White Babies!

My cousin Devan is far, far away in the great state of Alaska. There she has made a home with her husband, their beautiful son Charles Jacob Gable IV, and their two dogs. They are a military family, so we only see them on the rarest of occasions, but we love them so much.

It's funny because both my sister, Sophia, and my cousin Devan, are clearly not white. They both have beautiful dark hair, almond-shaped dark eyes, and creamy brown skin-all characteristic traits reflecting our Hispanic heritage. They both married white boys-like me!-yet their supposed "dominant traits" are no where to be found with their beautiful babies! Taylor is blond & blue-eyed, her sister Lola is a strawberry blond, and little Jacob here is a red-head!

We used to laugh and laugh when Sophia would get so mad at people at the store who would comment on the cute baby she was obviously babysitting!

It's really fun watching my sister be mad!

Pantie-man!

I love my little boy, and when I sat down to do my laundry, he came along to check things out. What did he take a liking to? Ava's panties. He was insistent that I put them over his pants, and would not take no for an answer.

Was one enough? Of course not. He found this blue pair next and wanted them on top of the pink ones too!

I love it!

Ultimate Down Time!

I don't know what it is about being pregnant, but it's the only time I really enjoy just sprawling on the floor. It always looks super-uncomfortable, and I can't do it forever, but for the few moments I'm down there it just feels so, so good. The best part? When my little rug-rats come and join me. This is the good life at it's simplest!

Veronica's Baby Blessing: A Beautiful Day

On Sunday February 1st our niece, Veronica Mae, was blessed.

Afterwards we held a family get-together in which everyone brought a plate of sandwiches-YUMMY, and we had family favorites such as Clista's baked beans and Aunt Patti's potato salad. The feast concluded with chocolate cake with a chocolate mousse filling-thank you for being born Veronica!

Just kidding. The food was fabulous, but it was a great day because of the special ordinance that took place. Houston and Elizabeth are great parents and we loved being apart of this special day for their growing family.

Our second-cousin Caleb!

Enjoying some sit-down time.

The twins...Sam & his dad, Gary.

Welcome to the family Veronica!

We all love you so much!

All Grown Up!

I am so fortunate to be in touch with my best girlfriends from high school! A few times a year we make it a point to get together to eat, talk, & laugh-usually with our collective kids running around in the background! We always have a great time, and I love the "catching up"!

Thanks for all the memories!

Piggy Tails?

On of the girls favorite hair-styles is the infamous "piggy tails"! Iris, whose hair is cut into a shorter angled bob, wanted a hair-do just like her big sister Bella's. When all was said and done, Ava pronounced they were not "piggy tails", they were "sprinkler tails"!

Letting go is hard to do!

For a bit of background, you should know that my childhood was a little...sheltered. My mom was super-paranoid and so we were never really able to do a lot of kids stuff like riding bikes on the side-walk or playing in the front yard. Now, being a parent myself, I totally get where she was coming from, but still, a part of me wishes we had been able to enjoy just a little more freedom, and I always looked forward to being a little more easy going with my own family.

Now, our new home sits really close to the girl's elementary and middle schools, and we could not be happier! The girl's can actually walk to school! But when push came to shove, it was really, really hard for me to let them go-even though I could literally watch them make their way to the school grounds. Well, a few weeks have passed and I've calmed down, the girls love it-they've even taken up riding their scooters to school too, and Sam's happy with my successfully cutting a few apron strings. Not surprisingly though, my mom shares a different opinion!

Happy Mothering!

Silly Family Home Evening Snacks

This past Christmas we received a really fun book called, "Silly Snacks", and the girls have been so excited to create some simple, tasty, and yes, silly snacks for our Family Home Evening refreshments.
Tonight, we finally had all the ingredients for the cover snack, the Ice Cream Mouse. We had a lot of fun, though the challenge was getting all the sprinkles just so before the ice cream started to melt!
If you'd like to make it at home, the recipe follows.

Ice Cream Mouse

One scoop of vanilla ice cream
Oreo Cookies
M&M's or large circle sprinkles
Small sprinkles

Insert cookies into the ice cream for the "ears".
Place M&M's into the ice cream for the "eyes" and "nose".
And finally, use the sprinkles for the "whiskers".

Enjoy!

Amazing Steelhead!

If you've never visited the Nimbus Fish Hatchery you have to go! They have areas where you can view maturing steel head, and even feed them for 5 cents a pop. They have a wonderful museum with the best movie about the steel heads life cycle (I've seen it twice and would love to watch it again). And they also have a giant fish for the kids to climb, and a spectacular path along the river to enjoy.

True, right now there's not a lot of fish to see that have returned from the Pacific to spawn, but the one's you do see jumping up the ladder take your breath away. They bear the marks of surviving the ocean and look absolutely beat up, but here they return to where they were born for the next generation's sake. It's really incredible.

If you have even just 15 minutes, take the time to check it out.
It's free, informative, and the kids love it EVERYTIME!

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Hatcheries/Nimbus/VisitorInfo_Center.asp

Baptism Preview...already?

A few Sundays ago I had the opportunity to attend a Baptism Preview for Isabella and other primary children her age who will also be turning eight this year. I can hardly believe that this year she will be baptized. It seems as though we've been talking about it forever-but that it was always years and years away! She is growing...so, so fast. And I am so happy to see her bright testimony growing as well. Last night in the scriptures, we read in Alma about what is required to enter the waters of baptism. It reads:

Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.

And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.

Alma 7: 15-16

She said to me,
"Mom, I'm a little nervous [about the water], but I can do it!"

And inside my heart wrenched.
I'm amazed by her...and her sweet, sweet desire to do what is right.