Oh Canada! part I

Well, as everybody knows I wasn't very excited about our trip to Canada because there is never time for our little family to spend together and have fun at the same time. So we left Temple on June 27 to spend the night with my little sister Dina, who by the way lives 30 minutes away from the Austin airport. Well Ian couldn't sleep well that night, so as you can all imagine neither could any of us. So the next day we had to leave very early to get to the airport and we were running late. Of all of us the people in the airport had to check JUST ME, and to make the scene more exciting they had to bring the most masculine female employee to touch all my body...ewww. Anyway after that we took our first flight to Canada. United was our airline and WE HATED IT. If any of you have had the chance to use a mexican airline you should try it, they bring you a whole meal and A WHOLE BOTTLE OF JUICE OR WATER. This airline barely gave us a cup of juice. We just hated it. Anyway we had to stop in Denver for 2 hours. We all were hungry so we bought a few sandwiches at Quiznos, which the cost was the equivalent to a nice dinner for Glenn and me. The kids didn't like the sandwiches and neither did I. It had a lot of onions which made me sick the rest of our trip. Ian to my surprise was very good on the way to Canada. He and Nickey were fascinated everytime that they would look to the window and see the sky so close to them. Anyway we arrived to Canada at 3:00p.m. rented our car, which was very small, the only that I could think of was, "WERE ARE WE GOING TO PUT OUR LUGGAGE?" For some reason the guy couldn't find the key of our small car and in his laziness he decided to give us another car...which by the way WE LOVED! We had lots of space in our trunk, and the kids didn't miss our mini-van at all since they had lots of space. We were supposed to drive for 3 hours to arrive in Cardston, but my honeybunch made it in 2:30 hours during which the kids and I took a nap. When I woke up we saw my mother in-law with uncle Gordon (her brother). She gave us a tour of Grandpa Woolf's house (her dad) and we stayed in the basement for the whole week and a half. The kids got their own room with a pack and play ready for Ian and a bed for Nicky. Glenn and I had another bedroom with a nice full bed. We put everything away as soon as we arrived then my father in-law came back from picking up Laura (Glenn's sister) from the airport. She flew in from Ohio. I was officialy introduced to Grandpa Woolf, which was very neat, too. I know how important he is for everybody and in this little trip I could understand why. He is an amazing and a great man. Full of love for his family, but especially for his wife. Anyway after that we all had dinner and after that the kids were ready to play. It was very neat and convenient to see that Grandpa Woolf's backyard connects to a great playground where the kids could play. After a couple of mosquito bites, we had the chance to meet Uncle Ross and Aunt Peggy (who by the way live a block away from Grandpa). We all were at the playground visiting and getting to know each other more. We all loved that moment, even with the mosquito bites. After that we came back home and to our surprise it was already 9:30 PM and the sun was as bright as noon day. Glenn told me that about Cardston, that 11:00p.m looked more like 7 or 8:00p.m. I didn't believe him but he was right AGAIN! Anyway it was neat for the kids to have blinds and curtains in their room. I layed them down and they fell asleep. We went to Grandpa's deck for a bit to visit more with the family. Next day was Sunday, so we were ready almost on time (their ward started with Relief Society first and the same as us at 9:00a.m.). I recieved a lot of compliments about Nicky (how nice she was with everybody and what a beautiful girl she is, so obedient, etc.). For a moment I wanted to believe it until of course I caught her fighting with her brother. Maybe she is just like that with new people, who knows. Anyway after church the kids played ball with their Grandpa and Auntie Laura played some hymns for the kids. They were trying to help her as you can see. After that we had a nice nap and then we all had dinner. After dinner we were invited to Auntie Peggy's house where we started warming up and meeting some of the members of the family. Nicky was thrilled to meet so many kids and so was Ian. It was very impressive to me and Glenn to see how nice all of them were with our kids, especially because Nicky and Ian were some of the youngest.

(Grandma Sharon, Savanna and Adam (second cousin)playing with Ian.

(part of the cousins)

Savanna (who is 7) made sure that Nicky as well as Ian were included in all the kids games. All of them were wonderful. Being without of the stress of how our children were we could visit and I had the chance to meet more of this new extended family that I have now...and let me tell you something: I LOVE IT! Each one of them was so nice to us. They have such incredible hearts and souls. So close to the gosspel without losing the fun of life. Just wonderful. Next day was Monday and we just used that day to relax so we went to the pool (Savanna helping Nicky in the pool)

and met there with part of the family you know to let the kids warm up for the rest of the week. Of course we also enjoyed the great weather.

Everybody arrived on Tuesday, July 1st: Canada's Indepence day. So officialy the family reunion got started at 4:30p.m. Before that the ones that were there already went to Raymond, another small town about 45 minutes away from were we were. They had a parade. It was very neat to see everybody, even the little kids, riding their horses, bikes, 4 wheelers, etc. While they were doing all this they were thorwing candies to everybody. It was funny to hear Nicky screaming to all of them"THROW ME MORE CANDY! THROW ME A SUCKER!" We loved every single moment. After that we went to have lunch with my father-law's family. Every year after their parade they get together at a Great Uncle's Glenn house (brother of Grandpa Walker) and they had a big lunch and trampolines for the kids and even a snake which by the way Ian loved. We got the chance to get to know more about each other. It was amazing to see that many people and weird to see that we all are relatives. The lunch was over as soon as it started to rain. So we went back to Cardston where we took a short nap and got prepared for the official Woolf family reunion. My mother in-law and all her siblings asked permission to use the church, so we all ate and after that we got to talk to everybody and introduce ourselves. Half of the group (including us) went to the pool and the other half stayed at the chapel playing some basketball while the little kids played with all kinds of toys that the family and church provided to them.

(Nicky and second cousin Katie)

(the guys playing basket ball)

After that we waited until 11:00p.m to go to Powerhouse Hill where the town was celebrating. We all went to see the fireworks. Nicky and Ian were so excited to see them. It was very neat. We had a great view. After that we all headed back to our places to have some rest since the next day was planned to be a day full of fun...

Grandma Sharon, Grandpa Jim, Glenn, Laura (sis), Harumi

and Misa (sister in-law and niece)

(Uncle Paul, Katheryn, Nicky, Rigdon watching the fireworks)
Me and my baby

One more day...

Tomorrow is going to be the big day. Glenn has to drive to Waco to take his step 2. After he comes home we'll be going to my sister's in Austin and on Saturday we'll be flying to Canada.
I found another way to manipulate my daughter. Before every time that she didn't want to share or be good, I threatened her with the classic, "I'LL THROW AWAY ALL YOUR TOYS..TO THE GARBAGE." After this magic sentence she'd transform herself in the best girl ever. Well that doesn't work anymore, since she heard one of her friends telling his mom, "I WISH YOU WEREN'T MY MOM." Of course after Nicky heard that and seeing the result of that sentence (his mom pleasing him), she tried to do the same to me. But you see I haven't found my patience yet, so when she told me that, she noticed that that kind of argument wasn't going to work on me... "MAMA I WISH I COULD HAVE ANOTHER MOM INSTEAD." When I heard this I was dealing at the same time with Ian and cooking...so I turned my head and answered her "OH REALLY? LIKE THE NEIGHBOR? WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE HER AS A MOM, BECAUSE IF YOU WANT I CAN TAKE YOU THERE RIGHT NOW." She was looking at me so scared and shaking her head and I kept telling her, "DO YOU THINK I'M NOT A GOOD MOM TO YOU, EVEN THOUGH I COOK FOR YOU, I CLEAN THE HOUSE, I GET WORRIED FOR YOU EVERYDAY, I READ YOU STORIES, I MADE YOUR FAVORITE DESSERT, OR MAYBE I SHOULD STOP BUYING YOU TOYS! THAT PROBABLY IS THE PROBLEM! IF I'M NOT A GOOD MOM , IF THAT IS NOT ENOUGH NICKY, YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND FIND YOURSELF ANOTHER MOM." She came to me and hugged me and said that she loved me. She was crying at the time. After that she was the best daughter ever..for the next couple of hours. 3 days ago she has realized that we're going to see her granparents and cousins, etc. She's counting the hours for that time to come. But everytime that she disobeys or she gets into trouble with Ian, another threat comes to my mind: "IF YOU DON'T OBEY WE MIGHT HAVE TO CANCEL THAT TRIP." Magic sentence...it works everytime. I'm going to milk it until we come back from our trip.
I hate being that way, but it seems that that is the only thing that works with her. Anyway, Ian well, he is too little, but he learns from seeing her, which is good. Hopefully I won't have to threaten him, too in the future...Am I doing all this wrong? I don't know. I don't even know if I'm already screwing up their lifes. I hope not, but I just don't know how to have discipline. They know I love them and I take care of them but I just hate spoiled children...and I don't want to have spoiled children, either.

Getting ready for our trip.

We are planning to attend Glenn's family reunion. Nicky is the most excited about it, especially because Mason's grandma came to visit him. She asked me, "When am I going to see my grandma?" So I told her this weekend we were going to spend time with them and also her cousins. She ran upstairs and saw a picture of the last family reunion (right when Glenn and I were enganged). So she asked me about all of them. She got very focused on her cousin Emily. She keeps telling me that she is going to play with all of them, and she kept giving kisses to her Grandma and Grandpa. Ian was looking at her kind of confusedly, especially when he just kisses the pictures if Glenn, Nicky, himself or myself are in it. Since I won't take care of the Jaffers until we come back, I'm planning on doing a major cleaning of the apartment tomorrow. I do this so when we come back everything will be shiny and clean.
On other subject: Glenn is getting ready for his Step 2 exam. I can tell he is very stressed about this exam. He needs to do better than the first time. Otherwise in interviews they might think that he just had some luck on the Step 1 exam. He's been going to study everyday since he got out of school. He leaves at 10:00 and comes back at midnight or 1:00 am. It's crazy and I'm waiting for the time to be done with this. I know it's not that it's going to be easier at work, but at least he won't have to feel the presure of more tests or anything like that. I rember that feeling when you have an important test. Nauseas, insomnia, anguish etc.etc.etc. It was a nightmare...oh gosh I'm so glad I'm not the one who has to take it. Dealing with the kids is hard, but a test were all your future life depends on is way harder; especially if there are more people already depending on you. When I think about all this I feel so bad that there is sometimes I'm very moody with poor Glenn. I mean it's not that he is having a party at school or anything like that. I ask God to help me to be more supportive and comprehensive, but ...I'm still a human and there are sometimes when I'm complaining, that's when I have to call my mother or my best friends in Monterrey, they always hear me and help me to understand him and remember what it was like being in college.
To be totally honest I was very mad at Glenn for having this trip to Canada, not because I didn't want to go, but because we haven't had the time to spend together as a family. I even had to skip lots of activities at church because I need more time for ourselves as a family. Just the four of us, spending a good time together. The kids miss him so much, and they ask me constantly for him. Even Ian points at his pictures and asks me with his beautiful hands sticking out, "Where is Daddy?" Glenn and I think he's very funny and smart for doing that, but at the same time it breaks my heart because he is too little to understand. Nicky at least knows and everytime that we drive close to the hospital she tells me, "Daddy is in the hospital because daddy wants to be a doctor." So she gets it. Anyway I have heard tales about the fourth year. Like it's wonderful, and so family friendly, and it's like having a family again etc.etc.etc. So far they are just tales. But I have the hope that after Glenn's auditions at other hospitals I will see if them come true.
Coming back to Canada subject: I'm happy that we are going, don't get me wrong. I just feel that our family needs more space, especially for the kids. Glenn and I are thinking that perhaps we'll spend just 4 days with all the family and then the rest of the time just driving around Canada and getting to know more places. It could be fun, but we'll see. If everything turns out well who knows maybe we will decide to stay all the vacaction there with the family.
On another subject and coming back to my last phone marketing calls. Well I think I went too far last time. Although it wasn't a telemarketer calling, I was trying to call one of my BF in Monterrey. She just got married. I was trying to scare her a little bit first. And then you know when I laughed she was going to recognize me and said something typical of her, "YOU ARE SO DUMM YOU REALLY SCARED ME!" or something like that. Anyway it was last Saturday when I called her. She is a lawyer and a teacher at the same time. Her husband and her are very busy people so I was expecting the answering machine, but to my surprise I heard a "hello." I started with my joke: "HOW DARE YOU NOT ANSWER ME BEFORE," then she told me..."WELL I WAS A LITTLE BUSY" (me) - " OH, STOP DOING BAD THINGS WITH YOUR HUSBAND IN THE ROOM. YOU ARE NOT A NEWLYWEED ANYMORE! YOU ARE SUCH A NAUGHTY GIRL, THINKING ABOUT THAT" (then of course I wanted to laugh until...) (other person yelling at me). "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS? TELL ME YOUR NAME! WHO DO YOU WANT TO TALK TO?" Of course that scared the crap out of me and with a very shy voice I said, "I'M SORRY, BUT I'M LOOKING FOR YOVANA" (then the Misses told me) "YOU DIALED THE WRONG NUMBER." (me) "I'M SO SORRY. I WAS TRYING TO PLAY A JOKE ON ONE OF MY BF WHO JUST GOT MARRIED. I'M SORRY" (in that very moment I wanted just to hang up the phone until...) (the women on the other line was laughing) "DON'T WORRY! HAHAHA I UNDERSTAND THAT SHE DOESN'T LIVE HERE. HONEY I HOPE YOU CAN TALK TO HER GOD BLESS YOU SWEETHEART". Of course after all that I had to leave a good impression if that was possible. So I said, "Oh please, I'm so sorry. Again, thank you so much for understanding. Likewise and have a wonderful day" (well at least for the rest of the day after the phone call). Then I called Yovana right away, of course forgetting about making a joke I waited until I heard her voice. "SORRY WE MISSED YOUR CALL, PLEASE LIVE YOUR NAME AND NUMBER AND WE WILL GET BACK TO YOU AS SOON AS WE CAN THANKS" And of course that was the right number with the answering machine, just the way that it has been for the last 2 years.
Anyway, my babe just called me and he is coming home early today...well it's almost 11:00p.m. But it's earlier than other times. So I'm going to cut off just like that.
I'm out.

Marketing for fun!

I'm just so tired of receiving phone calls from marketing. I've tried everything but they keep calling. We have tried everything. The problem is not that they call every single day. The problem is that they call in the worst moment. When the kids are napping, or when they are about to go to sleep, or very early in the morning.

Being a Spanish speaker worked. I've told them that I didn't speak English at all thinking of course they will stop calling us. I was totally wrong. Now they started to call me IN SPANISH!

Being crative I already started to speak Claudiaish to them. That way they just don't have anybody with this language. It's funny when I say hello and they start talking about ALL THE THINGS THAT I WON, BUT THEY JUST NEED TO KNOW IF I HAVE CREDIT CARD OR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, ETC. As soon as they tell me this I start speaking Claudialand languange, which is something between baby gibberish, Spanish, English, and more gibberish. That way they just get very confused and start asking me if there is somebody who speaks English haha. It's funny when they talk to each other to say SHE DOESN'T GET IT! haha.

STUPID SCORPIONS!

No seriously...what is their purpose in life? I might be very ignorant, but I just hate them so much. My son had been stung for an escorpion today. I was so scared. I was downstairs when I heard Ian cry, and Nicky was calling me to tell me that he was crying. That's weird because she normally dosen't want to tell me when he cries since she is normally to blame. Anyway, I ran upstairs and I saw him scratching the back of his head, and I thought, "he probably bumped his head." So I went to hug him and then I saw the scorpion. I killed it with all my strength. Ian stopped crying, but he kept scraching his head. Luckily Glenn decided that he could study today at home so he called the doctor and they told us to take him to the emergency room. So I took Ian with me and Nicky stayed with Glenn. Ian and I didn't come back until 11:00 p.m. He was so tired my poor little baby. The doctor just gave him benadryl. He was actually behaving pretty normally. At the end the doctor told me that most of the scorpions in Texas aren't poisonous, which made me feel relieved. However I told Nicky and Ian if they ever see one of those they have to call me or kill it with a shoe but never ever touch them or play with them because they are very dangerous. Nicky gave another look at the dead body to make sure that she would recognize the bug next time.

Last year we had the same strugule with scorpions. So pet control came every Wednesday. Tomorrow I'll go to ask them to start coming again. I'm so glad that at least pet control will come to help us from now 'till the problem is solved.

Where did my patience go?

I've been taking care of The Jaffers for the last week, and I mean the whole week. By the time that the weekend arrived I was about to hit everybody against the wall to have a little bit of order in my house. Good think I didn't do it. :) But seriously, between them and my kids I was thinking about the bad mom that I am and the ways I should improve. Of course everybody has lost their tempter once in a while, but in my case...well you see it's very clear in my patriarcal blessing that I have pacience as a gift, but it's also ovbious that I CAN'T FIND IT. It's supposed to be easier for me at least that is what I thought until last Sunday. Brother Jaffers was giving a talk about patience and it was one of those times when you just have to pick up all that you can because I was really needing that talk (especially because that day I was also taking care of one of the Jaffers). Anyway, I felt much better after his talk because as I said in my patriarcal blessing it said that patience is one of my gifts. I though that would mean that I just have it. I didn't have to fight for it or anything like that. But man I was wrong...again. I finally know that patience is something that I still need to work on and improve. It will be my challenge. I guess taking care of the Jaffers or my kids or anybody kids, or holding on with my husband's schedule, or living in this place, or waiting for a better time in life, or learning the language, or improving in my calling all this and more requires LOTS OF PATIENCE. Now I know I'm not the best and I still have lots to improve, and I'm still looking for my patience, but at least I know that somewere inside of me it does exist, and it will help me through all my life.
To improve this gift that I have I'll try to be more postive in my daily duties. I'll try to focus on all the blessings that I do have and not on the blessings that I'm waiting for. They will come with time. Now that doesn't mean that I'm going to be perfect, but at least I'm going to do my best to try and improve my patience. Perhaps sometime soon I'll find it.

At the Zoo!

We went to the Zoo last Friday. The kids had a ball. My friend Robyn invited us. So it was very nice going with her and her kids. Even though we had gone to the Zoo (Waco) before, I think this time was even more enjoyble because it was practically empty. Were did the people go? I have no idea, but the kids were so happy to get into the reptiles rooms, or the acuarium etc.

After the zoo Robyn was very nice invited us dinner also. Today I took Mason to the park with Nicky. They dropped him off at 10:30 a.m and I took him home at 5:45p. Nicky misses her old friend J. After we left Mason's house she was asking me to go and visit her friend J., but then she remembered he's not here. It's sad, she is looking for a new best friend. Today at Chick fill-A she was asking a girl if she would be her new BEST FRIEND. Of course by the time that she had to go, she asked me again, "Mom, why isn't Jay here?" Anyway, I thought that would be a closed chapter, since she hadn't mention his name for ages. Glenn and I when we refers about The Hobbs in front of the kids we say just their incials. The H. , or little G (for Grant) or just el Jota (in Spanish J it's pronaounce Jota) anyway, I hope she can get over it when we are in Canada, with her cousins.

Talking about Nicky, I'm so happy for her. She is making a lot of progress with the languanges, which I thought would never happen. It's so nice to hear her talk, well most of the time. She has being asking me for her Christmas presents already. She wants a Car and a Computer. What a girl. I'm already saving some money for that but, I'm debating. We won't know where we are going to live, and a car...well it's to add more space to the truck that we are going to rent. The computer, I guess I could deal with it. There is not day that she doesn't mention this subject. Mom maybe later I can have my car and my computer." At least I know that she sticks to her petitions. I remember when she was asking me for her princess castle. She was the happiest girl on earth. I'm trying to explaing to her about the gift cards. So maybe Santa could bring instead of a car a gift card with enough credit to buy a car at Wal Mart? I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's the only thing that I can think of without struggling with the packing etc.etc.etc.

However it's not that she is not going to get the present. I just don't want to add more to the collection of "WE WON'T TAKE THIS WITH US, TOO MUCH SPACE." I'll see what I'll do.

For Ian I'm already thinking about buying him a table for all his trains and and tracks, but still, ANOTHER TABLE TO PACK? I know we are barely in June and I'm already thinking about Christmas. Well I guess I have too much free time.

Changing subjects, I'm getting very bored with not having a hobbie anymore. I finished the Harry Potter books last month. I loved it. I wouldn't read it again this year, but perhaps next. I'm trying to find a new book to read, but I'm so disconnected. Glenn was about to buy me Twilight, but I'm not sure if I want to read that book. It's just that I'm scared that it's going to be like the Hunchback of Notre Dame that had disastrous endings. I'm the kind that thinks it's worth it if everybody is happy at the end.

Good bye!

Our good friends The Hobbs moved to Tuscon. It was very sad, and Nicky looked a little bit sad when they said goodbye. I already explained to her that even though she won't be seeing Jay or Lindsay again, they can always live in her heart and remember them. I feel sad that they are gone for good. We are definitely going to miss them so much. She is a great girl, a great friend, always positive, and a warrior indeed. Ron is a great guy and I'm sure he'll be a great doctor. Jay and Grant are wonderful great kids. (Morning right before they left Temple Tx.) (Nicky, Ian, Jay, and Grant's last slumber party. Poor Ian, Glenn thinks that he looks like Snape would have looked as a child LOL!)

We had fun with them last year, and seeing them moving made me think about our next year: Moving for good to I don't know where. New friends, new neighborhood. Even if we stay here, I know everything will be different. It makes me nervous but exited at the same time when I think about it. Anyway I'm just going to try to embrace this moment in our lives. It's hard, but I don't think it will be the hardest. Medical school is a big of a challenge, but I've heard that residency is worse, so we'll see.

I went to eat with a friend today. Talking with her made me realize that our situation is unique. Our husbands are always busy, busy, busy. So we actually need to be mother and father at the same time. I'm trying to think in ways that I can get Glenn to be more involed in our kids' lives. With this kind of life that we live it's hard to do it...

(a few days later)...Well I wrote the things above a long time ago. Since then. Nicky is doing better about the Hobbs' move. She "talks" to Lindsay on her cellphone toy once in a while. It's always the same "Lindsay you found me!" conversation, so I'm starting to think that she misses her more than she misses Jay. Anyway. we were planning on going to Monterrey last weekend, but we couldn't. I'm so glad that we didn't go since on Monday I had the worst headache in history. I've had the same headache since then. If I don't get better tomorrow I might have to go to the doctor on friday. We'll see.

On another subject, I got a new calling at church. I'm the intructor for 8-10 years old kids. Well I'm not very happy about it. I think there is a lot of responsability, and with my poor English it's difficult. I'm starting to think that I might quit. I might start going to the Spanish branch by myself since the branch is so small and doesn't have a primary. I told Glenn I was going to try. But...you see it is not that I'm scared of the calling, I'm scared of the calling IN ANOTHER WHOLE LANGUAGE. I just don't feel really prepared yet for something like that.

In moments like this is when I really want to quit everything. When I feel that I could do better if it weren't for the language. There are 3 HUGE reasons that stop me. At least Glenn told me that he would look at the possilility of coming back to Monterrey Mx. after residency if everything works out well. Of course maybe by then I'll be finishing law school here, so it might mean that I'd have to start ALL OVER AGAIN. So we'll see what happens. It's just that I feel very confortable with everything until big responsibilities in Church appear (like giving talks, having a new calling, talk to the sisterhood. etc,etc,etc.) I just hate doing that in another languange. Going to a Spanish ward...well that would be the right solution IF WE WEREN'T IN TEMPLE!.

It' s nice taking this off my chest. I'll do my best. But if I feel that I'm not progresing well, I might just talk to the bishop about my feelings.

In other things: We are planning to go to Canada in a couple of weeks. After Glenn's Step 2 to be precise. Nicky and Ian will have the chance to see most of Glenn's mom's side of the family, which is great! I'm excited for this little trip. It will be relaxing mmmm or maybe not exactly realxing but at least we'll see another landscape. I'm getting dizzy again, so I'll stop now.

Flashbacks from the past!

It's funny the way fashion has changed throuhout time. I definitely don't feel related to the 80's, but the 90's, my goodness that was my time. Fashion today, I think, will be less embarrassing in the future than the fashion of decades past. At least I don't see how my child is going to be embarrassed for wearing jeans or nice dresses. The appearance of today's fashion is definitely more clean and classy. I'm bringing this up because for some reason I forgot about the way that I used to dress in high school...uh, that was an embarrassment. You see in Mexico there are just 2 or 3 years of your life when you can actually can dress the way you want, and they happen to be during high school. There should be like a law against being able to choose your own fashion during that time, though, so people like me who try to be normal later on in life wouldn't feel ashamed of that time of our lives. College was fine, though, since I had to dress like an attorney.

For some reason in my high school years I was so in love with the band "4 NON BLONDES." But I mean SO IN LOVE. I was such a fan of them. I even bought one of those ridiculous hats like the singer and a pair of boots. I still remember my mom's face when she saw them, she was in shock. My older brother didn't believe it when he saw me using them to go to high school. He totally thought I was crazy....and I guess I was. I hate them for not stopping me. At school, since all my classmates had the same poor taste for clothing that I had, they thought it was so cool, they were asking me where I bought them. In a blink of an eye most of the girls were wearing the same boots (not that I started that fashion at school, at least I don't want to think I did so I can feel less ashamed for that matter). Anyway It was a crazy time. By the end of my 4th semester of high school I was a little more normal. Something that I learnd about those boots: they should make all the missionaries buy them for their time on the mission. They are so durable! I had them all throughout high school. They never had holes or anything; they were leather and I used to love them so much. I stopped using them A LONG TIME AGO (thanks goodness), but I still remember that I had them in my closet a little bit before I got married. Wow! What a long time! Anyway as I was saying I was looking and listening to that band on Youtube, and it just brought back so many memories from high school. I want to go through my albums and rip off the pictures haha. I guess it doesn't look that bad when most of the people are wearing the same kind of style, but it's so depressing to remember now. I always make fun of my sister because she used to dress with the gloves (like madonna) and the hair...oh, my goodness! I still can't believe that the 80's existed. Well, I guess my children will say the same when they flip thorugh my albums.

Now you know my ABC's next time won't you share yours with me?

My dear friend Elise from College Station (now in Houston) has tagged me. It was taking me a bit to figure out how this works. But again my friend Elise told me how to do it right. So here I go...oh, by the way, I'm supposed to tagg 6 more people so I can know more about them, of course it'll be friends of mine so here we go AMANDA, AUBREY, CASSIDY, RACHEL, POLLY and Tiffany since you have been tagged already from Elise that can count for me, too. So I'll be checking your blogs more to get to know you guys better.
A-Attached or single: I'm totally attached to GLENN LEE WALKER.

B- Best Friend: MY BEST FRIEND DEFINETELY IS GLENN, I can be an open book with him ALL THE TIME!

C- Cake or Pie: The only dessert that I wouldn't feel guilty of my weight is if I eat trifle. Otherwise I wouldn't eat cake or pie, so I guess none of them.
D-Day of Choice: Beginning of the weekend of course..Friday!

E- Essential Item: It's weird but GUM! even if I don't have a pocket I'd hide it in my bra...oops, to personal. (I got this e-mail a long time ago, if you haven't seeing it before the advaice is do not ever swallow bubble gum..I have never done it but I don't want to try haha gross)
F- Favorite Color: White and Black those too are my favorite. I can't decide betwen them...so if it has to be just one...I'd go for sky blue
G- Gummi Bears or Worms:Gummy Bears bring me flashbacks from my childhood.

H- Hometown: Monterrey Nuevo Leon MEXICO, (this is a view at night of my home town, isn't it beautiful?).

I- Indulgence(s): Read, read, read, especially Harry Potter.
J- January or July: July I don't know why, I guess it's because it's 2 more months before school starts.

K-Kids: Nicole 3 and Ian 13 months.

L-Life is incomplete without: My family,telephone,internet, and cable.

(by the way you see why I really need the Cable t.v.)

M- Marriage Date: December 27th, 2003.

N- Number of Siblings: 6 sisters, 6 brothers.
O- Oranges or Apples: Grapefruit.
P- Phobias or Fears: all kind of spiders, bees, wasps.
Q- Quote: "Shhh! Wait until the commercial."

R- Reason To Smile: Seeing my kids playing together in harmony
S- Season: Winter; if it's too cold you can always put a jacket on but if it's too hot you can't go out naked.

T- Tag Six: AMANDA, AUBREY, POLLY, CASSEDY, RACHEL and since Tiffany you haven't answer Elise tag yet well I might have to tag you again so TIFFANY.
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I love doing impressions of Shakira or whatever latin singer female that I like.

V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Oppressor of Animal. I'm a meat girl!

W- Worst Habit: I bite my fingernails.
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds
Y- Your Favorite Food: I'll go with Mexican, but since I'm from Mexico other food beside that...mmm I'll go with the Argentinian food.
Z- Zippers or Zebras: mmm I guess Zebras...because I'm very scared of the zippers especially if I can't zipper up.

My Nicky a doctor?

I love how naive a child can be. Ever since Nicky can communicate better she's been asking me the same question, "MOMMY, WHERE IS DADDY?" my answer of course is "WELL, NICKY, DADDY IS AT THE HOSPITAL." So she asks me again, "WHY IS DADDY AT THE HOSPITAL?" "WELL NICKY DADDY IS AT THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE HE WANTS TO BECOME A DOCTOR." "MMM...A DOCTOR? BUT WHY?" (big question) "WELL NICKY BEING A DOCTOR IS A VERY NOBLE PROFESSION. HE WANTS TO HELP PEOPLE TO NOT BE SICK" (Well of course he wants to be a plastic surgeon but I always skip this because I don't want to specify about body reconstruction, or boob jobs, etc). Anyway it's funny every time that we are close to the hospital the way that she describes the hospital as HER HOSPITAL, or MY DADDY'S HOSPITAL.
Anyway today Sunday we were playing a board game called Sorry. Well Nicky was beating us by far, but it was already 9:20 p.m., so she really needed to go to sleep. On the way to her bed she was asking me if we could play the game again tomorrow. I told her that maybe we could play it for our family home evening activity, and she said, "NO MAMA WE NEED TO PLAY IT BECAUSE YOU SEE I'M A DOCTOR." (what that had to do with the game I don't know...she is the only one who knows). Anyway I told her that she was not a doctor, but someday she could be if she really wanted to. She asked me why her daddy was a doctor, and I told her "WELL NICKY DADDY IS NOT A DOCTOR YET, BUT HE IS PREPARING SO HARD TO BE ABLE TO BE ONE SOMEDAY, THAT'S WHY HE NEEDS TO STUDY SO MUCH AND HE NEEDS TO PAY ATTENTION SO HE CAN LEARN." Well she looked at me and with her very serious tone of voice told me "MAMA, I WANT TO BE A DOCTOR BECAUSE SANTA IS A DOCTOR TOO" (mmm...now that I think about it I wonder if she knows...nah). Anyway I still don't know what does that mean, but I told her, "Well, Santa is not a doctor but he probably could be if he really wants to."
I just don't know why Santa was brought in her conversation. It'll be interesting when she can communicate more about her thoughts.
Anyway, tomorrow is going to be Nicky's best friend's B-day but since he is not here we might give him a call tomorrow to sing happy b-day. Nicky has been asking for him since he went on his trip.
Before we started playing Sorry, Ian was dancing but on the gameboard. Nicky was pretty mad. Maybe that's why she wanted him to go to sleep so bad. :)
On other subject I've been tagged by a friend, but I don't know exactly how it works. If somebody can help me that'd be great. I already asked Glenn but he doesn't have a clue....doctors...

Happy b-day babe!

Well, the love of my life had his b-day yesterday. I asked him what would he like to have and he told me that nothing special. However, I knew he really likes grills and everything about them, so the kids and I went to the store and after explaining to Nicky about her daddy's b-day she got very excited about it. Of course she took me to the toys section and told me, "MOM LET'S BUY THIS FOR DAD!" (pointing at a princess and her jewelry). I told her that daddy doesn't like that, and she had a confused look on her face and asked me, "BUT WHY MOM? IT'S BEAUTIFUL!" Anyway, we went to the grill section at the store and I bought this book called THE GRILL BIBLE so I thought it was perfect. I also bought some tools for his new grill that I was planning to buy on my own. After reading a little bit in the grill bible I got scared of buying the grill on my own. On Saturday I asked Glenn to come with me and pick his new grill. Well we saw very good ones but he wanted something practical since our apartment is not that big. Anyway we had a little bbq on Saturday and since we were so excited for his new grill I couldn't resist anymore and the kids and I gave him all this gifts on Saturday. We had a nice dinner that he cooked. After that Glenn and I watched a movie name "PREMONITION." Before we watched Glenn told me, "I HAVE THIS PREMONITION YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO SLEEP AND THE MOVIE IS GOING TO SUCK." Well since I always dream about the last thing that I saw or felt, he was totally right. The movie sucked and I couldn't sleep very well. So I couldn't go to church because of an awful headache that was bugging me all night. In the afternoon I made a cake that tasted very good but the frosting was horrible. Anyway we cut the cake on Sunday (his real b-day) and spent time togheter. It was very relaxing and a nice b-day. We had fun and Nicky kept singing happy b-day and "jeliz peanos" (Feliz Cumpleanos) she dosne't say it quite right but it's cute hearing her singing the song.

Another tidbit: I finished Harry Potter numer 6, and let me tell you if you haven't read them all you are missing lots of funny and important things. The movies aren't very specific. I can't wait to see movie numer 6 (The Half Blood Prince). I already loved the book, I just couldn't stop reading so I finished it in a week. I can't wait to buy the last book of Harry Potter, it's just so awesome. I sound like my nephews, but honestly, I just love it.

Today Glenn and I are going to go to a party for his school. I'm debating what dress I should put on. Anyway, I'm ready except for the clothes. My friend Robin is going to take care of my kids while we go to the party. Anyway, I need to get ready for the party. I might post about the party later tonight in this same post, so I might just save it for now....

Well we came back from the party and we watched a movie, too. After that we went to sleep. I had fun at the party. I talked to my friend Aubrey and she told me that last year the party was very nice and everybody was dressing like when you go to church kind of. So I dressed up nice, Glenn didn't put the whole suit on, he went without a jacket. When we were arriving at the party we saw some people in suits and I told Glenn I hope you are not too casual. Well my surprise was that I was the one who was overdressed. The guys were dressing nice but beside my friend Aubrey and me all the girls were dressing very, "I'm going to the gym" kind of thing. In my time when you attended one of those parties we had got to be dressed to impress the important people. Of course you can make up for it with talk if you are clever enough. But, you need to impress. Aside from that, you just smile and agree with everything (of course that was my roll yesterday, agreeing and smiling for the 2 hours of the party...kind of funny I think I know now what a trophy wife means, hahaha). Seriously I didn't feel bad that I was dressing nice, but I don't understand why most of the girls were dressing like they didn't care what the doctor thought of them. I mean, you have to make a good impression. Well, that's where I think I might be wrong. Anyway, Glenn and I got to see one of his friends Adrian who by the way is getting married next year. We are so happy for him! He is a great guy and he is being a really good friend to the both of us. Anyway going to that party brought me flashbacks from College.

Our "romantic" weekend

All right, so I guess everybody has the chance to vent once in a while, and this is going to be my turn. Sorry people you do not have to read this if you don't want it may be a little XXX for some of you perhaps. I don't know...So one of my dearest friends has been wanting me to go on a romantic weekend with Glenn. She offered to take care of my children for that time. Well, I wasn't very sure about it, since I had never left my children to spend the night without us. Anyway, Glenn of course was so ready for this last weekend, and so was I but we didn't plan things very well. So instead of a romantic weekend I can honestley say that it was a fiasco.
We decided to go back to San Antonio, have a nice dinner at the River Walk, after that take a walk, and after that get into a hotel and spend a romantic night....well, if you think I'm going to vent my intimacy in this blog you are right!
So first of all, the night was cold and neither of us had a jacket or even a sweter, so the walk was totally off the list. We still had the dinner, and let me tell you it was expensive...but not worth it. Anyway after that we decided to check into a hotel, but to our surpise most of them had no vacancies, and the ones who had a rooms for us, cost about a month in rent of our apartament...not affordable at all. Anyway we decided to ask and somebody told us about a motel called Motel 6. Well we were going to check in but it did look kind of insecure so we decided to check in at the hotel in front of it Motel 8 hahaha what of the odds. Anyway as you can see I'm already laughing at this story because after all I think it's one of those stories to remember and laugh (not in the moment, though). Anyway we got into the room and to our suprise it smelled like cigarretes. However, I always carry on a mini-Febreeze in my car so Glenn ran downstairs to get it because the smell was horrible. Anyway when he opened the door he saw my face with a big shock of suprise and the t.v totally up. He asked me why I had the t.v so loud. I was speechless, and I just decided to put mute. Then he noticed we had a loud neighbor girl. GOODNESS! Glenn and I kept laughing for the fist 2 hours or so then we decided to go to sleep. If that was possible, of course. The funny thing was that my neighbor was attending a family reunion. She kept making noises ALL NIGHT LONG! Anyway we "woke up" and then we saw the weather was getting better, we definitely wanted to have some fun in this trip so we used our tickets for Six Flags. We thought it was going to be awesome, so we got on the first rollacoster, which by the way, took us like 3 hours to get on...for a ride of just 1 minute. We were so dizy and I really wanted to puke. We went to eat something (what a great idea) to settle down our bellies and decided to try the next one. It wasn't as bad as the first one, especially because it was empty. After that one we walked in the park for a while and we decided to try the next rollercoaster, the Superman "Man of Steel." The ironic thing about it is that my dear husband lost his glasses on that rollercoaster. We both ended up with headaches and nausea, so we bought more food, thinking that perhaps we could feel better in a couple of minutes. We were wrong...we both wanted to come back home with our kids but neither of us wanted to speak out. Until we finally agreed that the best thing that we could do was return home as soon as we could (especially since I was going to be the one driving since Glenn is blind without his glasses).
The best moment of the weekend was definitely seeing our kids, but the second best was coming back home safely...even though our home smelled like poop (I forgot one of Ian's diapers was in our trash can before we left). Even with all that, we felt like we were in heaven. I sprayed with my Febreeze and threw the diaper out, of course. The smell was gone as soon as I got rid of it. We put the kids to sleep and Glenn and I fell asleep as soon as we got into our covers. We couldn't even pray or read because we both were exhausted.
So there you go I finally got this out of me. I know Glenn is going to tell me, "YOU SHOULDN'T PUBLISH THAT BECAUSE IT'S PRIVATE," but first of all I see this blog as our real life, and you know nothing is perfect and I really want to remember this for the rest of my life. Second of all I wanted to tell everybody TO NOT GO TO MOTEL 8! It's expensive and not family friendly.
Anyway after all we both learned our lession.
(pictures will be publish soon)

Easter egg hunt

I think Easter is a great opportunity to teach my children about Jesus' atonement. The first family home evening after easter, Nicky for the fist time shared her testimony with us...sort of. She got this new frase "fisrt of all" that she uses when she wants to enumerate her points. So her testimony was like this: "Ok, first of all Jesus is my Savior, all right! And second of all He lives, okay!" Glenn and I wanted to laugh not because of her testimony (which was beautiful) but the way she shared it. It was like watching one of those talk shows were the girl is making sure that everybody knows she is right and nobodyelse is. It was cute but funny at the same time. Anyway, the one who couldn't stop laughing was Ian but he laughed pretty much of everything.

We didn't know what to do for Easter. In my family it's just a moment to think of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. We used to decorate eggs and fill them with conffetti to afterwards smash them on our family or friends' heads. No hunting or candies or presents. The last 2 years we have gone with Nicky and had let her hunt eggs that we would just put around the grass. This year was actually the first year that I bought toys for the kids. Now I don't believe in the bunny who brings presents bla bla bla. So I didn't want to teach that to my children. We were planning to put the eggs in the grass come back home and after a lesson of why we celebrate easter give the children their big gifts. Well, of course I kept thinking oh well, they probably are going to be so focused on the chocolates inside of the eggs that they barely would pay attention to us. Well I wasn't wrong at all, (I was hiding the toys inside of a closet) So Nicky was eating her chocolates and wasn't paying attention as I thought would happen, and I kept thinking how can I make her interested in this subject? Well I told her, "Daddy is going to ask a question and if you answers right, Mommy will give you a suprise!" she didn't pay attention because she was eating. So I told her, "All right you don't want to play, well Daddy ask Ian a question." Nicky of course didn't sit around any move, I guess she was thinking, "WHAT ARE THEY NUTTS? MY BRO IS JUST ONE YEAR OLD AND HE BARELY CAN BARK." But she didn't realize that her folks (us) are way smarter than her...well at least we have lived longer :). So Glenn told Ian "Hey Ian do you know that Jesus loves us and we love him back too, so Ian were is Jesus?" and my son dosen't talk but he points pretty much to everything that he recognizes or wants, so he searched the room and when he found Jesus' picture he kept pointing at Him. Glenn and I clapped and I gave him a prize, taking one of Ian's gifts out of the closet. When Nicky saw this she just dropped the chocolate and started shouting at me "ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT! MY TURN, MY TURN". So the game began. We had fun and I really think she got the idea of why we celebrate Easter, it's to remeber the love that our Heavnely Father has for us in sending Jesus and the love that Jesus feels for us. That even though He died he was resurrected, and He is alive. Well of course she didn't tell me all this, but when she shared her testimony it was very clear for me that she got the general idea. So as a tradition of our own family we decided to hide the eggs next year and of course add the little trivia to our family. Since our budget is very tight but my kids are easy to be please. I can always go to the dollar section and buy little things that they will think are the best.

Spring Break summary!

Well the time flew. I can't believe that spring break is over. :( I had fun with Glenn and the kids. On Monday, well, we did nothing haha, but on Tuesday we went to Inflatable Funland with our good friends the Hobbs. We had fun, and Glenn got some injuries too. His glasses broke, and we superglued them for now. He'll get a new pair later. That is when I wish I could use an oculous reparus (from Harry Potter). But I'm a muggle so I can't.

Anyway on Wednesday we went to the zoo and we met there with our old friends from College Station the Redds. We had fun with their 2 boys Corvin and Carter. Tiffany is a great girl and her husband is a great guy. We took our daughter's best friend Jay. We also got to see our old friends Christine and Heather from College Station. Too bad my camera didn't have a charged battery, so no pictures of our trip to the zoo. But we indeed had fun. The weather was perfect. Glenn and the kids got to get tanned. The next day I took care of the Jaffers and we were planning to do some bbq, but we couldn't because of the weather (weather in texas is unpredictable)

Friday we had a sunny day and we decided to bbq some hamburgers. After that we watched a movie and put the kids to sleep. Saturday we went to a wedding of a cousin of mine in San Antonio. I got to see my mom, aunt Gloria, my bother, his wife, and more family. The wedding was at the River Walk. It was marvelous. We danced and sang. It was funny to hear Nicky call my mom aguelitilas insted of abuelita. On Sunday, our last day of our spring break, we decided to let Nicky ride her bike and teach the kids to use a baseball bat. The spring break couldn't have been better. We did things where we could play and spend time as a family with out the rush and tiredness that a long trip brings. Anyway I'm planning to post some pictures as soon as I can.

Welcome SPRING BREAK!

Glenn won this one!

Lindsay beat me. I had so much fun too. I just couldn't stop laughing.

The babies had fun too!

Nicky didn't care who won she just wanted to have fun!











Well I'm not planning on writing an epistole this time because it's...SPRING BREAK! YAY! After 5 years of having none of that (well we did have them we couldn't use them beacuse Glenn had to work and do some reaserch you know to be more prepared for his applications). Anyway as I was saying this is going to be our first sping break. We decided to just get to know better our surroundings as a family. Nothing stressful, just something where the kids can have fun. That's why we went today to INFLATABLE FUN LAND! And man that was fun!. We decided to spend this day with the Hobbs. We just couldn't make a better decision. We had friendly competition at the place. I just had so much fun. I felt like a kid again. The only bad thing is that Glenn fell on his back on the last competition that we had. I won by the way, but his effort counts, too. Nicky and Jay had their own competitions, too. Anyway, yesterday I was taking care of the Jaffers so we couldn't do too much because of the weather. So the kids just played here. If the weather is good tomorrow we might go to the zoo. I'll post some pictures this time and maybe a video if this computer lets me. I won't be posting probably unless I have more time, I'll just write one of those sumaries by next week about what the rest of the week looked like.

I hate cats...but not that much!

So my friend Lindsay and I had been planning to go to College Station to visit a good friend of ours (Tiffany). All that I could think was, "This is going to be neat to blog about...oh, and this, too, oh yes, and this activity, too." Well I guess that I am still in shock about what happened on our way back. I was driving while I was eating a home made ice cream that I bought at this very texan place that College Station has. Anyway, as I was saying, I was driving while from nowhere a black cat decided to get on my way. I just can't explaing the sensation of creepines and chill that I felt in my body. I was almost crying, and Linsday as a good friend was trying to pretend that everything was fine. But anyway. Like I wrote in my title. I JUST REALLY HATE CATS!...but not to the point that I want to see them dead...just very far away from me. Anyway, I can still feel the bumps that I felt while I was rolling over it (shivers).
Anyway, besides that, the whole day was wonderful. We even got snow in the morning. I woke up at 7:00 am (whish is rare for me) got ready for the day with my 2 kiddos. I went over to Lindsay's (since my telephone broke and the sun was melting the snow) at 9:00 am. to my surprise she was not ready yet. so I gave her some time while I was putting gas in the mini-van. Then we went to the bank at College Station and over to Tiffany's. She is just the sweetest and attentive person. She made us lunch, and the kiddos had fun playing outside. She has 2 kids, Corvin and Carter, and also a dog named Katie. Ian of course LOVED THE DOG! He kept barking like the dog and padding her. The dog is educated so Ian got very excited to see her do tricks. After a great visit with her we decided to go to this second hand place called ONCE UPON A CHILD! It was just perfect. I got Tarzan and The Return of Jafar movies for $1.50 each so I feel very proud of myself. I also got some toys for Nicky and Ian. When we came back home I let them open them and they were thrilled they looked brand new. Anyway, after that store, we went to Old Navy were I bought some t-shirts for me and a soccer ball for Ian. He just loves sports, epecially soccer. Glenn taught him to kick the ball and after he leared that all he wants to do is kick everything (including Nicky). Anyway after that we hit the mall. The kids had fun but my friend had to go to a store, so I stayed with the kiddos at the playground at the mall. Well Nicky came to me screaming MOMMY I REALLY NEED TO GO POTTY! but when I asked her CAN YOU WAIT? she looked at me saying I TOLD YOU IT'S TOO LATE ALREADY! So after a long time she had an accident. I couldn't scold her because she told me but I didn't take care as fast as she wanted to. Anyway, I changed her clothes using one of Jay's pants (without underwear). She was very upset about not using underwear. After that we went to this bbq restaurant where they make fabulous bbq ribs. So we all ate until we hit the wall. I ordered to go some ribs for my love with love of sides. On the way back Ian was a a little bit fussy but it's because he's not used to his new toodler carseat. When we arrived home Nicky went upstairs by herself. When she came down she said, "Mommy, I put on my calzon [panty in Spanish]!"
Then that awful cat accident...if it wouldn't be because of that I could honestly say that the day was perfect. I guess there aren't any perfect days, just good ones and bad ones, so this was a good day.
Like my husband said, the cat is in a better place right now. I'll keep a minute of silence for it.
Anyway I'm too tired, but I wanted to thank Lindsay and Tiffany. Without Lindsay I wouldn't be able to go to College Station (I'm just not good with directions). Tifanny was also great for having us over to share her food and being such a kind and wonderful girl. She's a really good example to follow. :)

My Sumary?

There are a lot of events that I haven't posted about yet, so I don't even know were should I start. Maybe I should enumerate.
1-Valentine's Day! - We had fun, I remember having the Jaffers' kids over so Nicky and Ian got the chance to play with them, and Nicky's best friend Jay came over to wish her a Happy Valentine's. So she had her two best friends for a bit at home to play and eat chocolate with her. Ian got to play with Max (Jaffers), but most of all he enjoyed seeing his sister playing with her pals. Glenn bought chocolates, rented a movie, and bought me a very nice card. He is great, the best thing that could ever happen to me. He is a great friend, husband and dad. He got chocolates for Nicky and a balloon for Ian. I made a chocolate cake with delicious strawberries. It was very yummy. We had a delicious dinner two days after Valentines (just Glenn and me). It was wonderful.
2-My new "borrowed" child- His name is Max. His parents couldn't take him with them on their vacation so I took care of him for a week. It was a very exciting adventure to all of us. The first 2 days were the hardest, especially for Nicky who had to let him use her bedroom to sleep. This little fella is just 8 months old so he requires a lot of attention. Ian was a little bit jealous. But things worked out very well. His parents came to pick him up last Saturday and on Sunday everybody (Nicky and Ian) were looking for Max. This little baby is just so cute and smart. I just love him as though he were another child of mine.
3-Cassidy and Carters's visit- She is a great girl that I met a year ago. She came to visit our friend Lindsay but also to visit Polly and Santino (an old friend of her) and the rest of the ward (including me). Lindsay threw a picnic/pizza party for her and it was just wonderful. The next day we went to the zoo. The kids had fun. Nicky was very excited to see all the animals. I thought Ian wouldn't care about the zoo very much (since he was just 11 months almost 12), but man I was wrong. He just loved it. Every time that he would see an animal he would bark and point at it (he thinks all animals make the sound of a dog). He is my little smart boy. He already walks as you probably know, but he also likes to say AhOh! (every time that he drops something) he does good impressions of doggies. He knows were the ojo (eye) nariz (nose) and boca (mouth) are. He points at whatever (for Jay) . I'm very proud of him, but I'm still waiting for the shock that Nicky had at his age. She was doing well with the language until she realized that she was hearing and trying to learn Spanish and English so by the time that she was 14 months she went mute. Didn't say anything. She is finally speaking again. But it was a real frustration a few months ago.
4-Ian's B-day---Ian finally turned 1 year old this last Sunday, so I made him a homemade cake with frosting. We had over his best friend, Grant Hobbs, over and opened his presents. Since it was Sunday I didn't want to do something big. That day he learned how to blow the candle out.

Anyway yesterday since Grant, Ashlen (another good friend of his ) and Ian all turn a year old this month or soon so we celebrated their b-day by doing a PUDDING PARTY! It was great seeing the kids all concerned about the mess especially my child since he knows I hate messes. They ate their banana pudding (or play with it whatever) and ate the muffins that Glenn bought for them with the homemade frosting that I made. We sang "happy birthday" for them and also Aubrey (Ashlen's mom) got some balloons for them. They loved it. Grant was the most hilarious. I think this is the first child that know that shows his emotions so well. He was humming and dancing while he was eating. It was just so funny. Later that day I talked to Lindsay on the phone and Nicky was begging me to talk to Jay. Well here is their conversation. HEY JAY - HEY NICKY WHAT'S UP! (Nicky) DO YOU WANT TO COME TO MCDONALDS? - (Jay) mm NO I'M GOING TO THE PARK. (Nicky) TO THE PARK mmmm OKAY SEE U LATER! (Jay) OK. bye!
It was so funny to hear them talk on the phone. it was like seeing in the future what it is going to be when she is a teen.

However Glenn and I ended up taking Jay and Mason to McDonald for ice cream with our kids. Those are Nicky's best friends and she likes playing with them. So McDonald's was the perfect place to let them play together while my love rented a movie and we got the chance to talk about our day.
Anyway, that is my resume of this last month in a half. I'll try to do better with this thing. I haven't being able to post anything. To be honest I haven't had the time or the mood to do it, but I hope I can start doing it better.

Hmmm...

I just don't know how to title this blog. Since Grandma Beth passed away I haven't feel like writing anything, but like a good friend of mine told me DON'T REMEBER HER WITH TEARS, BUT WITH GOOD THOUGHTS! Grandma Beth was buried in Raymon (Canada) next to her beloved husband (Harris Walker). We wish we could have attended her burial, but for ovbvious reasons we couldn't. However, I'm still fighiting the bad feeling that her departure left me. It's a good thing that I have good friends who know how to cheer me up, and of course my great dear husband.

Anyway, on another subject, we are planning to go to the Walkers' family reunion which will take place in Canada. Glenn's grandparents live there. My mother in-law thinks that the reunion should be there, since her parents are too old and kind of sick. I could not agree more with her. I think it is important for my children to know more about their dad's family, (since they already know a lot about were I come from and about my family and friends). It's harder to keep in touch with Glenn's relatives. I love each one of them, but I still feel awkward with most of them. I think I just feel fine around my in-laws. Anyway, I know Nicky is going to enjoy this family reunion a lot.

Anyway, today I went to the park with one of my dearest friends. Our children played and had fun togheter. Although I had to explain to Nicky that holding hands with her friends was fine as well as huging each other, I needed to tell her 'no kisses allowed' unless they come from Daddy, Mommy, or Ian. Last Sunday her teacher of Sunbeams told me that he caught her kissing Jay (her best friend) as well Jay kissing her back. Yes that sounds so cute until you realize that you have to talk about those subjects with your child who is barely 3 years old. You don't want to make a big deal about it, but you don't want to pretend that nothing happened, either. Now she knows the rule too well. If you ask her, "WHO CAN YOU KISS?" she always says, "Just Mommy, Daddy and Ian." Let's see if she does it.

I love that Nicky loves Jay as her best friend, and I know she loves Grant just as much as she loves Jay. Lindsay has become a second mother for her, so I'm not surprised that they are holding hands, and dancing and telling everyone that "they are married." The kissing issue was on the cheek so I don't care very much either, but I don't know when it's the right time to talk about those subjects. Anyway at this point I just pray and sometimes cross my fingers that I'm doing the right thing with her. I just feel most of the time that I don't know what I'm doing.

Anyway Glenn is falling sleep and we still need to read our scriptures and pray . So I guess I'm heading to bed soon too. I'm done with this posting and I still don't know how to title it...anyway let's see If I can think of something later....

To my Grandma!

When I was a child my biggest dream was to have a Grandmother. I remember seeing my friends at school talking about theirs, but I didn't have one since both of mine passed away long before I was born. I remember that I used to see comercials about adopting a Grandma. I always tried to convince my mom to adopt one, but she was too busy with all of us that the last thing that she needed was to take care of another person. So her answer was always, "YOU ALREADY HAD TWO GRANDMAS. IT'S TOO BAD THAT THEY ARE NOT HERE ANYMORE, YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO REMEMBER THEM." Well, it was hard to remember a person who I didn't even know. My older sisters and brothers always talked about my Grandma (my mom's mom) like the best, but I couldn't share their feeling about her, for me it was somebody that was important for them, but not for me. Anyway, I grew up and with that I give up of the idea of having a Grandmother. Then I met Glenn, this wonderful man that I'm just crazy about who in all the aspects has fulfilled my life. He is not just giving me a family but also a great Grandma. I met his Grandma 5 years ago. I remember the day that she met me even though my English was awuful, she tried so hard to understand me. She knew that I was feeling frustrated about the languge, so she would explaine in a simple and funny way all her jokes. She made me laugh so hard! She would be the one who wanted me to sit always next to her so she could spoil me with her attention and her comments. She'd be the one who would give me compliments ALL DAY LONG! Then she told me that she wanted to be my Grandmother, too. I remember the day that she told me she wanted to be my grandmother, Glenn was there with me. Since he knew how important that was for me, he joined Grandma and me in crying. It was very sad that a little bit after that time we had to move to Texas. Two years ago she started to feel bad. Little by little she became very dependent on everybody. All the e-mails that relatives close to her would send us just made me mad at myself because I knew I couldn't do anything to help her, being so far away. To be totally honest, that was one of the reason that we decided to go last Christmas to Utah, so we could see her again. We knew that that was going to probably be the last time that we could see her. It was also a great opportunity for Ian and Nicky to get to know better the best Great Grandma ever.
Yesterday my mother in-law sentd an e-mail saying that Grandma Walker was getting worse. She ask us to pray for her, and even though I was feeling so sick just to think that I wasn't going to be able to see her again, it made me realize, too, that it was probably her time to join her husband, whom she hasn't seen for a long time.
This afternoon while I was checking my e-mails I saw the saddest e-mail I had ever recived. She has passed away. Even though I'm very happy for her, I'm sad too because you know I'm a human and I love her. I've been trying to cheer myself up but I had some things that I wanted to send to her, especially our family picture, but it's too late. And even right now the tears are just flowing out of my eyes. I love her so much and I'm always going to love her. She is indeed the best Grandma I could have ever had. I'm so thankful that I got the chance to meet her, to get to know her. I know she was a great friend, wife, mother, grandma and great grandma indeed. I will miss her so much, she meant so very much to me. She fulfilled that emptiness and desire I had to have a Grandma, and she did it with so much love. She is happy now, and that will help me to be happy, too. I will never forget my Grandma.