Cousin Love

How could you refuse a kiss like that!

Milli looks flattered to be getting this kiss and Alex a very willing participant. So cute!

Finally DOOOOONE!

I am so glad to finally be done with these books. I finished about a month ago. I will not read them again. It took me FOR EVER to finish them. The whole story was really good. My favorite was definitely Breaking Dawn. I hated the happily ever after ending and I was very bothered by the imprinting thing from the beginning. I love Edward and Bella's love towards each other. I am anxious to see the movies. My favorite part was the honeymoon, since I was born in Brazil I felt a slight connection to that place (I know lame). The whole pregnancy thing was super crazy and totally unreal, it dragged on for ever. All in all I like the books and I am sure glad to be done with them :) A big thank you to Amy for insisting I read the book.

Who she REALLY looks like

Almost every day of Milli's short little life, I am asked if she is really my child, or where she got her looks. She certainly doesn't look like me. Well, here it is... Milli looks like her uncle Bob. She could easily pass as Bob and Amy's daughter rather than Dave and mine... but I know she is mine, ALL mine (and Dave's). There is no question that Milli is in fact a Trevino Baby. Oh I just love that girl!!!!!

Can I ask you a favor dad?!?!

Mylo: (in his oh so cute voice, and big brown eyes looking up, and his tiny sausage fingers tapping dad's leg) Dad can I ask you a favor?

Dave: Sure, what?

Mylo: Um, Gabi's favorite color is blue. Can you please pick a different color?

Dave: (a little smile on his face) ja jjaaa... sure?!

Oh, Mylo so polite and so cute. He makes us laugh all the time. Dave's favorite color is blue, so there was a conflict there with Gabi and Dave sharing the same taste in color. Poor Mylo was concerned about two people liking the same color. Funny kid!

13.1... YAY!!! I did it!!!!

After being totally unmotivated and depressed because of my peroneal tendons being inflamed, I really thought that the Salt Lake City Marathon would be totally out of the question and a waste of money. Well, last week I got my groove back and I was able to run a few shorter runs. I knew that the Salt Lake City Marathon was not going to be achievable, but I really felt that I could do the Half Marathon. I am so glad that I was able to recommit myself to doing something. I really enjoy running and it was really cool to be able to participate in it.

I woke up early and David Gillespie (who participated in the full marathon with a hand cycling Team), pick me up a long with Tim Fowler (my running partner that actually ran the full... YAY GO TIM!) We got up to the start and it was SO cold. We met up with Karalee (who was also running the half). Finally it was time to start and off we went. Tim and I stuck together for the first 5ish miles or so and then it was time to split the real runners from the half runners. I gave Tim a big running hug and shed some tears. It was bitter sweet. In one hand I was so excited for Tim and his accomplishment, in the other hand I was totally bummed that I wasn't doing the full. I pulled myself together, since its really hard to run when you are crying. I was in my own little world looking at all the people on the side cheering their family on (reminding me of all the people that have cheered me on in my life and in my training) and listening to my music... THEN "To Where You Are" by Josh Groban came up on my ipod, its a song on Karen's video, then I was a mess again.

At around mile 8 Amy called to see where I was. I couldn't believe I had been running all that time and still was feeling good. A few miles later my mom called to check where I was. Then a mile or so later, Dave called. It was nice to get that push from my family. I knew they were anxiously waiting for me. (as I am sure, when my life's run is done, my family will be waiting to greet me). It felt SO good! Just as I was getting into the Gateway, the guy who won the Full Marathon was coming in. Yeah, he ran twice as fast as me, crazy!

I searched the crowd for my family and then I finally saw those smiling faces, cheering me on. The kids were smiling so big. Their support and my friends support is how I got through this run. It was still mentally challenging and physically challenging. As I ran up the last stretch, I ran as fast as I could. I passed a couple of people at the end :) . I wanted to finish strong, unlike last time :). YAY! I did it!!! I ran 10 minutes faster than my last half marathon, I was so stoked. I don't think I could have done the full with out doing the full training, but in a few short weeks I WILL be doing the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon. I can't wait!

When we arrived at home I was greeted with balloons and a sign, thanks Aim!
After finally sitting and realizing what I had done I cried tears of joy. I know that is silly, but I was so happy with what I had done (and a little sad with what I hadn't done). I was slightly overwhelmed and surprised with my progress. I am so looking forward to the next race.

Friendly Competition

Last weekend for our Easter celebration and Birthday Celebrations we all made some part of the very delicious Cafe Rio Salad. Sidney made the pork, which was out of this world, delicious. Amy made the dressing and it was so yummy, tasted exactly like the creamy tomatillo from Cafe Rio. Others brought some of the other very necessary components. I made the cilantro lime rice, and it did not turn out good at all, Esteban joked about it and said it looked like mashed potatoes :) jajaa.. it did, it was gross. Anyway, we had a friendly competition of the Best Looking Cafe Rio Salad. Please vote on which you think looks the best. All just for fun.... MMMMM, my mouth is watering!

Cast your VOTE! Which salad looks the tastiest?

(if you participated in the above mentioned contest you may NOT vote on your own salad :)

Phantom

A week ago (after the zoo) I went to watch Phantom with Al and my sisters-in-law, Amy and Karalee. We met up for dinner prior to the show and it was really nice. Al is one lucky guy to have all of us out in one night. Perhaps he likes to kill three birds with one stone :) Truly, the company was wonderful. Phantom, not to be confused with Phantom of the Opera, was really good. It was basically the play with out some of the original music. It was more of the background of the Phantom of the Opera. It was was really good, very moving. I love going out with my in-laws. I think it just brings us closer together. Thanks to Al for taking us and giving me a break from my "job".

A Warm Day at the Zoo

Last week we went to the zoo with Abuela, Nicholas and Alex, Amy and her kids. It was such a beautiful and warm day we couldn't pass it up. The kids were so good and even though it was crowded we truly enjoyed it.

We had 9 kids between 3 adults. It was a bit crazy at times but we didn't loose anybody. Abuela got Merry GO Round tickets for all the kids and they sure seemed to have enjoyed that. Some of us stayed a little longer and let the kids play at the park. I just sat back and watched play as I ate my popcorn. YUM!

On the way past the Gorilla there is a statue of a gorilla that the kids were climbing and Mylo got a little frisky with the Gorillas chest. I had to laugh. He (Mylo) made me laugh so hard. I really don't think its funny but what was I supposed to do, get mad at him? I guess he is all boy. Milli had a great nap while the other monkeys ran around. Kylie sat in her stroller happily trying to get that fruit roll-up out of the package (I love that little grin). I wish today was a good warm day to be at the park instead of a cold cloudy day to stay home!

Great EASTER Weekend!

Our Easter weekend was so wonderful! Of course the kids were dressed in their Sunday best and new Easter outfits so Dave took their pictures before church. I just love to see my kids looking so cute and put together. They are growing up so fast!

We started out Saturday with an egg hunt with Uboldi side of the family, a wonderful dinner and some birthday wishes for Christian and Mason. We also had a Best LOOKING Cafe Rio Salad contest... pictures soon to come. The kids LOVED to do the egg hunt and then play together. Its so fun to have so many of our cousins all in the same state... Between all of us adults we have loads of kids. It's fun to see them grow.

Here's the whole bunch of kiddos after the egg hunt on Saturday, from oldest to youngest, ranging in age from 9 years old to 11.5 months.

While we ate dinner on Saturday night, I stepped back and looked around my little kitchen and held back the tears. We had so many people that we love in our kitchen jammed packed and having a great time together. Our Father in Heaven blesses so much with our family. I love them ALL!

On the Trevino side we had a WONDERFUL Easter dinner on Sunday. We all got together for yet another egg hunt, pictures and yummy food. The kids were all dressed up and it was a great time to take pictures. Above is the best picture I got... Trevino cousins range in age from 9.5-11.5 months. They all get a long great and that makes things very fun for all of them.

It all felt so nice. Our pot-luck-dinner was super yummy and the company was great. I am lucky that my mom is good friends with my in-laws and I get to have my mom and my father-in-law in pretty much all my holidays. Easter is one of my favorite holidays. Because Jesus was resurrected so can we! That give me the hope that we will all be together again with those that have gone before us. We are so blessed to have family around and that we can all get along so wonderfully.

Random Crafting Thoughts

I was down in my new sewing/crafting area (that I love, by the way) getting my craft on today and my alone-time got me thinking. Alone time is great, I love being alone with my thoughts, but my thoughts got me thinking about who and how I am as a person, a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, a neighbor and more specifically a friend. I want to be good at all these things, sometimes it feels impossible, but I need to strive to be better. I was going through a website trying to find my crafting quote to put on the wall above my sewing machine and I came across some that really made me think and reevaluate who I really want to be, at least as a friend.

A friend is someone who does things that count, but never stops to count them.
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A friend is someone you can do nothing with - and really enjoy it.
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A friend is someone you can trade secrets with and never worry.
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A good friend sticks to you like honey.
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A new friend is valuable, and old friend is priceless.
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A reassuring presence, a light when times are dark,
a hand reaching out, is what friendship is about.
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These are just a few quotes that have got me thinking. I know I can do better, but at times it doesn't seem to matter. Others don't care what I am going through. They don't care what is making me happy that second or making me sad or frustrated. After all, we all have our own 'issues'. BUT, when friends call and ask me how I am doing and really mean it, it makes me feel like they really care. I feel like I can tell them my 'issues' and they are listening... Do I do that to my friends? Do I make them feel that I care and that I am interested in their 'issues', not to gossip but to really be a listening ear? I sure hope I make others feel like a good friend makes me feel.

I am blessed with friends who listen to me when I am babbling about my poor painting job, or my burnt food, or spend hours (literally) on the phone talking as I clean my dirty bathroom or just to talk about my coupon shopping trip or can listen to me describe a new outfit in detail. I feel like I always try to share a good idea or a good deal or something that has helped me or even share of my time and talents with others. Why do I feel unappreciated? I feel like something is missing in my life right now... why this feeling? Why does Satan creep negative thoughts into our head? Can't we have positive thoughts all the time? Can't we talk like adults and not have ill high school type feelings with our friends? Why can't I just be happy all the time? Does it all stem with how I feel inside? Why am I really here?

These are not actual questions I am asking for others to answer, rather my own thoughts. I have always been a happy girl, but lately I know I have been short with others, little things that others do bug me more than ever, I have frowny eye brows (maybe I need some Botox :), my attitude is not pleasing to be around. My kids don't deserve a cranky-get-mad-super-fast-who is cracking the whip all the time-kind-of-a-mom, they DESERVE better. I just want to be happy and easy going like I used to be.... I think I just need to go focus on myself a bit more and forget about what others do or don't do and focus on what I am doing for others.

THE END

(comments are off)

Sorting and Eating

One of the kids new favorite thing to sort is gummy bears.

Once they are done sorting, they love to eat them :)

I need to think of some healthy things they can sort and eat.
Any ideas?!?!

Another Easter Craft

This is the finished product. We hung it on the kids door and it was an easy one for the kids to help with. I got the idea from Root and Wings Co . I think it really adds a fun decoration and they love it since they helped make it. Here's how we did it .

Meet the CHICK:

You will need three paper plates. Two painted yellow on the back side and one painted orange. Once the plates are dry cut the wings from one of the yellow plates by trimming the 'lip' of the plate off, you will be left with the inner circle. Cut that in half and apply with a hot glue. Now for the legs, feet and beak. On the unpainted side of the orange plate cut one long strip and then cut in half again to create the two legs. Make two stars and cut and also cut a small triangle for the beak. Add all the body parts with hot glue and your chick is done!

Meet the FLOWER:

You will need two plates. One painted red on the back side of the plate. One painted pink on the inside of the plate. Cut out the 'lip' of the pink plate and glue your new smaller circle on the the red plate. Then add a cupcake paper for the center of the flower. The stem will be made later when attaching them all together.

Meet the BUNNY:

You will need three plates. With a small paint brush paint, on the inside of one plate, with light pink paint, two bunny like ears. One the back of another plate, paint the bunny's nose and belly. Cute the ears out leaving a bit of white all around, attach with the hot glue. Draw two bunny feet on the inside of the third plate and cut, with your index finger paint the toes, cut them out and add to the bunny body.

Now the ribbon. I used 1" light green ribbon. Cut two at 9" long, one at 11" long, one at 7" long and one at 4" long. Start with the chick and glue one 9" ribbon on the center at the bottom of the chick, attach that same ribbon to the center top of the flower. Attach the 11" ribbon to the center bottom on the flower and the other end to the top center of the bunny. Attach the other 9" ribbon to the bottom of the bunny with hot glue. Using the 4" ribbon make a loop and attach with hot glue to the top center on the chick. With the 7" ribbon make two equal loops and attach it to the ribbon under the flower creating the leaves. Don't put it down in the middle, rather place about 1.5" from the flower it self.

Lastly, with a fine tip black sharpie finish the details. You can click on the pictures to get a closer look and she how I did it.

I sure hope this all makes sence. Its easy and super cute. I think this would look super cute with small plates. I am going to try to make other seasonal garlands for the kids door. They love to have something decorating their door.

I need a Cricut

My aunt Mary, cousin Allison, cousin-in-law Amy and I made the cute "happy EASTER" block letter during confrence. It was so fun. I loved it, mine didn't turn out as cute as Mary's above, but I tried. I had a great time, of course, and I can't wait to do it again. I wish I had a Cricut so that I could make fun decorations to give out.

Hard work pays off

I hated my laundry room. It is the first thing you see when you go down the stairs. Dave and I have thought this space to be the biggest waste of space ever. Its a big area and all we do is walk through it and see how ugly it is. Well, not anymore!

I had a vision in mind and after a lot of hard work it totally paid off. It feels so wonderful and I can't wait to get to use it as I have in visioned. I started Tuesday night and finished Friday night. There are a lot of steps involved in this make over. First sanding the cupboards, then taping, then priming with a beautiful grey (that was a hard stage to be in), then the black, then the black again, then distressing to give it the look and feel I wanted to achieve, then the stain and finally the lacquer. THEN the never ending walls and more walls and loads and loads of corners and silicone caulk and cutting the new sewing/crafting desk and then paint some more and LOTS of touching up.

There was NO way that I could have done this on my own. I had lots and lots of help. Starting with Quinny, who loaned me the electric sander (a huge time saver and arm saver as well), Rosi, who convinced me to start while she was here, Manuelita who helped keep some order in the kitchen, then Amy who is very detailed and very good at painting the walls and herself, Sidney who brought lots of laughter and a lot of wall painting skills with her as well, my wonderful mother who watched the kids while we painted and finally my friend from way back Dane (Larsen) the carpenter, who totally hooked me up with my new sewing/crafting desk area all for a couple dozen cookies and some items compliments of Dave. I feel like I owe all my helpers a HUGE thank you and a back rub for all their work as well. I couldn't have done it with out them.

Here is the after. I just love it! All I need now is a new comfy chair and a cute crafty vinyl saying to go above my sewing desk. Any suggestions as to what the saying should say? I need something cute and fun up there. It turned out exactly like I wanted and pictured it. I would love to get my counter tops refinished and change the carpet, but for now I don't feel like I could ask for anything more. I just LOOOOOVE IT!

Three Little Piggies

I was so excited to get three piggies in Milli's hair. Dave thinks she looks like a pageant baby with so many hair pretties on, I think she looks so stinkin' cute I can't stand it. The bad news is that she has figured out how to pull these off... So I have made her sit to redo the do every time... She needs to learn now to keep those in her hair :)

When in Utah...

Do like the Utahans and eat delicious Crown Burger (I guess it would have been more authentic to eat at Training Table, but I thought of it a bit too late). Manu loved the "American" food, she said she has not missed her chilies at all and thinks she should eat like this more often.

Spoiled by Rosi

Rosi and her mom Manuelita came to visit us from Puebla, Mexico. Rosi and Abuela (Mercedes) have been friends for a long time and Rosi has become our friend as well. She always spoils us with gifts for ALL of us and always helps us with whatever project we might be working on. We were excited to have Rosi and this time Manu with us for a whole week.

Rosi loves all our kids and they love her as well. She is fun with them and they get away with lots with her so they love that too. Rosi brought us loads of pretty jewels, earrings for the girls, Mexican dresses for the girls, Mexican T's for the boys as well as wooden toy cars, and a traditional Mexican toy that Gabi is holding in the above picture.

We have had lots of fun with Rosi and Manu. Its wonderful to have friends that love us so much yet we never get to see each other, but once a year. They taught me how to make tamales Puebla style and a new sauce, the have helped me tons at home with the kids, the house and folding laundry. I am a bad host :) They insisted in helping me in every way possible... They are wonderful!