A Week of Halloween

I thought it was because Halloween was on a Saturday this year, but I think it is more due to the fact that both the boys are in school now. Possibly a combo of both. We have had a solid week of Halloween festivities, including 5 parties, and ending with Trick or Treating.

These pics are from the Multi-Ward Halloween Party and the Rolling Hills Family Halloween Party. The boys were Transformers, Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. They look more like Transformers when they wear their masks.... but A) they can't wear masks to most functions and B) they don't like their masks anyway.

Field Trip to the Zoo!

Have I mentioned how much I am enjoying Joy School? We have such a great group of kids and moms.

This month they learned about the Joys of the Earth and they were scheduled to go to a petting zoo. Kids get in free to the SD Zoo in the month of October, so the teacher that week decided to go to the Children's Zoo there. I offered to tag a long to help and to drive 2 of the kids.

It was a great day, the weather was perfect, and all though the Zoo was crowded, the Childrens Zoo wasn't too bad.

We started out at the Reptile House, and the boys probably could have stayed there all day. It is fun to hear the excitement in their voices and watch them show each other when they found the camouflaged reptiles in each enclosure.

Then we went over to the Children's Zoo and slowly made our way to petting zoo part. The sheep and goats were mostly hiding from people, but the boys did get to pet one soft sheep, and look at a few pigs.

Then it was time to head home. The only bad
part about going to the Zoo for an hour, is that the kids aren't ready to leave after just an hour.

I was glad that I got to go, and so grateful to have found such a great group of moms to be a part of.

Roman's First Fun Run

The pictures are in opposite order, why does that happen?

Anyway. Last week Roman's school had their annual Fun Run to raise money for the privately funded foundation that pays for PE and Music classes that the children would other wise not have. I volunteered to help pin on and mark off lap cards.

When I got there, they were already stretching. It was so cute, because one of the Kindergartners was leading the class. He had them all doing a hamstring stretch, it was adorable.


Then they all came together to do a little cheer, Mrs. Tebbetts tried to get them to all put there hand in and say "Go room 8!!" Some of them got it :P

Then it was time to line up, and they were off!! They don't have a real track, so they had just set up cones to run around. The first lap was hilarious, the kids were running inside the cones, and once they got to the far side of the "track", they all ran straight up the middle. Finally the teachers situated themselves inside the cones at the turns and were able to keep the kids on the right course.

They had 20 minutes to run... Poor things didn't have a clue what was going on. They took off full boar for the first 5 minutes, and then one by one they started walking. We had a few die hards (of which Roman was NOT one!!) who tried to run the whole time. Then, we watched, and noticed that they were walking the far stretch of the course, and would turn the last corner and sprint in to get their lap marked off. It was funny.

I am really enjoying working in Roman's class. I have been able to get to know the kids and a few of the parents. The first picture, which
chronologically was the last, is of Roman's class. And yes, Roman is the shortest :P

More Bates Nut Pics

I couldn't resist... my pics aren't great (too much time around Liz really makes me realize how inferior my picture taking skills are :( !!) but they tell the story better than my words do!

Isaac posing in the pumpkin pile made by Jared.

The boys in the pumpkin patch. Poor Malia is the only girl amongst these three families... maybe she is the lucky one, odds are in her favor :)

Roman picked his own pumpkin. He was more concerned with putting the sticker on it than
picking the right pumpkin... but he did find a good one any how.

Once we headed to the pumpkin patch, Jared and Liz did some weird battling wheelbarrow thing. It was funny, so I had to get a shot of it.

And the last one is the guys in the last cart of the tractor with ALL the boys!! Well, except Aaron, he and Malia made it into the mommy cart.

Bates Nut Farm!!!

I love going to the pumpkin patch! I was worried that with Roman in school we wouldn't be able to go as a family. But we are lucky this year, and Roman has his minimum days on Fridays, so I finagled a trip on Friday afternoon. And even got a few friends to caravan with us on our long drive.

We started on the pony ride, as has become a tradition. It was Aaron's first pony ride. Ben was so cute, comforting Aaron as he sat on this giant ever shifting beast. He actually liked it once the horses started moving.

We did the straw maze, a first for us. The boys had a great time getting all the stamps from the check points. It was quite a hot day, so then we had to hide in the shade for a while while the babies played in the straw.

Of course we had to take a tractor ride. The scenery gets less impressive each year... dried, unused cornfields and smashed gords... but the company is always something to be enjoyed. Ben and Jared sat in the back with the kids, and I sat with Amanda and Liz in the next cart :)

We ended the day in the pumpkin patch, digging for the best pumpkins, and pictures :) Jared built a whole pumpkin fortress for the sole purpose of putting the kids in for a great picture opportunity :)

Sorry the pics are all out of order :P

Number ONE Reason Mormons Shouldn't Cook with Wine!

I know that the alcohol cooks off, so that has never really been the issue... but what do you do with the left over wine that you don't use? How do you store it? How long does it last? And how do you know which one to buy?

I over came those problems, and found myself in the wine aisle, trying to maneuver the giant red car shopping cart between the two shelves of floor to chest glass bottles! I found the cheapest bottle of white wine I could and just hoped that it was "dry"... whatever that means. The cashier humored me and asked how old I was. "Too old" was my reply as I raked my brain for the actual number :P

I started my peeling the 100 heads of garlic for my experimental recipe (x 3for our dinner co-op). Soon it was time for the wine. I peeled the plastic wrapper off the neck... just to find that I was face to face with a real life wine cork!! Hadn't even thought of that!! So kids racing around and screaming at each other, I'm frantically searching my drawers for something that might resemble a cork screw.

In a moment of shear genius... I found a three inch long screw. Using a screwdriver and brute force, I got it about halfway into the cork, but now had nothing to pull with. So I got some pliers and tried to pry the nail out, using the pliers as an arm and the neck of the bottle as a leverage point. It was working... until the cork broke clean off, with half still in the bottle. I tried to stiffle a few choice words, and just got to screwing the screw into the remaining half of the cork. I got the screw in... but it was now inside the bottle, so then I had to get the needle nose pliers. Half an hour later, I had an open bottle of wine, and kind of felt like I deserved a swig. JUST KIDDING! Not even appealing anyway :P

Finally, I succeeded in getting the cork, in 2 pieces, out with the use of a 3 inch screw, a screwdriver, regular pliers, and needle nose pliers. It was pretty ridiculous!!

Happy 30th!

Ben turned the big 3-0 on October 13th. I offered to throw him a party... but that is not his style. So instead, the boys picked out a giant lego set for him, and they spent the next 3 weeks building and playing.

The boys had a hard time not taking ownership of each of the things there were building for their little city... but they were very careful with daddy's toys :)

World Famous San Diego Zoo

Ben's brother and his family came to visit this week. They were in town for a wedding and stayed with us one night. The boys really enjoy seeing their cousins, but don't get to too often because they live in AZ. I decided to keep Roman out of school on Thursday and take advantage of kids getting in free at the zoo for the month of Oct.

We got up really early, you know, 8. Had breakfast, got kids dressed and snacks packed and strollers loaded... And got there about 10. The original plan was 9, but what's the point in rushing??

It was a great day. The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast. My boys don't usually like to walk, but they walked the whole time because their cousins were walking. Sighris is 7 and the boys soaked up every minute with him! Isaac wanted to hold his hand, but he wasn't too excited about that idea :P

We walked down by the monkeys and then to Tiger River, where
the tigers were actually out in the open! Shocker. Saw some hippos and some more monkeys and then headed off to meet Ben for a late lunch.

We drove about 10 mins to meet Ben, and as we took the freeway exit, I realized that all three of my boys were completely zonked!

I woke the 2 big ones up to eat and run around a little more before saying good bye to the AZ Garcias :P

Best part of all... I still got good 3 hour naps out of the two older ones once we got home!! Yay for an exhausting day at the zoo!

Things I Don't Want to Forget.

Time flies by watching the boys grow. I look at little Aaron and realize that he isn't going to be little for long. So I wanted to write down a few things that I don't ever want to forget.

He LOVES getting his hair brushed. When he was 1 day old, I was trying to wake him up/ brush the crust out of his hair while we waited for the photographer to come for his newborn pics. As soon as I started combing his perfect little head, he closed his eyes and had the sweetest, most content look on his face. Now when we brush his hair, he will lean his head forward to say he wants more. And he likes to try to do it himself, but then concedes that is just isn't the same and relinquishes control of the brush again.

Last weekend he started saying "Nay nay". At first it sounded like "Nayna", so we thought he was trying to say "Dana". Then he reached for his blanket and said "Nay nay". So naturally we thought, oh, he calls his blanket naynay. No. Nay nay means "I want". It's funny, because he will point at things so matter of factly and just say "Nay nay". Like remotes and glasses. Just because he has found a way to tell us he wants something, he thinks he can have what ever he wants :P It is so cute. Especially when he points at daddy and says "nay nay".

It is so hard to remember all the little things that you enjoy as they grow.I just hope I can always remember how happy my boys make me.

High Lights and Low Lights of Vegas

High light: We only spent like $10 on gambling! I actually ended up a dollar, Ben lost all his... all 10. The first pic is him breaking a 20. Heaven forbid we put a twenty dollar bill into a machine! Seriously!


Low light: Our "Strip View" room that we paid extra for. Our view consisted of the BACK of Excalibur, the free way, and a few hundred parking lots. Booo!!



High light: My sweet ensemble to go down to the pool! I hate bathing suit shopping... so I had just grabbed this suit off the rack more than a year ago. I threw it in my suitcase hopping that by crossing state lines it would magically fit. No such luck. My bosoms were hanging out every where. I was going to wear a tank top OVER it, but all I had was a tight see thru thing that was only suitable as an under shirt. SOOO I put it on UNDER my bathing suit. I thought maybe I would start some new modesty trend... no one at the pool seemed like they would be catching the modesty bug that weekend. Then the pants. Yes, the crowning moment. I didn't have shorts
to wear down to the pool, so I threw my jeans on, with the skirt of my bathing suit hanging out the top. That one didn't seem to catch on either. I guess I am ahead of my time :P

The Drive Home....

We drove home on Saturday... NO traffic of course, who leaves Vegas on a Saturday?!?

As we neared Victorville, I could see crazy smoke all along the mountains, and down to the ground. The sun was still out, so we could see the white clouds where we knew, from experience!, that meant that they were actively fighting it.

We stopped for dinner at IHOP and heard people talking about mountain highways being closed. No talk of the 15 fortunately.

So when we sat down to eat, there was an
obnoxious fly buzzing around. When our food came, it became even more interested. At one point, it landed on Ben's eggs. I shewed it away. Ben looks at me and says "Thanks". I'm like "You're welcome"... thinking that was so nice of me to have his back, you know. Then he looks at me, looks at his plate, and is like "No, thanks"... and he is pushing around the fly that is stuck in his runny yolk!! Gross!! So I give him my napkin and he wipes it out and continues eating. Then, I'm like "You should have left it in there and gotten our food for free!" And he's like... "Hey waiter, I've got a fly in my food, and my wife put it there." I guess that really wouldn't have worked so well :P

So we get back on the road after dark, and now we can see real flames. I think it was the flames lighting up the smoke at first. Then we inch towards the Cajon Pass, just as I am on the phone with my grandma who says that the news said the Cajon Pass had been closed for a while. Great, we are right about to go up the mountain, I don't think there were any turn offs or anything... if the pass was closed, we would probably have just had to sit in our car and wait it out!

Fortunately, the Pass was open, and we got to drive through. Very slowly, as others were taking pictures and just gawking at the fires. It was actually quite pretty! I still can't believe they let us drive through, it felt like we were right in the middle of it.

I told Ben, "I wish I was a good photographer"... because obviously these pics don't do the fires "justice". And he told me "Real photographers don't take pics from moving cars". True.

Vegas, Baby!!

We have been trying to get out to Vegas to see Uncle Joe for a few months now. Turned out that the only weekend we were completely open was General Conference weekend. And my babysitters, ahem, my parents were going to Cedar City. Thanks to Dana's quick thinking, I decided to send the boys and the van with mom and dad, and Ben and I hit sin city alone!

Actually, we hung out with Ben's mom and sister. Which was a lot of fun! We got into Vegas Thursday night around midnight. We checked in, showered, and got to bed around TWO! Friday I
woke Ben up at 8am with some infomercial about amazing slimming jeans!! They were cool :P We hit the gym... mostly because we were paying for it. I like to utilize as many amenities as possible :) Oh, we were staying at the Monte Carlo. Which is in a pretty good spot on the strip, except for ALL the construction.

Julie and Clarissa joined the land of the living about noon. We had a light lunch and then walked the strip a little. The construction was horrible, we had to walk 3 city blocks to get to the next hotel. I don't understand the always having to build bigger and better. Vegas is all about
excess, and I am more about being happy with
what you have, so Vegas and I kind of clashed this time.

We got back to the hotel around 5, so Ben and I threw on our swim suits and headed down to the "Lazy River", which I had been looking forward to. Turns out, A. The pool closes at 6!! and B. you have to buy inner tubes to use in the LR. Worst of all, was the inconsiderate DRUNKS hanging out in and around the LR. For the most part, you just had to float around them. Irritatin, but not a huge deal. There was this huge group of
them that took up the whole back side of the LR and decided to play football. Best part... the life guards AND security people just stood there watching as they blocked the whole LR, landed on top of me and hit some poor innocent bystander with the ball. Finally those jerks left and Ben and I got back to floating with the few people left who could follow rules... 3 kids under the age of 11!!! It was better just to float without tubes. You know I didn't buy a tube!! And after 50 mins or so, we were actually pretty tired and happy to leave.

That night Julie was tired from walking, wait, we ALL were tired from walking, so Ben had picked 2 restaurants close by and in our price range. We walked next door to NY NY... but no one was really excited about those options. Maybe NY NY was the second place we went... anyway, we went 3 different places, and ended up at the MGM. There we had to walk THROUGH the casino to get to the 8 restaurants... 6 of which were HIGH END. Finally, 2 hours after we started this expedition, we were eating sandwiches and sliders in a cafe :P

That night we all hit the hay pretty "early", by Vegas standards anyway. And although I couldn't sleep past 8 the next morning, we skipped the gym and decided to get our resort fees worth in bottled water delivered to our room :)

Saturday, as 50 people were checking in, we were checking out. Yay! I HATE crowds, especially Vegas crowds!

We met Joe and Sue at Metro Pizza for lunch. As is our tradition, we were late, they were early. Julie and Clarissa were waiting for us in the parking garage, and then once they got directions, they decided to go on their own. We had been there before, so we got there right away. Julie and Clarissa ended up at the wrong Metro Pizza!! We got them the RIGHT address, and told them to plug it in to GPS, and soon after they were pulling in out front. Of course we heckled them for a while.

Lunch was nice. The company was great. It was nice to get to hang out with Julie and Clarissa and to get to know Joe and Sue better.

Then it was back on the road for us. Dana and Josh had spent the week touring UT, and were on their way home. I talked them into bringing us the baby in Vegas so that we wouldn't have to drive to Mesquite to meet mom in the middle. As we were waiting at the "drop" point, I got anxious and got out of the car to look down the street for them. I ran around the parking lot to meet them, and Dana grabbed the baby out and handed him to me. He was excited to see me, not too mad about me leaving him. But then, when daddy got out of the car... that was ALL he wanted!! He is such a daddy's boy. Even on Sunday, all he wanted was daddy :)

It was nice to get out of town for a few days and not have to worry about the kids. But it is nice to be home all together again!