A Christmas Tree, Santa and a Snowman

Just a quick update since it has been so long since I have documented what we have been up to. We purchased a tree from the USU forrestry club so it is a bit on the skiny side however it was cheap and we didn't have a lot of ornanments so it fit our needs! (We actually got some decorations from someone in the ward, it's a cool story but I won't bore you with the details. Except that we decorated because of her!)





On our anniversary the boy's had a Christmas program for school. It was so cute. Adan did an opera and they sang lots of songs. It was great! Since that was going on we had a whirl wind trip to Orem that evening. Andru my nephew had a birthday so we went to visit and enjoy some cake! Aaron also got a chance to catch up on sleep and study for finals since we were gone. Aaron was relived to finish his finals last week and is enjoying his time off. I know this may suprise some but amazingly he can still be found on his computer a lot programming. He is actually working on publushing some papers during the holidays. Nothing much more exciting is going on except that we drove in a huge snow storm last Saturday on our way back to Logan. We spent some time in Orem so I could finish up Christmas shopping and celebrate my sister in laws birthday! This week we are mostly just relaxing and preparing for our Christmas travels. I am not quite sure when we are leaving to Orem since there is suppose to be more snow and morestorms coming our way! We will go to Idaho at some point and attempt to not drive in the snow.

6 years!

WOW Aaron and I have been married for 6 years now. Lots has changes since December of 2002. Aaron's graduated from BYU with his Master's in August of 2003. We moved to Mississippi in October of 2003. Adan was born four weeks later on Halloween. In July of 2004 we purchased our first home. We had Mateo in August of 2005. In 2006 We lost my wonderful father-in-law to cancer. In April 2007 Aaron passed the GRE and we began making preparations to attend school for Aaron to work on his PhD. In September of 2007 we had our third little boy Jacob. Last December Aaron found out he had been accepted to the long term training program. We then began choosing which schools would be best for Aaron to attend. We decided on Utah State for two reasons. One it has a great Engineering program and secondly we would be close to family. This year Aaron received his P.E. license. In June we came to Utah and since August we have been living in Logan, UT. We have had many opportunities to grow in our marriage and we are very grateful for the different things the both of of has to offer. We love our three boys. We also look forward to spending the next few months in Logan but know we have a wonderful Vicksburg family to return to. We also have a beautiful home that we look forward to enjoying. We know we will be spending many more years together!

Jacob at 14 months!

I am a little late on this since we were traveling for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Jacob is growing so much. I probably say that every month though. He is such a great baby despite having been sick most of this month. We did travel a lot this past month so maybe he is just a little run down from all the fun! He is a good sleeper as long as he is put to sleep. He would never go to bed if he wasn't laid down. It is kind of funny. However Aaron and I get an opportunity every night just to play and have fun with him because he is the only one up. He would be a night owl if he could. Lately though since he is sick and teething he has been sleeping a lot more, longer naps and even sleeping in if his brothers are quiet enough. Jacob is 29 1/2 inches like I mentioned, is probably 21-22 lbs. (I still haven't taken him in for his well baby check up and I need to. Hopefully after Aaron is done with finals I will catch up. He is walking pretty well now. He has has 14 teeth now. (His one year old molars are in now.) With the new teeth that Jacob has he is getting better at eating more foods. Although not a big variety we are adding more and more each week! Jacob is a great happy child and makes things so fun. The boy's are good at playing with him but Jacob also is happy to play by himself. Jacob loves being outside, so now when he wants to go outside he will bring you his shoes. He has been enjoying the park and going down slides as well. He is really good at climbing and I am so amazed at how he can get around on the playground. Jacob's favorite person is me however my uncle Rod comes in a close second. Jacob doesn't even notice me when he is around. It is funny because he will reach for Uncle Rod over Aaron. Don't get me wrong, he loves Aaron but their is something about Uncle Rod that all kids love about him.

Stats

Lots of people have been mentioning how big the boys are getting. I was just noticing that Adan's jeans are getting shorter than when we first purchased them. So I decided I should measure all the boys. WOW they have all grown. Adan is the one I am most surprised by. At 4 1/2 he was 41 1/2 inches. He is now 44 inches (4 inches shy of 4 ft). Mateo was something like 38 1/2 inches 6 months ago, and now he is 40 1/2 inches just one inches shy of where Adan was at 4 1/2. That is so amazing to me since they are two years apart. Also I have always thought that Adan was tall, however Mateo is right there behind him. Jacob is 29 1/2 inches. Although he has grown 3 inches since his 6 months well baby check up, it is not much considering he is already 14 months. However they are growing boys and it is so fun to watch them change.

Thanksgiving Fun

We had a great Thanksgiving. We had a lot of fun. My mom, aunt and uncle and everyone were so great this past weekend. They helped out so much! Aaron was swamped with homework however we all still had a blast! We went to the park on Wednesday and enjoyed a treat at the Flying M. Adan and Mateo spent the night at my aunt and uncle's for a pre-thanksgiving fun evening. Thursday Aaron worked on homework and was very grateful it required no cooking from him. I made some mini pumpkin cheesecakes and of course a Byrd favorite, green bean casserole. We enjoyed a huge and delicious meal provided by my aunt and uncle. Everyone enjoyed some geocaching after our big meal. Thursday night ended early because my aunt, cousin and I went shopping early! I was out the door by 3a.m. I know amazing. I purchased some good stuff though!. My mom joined us later and we had a great lunch. Saturday I went shopping a little more to get a few more things. It included a Kitchen Aid for my mom. She used it to make yummy waffles. The boy's, Marisa, my aunt and cousin all went to see Bolt. We really enjoyed it. Since one movie wasn't quite enough, we later went and saw Twilight, which Aaron joined us thanks to my uncle who missed out on the first movie because he was working and then was willing to watch the three boy's so we could go to the movies. He was such a sport. On top of that Adan and Mateo got to spend the night yet another night! We went to church and then quickly got on the road. On our drive home to Logan, we realized that in 7 Thanksgivings together, this is our first one that we have traveled for.
Unfortunately Aaron has tons of homework and hasn't sleep in several nights. We are definitely going to enjoy Christmas vacation a lot more! We still don't have definite plans but hopefully soon. Also , I did not take enough pictures this past weekend. Fortunately we do have a piture of the geocaching clan.

Visit and Visitors

Like I mentioned we went to see the Lucas family last Sunday and Aaron was able to participate in Tyler's blessing. We then were able to go to their house for a delicious dinner. We were so glad we were able to bring Evan along to see an old friend, Tim. I was so excited to finally meet Tyler and hole him. However he slept so peacefully through the visit that I didn't want to wake him up to hold him. So I got to hold him for a sec before he let everyone know he was hungry and take a picture with Rachel! I definitely want to go and visit again. A few seconds of holding that cute boy wasn't enough.



Also Aaron's family was able to come and visit before we left town since they came in town for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a meal at my favorite place, Cafe Rio and then we came back to our place for visiting. The boys were excited to have their Uncle Forrest here and we were so glad Uncle Evan made it as well. I am amazed that I actually got the camera out to take a family picture.

Thanksgiving preparations

We are making preparations for Thanksgiving. I will be really busy getting things together for our trip to Idaho. First, I am catching up a little on laundry since we had a fun couple of days with my sister and niece and nephew. This afternoon we are going to see the Lucas family and meet Tyler for the first time. We are glad that we get to spend some time with them today. Then tomorrow and Tuesday the boys will be at preschool which will give me a chance to get a breather in. Tomorrow night my mother-in-law will be in town to visit and eat dinner. The boy's are really excited to see Uncle Forrest of course. Then Tuesday after lunch we are off to Idaho. So in case I don't get a chance to blog until after the holidays, I am posting some pictures we took last weekend!

WE love BOB

I keep forgeting to mention that we have been enjoying the Bob books for over a month. Adan started reading in October. His teacher sent home the Book It reading program home for us to start. Adan told us several times that he could be read to as part of the incentive program. Aaron thought it would be good for Adan to read the books to us and that maybe earning the pizza would be more meaningful. Adan kept repeating that his teacher said they could be read to or read. However he did read the first 8 books in the Bob series (which was the number he had to read to earn the pizza) and then finished the rest. We are almost done with the second set of Bob books and on to earning another pizza! This time our goal is 10 books. We are half way there. Adan is doing great and discovering that he can read words all over not just in books. Good job Adan!

Trip to Idaho

Jacob is walking

A highlight on our trip to Idaho is that Jacob officially started walking. The Sunday before we left he was walking here and there but not all the time. All the sudden at Adan's birthday while we were setting up the pinata Jacob started walking. I have a feeling it had to do with the fact that he knew the pinata had candy. One of Jacob's favorite things is candy!

Update

Well I have been wanting to post something since last weekend. However I gave Aaron the camera when they went geocaching on Saturday and he doesn't seem to remember that he even had the camera. I have looked all around and I cannot find it. So I thought I would go ahead and update everyone without pictures. We went to Idaho as most everyone already knew. We had a blast to sum it up in a few words! We were able to help campaign the last few days before the election. The weather didn't cooperate very well though. It rained again while in Idaho, what luck. On Friday we celebrated Adan's birthday. It included lots of trick or treating at Adan's request, a great party at my aunt and uncle's house. Adan ended the evening spending the night with his cousin Cristian. What more could a five year old want,nothing. He was so excited that my mom got him a transformers blanket. He went up to her several times and said, I have been wanting one of these. This is the best present ever. We enjoyed being with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and of course his brothers and his mom! We were just planning to stay through the election (which I could go on and on about, but I will spare everyone my opinions) I will just say on the subject. We were sad to see my step dad not elected and we were all excited that it was an early night and glad to see Barack O Bama elected! Since we were so busy partying and the elections we didn't have a lot of relax time until Wednesday. SO we decided to go to the movies and say a few extra days since there was no school in Idaho on Thursday and Friday. We were all very tired by Friday and it was good to be home after a week and a half on the road and no school. By Monday I was glad to have both boy's in school. They have also been taking a lunch to help me relax and catch up this week. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving in Idaho which is coming up fast. I hope we can find the camera and I can post some pictures from our fun times in Idaho.

Jacob's 1st haircut

On Sunday before church Jacob received his first haircut. He doesn't have much hair but he had literally only four long hairs in the front, that were really bugging me. He also has lots of hair in the back that was getting long. So although it doesn't look like he really needed a haircut he got one.

Halloween is upon us

This past weekend we enjoyed a lot of fun activities. We participated in the Hillcrest 1st Ward 1st Annual Elder's Quorum Chili Cookoff. Aaron made a fantastic Chili that he worked on for many weeks. Unfortunately he did not win, however it was tasty and definitely has some heat to it. The boy's had fun with donut on a string and painting some pumpkins at the activity as well.



On Saturday Adan practiced for the primary program in the morning. In the afternoon the youth of the ward put on a carnival for the kids. It was well planned, well attended and different from what we are usually use to. In Mississippi we usually have a trunk or treat. Mateo really enjoyed the candy walk and Adan could not get enough of the pumpkin bowling.






We came home and then got ready for the football game. We played Fresno State. It was a pretty good game however I think the kids were extra worn out so we did not last the whole 4th quarter which meant we missed when the game got really good.



Sunday Adan did really well in the Primary Program. He said is part nice and clearly. He actually got quite a few compliments on how well he spoke. We also enjoyed a sugar filled linger longer that included sugar cookies and ice cream. Yum!

Monday we got invited to one of Adan's classmates Halloween parties. The kids enjoyed be outside in the warm weather we are experiencing. They decorated cookies, some wooden figures and played lots. A mom brought a really creative treat that I am going to have to try. She carved an orange and put fruit in it. It was a hit for the kids.




Today we are just enjoying the warm weather again. We are busy getting ready for Adan's birthday, taking treats to school tomorrow for his birthday (since we are leaving tomorrow), packing for Idaho and Halloween of course. Here is a cute picture Adan made at school today. We hope everyone has a Happy Halloween. We look forward to being with family this weekend and the upcoming election!

Jacob at 13 months

Jacob has been very happy these past few days. Jacob lately doesn't eat much so we have been dealing with lots of grumpiness and less sleep. Unfortunately it doesn't help anyone. Luckily though my wonderful sister suggested maybe that I should give him some pedisure and that would help him stay more full. WOW! It did the trick. The soy milk is so low in fat I don't think that helps but Jacob is now a much happier baby. Thanks Andrea. He has been so happy he think he doesn't need naps. Oh well! This past month he has been working very hard at trying to walk. He nows cruises the majority of the time. He stands up from the sitting down position. It has been so fun to watch him work so hard at this. The whole family gets so excited at Jacob's walking. Even Jacob now will clap for himself. If we don't clap he will just start clapping. It is so cute. The boy's will stop whatever they are doing just to congratulate him. Jacob probably weighs about 21 lbs now. He has four new teeth coming in. They broke the skin yesterday and working their way in. I still haven't taken him for his 1 year old check up. I am slacking on all the kids well checks. Jacob is starting to wave as well. He loves being with me all the time. However when Aaron is home he is clung onto him. We are just enjoying him and seeing him grow! Happy 13 months Jacob.

Pumpkin fun

This week at school the boy's were asked to bring in a decorated pumpkin to decorate the porch of their school. It is a long standing tradtion at the school and it attracts the community to come and see the pumpking each year. The boy's were very excited to decorate their pumpkins. We purchased some locally grown pumpkins. Adan decided that he would decorate his pumkin with a scary face and spiders. Mateo opted for a happy bat. Adan's painting skills came in handy. You can also tell that Mateo has had some more painting opportunities as well. We enjoyed this family projected and the results were fun for the boy's as they are now on display at thei school.

2 weekends full of fun!

We have been so busy having lots of fun. Last weekend we went to Orem for my niece Malia's birthday. Our weekend was full of fun. My aunt, cousin and little sister came as well. We were very excited because at the last minute, literally Aaron was able to come with us! We spent our weeknd, geocaching, playing softball, shopping and spending time with our family and of course celebrating Malia's 5th birthday. Sseing the first snow fall of the season was a big highlight of the trip. It snowed so bad we were detoured on our way home.


geocaching


Malia's and the Byrd family


snow in Logan

This past week has been fun filled as well. We had our last week of soccer. On Thursday and Friday there was no school. So my sister and her kids came up for an extended weekend. They got to see Adan and Mateo's last soccer game. Adan and Mateo both scored goals! They really enjoyed soccer this season. We are looking forward to spring soccer. Our weekend festivities included Aaron taking the kids geocaching, lots of cousin time, Aaron studying, church, lots of fun, Malia and Adan going ot school together, sushi, Cafe Rio. The most disappointing part of our week was BYU losing and the greatest thing that happened was BSU winning and moving up in the polls.

We have had three weekends filled with cousin fun. We are looking forward to our upcoming busy week and next when we will be celebrating Adan's birthday in Idaho. Watch for updates on Jacob walking. He is doing great. He is very close to be able to do more than take a few steps here and there.


soccer boy's!


geocaching

Go Mabbutt

I am totally excited for this year's coming election. I will be watching the presidental results on November 4th (of course)but I also look forward to watching my step dad's campaign results. Team Mabbutt has been working District 12 very hard and I hope we will see the fruits of their labors pay off. They have been walking the district for several month's now. Some days they were out there walking in 100 degress temperatures. They are registering people to vote daily. Their weekly averages were in the 30+ per week this summer. I am so proud of their work and I feel with the Statesman endorsing him again this year it is a step in the right direction. Read the following clipping from the newspaper to find out more about the endorsement. At the bottom of the page I have also included a link to find out more about Richard Mabbutt you can visit his webpage.


OUR VIEW ENDORSEMENTS, DISTRICT 12
- Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 10/07/08

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

WHO'S RUNNING?
Candidates in the Nampa area's legislative District 12:
Senate
Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa (incumbent, unopposed).
House Seat A
Richard Mabbutt, D-Nampa; Robert Schaefer, R-Nampa (incumbent).
House Seat B
Gary Collins, R-Nampa (incumbent); Sunny Freeman, D-Nampa.
Voters in the Nampa area's District 12 are entitled to feel a sense of deja vu.
Both House races are replays, with Democratic challengers taking another run at GOP incumbents.
We will stick with the endorsements we made two years ago, choosing eight-year Rep. Gary Collins and Democrat Richard Mabbutt in the other House race.
RICHARD MABBUTT
Mabbutt has the right spending priorities for an economic downturn: Invest in economic development and higher education (but not a costly medical school); look for ways to break the pattern of "warehousing" prisoners; and look for ways to address unmet transportation needs. "The costs are substantial; the costs of standing still are even greater."
We also applaud Mabbutt's candor on an air quality issue that affects the entire Treasure Valley. He says, correctly, that some Canyon County residents are in "denial" about the scope of the problem.
By comparison, Mabbutt's opponent says little and seems to campaign even less. Robert Schaefer, a 24-year veteran, appears to be coasting at the Statehouse. He chairs the Commerce and Human Resources Committee and sits on Revenue and Taxation, but has little to show for these assignments. Schaefer again declined to meet with the editorial board this fall and has refused to answer most of the Statesman's voter guide questions.
Nampa-area voters would be much better served by a newcomer who is actually engaged in the issues.
"Our View" is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman's editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, e-mail editorial@idahostatesman.com.

For more information check out his website: http://www.mabbuttforidaho.com/

Another busy and fun weekend

We had another great weekend. Friday night was fun to be able to go to the football game. Saturday's plans changed a little bit but it turned out to be really fun. Originally Aaron was going to go to Orem with us for my nephew's birthday party and conference at my sister's. Unfortunately Aaron has been swamped with homework and with upcoming tests should not give up valuable study time. (It hasn't helped that his computer has been giving him stress.) Anyways, we went to Orem at 10am just in time to confine the children in their carseats to listen to conference. (I love Utah and being able to listen to conference on the radio!) The drive would have been great since the kids have gotten use to riding in the car (usually with a movie of their choice.) However it rained all weekend and it made the drive very challenging, especially without Aaron their. I hate driving in adverse driving conditions. At one point I could not even see the car in front of me and a car was driving all over the freeway. I actually almost gave up and turned around. However with a little determination and the heavy rain only lasting about 30 minutes we made it to Orem. We enjoyed my nephew's birthday party, watch the second session of conference, I got some file folders laminated, we ate at my favorite place, Cafe Rio, went to Target and purchased Halloween costumes, and loved being with my sister and cousins! I was also able to enjoy delicious ice cream and a movie since the kids went down very easily with our busy day. I did all this without Aaron being with us, my sister and I and 5 kids in tow and lots and lots of rain! Sunday was far more relaxing watching conference while the children nicely sat and watched conference. We ate a delicious lunch watched more conference and headed back to Logan. I was a little sad that all the rain joined us this weekend and I was looking forward to a much more beautiful drive in the canyon to see all the changing colors. Instead we got to see the tops of the mountains with snow on them. Aaron had a quiet weekend with some success in studying and more frustration with his computer!

A fun picture with glasses we received at my nephew's bithday party




sporting the newly purchased costumes

BYU vs. USU

We really enjoyed going to the football game Friday night. The boy's were a little confused that we were cheering on the Cougars and not the Aggies. A few times the boy's started cheering for the Aggies and realized and quickly changed to the Cougars. The game proved to be a little more frustrating than anticipated. Probably because our family was cheering on the Cougars in Aggie territory and Aaron is currently a USU student. We really enjoyed having Samantha come down from Provo and taunting Evan throughtout the entire game. Although I must admit Evan got to chime in with that's an Aggie 1st down far more than we got to while watching other Aggie games. Good job USU for putting up a fight. Good job Cougars for the 34-14 win. Unfortunately it wasn't the win we had expected, a shut out and moving up in the polls but we'll take the win!

FAVORITE thing to DO: Read books

We have been trying to get over the loss of the two totes of books that were left behind in Mississippi. Luckily a great friend in Mississippi introduced me to Scholastic book ordering. We then started a tradition of ordering books on a monthly basis. Since the preschool the boy's attend does the Scholastic books we thankfully we can start getting a stack of books each month to fill up our bookshelf. We just received our first stack which the boy's were so excited for because they were able to pick out some books from the flyers. To top off our excitement of having lots of books, that same great friend and her family sent the boy's a birthday package full of what? Of course books! Her husband says that, "books are an investment to a child's future." I second that! Anyways, I have spent the last several days reading books. Did I forget to mention that each week when we go to storytime we also get a stack of books. Since the books our friend set where the phonics sets which each have 12 books, Mateo has been insisting that we read all the books in each set. I have been reading Mateo's and Jacob's sets of books each day. (Adan is anxiously awaiting his birthday so he can find out what set of books he got.) I have been averaging about 40 books a day. That doesn't include the books we read at night either. Anyways, Mateo wanted me to take a picture of our new books and let the our wonderful Mississippi friends know how excited we are to have lots of new books. We have also picked out our next month's order from Scholastic!

WE LOVE SOCCER!

We are all enjoying soccer. The boy's ask everyday if today is a soccer day. Aaron has been able to help out and the kids have enjoyed that as well. Adan is our star scorer and Mateo has taken on the role as a defender. Mateo was getting really frustrated that he never got to kick the ball. SO Aaron suggested that he play defender. Mateo has liked doing that because he gets to kick the ball more often. Adan just likes offense, scoring goals!
Here is a pictures of Mateo kicking a goal which he was very proud of.

Fall is Here

My most favorite season of the year is here. I love fall. I have missed seeing the leaving changes colors and enjoy the crisp air now for 5 years. I am so excited to start cooking soups and enjoy this wonderful weather.

Walking to church

We like the fact that we are able to walk to church. We live so close and with the cooler weather we put all three boy's in the stroller and off we go to church.

Friday night fun

Ready to set out and find a geocache


Usually on Friday night Aaron and I have a date night after the boy's go to bed. However, Adan asked if we could go to a resturant. We agreed to go to Cafe Rio. After we went to eat we decided it would be fun to go geo caching since I still haven't been. We tried two geocaches which ended up being unsuccessful however we chose a location that had several in walking distance so we were able to find one. The boy's were so excited to get a treasure and replace the taken treasures with some items we purchased for geocaching.



The found geocache

Jacob's birthday celebration

Jacob had a fun time opening presents and getting new toys and a book. Jacob received Panda Bear Panda Bear what do you See, some cars and a walker/ride on toy from us. My mom got him the cutest cloth diaper that I am very excited to try out and will post a picture soon. (For those of you who didn't know we are using cloth diapers. I love them and don't mind the extra work. I would also like to mention that we still use disposables but I went through a box in more than two months!)Anyways, he also got a cute Elmo bath toy from Aaron's sisters family which he loves. All the birthday gifts have been a hit! I am also adding a picture of Jacob's cake. I was kind of proud of myself being creative and making something more than just a plain cake. I got the motivation after Kristie posted Owen's spectacular cake. Mine is no where near the caliber as hers but it is an attempt. I also wanted Lena to see it since usually when we are creative and want to show each other our work, we run next door and tell the other to come over and see. Lena, I wanted to call you just so you could see it! I miss having you next door to talk to.


The birthday boy with his new walker/ride on toy


My attempt at making a creative birthday cake

Jacob is one today!

I am completely shocked that my baby is one today. Not much has changed in the last month. He is still cruising, has eight teeth, although he is teething like crazy. His favorite foods are chicken nuggets, frozen peas and fruit, goldfish and of course any kind of dessert. He still says Ada and Dada. He loves to squeal to get your attention. I think he is working on saying done at meal times he has said a couple of times (duuh) then I ask him if he's done and he raises his arms. He loves to climb on the couch, picnic table, a ride on toy and the play gym outside. He will climb into suitcases, empty boxes, suitcases etc. He still is cruising on furniture but his latest includes walking with assisstance. He probably weighs right at 20lbs and is enjoying facing forward in his carseat!

GGGGOOOOAAALLLL!

Adan kicking the ball. (Ironically we played his friend from school's team tonight.)


Mateo kicking a corner kick


Two sideline cheerleaders

Aaron and I realized tonight that we are going to have to practice GGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL! a lot more with soccer season under way. The boy's enjoyed their soccer practice/game. The set up was a little different but it gives the boy's a chance to play and learn more about soccer. Tonights skill was "no hands" It was very evident that Adan was one of the older kids tonight. They are in a 3-4 year old soccer league. He was so much taller, very fast and quite aggressive (not in a bad way at all). Their is definitely some learning to be done but with some practice we've got two potential athletes on our hands. We have to help Mateo get more aggressive and kick the ball. As for Adan, a little better understanding of what to do and he'll be doing a lot better. Adan did score tonight! I will also mention I was definitely the loudest parent on the sidelines cheering my kids on. Adan pretty much held the team together and kick the ball the most. I felt bad but the other kids didn't really know what was going on.
Sorry their is going to be a lot of soccer pictures the next couple of weeks.

Great weekend

Our weekend actually started Thursday after the kids got out of school. We drove to Idaho to visit family and attend the Women's Fitness celebration. On our drive we were able to stop and see one of our cousins. Unfortunately the other cousin had to work later than expected and the mean lady at the business office would not let us see her. I was glad I got to see my cousin Erika and her daughter. I haven't seen her in atleast 5 years.



We then continued on our trek. The kids did great and before we knew it we were in Nampa. On Friday we went and picked up our shirts and other items that we needed for the walk on Saturday. We were able to do a little shopping and just have a fun time with my mom and aunt. Saturday we were all excited for the walk ready to have another great day. However, the weather decided that it would make our walk challenging. We would have to walk in the pouring rain (mind you it's not Mississippi rain). So away we went to Boise in the rain all geared up for our 5k walk/stroll. We did it. Adan and my niece Malia even walked part of the way and we only had to piggyback them the other part. Due to the weather we do not have pictures of the event, just pure memories. We normally take lots of pictures at the beginning, along the way and at the finish line. When I asked Adan if he had a fun time he said, "I had no fun at all."



If you ask Adan if he had fun in Idaho, he will tell you he loved it. (I think it is because he loves seeing his cousin Cristian and playing with all his fun boy toys.)
Anyways, On Saturday we did manage to do a little bit of shopping before it started raining again. Sunday we went to church, packed up the car and went off to my aunt's house for delicious food that my uncle cooked up. Ymm. I am also glad for all the pan dulce (sweet bread) my grandpa sent back for us. We had a great trip and are looking forward to the next three weekends that we will be traveling to see family for birthdays.
I do have one picture of the whole trip. I will add more when I get the copies from my sister, since she did take a couple before our walk and another cousin picture with the matching shirts I bought them.

Aaron's birthday celebration

There was a combination of reasons why we celebrated Aaron's birthday today. Aaron had lots of homework, his present didn't arrive until today (I am a slacker when itc comes to ordering online), and my sister and kids came today. Aaron was a great sport about the whole celebration. It was so fun too, since his present is a GPS and we got it for the family to be able to go geocaching (and the kids have been into finding treasure) we used a "tresure map" and Aaron had to find his hidden treasure (his birthday present). We all had a great time. He loves his new toy. The GPS was a hit for the kids as well. They went on their first geocache adventure. We also were able to enjoy some delicious german chololate cake. A birthday tradition for Aaron.

Aaron and the kids all geared up for the tresure hunt


Aaron and his new GPS


The geocache site