Caught up on blogging

I am now officially caught up on blogging except for a missing Halloween post but it feels good to be done with almost all the missing posts.
Grandma surprised the kids with a tire swing in Texas. She shipped it all the way just in time for them to open on Christmas morning. Jesús was able to get it hung up while I was in Utah and the kids love it. Whenever we get the chance we go swing outside.

Growing up too fast

Elena loves to play in my make up like lots of little girls. So I found some old make up I had and some brushes and let her play at the table.

She's already perfecting the makeup face.

And Patrick didn't want a picture

But I got one anyway.

Enjoying the sunshine

It has been on and off overcast for a while but after several days of no sun, we welcomed a sunny bright day, even if it was still cold. We decided to take advantage and head to the park after preschool. The Randalls joined us and we had a blast.

T-ball

Patrick got a t-ball set for Christmas that he hadn't had a chance to try out yet because of the cold and rain. Jesús had to mow the lawn so he let the kids go out while he was out there and Patrick got to practice on his t-ball set. I have a feeling this kid is going to be good as sports. He could hit that ball really far!

Elena wanted to try to catch the ball too.

Picking the flowers

We have some beautiful Camelias growing out in front yard right now and the kids wanted to pick some.

And smell them.

Family and Icecream

I was so excited to be home and to see my family. We went out and got each one of us some ice cream to eat for family night. We definitely all scream for ice cream.

Such a kissable face.

His too

Sad news for the holiday

The Thursday before Christmas, my Grandma had a massive stroke. She was taken to the hospital and my mom called me on Friday morning to let me know. The first night of our drive home, my mom called me to tell me that they didn't think Grandma would live for much longer and that she and my Aunt would be staying at the hospital that night to be with her. The next morning as we were starting our drive home, my mom called to tell me Grandma has passed away early that morning. I was determined to go and Jesús said he would stay with the kids so I could fly to Utah for the funeral. Cory and I flew out January 1st to Salt Lake where Mom and Sara picked us up. That night we had a get together for all the family at my Aunt Pattys house. It was wonderful to see everyone together, which I'm sure had been a while. We talked of Grandma and laughed about stories and looked at old pictures.
Sunday was the viewing and I only cried once really quickly and was done.
Most of my crying was done at the funeral. It was beautiful, exactly what she would have wanted. To me it seemed like a program she would have put on at her house with the Grandkids singing and the Great Grandkids singing and then the all the Men Grandchildren. My favorite speaker was my cousin Whitney, she brought back so many memories and we laughed and cried.
On the way to the cemetery we laughed that Grandma would have been so mad she was being driven in a Cadillac.

My sweet Grandpa

Everytime we would leave Grandma and Grandpas house, they would stand on the the front porch and wave good bye until we couldn't see them anymore. This time I couldn't help but cry as we drove away and Grandpa stood by himself on the porch waving. My Grandpa is one of my favorite people and I know he will find ways to make his situation happier.
Until they meet again.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Christmas Eve was fun as we helped the kids make gingerbread houses and trains that Gabe brought home from work.

Patrick liked eating the candy of course.

Santa Amaia

Gabe was a trooper finishing up with Patrick. The girls lasted about 10 minutes before they were done and wanted to go play.

The yummy spread

Elena loved the food

Lucia loved sitting in the Bumbo

Santa came!!!

Elena wasn't too sure about him because she thought he looked a little bit like Daddy.

Amaia wouldn't have anything to do with him.

Gabe got all the kids Pillow pets with his great discount at Bed Bath and Beyond. Patrick was excited at first then he got over it, but Elena wanted to lay on hers.

Then the kids watched a movie on their pillow pets while we played games.

Amaia in Gabes hat. She was scared to see him in it but she didn't mind wearing it.

I didn't get a lot of pictures of Christmas day because I was having too much fun watching the kids.

Here's Patrick surveying the gift scene.

Elena got a little pink tricycle. She loves it and loves putting stuff in the basket.
Patrick got a scooter skate board but I didn't get a picture of him. I'm a bad mother.

This is the last picture of Texas. Elena waiting for dinner. We had so much fun and we did so many fun things. We loved hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunts and Uncles and cousins. Hopefully we will see them all again really soon.

Babes

We went to dinner at Babes because we heard it was famous for their fried chicken. I don't know about everybody else but I was so excited to go. Patrick loved the biscuits and honey. He wouldn't try the chicken though. He missed out.

Doesn't that plate of food look delicious??!! It was yummy wholesome food. I loved the chicken but I loved the green beans and corn too. So good!

The room we were in was really fun, it had things all over the wall with sayings about Texas and chickens hanging out on the rafters. Texans are funny.