on homework until I can't stay awake any longer. Good night.

almost perfect weekend

2011-04-19T01:02:00.000-04:00

So we had a great weekend. It was almost perfect but we were missing one family member. We miss you Dad!

Saturday we went shopping. I know most people try to take as little as possible on an international move but we're not most people. Saturday, I bought bedroom furniture! I'm so excited. I can't wait for it to get delivered - hopefully it makes it here before our house gets packed.

We also ran a bunch of other errands and as a reward we went to the movies. We saw Rio! It was so good. It was the perfect movie to get us excited about Brazil. The kids loved it. Joaquin kept dancing throughout the whole movie. Stella kept asking if that's what Brazil really looks like. Kinda - in a glamorized cartoony kind of way. Isaac was happy that we saw Rio instead of Rango. He was confused on what movie we were going to and very happy about the outcome. After the kids choose Outback for dinner. It was delicious. I even had 2 people come and compliment the kids on how well behaved they were. I don't think that's ever happened!

Then Sunday our neighbors invited us over for a BBQ. It was awesome. The food was great. The company even better and no clean up makes me happy. ;)

not according to plans

2011-04-19T00:44:00.000-04:00

Friday turned out completely different than I had planned. It started off with the moving company coming out for an inspection 2 hours before they were scheduled to. They left at 8:50 so Isaac and Stella were late for school. Oops. Then 10 minutes before I was leaving for an appointment I get a call from the school. Stella threw up her lunch. So we ditched the appointment and went to get Stella. Brought her home only to be full of energy and not acting sick at all. I had already called our friends to cancel pizza movie night thinking that Stella was really sick. I guess better to be safe than sorry. Then after picking Isaac up from school we headed to piano lessons. I watched Joaquin and Stella play on the park while Isaac had his lesson. Right before we left Joaquin touched a piece of the playground and his palm had a huge burn on it. It immediately blistered and so went headed to the doctor's office. It was a second degree burn. They bandaged his hand and we were off. We finally made it home for our scheduled pizza movie night. The pizza was delicious and we watched Holes. Isaac just finished the book so we had to watch the movie. Then we all went to bed super late!

I like plans and schedules. I'm usually fine with changing them but it felt like everything was thrown off on Friday. Luckily, we still had a good day.

toilet paper

2011-04-15T00:03:00.000-04:00

As part of the prep work for this move I've been stocking up on everything. Brazil is extremely expensive. So here's a question for ya. How much toilet paper do you think a family of 5 would use in a year? I have no clue. But the Costco cashier asked me what I was planning on doing with all of it.

The when...

2011-04-13T12:23:00.000-04:00

This is where it gets a little complicated.

Drew has already started in NYC so he will make a few trips out to see us. We miss him a lot but thanks to email, web chats and phones we can still talk to him almost anytime we want.

We're sticking around until the end of May when the kids finish school. Then we will go up to Blanding for a week, run a marathon, play with cousins, relax and spend all the time we can with grandma and grandpa g. From there I have a family reunion in Utah. After that we will go to Las Vegas for some time with grandma and grandpa m.

At the beginning of June we fly out to NYC to be together as a family. :) I can't wait to spend our summer in the city. I love that place. We're going to play hard. So if you are interested in joining us please do. July 23rd we will baptize Isaac. (I can't believe he's almost 8!!) Then we will fly out to Brazil.

Sounds a little busy, right? Sometimes if feels like a crazy dream but mostly it feels exciting. I'm especially excited to be living in the city with Drew. We found a great sublet in between Riverside Park and Central Park. Doesn't that sound perfect. I can't wait. So come visit us before we move out of the country!

The how...

2011-04-12T19:11:00.001-04:00

This is a good question. Where do I start? When we left New York we only did so because we felt so strongly that that was the right decision for our family. And it was. We were able to have a blissful year spending time as a family. We ate dinner almost every night together. We had weekends to do whatever we wanted. Drew trained and competed in a triathlon. I ran a few races. We enjoyed the Arizona sun. All three kids learned how to swim. We spent time with extended family. We went to disneyland. It was a great break from the long hours of NY law firm life. But we kept waiting for whatever was next. From the start Drew was never really committed to his new firm. I really enjoyed Arizona but I never saw us raising our family here.

So mid December I mentioned to Drew that maybe we should try going international again. I was thinking London. They speak English! It's safe. It's Europe. But Drew quickly said London would be a hard sell coming from Arizona. I then half jokingly said, "Brazil?" He told me not to say it unless I was serious. I thought about it for a while and realized I was serious. Why not? Yeah it's dangerous, expensive and they speak portuguese but it still intrigued me. After a little research and a few phone calls we were all the sudden in serious talks to move down there. The timing was just right. Drew's old firm was just about to announce the opening of their Sao Paulo office. And the best part was they wanted him back.

Just in case you were wondering. We feel that this is what led us to Arizona. Without this past year's experience I would have never been open to the idea. It's funny how looking at the big picture things make so much sense. Brazil feels so right and I'm so excited for our adventure.

Brazil

2011-04-12T01:23:00.000-04:00

I'm sure some of you have heard where our next adventure is taking us. I think it might even bring new life to this blog. There so much to say about this. The what? where? when? why? how? I know. I keep wondering all these things and more myself. So I'm going to answer each question one at a time. Let's start with...

Where???

Sao Paulo, Brazil! I've known for years that Drew has wanted to go back to Brazil. He served his mission in Curitiba, Brazil. He loves the people, the food, the language and everything else about it. When he would talk about Brazil I always envisioned going on a two week trip, seeing some of his mission and then going to the beach or maybe visiting Iguazu Falls. Little did I know that my first trip to Brazil would be a house hunting trip. But whenever he talked about it I always reminded him of how dangerous it was or how expensive it was to fly down. So we left it at that. Fast forward a few years and he started doing a lot of South American work. He started talking about the possibilities of working in Brazil. I always gave him the same answer. NO. I never really gave it any thought. Yeah, it sounds cool but really? Brazil? me? Then we moved to Arizona. The plan was to stay here long term. We were going to raise our family here. We thought about buying a nice big house (for so much less than in New York) but then we didn't. The more we thought about it the more we missed New York. The more we knew that's where we really wanted to raise our family. We also missed the adventure in life. We love to travel and try new things. In December, I mentioned it might be fun to go international again. That's where the where came from. Check back tomorrow for more on our craziness.

Prayer

2010-11-05T01:02:00.002-04:00

I'm thankful for the power of prayer. It has been such a blessing in my life. Apparently, Isaac thinks so too. Here's part of our conversation tonight...

Isaac - "Mom, Can I say prayers whenever I want?"

Me - "Yeah, anytime you need anything or want to say a prayer do it."

Isaac - "YES!!! I really need them this weekend when I play video games."

Not quite the same experience I've had but I'm glad he has the faith to ask!

11/2/10 election day

2010-11-02T22:55:00.002-04:00

I love election day. I don't know when it started but I love politics. It makes me secretly giddy. I'm so thankful for our right to vote. I hope to always exercise this right.

I'm also so thankful for friends. I talked to an old friend today and it made my day. I love the support and friendship I have from so many people all around the world. I guess that's a big benefit of moving all the time.

The Divine Gift of Grattitude

2010-11-01T13:42:00.003-04:00

I love this time of year! I'm taking this challenge this month. I'm also following this advice. I loved this talk.

"Do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love.We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.""

Thomas S. Monson

DD

2010-09-16T12:57:00.001-04:00

The joys of being the youngest. You get to go on donut runs with Mom.

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I'm back in school

2010-09-14T17:24:00.002-04:00

I have a love hate relationship with school. I love... learning...reading great articles...remembering how to do math...learning more about the Book of Mormon and feeling like I have an outlet other than being a Mom. (I love being just a Mom, too.) Then I have the hate side. I hate homework...having to spend time on the computer instead of playing with my three fun kiddos...not having as much time with Drew...feeling like I don't have time for anything(especially not blogging) and feeling dumb because I don't remember how to do something.

I am really glad to go back and to finish my degree (even though it feels like forever away...okay maybe it really is) and to be able to do it right now. I know I want each of my kids to get at least a bachelor's degree and hopefully so much more. I hope they can think outside the box and find ways to learn new things just because they love them and not because they were taught to love them or told to. I hope they discover all kinds of new things.

I don't really remember why I started this post but hey I blogged today! I can check that off my list of things to do. Now back to studying.

rain...rain...

2010-08-27T19:35:00.003-04:00

Isn't she adorable? It was sprinkling outside this morning

and Stella wanted to play in the rain. It doesn't happen

very often here so she made the most of it.

rain + pj's = happy little girl

Happy Birthday Joaquin!!!

2010-08-20T00:16:00.001-04:00

My little guy turned 3!

First day of school

2010-08-20T00:10:00.002-04:00

I know most kids can stand in front of a door for a picture but really? DO you have to pose for every single one?

BAM 5k

2010-08-19T23:56:00.003-04:00

The other reason we went up to Provo. I ran the BAM 5k with my sister in law Kim and her Mom, Kathy. It was a lot of fun but the hardest 3 miles I've ever run. It was so hilly and a trail run. After I felt like I could run anything. Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon anyone?

Joaquin ran in with me.

Camp

2010-08-19T23:34:00.004-04:00

Future quarterback

BYU Sports Camp

This is the reason we went up to Provo for our summer vacation this year. A few months ago I signed Isaac up for a sports camp run by BYU. I'm sure Isaac was the youngest at camp since the deadline to turn seven was just the week before he went. I'm really glad he was able to go. He learned a lot and really enjoyed having the BYU experience.

Monday - Soccer

Tuesday - Tennis & Gymnastics

Wednesday - Football

Thursday - Baseball

Friday - Basketball

It was such a hit I think this might become a tradition. Stella is already asking to go next year.

Two dollar Tuesdays

2010-08-19T22:42:00.004-04:00

Tuesday after dropping Isaac off at BYU sports camp. We decided to take Joaquin and Stella to Thanksgiving Point. They had $2 Tuesdays. I would totally suggest the Farm. It was a lot of fun and very hands on for the kids. Steer clear of the Dinosaur Museum. It was really cool but packed full.

We also met up with some of our best friends from New York. I wish I had a picture of all of us but we were too busy for that. After the Dinosaur Museum we picked up Isaac and met the Buchanan's for a fun game of disco bowling. I think we all had a good time. After bowling we all went to Tucano's for dinner. We knew our Isaac would love the parade of meat but Joaquin and Stella enjoyed it too, especially the chicken heart. During dinner and bowling Laura volunteered to host a sleep over for Isaac and Stella. I was skeptical that any sleeping would take place but like usual, Laura is amazing. We picked up two happy fairly well rested kids the next morning. Thanks Laura! We really miss you guys.

Andrew & Joaquin

Abby & Stella

Isaac & Connor

Scrabble King

2010-08-15T23:18:00.001-04:00

It's pretty sad when my 7 year old kicks my butt at Scrabble.

Isaac 140
Eryka 48

I need to go back to school instead of him. I hope they have a good time tomorrow. Isaac starts 2nd grade and Stella starts kindergarten. So exciting. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

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temple square

2010-08-01T20:34:00.000-04:00

Dreaming of going in one day.

Their favorite part of the square.

Giddy up!

2010-08-01T20:16:00.004-04:00

The kids have been "beggin" to ride horses forever.

Thanks to an old family friend their dreams came true.

"Actually, I no want to" cried Joaquin.

(love the pipi hair!)

Visit to crazy gpa & gma

2010-07-31T18:05:00.000-04:00

Short and sweet but packed with fun. We had a great time making messes, getting spoiled and playing hard at grandma and grandpas house.

Playing with Uncle Marc.

Isaac changing tires at the Children's Museum.

Stella & Joaquin playing mechanic.

We went to the Secret Garden to see lions, tigers, panthers and dolphin.

Played at splashpads.

Swimming with Uncle Marc.

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Happy birthday Isaac

2010-07-31T17:41:00.000-04:00

We had a lot of fun. Isaac is really into everything Pokemon right now. So we had a pokemon party. We started by acting out a few of the basics about pokemon. Then everyone became a pokemon Trainer and created their own pokemon. We then had a quiz and all learned a few things about pokemon. After lunch, corndogs and French fries, they watched a pokemon movie. Cake and ice cream, happy birthday song, open presents and we were almost done. We ended with a few games of pokemon bingo. The party was a hit. (thanks Sara)

More pictures to come

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Our newest addition...

2010-07-16T19:19:00.003-04:00

His name is Speed Turtle.

He's about 4 but life expectancy is 35 years old!

The kids are in love...so is Dad...and Mom thinks he's cute but doesn't want to touch him.

Stella's accident

2010-07-16T19:15:00.002-04:00

Her first biking accident.

Our house

2010-07-16T19:10:00.003-04:00

So we don't know how much longer we'll be living in this house but here are a few pictures of the downstairs. (It foreclosed on our landlord)

Learning how to cook

2010-07-16T19:06:00.004-04:00

This summer Isaac is learning how to make a few things. Here it's French Toast.

Happy Belated Birthday Stella

2010-07-16T18:54:00.004-04:00

Can you believe we needed 5 candles? Where has the time gone?

She choose chocolate cupcakes with white frosting and nothing fancy.

Her dinner choice was grilled chicken, broccoli, rice and mac'n'cheese.

Opening presents.

She was so excited!

Daddy got her a special book to read together.

Anne of Green Gables

My sweet Stella! I love you!!

We're keeping it simple this year. Stella had a few friends

over for pizza, movie and cake. It was a lot of fun. I like low key parties!

Time for catch up

2010-07-16T18:52:00.001-04:00

I'm back. My course load for summer semester was a little heavier than I like. Oh'well. I'm done. Now I can start summer. I can't wait. I feel free!!! So here are a few pictures...

Fun fhe

2010-06-08T00:44:00.001-04:00

We had a fun family home evening activity tonight. Water balloon fight. Followed by a quick lesson and ice cream.

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Busy day

2010-06-08T00:39:00.001-04:00

This summer Mondays are going to be crazy!!! First Isaac and Stella have 8 am tennis lessons. Then we head to the gym for a workout for Mom. Then we head back outside for swim lessons. Today was extra busy because the kids had a summer camp and I leave for girl's camp tomorrow. We had a good crazy time.

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Quick visit from grandma k

2010-06-08T00:23:00.000-04:00

My Mom finally made her way down to AZ to check out our new place. We had so much fun with her. Thanks Grandma Karen for coming to see us.

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Birthday Girl!

2010-06-04T01:38:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it but my favorite little girl turned 5 today!!!!!

(Abby, Stella & Jane)

Stella Jane Glover

June 3, 2005

(more to come tomorrow)

Summer !!!

2010-06-01T17:34:00.003-04:00

Summer has started. I'm so excited. We have a fun yet busy summer planned. So far we are off to a great start.

Joaquin fell asleep while waiting for lunch.

Isaac and Stella are writing letters to friends. This is part of their Tuesday routine.

Our home

2010-05-23T16:02:00.003-04:00

I know your curious as to what our house looks like inside but I need to clean before I take pictures. So for now, here's a picture of the outside.

Riding Bikes

2010-05-23T15:53:00.002-04:00

We are a little late in the game for this but our kids can now all ride bikes. I think Mom & Dad will be investing in adult bikes soon. Any suggestions on what kind?

Beehive Party

2010-05-23T15:49:00.002-04:00

I'm now the Beehive Advisor for Church. This means we are getting to know the 12 & 13 year old girls really well. We love it!

We had a guitar hero party to start things off.

playing together

2010-05-23T15:45:00.001-04:00

We have had a lot more family time recently. We love going to the park, taking walks or just playing in our community grass field.

The Wedding

2010-05-20T19:01:00.004-04:00

My little brother got married. I never thought this would happen but when it did it happened quick. I'm really excited to get to know my new sister - in - law, Scarleth. Here are a few pictures.

Congratulations Travis & Scarleth!! We love you.

Time for a change

2010-05-20T01:01:00.002-04:00

We've had quite a few changes happen since I stopped blogging. Maybe I should start blogging again and keep us updated. I'm going to give it a try. Tomorrow I will add some new pictures of our house, what we've been up to and maybe a video or two. (If I can figure out how to add video?)

But for now...I'm going to bed. Good night!

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Tornado watch

2010-03-10T14:07:00.001-05:00

So the plan was to try and make it to Oklahoma City tonight.

Bored and sitting reading news on my iPhone I read this...

A very strong storm system will move into the region later this afternoon and this evening, The Weather Channel reported.

The system "should quickly turn severe producing tornadoes, large hail, and damaging wind gusts in excess of 60 mph," it added.

Let's hope that they are wrong.

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On the road

2010-03-09T17:58:00.001-05:00

We're on our way to Scottsdale. Today we drove through New York, New Jersey, Pennsilvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Tennessee. This is the Sunset in southern VA.

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2010-03-02T10:57:00.003-05:00

Okay, I have been a little busy lately and haven't blogged at all. Sorry. I think it might change because we have some big changes I don't want to forget about. The first one is...WE ARE MOVING! Actually the packers are packing up my house as I type. If your going to move I highly recommend having movers pack and move you. Then you can just sit back and blog.

A few months ago Drew was feeling a little overwhelmed with work and started looking for a new job. He was offered a job and we were excited and then we prayed about it and didn't feel like the timing was right. So we decided to stick around and enjoy New York. We really love everything about it, except Drew's hours. We love our friends, our house, living so close to the City and everything else that comes with it. At the end of December, Drew got a call, flew out and interviewed, fell in love with AZ and came home and told me all about it. The next month we both flew out to Arizona and seriously started thinking about moving. Then the offer came and we were sold.

It's been a crazy few weeks.

-We put our house on the market, received a few offers, will hopefully sign a contract in the next few days and then close.

-I've tried to keep up with my school work. (I'm really bad at blogging - I started an online bachelor's program with BYUI last fall.)

-Played as much as possible with friends.

-Prepared for a trip out to Vegas for my brother's wedding. Which is this weekend! I can't believe he is getting married!

-Looked for a home in Arizona. Hopefully by this weekend we will have something lined up.

-and everything else that we normally do.

So that's why I haven't blogged much. Hopefully I won't be as busy in Arizona. Anyone want to come visit? I'm sure we will have a guest room.

The perfect ending

2010-02-27T00:35:00.001-05:00

Tonight we went on our last date into NYC before our big move West. It was the perfect ending to a great few years in New York. We started with dinner and a little bit of shopping in Macy's. Then enjoyed a concert. A friend gave us tickets to the John Mayer Concert at Madison Square Garden. (thanks a ton) After we took a taxi to Serendipity for frozen hot chocolate and dessert. Now we are on the train home. We will miss you New York.

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2010-01-03T20:26:00.002-05:00

It's a new year! I'm excited for the fresh start. I've set a few goals and now just need to follow through on them.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Drew took a few weeks off and we enjoyed every minute of it. I'm so glad we have so much fun as a family. I love them all so much. Tomorrow our vacation ends but I think we are all a little excited for what's in store.

Now I'm off to work on one of my goals. Good night!

2009-12-12T20:01:00.001-05:00

Isaac's polite way of asking if I'm ignoring him. Sadly I really didn't hear him.

Isaac: "Mom, are you taking a break from hearing me?"

Sorry I started slacking a little. Here are a few post to make up for it.

2009-12-12T16:33:00.001-05:00

"Don't eat Pete."

2009-12-12T16:24:00.002-05:00

Last night we celebrated Drew's last day of work for the year. He's on vacation until January 4th! I'm so excited. So we played "Don't eat Pete." It's a fun, simple game where you get to eat a lot of candy. The kids love it.

Stella skiing!!

2009-12-12T16:19:00.004-05:00

How can this get any cuter? I love that my kids are learning how to ski this year.

Away in a Manger

2009-12-09T19:57:00.003-05:00

I hope you enjoy...

Tonight for our activity we learned a new song. Isaac was so sweet and really wanted to learn.

Reading together

2009-12-07T22:53:00.001-05:00

I love that Isaac can read. Tonight he read a few books as we cuddled up on my bed. He's getting so big.

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Breakfast for Dinner

2009-12-06T21:15:00.003-05:00

Tonight we enjoyed a yummy Breakfast for Dinner. Thanks to Dad's amazing skills in the kitchen we had a perfect meal. Waffles, sausage, strawberries, cream, orange juice, egg nog and cranberry juice. I love Breakfast at night.

I also just found this great Christmas sight. Check it out!

Canned goods

2009-12-06T00:49:00.002-05:00

This is going to be quick. I need to get to bed.

Tonight we gathered some canned goods from our pantry and set them aside to donate. We would have taken them somewhere tonight but we decided to enjoy the snow falling from the indoors. It was beautiful. Have a good night.

Miracles

2009-12-04T20:27:00.002-05:00

Tonight we read a few of the many miracles Jesus performed. It was great to see the kids faces light up as we read about the 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread feeding 5000 people listening to Jesus on a grassy hill side. They wanted to know what Jesus was talking about.

We read of Jesus calming the Sea.

We read of Jesus healing the sick.

Then we called Grandma Gail and asked her what her favorite miracle was. Her favorite is Jesus healing the Lepers.

We also called Granny Heard and her favorite story is of Jesus healing the Woman by her touching his garments.

I love teaching my children about the amazing works of the Lord. I love how they have faith that Jesus can do anything. It truly helps me to know that He can. I'm so thankful for my Savior and the gift He gave me to be with my family forever. I'm so thankful for this blessing. I love this time of year and the opportunity it gives us to share our testimonies with those we love.

Snowflakes

2009-12-03T17:59:00.001-05:00

Today was an unusually warm day in New York. Always appreciated but it didn't quite go with our Christmas Activity of making snowflakes. That's okay because we all enjoyed it. I'm so glad I decided to do the activity with my kids. I almost backed out at the last minute. Thursday's are crazy busy in a good way for me. Joaquin has speech therapy, Stella has story time at the library, Isaac has an after school club and I go into the City for school. On top of all that Joaquin had a long doctor's appointment and subsequently a long wait to fill a few prescriptions. And I'm a little stressed about part 1 of a final tonight. So after picking Isaac up he went home and started His homework while I started dinner. I thought about skipping the activity all together and then remembered a talk at Stake Conference. It reminded me to enjoy my children now and to put them at the top of my priority list. I immediatly knew I needed to take the extra few minutes to laugh with them and feel the love and joy of the season. So we made paper snowflakes. The kids loved it. They all made their snowflakes and folded each triangle carefully. Joaquin was so proud of himself. He was a big kid just like his big brother and sister. We had a great time together. When the babysitter arrived they proudly showed her their handy work. What a blessing it is to be a Mom. That time tonight was priceless for me. I'm now on the train into the City for class and instead of stressing over my final I'm smiling and remembering my blessings.

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Day 2

2009-12-02T19:13:00.000-05:00

Tonight we made popcorn garland and yummy caramel popcorn.

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The countdown begins...

2009-12-01T20:21:00.002-05:00

I love Christmas. I get so excited about all the little things. I love everything about it. So I'm going to attempt to keep you up to date on our Christmas adventures. Tonight we created a Christmas Advent Activity calendar. It should be fun. We came up with 23 things to do to enjoy the Season. I'll post a picture or what we did every night. (Truthfully, every night I think about it)

Tonight we created our chain link countdown with the activities on each chain. The kids loved it.

After putting Isaac to bed he came down and said, "Mom, I'm so excited I can't sleep." He totally gets that from me. Poor kid.

Merry Christmas

I happy!

2009-11-05T12:08:00.002-05:00

I know. I know. I can't even make it two days in a row. Why is blogging so hard for me? I do have a good excuse. We took a quick trip down to DC. SO this is what I'm thankful for today.

1)happy kids. Joaquin is walking around yelling, "I happy! I happy! I happy." I love him.

2)The fall weather. Even though I prefer hot I love making and eating soup when it's cold outside. We eat a lot of soup. Yummy.

3)Christmas music. Yes, I have it playing and loving every minute of it.

4)Kleenex. We all have colds and would be in big trouble without them.

5)Leftover halloween candy. We have a love hate relationship. Right now I'm loving it.

My month of Gratitude

2009-11-01T18:54:00.002-05:00

1. Ten years and 2 days ago I met the hottest, most wonderful man. I'm so lucky.

2. Isaac. I love his creativity. He's currently trying to make a play doh puppet.

3. Stella. She's strong. She can climb up a door frame and grab on to our pull up bar and then do a pull up.

4. Joaquin. He's just so adorable. I love his age.

5. Amberly. Thanks for making me more aware of my wonderful life.