Venezuela BBQ

About 14.5 years ago we left Venezuela to move to the US. This was a bitter sweet move as its always hard to make new friends and leave old one. However, thanks to facebook.com we have been able to reconnect with some of our friends from Venezuela, who now live here. Because Tomi was in town we thought this was a perfect time to finally get together. We had a great time with the Larsen twins and their families and some of the Streeter Girls and their families. It felt like we were with family. Between all of us we had 16 kids, who play fabulously together. The kids have made new friends and that was fun to watch. It really was such a treat for all of us to get together. I am sure we will do this again soon.

Marcos and Maria, Tracie and Dane, Jaime and Dean, Benjamin and Kylie, Chris and Monica, Esteban and Amy, Tomi and Mom, Dave and I, Stephanie, Tomi, Me and Monica



With our spouses and some of our kids in the background.

Gabi, Issac, Gabe, Leah and Mason. They were playing "SuperHero". Not sure what that means but it was funny.

Nicholas' 3rd B-day Party

We love this little monkey. He is so cute! We got to celebrate "Ni" this past weekend and as always we had a great time with the Trevino family. Lots of food and the kids had a great time. The only draw back... Leah is the only girl (from the UT cousins) and she sometimes feels left out by the boys. Regardless we all had a great time. The kids enjoyed playing in the backyard and with the water table. They of course loved blowing out the candles and playing with Nicholas' new presents. We love you Nicholas!

As a side note: I am so amazed that Alex is so big, especially next to Milli. The funny thing is that they will be in the same school year. I am sure they will be great friends like Mylo and Nicholas are and like Leah and Mason are as well. Its fun to have cousins the same age.

Crissy's Baby Shower

My friend Crissy is expecting her first baby. She lives in Vegas and as good friends would do we (Alyssa, Ameli and I) threw her a baby shower. It was really fun. It was great to see Crissy and her super cute belly. It always fun to get together and talk to a bunch of ladies about baby stuff. Crissy will be the best mom ever. She is so well informed about SO many things. I can't wait to meet the new baby! What a great blessing babies are!

Joni, Alyssa, Ameli (with Milli), Me and Crissy (with Stratton)
Love you Crissy!!! You are almost there... yeah!!! :)

Kael Michael !

The newest baby in the family. We have had a long string of angels sent to our family in the last 7 months. Yesterday our newest angel in the family arrived. He weighed 6lbs 13oz and 19in. long. He is so cute and soft and I can't believe how tiny he is. He is the only boy born this time around and the other 4 were all girls. Congratulations Raquel and Seth for a job well done. Enjoy your little bundle of joy!

My mom, Tomi, Milli and I went to Provo to visit them. It was a great time. I love being close to my cousins and extended family even those that live far away. In the picture Me, Tomi, Raquel, baby Kael, my mom and tia Marilu (Raquel's mom) and Milli. (I know my eyes are closed in the picture... but that is the only one we took all together).

Happy Father's Day Grandpa!

We love you and are grateful for EVERYTHING you do for us. We are even grateful when you tease us. Thanks for being a great example to our kids and some what of a father figure to me during the last 8+ years. Hope you had a great great day! LUV YA!

We love our Daddy!

We love Dave! He is a great daddy. He always plays with the kids and provides all we need and more. He is so encouraging with the kids and its fun to watch him teach them new things like snowboarding, skateboarding, biking or whatever they want him to do. He spends time with them individually and its a treat for them. He ALWAYS gets up with them and that makes mommy very happy and well rested. LOVE YOU DAVE!!!!

I LOVE surprises....!

Especially when it has something to do with my SISTER!!!! My mom loves to pull surprises and she has done this one a couple of times. Wednesday my mom came over so we could run some errands together and all of the sudden someone knocks on the door. I couldn't see who it was... but as soon as I opened the door, there she was, my SISTER!!! How I love this girl. She lives in Colombia (you know the country?)! Last time she was here Mylo wasn't even one! It has been a while. We talk all the time on the phone and we are very close. I love that she is here. Its like the Three AmigAs are back together. Its great. We still argue like we have always done but we just LOVE hanging out together. THIS IS THE BEST SURPRISE EVER!!!


Me and Tomi at...guess where... IKEA!


The Three Amigas back together!

Rosemary Peasant Bread

This is SO good! Very easy to make and did I say it SO good! It made my house smell so delicious. I can't wait for Dave to come home and try it out with a yummy Italian dinner. I got this recipe from one of my favorite website makeandtakes.com This girl always has fabulous crafts for your kids and she also shares some fantastic recipes. Thanks Marie!



Rosemary Peasant Bread

Ingredients:
1 packet yeast
2 C. warm water
1 T sugar
4 C. flour
2 tsp. salt
1-2 fresh rosemary (I used dried and it worked just fine)
Olive Oil
Corn meal flour
Melted butter
Salt

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in the warm water and sugar.

Add flour, salt, and 1-2 tsp Rosemary and stir until blended, do not Knead!! (I used my KitchenAid with the hook attachment)

Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until double in size. (This took me about 1 1/2 hour)

Remove dough. It will be sticky. (Marie's tip: Put shortening or oil on your hands to handle the dough and shaping it. It works better than using flour on your hands).

Place it in 2 rounds on a cookie sheet lightly coated in oil and sprinkled with corn meal. (I used parchmant paper and some oil)

Cover with a towel or greased plastic wrap. Then let it rise another hour.

Brush each round with melted butter and lightly sprinkle with more Rosemary and salt. Bake @ 425 for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 375 for 15 minutes more.

Try it out. It's so easy. Marie says it tastes like Macaroni Grill bread and I agree. Its THAT good. Good Luck!

Music to my ears

Leah is my picky eater. She has never been one for new things and is not into to many different veggies. Well, last night as I was making dinner she asked what we were having and I said "Swedish meatball and peas", to which she responded and said "MMM, I love peas". I was shocked and very surprised. It was music to my ears!

Mylo's 3rd Birthday Party

Mylo's birthday was May 18th but because of Milli's arrival we opted to have his birthday party later. We celebrated yesterday with family and friends. He had a great time as did the rest of us. Nothing too fancy, just lots of food and good company. Mylo has been into skateboards for a long long time. I found skateboard invitations and from there I decided the cake had to be a skateboard cake as well. He also got his very own skateboard (no picture of that one since the battery died on the camera :P ). He was SO happy! It was fun to celebrate Mylo for his birthday and we love him!!!


The birthday boy. When he saw his cake he was so excited. He kept begging me to give him a piece all day.


Some of the guests. Thanks to all those who made Mylo feel special and loved. We love you guys!


Presents! He was a little timid on opening the presents. At the end he said "THANKS EVERYBODY"... it was kind of funny.


The skateboard cake. Thanks abuela for your help with this. It was fun to do it together.

One Good Night Sleep...

Milli slept for 10 hours straight last night! It was one really good night sleep. I am not sure how she will do tonight but I feel so good! I have been trying to get Milli on a good routine and although I continue to struggle the fact that she slept that much makes me SO happy. I think she will be a good sleeper for us very soon. Yeah for sleeping babies! I just love that little stinker.

Another Day at Children's Museum

I love going out with the kids and this week we have been to the zoo (I forgot my camera, so no pics. :( ), 5 stores in one day and today the Children's Museum at the Gateway. Its fun to see the kids play nicely and continue to develop their social skills. Its also a nice time for me away from the house. I am not a homebody at all so it workouts really nicely. We always go with my mom, Nicholas and Alex. Leah can sometimes feel left out and out numbered, and as she ALWAYS wants to play with her little buddy, Adelaide, I thought it would be fun to have her come with us. The kids were SO good (unlike yesterday when we had to run TONS of errands). Here are a few pictures of our adventure of the day.


Leah and Adelaide. They also went upstairs and had a great time playing in the "theater" and dressing up. They are really cute playmates.


Mylo, Nicholas and Alex. They couldn't be happier. Alex, as usual is a little angel. Mylo and Ni are best of buds!


Abuela and Tia Marilu, who arrived last night and we were lucky enough to spend the day with her. We are lucky to see our family so often!


Me and my "HooterHider". I love this great invention. I can feed my little angel Milli and be totally covered up. Its great. Thanks to some girlfriends I got this as a baby gift.

Tagged

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Dating a looser that wanted to marry me... what a waste of time!
2. Attending singles ward and loving it
3. Nannying for two families. I loved that job... it was fun.
4. Going to Nail School since they didn't have a good Cosmetology School around
5. Probably laying out ALL the time... that was the life!

5 things on my to do list:

1. Go to the grocery store and make a good list so I only have to go once this week.
2. Finish doing the never ending laundry.
3. Catch up with budgeting.
4. Work on being patient with the kids.
5. Work out, work out, work out... Yeah I can finally do it!

5 favorite snacks/food:

I am trying to get healthy so...
1. Granola bars - crunchy and sweet
2. Cold watermelon
3. Frozen grapes - a great treat when you want something cold and low in WW points
4. Weight Watchers Fudge bars. They are so tasty and BIG only 1 pt.
5. Any cookie - only when I have extra points and have worked out :P

5 things I would do if I was a billionaire:

1. A big house with a designated room for the kids to make the mess they wanted and I not care, a big kitchen with all the gadgets and accessories needed to make any delicious meal I felt like making.
2. Travel the world and visit the less privileged people and give what ever I could.
3. Give my children experiences in other parts of the world so they might be more grateful for what they have.
4. I would go to the best hair school and then own one as well.
5. Help my family and friends that need it.

5 bad habits:

1. Not being consistent with my kids, my scripture reading and my homemaking
2. Not being willing to help family like I am willing to help friends
3. Not putting the mail or any other paper in the right spot and keeping it filed
4. I am really bad at yelling at my kids when I have had enough. Nothing else seems to work
5. Keeping my car messy and at times dirty... especially in the back were the kids eat and spill stuff.

5 Places I have lived:

1. Sao Paulo, Brazil
2. Mexico City, Mexico
3. Quito, Ecuador
4. Caracas, Venezuela
5. Tampa, Florida

5 people I tag:

Melissa
Tiffany
Maria
Robyn
Jorgelina

Let see who really does this. Its fun to learn about others so I hope to learn from you. Thanks Kim for tagging me!

A LITTLE Embarrassed

Ever since last fast and testimony meeting Leah has been wanting to bear her testimony. So for family home evening we have talked about it and she has "practiced" what she would say after we taught her what a testimony is. Well, Mylo likes to do EVERYTHING Leah does. So, of course he wanted to do it as well. Leah was excited about getting to share her testimony this past Sunday. Really I was proud of her and her courage. She has been my spiritual one for a very long time. Mylo on the other hand always throws a fit that he has to wear "fancy" clothes to go to church and almost every Sunday says he doesn't want to go to nursery. Well, after Leah bore her testimony she REALLY encouraged Mylo to go. We told him he doesn't have to it if he doesn't want to... but he did want to. So the little stinker goes up there and says "THANKS..." and starts to laugh. Leah tries to get him to say his testimony but of course she can't get him to stop laughing. I start bawling since I was embarrassed for him and for us. Dave goes up to help him and Mylo does a great job repeating what daddy tells him to say. I cry even harder because even though I was TOTALLY embarrassed and upset as to what people might be thinking, I can still totally feel the spirit as Mylo says those simple words. Sometimes my kids will embarrass me (whether it be at church, the grocery store or doctor's office) but I am sure I will embarrass them sometimes. I love Mylo for trying but he won't be doing that for a LOOOONG time. I think he has learned his lesson.