My Favorite Pic!!

Does this picture not make you smile?? We are so blessed to live so close to your dear friends The Robertsons. And they just happen to have a little cutie the same age as Joel. Her name is Ella and she is so much fun. We were able to watch Ella for a few days while Liz and Kevin went out of town, and boy did we have fun. Here they are eating their lunch together....no its not a date, I told Joel he had to wait until they were both 16....haha. But really I just love this picture of them together.

Happy Halloween

I know, I am way behind in blogging, but life sometimes gets in the way. Here are my little trick or treaters. Sophie was a bee, Joely a cute little tiger, and Joseph, I will give you a hint... he is most famous for this Kentucky Fried Chicken. We went to the ward "Trunk" or treat at church and has such a fun time. And here we are ready to head out on the 31st. Joel was so excited. He yelled trick or treat at every house we went to. Joseph got so many complements on his costume. One house commented and said he was the best they had seen all night, so they gave him triple the amount of candy!!! Thanks Angie and Derek for the idea.

Happy Birthday Joel!!

I can't believe it, but Joel is 3 years old ALREADY!!

We had a little birthday pool party at my moms...it was nice.

Last week our camera fell out of Dustins pocket and into the river, so we didn't have a camera to take pictures, so here are a couple from the moment he came into the this world.

A New School Year

We can't believe how fast summer flew by!! But here are Joseph and Sophie on their first day of the school year. Sophie is in 3rd and Joseph is in 5th. They were so excited to know they got the teacher we wanted too. I can't believe how fast they are growing up....makes me sad. And for that reason, I didn't put Joel is preschool this year, he is our last little one, and I'm not ready for him to go to school just yet.

Temple Sqare

We have never taken the trip to Temple Square, so on our last day of vacation, we headed south to see the temple. We had so much fun. At first I thought the kids would be asking for us to go back to the hotel, but never once did they complain. We tried to get everything in that we could. One of our high points....we went to the Church Office Building were you can go up to the 26th floor and look out over all of Salt Lake. We went up and were looking around, and when I looked at Dustin his eyes got really big and he nodded at me to look to the right. I couldn't believe it, it was Dallon H. Oaks. It was so cool. It was just our little family plus the tour guide, and Pres. Oak, his wife, and their grand kids. I stepped back and smiled, he looked back at me and smiled back. It was so cool. I wish I would have extended my hand, but I didn't want to interfere with there time together, so I left it at that. When we left the tour guide said they NEVER see any general authority up there. It was a first for them too. The kids at night at the side of the temple....they were doing work on the front, but the side was nice too.
A mommy with her angles.

And a daddy with his angles.

We had a wonderful day. Was so sad it was the end of our little vacation. Cant wait to go back next year!!!

Fun in Utah

The first three days we were in Utah, we stayed in Bear Lake. It was beautiful!! We had rented three homes. Each home slept 22 people. We needed them all due to the fact that we had 63 family members there. Some came from Texas, California, Southern Utah, and Az. There were four master bedrooms with private bathroom, and the best room.....was a room with all bunk beds, so thats where the kids slept. The kids had a blast. There was a park right next to the house we were staying at with an in ground tramp, tennis court, hot tub (where the kids could almost always be found), and beautiful views. This is a view of bear lake in the distance taken from the upstairs of the home.living area

more view with hot tub and rock fountain where the boys loved to climb.

Downstairs living area. It had a small kitchen space off to the side, and a game table witch we took full advantage of.

The beautiful kitchen. It was so nice to cook in. One of the other homes which our extended family was staying in had soda on tap.....kind of glad it wasn't our house, otherwise the kids would have gone bonkers!!

I guess there is a two year waiting list to rent these homes. It was so much fun, I would highly recommend it.

We had such a fun time being witht he family we hardly ever get to see. It was one of those times where you didn't want the day to go by fast, but before you knew it the sun was going down and another day had gone by. I love Utah so much, by the end of the trip, I looked at Dustin and asked him to move us out there......a girl can dream cant she??

Summer Fun in Utah

This summer we went to Utah for 4, count them 1,2,3,4, family reunions. It was so much fun!! This was at his Uncle Ted and Aunt Cindys house for some back yard fireworks.

Earlier that day we went to Utah State to see the fireworks from the stadium. It was amazing. They had live music to go along with the fireworks. I must say it was alittle hot. We had to get there early to get some seats, so the sun was right on us for about three hours. But the kids had fun being with their cousins.

Dustin was glad he remembered his sunglasses.....they were needed.

Dustins brothers.

Yes, and me. This is where I put on layers and layers of lip gloss because the sun was so hot. The next morning I woke up with a huge blister on my bottom lip. I was so mad!!!!

But we all had a good time at the fire work show. I want to go back to Cache Valley every year for the 4th.....so much fun and family, its worth the drive.

Summer Is Here.....Finally!

Summer is finally here....no more cold June weather! This is the kids on the first day of summer vacation. School has now been out for for a few weeks, and we have gone from our front yard sprinkler, to swimming at Grandma's house EVERYDAY....and I mean EVERYDAY!!(except Sundays). I like to say the kids are changing back into their dark Mexican self's...haha.

Joseph Duran

Joseph had a wonderful school year. It is so much fun to have a child who LOVES school. I myself couldn't wait for summer, but his little boy misses school so much! Right before school let out, Joseph's teacher called me and told me he would be getting some awards. So here he is with his 4th grade teacher. Three awards including a Golden Eagle Principals Award that came with a patch he can iron on to his backpack. Way to go Joseph!

Don't Ask....

I couldn't not post these....

This is a taste of " how we roll" in our home.....

THIS ONE KILLLLLS ME!!!!!!

What kind of Mother Am I??

What kind of a Mother doesn't blog her son's birthday until a month later.....me I guess. Yep Joseph Duran turned 10 this year. He is such a good and well mannered boy. We are so blessed to have him as part of our eternal family. He always had the warmest smile to share, and plays wonderfully with his little siblings. We love you Joseph, and happy be-LATED birthday!! Joseph ready to dig into those gifts....like any other 10 year old.
Super excited to find new shorts.

Joseph LOVES an Internet site called Club Penguin. So for his birthday I made cupcakes with "Puffles" on them. A puffle is a type of pet that the penguins have. In person they came out amazingly pufflish!! He LOVED them....and the gift card for another three months of membership on CP Aunt Brittney and Uncle Jason got him for his birthday!!! Don't' worry Brittney, I am sure Joseph wont let you forget about that!

First Place at Silver Dollar Fair!

Joseph's art won first place at the Silver Dollar Fair a few weeks ago. ( haven't had to much time to download pics from the camera). Anyways, we were so proud of him. His art picture is much brighter in person....my camera doesn't do it justice. This ones going in a frame!! Way to go Joseph.

Is it to late for Easter pics?

I don't know why it takes me so long to post, but here are our Easter pics. We went to the Henry's Easter egg hunt they have at their house. They invite tons of friends and family its crazy! There was probably over 40 kids there. We had so much fun. Here is Joel looking for an egg.

Found it!

I guess we took pics only of Joel because the other two took off running, and he had to hang back and help Joel.

The two that look so much alike

Dustin found these eggs. I'm not sure what kind they are but I promise you, there is no candy inside. Kind of cool he found them.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME. Yeah, this is our Easter pic of the kids. On Sundays I take Mamacita to church and then drop her off, so the kids and Dustin usually end up getting home first. Joseph changed his clothes right when he got home. Sooooo, when I got home and wanted to get an Easter picture of the kids, SOMEONE was not very happy about getting back in his church clothes. So this is what I got. Oh well, maybe next years will turn out better.

Opps!

Am I a bad wife??? I didn't blog our wedding anniversary. Life gets so busy sometimes, things get put on hold, and then forgotten I guess. Sophies baptizm, Joseph in baseball, new callings in church....the list goes on and on.

ANYWAYS....

On April 2, 2011 Dustin and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. I can't believe how the time has just flown by! My mom took the kids for us and we went to dinner and TJ Maxx. Here are a few clips of our time together.

Our wedding day Western Party with our friends

Temple date

Prom Party with friends

80's night with friends.

We do so crazy stuff me and my hubby, but we are so much in love. Can't wait to see what the next 13 years will bring us. Love Ya Babe!

Sophie's Baptism

Our little Miss Sophia Marie was baptized on Saturday April 9th 2011. She was so excited, and a little nervous. The day started out alittle gray, but by afternoon, the sun came out, and it ended up being a beautiful day. My mom got her this amazing while dress that she looked so cute in. And my friend Liz helped out with a little white flower for her hair.

The gang. Everyone on both sides of our families were able to be there, except my older brother Jesus who lives in Idaho.

Our little family....I guess our new family picture.

Daddy-Daughter

Mother-Daughter.

All in all a wonderful day. Only set back.....Twenty minutes before the baptism was to start, what does Joel do, he decided to take a dip in the fount. Him and I had to RUSH home to change into dry clothes. I am glad we only live about 5 minutes away from the church, so we made it back in plenty of time.