San Xavier Mission

Wow... first off I'd like to say that I have been trying to post since Sunday with no luck! Blogger really hated me! Maybe they think I post too many pictures and wanted a break. But patience is a virtue because I finally am able to post about our trip to the San Xavier Mission.

So my husband turned 22 on Friday! So he asked me if we could invite family over from Phoenix and see if they would like to cook for him and celebrate his birthday. He texted his mom, 2 brothers, sister, and my parents. No one was interested except for my parents. I was disappointed for him although he expected it. His sister's birthday is 2 days after his so she's usually first priority being the only girl. But he didn't seem to mind and was pretty excited that my parents were coming at that my mom agreed to cook for him. So we also decided to invite our friends Felicia and James and their 2 kids to come on down. They accepted as well. And then my mom said that my aunt and her 3 kids would also be joining them. So we were going to have a full house after all!

So we decided that to get out of the house on Saturday... we'd take a trip to the San Xavier Mission. And it was indeed a good idea.

The church was small but gorgeous! So many photo opportunities there. Unfortunately being 35 weeks pregnant I couldn't run around and take as many pictures as I usually do. But I did take a lot of my family... as they all ran around exploring.

The ceiling in the church

Diego and Alayna... Not happy that I made them pose

My cousin Alexis and I
The two most important men in my life! My Daddy and my Husband Jr.
My Aunt Kika and I

The Juan Diego Chapel. My brother is name Juan Diego... and my son is named after him so we took a picture of him standing in front of it. Diego got a kick out of the fact that his name was on the sign.

So we then decide after touring the church to go into the gift shop. With so many of us in there we all split up and looked at all the different things. My mom decided to buy Jr and Diego, Alayna, and Ducky a cross necklace as a souvenir. And as we're picking them out... Diego loses sight of us for one second and all we he hear is a scream and cry. Jr being the quickest reacted quick to see what was going on. Diego panicked because he was holding Alayna and Ducky's hands and they walked a little too far away from us and he freaked out. Jr scooped him up and tried to calm him. He did as soon as he saw Jr. But boy did he scare us!

So we took him outside the store. When Jr asked him why he got so scared, Diego replied... "See daddy... I was trying not to let my little sister and little cousin get lost so I told them to hold my hand. But they were walking too far away and when I turned around you guys were gone!"

The lady at the counter who was next to the kids when he panicked even said. He screamed and cried but never once let go of Ducky and Alayna's hands. She was impressed.

Nothing like Diego to wake us up and do something memorable on our trip.

So here's Diego with his cross

And here's Alayna with hers

Then it was decided that everyone wanted to climb the hill where there was a big cross at the top. They climbed and played up there for a while. Unfortunately I didn't get to join in on the fun... but my mom and I stayed at the bottom and talked with Felicia for a while. And we got to sit and relax.

The King of the World... or so he thinks

Look at this handsome man hiding behind the bushes.

Daddy and his Princess posing
Daddy and his little man!

Soon it was getting later so we decided to head back towards the mission and have all the new rosaries and necklaces blessed with Holy Water before we headed home to the dinner that was promised would be cooked that night.

Jamma blessing Alayna

Daddy blessed Diego and his necklace
Jr almost took a bath in the Holy Water!

So as we were leaving we decided to eat some Indian fry bread to hold us over until dinner. It was good! But the kids were way tired and we ate quickly and headed back to my house to put them all down for a nap!

Thanks Mom, Dad, Kika, Felicia, and James for spending the weekend with us. We had a great time! And at least Jr got some fun his birthday weekend.

Riding the Quads

We're very into family activities as some of you may know. Jr and I love to find things to do with our kids or our whole family for that matter.

Well his old brother Luis just recently bought two quads... so of course we were dying to try them out! We invited his brothers and sisters to barbecue and go take them out for a spin.

The kids LOVED them! He only bought 2 so obviously we all had to take turns using them. And the kids would cry every time it was someone else's turn to ride.

Even I took a quick ride with my husband on flat ground of course! No hills and bumps for this pregnant lady!

So here's some pictures of our fun:

Diego and Daddy

Daddy and Alayna

Conversations With My Son Diego

A few weeks ago

Diego: Mom, I love my Grandma.
Me: I am pretty sure she loves you a lot too.
Diego: I love her even if she's old.
Me: (Laughing) I don't think she's that old!
Diego: But Mom she is because she goes to the Dr a lot. And she has brown pimples on her face. And sometimes she looks tired. But I love her.
Me: Well everyone gets older... but she still has a lot more growing to do. She'll live to be as old as Abuelita one day.
Diego: Wow I didn't know that Grandma could get that old.
Me: (Still laughing) Well everybody can live to be that old.
Diego: Next time she goes to the Dr I am going to tell him to give her juice to make her younger. Because I love her.

LOL. Well I established that he loves her.

Yesterday

Diego: Mom it's almost my birthday huh?
Me: Yes baby, in 24 days more. And how old will you be?
Diego: Well I'm 4 now so I'll be 5!!!
(Pause)
Diego: Mom I'm almost done...
Me: Done with what?
Diego: Growing. Cuz look... (then he proceeds to count to ten on his fingers)... See mom when I get to ten there's no more so I am done.
Me: Oh really?! In that case how is it that I am 23?
Diego: I dunno Mom, cuz I don't have that many fingers. I think it just means your old like my grandma and grandpa.

Today:

Diego overheard me telling my friend the other day that my husband and I have known eachother since we were kids.

Diego: Mom, how did you and Daddy meet?
Me: Daddy used to live in Tucson and Mommy lived in Phoenix, and when Daddy was in 4th grade he moved to Phoenix with your Nana and he started going to Mommy's school.
Diego: Really? And did you love him?
Me: No baby, I thought boys were yucky when I was little.
Diego: (starts laughing) My daddy wasn't yucky!
Me: Well he was to me!
Diego: But he loved you because he must have thought you were a beautiful woman. I think you're a beautiful woman.
Me: Aww well Thanks sweetheart! You make me feel beautiful. But Mommy was mean to Daddy at school until we got older.
Diego: Well if I liked a girl I would tell her she is a beautiful woman so she could love me and we could get married too like you and Daddy. And I would be mad if she was mean to me like you were mean to Daddy.
Me: I know I was mean to Daddy but eventually we loved eachother and we got married. And we're very happy now!
(Pause while Diego collects his thoughts)
Me: So does that mean you wanna get married?
Diego: I think I want to start dating.

(What? How does he even know the word dating!!!)

Me: You want to start dating now?!!
Diego: Yes Mom, I am almost 5 and I need to start thinking where I am going to get married.

(Long pause because I didn't know what to say.)

Diego: I think I'll get married at the park where you and Daddy got married because I love it there.
Me: It is a very pretty park. I like it to.
Diego: To tell you the truth Mom I wish you never got married. Because I think you're the most beautiful woman and I could have married you. But Daddy beat me and now you're his wife.
Me: (My heart fills with happiness) Aww baby! That's sweet! But you couldn't have married me anyways because I am your Mommy and that's even better!
Diego: I know but I wish I could.
Me: What are you thinking... you're too young to think about marriage anyway.
Diego: I'm getting older soon, and I have to think for the future.

The End

Jeez! Where does he think about half of this stuff? He's no normal 5 year old that's for sure!

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