Our lil' Missionary

Proverbs 28:1 "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion."

Usually in the morning I like to keep things as focused on Christ as possible. We pray at least 3 times in the morning (individually, as a family and over our breakfast). We also will read from The Friend (our church magazine for children) or from scripture storybooks. As of late, I've let the girls go on lds.org and listen to the Bible stories or Book of Mormon.

One morning they were watching a 2 minute segment on Abinadi. Abinadi was a Book of Mormon prophet taken before a wicked king. He boldly testified of Christ and would not take back the words he said. The king killed him because of his testimony. He died a righteous martyr. I asked the girls what they could learn from that story and use in their upcoming day. Christina said, "He was a great missionary. He wasn't afraid." She then asked if she could take a Book of Mormon to school. I thought she might read it during free reading or something.

But no. My sweet girl asked the teacher if she could share the Book of Mormon with the class. The teacher let her, so Lily, her best friend and her went up front. Christina read a couple scriptures from 3 Nephi she said and told the class that quote, "This book is true."

I am truly humbled by her. She fills my heart.

How One Plays Eenie-Meenie-Miney-Mo.....

Naturally.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Warning: Picture Overload

My handsome handsome fellows

An attempt to get "the one" Christmas photo for cards... no luck yet....

Theo Speedo did the honors

The cutest little turkeys EVER!!!! Thanks Papa and Yaya for the adorable jammies!!!

We love our Yaya and Papa!!!

Yaya Sofia is always so wonderful too! We had a blast playing BINGO with everyone. The girls came up with clues for the call cards.

Overall, it was just a wonderful and lovely Thanksgiving. It was all about family, food and blessings!! The way it should be. It was very laid back and really nice not having to do dishes... thanks Papa!! Also, Ram made these spectacular sweet potatoes and I think I could have eaten the whole pan. (Thanks Ronjula!) And most importantly, thank you Heavenly Father for such a beautiful life we live everyday.

**Later on that night, Joe decided to go from 10PM-3AM out to Legends where they were holding a drawing to pay for your mortgage for a year... unfortunately... we did not win.

Bucket List Blog Post: Hubby Runs a Marathon

Thanksgiving morning brought glory, might and honor to our family... For our dear Joe.... marathon-ed!!!

He was in tip top shape and ran about 7 miles in 1 hour 6 minutes.

Stellar. Absolutely Stellar.

The race was called the Turkey Trot and he was number 1777.

We were all hoping to see him cross through the balloons, but somehow we missed him.

Nevertheless, our signs were held high and we chanted Go Daddy Go anyways.

(Christina couldn't fit all the letters, so hyphens were used)

We're so proud of you Joe!! Great job. I know Joe was all about "just finishing" the race, but he went above and beyond. He's a winner always!!

2 Month Stats

12 lbs 3 oz. 60%

24" 75%

Happy as a little lark!

Real Live Turkeys

Rancho San Rafael had a meet and greet with some local turkeys. The girls were so excited!! It was just 3 turkeys but the girls were just ecstatic. We got to talk to them and hear them gobble.

It was quite an annoying sound.

But fun.

The turkeys are supposedly worth $12,000 each.

Hmmmm....

How does one get into prize turkey breeding?

VSA Winter Art Day

We got a call from Ram saying there was an art day at the VSA mansion, so the girls were super excited. Unfortunately Joe has worked every Saturday this month, so he wasn't able to come- but Yaya Kota is always ready to party and came too.

I packed Eli in my baby carrier. He slept like the little angel he is!

All the projects were super fun!! From corn husk dolls to string art Christmas trees, it was fabulous!

The girls didn't want carrot noses for their snow girls... ??

I had just taken down the art in our play room, so it was perfect timing!!

Great job lil' ladies!

My 4 Year Old Teenager

My Maria.

She is such a fashion diva, always ready to shop and just be cute.

Plus, she giggles around older boys.

Plus, she loves shoes.

And wants her ears pierced.

And she wears her sunglasses at night.

Thank you Corey Feldman.

Or is that the other Corey?

Elijamania!!!

Really... I think I take at least 30 pictures of him everyday because he is the cutest little smiler!!

Today I had to whip out a 6 month sleeper because the 3-6 are not fitting length wise. CRAZY!!!

I love tummy time with him. It usually takes him a good 5 minutes before he gets frustrated and tries moving his legs. He's just so happy. I don't know what it was, but today he also went down for 3, 2 hour naps with absolutely no fussing... and bed time too! It's freaking me out actually. I'm sure today was just an off day... hello... Reno was burning down... who knows what was in the air.

I AM IRON MAN.

Burn the Mother Down

Ah...

nothing like waking up in the morning to your beloved Reno burning down.

Now, why was I so concerned about today's fire?

Because it literally happened 10 houses down from my Yaya Sofia. She evacuated, grabbed her loot and was out at 3 AM. My cousins who live across the street chose to wait it out at home until it was mandatory, but that never happened.

The fire burned all around her home and at one point she decided to go back for.... wait... wait...

6 gallons of ice cream she had just bought.

The power was out and she didn't want it to melt and have to clean it up.

Never mind precious heirlooms or family pictures.

Ice Cream.

She even forgot the real reason she was going, her robe.

But, in all fairness... it was pretty chaotic. Every single fireman and civic worker was on call for this one.

School was cancelled for the day. A state of emergency was declared and I got some clothes together just in case. We have a large supply box with water and food in our car, but I do need to be better about clothes. All our important documents are in a folder easily accessible, so I felt really prepared.

My poor Christina said, "Man. That was close. I woke up and I thought it might be the 2nd coming or something."

So, thank you Heavenly Father. Yaya's home didn't burn down. John, Chris, Thea Popi and George also were OK and their homes weren't harmed. Just kind of nuts and random.

Thanksgiving Happenings....

Turkey art is my favorite!!

One of my favorite FHE!! Feasting upon the words of Christ. We cut out food from magazines and then name spiritual food  for the soul or favorite scriptures stories... some of my favorites included, "Obey!" "Look to Jesus as our light." "The sheaves of corn from Joseph's interpretation of Pharoh's Dream" (Yeah... that one was Maria!!)

Another fun turkey with marble painting and painters tape!

Elijah at 2 months!!

Elijah's official doctor appointment and shots is on Monday, but today I find myself just a little more grateful for this special guy in my life. 2 months. 2 months of pure happiness. I've loved every diaper, I've loved every feeding. I've loved everything everything everything about him. He is my Mr.Chuckles. He is my smilely little man always ready to talk to me. He is my cuddle bug and I can't get enough of him. I think he's about 12 lbs according to our scale, but again... we'll see on Monday.