A Truly Wonderful Christmas

Our Church Missionaries eating with us Aaron helping to clean up after mixing cake batter! The tradition in our family is to open presents at midnight on Christmas eve, which is really Christmas day if you think about it. We invite friends and family over to have a tremendous feast of pozole, tamales, turkey and anything else we can think of to eat :) We had fun chatting with the Elders from our church, eating, dancing and just having a great time. We especially liked to watch the snow fall right outside our window while we were having dinner. It was nice to have my sister and her family here visiting from Ft. Hood and my mom and grandma visiting us from Laredo. My grandma is such a blessing to have around, especially since the children can have good memories of her being here for Christmas. She loves, loves , Christmas! She couldn't wait for us to open presents and every night she would walk over to the big Christmas tree in the dining area and stare at the twinkling lights. A...

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I tell ya it's fun to be 79!

My grandma, whom I call Viache (don't ask me why or what that means, I made it up when I was 9) has been here visiting us for about 1.5 months (yes I have a thing about time and numbers) and she just brightens up our days and nights with her silly anecdotes (I think WE are the only ones who think they're silly, she is totally being SERIOUS) but she tells the most hilarious stories. Here's a few gems (and I am totally NOT mocking her): We were talking about genealogy and our family tree, where we come from, the tribe her grandma belonged to in Mexico etc. Then out of nowhere she tells us her grandfather was an Arab! Wha....Hello, grandma your grandfather was French! Hence your "white skin"!! I just went along with her and told her "no wonder people think I'm Pakistani!" Another one....we were talking, or rather she was about her divorce from that good for nothing sob...(her words, my grandpa) and how she stopped working with her lawyer because one day...

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Feeling the Savior's Love thru children

This past weekend Sergio and I traveled east about 4 hours to visit my CASA child. And even though I have spoken to her many times on the phone and represented her in court several times, I did not know what she looked like. It's funny how we can form images of people when we speak on the phone and many times those images of what they look like are totally wrong. Such was the case with this child, whom I will call Mary. Mary has had a rough childhood. She was neglected, abused and found wandering around a motel in the middle of the night as a toddler while her parents got high somewhere inside. She and her sibling were later adopted by her foster parents. Later it was found that Mary has paranoid schizophrenia, learning disorders among other issues. She lives in a special place (CASA regulations state that I cannot give too much info on the child) pretty far away where they can care for her. So this past weekend Sergio and I decided to go see her. Well actually I can only see her. ...

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Busy week of Christmas Prep and Testing

The past week was a busy one for us. We decorated the inside of our home and now all that's left is the outside. We are busy planning our Church's Christmas party. We are having a Mexican dinner complete with grilled fajitas, courtesy of my husband, homemade salsa (again Sergio) and all the fixins! We have been busy trying to get the best price for the beef and Sergio has finally done it. We got a good deal at Sam's and Sergio is slated to go by there tomorrow to pick it up. So this week is going to be busy as well. Whew! But back to LAST week. We took Aaron to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children to the Dyslexia center for an evaluation. We are so thankful that he got accepted to this wonderful hospital. They treated us like kings, especially Aaron. We spent the nite at a nearby hotel b/c the drive from our town into the Downtown Dallas Area would have been a nightmare since his appt. was at 8:30 a.m.! I am so glad we did book a room, b/c that day it was snowing!! We ...

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No cooking for me!

This is our third time that we go out to eat as a family on Thanksgiving! What a treat! My sister and her family joined us this year. It's wonderful not to be cooking and cleaning up. A true treat! The Tanglewood Resort is on Lake Texoma and is quite beautiful. The drive up there is very nice. We had plenty to eat!! The day before we had decorated our two Christmas trees. It was a very nice day. And aftewards we came home and I took a long nap. Ahhhh what a luxury! We have so much to be thankful for. But most thankful for having a family and love and lots and lots of laughter!!

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Breast Cancer Survivor and the Carnival

Aaron having fun! Dusk In the Fun House Sergio trying to win a prize I love the beautiful colors of the carnival Aaron's palm tree This past weekend we went down to south Texas to pick up my grandmother. She comes up north to her annual check up. We didn't want her traveling alone anymore so we decided to go pick her up. It's about a 7 hour drive but thankfully Sergio enjoys driving. We decided to take Aaron with us this time since his presence has been requested quite frequently by the relatives :) All the way down there he kept looking out for the palm trees that line the highway and entrance into to...

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She's all grown up

Falling in love Ellison and Bob A Sweet 5 year old Well the day finally came and went: My sweet little girl is now an adult. How did this happen? I remember taking her trick or treating as a little girl, where she dressed up as a dalmatian, cowgirl, Mulan, and many more outfits. I truly miss having a little girl. But you know what's best? Having a young woman to talk to. I love listening to Ellison's stories, and about what went on that day at school. I love to listen to all her hopes and dreams and know that she will accomplish anything. What a sweet ride this has been so far, being her mom. From the first day I saw her I was in love with the chubby little baby girl with the huge hazel eyes and shock of dark hair. From the day she could hold a pencil she was drawing. And drawing and drawing. I always knew she'd grow up to be an artist. Sergio and I encouraged her to draw and express herself with the written word. Many nights you could find Sergio and Ellison sitting ...

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Makin' Smores

Tonight was a first for me. I got to make some smores! I had never done that before in my life! I had never eaten them either. We roasted marshmallows outside on our fire pit and looked at the stars! What a great fall night.

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Getting ready for Halloween

So the tradition continues. Last year we decided as a family to decorate our front lawn as the theme of a Nightmare Before Christmas. It is a great movie (a masterpiece in Ellison's words) directed by Tim Burton and has wonderful music by Danny Elfman. Anyway, we decided to draw and cutout some wooden figures to put on our front lawn. This year we added a couple of more characters. We will add more characters and features as the years go by. Last year, we had several trick or treaters squeal with delight when they heard the soundtrack playing and saw Jack Skellington on the lawn. What can I say? We are a family of artists and musicians ;P Next, on to creating some more characters for my Charlie Brown Christmas decorations. I L-O-V-E the holidays!! Here are Shock, Lock and Barrel made by Ellison and Sergio Zero in his house, Jack Skellington and the Mayor made by Sergio and Ellison Zero made by Sergio and sign by Patty Sally in pr...

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Fabulous Friday!

Many things went wrong today. I would rather not mention specifics, but it bummed me out. Thank goodness I now work out at lunch time and that made my day go faster and a little better. All this week hasn't been bad, though. Last Friday I went to get some blood drawn to see what my liver panels were showing. Great news! They are down to normal levels. I guess the starvation diet worked. That and my gettin off all meds! Those meds were making me even sicker. I had to take control of my own health, and it worked. I still feel tired every morning, not well rested at all, so I am convinced there is something else that is going on. So, today was not a good day. But I had something to look forward to. Whenever I feel kinda bummed out, I always think to something in the future. What can I look forward to? Well tonight, I remembered is Fabulous Friday at church. Crafts time!! YESS! I love crafts, even if I am not that good at it. Immediately upon walking in I got two big hugs from some goo...

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Josh is 12 ****Happy Birthday**

A couple of weeks ago, Josh informed me that he was having a few friends over for his birthday. I said "would you like for me to make the invites?", to which he replied, "Nope, already done and passed out to my friends". I was speechless. I always make the invites. When did this happen, when did my little boy become so independent? Well, to tell truth he has always been very independent. As I look back on the past twelve years of Josh's life a big smile begins to creep upon my face. Josh has always been a special boy. He is very loving and cuddly. He is very good to his little brother. Every weekend, he wakes up early and fixes breakfast for himself and his little brother. On any given night you can find them both wrestling on the carpet, and while Aaron hits, pounds and jumps on Josh with all his little might...Josh uses gentle care to "drop" him to the ground without hurting him. Josh is very spiritual and quiet. He is very funny and has a sarcastic ...

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Sunday School Pizza Party

Sergio had an idea to get to know our Sunday School kids better was to have a pizza party at our house. So we decided before the Holidays sneak up on us we'd better do it now. So we had the whole class over for pizza, dancing and fun! Two of our students couldn't make it and we really missed you Emily and Abby. We got some pizza, ate and played some games. It was great to get to know each other better. We are very blessed to teach this great group of kids. We have been teaching them now for 2 years straight!! Maybe we'll get them again next year too :) I have always wanted to be a teacher and Heavenly Father answered my prayer by giving me a calling to teach Primary at church. This is now my 6th year teaching and I love it.

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Going to Laredo

Last weekend Sergio and I took a trip to Laredo without the kids to see his parents. It was fun being without the kids. We had a cookout at my cousin's house one night and we all ate outside. It was a beautiful night. The next day, we had breakfast in Mexico at this gorgeous restaurant where they make the buffet to your specifications. I enjoyed spending time with my family and Sergio's parents. After breakfast we went shopping downtown Laredo where there are bargains galore! If you like to shop Sam Moon's then Laredo's downtown is a paradise! Clothing, shoes, toys, you name it! Everything at rock bottom prices. (I sound like a commercial). Also the Mall del Norte is one of the finest in the country. THE BEST clothes at cheap prices. We'll be going back soon. Without the kids ;) Downtown Laredo My sister Alma and I at El Rancho Su Majestad El Taco Restaurant No Diet Coke in Mexico...just Coca Cola Light :) Sergio at the entrance to the Restaurant

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