Trying to play catch up

Where has time gone? I don't think I ever get around to posting anything in January.  My family came into town for Christmas as usual.  We have 2 intense weeks of constant activities, but the kids love it and get along so well. By the end of it all we all feel like we need to take a few days off to just sit back and relax.  I guess that's what sending the kids back to school is good for. I don't have that many pictures,  which I always regret later, but here's what we've been up to.

We took our traditional family picture this year. I try to schedule this as one of our first activities to get the nightmare of shopping for clothes and trying to match everyone out of the way.

I love the shot of the granddaughters with my mom.

For Laura's birthday we took the kids to a obstacle course/trampoline place out in Mesa. The kids had a blast.

We went to the circus. It was most of the kids' first time. They really enjoyed the show although the adults struggled through it. This was an Italian family circus and it was a bit ammature for my liking. Still worth it seeing how excited and amazed they were by it.

After the circus we went to a park in Gilbert that had a Choo Choo train.

 

There was a whole lot of swimming. Only in Phoenix you can swim in December! 

We spent one day at McDonald farm in Scottsdale.  The kids enjoyed the petting zoo, horse rides, and other activities they had around the farm.

There is a gym near Cynthia's house that had open gym hours. Clarissa stayed the whole time on trampolines,  the boys on the other hand, loved running all over and getting to do pretty much every thing the gym offered. I still think their was the obstacle course.  It looks so fun I even get tempted to try it.

Probably one of my highlights from this whole vacation. We took the two older girls to the Gilbert temple to do baptisms. I look forward to these sacred milestone with my kids.

This was my parents last day in town. Camargo cousins were already gone so I took the kids to Build a Bear to spend some of their Christmas money. They really enjoyed the whole process but you can tell by the look on their faces that they were exhausted. 

Merry Christmas

This will be short. Rachael took our family pictures again and I love how talented she is. It seriously took us 15 minutes total and she got some cute pictures.

We wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We've been very blessed in 2014 with good health, fun vacations with our family and to be expecting our 4th child. Looking forward to what 2015 has in store for us.

 

 

 

Care Home Visit

Today I took the Young Women to visit an assisted living home in our ward boundaries. I was struggling on my way to mutual with thoughts of being tired of having this calling for 5 straight years, and wanting a break. I said a quick prayer in my heart that our spirits could be lifted and that the girls could have a good experience.
It's funny, because once I got to church and saw the young women I felt a change in attitude. It doesn't take much for me to be reminded of my love for them and this calling. I am lucky to serve with such a special group of girls. I also love all the other young women leaders, they are amazing and help me a ton.
We said a prayer with the girls and quickly practiced the hymn we were going to sing. I explained the program to the girls and we drove to the care home. The girls did great interacting with the elderly. They seemed to have a great time and showed genuine love for the older ladies. I have to admit that every time I do a service project I come out so uplifted and energized. It's the best feeling ever!!! At the very end of our visit we sang the hymn "Away In a Manger." There was one resident there that has pretty advanced dimencia, and her eye just lit up and she joined us in singing it. I had a hard time holding back the laughter (I'm so bad) and totally messed up the girls, but it was the highlight of the night. To see this old lady that couldn't make sense of anything she spoke all night, all of a sudden remember the words of a familiar hymn and want to join in. What a sweet and unforgettable experience.
My silent prayer got answered tonight. Our spirits were uplifted and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. The girls want to go back next month to give the old ladies manicures.

On a quick side note, I got my big ultrasound done today. The baby is really a girl. She's growing up beautifully. Here's a couple cute little pictures. I'm getting excited to meet her and see her sweet little face! Now on to figuring out her name.

Catch Up

Not sure how this post is going to go. I think I'll just write several random paragraphs of what we've been up to lately. Hopefully it will all make sense.

First and most important, we are expecting baby #4. It's a girl!! I'm still not 100% convinced I'm having another girl. I always thought Clarissa was our little gift from heaven (specially since she was a surprise and the other 3 pregnancies have been planned). I guess I will completely believe it when she is born and I see girl parts, not boy parts. :) Baby girl is due May 11th, 2015. Clarissa is ecstatic she's having a baby sister.

I've been volunteering at the boys' school a lot lately. I go in every other week for a few hours. It's fun to be in the classroom again. It makes me miss (just a little) my teacher days. I'm not sure it's a good thing for Christopher though. I feel like he always gets a little out of control and thinks he doesn't need to follow the rules when I'm there. Last week I accompanied his class to a field trip. We watched Junie B. Jones in theater. The kids had a great time, it was a really good play!

 

In the bus going on the field trip. He was just "a little" excited!

Halloween this year was very last minute. I caved and bought the boys new costumes the day before Halloween. I purchased Clarissa's Dorothy dress that week and it arrived in the mail the night before she needed to use it for preschool. They sent me the wrong size, so she was sporting a size 1-2 dress when I had ordered a 4-6. Good thing I could at least get it on her. Cory's scare crow costume turned out great, and I wax supposed to be the Wicked Witch of the West. My make up wasn't as green as I had hoped and I had to wear Clarissa's witch hat from 2 years ago (again we were stuck wearing a size 2 costume). I bought a witch hat last year, and it's somewhere hiding in the garage.

 Christopher got invited to a Halloween party from a kid in his class, so I invited Drew's primary class for a last minute Halloween play date. He had a blast!

 Clarissa and her super short dress.

I took Christopher in to get tested for his allergies a couple of weeks ago. He's been having a hard time with seasonal (more like year round) allergies for about a year and I can't seem to get it under control. Lately he's also been showing more allergy symptoms when around dogs, so I decided to have have it all checked out. The poor kid is allergic to just about everything outdoors: grass, weeds, several tree pollens, cats, dogs, feathers... The doctor prescribed be a stronger allergy medicine and has strongly encouraged us to consider allergy shots. For now we are trying the meds. Not sure he's ready for weekly shots for a whole year!

His allergic reactions during the test.

Lastly, Clarissa got her ears' pierced. I went to the mall to buy shoes for me and had a spur of the moment where we walked in to Claire's and decided to pierce her ears. She loves it and thinks she's a real princess now. Cory had no clue at the time, he was at work, but thankfully he wasn't too upset. 

Phoenix Temple

I can't believe it's been two months since my last post. Life's been busy around here and there's lots to catch up. The post I'll just focus on our newly dedicated Phoenix temple, then I'll do another post later to catch up on life.

The Phoenix temple was dedicated a little under 2 weeks ago. It's only 15 minutes from a house and we've been able to be a part of serving in the open house and youth cultural celebration. It's been an amazing experience for our family, youth and ward. I love having a temple so close to my house now. It's a dream come true and really makes it hard for me to want to move to a house that's further away from the temple.

I've been able to attend the youth practices for the cultural celebration that took place the day before the celebration. It was a special opportunity that I'll treasure. On one of our last practices, after many frustrations, long hours, and hard work, I was overwhelmed with spirit and had a hard time holding back the tears as the youth began their dance. It has been a blessing to be able to watch our young women and men work hard weekly and try their best. We've really been blessed with a spectacular group of kids, that in my opinion, were some of the best prepared dancers out there!

Last weekend Cory and I got to serve in the temple for the first time. We did sealings and then went out for dinner. We just kept commenting on how exciting it was to go to the temple and then out for dinner and be back in a little over 3 hours. Before it would take us 3 hrs just to travel to and from the temple and do sealings. It truly is a blessing to live so close to a house of the Lord now!

Don't mind the boys' goofy outfit. It was very hot the day we went to the open house. While at the temple Christopher kept saying "Mom, I don't want to leave, it's so beautiful in here." He loves the temple and talks about how he wants to go there when he grows up.

 

Cory and I after our first temple and dinner date. 

Kids say the silliest things

Christopher started piano lessons today. On our way to his teacher's house he says "mom, I'm a little nervous. Is my teacher pretty?" That's always his main concern. He seems to always get the "old ladies" as teachers (at least in school, not church) and ends falling in love with them and thinking they are beautiful anyway. Tonight after his lesson he was telling Cory about his day and this is what he said "my piano teacher is a little old and a little fat, but she's super nice. She even gave me a chocolate for doing good." I guess as long as she keeps bribing him with candy, she'll stay on his good list.

Last weekend Christopher was talking to Cory about pajamas.
Christopher: "dad, why don't you have pajamas?"
Cory: "I don't really like wearing them. I like to sleep in shorts."
Christopher: "when I grow up I'm going to sleep in pajamas. I don't want to sleep next to my woman naked, that's just gross."
I was listening in and couldn't stop laughing. I need to make sure I get him a nice pair of pajamas as a wedding gift, and that story is coming out on his reception party!

Clarissa started preschool a couple of weeks ago. She LOVES it. She begs to go to school everyday, to bad it's only 3 times a week.

Drew is starting to get used to kindergarten. He never really liked school before, so everyday, full day kindergarten is a stretch for him. I told him during the second week of school that it is a law for kids to go to school. If he doesn't go I can get in trouble. It kept him quiet for a few days, then he remembered his old preschool, and begged to be able to go to preschool again. Nice try buddy, but you're too old for that.

 Drew's first day in Kindergarten.

 1st day of School

I got a "new" calling. I'm still working with the Young Women at our ward, but I was called to be the President. I'm a little overwhelmed with the calling. I've served as a counselor for the past 4.5 years and loved it, but president is a lot of meetings/responsibility. I have beam blessed with Amazing counselors and secretary, so hopefully I'll do okay.

Cory starts his master's program this week. I'm excited for this step in our life but nervous about having to hold down the fort for longer hours so he can go to school and study.

 Clarissa getting her first professional hair cut. she's had several trims at home by my mom, but this was the real thing. She got 3 inches chopped and her hair is still long!

 

We went crawdad fishing during labor day. The kids had a really good time. I'm grateful for outdoorsy friends.