La Familia

Isabela

2012-01-21T19:36:00.001-07:00

She's sweet, kind, smart, beautiful, and talented. I cannot say enough about my little girl. She let me take a few pictures of her the other day. I used to take hundreds of pictures a month of her, now I'm lucky if any of us sit still long enough to take a picture. Love my girl!

This one was taken just outside our door as the snow was rapidly falling!

All-Aboard The Polar Express

2011-11-28T01:18:00.001-07:00

It is time once again for our trip to the Polar Express. We have done this train ride every-other-year for the past several years making this our third trip. Click here to take a walk down memory lane of our first trip. You'll remember that we were still waiting for Isabela to come home. The boys look so little, but they haven't changed a bit...they still believe in Santa and I even caught Dominic rehearsing what he was going to say this time around. The second time we went, Isabela was with us and we were complete as a family of 5. That time was a bit overwhelming for Bela as she was still afraid of Mr. Claus.

This time was pefect! We had all the kids and no one was afraid. Diego is trying to figure out if Santa is real, but he played along this time for fear of not believing. Here are a few pictures of our ride.

Getting ready to board the train!

Bela was sooo excited!

Bela and Daddy

Me and my boys!

Cookie and hot chocolate time!

Ted and boys - they are sick of pictures at this point

We stopped at the North Pole and picked up Santa Claus.

The kids playing with their bells from Santa

My girl!

Until next time...

5x7 Folded Card

2011-11-28T00:11:00.001-07:00

Bright Holly Jolly Holiday Card

Elegant holiday invitations for your friends and family.

View the entire collection of cards.

Football Fanatics

2011-11-14T00:25:00.001-07:00

Diego and Dominic LOVE football. Diego especially. He would eat, drink, sleep football if we let him. This year was Diego's 4th year in flag football and Dominic's second. I can't believe how time flies when they are having fun. Next year, Diego will enter the crazy world of tackle footbal...he can't wait...I can. I love watching my boys play football, I try to make every practice and every game. Yes...I'm the Mom with the shirt that says "Football Mom". I love every minute of cheering my guys on.

Here are a few pictures from their fabulous season. Diego's team was 6-1 (W-L), they lost their very first game by 6 points against a tough team. Dominics Team was 1-6-1 (W-L-T), most of the kids were first time players, but they had a ton of fun and learned a lot. They will definitely be winning more games next year.

It's sad to see the season end, but we are onto basketball and wrestling now.

First Day(s) of School - 2011

2011-08-27T16:17:00.001-06:00

I need to interrupt my Oregon Coast Vacation posting to post pics of the first day(s) of school. It's such a bittersweet moment to send my little people off to school. On one hand, it's nice to get back to a normal routine, on the other, it means they are one more year closer to college. I am trying to enjoy every moment rather than concentrate on the inevitable. :-)

The Boys started on Monday, Bela started on Tuesday, see below for day2 of the "first day of school".

Dominic and friends

Diego and friends!

Day 2 of the "first day of school". It's Bela's turn.

She's so happy to be going back to her preschool!

-Jaimee

Oregon Coast Vacation - Part 2

2011-08-16T15:19:00.003-06:00

It always takes me forever to get back to these multiple posts, but here I am, and here is part 2 of our vacation. We had a fantastic time at our beautiful beach house situated right on the Pacific Ocean. We stayed in Lincoln Beach which is a quiet little beach town off of Pacific Highway 101. The view was breathtaking and the setting couldn't have been better.

Family, Friends, Food, and Fun. That pretty much sums it up.

This was the view from our deck. The kids loved the beach so much, this was the first thing they did every morning! You would find Diego and Finn out as early as possible looking for seashells, crabs, starfish, and anything else they could capture.

Dominic and Kate would wake up slightly later and join them. This is where they all loved to be.

My little Bela Boo headed out for some fun in the sand. She was a little more timid when it came to the ocean. I'm just fine with that.

Bela and her Daddy. She loves her Daddy.

What are the adults to do while the kids play in the sand all day? ...Well, we create spectacular meat and cheese plates and taste the wine we bought on the way in, of course.

Seriously crazy kids! The water was cold, but they didn't care.

We stopped for a yummy lunch of Clam Chowder, Fried shrimp, Fried clams, and Crab melts at the Chowder bowl in DepoeBay.

The kids had a blast parusing the gift shops and buying souvenirs.

Stay Tuned for Part3 of our vacation...Family Pictures!

AND, if you want to see what else I've been up to then clickety HERE, HERE, HERE

Oregon Coast Vacation - Part 1

2011-07-31T17:54:00.001-06:00

I have waaaaaay too many picutes to post without doing this in parts, so here I go.

The Oregon Coast. What more should be said? It's a wonderful, beautiful place to go, with so many things to do. We rented a beach house complete with a hot tub, with some of our best family friends, The Mahoney's! We set off at 6am one Wednesday morning for our newest adventure. The drive is long, but enjoyable, through Idaho and Oregon. There are stops along the way including great breweries on the Columbia River, amazing waterfalls at Multnomah Falls, hundreds of wineries, and organic fruit farms producing some of the best blueberries in the world.

Speaking of wine...our stop at some of the Willamette Valley wineries was my first opportunity to pull out my camera. We sampled Pinot Noir's, Pinot Gris's, Chardenay's, Cabernet's, and many others. It was nice for the adults to have some "us" time before heading into a kid-centered vacation. Where were the kids, you ask? Well, they enjoyed the wineries too, but from a much different perspective. They sipped their kid drinks, played tag in the gardens, and fed the coy fish.

The valley is absolutely breathtaking from any of the vineyards

I love the smell of the barrells and cork

Each winery's logo is so unique

A happy couple after a few tastings...

I'd love to have this in my house

Another happy couple...

Good friends and wine, what could be better?

The flower gardens outside the Argyle tasting room were amazing. Oregon gets a lot of rain, so everything is lush!

I spy two boys being crazy while their parents taste wine.

This was a common site for most of the trip!

A glass calling our names...

This was the winery we visited 8 years ago when Diego was just 8 weeks old. The next picture is us 8 years ago, Diego is in the stroller.

Wow, do I dare say we age like fine wine? Hahaha.

Love their desert wine, it's sweet, but amazing with a bar of dark chocolate.

Ahhhh yes, we will Come Again...don't worry!

Playground Fun With My Monkeys!

2011-07-19T15:16:00.001-06:00

I bought these shirts with the intentions of a full-on photo shoot. I wanted to take the kids for an hour or so and really practice. However, life (and summer) set in and it was more like "Throw these shirts on, get in the car, we're going to the park to take pictures!" The kids whined about the picture part and I said "Give me 20 minutes and I'll buy you a snow cone if you are good." Believe me, there were several threats of loosing the snow cone throughout the 20 minute picture fest. By the end, I felt like I got some good pictures and the kids got their snow cones. In fact, I couldn't get them to leave because they kept saying "Hey Mom, take a picture of me while I hang upside down, swing on the swings, jump off the rocks, and hang on the equipment like a monkey". See below for the outcome.

Watch out, I took 300 pictures in 20 minutes...Help me pick some favorites to print.

This photo shoot was sooo much fun! I loved spending this time with my kids and capturing this moment with them. XOXO

Tiny Dancers

2011-06-15T22:49:00.001-06:00

I finally had a moment to post some recital pictures from a few weeks ago. Isabela did a ballet dance as well as a jazz dance. My little Dominic wanted to participate in the all boys hip-hop class, so I gladly signed him up. It was truly a fun night watching both kids perform!

Here are the girls getting ready for their big dance. Notice how Bela is much smaller than the rest of the girls? Except for the girl with the big beautiful hair (Jillian), the other girls are all about 9-18 months older than her. Jillian is about 6 weeks older than Bela. We know Bela is going to be tiny, she still wears a size 7 shoe, but she is also the youngest in this particular dance class.

I didn't get Dominic as he was headed out because he was in the boys dressing room and it was really dark as they came out into the hall. But here he is with some of his hip hop friends. They did their dance to a hopped up version of "We Will Rock You". It was sooooo cute!

Love this little guy, he's so tough, yet had no problem going to his dance class.

And here we have the Princess herself....

On that note, we end dance classes for the year, along with swim lessons. Yay! All the kids are swimming, however, I still need to keep a watchful eye on Dominic and a little more that that with Bela. I'm excited for all the practice we will get this summer.

We are still doing 3 nights a week wrestling practices for Diego and baseball practices + games for Dominic. The last day of our year round school calendar is this coming Friday. Hip-Hip Hooray!! Wrestling ends next week, and baseball the following week. Then we'll start our summer camp series. By 4th of July, I'll be exhausted and loving every minute of it.

Stop by again, next time I'll show pictures of our camping trip that ended up in a 4 bedroom condo in Sun Valley Idaho. We traded the Weber Grill for Wolf Appliances and had a blast!

A New Room

2011-05-15T13:22:00.000-06:00

I know you all want to see Isabela's new room, but to be honest, her room didn't change that much. I was able to re-use so much...I was really proud of myself. Not to discount it, because I re-finished a bed, my Mom made her a new duvet cover, and re-worked her bed skirt, but it was not a complete re-do. You will just have to wait a few more days for pics of her transformation. However...

The new room that I really put all my decorator effort into and completely re-did was Diego's. He had a jungle theme for his nursery which grew into his little boy room, but for his 8th birthday we decided it was time for a whole new look.

See the before...

This was his nursery before we built our new house...

We moved when he was 18 months old, so I kept the same decor and transferred it to his new/bigger room

This was Diego's room transformed from a baby room to a little boy's room...the picture is horrible, so use your imagination that it looked nice.

When I asked Diego how he wanted his "new" room to look, he said he wanted a sports theme. The plan was to have him go stay at my parents house, re-do the room, and surprise him with the finished product. I have to say that I didn't like many of the sports themed bedding or decor that I found when searching. So, this project turned into a 3 month search for just the right things. Not too "themey" or "cheesey", but also appropriate for an 8 year old.

I decided that since Bela would need a new bed and Diego was going to be bigger by the time he's 12 than Bela will ever be in her life that Diego's full-size bed would go to Bela and we would buy Diego a new Queen size bed. More choices....UGH! I searched website after website, furniture store after furniture store. I didn't want to spend a fortune, but I didn't want something flimsy either. The bed, mattress, and dresser needed to be something that would last him for the next 10 years. I wanted the makeover to have a dramatic effect, so I was also on the lookout for locker room furniture, a futon, new lighting, wall decor, a way to display his medals and trophies, grown-up bedding, a round rug, and something fun (like a real basketball hoop). I also needed a way to incorporate his BSU stuff, but didn't want a purely college-themed room.

The demands were high, and yet the slate was blank. See below and let me know how you think I did:

Right before my eyes

2011-05-07T16:10:00.000-06:00

My baby girl turned 4!

I can't believe it. Everyone says that time flies, but when you have 3 kids time for the third child really flies. Bela is no longer a baby, she's a little girl and the time went so fast. The good news is, I feel like I've captured so much of her growing up. I have many more pictures and stories right here on this blog than I ever had for the boys.

Bela is smart! Super Smart! She's already reading (little books) and grasps the concepts of addition and subtraction, especially if we relate it to candy. She is probably the most "aware" child I've ever met. She always knows where things are and if drive by something, she always knows where she's at and if she's been there or not. She's loving and a natural mother. Bela loves her "boys" and gives them constant encouragement. She's really amazing!!!

On her wishlist for her birthday: A big girl bed and a new CD player for her room. I couldn't resist the opportunity to get her a new bed and dresser, I'll post pictures of her big girl room next. My parents came to the party with an MP3 player and IHome cube so that she could listen to her playlists rather than CD's. She loves her new music system and grown up bedroom.

Bela really likes to open presents, so in addition to her new bed and dresser, I bought a bunch of stuff and wrapped it all up. She had been talking about a Hello Kitty Scooter since Christmas, so that was one of her favorite presents.

These gifts were waiting for her on the morning of her birthday!

It didn't take her long to spot them and start opening!

Ooooh-lah-lah!

Big brothers and Bela!

She couldn't wait to ride it, so we tried it out before school!

This year, I decided to do a simpler party for her (I mean me). She loves gymnastics, so we decided to do a Dora the Explorer Gymnastics party. Here are a few pictures for her special day.

I have 3 monkey's in my house, here are two of them!

Watch out Cirque De Soleil!

She's very coordinated and strong! Did I mention that she's not afraid of anything?

Superman!

Super girl!

I don't know why I didn't have many pictures of Dominic, but he walks across the beam like it's the ground. Too bad boys don't do beam, he'd be great at it!

Super cutie pie on the beam!

Now into the party room for some cake!

Bela and friends!

Bela and Presley!

Bela and Jillian!

Bela and Maddi!

He's an All-American and he earned a Triple Crown!

2011-05-02T00:34:00.002-06:00

I have so much to share about wrestling these past few months, I won't bore you with all the details, but I will tell you that Diego is an All-American Wrestler. Ted took him to USAW Folkstyle Nationals in Cedar Falls, IOWA in early April. Diego placed 4th in the tournament with kids from all across the nation, earning him All-American status. I am soooo proud of my little guy. He even made the paper here in town for his accomplishment. I'm even more proud that Idaho can compete with the likes of those in Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, etc.

Here he is on the podium...pretty cool stuff!

Just this last weekend, Diego and Dominic competed in the Idaho State Freestyle and Greco tournament. For those of you unfamiliar with wrestling, there are 3 styles: Folkstyle, Freestyle, and Greco. Folkstyle is the most common because that is what they do in high school and college. Freestyle and Greco are most commonly seen at the Olympics. If you remember a few posts back (in December), Diego and Dominic both took first place at the State Folkstyle tournament. For Diego's age, if he was to take first in the Freestyle and Greco State tournaments, he would win a Triple Crown, meaning he was the champion in all three styles for his weight class.

Well....HE DID IT! He worked really hard and wrestled very hard this past weekend. He will be awarded the triple crown next December at the State Folkstyle Tournament, which is the first leg for the crown for next year. I'm soooooo proud of my little guy!!!

Pin!

Pin!!

Last, but certainly not least! Look at little Dominic. He has come a long way in wrestling this year. He is an amazingly smart little boy and knows a lot of moves, but is not as aggressive as some of the kids. We have been working very hard on his aggression and quickness. He even volunteered to do two practices in one night the week before State. All of his hard work paid off and he ended up taking SECOND place. He lost his first match and then came back to win 3 in a row after that!! It was very exciting! Dominic is an amzing little wrestler and I can't wait to see what next year has in store for him.

Look at him eying this kid.

Pin!!!

Dominic is done for the season, but Diego has one more tournament at the end of June. Western Regionals will be here before he knows it and it's just about as big as Nationals. Kids from 10 of the Western most states will compete for the Western Regional Title. Diego took 5th last year and has a very good chance to take first place this year. We will see. Until then, I leave you with a picture of my tough guys.

They might be mean on the mat, but off the mat, they are two of the sweetest, kindest, smartest little boys I know!

Diego's 8th Birthday Party!

2011-03-21T23:01:00.005-06:00

My baby boy turns 8 next Monday, but that just happens to be in the middle of spring break!! , so we chose to have his party early. It feels like between 2 boys that we have done every party theme under the sun, however, this year, Diego wanted to have his party at our local hands-on science center. So a science theme it was. The kids loved it!

Check out the book I made for him!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Love you Diego!!!

My little wrestling stars

2011-03-13T16:28:00.002-06:00

Freestyle wrestling season is in full swing now. We travelled to a tournament this weekend and came home with hardware. Diego took first place in his age/weight division. Dominic did not place, but wrestled some really tough kids in a huge bracket. There were 14 little 5 year old tough guys and Dominic was very close to going for 3rd place. Instead he lost in the final 20 seconds of his match.

Here they are:

Dominic taking a kid down!

Putting a half nelson in

Excited for his next match

Takedown!

Winner!

Diego (in USA) and his nemesis, Paul...wreslting for first place

Tying up

Pinned!

My little champions with some of their wrestling buddies!

First Place! Great job Diego!!

And look who we got to meet: Rulon Gardner was there!

So Excited About This!

2011-01-19T17:13:00.002-07:00

This is one of my favorite things that I got for Christmas...to see more of my favorite things, go here: Two Moms Shopping

Now I'm pumped up and ready to take even better pictures, if only I had more time. Sigh. I was able to capture some shots of my niece's kiddos. Aren't they adorable?

Hopefully I can find time to post a few more pictures now and again, I'm definitely taking them! :-)

-Jaimee

Tree Lighting, Santa, and Hot Cocoa

2010-12-28T00:33:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad that those of you that read this blog don't mind looking into the past...the distant past. Because if you didn't, then I'm sure you wouldn't still be reading. I just can't seem to blog right after an event. Hmmm...maybe because there's never enough hours in the day. Yeah, something like that.

Anyway, these pictures were taken as we headed downtown to the tree lighting celebration. It was an amazingly beautiful site...as we walked huge snowflakes started falling. Who cued the snow? I couldn't have done it better myself.

The lighting ceremony

An added bonus: We got to see Santa Claus. I'm pretty sure this is the REAL Santa Claus, just look at him!

Ok, and onto my hot cocoa...which is almost as good as JoJo's. Haha. I tell ya, this stuff is amazing, everyone must try it!

The finished product

One happy little boy

Another happy little boy

And a little girl that is really serious about her hot cocoa.

Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New Year!

They did it!

2010-12-09T22:46:00.001-07:00

The boys are wrestling folkstyle state champs! I don't know how many times this will happen in the future, in fact, it may never happen again, so I want to capture it. Dominic had 3 matches. He pinned the first two kids in under 20 seconds, then tech'd the last kid 10-0. Diego beat his first kid pretty easily, had a hard fought second match, then pinned the last two in under 20 seconds. I'm so proud of these little guys, they worked hard and came out on top. I made them give me a mean face, but otherwise, they are some of the nicest kids on the mat. They always help their opponents up and tell them they did a good job.

Here they are doing their #1 pose.

This is their normal, happy, playful look

Dominic on the podium

Diego on the podium

I love you guys, I'm soooo proud of you!

He's a player...

2010-12-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

A football player, that is. Diego finished up his third season of football and he already can't wait for next year. My guy LOVES, LOVES, LOVES football, and his Momma loves watching him, however, it's such a rough sport. Right now we are still in flag, so things are good. The year after next he will go to pads and I'm not very excited for that. It's exciting to see Diego play receiver and running back, but when an entire team is running down your baby to tackle him, it's not going to be so exciting. We'll see how things play out over the next few years and maybe his interests will lead him to knitting or chess. :-) I highly doubt it though.

This is late, but I did a post for Dominic's football season, and I couldn't move onto winter events without posting about Diego. Diego would eat, drink, and sleep football if it were possible. The kid knows more about the game than most adults and to top it off, he's pretty darn good at it. The coach nick-named him swivel hips because of his speed and agility with the ball. We love watching Diego play the sport he has such a passion for. Here he is in action:

He's very focused and watches the entire field for the next play.

Diego played several offensive and defensive positions including, running back, reciever, safety, and tight end. He saved many a touchdown when he was on defense.

Diego with his football buddies on the bench

Reaching for a flag

Running to catch up to the coach after a play

I believe he caught this ball

Another tackle (flag pull)

Taking off to score a touchdown!

Love this little guy. One more year of flag and then he moves to tackle. Momma isn't sure she's so happy about that, but he can't wait!

I've been busy...

2010-11-27T00:42:00.000-07:00

And I'm finally done with Isabela's adoption story. I know...I'm a little behind. However, all said and done, the book is 158 pages long. I used Blurb to import this blog from the day we decided to adopt until the day that we brought her home. It was time consuming to get the book to look exactly like I wanted it to. In fact, I kept tweaking and tweaking such that I finally had to hit "publish". Here's a little sneak peek at the book. I'll write a follow up post on how my novel looks when I get it.

Our Journey to Isabela by Jaimee Martinez

Make Your Own Book

Oooooh, Scary!

2010-11-06T15:17:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderfully spooky Halloween! Every year we have a couple of families over to share in the fun. For our fifth year in a row, the Bergmann family joined us. For the second year in a row, the Mahoney Family joined us. And for the first time, the Garner Family was able to join in the fun. What a great group of friends we have!!!

Our pumpkins this year. Hint...stickers are much easier than carving. Just get a little modge podge to put over the top so that the stickers will stay and you have professional looking pumpkins with no mess!

For some reason, all the girls dressed like witches, check it out!

The adult table..

The kids table had a little dry ice magic. Complete with mummy dogs for din-din.

What would Halloween be like without Caramel Apples?

Here we go, time for a little tricks and a few treats!

Can't wait until next year!

When the days are still long

2010-10-08T08:33:00.001-06:00

I love this time of year when the air is just a little cooler, but the days are still long. We took advantage of the swings while watching the big guy of the house at football practice. (Those pics are coming next).

OTHER BIG NEWS IN OUR HOUSE....

Bela got her alphabet crown at her school!!! This is a BIG deal. She has to know all of her lower case letters by sight. She has to know all of the sounds the letters make. She has to know that the vowells make two sounds (long and short) and why they are special. They first test with their teacher, then they go with the headmaster of the school and get tested with her. As you can see, they don't just give these things away. They get to make their crown and then their class says "hip-hip-hooray" and cheers for them. They also get to put a crown with their name up at the front of the school with the date they got their crown. Isabela is one of the first 3 year olds to get her crown, I think there were only 2 others (and chances are they are older 3's). I am extremely proud of my little girl, it takes a lot of work to learn all of that and to be able to show your teacher AND your headmaster what you know. Next up...her blending badge.

"Great job Boo-Boo, we know this is a sign of big things to come for you!" -Love you lots, Mommy

I didn't follow the FFF theme today, I wasn't prepared, but I wanted to link up anyway. If you want to see more great FFF posts and Hannah's fabulous blog, click on the link below.

FFF- With mixed feelings...

2010-10-01T16:56:00.001-06:00

We're back to school! This post is sooooo long overdue. The kids are in year round school, so they only get a 7 week summer break and they went back the second week in August (I know, I'm super late with this). However, they also get November and March off, so we gets lots of time together when they are out of school.

I always have mixed feelings when this time nears. On one hand, it's exciting. I think I love the smell of new school clothes and supplies as much or more than they do. The shopping and planning for their new adventure is always so much fun for me. I love the back to school nights and the meeting of their new teachers. But, it also brings the reminder that another year has passed, way too quickly, and I'll soon be sending them off to college(boo-hoo). This year was also a bit harder as I sent my little bubba to kindergarten.

Dominic is not a change agent, so we had lots of tears the first few days. The first day he put his head down on his desk and cried, it nearly killed me to leave, but the teacher assured me through an e-mail later in the day that he was doing great! (What in the world did Mom's do without e-mail before?). The second day, I thought all was well when he went in the classroom, however, he promptly turned right back around and came out to cling to my leg. With a little coaxing and loud crying I got him back into the room and the teacher called me an hour later to tell me he was doing great. We needed plan B and that would be to put him on the bus with Diego from here on out (a little tough love). I left this job up to Ted, we both felt like Dominic would proably do better saying goodbye to Dad rather than Mom. Well....not so. Ted ended up carrying him kicking and screaming across the street, physically put him on the bus in his seat, and run off while the bus driver closed the doors. Don't worry, I had fellow Mom spies and allies at the school waiting for him to get off the bus and make sure that he was doing ok. Ted took it worse than I did and suggested that we try taking him to school again. But I suggested we stick to the plan of him riding the bus. The fourth day was different...Dominic did great getting on the bus and had no other separation anxiety or change issues. Now he's a pro and happily goest to kindergarten every day. Oh, the challenges our children bring us!

Here's Diego, ready for his first day of second grade. My little leader in the making!

Brotherly Love

Dominic...All smiles until the big moment

I Love my crazy boys!

Diego off and running with his friends.

Dominic...probably a little scared.

Not looking scared now, he knows at least half his class already

Some "besties" from the neighborhood are in his class too!

And a picture with Momma...if only I could go to school everyday with him. I'd love that!

And then there's my sweet, sweet Bela girl! I lovelingly call her "Bela Boo" and luckily she's not in school just yet. However, she did start the preschool this year that they boys only went to when they were 4. The school is very agressive with teaching the kids to read and I have no doubt she will surpass her brother's amazing accomplishments in reading at a very young age. Here she is getting ready for her big day!

I Love my silly girl!

To see more FFF posts click on the blog button below:

She's got it goin' on

2010-09-27T00:15:00.009-06:00

This girl is smart, I tell ya! Not only does she know her upper and lowercase letters, but she also knows the sounds. The lady at the post office thought she could read because she said "W-A-S-T-E" as she read the letters off of the trash bin. She loves to do flash cards, so it's a treat for her. She also knows her colors, shapes, counts past 10, and can do puzzles most kindergartners can't figure out. Stick around for the end of the video so you can see how cute she is when she says the sounds.

Check it out (click to play):

Not only does she have brains, but look at this cutie pie!

100% pure, untouched beauty!

And then there's her athletic skill. Well, it's a bit hard to tell, but we do know that she's fearless. Something that comes in handy while she's riding her scooter at the skateboard park with the big boys.

Lastly, she has grace. Check out Bela in her new dance class. I can't wait to get my hands on more picture opportunities here.

Bela and Friends

Tired and Silly!

I love my little "Bela Boo" and I couldn't imagine life without her!

Footbal, Football, Football

2010-09-11T17:12:00.000-06:00

I love this time of year when my boys are playing football. Here are a few photos from Dominic's game. This is his first year and he's one of the smallest on the team, but he is mighty!

The Raiders!!!

Warming up for the big game!

Dominic had the first run of the game and went at least 10 yards. He had the biggest grin on his face and I'm so proud of my little guy!

I love how they all play with their mouthguards...

Good job Dominic! Keep up the great work!!!

Next up...Diego and Football...Bela and Dance

Freak of Nature - Part 2

2010-09-06T12:00:00.002-06:00

Do you like my new blog design? Ok, it's taken me forever to get the second half of our Yellowstone trip up. I'm sorry!!! Also, check out my picture collages, I'll reveal how I did this in a future post.

Here it is, it was sooooo much fun and I'd recommend it to anyone.

The Continental Divide

Love these kids!

Fishing Bridge...no fishing allowed since fishing in the 1960's was dessimating the salmon and trout population as people were fishing shoulder to shoulder and hooking cars while casting their poles.

A Buffalo was on the loose on fishing bridge...kinda scary.

Amazing scenery!

Buffalo just walk down the side of the road...see below...buffalo next to the speed limit sign.

Dragon's mouth cauldron. Looked and sounded like a dragon. Freaky!

Great dinner, great friends!

Old Faithful...so awesome!

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone...breathtaking!

Waterfalls everywhere!

Artist Point...I think you can see why it's called that.

One word..."Incredible"

The last day we explored the town of West Yellowstone for a little food and shopping. What a cute and fun town.

Good-bye Yellowstone! See you next time.

Freak of Nature - Part 1

2010-07-30T16:34:00.001-06:00

We recently packed up the car and headed to Yellowstone with some of our best friends. It was so much fun...and I tell you, that place is a freak of nature. You'll be driving through this incredible forest seeing all the norms...mountains, lakes, animals, etc. Then you stumble upon a geyser, a mud pot, or a fumarole. Next up a bison will be just trotting down the road next to your car, or a baby bear cub will be running wild on the hillside. You might see a mini volcano, the celestine pool, an incredible hot springs that is not the kind you want to sit in since it is boiling. The Elk seem to be pretty used to visitors and sit along side the road, almost posing for your pictures and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is absolutely unexpected and spectacular all at once.

If you have not been to Yellowstone, I would highly recommend you go. It's really amazing, beautiful, and fun. We spent a day travelling and getting settled, 3 full days in the park, and another day taking our time in the town of West Yellowstone shopping/eating before we headed home. It was really the perfect amount of time to be there. If you are interested in our itenerary or are planning a trip and would like more info, let me know, I'd be happy to help.

Another important note...Michelle and I took over 800 pictures. I saved/cropped/edited 526 of them. I know, I'm a bit loony. But, the scenery is really incredible, so there's no skimping. I'm going to share a few pictures of our first travel day and the first full day we were in Yellowstone.

Our first stop was "Craters of the Moon" which is on our drive to West Yellowstone. It's another freak of nature out in the middle of the desert.

Our Casa in West Yellowstone

Woo-Hoo, here we go! Into the land of the strange...

First Stop: We see some animals on the side of the road...everyone slams on the breaks and pulls over when this happens.

Then we have an opportunity to take a few pictures. Smile.

This is what it looks like on the road when someone sees an animal or "thinks" they see an animal

Now, onto the Paint Pot area...strange and cool, all at once.

Celestine Pool

Mud Pots & Other "WEIRD" stuff

After we left that place, we headed to the Norris Geyser Basin. WOW! WEIRD! First you see forest, they you see erruptions.

After a great time at that strange place, we made our way north for the most scenic place of the day. The formations are absolutely incredible at Mammoth Hot Springs. We even stopped in the little town of Mammoth for some yummy ice cream. Look at this cute little town!

And that was just day 1 and 2, won't you come back and see what we saw on day 3, 4, and 5?

And visit Hannah's blog for other Favorite Foto Friday pics!

Yeeeee-Haaaaaw!

2010-07-13T23:14:00.001-06:00

Yep, we turned into country-folk for the 4th of July! We had the best 4th of July with some good friends of ours. We went camping a few hours north, watched porcupine races (yep, you heard me right), lawnmower dragsters (yep, you heard me right again), went fishing, to the hot springs, watched an AWESOME firework display at the Mountain Golf Course, ate incredible food, told scary stories by the campfire, and even made dutch oven deserts to top it all off.

But before I show you pictures of all that, I wanted to show a couple of my favorite pictures from our weekend. I love it when I catch the kids being kids (no posing), or when Ted catches a good picture of my and my girl! So without further ado...

Here's my crazy little Domino being completely himself. I love this little peanut and I always tell him he's my favorite peanut in the whole wide world. Of course I don't have another peanut, just him, but he doesn't know that and he's pretty darn special. The kid can make anyone smile and we get comments all the time about how much everyone loves him. He's smart as a whip and has so much compassion, he's definitely going to be a ladies man! I didn't ask him to pose below, these are just his normal faces which I happened to capture.

Ted took this picture of Bela and I. Great job Ted! Not because I love pictures of myself...I do NOT. In fact, I rarely find a photo worthy of posting on my blog of myself. I just don't like looking at pictures of myself. However, I love seeing pictures of me and my family. I spend so much effort and time capturing their moments so that we can all remember them and reminisce later, I love that I can be captured "in the moment" every once in awhile. So, thanks for taking this Ted...Bela and I were intently waiting for the porcupine races to start. She's my little princess in training, she's spunky, smart, and doesn't take any bull from anyone. I am constantly amazed by her kind heart and rough n' tough way. She's beautiful and petite...she's such a great sister to her brothers and what a perfect daughter!

Then there's this guy...what to say about him? Well, I love him with all my heart and I always will. He's an incredible father and husband, and I'm lucky. It's not that we don't have our moments....we do. However, he's a keeper and we're in this together...always. I Love You!

And this one? Well, this one is just a ~~little bit~~ lot like me. Lucky for him, he does have some of his own traits, and I love the unique things about him even more. He's shy but outgoing, he's confident yet unsure. He's definitely a gentleman and knows right from wrong and continues to be a good role model for Dominic and Bela. He's too smart for his own britches (and mine too) and his athleticism is sure to be a force to reckon with. This little guy will make work for our title of parents (I know I did that to my parents), but he's also going to make us so proud.

I love these guys with all of my might. I truly love being a mother and spending my days and nights with these little creatures. They are beautiful and perfect and amazing all in their owns ways. I used to dream of the day I would be married and have children. I knew I wanted both of those things since I was just a little girl.

Now, those days are here and I love it!

A Sneak Peak...

2010-06-30T01:59:00.001-06:00

Dominic's 5th birthday has arrived!!! I love this time of year because it's also my birthday and we get to do lots of celebrating together! I had little Dominic just 2 days prior to my 30th birthday, just 5 short years ago. The time has flown and I miss my chubby little bubba, but he's turned into a hilarious, handsome, intelligent, passionate, and gentle little boy. I can't say enough good things about the middle child who, I'm sure, struggles to find his place in our crazy family of 5. He takes it all in stride and really lights up the world around him with his smile and amazing personality.

The best thing about having our birthday's together is that he gets to go first. We all celebrate his day, just him, no mention of my birthday. It always seems that we then proceed to have at least 2-3 celebrations with family and friend, then we celebrate my day at least 2-3 times with family and friends. It's great and this year was no exception! In a week's time, we've had cake at least 6 times! Ok, not so great for the diet, but it makes for a fun week of birthday celebrations.

This year Dominic wanted to have a Sponge Bob Square Pants party. I am the first to admit, I'm not a big fan of characters or character themed things. However, since Dominic's Birthday is in June, and we were planning on a water party, having a Sponge Bob theme started to get me excited about throwing this party. I mean, he does live under water and I love how bright yellow and sunny he is. So, I started my hunt for Sponge Bob stuff just after Bela's Bday in April. I've been collecting things here and there, mostly from the dollar store.

On Sunday night, after arriving home from our vacation at 10pm, and baking a plain old 13x9 cake for his preschool class birthday celebration for the next day, I decided I wanted to be a bit more creative for his upcoming friend birthday party on Wednesday. Why? I don't know, maybe I don't like to sleep after all, maybe I just love a challenge, maybe I would do anything to make sure my kids have cool birthday parties. Who knows what made me decide to make a Sponge Bob birthday cake with my own two hands, but I did it, and I'm so glad I did!

Here it is, start to finish in 3 hours. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. The kids were asleep by the time I ventured into this project...another start time of 10pm. I can't wait to see their faces when they see it.

Please forgive me that Mr. Sponge Bob does not have hands, my creative talents stop there. :-)

Since we are having Dominic's party at a pool, it's only fitting that the goody bags be pails filled with water toys. There are water guns, dive sticks, water bombs, bubbles, floaties, and Sponge Bob magic towells.

And I belive that a party should have 2 goodie bags, so I'll be sending the 14 sweet children home with some sugar in addition to their pails of loot! A party would not be complete without some gummy crabby patties!

Sweet dreams to my little 5 year old, tomorrow is a big day...

Favorite Foto Friday...He's a Superstar!

2010-06-25T10:44:00.004-06:00

I am the proud Momma of the 5th place West Regional Wrestling 55lb Champ! Diego wrestled all day on Tuesday against kids from 10 different states. He had the biggest bracket of the 7-8 year old division and was the youngest kid to medal. Of his 7 hard-fought matches, his only losses were to the kids who took 1st and 2nd.

Here he is getting warmed up and his game face on.

Here is Diego (Blue) pinning a kid from Nevada (Red) - 2nd Match (Won by Pin)

Here is Diego (Red) in a tough match with a kid from Utah (Blue). The Utah kid ended up taking 2nd place, but Diego fought hard. 6th Match. (Lost by pin)

Diego (Red) getting ready to take down California (Blue) - 1st Match (Won by points)

And he takes him down!

Diego (Blue) putting a front quarter on a kid from Wyoming (Red) - 4th Match (Won by points)

Diego in another hard fought match with the kid from Washington that took first place. (Lost by points)

Diego (Red) pinning another kid from Idaho (Blue) - 3rd Match (Won by pin)

Diego (Blue) taking down another kid from Wyoming (Red) - 7th Match (Won by Pin)

Teaching Bela how to wrestle!

Dominic was happy sitting this one out!

Proud Family!!!

Check out more of the Favorite Foto Friday posts on Hannah's really cool blog here:

It's about time

2010-06-13T16:37:00.000-06:00

That I post pictures from Isabela's Third Birthday. She wanted a Fancy Nancy Birthday party and I couldn't wait to throw it for her. I had so much fun planning it and making it a fun day she'll never forget...well, at least I got pictures so she'll never forget. We held the party the day before mother's day, so I made sure all the Mom's were invited to spend this day with their daughters too. We had one Dad show up...he was such a trouper!

Here's Bela in her Fancy outfit ready for her party:

We made frames and did a photo shoot so that each of the girls could remember their fancy day:

We did nails and girly tatoos. Ooh-Lah-Lah.

We had lots of fancy treats: Flower shaped sandwiches, Crudités, Fruit, and Cheese Puffs. For desert there were cupcakes with bling, and flower pot ice cream!

Lastly, we did a little cupcake candy hunt and sat down to watch Bela open her presents from her friends. There were lots of hugs to give out because her friends got her such wonderful gifts.

It was a fun party with such fancy, beautiful girls. Can't wait to do it again next year!

If you didn't see it on facebook, this was her gift from us and Grandma and Grandpa. I only had to go to 4 Walmarts to find the last one in our state! Bela was sooo surprised and loves the car, but Dominic loves it even more and the two of them are a site to see driving this down the road in our neighborhood.

Drama For Your Mama

2010-04-22T23:33:00.004-06:00

Yes, I've been playing blog hookie again, but I couldn't resist this Favorite Foto Friday topic and boy, does this little girl give Drama to her Mama. Here she is one day before her weekly gymnastics lesson. Drama or not, I love this little firecracker!

If you want to see more of Hannay's FFF topics or those that play along, click the button below:

Heartbreakers! - Updated

2010-02-14T00:48:00.008-07:00

All of them! I have to tell you that I searched high and low for Boys Vday shirts. I think Gap, Old Navy, Gymboree, and Target got burned in the recession last year on cheesy vday shirts for boys and decided that they weren't going to carry them at all this year. All of those stores had plenty for little girls, but nothing for boys 4-7. And then I found the cutest "Heartbreaker" shirts at Crewcuts (JCrew for kids). Did I mention that I really love that store? The t-shirts arrived and they were even better than the picture online. And, since they aren't cheesy, the boys will be wearing these in the days to come.

Hands-off Ladies!

This one is off limits too, he's taken by his Mama!

Pure Silliness!!!

Dominic took this one and he told us to say cheese. I am literally saying cheese as he takes this picture...what a dork I am!

The kids have a little somethin'-somethin' waiting for them in the morning...

And here was the yummy little breakfast that I made them. Happy Vday to the ones I love!

Ted gets bonus points...this morning there were a dozen roses and cards (from him and the kids) waiting for me. How sweet it is to be in love like this.

This one makes us laugh...

2010-02-12T00:38:00.003-07:00

CONSTANTLY! Just look at him here with all his funny faces.

Love you little buddy, may you always have a twinkle in your eye and a laugh in your belly!

Best Friends and a Hottie

2010-02-07T18:23:00.006-07:00

I'm so thankful for our choice to adopt for so many reasons. The number one reason, better be oh-so-obivious, but just so that no one is confused, Isabela is the very best reason! I'm also very thankful for the adoption education I've recieved, the diversity and culture she adds to our family, the experiences we've had, the opportunities we are able to give to give Isabela, and the many great friends that we have met. I feel so close to many of my blogging friends and hope that one day I'll be able to meet all of you! There's one family that has captured my heart from the very beginning and our two little girls first met when they were just infants. I'll never forget our time in Guatemala, the trips that followed, and I dream of the ones to come. This special family is the "Ray" family.

Myla recently sent Bela a special gift, one that I hope will last forever! Myla has the other half...see her here.

Here's our "lil' hottie"...ready for Vday!

You're so special to me Bela-Boo! (Ignore the weird face I am making, this photo was taken by the talented 4 year-old in our house...Dominic).

Next up...the many faces of Dominic.

What? She's 2?

2010-01-24T22:29:00.006-07:00

I get that all the time about Isabela. No one ever believes she's 2, except for her size. She's been potty trained since last summer, she's smarter than smart can be, and she's such a nurturer...did I mention she's tough too? Whenever someone in the room coughs, she asks if they are ok and if they need a drink. If I ask her where I left my tall black boots, she says "I'll go get them Mommy", then she comes running back with them. That's no easy task since I have about 6 pairs of black boots. She already knows all of her ABC's by sight and the sound they make. I'll play that video soon. The girl never ceases to amaze me.

Here she is, not looking 2...posing for me, because she knows I love to take her picture. She was a very good sport about this photo shoot. In some of the photos, it looks like she has lipstick on...she doesn't. She loves to put lipstick on, and she probably put some kind of gloss on, but it just happens to be the picture or photo treatment that I did, however, I did not do anything specific to her lips, they just turned out that way.

Tell me which one you like, I'm thinking of framing one...or many.

Some other fun shots:

When I took these photos, I didn't set out to make her look older, it just so happened I got some great shots of her face. She's still my spunky little 2 year old and I'm cherishing every minute of her!! I love these pictures because they really show off just how beautiful she is.

Model Material?

2010-01-18T23:00:00.001-07:00

Doesn't every Mom think their daughter is model material? I know I do!!! Check out Bela in Boden. So cute, so fun, so irresistable!!!

What in the world...

2010-01-16T22:19:00.005-07:00

...did I do while I was away from blogging?

Well, here's a little picture that explains it all.

We were a gingerbread house making, snow skiing, santa's lap sitting, cookie baking, steep hill tubing, present opening, gourmet dinner eating, snow ball throwing, cabin staying, thankful for our blessings, happy family!

Blurb and other blog to book ideas...plus a few pictures

2010-01-14T21:48:00.005-07:00

Thanks all!! I appreciate the love you've shown me, it's so nice to know that you feel the same way about me as I do about you!

I have tried blurb. About 6 months ago, I let it slurp in every post attaining to our adoption journey. I wanted to at least preserve those memories for Isabela and our family. However, it took me another 4 weeks of editing...I edited every night for at least 2-3 hours! Finally it started to look like something that I really wanted to print. I haven't printed it yet, but I will. I just kept thinking, if I would have just wrote it in blurb the first time, then I wouldn't have had to re-do it. If only blurb and blogger would collaborate better, so that we could blog and blurb fluidly.

Or better yet, I work for HP and if they would only take my idea and let me run the group that designs the interface. Oh, I'd be sooo happy!

I'm very interested in what Brent Riggs is doing as well, so if you guys get books from him, let me know how it turns out.

Until then, I'm still exploring. I haven't decided to give up my blog, but I haven't committed to doing as much as I used to do either. I'm still designing blogs, at least, for now, because blogging served a purpose in my life and I love helping others prepare for a great blog in their lives.

Here's a favorite photo from the holidays.

And another

And another

And another

Oh my goodness how I love these kids!!!

I'm here...just not here

2010-01-13T15:19:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that everything is ok with me, in fact everything is great!! We had a wonderful holiday season...wonderful! I took a little break from blogging, for no other reason than I wanted to spend the holidays with my kids and not feel like I had to blog about it, or edit a picture, or spend time on the computer. I have been reading to keep up with all of you, but haven't had a chance to comment. So, know that I still love all of my blogging friends, but needed a little break.

I'm struggling with the purpose of my blog. When I started it, I used it to help me get information out about our adoption, to meet others that were adopting, and as a sort of therapy for the tough process. After we brought Isabela home, I used it to chronicle our new adventures. However, I now spend a significant amount of time chronically those adventures and I have no way to print or archive any of this in a decent manor. I am constantly wishing for a way to save the designs I've done, the picture layouts, the text, etc, etc. I want to have a scrapbook of these memories or some way to save all the hard work I put into making my blog look good. However, that functionality does not exist today, without having to put MORE work into it. I've tried several blog to book applications and I end up spending more time trying to format blogger content than I would if I just re-did it. At this point in my life, I don't have time to re-do stuff...who does? I've thrown around the idea of starting up my own business that would make this happen for people, but I don't really think that's what I want to do, right now anyway. I have no idea how long blogger will be around, but I can't imagine my grown children being able to access it.

Anyway, I'm really rambling now, but I'm just letting all my faithful blog readers what I have been pondering. I'm thinking that I might end up setting up a snapfish or shutterfly web page and giving updates there. Again, my purpose is to update those interested on the happenings in our family AND be able to archive it. A site like this would enable me to do that and have 1 place where my pictures, thoughts, etc, are stored.

If you have ideas for me, feel free to leave a comment. If you're feeling the same way, leave me a comment. If you've missed me, leave me a comment. And if none of the above apply, you can still leave me a comment. Smile.

All Aboard!

2009-12-02T10:16:00.004-07:00

Our second trip to the Polar Express was a huge success! Every other year, we visit Ted's family for Thanksgiving, so we plan to go on the Polar Express every other year until the kids outgrow it.

As we drove up the canyon to the train station, I was silently remembering 2 years ago when we did this for the first time. Two years ago, we didn't yet have Isabela home. The train ride was fun, but part of our family was missing. I remember it being a bit chaotic with a 2 and a 4 year old, so I had no idea what to expect this year with a 2, 4, and 6 year old! Two years ago, we had just gotten out of PGN and while I was excited, I was also filled with angst as our Guatemalan lawyer was on a 3 week vacation in the US. This meant that the steps after PGN would be delayed and Isabela would NOT be home for Christmas. I tried to focus on the positive, but I could only focus on 1 thing, and that was when Isabela would be home. I know many of you remember the turmultuous state Guatemalan adoptions where in at that time and being out of PGN did not give me the peace of mind that I thought it would. So, despite all of this, 2 years ago, we had a wonderful trip on the Polar Express, but 2 years ago, I was already planning for the trip we would take again 2 years later. So, here we are, complete as a family, taking our ride on the Polar Express!

FFF - No Faces

2009-11-27T00:35:00.002-07:00

If you want to play along, visit Hannah's really cool blog here:

We all love him!

2009-11-25T00:22:00.003-07:00

Diego that is! We all love him and love to cheer for him. Diego has had a lot of success in sports so far. This football season was just another testament to that (it's his second season...he's 6). He ran for ~20 touchdowns in 7 games. He earned the name lightening Diego after the first game and 4 touchdowns. Here he is finishing up the season.

A couple of guys on his tail, but they didn't catch him. TOUCHDOWN!

His fans and their snacks!

Diego's team name was the Ravens, so I ordered a Ravens Cheerleading outfit off of Ebay for $5.99. It was a huge hit!

Here he is with his trophy. I love how Isabela is saying "cheese" in the background. Yes, this is just before the infamous photo shoot. :-)

And then one of his biggest fans gives him a huge, huge hug. She loves him sooo much!

Now we are on to basketball. It is Diego's 1st year in basketball and he's doing great! His first game out, he scored 4 baskets. It's hilarious when he does score, he doesn't celebrate, he turns around and walks down the court (usually he's sprinting). It's kind of like he's embarrassed at all the cheering. He even told me one day that he gets a funny feeling in his tummy when he shoots the ball. I think it's soooo cute that he's nervous.

Just before game time

The YMCA has a great basketball program. The refs are high school volunteers, the back of their shirts say "professional role model". They take the first 10 minutes of every game to teach something about basketball to the kids.

Getting ready for tip-off

Diego taking a shot! Ooops, a little blurry.

Sprinting down the court...ooops, a lot blurry!

A little more action

Some strategy

I just love how seriously he's guarding this kid. I don't think he ever let him touch the ball.

I love going to my kids sporting events. I am their biggest fan!

Dominic and Isabela are in gymnastics, I'll get some pictures posted of them soon!

I hope this is not a sign

2009-11-23T23:20:00.003-07:00

Awhile back, I thought Isabela had a cute little oufit on, so I decided to take some pictures. After all, I do spend a lot of time plotting, planning, shopping, spending, and putting together her wardrobe. Most of the time, I don't get pictures of her cute clothes or shoes because we're always on the run. I decided that I would try to get some cute shots and so I asked her to pose for me a few times, and this is what I got.

We started out pretty good:

But I wanted her to not look like she's always saying cheese, so I told her to put her hands up, this is what I got:

Then I told her to put her hands down, and this is what I got:

So, I said nevermind, just smile, and this is what I got:

Needless to say, I gave up. I hope this is not a sign of things to come. LOL! I explained to her, it's not lady-like to pull up our shirts.

Take 2: Several days later. Another cute outfit and a much better photo shoot.

Take 3: Again, fast forward a few days. A cute outfit, this time I got a handful of smiles, but I like this look as she looks at me like "Awww, Mom, not again".

Take 4: Another day, another outft, and off to the birthday party, but I grabbed the camera to see if I could catch her. Not a chance...she shuns us! Oh, I love this girl when she gives me this look. It's like she saying "Back off with the camera, I mean it!"

Love this little girl and the times we have together! Tonight we had a tea party in her Christmas Jammies, I'll post those soon, but up next, the end of Diego's football season and the start of basketball.

Oh-Give-Thanks...FFF

2009-11-19T22:13:00.003-07:00

I'm so thankful for many, many things, but I'm most thankful for the amazing people in my life!!!

If you want to play along with FFF, visit Hannah's blog by clicking on the FFF button below:

I hope you dance...part 3

2009-11-18T22:13:00.002-07:00

For you, my first born...who will always accomplish pretty much anything you set your mind to:

I hope you dance...part 2

2009-11-17T22:21:00.001-07:00

This one is for you...baby girl!

I hope you dance...

2009-11-16T19:50:00.002-07:00

If you don't know this song written by Mark Sanders and Tia Sillers, sung by LeeAnn Womak, you should google it and take a listen. The first time I heard this song, I immediately thought about my kids and the hopes and dreams I have for them. The ENTIRE song sums it up and I would be proud if they can look back and say "My Mom taught me to dance".

Here's the first in my "I hope you dance" series of posts. My middle child and sweet baby boy, Dominic.

FFF - Beautiful gifts

2009-11-12T23:23:00.003-07:00

No surprise here, my kids are hands-down the most beautiful gifts that have ever been given to me. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to have kids. I am so lucky to be able to be a Mommy to these 3 amazing, precious gifts.

These pictures are the ice cream pictures that we opportunistically took after our family photo shoot 2 weeks ago. No, I would never bribe my kids with ice cream in order to get them to behave. Never.

If you want to play along with FFF, visit Hannah's blog by clicking on the FFF button below:

What? Free Family Photos?

2009-11-09T11:52:00.007-07:00

I'm no photographer, but I try. I love the idea of capturing those special moments that will forever leave a footprint of that memory in my mind. I am totally self-taught, I've never taken a class (not online or in person). I do spend a lot of time browsing websites and reading about what others have done. I'm inspired by many in the blog community that have helped my continue my quest for the perfect photos.

Two weekends ago, Michelle and I decided that we would take family photos of each other's family. We used my Dad's camera: The Canon EOS 50D and headed down to the river...about 2 miles from our houses. The weather was perfect, so we didn't waste any time to start snapping away. Both of us are new to taking pictures of other people's families and kids, but just look at what we did! Not only did we take the pictures for free, but we edited and printed them ourselves as well. After the shoot, we took the kids out for ice-cream (another photo op)...I'll post those pics later this week.

Here is a picture of Michelle and Family, aren't they beautiful! I had an easier time getting all of them to smile because there's only 4 of them and no 2 year old. They are such a photogenic family, I just love how their photos turned out....here are 2 of the many different combos we did.

A very cool "winter" look!

I printed the first photo for Michelle in a 24x36 canvas and she had it framed for $200. In canvas, this size of photo would have been $2300 at our local photography shop. Ok, I admit, we not the photography shop, but I do think it turned out pretty darn good. She even used one of her pictures for her Christmas cards!

And onto our pictures...there were so many good ones and so much I could do with them. Lightroom is amazing. If you haven't used it already, you should give it a shot. I normally use lightroom first, then photoshop, but in some of these instances I did it the other way around. I also created a 36x24 canvas and I'm in the process of stretching and framing it myself. I have an advantage working for HP, I can print on canvas for free, but if you want to print your own photos on canvas, there are some really good print houses out there that will print for a VERY reasonable price.

My BW photo from FFF, in full color.

A little different arrangement...from Oldest to Youngest. Be amazed that we got Dominic and Isabela to hold hands and walk in a straight line without any tantrums.

This is the photo that I chose for our canvas...

Ok, so we aren't all looking, but this is as good as it's going to get after 900 pictures with 3 kids 6 and under. Not all the photos turned out, but I still liked the lightroom effect I used on this. Very subtle.

A great shot by the river, with a bw/vintage feel.

Love the depth and dark lines in the this picture...

This is a really fun lightroom preset, doesn't it look like winter instead of fall?

Another fun look, very antique and soft.

Fun, bright, and beautiful!

Oh, how I love these kids!!!

We learned a lot and I could spend weeks fine tuning these photos. The lighting isn't perfect and a couple of times we weren't in the right mode, but it was a huge success and totally free. I LOVE digital photography, it allows novice users like myself to gain experience and take my own photos when that magical moment happens. I'm not advocating always taking your own family photos, but in order to save some $ and gain some photography experience, it's always an option. If you'd like to know more about specific things that I did, feel free to leave me a comment with your question, I'll try to get to it. If nothing else, tell me which one is your favorite!

"Live the life you want to live,
Be the person you want to remember,
Make decisions,
Make mistakes,
If you fall, at least you tried."

FFF - Black/White - Love is in the air

2009-11-06T22:04:00.007-07:00

On this day, the air was crisp, the sun was out, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It didn't however, start out as the perfect day. As many of you probably know, getting ready for a family picture isn't always easy. In fact, in our house, it's chaotic and usually filled with lots of scrambling and sometimes shouting. It's not really what you imagine happened just before the shoot and when you see the finished product. I will say, it's tough for our family to get to a photo session and not be in a bit of distress, but families stick together and get through it. In the end, the love will always shine through in the portrait.

Here's a sneak peak at our Fall Family Photo shoot.

"Love is certainly in the air"

Do you want to know what the next best thing to capturing these beautiful moments was? It was totally free!!! I'll tell you how in my next post.

For more fabulous FFF's click on the button below:

Happy, Happy, Happy

2009-11-01T16:36:00.007-07:00

Happy Halloween!!!

What a great night! The weather was nice and our little party turned out really fun! We had my parents, a few couples, and thier kids over for a frightening fun family night. (We missed you Mahoney's...we hope Kate feels better soon!).

I made Chicken Corn Chowder, Pasta E Fagioli soup, and had a variety of breads for dinner. For the kids, we had mummy dogs and witches brew, complete with dry ice for the smouldering cauldron! I had never done dry ice, but it was a piece of cake. One of our friends brought over some black vodka...that was really yummy! And other couple brought some of the yummiest dark chocolate with orange cream frosting cupcakes that I have ever tasted. We had a really wonderful night!

Witches Brew

The Drinks

Condiments

Everyone got into the dress up action:

Scream Guy and A Beautiful Witch

Close up of Scream Guy...AKA "Grandpa"...he really scared all the kids!

The black eyed peas!

The cutest Vampire family!

I was Officer Midnight and Ted was my prisoner!

Here is the cutest little construction worker on the planet!

And Tah-Dah! Here's a picture of Isabela, our little cupcake. I fell in love with the Pottery Barn cupcake costume, but did not want to pay $50 for it. My Mom and I re-created it and here she is:

She's off!

Bela and Grandma!

This house had A LOT of candy!

She loved trick or treating and kept saying "next one, Momma, next one"

It was hard to go to any house without her enduring "Oh my gosh, it's a cupcake, that's adorable!"...and..."Awww, she's the cutest thing I've ever seen"...and..."come quick, you have to see this costume, this little girl is cupcake!" One lady called her husband to the door 3 times to look at Bela. He kept saying "But, dear, I just saw her, she's really cute"...and she said "you have to come see her again!" It was so funny and then got a bit embarrasing as the night went on, Bela would just stand there while people ooh'd and aww'd over her and I so patiently explained how we made it. Now, what in the world is she going to be next year? I guess I have 364 days to think about it.

Ted and I with some really cute little girls!

"Trick or Treat!"

Happy Halloween...Until Next Year!

One last thing, we have a tradition at our house where the kids pick 20 pieces of candy and leave the rest out for the great pumpkin. The great pumpkin takes the candy to those that didn't get to trick or treat and leaves a present. This year the great pumpkin visited our house and left "Blokus". I love playing games with the kids and getting rid of all the sugar. The kids love believing in the great pumpkin and donating their candy to others. It's fun for all!

FFF - Spooky!

2009-10-30T13:57:00.003-06:00

That's what it would be if I had 5 kids ages, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 2! I love them all down to the bone, but my life would be seriously spooky!!! Ha!

Last night, my nieces came over for some pre-Halloween fun! My Mom planned everything out, brought pizza stuff to make pumpkin shaped pizzas, a pumpkin shaped brownie, outfits for the girls, Halloween bags for all the kids. It was such a fun night! However, my Mom got violently sick at about 4pm and couldn't participate in any of it. I felt so bad for her that she was soooo sick and couldn't take place in the fun night she had planned. We carried on and made it a super fun night for the kids, but it wasn't the same without her. We didn't get to the outfits as feeding and keeping track of 5 kids is very tricky! For those of you with 5 kids, I don't know how you do it! Here are the kids making and eating their pizzas!

Love these kids!!!

Thanks for a wonderful night Mom, we hope you feel better soon!!!

Pumpkin Heads

2009-10-28T23:30:00.004-06:00

After a family photo shoot, we went to one of our other favorite family's house for dinner and pumpkin carving. Of course, they had never carved pumpkins the Martinez way, which involves detailed carving, not just faces...that's the engineer in us.

Here is Michelle and I having a big too much fun!

Ted and Diego hard at work:

Michelle and Finn hard at work:

Matt, Dominic, and Kate getting in on the action:

Diego and I stopping to pose for a photo. Actually, it went more like this. "Hey Ted, get the camera and take a picture of me so that the kids remember I was here." And he replied "Oh, they'll remember you were here alright". Hahaha, he's so funny...not.

Bela was there too, but she was busy reading:

Just about finished...

Now we're finished!

Hope you are having as much fun with Fall as I am!!!

Halloween Preview #1

2009-10-27T23:14:00.002-06:00

Here he is, our family "Reacon Commando!" I had a little fun with photoshop creating his own Commando Movie Poster...

To wrap it up...

2009-10-25T00:24:00.003-06:00

I mentioned before that I had some time to play with LR and PS last weekend. The culmination of my efforts come from the following photo. I have to say that it's a terrible photo straight out of the camera. Dominic is over exposed, Isabela is over shadowed, and the angle is horrible. But...the kids are cute and I could not resist the smile on Isabela's face, so I attempted to salvage it.

Here's what I came up with...and I have to say I'm quite proud of myself:

It took me quite a few steps to get to these photos. Part of it was luck and part of it was just time and experience. I love using overlays and you can see that I tried many different textures and colors. Since I can't decide, please tell me, which one is your favorite???

FFF - Adventures

2009-10-23T15:44:00.005-06:00

I love FFF because it gets me thinking outside of my normal "blog" type posts. This Friday's theme is about everyday adventures. Well, I happen to think at our house, everyday is an adventure. With 3 kids that are all 2 years apart, the days are hardly ordinary. Here's a few of the the adventures we have on our Saturdays when we're not so rushed:

Let's start with breakfast...I love to make these German Pancakes. If you've never had one, they are soooo yummy. You squirt a little fresh lemon and sprinkle some powered sugar on top. Mmmmmmmmm, making my mouth water just talking about it.

Next up, we play. Play, Play, Play. You can see the boys here building a train track, with help from the photographer that stalks our house. Hahaha.

Next up, we clean. Clean, Clean, Clean. Here's a shot of our bonus/play room, all nice and tidy.

What's next? Lunch! I love to cook for the kids on the weekend. I really like to pride myself in healthy choices for the kids and making them home-cooked meals when I can. I don't go off the deep end, but I have been known to sneak some wheat germ and flaxseed in on occasion (wink). Last Saturday, it was cold outside and many people around us were sick, so I loaded them up on whole grains, vitamin C, and organic chicken broth...here's what we had for lunch:

Yes, she is still in her PJ's at noon!

Next up, naps for Dominic and Isabela...we get a little break to do what? Hmmmm, maybe play around with LR and PS!!! No, those aren't pets, those stand for LightRoom and PhotoShop!

I didn't actually plan for this theme, so I don't have any more pictures to finish out the day. I can't even remember what we had for dinner last Saturday, or I'd mention it.

The one thing we do around our house everyday is Laugh! No matter what, you have to laugh. It's good for the brain and the heart and I love making my kids laugh.

Lastly, we always celebrate our diversity. Check out this canvas painting we purchased at a charity auction. It was painted by a local artist. Isn't it awesome?

I hope you've enjoyed reading about my everyday adventures. Leave me a comment or two if you did!!!

Click on the image below to go to Hannah's blog to see more FFF's

Photoshop Fun

2009-10-20T21:49:00.004-06:00

Between lightroom and photoshop elements, I have an addiction! That is, spending countless hours editing photos. They don't all turn out, but I learn new things in the process.

Note: All of these photos were first edited in lightroom. If you have not played with that tool, you should at least download a trial. Adobe is not paying me to say this (I wish they were), but lightroom is my new-found friend. PS Elements is a great deal for anyone wishing to dabble with photoshop. It's quite powerful for the price and does everything I need to do at this point. I'm afraid to by the full photoshop, because I'm sure I'll be hooked. PSE meets my needs for now.

After lightroom, I open the photo in PSE and usually plan around with layering and other fun PSE effects. There are many actions you can download so you don't have to be a pro right away. Here are just a few of my tinkerings from the weekend...

Water Color effects...not my favorite, but they can be fun with the right photo.

Canvas effects...fun texture and super easy to do.

Frames, layers, and text...so simple in PSE!

More frames and text...

Card making, made simple! And a little message from Bela:

Later this week, I'll show what I did with cropping, textures, and overlays to give one picture the professional look. So proud of myself on this one, hopefully you will be too!

Wickedly Cute!

2009-10-18T21:25:00.003-06:00

So...what do you think? I had some time today to mess around with lightroom and photoshop, I'm going to be posting a bunch of different things that I did today over the next week. This was a fun frame option and Isabela so kindly posed for me in her "before Halloween" outfit. My Mom made her skirt...I keep telling her, she needs to go into business.

I know many of you are readers and not commenters, but all you need is a google account to leave a comment. Don't worry...to me, no comment is a dumb comment and all comments keep me blogging. So, don't be afraid, I don't bite. Hahahaha.

Favorite Foto Friday - Orange

2009-10-16T21:54:00.003-06:00

Playing around with Orange overlays with the youngest little monsters...

Thanks for hosting FFF Hannah! To get to Hannah's blog for next week's FFF theme, click here:

He makes us laugh!

2009-10-13T23:51:00.004-06:00

And I hope you will too!

Take a look at this short video of Dominic riding a bull:

And then there's his dress up and shock us outfit. He did this all by himself and then came down for the Shock and Awe effect:

Even Isabela doesn't know what to think of his outfit.

Isabela looks a little uneasy standing next to him, but poses anyway. Sorry Bela, you have a crazy brother!

He's always saying funny things like "Let's get Cracka Lackin' Mom" or "You wanna piece of me, huh, huh>" It's amazing what he will repeat from a movie, so we have to be wise in our choices. LOL!

Lastly, he is the best 4 year old booty shaker I've ever seen. I've got to get him on video and post it one day.

I love my funny little boy and hope he never stops making us laugh.

In The Mood...

2009-10-10T22:13:00.002-06:00

The Halloween mood that is! I just could not go without doing a little Halloween blog design and I could not wait to get the Halloween decorations out for this year. I bought a bunch of stuff 75-90% off last year. I put it away and almost forgot I had it all. I wanted to do a spooky table, here's what I came up with.

I dream of being a professional football player

2009-10-07T21:10:00.002-06:00

This is how a conversation between Diego and I went last night....

Diego: "Mom, sometimes we have bad dreams and I hope those dreams do not come true...and sometimes we have good dreams and I hope those do come true."

Me: "Well, Diego, there is a bit of a difference between the dreams you dream at night and those that you dream while you are sitting there thinking. The ones that you dream at night can come true, but you don't have a lot of control over what you dream at night. However, the ones you dream of while you are sitting there thinking are the ones that can come true. Those are your hopes, your dreams, your goals in life. You can do anything and be anything you dream of...."

Me (again): "What do you dream of when you are just sitting there thinking?"

Diego: "I want to win the state wrestling championship."

Me: "That's a great dream to have, and I have faith that if you work hard enough, you can do it. What other dreams do you have?"

Diego: "I want to be a professional football player."

Me: "That's wonderful too Diego, I'm sure you can accomplish that dream and I'll be right along side you as your biggest cheerleader."

I wanted to write this down for a few reasons. 1.) I wanted to remember the innocence in his little boy dream to be a professional football player. Maybe it will come true, maybe it won't, but I love that he has this dream. and 2.) Because I think it's so important for kids to gain confidence that they can have dreams/hopes/goals and if they work hard enough, they can achieve them. On the flip side, I also want my kids to know that not all dreams can be achieved and that it's not the end of the world if we have to make adjustments to our dreams/hopes/goals along the way. I'm sure the latter part of this discussion will come another day, but today, I want my little boy to know that anything is possible...anything.

Here's Diego on the football field. I am so proud of him as he's gained quite the reputation. His team is undefeited (but who's keeping score?), I mean really, these kids are only 6. Ok, well, all the parents are, but that's not the point. The point is Diego is really, really fast and has an amazing awareness of where the ball is at all times. He has scored 11 touchdowns in 4 games and pulled many flags (I mean tackles). He even played quarterback and completed a pass to a teammate who ran the ball for a touchdown. I'm so proud of my little guy! Good work buddy!

Here he is doing a fake so that another teammate can score!

And off the field...well, if that dream of becoming a professional football player doesn't come true, then I think he'll be just fine. We challenged him this year (1st grade) to see if he could get 100% on ALL of his spelling tests. There have only been 7 so far, but he's scored 100% on all of them plus he's gotten all of the challenge words right. Here's a snapshot of his first spelling test of the year.

What's a girl to wear?

2009-10-01T21:25:00.003-06:00

Funny you should ask? What did Isabela wear on her first day of preschool? Well, here she is and as you can see, she's amazing and has so much fun in front of the camera. Watcha think? Jo-Jo, the "Sassers" pose is for you!!!

These two really do love each other, although, it's hard to tell sometimes.

And, I leave you with this...

It's about time...

2009-09-30T23:55:00.003-06:00

That fall is here...and, well, that I posted again. I've been working on some other blog projects besides my own, and with work, and the kids going back to school things have been C-R-A-Z-Y.

But, I do love this time of year. I always loved starting back to school again, because it meant new clothes, new school supplies (don't you love a fresh box of crayons), seeing my friends again, meeting new friends, and the challenge of a new year. Maybe I was weird, but I loved every part about going back to school. I find myself excited for my kids even more than was. I think I pratically stalked the school this year to find out who Diego's 1st grade teacher was going to be and who was in his class. LOL! Then there was the back to school shopping. I had a lot of fun shopping for all 3 as they are now in preschool, pre-K, and first grade.

I also love the smell of the fall air, the football games/parties, Halloween, the colors, and most of all, the FOOD! Fall food is my favorite. We have some fun fall traditions.

1.) As a family, we go to the pumpkin patch every year. Last year we had so much fun and I can't wait to do it again.
2.) Every Halloween we invite some friends over for a small Halloween party.
3.) We love to watch football games together and just hang out around the house on the cool fall weekends.
4.) We have some big trees in our backyard which lose a lot of leaves. Every year we have a big rake up, pile up, and leaf fight.
5.) Lastly, we try to make it to an October Fest celebration somewhere.

What are your family traditions?

Oh yeah, and what do you think of the new blog?

Barrel O' Fun!

2009-09-13T14:07:00.003-06:00

Check out this cool barrel...we found a hotsprings off the side of the road way up in the mountains. This barrel had a drain and a movable pipe, so the water could be drained and you could put fresh HOT water in. Very cool!

Here we are...this was tricky...balance the camera on some rocks, sprint to get in the picture without tripping, slipping, or falling...say cheese. Ignore me in my swim suit.

Ted taking in the relaxation of the hot water and the river running by...

The Mahoney's doing the same. Kids? What kids?

Yep, you got it, we went camping again, this is from our trip in August, that I am just now getting around to posting again. Check out the beauty of the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho! Stunning, I tell ya, Stunning!

Going on a hike!

Domino and Kate

The kids

Mommy and Domino

Daddy and the preschoolers!!!

It's always "Isabela time" on the hike...slow going and she has to do it herself!

5 kids in a camper!

At the lake! Not a great picture, early morning, no makeup, but check out the glassy water. Beautiful!!!

The kids!

Two guys, two poles, two beers != 2 fish

Little peanut

Little peanut gets wet

Diego and Finn

Diego and Kate

Dominic

We had such a blast camping with the Mahoney's this year, we cannot wait to do it again!

What's for dinner?

2009-09-10T23:24:00.003-06:00

You might be wondering what's for dinner at my house? Or maybe not, but I'm going to tell you anyway. We eat a lot of Mexican food (Chile Verde, Enchiladas, Tacos, Tostadas, Chile Rellenos, Rice, Beans, etc), we eat a lot of grilled chicken/steak, salad, and veggies, and I like to make stir-fry's. One night, I decided to make something fun for the kids and here's what I came up with...give it a try, they'll love it!

"Tostada Man"

"The Three Tostada Amigos"

Happy kids!

What do you eat at your house?

Sooooo lucky!

2009-09-04T21:44:00.003-06:00

Yep, that's me, soooo lucky!

I feel so lucky to have such wonderful parents, an amazing husband, and the best kiddos on the planet. In our busy lives, I just wanted to slow down and tell you how much I love you!

Ta-Dah! (Insert drum roll...)

2009-09-01T13:57:00.004-06:00

Isabela has some big news to share!

"I'm a big girl now! I use the potty all the time and tell my Mommy and Daddy when I need to go!"

Yep, that's right, my baby girl is growing up. It all started about 3 weeks ago when my in-laws came to visit. We had been introducing the potty, but since I work full-time outside the home, it was hard to find a period of time, longer than a weeked when we could get consistent with the potty routine. My mother-in-law so graciously agreed to give it a shot. After the week was up, the potty was starting to sync in, but it still felt like we were a long way from being "potty trained". The hard work paid off though, Isabela started using the potty more and more the next week, and the next week, and now, we are completely there. We only use diapers at bed time and she is pretty good at telling us or we are good at spotting the signs. I'm so proud of my little girl and she is proud too!

The only downside? My half-pint, 24lb, little girly girl no longer has a diaper to hold her pants up. Her little toosh is so tiny that everything is baggy. Oh well, we'll find a way to deal or shop until we find things that fit (not such a bad thing in my book).

Here's my little stinker bug 1 year ago...

I call her "Bela Boo"...she reminds me of the little girl, "Boo", on the Monster's Inc show.

Here she is today, riding her little Vespa...such lovely posed pictures.

See the bandaid on her knee? She is obsessed with bandaids.

And then the "typical" goings on at our house, caught on camera:

The kids with their Grandma and Grandpa

My Sweet Baby Boy is a First Grader!

2009-08-24T22:25:00.003-06:00

This was then (2 days old):

This is now (6 years old):

I'm so proud of my little first grader. He's so cute, smart, funny, generous, loving, and kind. It makes me smile just thinking about what a wonderful little boy he is. And now he's off to the first grade...sigh. I love you little buddy...you are my sunshine.

-Mom

Another adventure while camping

2009-08-11T22:27:00.003-06:00

I'm telling you all, we really do have this much fun camping! I'm so proud of our kiddos on this one, we did a 4 mile (round-trip) hike with 2 six year olds, 2 four year olds, and a 2 year old. It was a lot of fun and I'm sure we'll remember it for years to come. This was the first year that Dominic and Kate made it up and back without having to be carried. Yay for them and yay for us (not having to carry them). Isabela loves sitting in the Kelty backpack carrier (who wouldn't)...she even fell asleep on the way back down.

The scenery was incredible and we could pick huckleberries on the trail as we walked. Our reward was a drink and a snack at the top...oh yeah and an amazing waterfall!!!

Enjoy...

At the lake...

2009-08-10T10:03:00.003-06:00

My next few posts will be a series of posts from our camping trip to Wallowa Lake 2 weeks ago. Gasp! Now you know how far behind I am in blogging. Oh well, I don't like to publicly announce when we'll be out of town, so my vacation posts will always come after the fact.

Do you like to camp? It's actually a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun too! There's very little to do other than focus on your family while your camping. There are no computers, facebook, twitter, blogger, hotmail, etc. We sometimes have cell phone acccess, but who talks on the phone anymore? That's so 5 years ago! LOL!

Here we are at the lake with some of our best family friends, The Mahoney's!

And yes, the water was cold. But we always say "it's refreshing" so that the next person to jump in doesn't know they are going to freeze their A$$ off. Hahaha. Even Isabela was brave enough to jump in, all by herself. Of course Daddy was there to catch her and she didn't do it again, but I was so proud of her. I don't know many 2 year olds that jump off the back of a pontoon boat into a cold mountain lake. That's my girl!

Bumpity, Bump, Bump....

2009-08-09T15:13:00.000-06:00

A FOUR Alarm Fire...

2009-08-02T10:43:00.000-06:00

Birthday Party!!!
My little guy is growing up so fast. I love planning parties, and here is the outcome of Dominic wanting a Fireman birthday:

The invites:

The decorations:

The goodie bags: Dollar store red hats and fireman accessories for the boys, Dollar store yellow hats, and dress-up fireman bears for the girls.

The Cake: Blood, Sweat, and Tears went into this cake!!!

Crazy kiddos!

We had slip n' slides and a backyard full of fun!

BEST OF ALL, I called our local fire department and asked them if they could "stop by" for the party. I really expected them to say something about regulations, etc, etc, but they said "yes" as long as there wasn't something that they were called to that night. They not only came by, but they brought the HUGE ladder truck and 5 firemen!!! It was awesome and all the kids were surprised. I baked them a cake that said "We Love Our Firemen", here they are with the kids.

They brought hats, coloring books, and let them climb all over the truck. Thank you firemen!!!

Dominic practicing putting out a fire!

Even Diego and Isabela got in on the action and loved the fireman birthday party!

And...it's present time!

One happy little guy!

One happy Mom and Dad!

I Love my little fireman so much!!!

Where the sun touches the sky

2009-07-20T16:17:00.000-06:00

This last weekend, we couldn't stand sitting around, so we decided jump in our new camper and take it out on a maiden voyage. We went to the Bruneau Sand Dunes. The Bruneau Sand Dunes are the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America rises to 470 feet high above small lakes in the high desert of southern Idaho. This sunset was amazing!!!

The desert at dusk:

Our new camper

Here we are climbing and walking the ridge of the dunes:

Little Sand Monsters

Here we are at the lake:

Ahhhh, it was sooo peaceful and serene. There was hardly anyone around...we were only 1 family of the handful of other families to go to the desert on one of the hottest days of the year.

Little Monkey's in the tree:

My Favorite Shopping Blog

2009-07-16T23:26:00.000-06:00

My favorite shopping blog is a shopping blog that I get to write in!!! One of my best friends, Joanna, loves to shop so much that she started a shopping blog. If you don't know already, I also love to shop!!! A lot! So, I asked her if I could be her partner in crime on this shopping blog. Together we could tear apart the internet for the lastest and greatest in fashion, find killer deals, and justify our hours and hours of wasted, I mean productive internet time. We focus mostly on children's items, but tonight I wrote a post for the Moms. If you haven't seen it, go check it out. And while your at it, become a follower so you can be updated when we have something to share.

A Little Piece of Heaven

2009-07-15T23:59:00.000-06:00

Yep, that's what this was...every bite of it. My sweet husband made this for me (I mean us)... the other night. Homemade sweet biscuits, fresh rasberries and blackberries from our garden, and a heaping mound of whip cream. Today, I'm 5lbs heavier, but it was worth it!

The Tale of Two Boys and ONE Ice Cream Cone...

2009-07-14T21:51:00.000-06:00

I just love these little guys and I wish I could freeze time to capture more of their sweet innocence. Diego is such a good big brother...not only to Dominic, but also Isabela. He shared his ice cream here, even after Dominic had chosen another treat and eaten it all before Diego got back with his ice cream. Diego puts up with a lot and expects very little of his siblings in return. Tonight he said, "Dominic, I love you, you're just so cute, and a little stinker too". It's soooo true and Diego is emotionally wise beyond his years.

Last week Diego was at invention camp and learned some great things, he keeps reciting facts that he learned, which really cool! This week he is at wrestling camp and putting the moves on. I was told that he pinned a 65 lb boy today, which is a big deal since Diego only weighs 50 lbs. I'm so proud of him for all of his accomplishments.

Now I know what everyone has been talking about...

2009-07-13T23:04:00.001-06:00

Ok people, as you know, I frequent Stacy's blog and she has been doing some amazing things with her photography as well as Hanah's blog, where she is so great at capturing real life moments and taking some amazing photographs!!! They have inspired me.

While I spend the majority of my free time designing blogs, I do want to learn how to be a better photographer and also better with the post processing aspect.

So...I downloaded Adobe Lightroom, and OMGosh! I could spend countless hours on that thing. Do you think my laundry got done tonight? Nope! Did I do anything but edit pictures tonight. Nope! Ok, well I did do football drills with Diego, played with Isabela and Dominic, and tucked them all in with kisses, but after that, it was just Lightroom and I.

And, a bonus, I have figured out why I blog (I mean, besides the obvious of giving updates to those that don't live close). I blog to be inspired by others that blog and make myself a better person, Mom, photographer, friend, blog designer, or whatever it is that I stumble upon. I was recently struggling with why I keep feeling the urge to update my blog and now I know why I want all of you to keep updating yours. Hopefully when you come to my blog, you will learn something or see something that inspires you...even if it's just every once in awhile.

Without further ado, here's what 3 hours and quickly self-taught Adobe Lightroom will get you. And, if I had taken BETTER photos to begin with, the post-processing would have been even easier. I'll be working on that in the coming months.

I learned it's kind of fun to practice on other people's kids and I had such beautiful subject in my cousin's kids from the weekend.

Original

My Modification

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My Modification

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My Modification

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My Modification (A bit saturated, but I'm too tired to fix it)

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My Modification - Profile of my Grandpa

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My Modification

Next up for tomorrow night...a special edit of my two boys.

What Have I Been up to?

2009-07-12T23:07:00.000-06:00

Well, from March 28-July 4...every year, I get to look forward to complete chaos and me running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Does it every end? No, I don't think so. Here's what I've been up to:

Diego turned 6 on March 28th - Check
Wrestling - Check
Easer 2009 on April 12 - Check
Isabela turned 2 on April 12th - Check
Wreslting - Check
My neice's bday and shopping trip - Check
Wrestling - Check
Mother's Day - Check
Ted's Birthday (May) - Check
End of the school year...lots going on - Check
Father's Day - Check
Dominic turned 4 - Check
My Birthday - Check
4th of July - Check

Ok, so these are all of the things that will happen year after year between March 28th and July 4th. Forget about all the other things like trips to San Diego, Camping, trips to the cabin, making time for friends, etc, etc. 3 months have come and gone and I feel like I can breathe again. Sigh...I'm tired after writing all of that.

The good news is, our family birthdays are done (until next year)!!!

Speaking of, here are a few pictures from our 4th of July. We celebrated my Grandpa's 80th birthday by gathering for a family reunion in a nearby resort town:

My Niece, Althea

Yep, he can be nice to her sometimes...

My Niece, Gracie

The cousins

Looking so cute in the outfits that Grandma made. They are fabulous!!!

Mommy and Bela

More cousins

Dominic so proud of his creation

Diego with a third cousin

Isabela leaning over to give her cousin a kiss
Look at these eyes, isn't she gorgeous!

And this one too, a little diva in the making!

And this is a her little sis, sporting one of Isabela's bows

And look at this...here is my Grandpa with his 19 Great Grandkids. He has 5 kids, 12 Grandkids, and 19 Great Grandkids. My Grandma passed away 3 years ago, but would have loved to see all these kids and would still be storing gifts in her closet (9 months in advance) for Christmas and Birthdays.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

2009-06-27T15:27:00.001-06:00

We are having such a great time with Joanna and Myla visiting. We have been going, shopping, going, eating, shopping, going, and eating. I'm going to be so sad when they leave, but for now, we are living it up!

Can you tell that both girls are napping. Both Joanna and I had fun sitting next to each other to blog!!!

Camping - Part 1

2009-06-13T23:02:00.000-06:00

We love to camp and better yet, we love to camp with friends. We had so much fun last weekend camping, fishing, hiking, and swimming. It rained a little, but didn't scare us away. Here are a few snapshots from last weekend. Check out my blurred backgrounds, I used a new lens and had so much fun with it! Aren't my forest friends cute?

The funkiest bunch!!!

My Baby is in Preschool! Wah!

2009-06-07T22:22:00.000-06:00

It's official, my last baby is off to preschool. I know it's summer and most kids are taking a break, but Isabela is making the move from her daycare to the preschool where Dominic goes. We were going to start her in the fall with the school year, but her daycare provider was making some changes to a new location and it wasn't as convenient for us, plus it meant we were still dropping off and picking up at 3 different places for another 3 months. We decided to make the switch start with the summer camp.

Here is my big girl on her first day of preschool summer camp. The teachers are amazed at how smart and well-behaved she is. She does all the big-kid stuff and even took a nap on her nap mat.

I'm so proud of Dominic too. His teacher said that he stayed by Isabela all day and showed her the ropes. He even told his teacher he had to protect her. Awwww.

It was a bittersweet moment, but I'm thrilled to be moving to the next stage in our lives, preschool and grade school, here we come!

-Jaimee

T-Ball Time!!!

2009-06-02T23:52:00.000-06:00

It's that time again and, actually, I'm so slow, t-ball has come and gone. It was a very short season because wrestling overlapped. We had the t-ball party tonight, so the end is official. Diego had a great time this year. It was coach-pitch for the first 3 pitches, then if the kids didn't get a hit, they got to hit from the tee. It was a lot of fun watching these kiddos.

Diego, ready to catch a ball
The "Mariners" team...and I thought the clouds were amazing too. Our friend, Finn, getting ready to be catcher

Diego...

Diego ready to bat

The team...

Diego hitting the ball!

Of course, I had to capture the "little ones" having fun at the game too. Here they are.

At this game, Dominic told Kate that he was going to marry her one day. We even have it on video! They were being so cute, I had to capture it.

He's even trying to share his sandwich...

FUNNY!!! Can you see what the little boy (my little boy) is doing over by the tree and not in a porta potty?

Summer Fever

2009-05-18T12:38:00.000-06:00

I have it! We had beautiful weather here this weekend and I'm ready for summer to be here!!!! I did my pots, cleaned off the patio, and even broke out the sprinkler for the kids. Here are a few pictures of our weekend. Hannah from "Me-Me and Monkey's Big Adventure" always inspires me to take better pictures. I'm not as good as she is, but I try.

Here's the patio...all cleaned up and put together for the summer

Another view...

Outdoor centerpiece

So, what did I get for all my hard work?

Look at this bathing beauty

I wish I had buns like hers...

Eating a fruit roll-up

Amazing profile

I wish I had her lips and eyelashes too

MY BEAUTIFUL BABY!

Diego in the sprinklers

Diego giving me his best "GQ" look

Dominic in his jeep

Another toddler GQ candidate...

Apple-Mint - planted for one purpose and one purpose only...

Lalalala-laaaa...my summer love!

I hope everyone has a wonderful summer! We have lots planned. First up on the list is a trip to our cabin, then camping, our local fun days, and then JoJo and Myla are coming to visit!!! And that's just June.

My Little Champion

2009-05-15T13:58:00.000-06:00

I am soooo proud of Diego! He had one great wrestling season. He grew so much this year, in both wrestling ability and sportsmanship. He's a very competitive individual and he's already a great athlete at only 6 years old. At most tournaments, he was the "kid to beat", many kids were relieved when they drew a bracket other than his. There was one kid that became his rival for the year. He beat him last year at the state finals and he was back for revenge this year. Ironically, they didn't end up in the same bracket all year long until the state finals.

The highlight of the state finals was Diego's first match where he wrestled as tough as ever and prevailed against another great competititor. This boy went on to beat Diego's rival, and then it was Diego's turn against his rival. Both boys wrestled hard, but Diego ended up losing the physical and psychological battle. About 1/2 way through the 1st round, Diego ended up on his back and was pinned. His rival was crying and continued crying even after the match was over. If Diego had only rolled him one more time, it would have ended in Diego's favor. So, even though Diego and his rival both had 1 loss, the rival ended up with the gold medal since he beat Diego. We are sooo proud of Diego for wrestling so hard and being a great kid!!! Here he is with his medal.

Here are a few other pictures: Here's a video of one of his best matches of the season, Diego is in blue:

I cannot believe what he has accomplished at only 6 years old. Here's a little cork board I created for him to be able to hang up his medals. This year he only lost 3 out of 20 matches! Way to go Diego, I hope you know, I'm your biggest fan!!! Love, Mom

Saving the best for last

2009-05-10T09:34:00.001-06:00

Can you believe I'm still posting pictures from my vacation that was over 2 weeks ago? We had such a great time, I want to savor every bit of it. OK, that's only half the truth...I've just been so busy I can't post every day. So, I am finally posting the last of our vacation photos.

On the last day, after another trip to Legoland, we went to the beach. The weather was cool, but perfect. We were lucky enough to meet up with a wonderful person that I went through the adoption process with. That person is Mary. Mary had an up and down process. The downs were worse than anyone of us could imagine, but she stayed strong and brought her beautiful daughter, Jenniffer, home. I was thrilled to be able to meet Mary and Jenniffer. Jenniffer is such a beautiful, tiny, perfect little girl and her Mom is just amazing. After the beach, Mary met us out for dinner and Mary and I were able to stay and have a drink together. Thank you Mary and Jenniffer for being such great friends!

Sweet little Jenniffer!

Having more fun in the sun!

Diego burying Dominic in the sand

Dominic

Isabela

Dominic and Isabela playing

Two of my three cuties!

Diego diggin' the sand

We had so much fun on our vacation, I can't wait to do it again!

Hair cut cutie!

2009-04-30T22:20:00.000-06:00

Ok, I did it. I took Isabela to get her hair cut. Her hair wasn't growing all that fast and where it was growing, it was really uneven. I told the lady this was her first "real" hair cut and that I wanted a "bob". I also told her not to whack it, that I wanted the longest bob possible. Well...SEVERAL inches later, she was taking off all of her hair. I started to freak out, like hyperventilate. I said "Ummmm, you are taking off a lot", she said "I'm cutting a bob". I said "Well, I asked for a long bob, why did you take off so much in the back?" She said "Well, she moved, so I had to". I said "If you need me to hold her head so you don't take out chunks, just ask". (eye-roll, glare, eye-roll).

Hello? This lady did not know how to cut little kids hair. Of course she is going to move. duh!

Anyway, I got over it because I think she looks pretty darn cute...we'll just call her Suri Cruz (with a z), Hahaha. It needed to be done and now it's all even. Here are some pics of Isabela with her new hair cut (just before bed).

She loves, and now, looks like her new Corolle Doll

Meet "Poupette Loli" - Isn't she adorable? And, for some reason, she was only $13.99.

Isn't my little Poupette even more adorable?

Isabela feeding her babies

She loves shoes

Look at my little ballerina on her tippie toes

Getting ready to brush teeth, she wanted a bow (hmmm, I wonder why that is?)

Here's my little peanut in her princess room, getting ready for story time, then dreamland.

Isabela's First Date

2009-04-29T21:58:00.001-06:00

During our trip to San Diego, we had the great opportunity to meet up with some of the people who helped me survive the ups and downs of the adoption process. The first meeting was with Anna and her handsome son's Jacob and Pablo. Pablo was also adopted from Guatemala and Anna and I quickly became friends as we went through the process together. At times, we e-mailed 10+ times per day. I was so excited and thankful to be able to meet Anna, Jacob, and Pablo in person. Isabela was also excited and tried eagerly to make friends with Pablo. Pablo, on the other hand, had been awoken from his nap to be able to make this play date, and was not into Isabela right away, but he did warm up later. Here are some pictures from our little get-together at King's Fish House.

We had so much fun, thanks for going out of your way to come meet us!!!

SeaWorld Silliness

2009-04-26T22:29:00.001-06:00

We had such a fabulous trip to San Diego. And a trip to San Diego would not be complete without visiting Sea World. We met up with Ted's Uncle Johnny, cousin Laura and her daughter Kaylani. We had great weather and a lot of fun.

I didn't actually take this photo of Shamu. We sat in the "splash zone" and I didn't dare pull out my camera. I didn't want my kids to forget Shamu, so I found this picture.

Here are the kids goofing around at the hotel:

Do you not want to just squeeze these kids. I do...they are so precious to me!

Stay tuned for the last part of our trip which included meeting some favorite Guat Tots and thier lovely Mama's, and our afternoon at the beach.