Easter Weekend

I can't believe that Easter weekend already came and went. It was a great weekend. We watched general conference and got Easter Baskets ready! I love general conference it is so uplifting and always reminds me of the things that are truly important in this life. Which is family!! I don't know what I would do without family!! Especially my babies..... they can make me go a little wacky sometimes ( nice way of saying crazy) but it is all worth it!! I would not change anything I feel very lucky to be able to have been entrusted with two little special spirits!! Oh and I realized that I am just as horrible at blogging as I am at writing in my journal. I am going to try extra hard because I want to make sure I have something to pass down to my kids!!

Ariana realizing the Easter Bunny had come!!
I love spring but with spring she wakes up at 6:00 a.m there is a downside to having the sun rise earlier :( Viggo just liked throwing the eggs and watching them crack open.... he found it so amusing

I forgot to write that on Easter April 4th 2010 Ariana wrote her name out all by herself!! I had to tell her what letter came next but she wrote it out by herself. I was so proud!!

Daddy and Ariana enjoying conference together!! She is a total Daddy's girl!

Its a New Year!!

So last time I blogged, I blogged how I wanted to explore photography. Well, besides reading some books I haven't really done anything. Unfortunately I didn't think about how my wallet would be unable to afford this new passion I wanted to explore so badly lol. I still want to do it, but maybe I will wait till buying a camera will not cause me to be behind on my bills. So instead I am doing what I said I didn't feel would be such a challenge to me. hehe well after having two kids it has been a challenge. I have started training to run a marathon. I have been doing it for about a month now. On Feb. 6 I am running in the Sedona marathon but I am only going to be doing the 5k. Then in April I am running a half marathon, or 10K.... we will see where I'm at. Then I am heading down to San Diego to do the rock and roll marathon but only doing the half. And if all goes to plan in November I head out to New York do the marathon. Two of my friends from highschool are planning on running it with me. Should be fun to have an all girls trip!!!! So far so good. I'm up to running five miles and feeling real good. So wish me luck!! Oh and I have the most considerate husband ever. He fully supports me and always makes sure that I go on my run, he even bought me new running shoes for my birthday!!! How did I get so lucky!!!!!

So lets see what has happened? I feel like I love my kids more and more with everyday. Right when I think its not possible to love them, more I feel like something happens that melts my heart into a smile. We had a wonderful Christmas!!! We were so blessed this year to spend it with family, and I feel so lucky to have a roof over my head, and a fridge full of food. I do love food!!!





Ariana is now in Sunbeams!!! She is so cute!!! I feel so lucky to work in primary and see her reach this milestone. She was so excited and she did great!!! I don't know what happened but I credit her teacher!!!!! She is like a new girl ever since she went to primary!!! Before she would throw a couple temper tantrums through out the day, I felt like I was constantly having to have talks with her and put her in time out....... but ever since primary its like I can reason with her!!!! She hardly ever talks back, and she is so happy!!!! I can't remember the last time I put her in time out!! Its been wonderful!!! But at the same time sad. One day to the next she grew up, she's now my "big girl". And she reminds me everyday how big she is. At dinner time her new thing she does is take a bite of food, and then stands up to show me that she grew.... and yes she does this after every bite!!! Oh how I love her sweet little voice and face. I love looking into her big brown eyes that penetrate my heart every time. I love the freckles on her nose, and how her hair curls just at the ends. I love how she is always singing, and dancing. And I love that she loves to use her imagination!!



Now about my little Viggo!!! He is growing up too fast as well!! He is standing up on things and trying to let go!!! He has already had some pretty nasty falls. He is so brave and determined!!! I don't know how to describe it, but my life before Viggo was wonderful, and my home felt complete. But now that I have Viggo, I feel like he has added so much to our home!!! He has provided our home with joy. His unfaltering smile lights up our home every day!! He is the most wonderful baby!! He loves to cuddle, and loves to press his nose up against mine. I love how sometimes I catch him staring at his dad, or Nana with so much love that it seeps through his pores!!! Uggh did I mention how his first words were dada!!! I know right before Christmas at 8 months he said his first words..... Dada!!! I love it you should see how happy David gets when he here these simple words come out of our boys mouth!!! I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little jealous!! But so proud at the same time!!!! I know I am biased but Viggo has the most contagious joy!!! He can make anyone feel happy!!! At church he is known as the Happy Baby!!! "The baby who can smile through his pacifier" . What would I do without my little boys, my little piece of sunshine!!


Then there is my David, my best friend!!! How lucky am I that he married me!!!!!! He makes me feel so loved, and I know that he never gets sick of me!!!! ( Or at least that's what I tell myself) He makes me laugh, and I love that he takes his responsibilities as husband and father so seriously, but never allows it to overwhelm him. Seriously, he works full time, goes to school full time, and serves his calling like all the time, and gives 100%, and he always manages to fit me in. Its been so wonderful since we moved up to Northern Arizona. We have our babysitters Ashley and Lexi and they are wonderful. For the first time David and I are going on dates consistently, and its wonderful. I can't get enough of my best friend!!! So happy he came into my life seven years ago!!! hehe even though I was a stinker!! Long story maybe another time.


So all in all I can't see how this year can be a bad year. Having to spend another year with my best friend, and my two adorable children..... I don't now how it can go wrong. As I see it as long as they are with me my heart will always be full. Plus it will only get better because who knows maybe next year I will have another little gift from God on the way.......hmmmm that would be exciting ;)

Time for something new!

For the past two years now I have been wanting to find something that I am great at. My husband always tells me that I am a great mother and wife, and I am so proud of this!! But I feel like everything I have done in life I can pretty much be good at. For example in highschool I was a runner and I was good, but not great. I was always athletic but nothing out of the ordinary. I can sing, but once again its just average. I play the piano, but its just good. I think I am an excellent cook, but nothing that no one else can do. I can sew, but nothing that one would consider a masterpiece. I'm smart but I am not a genius!! I don't know what it is, but this has been bothering me!! I guess my thought process is, is that if I can find something that I am great at, I will find my passion. I wan't to find that thing that I can do, that makes me feel like " this is what I do".

I have considered many things. For example I have wanted to take up surfing, but being that there is no beach out here I can not do that. Then I wanted to prepare for a marathon, but to be honest I just feel like this won't make me grow. I know I can run. Running has always been easy for me, and I feel like it will be just something that I am picking up again. Then I thought well I can become a gym instructor, because I love health and exercise. But once again I feel like I won't grow from this. I want to do something that is out of my comfort zone. So I began to think about what I can do that would be a challenge for me. So I have decided that in this year I would try and tap into my "creative self". I want to explore this side which I have never really considered. Don't get me wrong I do stuff like buy patterns from the sewing department and make my daughter a dress, or I can buy flowers and make them into hair clips, or I can scap book...... but I want to go deeper than this. I want to be able to do something out of my own mind. I do not want a pattern or a set of instructions that will cause me to produce someone else's idea. I want something to be my own. I want to use my mind and create something for myself.

Maybe this dosen't make sense but I am so excited to do this. Yesterday I went to the library and picked up some books on photography. I have decided that I am going to see if photography can be my creative outlet. I am very excited. I love taking pictures, but I want to take good pictures. I want to capture a moment. I want to capture an emotion, a feeling, I want to stop time for a brief second. I want to capture beauty where one may not ordinarily look. So here I go....... I don't know if I will be great at this, I may simply just end up being good, but I am so excited to see if this could be what I could be great at. I am excited to see if this could be my passion. And if its not, its not a problem, because I learned something new along the way. But I am determined to find my passion. If this dosen't work I am going to take a class in pottery, or jewelry. I am so excited...... I am excited to see where this exploration takes me.

* To be honest I know what my passion is...... and its helping others. That's why I majored in sociology. I love people!!! I once wanted to be a doctor so I could help children, and families. But I decided, that for me I could make the greatest change in the world by raising my beautiful children, to be good citizens, and good people!! This is what brings me my happiness!! But I just want to explore myself and find a tangible talent. Something that I am great at. I don't know if this makes sense, but I guess this what a blog is for......... so here's to finding what I am great at!!!

Mexico's Independence

I am so grateful to be an American Citizen!! It is such a huge blessing to live in a country where I have so many freedoms. But I am also glad that my mother and father kept the Mexican culture alive in our household. My mother is from Montarey, and she is a Latin as can be. I love her so much. Growing up we had arroz con frijoles with everything. I love that I can speak Spanish, and that I can cook Mexican food. I love it I feel like I am passing down a part of me to my children. In the home David and I speak Spanish to our children, and Ariana has done so well with it. She speaks it sooooo well!! I hope Viggo will be able to pick it up just as easily. Anyways this weekend we went to a festival that celebrated Mexico's Independence Day!! It was a lot of fun.

These are some of the children that Danced!

Ariana loved watching all the dancing

( Just waiting for the Dancing to begin)

Third Birthday

So on September 15th my little girl turned three years old!!! The night before David and I decorated the house so when she woke up she would know that it was her day!! We had so much fun decorating for her birthday and setting up her presents for her to see the next morning.

When she woke up in the morning she was so excited. We allowed her to open some of her presents for the day!! Her favorite one was her ballet outfit that her Aunt Sara got her. David and I signed Ariana up for ballet classes, because she loves to dance. She even puts on her serious face when she dances, and she always asks us to put on classical music. She is just so cute!




For Dinner we had her favorite food. HOT DOGS with CHILE BEANS. And we finished off with having some birthday cake. I wanted to make her such a cute cake...... but with Viggo I didn't have the time I needed to do what I wanted to do. So instead she got this....... it's not the best looking cake, but at least it tasted good!! And best of all my little girl loved it just as it was!!!! It was a wonderful birthday!!


My husband and I are so lucky to have her in our lives. Here are just some things that make her so special!

- She loves her family!! She is always making us have group hugs, and then announcing to us while giggling that we are a family!!
- She is so loving.... there is not a day that goes by that she dosen't tell us how much she loves her family
- She is such a good older sister. She loves her brother so much. She is always trying to take care of him
- I know every parent says this.... but my little girl is so smart. She speaks Spanish and English fluently!! She loves to read, and learn!
- She loves to dance!! She is such a little dancer
- She loves to draw.... just like her daddy
- I love her laugh.....especially when it comes from her little belly. It is so contagious
-Her smile brightens up a room
- I love to hear her sing. She loves singing primary songs!!
- And the best part is that my heavenly father has entrusted this special spirit to me. I feel so lucky to be entrusted with her. She is truly my special little princess!!

I had a wonderful labor day weekend!! I am so lucky to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. On Saturday we were going to go hiking up at Cathedral Rock in Sedona, but to our surprise we got a stormy day. So instead David thought it would be fun to go off roading. There is this place call Shnibley Hill were if you go all the way up you get to see sedona from a birds eye view. It was so beautiful!! As we were driving to the top you get to see how beautiful Sedona is, but then when you get to the top it just leaves you speachless. But on Saturday it was a whole new experience. When we stoped at the top to take pictures you could see all the red rock, but what made it especially beautiful were all the stormy clouds that were surrouding it. The reds, greens, and greys were just beautiful. Well as we were getting ready to leave we noticed all this white fog moving in. It was moving so fast, that before you knew it all the red rock that was before us was gone. You couldn't see anything!! It was all white!! It was such a cool feeling to be in a cloud. It was so peaceful!! Here are some pics!!


Then on Monday we went to see the ruins in Sedona!! Those are amazing as well. It is incredible that the pictographs still exist. It's just amazing to see evidence of those who lived before us.

First Day of School

Where do I begin!! When David and I got married we were both in school. I was studying sociology at UCSD, and David was getting ready to go to medic school to become a handsome fire fighter. (He would have left the handsome part out of the title) Well I was very excited about the idea of being married to a fire fighter.... but there were times when I wondered how this would work. First off all fire fighters have a high risk of divorce, and then there are the health issues, and then their schedule is crazy. The hours are pretty good in general. They work a couple of 24 hour shifts and then have several days off. But thinking to the future I don't know if I would be the type of mom that could handle being alone with the kids for several days. Don't get me wrong I love kids, infact I think I am a very fun mom, but talking to kids all day can make you feel a little crazy!! David was in Medic school and was doing amazing!! For those of you who do not know anything about medic school it is pretty intense..... and to just drop out a week before finishing is not something that you would do. But we did. A month before David finished he started to question if this was the thing he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Anyways he had doubts every once in a while but he would quickly brush it off. Then about two weeks before the end he got a call from his best friend Brandon. Offering to come out to Arizona to work with him. David would have to come out and get his state cert to become a hearing specialist. Well after praying we got an immediate answer and it said we had to go to Arizona.

This was crazy we always said we would never move to Arizona. But here we were packing up and leaving beautiful San Diego. Long story short we move out to Arizona the hearing store did not do well and it filed for bankruptcy. Then we went about two years with really no financial income!! =( Very stressful times. But somehow we were always able to make it month to month. We were very blessed!!! Our intention in coming out to Arizona was always to help build this buissness with his best friend but we always intended for David to enroll in school and get his bachelors. Well the first year went by and we did nothing, then the second went by and once again we did not enroll David. Well finally after praying we felt that David really needed to go back to school. Once David decided to do this things changed drastically for us. He got an amazing job out here in Sedona Arizona where he works with a group of audiologists, and he is able to do all his schooling online. He has one more year at community, and then he is transfering to NAU and doing a completely all online degree. This is a huge blessing because being a family of four online seemed to be the only answer to finish school. And just a couple of months ago NAU created this online degree, which is nice because David will still be able to qualify for financial aid!!! So Davids goal is to become an audiologist which means he will then have to enroll in a doctorate program.

Luckily the audiologists he works for really want David to do this and are very supportive of his schooling. So in about three more years we will move back down to Tempe Arizona for about four years so David can finish his doctorate program. Wow that was a lot of info. But without it you wouldn't understand how excited that today is David's first day of school. This is the first day that we embark on our plan!!!

And to make it all the more special Ariana started her first day of her preschool group!! Yes she is only three but a group of moms from church created this preschool group for our kids where we take turns once a week teaching preschool to our kids!! I know its not the real thing yet, but it sure did feel like it!! She has been my partner in crime for almost three years now!! And it feels so strange not to have here with me now!! =( But she looked so happy this morning!! I took pictures of David and Ariana in there backpacks!! Yes I made David put one on even though it is all online!!! So here is a pic of Ariana and David's first day of school!!!

Aren't they cute!! I am so lucky to have David. He loves us so much and is a very hard worker!!