Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas
I hope everyone had as great a Christmas as we did. To start off a great Christmas week, we celebrated Nick's birthday at Benihana's with Nick's folks and the girls.

We all love Benihana's! Last time we came here Kat was too little to eat anything, but this time she got to sample all the tasty things.

We spent Christmas with Nick's fam this year. It was a special treat because it was baby Dez' first Christmas.

We got a 2 gingerbread houses this year. One that Tia Gaby helped Ali make, and this one that our good friend Jim sent to the girls. Ali thinks it is all hers. If you look you can see Kat's hand trying to get a piece, and Ali's response to that hand.

I told Ali that if she shared with Kat then she gets to eat as much of it as she wants. This was the look she gave me.

A picture of all of us.

Thanksgiving (right on time)

This year we had a great Thanksgiving at Tia Gaby and St. Paul's house. I know that I am way late posting this, but we had a great time so I had to say something about it. Tita, Gil, Gibi, Tio and Beba were all there (Nick's aunt, uncle, cousin, uncle and aunt, respectively). Gaby and Paul hosted in there newly redone backyard and it was great. The food was good and the company was better. Nick was even able to be there, but being that he was post-call, I am not sure how much of him was there.


The girls hadn't seen him for 2 days, so naturally they didn't let him eat very much.

For some reason, (probably that I was too busy eating!) I never got a picture of us all eating or pre-eating. This is after we were all done. It was so great to see everyone, it makes me really grateful to be so close to family.

Surgery and a Sister

A few weeks ago I had a minor surgery to repair a umbilical hernia (picture at bottom of this post) I got during my pregnancies. I was lucky to have my sister Adele visit, and I was even more lucky was that she loves to bake.

She was surprised by our lack of cooking equipment. Most notably, she was upset that we don't own a rolling pin. We have always used this glass cup that is flat and straight. I think there is not much difference, as I have never owned a rolling pin, but she thinks that we ought to invest in one.

She took Ali out for a ride on her horse. Ali was in heaven. I am scared because I know one day she will ask me to get her a horse... thanks Adele!

She was loved the entire time on the horse, and when I told her it was time to get off she said that she never ever wants to get down.


It is very small for the amount of pain it caused. I never realized how often I get hit/kicked/pushed/punched in the stomach until now.

Christmas begins

This year is a unique Christmas for our family because we are staying home. Nick and I have been married for 7 1/2 years. In all that time we have never gotten a Christmas tree until this year! Here are some pictures of us setting up our first tree.

The girls LOVED to help put up ornaments!

Ali helped daddy put the star on top.

After a very short time we had to hold Kat to keep her from "helping" too much.

I think she didn't want the ornaments to stay on the tree, because putting them on was so fun. Since we have very few ornaments, she "had" to take them off so she could put more on the tree.

Ali had been looking forward to seeing Santa for the first time in her life. She had a mission, which was to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. "A blue spiky ball with lots of colors." Anyone have any advice where such a ball might exist?

Kat was not as big a fan.

The Millers joined us for Desmond's first trip to Santa.

My plants and I

I have been wanting to blog about my planting adventures, but have not really gotten around to it lately, but today both girls went down for a nice nap...at the same time!

I have a black thumb, and for those who wonder what that is, I say it is the opposite of a green thumb. I kill plants. I don't discriminate, I kill them all. My mother-in-law (who definitely has a green thumb) bought me some nice potted flowers and said that in order to keep it alive all I have to do is water it every once in a while and to simply cut off the flowers once they die. Perhaps she shouldn't have said simply because 2 weeks later when all the flowers died and I had cut off the flowers all I had left was sticks. Those quickly died.

When we moved here to Los Angeles I thought I would take advantage of the nice weather and a big patio and grow some things. Most people who read this blog have seen my failed attempts at an avocado tree, but I have not talked about my tomatos. We bought the seeds in June. The big selling point was "Get ripe tomatos in just 2 weeks!" Well I haven't killed them and they did grow, but it is mid-November and I still have only 5 green tomatoes that refuse to ripen. I am not sure what more I could have done. Well I am terrible at raising plants, so when I went to target and they had "Grow your own Christmas tree" for only 1 dollar, I thought I might be wasting my dollar, but why not? I bought the small kit. Much to my surprise only 3 days later this is what I have:

It is a very small pot, only about 2 inches tall, but there is SOMETHING GROWING!!!! Now we will see if it really is a spruce tree.

Small update on my avocado adventure....nothing....not a single change.

My error of the day

Just because they are playing nice and quiet outside on our patio does NOT mean they are playing nice!

I should not talk to my sisters on the phone for so long. Here is my proof:



Kat decided that this pot (full of soil for my avocado tree) was her new sand pit.

Third try, or is this the fourth?

I am again trying to grow an avocado. This time I am going to give it even more sun and warmth. Lets see how it turns out.

This is what I have on my windowsill with the most light. If anyone sees anything wrong or has any opinion on growing avocado trees from seeds let me know.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, most of these pictures need no explanation, so enjoy!


We went to a pumpkin patch with cousin baby Dez.

In front of our house.

Nick might have had something to do with that Yankee sign.

Ali's pumpkin carved into a pumpkin. The idea was hers, but the sharp knife was wielded by Momma.

Treats even before we started trick-or-treating. Tia Gaby spoils my girls!

Super-Millers!

Yummy candy!

I think that is all she wanted all night. She was definitely not old enough to understand the idea of mass candy.

Just for fun Ali pee'd her pants/costume as we were walking home. With rain boots, you can imagine it wasn't pretty! She almost never pees her pants anymore, but she really did NOT want to stop trick-or-treating, so she didn't even tell me she had to go until the puddles inside her boots became uncomfortable to walk in.

Bunny

Meet the newest member of our family. This is Robbie, or Kelly. We have only had her a couple of hours and already her name has changed 2 times. I am sure one name will stick, I am just not sure what it is yet.

Ali loves her. She is only about 2 months old and she is a very calm rabbit. Kat has already picked her up by the ears, and no scratches or bites. Hopefully my girls won't be too rough with her; if you notice in the picture, she is cornered.

Ballet class, and a new hairband

Brand new headband that I HAD to get.


Ali actually posing for a picture. I think she doesn't like Kat getting all the attention.


This is Ali in her ballet class. I don't think she learns a single thing in this class, but she loves it. I know the video is bad, colors are a bit yellow, and the teacher is TOTALLY blocking the shot, but since we have to look from behind a glass window, it isn't too bad. Enjoy

First comes walking then comes...dancing?

The next day (September 15) after my last post about Kat walking Nick got home from 30 hour call. I had to show him Kat's new skill since he could only view it from his iphone in between visiting patients. We sat down and Nick asked Kat to walk to me. Her vacuum was blocking her so she leaned down to move it out of the way, and it started to make music. Below is the result.

WALKING!!!!!

I know it has been too long since I posted some pics of the girls. So, here is a big one... a video of Kat walking!

Isn't she just the cutest walker ever!?!? Sorry it is so dark in the room, I should have turned on a few lights.

Ali just finished her gymnastics class,

and started ballet. Girls in ballet clothes are really just adorable!


Her first day of school with her pencil box, though it is only once a week for 2 hours (co-op style).

Abuelita got her this little house from Costco. Ali LOVES it. She gets to decorate it and bring in only her favorite things. (Recent presents from Abuelito, and of course her "Jim Pyramid")

Oh and Kat is allowed too I guess!

2nd time is NOT a charm

So I wanted to keep everyone updated on my sweet avo-project by posting pictures of my avo-tree as it grew from a seed. I might as well just re post the last picture because my seed looks EXACTLY the same, except maybe a little bit of mold on the outside of the seed. What am i doing wrong?????

2nd times a charm!

Awhile back I posted about my soon-to-be avocado tree and I am sure everyone who read that post is anxiously wondering what became of my little attempt at horticulture. Well you need wait no longer. IT FAILED! I wanted to post a picture of my failure, but decided that a rotten seed is not that cool. The seed split, so I thought it was going to grow, but then after a month of nothing it finally fell apart due to mold and rot. Now I have another chance! This seed is my second attempt and I am sure this one will work. It is smaller, much smaller (that is a 4oz baby food container), but I am sure the avocados will be tastier than the other ones would have been anyway!


Just because I thought it was cute. Here is Ty holding Ali up to pick that non-ripe orange. I let her eat it later and she finally understood what not ripe means!

Ali with her Uncle Jason who is leaving back to BYU today. Bye Jason!

I wanted to post this picture because it shows the enormity of Kat's cheeks. Note: there is nothing in her mouth.

Black beans are yummy, but they are messy!

Instead of one

Instead of one long post I decided to split it into 2, so....

We have a new addition to our family, leather sofas! Kat is in there for size comparison. They are huge. I really love them.

Kat approves. I really think she just loves to walk along them. Too much empty space did not suit her well. It is too easy to be naughty with open space, and she loves to be naughty.

My sister-in-law, Gaby is about to have a baby boy! so we went to her baby shower in San Diego. Here is Ali being such a great big sister. She had been with her Abuelita for almost a week without Kat and when she saw Kat she was pretty excited. Kat was almost equally excited. I am glad my girls love each other so much!

This was just a pretty picture! I wish the window had been clean, or I was better at photoshop.