Halloween Carnival

Okay I know this is late, but better late than never! This year my friend Jamie and I were in charge of the ward Halloween festivities. We decided to do a carnival as well as the Trunk or Treat. Everyone pitched in and it was a GREAT success!

Our Captain America!

Miss Fairy Princess doing her curtsy

Baby Adan was BAM BAM...he was not keen on holding his club!

Chris was a Thunderbird and I was a Pink Lady

The arts and craft table

Pumpkin Carving contest

Trunk or Treating

Mia's best friend, Ella...They are inseparable!

Adan was running wild the entire time...He loved every minute of it...Chris and I were completely exhausted by the end of the night!

On Halloween we met up with our Home Teachers and other friends in the ward and set off for some fun Trick or Treating!

It took MiaLuz forever to get the courage to go up to a door and say (or whisper) "Trick or Treat"

Everyone had a fun time. This was the first year we actually were able to take everyone around a neighborhood. FUN TIMES!

Mother/Son Dance

This past weekend Christopher and I went to our first Mother/Son Dance. He had been looking forward to it all month. He even had me "practice" some moves with him so he was ready for it. We had a choreography and everything. It was so cute to see his anticipation about the whole thing. I have to admit, I was pretty excited myself!

The minute the "cuban shuffle" came on, the parents and sons hit the floor. Within minutes, a staff member who is a member in our ward informed the DJ that there was a professional salsa dancer in the room and to show our stuff! (Yes, VERY embarrassing!) But Chris was ready on cue! He got up there and led Mama into everything we had practiced. I was so proud of him and he was overwhelmed with compliments from the mothers and teachers! Such a performer...I wonder where he gets it!?!

This is what he calls his "tornado turn"

Salsa back step!

turning Mama!

"my turn" he says

...and then the Hip Hop started...Mother who!?!?!

He was on the floor the rest of the night. All the cameras flashing from the mothers standing around the floor, he was loving every minute!

Limbo time!

Him and his friend found the strobe light and black light in front of the DJ booth. They were there the rest of the night!

Hula Contest!

poor baby, he was worn out!

It was pretty dark but I managed to get a bit of video with him breaking it down. Enjoy!

Watermelon Salsa

We had a RS Salsa Night this past week. Everyone brought a different type of salsa. I chose to bring a Watermelon Salsa. It was so yummy! There are several recipes for it, but I like this one the best.

Mix 2 tbs brown sugar with ~2 freshly squeezed limes in bowl (1/4 cup lime juice).
Add the following:
3 cups Watermelon
1/2 cucumber
1/3 c cilantro
1/2 jalepeno
1/2 c minced red onion
1/4 c mint leaves
Salt to taste
Toss and refrigerate overnight. Delish!

There were so many different varieties of salsa: Mango salsa, Peach salsa, Avacado salsa, etc...
I was in heaven all night! So, what's your favorite!?!

baby Adan 18 month checkup

Adan is 18 months! How crazy is that? Our Chubba Wubba is getting so big! I took him in for his check-up and because he hasn't been eating well. His asthma is getting worse and he isn't sleeping too much these days. It turns out he has another ear infection....a pretty bad one. It is the same ear that has bothered him in the past. This is about the 8th ear infection he has had in the past year. The pediatrician is giving him one more shot with antibiotics before considering ear tubes. I've never had to deal with those in the past so they kinda freak me out! Any suggestions anyone? I would love some opinions on these things before considering them.

Adan is in the 78 percentile, weighs 25 pounds and is 31" in height...yup, he's our chunker!

(MiaLuz weighed 25 lbs at 2 1/2 years old)

Some things about our 'Baby':

His favorite movie is Kung Fu Panda, will sit and watch the whole thing through (as seen in picture below), he laughs hysterically anytime Po gets hurt, and will get up and act out the fighting scenes, saying "HI-YA!!!" for the rest of the day

He is pretty vague with his words, but when the camera comes out, he says "Cheeeeeessss" immediately. His favorite word by far is "MYYYEEE" (mine)

Favorite food... STRAWBERRIES!!!
He refuses to let anyone feed him and

does really well with a utensil of any kind.
He is not afraid of ANYTHING!
We are pretty convinced he will be the bully of the family. He purposely taunts MiaLuz by grabbing whatever she is playing with and runs away with it, laughing the entire time while she is running after him. He full speed tackles anyone that is sitting on the floor and doesn't stop until they are laying on the ground. He walks around and just throws and hits for no reason...and gets a kick out of it all. He's our little Taz!
Yet, he is always laughing, smiling, and playing. I can never tell when he is sick because he is always in such a good mood. (Probably why I didn't know he even had an ear infection!)

He LOVES the outdoors, he loves bath time, and loves sports of any kinds. And we have finally gotten him down to using the pacifier only at night!

Our Chubba Wubba definitely holds his own in this house. He is a joy and we are so blessed to have his sweet spirit. I look forward to more adventures, experiences and memories made with him and the rest of the bunch.

Mia's First Catch

Took this picture back in May. Totally forgot to post it so I'm doing it now, for my own recording of it.... This is MiaLuz reeling in and catching her first fish with Daddy! It's the tiniest thing, yet her mouth is wide open in amazement of what she just accomplished. PRICELESS!!!This will be blown up to be put on the wall along side of lil' Chris' catch with Daddy.

MiaLuz's First Day of School

MiaLuz's first day of school was today. It's only half day but it's a BIG deal for the both of us! She has been begging to go to school since last year so she was more than ready for this day to come. As for me, not as much. She will always be my baby girl and I think I will definitely miss my little helper around the house. I wonder how Adan will react to being the only child in the home all morning?

I tried to take a quick pic before we left, but as you can see, Adan wanted that backpack and would not let go! lol

my second attempt while holding Adan in my arms, with the sun in her eyes...oh, FORGET IT! off to school!

"Hurry, Mom. I'm going to be late!"

Walking in all by herself

There were 3 other kids hanging on to their mom's legs and crying their eyes out. MiaLuz looked at them, then she looked back at me and said, "It's okay, Mommy. I'm OK. I'm a big girl. You can go now." Well, alright then!

Labor Day

Monday morning, Chris went hunting with our bishop on his land. Afterwards, he called me and asked me to bring the kids up there so we can enjoy the morning, do some fishing and just RELAX for a change. So we got in our grubby clothes and headed out!

The first on the list...FISHING!!! surprise, surprise!

The kids were super excited, but as you can tell in the picture, Mia was not having it once we had to start moving the boat into the water.

Once they go moving they all had a great time.

On dry land, I had the pleasure of entertaining our chubba wubba!

If you look REAL close, there is a baby lizard that we were chasing, he touched him a couple of times before he finally disappeared.

Here is MiaLuz upset because she got mud in her chankla. So much like her mama! lol

It was also baby Adan's first time fishing. He was loving it!

...yes, loving it...all the way until he reeled in his first catch. Wasn't too fond of the fish in his face, this picture is PRICELESS!

lil' Chris throwing the fish back in the water.

It was a great, peaceful morning. Couldn't ask for anything more...well, maybe A/C, but you get the picture...lol