Up & Down

I think I am stealing this idea from my friend Melissa's blog, maybe I did it once before I don't recall. Getting old I guess. Nevertheless, up and down it is.

UP
Marina will be turning 8 years old this year, and was so excited when she received her invitation to this years "Eight is Great" fireside. We were able to work out for my mom to come and stay with the boys so that Danny & I could take Marina all by herself Sunday evening. I was actually thrilled for the first time that we had late church, because the minute we got out of church, Marina was asking how long until the fireside. She was literally bouncing around the house. I don't think she and I would've made it if it had been any longer than the 2 hours. I am so excited to see her excited. This is my daughter who hates attention, and is terrified of new situations. We have taken her to every family/friend baptism we could over the last several years, trying to help her familiarize herself with the idea of baptism and how it works. I have to say she has come an amazingly long way. She even answered a question at the fireside in front of the entire group in the chapel. If you only new how brave that was for her. I am so proud to see her gaining her own testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. She loves to learn, talk, and teach about the Savior. She has such a strong sense of right and wrong. I just love her sooo much, and am so proud to see her growing into a strong righteous girl. It is a witness that we all can grow and change with a lot of love and support, and prayers. So this was definitely an UP. She was beaming from head to toe last night!

DOWN
The Jets loosing last night was a major downer for my son Isaac. He got to stay home so he could watch the game, instead of going to the fireside with us, but by half time when the score read 24 Steelers and 0 Jets,he wasn't so sure he wanted to watch the rest of the game. What a great lesson in sticking it out, and in testing whether or not he was a true fan. When I told him that he should be proud of his team they were 1 out 4 of the best teams in the NFL, he replied with sarcasm, "Yeah, 4th." That's when I reminded him that his Dad's favorite team was 2nd to the worst team in the NFL. And that even knowing that, they were still his Dad's favorite team. Loss is such a hard lesson to learn, and even worse is how to handle it with respect and dignity, and loyalty. Big lessons for a young boy. I was pleased to see him run upstairs this morning wearing his Mark Sanchez Jet's jersey, and saying, "See Mom, I am a true fan!" Good for you Isaac! Maybe next year will be the year of the JETS??!?!?!

UP
Lastly, the final up, is all about my 9 month old boy (today) who can't wait to be UP! He is moving around the house like crazy. And is trying to pull himself up on everything. He is ready to figure out this walking thing. He likes to try walking while you hold his hands. I really can't keep up with him. I told my mom that unfortunately it's not like grade school, I can't retain him. I have no power to make him stay little. Believe me if I could, I probably would...at least for a little while. I really thought that my new little guy was going to be calm, laid back, mellow...I tried envisioning it throughout my pregnancy. See what little power we have when it comes to that. Esaias is everything but calm and laid back. He is excited and anxious to see the world, and do everything he sees. He is not content to watch. He loves to laugh and play, and touch everything! And of course, he's sooo cute, that I just have to embrace and indulge.

So here's to the UP's, may we have many days that make us smile, and to the DOWN's, may we find reasons to smile even when it's hard!

Donuts for Dad

Danny got to take the kids to school this Friday morning and have a morning treat before sending them on their way. Donuts for Dads is a fun way to honor or recognize Dad at our school. Muffins for Mom's usually happens later in the spring. But the reason I make note of this is that Danny's Fridays off will be coming to an end in a couple of weeks. He has been offered a position at the Community College of Aurora and has accepted the position to begin in 2 weeks. We will be very happy to have him closer to home, and are very grateful that he found a new position, as his grant at UCD has run its course. We will miss having him home an extra day. I am glad that Donuts for Dads happened before his Fridays were up. We love you Dad! Congratulations on your new job!

2011 Cowboys & Cowgirls!

The traditional annual trip to the Stock Show arrived right on schedule. And the kids were thrilled to dress up in the cowboy/cowgirl best to see the show, the animals, the "paint-facing," and all the treasures to buy.
Look at this handsome boy, doesn't he look like the real thing. Isaac was so cute, he asked me in the car what he should wear. I told him that real cowboys either wear a t-shirt and jeans for working or a button-up shirt with jeans to look nicer. He came up stairs with his flannel button-up (which he never wears) tucked into his jeans, with his big elephant belt (suited for a large belt buckle) jeans, "work" hiking boots, and his cowboy hat. He looked so authentic, I couldn't wait to take a picture of him leaning on a fence. If wishes come true, he'll find a way to work on a ranch. Maybe when he really does it, it will cure him??? He just loves being with the animals and living in this world. He follows in his Daddy's footsteps...this was Danny's dream too. Maybe someday one of them will get their wish.

I, of course, wanted Esaias to experience it all! We went directly to the petting zoo. I tried to get Esaias to "pet" the animals. (Some background knowledge might be helpful here: Esaias is a grabber! He loves hair. Pulls Marina's regularly! He has made his cousin Erica cry already, by pulling her hair. He is not gentle. He grabs noses, faces, whatever he can get a hold of.) I knew I had to be careful. But he wasn't really to interested until...we got to the poor llama. Yes, poor llama who had long hair. Yes, had. Esaias decided to reach out and grab a hold of the hair on the llama's head, and not let go. The llama protested, and that made it even more fun for Esaias and scary for me! When I finally broke the connection, Esaias walked away the winner with a trophy hand full of llama hair. Yikes!


We met up with Danny's brother Luke for a little while at the kids ranchland, before the rodeo. Thanks for taking the pictures Luke! The kids had fun finding the treasures they wanted to buy with their own money. Of course Marina chose the "paint-facing." Isaac added to his already traditional cowboy ensemble by buying a rope and hanging it from his belt. He got to twist the rope himself. Jose joined in the fun, and bought one too.
And Erica joined Marina in getting her face painted.

Lastly, we went to the Mexican Extravaganza again. As always it was tons of fun and entertaining. I love the culture of the American west mixed with the mexican culture, bringing together a great way for my kids to experience a little of their ancestry. My great-great-great grandfather Juan De Dios was a Mexican rancher in New Mexico. His ranch was a place where many pioneers, and new members of the church, traveling west to Utah from the southeastern United States, stopped for rest and supplies. Pretty cool that the kids get to experience a little of that history and culture.
Another terrific and fun-filled adventure!
Thanks Grandma Chris and Papa Joe for coming and getting Esaias so we could enjoy the show!

Out with the Old in with the New!

When we decided to do our floors, it became apparent that the old table would not do the floor justice, and would need to be replaced. We had Christmas coming up and so we also decided that we would need to wait to spend the money. We even went so far as to tell our family this is what Danny and I would be buying after Christmas, so if they wanted to contribute, we would be very grateful. So, here's a picture of the old and the new table. What an amazing difference!

THE OLD: Bought in Grand Junction from a store going out of business, the chairs were never a matching set. In fact, only 2 chairs in this picture are even the originals. We've used this well! It was time.
Marina has randomly throughout the year requested that I cut her hair shorter. I was never sure if she would regret this decision later, so I always responded with if that's what you really want, let's think about it, and you let me know. This last week or so, she had finally made up her mind. She was begging. Last weekend I promised her that I would cut her hair, when I cut Danny's. She counted down the days till the weekend. And on Saturday morning could hardly wait to get home from cleaning the church so that we could do haircuts. She was not scared in the least, and exclaimed, "I love it!" She even told me I did it exactly right, shoulder length). I should have recorded that. She especially loved it when I told her it made her look a little older. Maybe I should've kept that one to myself. Nonetheless, she is pleased as punch with her decision. It was a nice healthy cut. The hairdresser in me is happy to see that she is brave and willing to cut. It's more fun that way!

THE OLD:

5 inches later...
THE NEW:

Perfection, what a beauty!

Too Many to Choose!

Arrow of Light Ceremony-Isaac

Not good pictures, everything was happening in the dark. Danny made Isaac's arrow for the ceremony while he was at Scout Camp with the boys this past summer. Hopefully Isaac will appreciate the significance.
The last days of school before winter break bring many winter projects. This picture is Isaac's gingerbread house. Marina also made one, but has no picture to show for it, because the dog ate it! Literally Gandalf ate the entire house and goodies, (even the milk carton that it was built around). Marina was upset ;( I wasn't. ;)

The Purcell kids Annual December Birthday Party Hoorah! They actually included Danny on this one, since they had the party on his birthday, December 18, 2010. So, Happy Birthday Lilliana (11), Leilani (9), Lafai (6) and Danny (35). Esaias loved this birthday party too! He loves taking a bath, so swimming was like a giant bath! The water was so warm it was really like a bath!

CHRISTMAS EVE

Christmas eve brought out the best and the funny in all of us. This is Lilli sporting her new thigh high socks from Clayton. She ended rolling up some jammie pants in order to get them on and have herself modest enough to show them off. It was really quite funny. She was also wearing her new cute hat (if that's what you call it.) that I bought her from the Food and Gift Festival. All the girls got one.

Tristan was too cute and funny, when he opened is ever wanted pillow pet, exclaiming, " I always wanted one of these...I saw it on TV." So for the rest of Christmas eve through Christmas night when the Sandoval children received a pillow pet, you could hear the reciting of the jingle from the TV commercial..." It's a pillow, it's a pet, it's a pillow-pet." (You have to be careful about what your kids watch on TV...they take it all in!)
Here's Jose on Christmas with his new pillow pet. After the craziness of Christmas was over, Jose and Erica got to spend a day with us at our house. We had lots of fun playing at the park, and sharing all our new Christmas gifts. The kids do really well together.

Here's beautiful Leilani sporting her new hat. Leilani always makes us laugh. I won't publish where she thinks Yankee Doodle puts a feather...but it's not in a hat. But I will share one of the best...did you know that Rudolph the Reindeer had a shiny nose, you could even say it "blows." LOL-she rocks!

Esaias even had a little smile and enthusiasm left in him. He had been sick for weeks. He was not a happy baby on Christmas. He only wanted his mommy. Thank goodness we went to the doctor's after Christmas and he got put on antibiotics, which seemed to do the trick right away. I didn't even realize that babies could get sinus infections. He even is recovering from a black eye, that we think happened from the pressure in his sinus'. Poor thing. But he has been much happier again. He's working on crawling, standing, moving from laying on the floor to sitting. He is a mover! And he loves getting to the dog and pulling on his ears! Yes, Gandalf...No, Esaias is not intimidated at all!

Here's what Esaias thinks of the pillow pet! Yes, he got the same one as Tristan, thank goodness. Tristan might have been okay sharing (letting him lay on it), but eating it and soaking it with baby slobber; Tristan was definitely not okay with that!

Christmas Day, Santa brings the favorite gift, the Nintendo DS. This is my compromise to gaming systems. This way I can take them away if need be. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much it required the kids to read. Anything that tricks Marina into practicing reading is a great thing!This is my favorite gift, the 2 older children getting along and happy and excited to give each other gifts. They were very pleased with their ability to pick out something that each would like. Good thing they didn't have to keep it a secret long (3 days), I don't think they would have held out for much longer.

NEW YEARS EVE gave us a chance to dress up and hit the town.

Actually Danny and I did the out on the town, but the kids had fun sporting some of there new threads, especially their hats, to Grandma & Grandpa Mortensen's house. My mom watched them so we could have dinner with our friends Jeannie and Evan. We ate at Rodizio and had some great adult time.

We were still able to make it home early enough to have Tristan spend the night with us again, and ring in the New Year at midnight. We even got in Addison's slide show presentation of his mission in Madagascar. Tell me that isn't cool! We made it back to Mortensen's for our traditional New Years Breakfast.

I braided Marina's hair to wear with her new hat. Isn't it cute!

Not to be forgotten: Favorite events of Winter Break by the Sandoval's

• Danny says, "Going out with Mom on New Years Eve"
• Isaac say, "I can't choose just one....Do I have too?...then opening my Nintendo DS...Do I have to choose just one?"
• Marina says, "The birthday swimming party."
  
• Vycci says, "Dinner with Dad. Listening to my kids play their piano songs at Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas dinner, and at their piano recital. I was so proud."
• Isaac says, "Mom you broke the rules, that's 2 things!"
• So as long as I broke the rules...I'd like to add, "Listening to Marina sing Silent Night at church on Sunday, and on Christmas Eve..loud enough for us to hear her sweet voice above everyone elses."
  
• I agree with Isaac...too many wonderful events and things to choose. Again Happy Holidays to everyone!