Back to School!!

I can't believe it. It's been 3 weeks since school started. I'm barely getting the time to post this. I guess that's to expect since I work at a school myself.

Frankie is now starting the Junior High life! He was nervous at first. His biggest fear was not being able to open his locker. I think he's got it down now. He's already gone to one dance. He is in the band, and he plays the trumpet. He is also in choir. Next week he has the opportunity to do job shadowing. It's exciting to see him grow up and all the things he's going through. He's even growing a mustache (peach fuzz). If you look hard enough you can see it :) He's also managed to land a "girlfriend" during the summer who shall stay unnamed. hints: she lives in California, is a daughter of a very good friend of mine and her name rhymes with Ratherine.

Drew started Preschool this year and she loves it!!! She loves doing her homework and she definitely loves all the friends she's making. Yesterday she was telling me she had a boyfriend. It was really cute. She would get so shy talking about him. Starting young I guess!

Grandma started taking her to dance. She has only gone for a few weeks and has loved every minute of it. After she goes, she shows me what she has learned. She's pretty cute. We got her new tap and dance shoes. I am glad that although she looks nothing like me, she inherited my hobbies and talents :). (No offense to her daddy).

Extended Summer Fun

A few weekends ago we went to Lagoon. This was my first time there after living here for almost 6 years. It was so much fun! We went with my in laws, my nephew Mario and a couple of friends. It was great to go to a place were all of us can have fun.

Frankie has grown out of his fear for roller coasters and heights and Drew has never ceased to love heights and roller coasters. She rode almost everything that she was allowed.

I gotta say, I was impressed. It didn't replace Six Flags as my favorite amusement park, but it was up there.

Yes! that's Bob

And this is his daring wife!

Kyle, Christian, Me & Grant

The kids waiting in line on the fully loaded wagon.

Drew on the water swing at Lagoon A Beach

Frankie at Lagoon A Beach

Mario on the lazy river.

Milestones

When you have kids, one of the funnest things is witnessing all the milestones your kids go through. When they are little, the mildstones come frequently. If you aren't around daily, you're bound to miss something. As the kid gets older, those mildstones grow further apart.

Although, Frankie has done a lot of cute, cool and exciting things lately, this one has topped it off! He has turned 12! With that come a lot of awesome experiences for both him and us! This month he received the priesthood! It is such an overwhelming feeling to be the parent of a 12 year old. The pride that builds up in your chest as you see your son passing the sacrament and headed in the right direction is unbelievable. Being a single mom for almost 7 years, the pressure of guiding Frankie towards the right path was intensified since it lied mostly upon me. Thank goodness that pressure was lightened when I found my husband. He not only has been a great father but a great example of a priesthood holder.
Although I never doubted that he would make it this far, it was a relief to have such great examples in his life that helped ease the worries that a mother has for their children. Frankie being such a great kid also helped the cause!
This milestone was worth waiting for!

**A special thanks to all that have in one way or another influenced Frankie in a positive way and to all who came to share this special moment with us.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING

Drew finally got to go the wonderful place called California. You see, since she was little, "Californ" (as Drew calls it) has been the magical place that people go to. I'm not sure what her little mind thought it was, but she always has wished she could go there. All she knows is that Frankie goes there, her Abuelita (grandma), aunt and uncle live there, her cousins travel there and so does everyone else.

Finally! This summer she was able to go there. She had been there before, but she was too little to remember.

This summer her dream came true. She loved it! She kept admiring all the "paw" trees. She kept going up to it and scratching her back on them like Baloo the Bear on The Jungle Book. She thought it was so funny. She loved the beach! What can I say, she has California blood.

She got to do so many fun things like...

GO TO THE BEACH...




















DANCE...













SWIM...


































HANG OUT & PLAY...
















...DRESS LIKE A PRINCESS
(Flower girl)

She was finally able to see where her abuelita and abuelito live and meet her newest cousin Aiden. She also go to see her uncle Scott, aunt Dezi, aunt Scarlet and uncle Rob. I asure you it was all she expected it to be and more!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

It's been awhile since I've made any posts. I guess it's not such a bad thing since I've actually been doing fun things. It has been a busy month.

Enjoy the pics!

For the 4th of July we went to Park City with my sister and her kids. We did the Alpine Slide, shopped 'til we dropped and watched a free firework show. It was pretty low key. Drew loved the Alpine slide. I tell you...she has no fear!

We went to the Hoogle Zoo. This was Drew's first. Her favorite were the snakes. We got to watch baby birds being feed by the mommy bird. It was nice to see some of Heavenly Father's creations up close.

This month, Grant and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. We went to Disney World to celebrate. The best part was that it was at minimal cost to us. I had a conference for work I had to attend. Good timing! It was so much fun. We got to go out on dates every night. This is the first time we were away from both of our kids at least for that long. It was good and hard at the same time. Most of the time, we would find ourselves wishing we had our kids. I mean, what's Disney World without kids?
We also were able to spend some time with my sister Scarlet who lives in Florida. It was fun to see her.

Finally, last week we took a mini vacation to California with my sister and her 3 kids. On the way there we had 7 people in the car and on the way back we had 8. It wasn't too bad since we did most of our traveling at night. On the way there, we stopped in Vegas to visit Grant's brother and his family. Then, on we went to Bake town to visit our friends are family.
ast but not least we headed to New Port to see my little sister get married to our newly brother-in-law in the New Port Temple. Besides seeing them get married, the best part was that most of my family was there. We also got to finally meet my other brother-in-law Robert (married to Scarlet) who's been living in Puerto Rico. It was fun to have us all together even if it was for a breif time.
We also took a short stop at the beach.
So there you are...our last month in 100 words or less. (not sure...I really didn't count)