An Unexpected Trip

Saturday afternoon, I got a phone call from my good friend Felicia. She was calling to ask what size clothes and shoes Diego wears... because his birthday party is in two weeks. So we're talking for a few minutes and next thing I know, she's coming to visit us in Tucson along with her husband and two kids. They decided that they wanted to take us to Tombstone and Bisbee. So they came to spend the night with us.

So this morning we woke up, ate breakfast, made lunches, and took off on our little trip. I had been to Tombstone when I was about 5 or 6 but I don't remember it. My dad and I had been talking about going as well. So I was excited to do something we haven't done before. Plus Jr and I sometimes like to take spontaneous trips like that.

The drive up was very short. Felicia had grown up around the area and she was a good tour guide. Telling us about the different places.

First we stopped at the Holy Trinity Monastery. It was a very beautiful little church. Since it's not springtime yet... there were no flowers in bloom but the place was still so pretty. Peacocks roam the grounds and at the entrance there is a huge stone cross.

Felicia and I actually went inside the church while the guys entertained the kids outside. It was small but beautiful. We admired the paintings and statues a while. Felicia wrote a prayer for her daughter and then we were off.

Next we were arrived to Tombstone. We stopped first at the Boothill Graveyard and walked around for a while. Once we got into town, we took a few tours and did a lot of walking. It was very interesting to learn about this old west town. The first tour we took was a Trolley tour and before it started, a cowboy came on with his gun and tried to steal our belongings! We were laughing and having fun, until Diego starting crying because he thought it was a real stick up. Poor baby! We had to explain to him that everything was fake and it was just a show for fun. The rest of the day he spent it asking when we were leaving because he didn't like walking the streets and seeing the cowboys with their guns. He held my hand the whole rest of the time we were there. He didn't like not one show we saw.

Once we saw everything and took a few pictures we decided to continue on to Bisbee. Due to high winds we didn't stay very long in Bisbee. Be we drove around enough to see the little town. The buildings were very unique. We found an area that had graffiti and took some pictures there. We also went and saw the mines. Wow looked like the Grand Canyon. But very cool to see.

So we had a great time! And were so tired by the time we were done. I am so glad Felicia and James invited us. (Thanks guys, you're awesome!) Hopefully we can do it again soon. I definitely want to go back again.

So my kids may be the next American Idols

It's no secret that my family loves to sing. And it's no secret that my daddy and I both love country music. It took me a while to get my husband to listen to country music but now he's a big fan. So of course my kids have now started listening to nothing but country music. Which I love because I never have to fight over what we're listening to in the car. Lucky me!

So my favorite song right now is "Stay" by Sugarland. I love the way it sounds. Jennifer Nettles has an awesome voice, and the video just makes me wanna cry right along with her. So needless to say, I blast the radio everytime it comes on. And I think my kids have learned it...

Next American Idols? What do you say?

I'm back!

Ok so I went on hiatus... not intentionally but I did. The month of December was a very busy month for me and thus didn't get much posting done. None at all actually.

And the first weekend in Januray we moved to Tucson! Yeah big move for us but it's actually been a very good thing. Sure we miss Phoenix but Tucson is really starting to grow on me. It's very quiet and calm... definately nothing like Phoenix. So we've been doing the family thing. We've been taking the kids out and spending a lot of time with them. It's been fun actually!

Not to mention the new house is nice. Everyone has their own space and that makes us all a lot happier. Jr and I finally have our own room which is nice for a change. Diego loves that he has his own room even though Alayna spends most of her time in there. Alayna does have her own room as well, she plays in there and makes a mess... but she doesn't have the luxuries like TV, DVD Player, Radio, or Vsmile... like Diego does. So she plays mostly in her brother's room. And sleeps in there. The 2 months we've been here she's slept in her room maybe 5 times total.

We also have the other bedroom being prepared for the new baby due in 6 weeks! I am getting pretty excited to finally have her here with us. I'll show you pictures on the progress of her room as I download them.

For now here are some pictures of the house:

The Dining Room

The Living room when we had no couches yet...

Downstairs Bathroom - Plain Still

Alayna's Room

Another View of her room

The Beginning of the kids bathroom

Diego's Room before it was decorated

Our bedroom... Still needs a lot of work... the only room we haven't started on

Decorating for Christmas

Yesterday I finally got my husband off his lazy butt to help me find the boxes of christmas stuff in the garage. The kids were so excited to finally be able to put up the christmas tree. Alayna doesn't really get the concept yet but Diego sure does. So Junior got to fixing my lights while I set up the tree.
Oh and Diego helped daddy fix the lights too. He thought he was so cool.

But then we noticed that a box of stuff was missing because I couldn't find the ornaments. So again I had to send my husband to the garage to look for the box. As we're out there browsing through the mess in the garage... I suddenly hear the pitter patter of little feet. No not baby feet. And I tell my husband, "Shh! I think I hear a rat!" He jumps down and starts looking around. I wanted no part of that so I stood on top of a chair. Then he finds him! A baby mouse stuck inside of a tub that we use for drinks at parties.



My husband and son wanted to keep the gross little thing. And my daughter wanted to hold him. I was like NOOO! Where there's a baby mouse, there's a mama rat. Eww.

So anyway. We went back inside after our little adventure and the mouse stayed in that dang tub. We didn't know what to do with it. So we went back to decorating. My husband helped me put the lights on our tree and had my daughter put the star on top.




The kids loved seeing the tree all lit up! The wanted to play underneath it and I had to snap some shots of them. It was adorable! Diego was explaining to Alayna that Santa was gonna put the presents under the tree.

So finally it was time to add our ornaments. Each ornament on the tree was either given to us, bought for a certain person, or made by my sister and I when we were little. So that's usually my favorite part.

Last year for Christmas my husband took me to Disneyland without the kids and we brought them back each an ornament. Diego of course got Lightning McQueen. And Alayna got a Mickey Mouse Santa antenna ball that we turned into an ornament. They felt so special putting them on the tree.

Here I am admiring one of our ornaments.

We had fun putting together the tree. It was something we did as a family and I love to see my kids feel so special because they were involved. They can't wait for it to be christmas.

Here's all our stockings. All 14 of them! One for each one of us. And to think... next year we'll have one more for my new baby.

Here's Diego with the tree today. After they went to bed my sister and I put all the gifts, that were being stored in my parents bathtub, under the tree. The kids were so surprised to see that Santa had come during the night to drop off some gifts early!

Don't you just love Christmastime?!

My Blessing - Our Thanksgiving

These are two of my greatest blessings in life.

My little Rockstar Diego.

My Little Princess Alayna.

Our Thanksgiving was great and I hope yours was too. With such big families on both mine and my husbands sides... things get very hectic around this time of year. But somehow we are able to make it work.

Thanksgiving morning we woke up and went to my Mother in Law's house to help cook. I have NEVER helped cook before not even with my family so I was scared. My Mother in Law, who usually does all the cooking by herself, was barely coming back from a cruise and that's why we were commissioned to help. When I got there the only thing I did was make mashed potatoes because by the time we got there my sister, and sister in law, had already done everything. So I was pretty much off the hook. The rest of the afternoon was just spent lounging around.

I did let my son do a mini photoshoot of my daughter and I though. The following are two shots that I thought came out decent. Everything else was just a mess.

And a family shot with Alayna not looking as always!

So my Mother in Law finally arrives at about 3:30pm and we're starving by this time. As soon as everyone arrives we say Grace and start digging in. Above is a picture of my kids waiting patiently for some food!

Then it was off to my parents to celebrate with my family as well. Where I ate a second plate full of food. Yummy! We usually have a lot of family from California that join us... but this year it was a few of us only. It was nice though. The food was great! And the pumpkin pie was even better!

Then it was time to mentally prepare ourselves for... BLACK FRIDAY shopping! Oh yeah! We started doing this 3 years ago (My sister, my brother in law, my husband and I) and we get some good sales. Mostly on presents for our children. This year we are so very broke that we had to take advantage of the amazing sales. So we took off at 1am to secure a spot in line at Toys R Us. When we got there the line was still pretty short! We were among the first 50 people in line. I was so excited! The only drawback was that it was freezing cold and that was something we were not expecting, nor were we prepared for.

We expected it to be cold so we did have sweaters and pants... but the temps got down to 60 degrees and we had slight wind. For living in Arizona, and having such nice weather throughout the day, we were shocked that it was so cold. The cold was hard to bear. The 2 guys had to end up driving back to our house and bringing like 6 blankets that we layed across the floor and wrapped ourselves up in to keep warm. We slept maybe 30 minutes while the guys stayed awake waiting. It was an adventure for sure.

Here's me and my cousin Chris goofing off!

They finally opened Toys R Us at 5am, on schedule and I got pretty much everything I was looking for. Although it was pure madness in there and my cousin Chris followed me around like a hawk so that no one would bump into my tummy. We managed to make it out alive! And in 20 minutes.

Afterward we went to Walmart and got there very shortly after they opened... so I got very good deals there as well. By the time we were done it was about 7am. We had to stop and McDonalds and have some breakfast before heading home to FINALLY get some rest! But it was all worth it. I got $250 worth of toys and clothes for my kids for $100! Oh yeah! Santa did some good shopping this year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey be plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off of your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!