Family Reunion

This post is about a month late, but better late than never, right?
We had a family reunion last month (July) at my parents house and had a blast! My sister, brother-in-law, neice and nephew came from Colorado, and my brother and sister-in-law came from Washington. We had been planning this for a few years so it was so nice to see everyone! We hadn't seen my brother Matt and his wife Andrea in about 3 years! They also met Preston for the first time. Oh and we also had a french exchange student, Nicholas, join us in our reunion who was here visiting Texas for 3 weeks. It was a good thing Matt went on a 2 year mission to France a few years and was able to translate a few things Nicholas had a hard time communicating to us. But overall, Nicholas spoke pretty good English! We played card games like every night, OR Kinect, (which Jason my brother-in-law brought with him) :o) We went to Space Center Houston, which was our first time going there even though we've lived here for about a year and a half! We saw a cool diving show with some professional divers from All American Dive Team. We went to the beach, which was also our first time going since we've lived here (we are usually pretty lame until guests come into town ;o) We went swimming in my parents backyard, had a Hawaiian Luau and the women put on a hulu dance for the men, got some professional pictures taken of the whole group, went to see Marcus get his Eagle Scout award, and celebrated Preston's first birthday by going to Chuck E. Cheese and having presents and cake at home! Alexa and Amberly played with each other night and day (seriously), Tristan (2 yrs old) had a weird love/fetish with Preston since he was really the first little boy he's seen his size... he would get this crazy look on his face and grab Preston's skin and say in a weird voice "little booooyyy"...it was sooo funny!!!! Preston didn't think it was so funny but oh my goodness, I thought it was hilarious! We had such a good time and it felt like the week went by way too quickly! I hope we can do it again Very soon!! Here are some pictures...

Tristan getting that "crazy" look in his eye because he sees Preston and wants to squeeze him...

 My brother Matt and beautiful wife, Andrea at our Luau

 Karena, Tristan, Matt and Preston dancing with Chuck E. Cheese

 Marcus getting his Eagle Scout Award

 Tristan and Preston at Chuck E Cheese (again with the "crazy" lol)

 Preston's 1st birthday party and cake

Catch Up

I know it has been quite awhile since I last posted- there have been a lot of things going on in our lives so I haven't had the time to sit down and blog about it all :o) First off Alexa finished her preschool (Pre-K 3) on June 1st! She loved going to preschool but is also enjoying her summer break and counting down until her Pre-k 4 starts at a new school, which is a LOT closer to us (THANK GOODNESS!) Her new school is about a 5 minute drive versus her last school which was about 20 min. drive (give or take a little) each way! Alexa also turned 4 on July 2nd! She had her party the Saturday before and made it Hello Kitty themed. Each friend had their own Hello Kitty coloring book to color in when everyone was arriving, then we played "Pin the Bow on Hello Kitty", then they all "went fishing for hair bows" from the top of my parents stair case. Kids always enjoy throwing things down the banister so this was quite fun for them! I also made a Hello Kitty cake which turned out pretty good considering it was my first cake ever that wasn't in a pan! We wanted it to be a swim party but it was super stormy and raining the whole day, except for a couple hours during the party but her friends didnt plan on nice weather so didnt bring swimsuits. Lexi, Preston and I went swimming anyway after everyone left. Then on Monday (her actual birthday) we went to Chuck E. Cheeses with my family, which she loved!

Preston also had his very FIRST birthday on July 12th. This past year has Seriously gone WAY too fast! Where has the time gone? He is such a big boy now! He walks, runs (more of a fast toddle) loves to eat most anything we give him, none of that "baby food!" but he especially loves bananas, and Angel Hair Pasta (Pasta Roni)! He has 2 top teeth starting to poke through and does this funny chortle when he knows he's not supposed to be doing something and I catch him! LOL it is pretty funny! We waited to have his party until our family reunion so everyone could be there for it. Here are some pictures...oh and he actually ate his cake and Loved it!!! He ate everything and was licking his hand and high chair for more! :o)

Krystal and Eric Palmer

Saturday May 19th was Krystal's (my sister-in-law) wedding ceremony with her husband Eric Palmer. We flew to Colorado a few days before, which was quite an adventure itself: circling around the Denver airport waiting for the lightening strikes to subside for about 20 minutes, then be diverted to Albuquerque, NM because we were running out of gas, then within a few hundred feet of landing, we had to abort the landing because the runway wasn't clear and another airplane was landing from the opposite side of the runway, we finally landed then had to wait at the Albuquerque airport for another 30 minutes or so, then we finally flew back to DIA, which was a ROUGH landing and people were getting sick all over the place (including me). Anyway, the trip was only supposed to take about 2 1/2 hours but ended up being over 5 1/2 hrs- but at least we made it safely to Colorado!
Krystal got married to Eric Palmer (my new breother-in-law) in Morrison, CO in the mountains on Saturday. It was very pretty up there!! We were a little worried about the weather, however, the day before was a gorgeous day so we had hope... but alas, the next day was horribly cold and rainy and overcast :o( then of course Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day as well. But I guess in the Buddhist tradition, if it rains on your wedding day, it means good luck :o)
Alexa was the flower girl, and Pat was a groomsmen. The wedding went well and so did the reception that followed immediately after. After the festivities were all over we got to ride in a H2 limo back to our hotel, which was pretty awesome!! And Lexi thought it was the coolest thing ever!
Also, while we were in Colorado, Karena, Pat, and I (and the kids) went to IKEA, which was my first trip ever and boy- it was an adventure!! There was a kids play land where we could drop off Alexa and Amberly while we shopped which was nice!! (They loved it too) We also ate at the cafe which had these super yummy Swedish meatballs!
We loved our visit to Colorado and cant wait to go back! Hopefully Pat will finish his degree soon so we can look for jobs for him in CO which we would all love!!!

Ramblings to myself...

Im having a little dilemma with myself because since graduation last July, I have wanted to be able to use my degree in a professional setting (I use it everyday with my own children) and be able to get paid accordingly. I would really like to become an assistant Director or possibly even Director of a childcare facility (or preschool), but it would most likely be full-time work. I love to be around children, but actually taking care of other people's children all day then coming home to my own children, I just dont think I would be as patient and understanding with my own children. Being an Assistant Director, I learned during my internship last winter, does some care of the children, but also over sees everything and everyone in the facility, which I think I would do well. Having 2 young children, not yet in full-time school, I have to take care of them as my first priority. I want to work using my degree, but I feel that I would sacrifice some of my children's quality time with me and watching them grow, to help others people's children... so does that really make sense for me to find a full-time (or even part-time) job in a child care setting? I'm also a little frustrated right now about where I work currently, which is Target. I started out as seasonal, but then was asked to stay on. I like being able to get out of the house for 15 hours a week, doing something pretty mindless, but the thing I am really peeved about is that I am getting paid the SAME AMOUNT as this guy that I work with who has NEVER had a job before, and just barely graduated high school, which is BARELY over MINIMUM WAGE!!! It's not like my job is hard, but then when people look at me or talk to me like I'm stupid and have no education, or have no brains because I work as a cashier at Target REALLY gets on my nerves! Is it wrong to feel entitled to get paid more because I have a freaking bacehlor's degree? And yes I am choosing to work there, I just wish my hard work would be acknowledged just a little!!

2.5 weeks until our 5 Year Anniversary!! Crazy

As Pat and my 5 year wedding anniversary quickly approaches, I can appreciate that this is a pretty big milestone in our lives. In a class in college, I learned that statistics have shown that around the 5 year mark of marriage, there is a large increase in divorces. This is when the "honeymoon phase" is over, and "real life" has begun. I have already seen this happening around me. Nevertheless, I am very happy with my little family and where I am right now in my life. I look back at the past 5 years and it was a rough, and I mean a ROUGH start, as everyone around me seemed to glide effortlessly through their first few years of marriage, there were MANY times when I really thought we wouldn’t make it through. But through all the MANY trials that we have experienced the past 5 years I think they have brought us closer together. I am so happy that I can continue my life with Pat and our 2 beautiful children and I hope we can be together for many more years to come!

8 month old boy

Happy 8 months to our little Preston Boy!!!

Grandpa

I thought I'd make a post about my grandpa (dad's dad) who recently passed away at the beginning of February. I wasnt able to go to the funeral because of limited funds and also work, but my mom and dad went, as well as my sister and her family who drove to Utah from Colorado. My grandpa was 94 years old and was a great-great grandpa to some of his children's children's children's children, which is crazy to think about. He was a very gentle and loving man. He loved kids too! He would always talk about how cute Preston and Alexa were when we came to visit, and even after we left he would tell my grandma some of the cute things they did while we were there. Actually he only met Preston once but I'm glad he did at all! I know he's in a better place now but it's still hard to know that it will be a long time until we meet again. Here's a photo of when he and Preston met back in August 2011. We love you grandpa!! R.I.P