Day After Christmas (picture overload)

We have had an Uboldi Day After Christmas Party for a while now.  Its always fun and really mellow.  This year was no exception.   

It was super fun to have the shindig at Abuela's new place.  It so spacious and open, plus she loves it!  You can't beat that.  We had Tortas Fritas (Argentine scones), Pasta Frola, Ham and Cheese Empanadas, Artichoke Dip, Fruit Salad and Mate Cocido.  Everything was DELICIOUS! 

 Lots of picture taking took place......

 Cute cousins played together perfectly!  So fun to see them all.  We don't always get to see Dylan and he is getting so big!  (Maria, Preston and Marissa have been sick, so they didn't come :( ) 

 Abuela and Otis.  Oti was freaking out and we didn't hear him.... poor baby!  

Abuela was feeling bad for him.  She's a softy when it comes to her grandkids ;)

 The big girls playing and being too cool for pictures.  

 Handsome Dylan

 Gabi making Otis laugh.  Gabi is like her mom, they both love the babies in the family.

This little sassy pants is beautiful!!! Her and Milli are either best of friends making mischief or little stinkers to each other.  I'm sure they will be good friends when they grow up. 

 Otis getting lots of love from Aunt Amy

 More pics....

 Marcos feeding Otis and being a cute uncle.  He is always so sweet and has a very big heart!

 How cute is she?!?  Time for presents!  Abuela spoiled us.  Abuela chipped in for our Cherry Hill passes this summer... summer can't come soon enough! 

Awwww!  Precious!  :) 

 The tradition of Christmas jammies.  The kids love the cozy jams and that is always the first thing they open and immediately put it on.  Three grand kids missing in this picture. 

Then, the group hug. 

There was also some intense wrestling with all the kids against Esteban and later Amy.  I didn't get any pics of that but it was fun to watch.  Esteban won't admit it, but the kids gave him a run for his money ;) 

It was a very nice evening.  Relaxing, fun, loving, yummy, entertaining and always a good time! 

ps.  Dave was there but apparently camera shy :)

Christmas 2010 (picture overload)

I have very few pictures of Christmas Eve (my batteries died), but it was great!  We spent it at Karalee and Sean's house.  We had lots of food and of course, great company.  The kids exchanged presents and that is always fun.  They all play so nicely together, it makes for a very enjoyable evening. 

The kids and I (mostly I) made 5dz sugar cookies and they were all consumed before I could take ANY pictures!  Sugar cookies are meant to be admired before they are eaten!!!!!

We also went to Plaizier's for their Christmas Eve party.  We were only there for about 40mins.  We wanted to get the kids to bed as soon as possible.  It's always fun to see family and old friends at this time of year.  Mike and Mary always spoil the kids.  This year was no exception!  They are very kind to us.  Mary is my dad's sister.  Its great that she has continued to make an effort to stay close with us.  I love her! 

Ok, on to Christmas Day...

Leah and Mylo woke up VERY early.  They didn't come into our room, they just hurried up the stairs to make sure Santa had indeed visited them.  And sure enough he had!  He must have some pretty lenient rules to get on the "nice list".  Lucky for them, they were all on it. 

 The kids with their gifts form Santa. Leah's Nano is on her shirt.  I love Milli's face in this picture.

 

Best present we received, Leah's homemade 2011 Calendar.  It's beautiful! 

 The BEST little monkeys in my life.... SO BLESSED!!!!!! 

Mylo's new Lego Airplane and Star Wars Ship Thingy.

Otis got some brand name wipes, Milli got a hair dresser set and pretend make up, Mylo got an airplane Lego set (cause we don't have enough, apparently) and Leah got an Ipod Nano.  All from Santa :)  They also got some other stuff that they have been enjoying.  Santa gave us a big box with lots of new books, Jenga, Candy Land, Guess Who?, Despicable Me (movie) and a Fushigy Ball (the kids were sucked in by the infomercial). 

Its always so fun to see them get excited about all their presents.  The kids make Christmas fun for me. 

We then headed to Grandpa and Diann's for Christmas Brunch.  We have been doing this since we were married (probably longer than that).  Usually Al makes fried eggs and bacon and we always had funeral potatoes.  Diann has switched things up a bit, it was good regardless of the new changes. 

 Me playing with Dave's camera and new lense

 I'm in love... with both of them! 

 Maddie wanted a HUGE bear... that is what she got! 

 Trevino's have a TON of old toys and the kids LOOOOOVE them.  They line the hall way with all the play mobile houses and buildings and they are there for hours!  SO FUN! 

Max, Meggie and Miss Milli.  These two love the younger cousins and 

the younger cousins love them back :)

Diann and Grandpa opening the last of their presents

Such a fun filled day!  

(glad its over!!!)

Goodbye!!! :(

 

I said Goodbye to Alyssa a week or so ago.  She is moving to San Diego.  I am happy for her and not so happy for us.  San Diego is lucky to have The Chadwick's as part of their state.  She is VERY talented and the most creative when it comes to feeding her three little cuties.  We have been friends since we were in the newly married ward.  Although we didn't get to see each other all the time, when we did it was always lots of fun.  We had some good laughs together.  She is beautiful outside but even more so inside!  

SEE YOU SOON LYS!!!!

ps. I hate this picture of myself.  Why? I will keep it to myself....

To never forget....

This year for neighbor gifts I did something a little different.  I wish I could say I got this idea from my own little head, but I didn't.  I found it on a blog.  (HowDoesShe.com)

The tag said "Christmas is jolly, Christmas is sweet, I am so stressed out, so please make your own treat :)" When I read it, it fit perfectly with my life at this moment. Life has been hard and stressful lately.  I still wanted people to know I was thinking of them :)  I would certainly hope nobody was offended by my "gift".  I hope people laughed and got a good chuckle at it. 

I am not sure if I would do it again so I had to put it on here to remember this for the future :)

Grandpa Claus and Diann

Grandpa and Diann came to visit us Monday night.  They brought over some goodies, hot cocoa for the kids in some cute mugs and a "Where's Waldo" Christmas book.  Great entertainment!  Thank you Al and Diann!!!!  You guys are cute in your outfits, the kids loved it.

Christmas Traditions: 2010

For the last three or four years the kids and I have put together a gingerbread house for Christmas.  I dread the actual putting together of the house.  I love the decorating part of it!

When I saw the "Gingerbread House Kit" at Costco (one of my favorite place to go) I grabbed it.  It sat on the counter for a couple of weeks.  The kids begged every day to do.  I didn't want to deal with it while Dave gone.

One day I gave in and to my surprise, the house was already put together!!! YAY!!!  what would have taken us one hour took only 30 minutes.

After it was done I gave the kids very strict instructions.  They were NOT allowed to eat ANY of our gingerbread house until I said so!  I know, I am a mean mom, they told me that :).  I like to enjoy the gingerbread house for a little while, otherwise its a big waste of money and time.  I caved after a week and I let them eat all the candy they wanted off of it.  Then I threw it away :)  It was fun while it lasted. 

Traditions this year are minimal!  I have been tired, stressed and dealing with baby blues like never before (I'm doing fine now). I am still hoping to get to the yearly sugar cookies with the kids :)

What Dave thinks about this outfit....

It's "too flashy" for his taste.  WHATEVER! 

Daddy's Home!!!!

Dave has been gone a lot lately.  He was in Hawaii earlier this month for ten days, yes he has a tough job.  Then he was home for five days that were super busy, it was as though he was not even here! THEN, he left again for eight days to Colorado.  It made for a very long December, so far.

When he got back from Hawaii, early in the morning, I got all the kids up at 6:30am and loaded them in the car.  On our way back we had breakfast at Village Inn.  It was OK... the best part was just having him back! 

With Dave being gone so much it made it very difficult to get Christmas shopping, family pictures (for our Christmas cards) and the daily routine done.  However, I have some great people around me who gave me a break and I was able to live through it.... oh and my kids too :)

on a side note: When he finally got home from Colorado the girls and I all got sick with nasty stomach flu.  Thank goodness he was home to take care of us!!!


ps.  I was happy to see that Dave wasn't very tan from his Hawaii "work trip".  That would have made it hard to have him come home :)

Silly Kids

Milli and Mylo play together really well.  While Leah is at school they don't need her to entertain them.  A few days ago, while Abuela and I were having some mate cocido (Argetine drink), Milli and Mylo came in looking like this....

 It made us laugh! 

(Check out her feet)

I love their imagination and best of all their friendship.  They will often gang up on Leah and stick together... That's what siblings do, right?

Fun with the blow dryer

I really like my blow dryer.  Its not fancy or anything like that. 

But it sure makes Milli's wild hair pretty... 

and Mylo's hair wild  :)

Mylo's hair stayed like that for the next day at school.  Milli's hair was just as wild as ever in the next morning.

My two little men

I love these two monkeys!!!! 

They are sweet and cuddly and handsome and best of all they don't have drama. 

Gotta love'm!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.4

Two birds with One stone

I had to clean the house, cause you know... Dave gets home tomorrow :) and I wanted to snuggle with Otis.  Well, this isn't snuggling but it still counts as spending time together with  my favorite youngest baby boy :)  Then I sat at the computer for one minutes (seriously, that was all it took to get him to fall asleep!)

The down stairs of the house is tidied and now I can get the upstairs taken care of once the kiddos go to bed.  I have to pick Dave up EARLY tomorrow so there is no chance of the house getting messed up while we sleep, at least I hope that is the case. 

I have a picture of Mylo in this same position.  I should go search for it :) 

Life just isn't fair!!!

How he's having fun and working hard!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.4

Do not leave this child alone...

This child (aka Milli) is always getting into trouble. ALWAYS!  If I don't have my eye on her at all times she is making mischief.  The other day, while getting dinner ready, I found her with my make up bag open and as happy as could be.  She had put on make up all by her self.  The big stripe under her eye is mascara.  All I could do was smile and tell her she looked pretty... Not the best thing I could have said, but she was so happy that she was radiating beauty.  She melts my heart... plus we are "friends," how could I possibly get mad at her?!?!

She can also be found on any counter.  The other day she came over to me and her head was sopping wet.  I could not figure out how that was possible.  Then she showed me what she did... She fills the bathroom sink with water and dips her head in the water.  I was trying to show her my "mad" face and all she says is "You SOOOO Jappy" Well, yes, I am happy that she keeps my day to day fun, but not happy that she is turning my hair gray (I have like twenty gray hairs :)  I owe it to Milli and the others, but mostly her).

I love this child, but I cannot take my eyes off her!

BOOOOOOOO!

Ok, update on Dave's Lasik Contest. 

He did not win.  We were expecting him to win with the other, um.... videos in his category. 

BUT no big deal.  He will get it sooner rather than later :)

Thank you to those that voted for him.

OUR Thanksgiving

Last year we had Thanksgiving at Al and Diann's house.  It was very nice and A LOT of work for them.  This year they were going to one of Diann's kids' house.  SO.... Dave and I decided to host it with Karalee and Sean and their boys and Abuela. 

(Dave had to come in to help me take the turkey out of the oven to check the temperature.  

Every time he would say, "I cannot believe how big this thing is!" 

That is the biggest pan I have and the bird was touching the ends of the pan and literally hanging out off the pan!)

I was VERY nervous about making a nice dinner for all of us.  We all have things that we love to eat for thanksgiving and I did not want to disappoint.  I made a menu plan and went with it.  It included turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, sweet potatoes, corn bread stuffing, Karen's raspberry jello, cranberries and rolls.  I did most of the cooking the day before. 

Karalee's friend, Spencer Stokes, brought us a turkey that was SO big.  This turkey was bigger than Milli!  It was THIRTY-TWO POUNDS.  I could not believe its size when I saw it.  My fear of making a lovely thanksgiving feast became worse than before.  I researched and researched how to cook such a giant bird and NOWHERE did I find cooking times for a 32lb turkey.  However, I knew it was going to have to cook for a long time.  I woke up at 3am and put the turkey on a low 275 and cooked it like that for TEN HOURS, yes TEN HOURS! Then I uncovered it and cooked it for an additional 2.5hours on 375.  It was juicy and SO pretty.  I gave it lots of TLC.  I massaged it with 4 cubes of butter, thyme, rosemary, basil and parsley.  I also spread the butter under the birds skin.  It was so fragrant....mmmmm! 

 (You MUST try the Corn Bread Stuffing by THE Pioneer Woman, its delicious!)

When our guests arrived we finished the last few things and got to eating.  We only ate 1/4 of ONE breast!  Needless to say we will be eating turkey for a very long time.

(The adult table.  Leah was invited to be part of it since the kid table only seats four :))

 (The kid table) 

 

We had such a great time with the Skamnes Family!  We chit chatted, played sequence, chit chatted some more, laughed (A LOT), ate some pie and it was fantastic! The kids played so nicely together and I was sad to see them go. 

T-Day 2010 was a wonderful success... a little stressful, but successful!

Uboldi "Thanksgiving"

Marcos and Maria hosted our Uboldi Thanksgiving.  It was wonderful!  Maria made cute little eatable pilgrim hats, I had several :), super cute and super tasty.  The kids wore Native American "hats" and later put a little play of some sort for us.  The kids played very good for the most part and the adults just chit chatted and ate peacefully (while the kids played).  

Marcos read a story about the first Thanksgiving, it was nice.  Then we filled a "thankful tree" with the things we were thankful for.  The kids all said they were thankful for each other.  It was very sweet.  It was a late night, but worth the very tired kids.

As we left I felt and overwhelming sense of love my the family that I belong to.  I love the holidays for that reason alone.

Thank you Marcos and Maria for the lovely evening!

Friends

This picture was taken while at Leah's family b-day dinner.  I showed it to Milli and asked her, "Who's that?"  With a big smile she said, in her cute voice, "They Friendsssss!"

This child loves her mom and her mom loves her :)  It was the sweetest thing ever!!!

FRIENDS.FOR.EVER

(I hope that is the case :))

Cold weather, Warm Dinner

Chicken and Corn Soup

Click HERE for recipe

Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup

Click HERE for recipe

I just purchased a new recipe book at Costco.  I love it!  Every recipe is done with in 30 mins.  plus it give you ideas on how to make it into a meal, by adding a salad or a quesadilla for the above soups.  We have loved them both.  Both very easy.  With the cooler temperatures a nice warm soup for dinner is welcomed by most :)  Leah loved both of these soups as well.  She has become a great eater.  Mylo and Milli didn't love the "green" soup.  But, I feel a renewed desire to cook for my family again... Dave's prayers answered :)