Life with 3

2012 has been such an emotional roller coaster for me. First and foremost, our unexpected pregnancy with Eisley. I was so happy, but sometime during the earliest part of my unaware pregnancy I had a mammogram, xrays, and an MRI for my shoulder that seemed to have an unusual mass growing for about 10 years. I put it off mainly because I didn't feel that it was a big deal at the beginning. The MRI for my shoulder indicated that I have osteoarthritis. The mammogram also came back negative and I was so relieved. I feel so blessed that results for the xrays, tests, and MRI came back negative and non life threatening. So, when did we learn of our pregnancy with Eisley.... I first suspected that I was pregnant with Eisley after my appointment at the University of Utah hospital with the doctor who told me that the last thing he wanted me to have was an operation on my collar, so he prescribed physical therapy instead. In response, I cried and cried with overwhelming emotions. Happy that it wasn't dying But sad to know that I will be living with this pain. Not a usual reaction I would give to a doctor, so without much thought, I stopped by the store on the way home to pick up a pregnancy test at the dollar tree...YES, the dollar tree because a friend told me that it was legit. It turned out positive and because I had my speculations of it being inaccurate, I made Rico buy an ept test for me immediately. Rico's response to the positive pregnancy..."How did that happen?" Anyway, we didn't tell friends until we were close to three months pregnant, but news spread like wild fire when the children in primary had to express their gratitude for something. Erin announced that she was thankful that she will have a baby sister soon! I was just a couple of rows away from her class as I was the Sunbeams teacher. I knew she was going to mention it as our eyes widened at each other and lips pursed! So, as fortunate and blessed to add another baby to our little family I was haunted by the fears of what could happen to the baby because of all of the xrays and MRI I had while I was pregnant. I was doing just fine and convinced myself that the baby will be just fine. When 8 months hit, I had major anxieties and decided to call U of U radiology department and inquired about what the effects of xrays and MRIs on a fetus. She gave me an web address. Her voice was calm and she didn't promise me anything, but just talking about it with her made me feel better and I didn't feel a need to search the web for further information. A feeling of peace came over me and I knew Eisley was going to be fine...and after four ob/gyn's later because of our move and changes in health plans, baby Eisley is as healthy as could be! Eisley is now almost four months. She is an amazing baby. She brings smiles to everyone she comes across. I had a gloomy day the other day and all it took was her smile and my sadness just melted away. Rico came home from a stressful day at work last week and he said the exact same thing to me after Eisley greeted him with the biggest smile and as she kicked her legs and flared her arms with excitement with the sight of her dad. Everyone says that she looks like her uncle Edsel and Mommy Grace. She is so excited that baby cousin Ellie (Ricky & Jen's baby girl) is here and that baby Elise (Emily & Charley's baby) will arrive in less than a month. Triple trouble! Erin is such a great big sister. The first thing she asks when she gets home from school is, "Is Eisley awake?" She dresses her up, shops for her outfits, and lets me take catnaps sometimes. She is adjusting well to middle school. She's made friends rather quickly, is in band and plays the flute, and in student council. She has done well and is receiving mostly B's in her classes. She is such a fun, and outgoing gal. She sure knows how to make us all laugh with her impressions of any comedians and accents. She is in competitive swimming with the Lake Oswego Swim Club. Swim practice takes 2 to 2 1/2 hours of her time after school. After that she eats, does homework and off to bed. Twice a week she goes to school an hour early for student council meetings. We are so proud of her and her ambition to "make lots of money" when she's older so we could go to Disneyland every year...oh, and give Rico and me weekly allowances. Two weeks ago, she made state cut for her 50 breaststroke and she was stoked! Last weekend, she didn't make any cuts and was so bummed. We will give updates on state competition in a couple of weeks. Her future goals is to make it to the Olympics! Eli...on the other hand has been a little drama king lately. Whining, tantrums, outbursts over the smallest things. A couple of days ago, he had Erin and me convinced that he'd dislocated his knee cap. He was love'n it...slaving us away like no other!! Along comes Rico and it only took him a couple of minutes to realize what Eli was up to!!! The crying and wailing from what we thought was pain didn't stop in like forever. Rico just ignored him and me being a concerned mom I wanted to call the doctor. Rico was right...he was playing us! He enjoys kindergarten and riding the school bus to and from school. He has been sick a lot since we've moved here to Oregon. Last week he was out for a week of school because of the flu. He has been sick with pneumonia twice for the first 4 months we were here and every month after that fever after fever. Poor guy! Last week, Rico gave him a blessing and instantaneously he fell asleep at 3am. I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood and that I am married to a worthy priesthood holder. When not playing hooky or isn't sick, Eli loves to be active, riding his bike, on the pogo stick, and jumping on his skip it. He loves board games and is very competitive. He's enjoyed playing mexican train, scrabble, puzzles, and match games. What I love most is his contagious laugh and his silliness. He loves baby sister Eisley and can't get enough of kissing her. Rico is such an awesome dad. Working long days is no excuse for him to come home and not monkey around with the kids. I love especially when Eli greets him at the door and says to him, "Let's play dad!" with such excitement! And it's not easy after a long, tough day at work to come home to a tired and sometimes moody wife. He has become such a patient and quick to forgive husband. So....life with 3 is not so bad! It is much easier than I thought. So far, it has been smooth and we are loving it! How did Rico and I get so lucky to be parents of these three kids that we are so crazy about!!!!! We are sure 2013 will have plenty of joy and great memories in store for us!

Oregon

Rico has graduated from BYU and took a job in Beaverton, Oregon which is about fifteen minutes away from Portland. It is beautiful! We love the green when we moved here this past summer. As we approach winter, we love how the trees everywhere is either red or yellow! It was gorgeous. The rain isn't so bad as we expected it, but it may be soon to make that judgement. =) We also welcomed baby Eisely Grace H. Pascual to the family on October 4th, 2012. I went in for an appointment at 9 a.m. and she was transverse. With 2 days away from my due date, the doctor decided she was going to admit me to the hospital and have the doctor do an inversion. When we got to the hospital that evening she was in breach. Which means, they had to grease my belly with gel and rotate her from the outside to get her head down. It was painful and hope that I never have to go through that again! Within five minutes, Eisley was head down, the bound me so that she wouldn't likely move around again. I was induced and about seventeen hours later, at 9:55 a.m., Eisely made her debut at 6 pounds 6 ounces and 19.5 inches long. She is healthy and beautiful. She looks just like Erin when she was a baby. She is adored by both Erin and Eli. They love helping with diaper changes, feeding, and holding her. For the first couple of days, she didn't sleep much because Erin & Eli kept passing her back and forth. She is a great sleeper and wakes up twice at night for feeding or diaper change.

Grandma Remona and Grandpa San flew in about two weeks later to meet baby Eisely. They were such a great help with everything from laundry, cooking,cleaning, and getting the kids ready for school. The kids were sooo spoiled. They also stayed here long enough for Halloween. Mama bought Eisley her first Halloween costume. She was the cutest little baby chick. Eli was Captain America and Erin was Hermione from Harry Potter. We wished they were able to stay longer!

We stayed here for Thanksgiving and joined Starr and her family for dinner. It was so yummy! Our kids miss their cousins during the holiday, but they enjoyed very much spending time with Thompson's kids!

Cherish the moments!

I am still reminiscing about our summer!!! It was the best summer we've spent as a family.
We started off with Emily and Charley's wedding in the Philippines and the beautiful white sand and blue waters of Boracay! It was a truly relaxing vacation there. I wish we could have stayed at Boracay longer! We stayed for two nights and the kids were literally on the beach from morning til night! Erin was overly tanned and Eli...well, we'll just say that he had a really bad rash in his you know what!!! I guess I should have known better because of how salty the water was! Now, he demands to wear underwear along with his trunks every time he goes swimming.
I was in heaven when we headed back to Manila with 168 and Greenhills shopping on the agenda! Everything, I mean everything there was 1/4 of the price of things here! And I learned how to say "how much is this" in tagalog so that I could bargain with them without feeling ripped off! =) It didn't take them long before they realized I wasn't a local because I couldn't understand their response and I in turn just shrugged my shoulders!!! Haha! I never new how good it felt to bargain...even if it was 10 cents cheaper.
So, we stayed with Nanay and Ma-ma the last two weeks, in Tanay. We felt so welcomed! I love that we woke up everyday to breakfast ready for us, laundry done, looking at old family pictures, karaoking with Tatay, and the kids playing the Wii with Ate Gina and Kuya Arnel's boys! I loved staying up late that one night eating Choc Nut with Ate Gina!!! She got me hooked on it and I bought six packs to bring home! I loved how Kuya Arnel, Ma-ma and Ate Gina and I would leave at 6 a.m. to go to stinky Divisoria just to go shopping at 168, which would only take us only 30 minutes instead of 2.5 hours to get there if it weren't for the traffic!
I truly loved walking the streets with Rico and him showing me his elementary school, his old and abandoned house, the oldest Catholic church in town which was gorgeous by the way, places where he used to play basketball as a little kid, running into his baby sitter at the market, eating grilled chicken head off the street vendor, etc. We also attended the branch there. It's amazing how the gospel is the same everywhere we go! It was a small branch, but the members were faithful and love the gospel. I love listening to their beautiful testimonies even if I didn't understand the language!
We also got to spend time with Lolo Eric. He showed us his office, took us out to lunch, brought Erin and me to get mani-pedi's which costed about $2 each!!!! Yeah, really! If only it cost me that much here! Shopping everyday took a toll on our feet, so Lolo knew that a foot spa was exactly what we needed! Shopping at Save-more was on our daily agenda!!!! We loved the coconut smoothies, and I especially love Gulaman and that was my daily fix!
One of the fun things the kids really enjoyed was going to Kuya Eugene's farm. It was beautiful and the soil was rich! Everything on the farm was abundantly fruitful! The kids had a blast fishing and I had a blast climbing up the mango tree and getting more of my fair share! Indian mangoes are so delicious!!!! It was such a treat to spend the evening with his wife and family! The kids did not want to leave at all! Then there came the time came for us to go back home to Utah!!! 18 hours flight back was not long at all...we were all pooped and were sure that we'd been drooling on our oh so comfy pillows the airline had supplied us with. As Mike picked us up from the airport and drove us home, we immediately felt nostalgic of the people of the Philippines, most importantly our family in Tanay and Morong. We won't know the next time we'll get to see ma-ma, pa-pa, nany, and tatay again! We were so sad! But we were so glad that we didn't have to shower with cold water again, get eaten by thirsty mosquitos, or suffer the humidity of PI! LOL That was no match to coming back home to the US! Wait, but our summer didn't end there!
That night, we unpacked and packed again, and headed out to the bay area where my family lives! Rico had gotten a management internship at SFO. The kids and I were so excited! That means spending time with cousins, and families for the rest of the summer! We got to see Taylor for the first time! Erin and Eli immediately fell in love with him! Did so many things that we didn't get to do when we used to live there! I guess you could say we took it for granted. We enjoyed every minute of it!!! My birthday with the hubby at Pier 39, the weather, Crawdaddy's, sleepovers and movies with Bel and Jason, Cambodian branch gatherings and activities, hanging out at the Lion and Ate Jen's pool, Creams - where we personalized our ice cream sandwiches and my favorite place, by the way!!! Erin was in the Lion's swim team and we loved the early Saturday morning swim meets!!! We especially love that Erin's number one fan, mama was there at every meet cheering her on!!! We love her team, awesome parent support and outstanding coaches! She truly enjoyed being surrounded by great team mates as well!
But we all know, all great things come to an end!!! Erin and I flew back to Utah for school and work a week earlier than Rico and Eli. Rico still had another week of internship to finish. We decided to leave Eli in Cali because we didn't have any babysitters for Eli while I was in training for work!!! It broke my heart to hear him cry for me over the phone!!! I missed both of my boys dearly!! Getting back to work and into the groove was not easy. Erin started 5th grade and Eli started preschool in Head Start - not at my site, but at one that is closer to home! He loves it! Erin has started swimming again. She is in the Wasatch Front Fish Market team, which is a USA team. Eli started Level 1 Swimming and loves it to death!!! I miss being the mom that bussed the kids to school, activities, and practice, but I sure am one lucky woman to have a husband who is supportive and loving in all aspect! I am so proud of him!!! He is 8 months shy of graduating with his Masters, is the PTA president at Eli's school, reads bedtime stories to him, helps Erin with homework, and does laundry and dishes!!! What more can I ask for! The Lord has blessed me with such a beautiful family and in so many countless ways!

Can four people go on a date?

Tonight, our dear friend Reyna offered to babysit our kids while we were going to go on a date. Here's how the conversation went as we were dropping them off:

Eli: Where are we going?
Mom: Taking you guys to Reyna's so daddy and I can go on a date.
Eli: I want to go too.
Erin: Eli, a date is only for two people who love each other and they spend time with each other.

10 minutes passed:

Eli: Mom, can four people go on a date?
Mom: Yes.
Eli: Can we go too?
Hahaha!

Crazy, fun summer!

We have had a fun summer! First, we went to the Philippines for 3 weeks, came home for a night and drove 10 hours to California. Rico had a 10 weeks internship at SFO (San Francisco Intn'l Airport) and we couldn't refuse bc it was paid and we got to stay with my parents! The kids and I hit up Great America and Six Flags, and took advantage of all of the restaurants that Utah does not have. Now, back to reality!

Visiting Rexburg and our Healthy Quest!

For President's day weekend, we drove up to Rexburg and visited Monica and Daniel. The kids had so much fun because E-Ca spoiled them! It was a much needed break from work and study for all of us. Rico had lots of homework to do, but knew how badly I wanted to visit so, we went for a three night visit. First thing we did was hit Texas Roadhouse and then Orange Leaf frozen yogurt in Idaho Falls! After two weeks of being on the South Beach diet, I felt I deserved a non-fat frozen yogurt treat! It was nothing like I ever tasted! They had something called fish eggs they were strawberry and peach flavored and when you bit into it, it was this sweet juicy thingy! Yumm! The following day, we went and toured the new conference building? on campus and it was ginormous! We then went to eat at this sandwich shop called Gator Jack, went sledding, and to top it off had hot chocolate and cupcakes at the Cocoa Bean! I wasn't cheating on my diet that bad...so I skipped the hot chocolate and cupcake and Rico and I took a stroll to Great Harvest Bread and got a loaf of honey whole wheat bread and dakota bread! So, worth the money!

I couldn't resist passing by New Fong's without having their hot and sour soup, so the next day Monica and I had lunch there and boy was the soup goooooood!!!! Then, we made our way to Porter's!!! I love Porter's and I really needed to get some things for wedding gifts!

We also got to visit our dear friends the Lines!!! We miss them so much and our kids just played together as if we'd never moved away! They're awesome and we love them!

We love short family trips like these! Our next break is in April and I am hoping to take another short trip elsewhere...hMMM...where will we end up going? Did I hear...Disneyland?????? We shall see!

Rico and I are on this health quest! This will be his 4th week on the p90x program and I'm so proud of him! He hasn't eaten rice for the past 4 weeks!!! Surprising since he could never have a meal without rice!!! True asain, right??? He's also trying to eat healthy, thus also eating most of the food that I prepare from my SB diet menu. The food is great! I eat 6 small meals a day and really, if diet food tastes like this, it's a breeze!!! The only thing I caution is that it could get expensive and I have lazy cooking tendencies! Anyone would like to volunteer to be my personal chef? Anyway, I feel great! The first day I started the diet, I was working and went home visiting all day to my kids' house! I was afraid that I would faint, shake, or have withdrawals - not at all! In addition, I walk/jog the treadmill or do the elliptical 30 minutes a day on my lunch break! I am so lucky that our school site is at a recreation center and I get to work out FOR FREE! So, far I am liking the results! I am hoping to make more progress in health, weight loss, and maintaining this lifestyle! PS...the kids love the food as well!!! They actually thing Ricotta cheese is ice cream! Of course, we add the needed carbs for them with every meal! All I have to say is - Diet & Exercise: It works!

Lackadaisical!

My baby girl was in her school spelling bee contest on Wednesday! I didn't get to go, but Rico did and videotaped it. She studied very hard and wanted to win badly. She was competing with fourth, fifth, and sixth graders and there were about 25 kids total. Some of the words she practiced for were very hard and some I couldn't pronounce and have never heard of. She was one of the last 7 still standing. The word that got her eliminated was lackadaisical. She was very disappointed, but we were so proud that she made it that far! She gave it her best and that's all that counted!!! Daddy and I are so proud of you and love you beyond measure,Cakey!

Life lately and the Holidays

We have had some changes in the last couple of months and the transition wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Rico and I have switched roles. While I have been working full time, my dear beloved husband has been a full time stay at home daddy, a part time student, and an entrepreneur in the works. Erin Cake has been doing well in school. She is a natural mathlete and I am proud to say that she is also the top speller in her class and is moving on to the next round in the spelling bee contest to compete against the other top three 4th graders. She is also in the Junior Penguin swim team and enjoys it very much. If she could, she would spend every spare minute swimming. Eli has never spent as much time with Rico as he is now. I love it that they get bonding time while I am at work. Today, Rico asked:

Eli, you're my pride and what?
Eli: Proud and joy! And you're my number one, daddy!
Rico: Mommy's your numnber what?
Eli: My number 3!

LOL. I love my boys!

We spent our Christmas break in California and had such a blast! It was the best Christmas and New Year we've had and we were sad to come back home. I am proud to say that I won our family dessert contest. I made this awesome looking jello glass bar and ice cream sandwich banana split. It was to die for! If you'd like the recipe, you'll find it at www.ourbestbites.com. It's an amazing website Meg introduced to me! Amazing, and easy recipes! Ok, I'll be honest Monica and I shared the prize. She should have won really because she slaved away in the kitchen all night and her desserts looked and tasted fabulous! We both won $30 each!

I also finally I met my aunt, her husband and son who was petitioned to come to the United States from Cambodia. It made our family complete that after 30+ years my mom and her family reunited with her long, lost sister! It was surreal to finally get to hug and kiss her!


Well,I'm going to wrap it up for now! It's been a long and fun-filled day, friends and family! A bientot!

The cutest little bumble bee!

Happy Halloweenie (is what Erin used to say when she was 2 years old! We have so much fun in October because it's Erin and Rico's Birthday, and Halloween. Here are some pics of fun things we did.






Meg made these really great lookn Jacko-O-lantern jars. She also made these yummy pumpkin whoopy cookies which I can not duplicate! They are sooooo delicious! Below is a post of the chocolate pretzel treats she made and I am going to have to make them for my family when we visit for Christmas! We had a blast!

October festivities!

A visit to the Taylor Science Museum at the Y!

So, we visited the science museum at daddy's school and a lot were under construction. What Erin enjoyed most was all the fascinating rocks she saw. She wrote down the names of the rocks she liked and came home to look it up! I might have a little geologist! We parked pretty far from the museum and the walk exhausted the kids, so we came home and made giant sugar cookies! It was yummy!

Topaz Mountain and the 4th of July

The Blair's took us to this place in the middle of no where, away from civilization to look for rare crystals that were formed by lava! We didnt' find anything. The kids just loved picking at the rocks and throwing them.



The 4th of July was fun and relaxing. We watched fireworks from the top of the soccer field, across from the MTC. It was nice because Carrie Underwood performed at the stadium and we heard her singing. We enjoyed it and the kids loved sitting on a picnic blanket and snacking! Why is my daughter wearing a beanie on a hot summer day...IDK!



Eli made a mean spaghetti dinner for us! Thanks E-Ca for making the apron for him. He's also wearing a matching underwear!

At the duck park and splashing in the pool in the hot summer!

Our friends Jordann and Zach bought a pool so that the kids could cool down during the hot, hot summer day of Provo! The kids had so much fun splashing in it! Thanks Keller, for sharing with us! We love and miss you guys!




Feeding the ducks was one of our favorite summer activities! Eli loved the tortoise that also lived in that pond. It was right next to daddy's school!

The Discovery Museum at Gateway!

We, along with the Blair's took E-Pa and Jakey to the Discovery Museum at Gateway. Jakey loved it so much that he didn't want to leave any of the stations we were playing at. The boys could have played at the water station all day!



E-Pa having fun with Jakey at the water station. Isn't she a hot mama?

Eli loves throwing balls into the running water!

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Jakey and Evelyn! Jakey tipped a bin upside down so he could climb on it to reach for the balls!


Look how big this thing is compared to Eli! It's a cross breed between a Lion and a Tiger!

Summer in Provo with E-Pa & Jakey!

At the Bean Museum at the Y.


Don't ask me what E-Pa and Erin were trying to do here!

We kind of just invited ourselves to sit in this reptile presentation. They kids got to pet this really big lizard.


Erin picked some beautiful bright tulips for me on mother's day from our front yard!

Look, I can swing like E-Ca!!

E-Ca, here is the video I was comparing to the pic Pa took of you swinging on the bar! Listen closely and you can hear him say, "Wheee!" He was a 1 year 7 months!

Blessed with amazing friends!

Rico and I are so fortunate to have made so many great friends everywhere we end up. I guess one thing I've learned to do since we moved to Rexburg about two years ago is learning how to step out of my comfort zone and have a social life! You see, I grew up in a strict household. So, I was never a social kid and was quiet and timid. Which some people may initially percieve me to be snobby...as I've been told by some of my bestfriends now! =)
Anyway, back to the point! I am glad that I experienced life in Rexburg or else I wouldn't be as open and made so many great friends! We love Meg, Mike, Reyna and Tom, who we met up in Rexburg! Crazy, but who knew we'd all end up in Utah...45 minutes away from each other! I think Heavenly Father had a hand in it and knew that we all needed to be close to one other!

We love Provo! The biggest reason why we are loving it here is because we made some really neat friends here as well! Jordann, Zach & Keller!!! We love hanging out with you guys! We are going to miss you whent it's time for us to move!

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.”-Anonymous (i think)

Wow, I am a slacker!

Hello, friends and family! Sorry, for being such a blog slacker. We are all doing well. Erin is counting down to summer vacation and E Pa and Jacob coming to visit us from California. We are super excited! Erin also looks forward to being in the Boys and Girls club this summer, and ballroom dance. She's just itching to start!

Eli is potty trained and loves it! So, far he hasn't had any wet pull ups during the last couple of nights. I have never used pull ups for Erin because I guess I had a little more patience cleaning pee and poo at the time, but Eli is like a fire hydrant! He goes every half to an hour! Is it a boy thing? I'd really like to sign up Eli for the mommy and me swimming, but since I can't swim I am hoping they let me register for the sake of Eli. Poor kid needs something to do while sissy is busy doing other fun stuff!

Rico's first year of graduate school is almost coming to an end. I can't believe it's gone by so fast! One down two more years to go! He's really enjoying it and loving it! Before you know it...maybe we'll have a #3 soon????? Hint, hint honey!!! =)

I am still working at Erin's school and have started a job as an office assistant there as well. Ialso monitoring students who are diabetic, helping them with insulin shots and making sure they eat!!! I so enjoy doing it! I think I have every mom's dream job! I get to work at Erin's school and I get to see her! I teased her and told her that I better not see her in the office for doing something she's not suppose to do. LOL. Although, the other day, I saw a student bouncing into the office and all I could was this little girl's head from her eyes up because she was so short! It was Erin and she'd done something good and received a token to redeem a prize in the office! She had mentioned several days before that she never sees me in the office and I told her that I leave after lunch, so I felt special because I knew she came down during that time so that she could see me. It made my day that I had gotten a big hug from her in the middle of my work day! I've gotten comments from teachers and administrators that she is a very good student. That makes me a proud mom! I love my little girl and wish that there's a pause button so that she would stop growing up so fast! I know I'm rambling, but hey it's almost 3am and don't ask why I am up at this time! I will post up recent pictures next time! Ta-ta!

Life lately and Valentine's

I know, I've been a blog slacker! We have been so busy. I have been working part time at Erin's school with afterschool reading and teaching ESL to parents. I love it! It's an adjustment since I have been a stay at home for a very long time and I have never been able to leave Eli with a babysitter because of anxiety attachments. Luckily, we have friends from our ward who are so willing and offer to take care of him while I am at work. Rico is interning in SLC at the mayor's office and loves it with a passion. Erin is enrolled in the afterschool program I am working at and she enjoys it. She's in ballroom dancing, choir, arts & crafts, and many more fun things. We have the best dance team in the valley. They compete and always come out first place!!! She will have he first performance in May is so excited. Eli is incredibly smart and very talkative. We have started him on Hooked on Phonics and he recognizes about 2/3 of the alphabets. He's like a sponge. Our Valentine's was nice and relaxing. Erin, Eli, and I made tons of cookies for our favorite teachers at Erin's school. I got a huge box of chocolate truffles and a dozen of roses. We also went to Winco the day after Valentine's and bought tons of candies that were on sale and shared some with our friends! E-Pa sent the kids stuffed animals that sings, dances, and laugh. Erin got a bumble bee and Eli got a a dog that makes a creepy laugh. Here's a video!

The Treehouse and Christmas in Provo

Erin received a Hannah Montana fleece blanket from Santa!

Eli loves bowling, so we Daddy bought him a bowling set.

Best of all, Santa brought us candies and healthy snacks..

The University Mall had an indoor treehouse we heard about and the kids love it especially when the cold weather forces us to play indoors.

Christmas in Provo

The children loves playing in the snow, eventhough it is negative outside!

I tackled Erin in the snow and felt so bad that I had actually buried her face in the snow. She was upset, but I had to laugh.

Sugar cookies of course for us and we shared some with our friendly neighbors!


Our first Christmas without extended family was a really sad thought for us, but we actually really enjoyed being home and celebrating with out little family. We made a snowman, made sugar cookies, made chocolate chip cookies for Santa, drank lots of Stephen's hot chocolate, watched movies, and ate lots and lots of junk food Santa brought us. Rico and Erin had two weeks vacation from school.