Busy Birthdays

There are at least 5 birthdays in December in our family(4 of which are on Pat's side). Needless to say, it's been a busy month celebrating Pat's 30th, his Dad's bday and his Mom's bday. As if December isn't busy enough!! But, we love getting together with family and it was nice to be able to host the parties.

Wonderful Christmas!

We had such a wonderful Christmas! This time of year is always so busy, and with both our families so close, we try to divide our time between them. We had Christmas Eve day with my family and Christmas Eve night with Pat's. Then Christmas Day was all ours!! Here are some highlights:

• We got to fill stockings with food and essentials for orphans in Mexico (thanks Mom, what a great way to feel the spirit of Christmas).
• We did the traditional $1 store gift exchange! Always a hit.
• The cousins put on a little Christmas program about all the things we are grateful for (that spells out Christmas, too cute!)
• There was a Nerf War in Eagle Mountain and it helped pass the time until midnight when we opened gifts.
• Wolfie enjoyed all the festivities! (We still can't leave him for too long.)
• We told the kids not to wake up before 9 a.m. and at exactly 9:01, Lukas came bursting in our room to see if Santa came!
• Even though the kids were good this year, they got a "bunk" of coal in their stockings (it was really just chocolate covered in black foil).
• We got a Wii for Christmas and spent most of the day trying it out. Wii love it!
• We went to the dollar movies Christmas day to see "Astro Boy".

The Ya Ya Sisterhood

There is something about women and how we relate to each other. It's therapeutic and necessary for us to congregate and talk about life, eat yummy food and just be together to share funny stories and support one another. We understand each other, we relate, we care, we share. This particular bunch also have the same watches, have an affinity for pickles, Cafe Rio and sweet treats, like the same TV shows and live in the same neighborhood. Some (husbands) say we're the Ya Ya Sisterhood. Fine by me. We have been getting together every Monday night since The Bachelor started and when it ended, we continued the tradition b/c we needed each other. {This is an open club for anyone else needing a sisterhood! Join us!!} We had a gift and ugly ornament exchange last night which will soon become tradition, as we had so much fun!! I think I scored the best b/c I got a Team Jacob thermos! Sah-weeet!! Thanks girls!!

Mustache Men

Every time we go to Wal-Mart (ugh) I bribe my kids with a quarter telling them if they are good they can go to the arcade and get a gumball. Lukas got these out of one of the machines and shared with Max. My men of mystery. Aren't they going to be cute with facial hair? haha One is a happy picture, the other is a serious pose. Quite sophisticated if I do say so myself! I love that they love to dress up and play pretend.

Exhausted

This has been such a busy month for us: Pat taking the NCLEX, birthdays, birthdays and more birthdays, Holiday activities, get togethers, shopping and my open house. Well, Max has had just about enough...and the month isn't even over!

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Patricio! It was Pat's 30th birthday on Wednesday. I can't believe my young buck is 30 now! (Sha, I'm ahead of him by 2 years, it's really not that shocking to be in your 30's. Welcome to the cool club!) We had a fun celebration with both our families. Talk about a full house--there were 22 people that came to dinner! We are so glad that Pat is in our lives. Here are 30 reasons why we love Pat: Ok, I'm kidding. I'm not going to bore you with 30 reasons, but I will give you 3...

1. He is the funniest, most entertaining guy around!
2. He has a good heart and would give you the shirt off his back if you asked.
3. He wants to make the world a happier place and he does, just by being in it!!!

Merry Christmas 2009!

Christmas is only a week away and I have slacked again on the Christmas cards this year. It has been fun receiving them from all of you and I apologize for not returning the favor. I figure the people that are really truly my friends keep up with my life in other ways (blog, email, faceboook, phone calls, visits) besides relying solely on my once-a-year Christmas card. Here is our 2009 Christmas photo. It's hard to get us all because I'm always the one taking the pictures. So, Merry Christmas to all my lovely friends and family!!!

Pat RN- It's Official!!!

Pat took his state boards on Wednesday and found out tonight that he is a Registered Nurse! He did it after much studying and strife. Not only is he an RN, but he did it while working full-time as a Realtor, providing for his family, holding a calling and balancing family life. We are very proud! He now is the nurse that makes "house" calls. Watch out U of U Hospital!!!

Candy Houses

What's better than a house made of sugar and candy? Not much, that's for sure!! We had fun making our candy houses together. I think I made Max's and he ate the frosting. Lukas did most of his all by himself. It's so fun to see their creativity at work. Now they have a fun treat to look at and eat.

Christmas Time

Christmas is just around the corner! It comes so fast when you're grown up. I remember as a kid it seemed to take forever. As I finish up the shopping and decorating, I feel almost as excited as my kids about it. What a fun time of year!! I need to take more pictures, but I get so caught up in the moment that it is hard to stop and capture it. Here is a picture of us at our ward Christmas party. And now that there is snow on the ground I'll be getting more outside pictures! Happy Winter!

Early Christmas

Tonight at dinner we were having broccoli for our vegetable. Lukas really dislikes trying new things and especially anything healthy like vegetables. Bribery is pretty much the only way to push him in the right direction. So I said, "Whoever tries their broccoli gets to open one Christmas present early." Lukas was immediately excited and happy to try it. He was laughing with joy, or so we thought, when suddenly it turned into tears. We asked him why he was crying and he said, "Presents are so much fun. It's so fun!" He was crying out of excitement! And sure enough he popped that broccoli in his mouth and now claims he likes three vegetables...corn, peas and broccoli. Nothing like a little bribery. (And dollar store toys that you have stashed away for just such occasions!)

Thanksgiving from A-Z

I really love this time of year. {Except for all the time it takes to make the big meal vs. the time it takes to eat it!} But eat food we did! Every year we get 2 Thanksgiving dinners! We had a great time at Aunt Lecia's (JaNece's side) and at Jessica's (Pat's side). It is wonderful (and filling) to have both our families close enough to share the day with. I was enjoying myself so much that I didn't even get a picture of anything. What was I thinking? (Do you ever feel like you want to leave the camera alone and just enjoy the moment? Then later you're mad for not taking yourself out of the moment to get the picture that will help you remember the special time? UGH!!) Anyway...I feel like we are blessed with so much. I wanted to really sit down and make note of all we have. So, we made a list of all the things we are thankful for from A-Z. Here they are:

• A- Atonement, Articles of Faith
• B- Book of Mormon, Baby on the way, bathes, our bodies, beds
• C- Cars, cash, church, cooking, cancer treatments, cameras
• D- Dads, doctors, Disneyland, days off
• E- Earth, Entertainment, Easter, electronics, email
• F-Family, freedom, food, faith
• G- Good friends, gifts, GPS
• H- House, holidays, health, Holy Ghost, hope, hospitals
• I- Insurance, inspiration, ipods, InstaCare, internet
• J- Jesus, jobs, Joseph Smith, JaNece
• K- Kindness, knowledge
• L- Lukas, love, little brother
• M- Max, moms, memories, music
• N- Neighbors, nursing degree, the nursery at church
• O- Oatmeal, Olive Garden, organization
• P-Pat, prophet, priesthood, plan of salvation, Peruvian food, primary, preschool, playgroups
• Q- Quiet moments, quaker oats
• R- Restored gospel, resurrection, repentance, revelation, real estate
• S-Scriptures, sacrament, siblings, seasons
• T- Trials, temples, technology, TV, toilets, toys, time
• U- Understanding, USA, Utah, Utes, U of U
• V- Very sweet husband, very cute wife
• W- Wolfie, wife, water, world, work
• X- Xmas, eXercise, Xrays
• Y- Youthfulness, yummy sweets
• Z- Zimbabwe, Zoos

Really...Stitches, again??!!

Apparently, the third time is NOT a charm. This will be Max's FOURTH time getting stitches on his face. That kid is one tough cookie! I was at Target shopping with Whitney, so Holden, Lukas and Max were just running around playing. The next thing I know Max comes crying to me with blood coming out his mouth. I thought he just cut his lip or something minor, but after seeing how much blood was coming out I knew it was worse. He not only cut it, but split it wide open. His upper lip was all cut up and his gums, too! Poor child! It was a moment of panic since I didn't have anything to stop the blood in the middle of the store. I just held my hand out to catch all the blood while racing to the bathroom. Luckily, some nice ladies offered their wipes and we got things under control. Whitney ran for paper towels and ice and that helped a ton. I am sad and disappointed in TARGET because not ONE associate or worker came to investigate or help. We were making a lot of noise, so I don't know how no one noticed. (I went back later to talk to a manager about it all, and he was nice, but totally unhelpful as well. He just said sorry.) So, a trip to the InstaCare again. He had to have 4 stitches in his bottom lip and he handled it quite well despite his fear of shots {he had to have 2 shots in his lip to numb it}. We're eating a lot of popsicles around here and avoiding Target. We also thought it would be fun after such a horrific day to have a sleep out in the loft and watch movies. The kids were up WAY too late, but we're making memories, right! I love my boys so much. They stick up for each other and love each other and are so fun. They are a HUGE blessing in my life. They're my little super heroes.

New Moon Night

There is nothing like leaving reality to dive into a life of vampires and werewolves. {Especially when they so dang HOT!} So...A group of us girls got together to go see New Moon, but not after making our "Team" t-shirts and feeling a little silly wearing them around town (Olive Garden) before the movie. It was worth it, we got lots of comments and attention. One lady said, "What is this all about"? Referring to our t-shirts and we about died. How can you NOT know what this is all about? HELLO!!! The movie was not a disappointment. The action and special effects were incredible, as were the characters...JACOB...*sigh*! Now I can't wait to go again. We had fun. Aren't these girls silly? As you can see, we have a few cheerleaders amongst us. Go Team Jacob! :)

Brothers

How cute are these boys? I just love the way they play together and stick up for each other. I can't wait to see how they rely on each other as they get older.

I Run With the Wolves

Yes, I'm still obsessed and counting the minutes until I get to see this movie. I CAN'T WAIT! I really can't wait for all you Jacob-haters to eat your words. Always am, always will be TEAM JACOB!!!

It's A...

Girl! We couldn't be more excited! We would've loved another boy, but I'm thrilled to be having a girl! I almost don't know what to do, I've done boy for so long. The boys have already named her "Little Annie". We'll have to see about that...?! I realize I haven't taken any pictures of me this pregnancy. Maybe it's b/c I don't have that cute, firm, pregnant belly...I just look chubby. UGH! Well, Lukas took my picture to help me remember what I look like at about 20 weeks.

The Truth About Love

Lukas said to me today, "Mom, you can have girls as friends and not be in love. Cause that means you have to kiss." And I said, "Where did you hear that?" Lukas said, "No where. The only time you can kiss is when you're married. Or if your mom does something really nice for you." And that is how it is in the eyes of a 5 year old.

Max turns 3

We had such a fun time with Max's birthday. He wanted a Batman birthday, so we happily obliged. Pat had to work during the day, so I took the boys to lunch at their favorite restaurant ("Red Robin, Yuuuuuummm!") Later, he had a superhero friends party and then a family dinner. He was spoiled with gifts! Mostly he had fun running around being a boy, just what he does best!!

Seven

Seven things I love about being married to Pat...

1. He is a big joker. Loves to play tricks on people, make people laugh, entertain people.
2. He cares about me. He is the first to apologize and make compromises. He does so much because he loves me.
3. He is such a great dad. He loves the boys and plays with them and spends time with them.
4. He is motivated, dedicated and determined. Just look at his schedule and all that he gets done, including spend time with us. Plus, he is not satisfied until he gets the results he wants and he won't quit until he gets there. {How else do you think he got me?} :)
5. He loves the Lord and lives the gospel.
6. He makes everything more fun.
7. I know that no matter what he'll be there for me and he is best friend.

Happy 7 year Anniversary to us!

Happy Halloween!

We had the Spooky Walk last night, so we felt like we already had Halloween. {It was like a bonus day of my favorite holiday that I get to celebrate twice. Yahooo!} Pat took the kids Trick-or-Treating while I stayed home to pass out candy. We ate homemade chili while the kids ransacked their candy. Then, thanks to Whitney, Pat got in the gorilla suit to scare a few neighbors and really hammed it up. It was too fun. In fact, the kids said that was their favorite thing, scaring people with daddy's gorilla suit! I am so sad when this holiday is over. I LOVE IT! (It was weird to not celebrate with the Norton's this year. We miss you guys.)