A is 6 today!

I told my little boy that I was not happy he was turing 6. I've said that every year since he turned 2, I think. The truth is...he's grown up sooooo fast. Next year he starts 1st grade! Where has my baby gone? Here is the spotlight I wrote that was read in primary today:

"We love our A... He has been a very happy and active child since the day he was born. Literally. The child never napped and barely slept a wink at night! Always a ball of energy. A loves to sing and dance. He's pure entertainment to his family and whoever else crosses his path. A loves going to kindergarten and enjoys playing with all of his friends there, who are also his friends at church. A is also a very good swimmer and enjoys doing canon balls into his community pool. He is also a great reader and loves to read all by himself. A really loves and looks up to his big sister, T. Whever he's out shopping with mom, he always looks for things to buy for her. A is also a snuggler and likes to have "cuddle parties" with his mom in her bed. He is a good helper around the house and especially enjoys playing with his new dog Tonka. A is a very special child of God and his family loves him sooooooo much!"

A has enjoyed a week of celebration. He was the "star of the week" at school and got to share a special stuffed animal every day at school. He also brought in his favorite book to share along with some treats to share with the class. On Saturday he enjoyed a party with his closest friends at Chuck E Cheese. I really wanted his party at the pool this year, but they are all currently closed for various reasons. I even tried to talk him into doing a party at our house, but he really wanted Chuck E Cheese....again. The first time was for his 4th birthday. Anyway, like last time, he and his friends had a great time. I feel truly blessed that A has made some real special friends here. He truly feels loved. Today, he picked pancakes for breakfast and opened a gift from his sister before we all went to church. Grandma and Grandpa Garcia were also here to celebrate his big day. After church, we had a barbecue, then cake and presents. A great day! Thank you all who have loved our special boy.

Utah/Easter 2009

So the kids and I had a pretty good trip to Utah. R stayed back to work and deal with our doggie's upset tummy.:) We carpooled with my good friend Mindy and her kids. It was a fun drive. As always, Mindy and I had lots to talk about between the many potty stops, and while attending to five chronically hungry and bored kids. Once in Utah I first got to see my adorable little nephew Shadrach, also known as "Shad." I couldn't stop kissing his loveable cheeks. My kids also enjoyed fighting over him. I was happy to see that my brother and his wife moved from their tiny BYU basement apartment to a tiny apartment upstairs. Oh, basement apartment living....brings back my own blissful memories! The bugs, the mold, the water heater that took up half the apartment, the weird neighbors upstairs, etc. etc. Good times! Moving on...... After visiting my little bro my cousin picked me and the kiddies up and drove us to Bountiful where my mama and papa live. Thanks Heather. I also got to see her little beautiful cherub, Olivia. The kids and I stayed in Bountiful for the rest of the week. The first day was my kid's favorite. They got to watch two session of conference!!! Needless to say they were bored out of their minds and reminded me every 5 minutes of their plight. I gave them a break on Sunday and let them watch "Bolt" instead. Meanwhile I got to attend the afternoon session in Salt Lake City with my parents and siblings. It was wonderful. I loved listening to the messages from our church leaders live. And of course hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing was icing on the cake. The rest of the week the kids and I went on several fun excersions: bowling, rollerskating, attending Aunt Me Me's softball game, visiting Aunt Me Me at work and eating all the snacks out of her break room, playing ping pong with Aunt Me Me, going to see Monsters vs. Aliens (not my fav.), going to see Hannah Montana the Movie ( Love it!!!!!), eating lots of sinful food, and just hangin' with the folks. T also got some quality time with her BFF Erin as well at the end of the week. Anyway, time flew by so fast as it always does when I visit my family in Utah. They are the best and I love them so much. They are truly my favorite people to hang out with. What a blessing it is that I like them so much! ...... I've also attached an Easter morning photo of my kids. We returned the night before Easter so we could be with R and his family. Doggy and Daddy were very happy to see us again!

We're still here!

Sorry, I know it's been awhile since my last post. Honestly, these days managing the blog is at the bottom of my list. Life is busy as always. Some great news though! T has finally moved up to competitive level in gymnastics! We are so excited for her. Her coach has been working with her for some time to get her ready. She's looking forward to competing in floor and beam. I think those are her two favorite events. Along with the prestige of being on team comes lots of sacrifice. T will be at the gym about 12 hours a week, which includes some ballet training. I've talked with her a lot about this and how she's going to miss out on a lot of the freedoms other kids have. I've asked her if she wanted to take a break and try something new. Her reply, "No mom. I want to do gymnastics." As she moves up in levels, the hours will also increase. I've debated about letting her take this path, but ultimately it's what she REALLY wants to do. And she's got a talent for it. I can't take that away from her. We'll see how it goes and if it's something that's really making her happy. That's all that really matters, I think.

Moving on....I've posted some pictures of our weekend with Aunt Me Me, my sister who came to celebrate her birthday at Disneyland. We always have a lot of fun with her. She is truly the life of the party. After a very crowded day at "the happiest place on earth", we spent Saturday in Newport Beach where we took the Balboa ferry over to eat at The Crab Cooker. My favorite restaurant on the planet! A great weekend with a great little sister! I love you Emilie!

Wizards of Waverly Place!

We have lots of entertainment people in our ward. Artists, actors, producers, musicians, etc. A very talented and artistic group. And that comes with benefits, of course! Two ward members work on the set of Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place. They gave my friend Kerrie 4 VIP passes to see the last taping of the season. Which was last night. Kerrie was sweet to invite T to tag along with friends Zoe and Sophie. T was ecstatic! They picked her up yesterday at 3:30 and she didn't get home until 11:00. After the taping, the kids got to go on set and meet the stars and walk around on the set. They took photos and got autographs. I only wish I had been able to go. Next time Kerrie, it's Jay Leno?! American Idol?! I'll be like a kid in a free candy shop!! Watch out!Thanks againe Kerrie. You're awesome. T will never forget this experience.

Our new baby Tonka!!

Our newest addition is a 90lb American bulldog. We weren't necessarily looking for a dog; this one came into our lives over a month ago. He had gotten lost and found us. We put him in our backyard and gave him some water. He was so sweet and calm. I was preparing to make some signs to post up the next day. However, the owner found him that night. She said that they had 5 full bread dogs and were looking for homes for two of them, Tonka included. She said he was still a puppy, 9 months old!!! And still growing! He's huge already, so I can't imagine what he's going to look like at 2 years old when he's full grown! Anyway, the owner left that night with Tonka while we pondered whether to keep him. The next day we decided that YES we wanted this dog! We contacted Tonka's family immediately but weren't able to bring him home until last night!! After we picked him up in our van, we drove around picking up food and toys. Our good friend Jay also gave us a crate for him to sleep in at night. Thanks Jay! We will be crate training him. Today I signed Tonka up for obedience classes at our local Pet Smart. Starts next week. I also need to get him neutered soon! Saying that the kids love the dog is an understatement! We'll see how strong that love is in a few months! After they have to pick up his piles in the backyard! But, honestly, so far Tonka is a very loveable animal. He is obedient, submissive, calm, and just so sweet. I think he's going to be a perfect fit for our family!

Lovin' Utah!!

I have more pictures of our fun times here in Utah, but you'll have to wait until I get home and download them. Sorry. But here are a couple of us sledding on New Years Day. T is shown with her best bud Erin, and of course there's me with my little cherub. We've had a great time here, and honestly I don't want the vacation to end. Most of all I'm going to miss my family. I just wish we lived closer to them. Here's a brief list of all our activities these past two weeks. All in chronological order. I'll elaborate later. Salt Lake temple trip with siblings, their spouses, and parents. Spaghetti factory dinner celebrating Dad's 60th birthday. Skiing at Park city with brother, sisters, and R. Way fun!!!! Decorating cookies with grandma. Visiting sister at work and eating all her non-free snacks and playing ping pong and pool. Me mauling baby Shad 24/7 (he's 2 months old). Shopping and more shopping. Endless hours playing guitar hero and DD revolution and other card and board games. Me and R's 11 year anniversary skiing at Sundance (I'm still a crappy skiier. Poor R). R and I visit our old stomping ground at Sundance and in Provo. Going to see two movies, one of which probably wasn't very appropriate for my kids. Oops! Me going to Gold's Gym a few times (I LOVE Body Combat!!). Lunch with mom. Lunch with sisters. Lunch with friends. Eating way toooooo much!!! Sledding with the fam. Hurting my back doing nothing (I'm OK. Just needs ice). Lots of fun. Soon we'll be home!!!

Merry Christmas!!

I love Christmas! The family and I have had a ball decorating the house, wrapping presents, listening to holiday music, and making festive treats. Last weekend Ida and Pete spent Saturday with us watching holiday movies and making cookies. Ida has this really fun recipe where she creates Christmas cookies with different colored dough. They are delicious! The kids had fun creating with her. It was like playing with "edible" playdough. We had a fun visit with them. This weekend my aunt and her family will come and decorate more cookies with us for our annual "cookie decorating" party. We are excited to see them. Next week we are off to Utah to see family! I can't wait! I miss them so much. I know T and A are excited to see their friends and extended family again. Hopefully we'll get some ski time in while we're there. R and I will also be celebrating our 11 year anniversary. Crazy!!!! I can't believe. We're like an old married couple now. Well, I know this sounds cliche, but I truly feel blessed this year. We moved to paradise, basically. We couldn't ask for a better place to raise our kids. Everything we want or need is right here. All except for our family in Utah, of course. We love our church here! The families are amazing. There's so much love and spirit in this ward. I personally feel inspired by so many of the women here. They are so talented. I have so much to learn from them. R has a great job with lots of promise and opportunity. And most importantly, He loves it!!! And I love my job as a mother of two very special children. I'm also blessed to be able to earn a living part time as well. I teach aerobic classes at three clubs in the area as well as dance classes at T's gym. My bootcamp business is also thriving, and it's so exciting to these women getting healthier and stronger. I often go to work thinking, I can't believe I get paid to do this!! T and A go to a wonderful school where their teachers are amazing. I'm so grateful for that. They are really being challenged and pushed. A recently finished soccer and is now attending my Wednesday night kids hip hop class. He loves it! And I love having him there. He also continues to be our little comedian at home. T will be moving up in the next month or so to team level gymnastics. We are very excited for her. This is something she really loves, and she is so good at it. She will have the opportunity to learn from two coaches who were past olympians, one a silver medalist in the 2004 Athens games. Hey, I'm just impressed that she can do 10 pull-ups and I can't even do one! I am so grateful for the blessings the Lord has showered upon my family this year. I hope that all of you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! We love and appreciate you all!