Reunion

I have very fond memories of growing up in the church. I am Mormon, I am LDS. A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As a kid church was awesome. Our ward actually felt like a family. We had tons of activities where we would prepare for weeks on end. The building basement would be full to the brim on the days of our activities. And when it was summer picnics we would play non stop til the sun went in. But as wards grew we got divided into smaller wards until we grew again and split again. Needless to the original members of our wards have not seen each other in a long time. That's until Hermana Roman decided to have a reunion. It wasn't everyone but it was plenty of us. It was like we had never parted. The genuine love and affection was real. My primary presidents, choristers, teachers and leaders of my childhood and youth. It was amazing.

 

Until we meet again!

Kindergarten Is Done

Well late post but had to give props to my Jaimito. He successfully finished kindergarten. It was a rough ride but we made it!

 

The Camping Never Ends

This was the year of camping trips. This was actually the first camping trip of the year and it was with the Stake. The kids had so much fun. It wasn't the nicest camping ground but it had plenty of room for them to run free and they sure did. They enjoyed every moment of it.

 

We woke up like this!

I love these moments!

It's Hard Having A Boy

So this summer I have learned that having a boy is hard. We have had two E.R. visits already.

First, the kids got a ball stuck in my parents' front lawn tree. Of course my daughter had the bright idea of throwing a rock to try to get the ball out of the tree. And of course Jaimito had to go see where the rock would land. Well it missed the ball but it sure didn't miss Jaime's head. The result, a gash on his head, a trip to the E.R. and one staple.

Then the night before our big Six Flags trip he decides to try Jackie Chang moves and hurts his neck. He scared us to death. There we go back to the E.R. Thankfully it was just a muscle spasm and he was even able to still get on the rides.

The second time we went to a much better E.R. where we literally were in and out. As we drove home and I mentioned this my son says, " Well at least now we know where to go next time." NEXT TIME!!! Oh no, there better not be a next time.

Summer Fun

It's not summer in Chicago unless you go to Six Flags Great America. This year the kids have gone more than once. Each time we have gone with the whole family. This past time David and I weren't able to go but the kids went with my family. I wanted to share the following pics because each one is just so unique.

 

Like this one. Jaime is the tiniest one in this picture. He's small for his age. Last year he wasn't tall enough to go on most rides. So this year he was so excited to finally be tall enough to go on many more of the bigger rides. I didn't know that he would be brave enough to go on some of them. And he was. Here's the proof. As a mom though, when I saw this picture I felt so bad for my baby. I wish I would've been on the ride with him. But I'm happy to see that his cousin made sure to protect him.

Here's my whole family minus us!

And everyone enjoyed Jaime and his silly faces! Summer so far has been a success!

Our Own Titanic Moment

So what started as a small camping trip between my sister and my family, turned into a full on brother and sister camping trip. I was able to arrange two days of camping for my whole family. Well my parents weren't able to make it but my brother's family and my sisters' families came. And it was awesome! I hope it was the start of a great tradition. We went to Turkey Run State Park in Indiana.

 

My brother was the breakfast chef. He made himself some delicious Huevos Rancheros.

Here's the whole gang.

And we come to the reason of my title. We all decided it would be fun to go canoeing. Yup even though only 2 of us had done it before. And yes we thought it would be a good idea to do it with 15 kids, one of them 2 years old. Hey we were all excited and they literally just gave us the tools and threw us out there. What could possibly go wrong?

I mean look how beautiful it was out there. We were all sailing along. All 8 canoes.

And then all H E double hockey sticks broke loose. Basically a couple of us where doing good and where way ahead. After realizing the rest was way back we decided to stop at a little island to wait for them. We had put my 12 year old daughter with one of my sisters and her daughter. Big mistake. Both are nervous people. Anyways we waited and waited and waited. About 30 minutes passed when we finally see them coming. Next thing we see is one canoe crashing on a rock, then the next one crashing with them and next thing you know everyone is in the water panicking. One canoe is floating down the river and we're trying to catch it. Then one canoe is wrapped around the rock and everyone is stranded by the rock and the water is rushing. Long story short. It took us like 2 to 3 hours to get everyone safe back to land. The funny thing was the water was barely up to hour hips and it wasn't as strong or as bad as we thought. Yet it was our first time and we were clue less to the situation. In the end we were to swim back and walk back, something we didn't knew was possible so we were drowning in a cup of water. No pun intended! LOL. It ended up being an expensive canoe trip but at the same time such an awesome adventure we will never forget and we'll tell it over and over and laugh.

Just Because

Another Just Because Post. I just liked this picture. She is just so beautiful in my eyes. Her big eyes and long lashes. Her button nose and little lips. What a blessing!

 

Payson Temple

Last week we had the blessing of having a weekend trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. It was a crazy quick trip. I couldn't get the pictures in order but I'll try to record my feelings and experiences of the trip.

 

Starting with these pictures. I can't express the wonder and amazement I felt being in such greatness. All this nature is unbelievable. Heavenly Father's creations are just breath taking. I'm know to not really like mountains, I'm a city girl. But this time I just couldn't get enough of it. Every way I turned there were wonderful views.

I was nervous of not fitting in with my husband's family. I have to say I felt very welcomed. It was confirmed in my heart the importance of families. How my Father in Heaven blessed us with them.

I love this picture. The background can't be beat. I love my husband. He is my rock.

I felt so alive when hiking up to this waterfall. I literally felt on top of the world.

Kissing up here just felt right. LOL. After all we have been up and down our own "mountains" and have always been able to conquer them together.

Did I mention that it was my first time flying. Well I flew when I was like 4 years old once and that's it. David flew once when he was 16 but doesn't remember. And he doesn't like rollercoasters, swings or anything that makes his stomach turn. So you can imagine how nervous and scared we both were. I was surprised how nervous I was because I like rollercoasters and such but I really was freaking out. I do have to say it wasn't as bad as I thought BUT it still was crazy. The take off wasn't as bad and my concern with the ear popping was actually not bad. My ears were fine to my surprise. Now let's talk about turbulence. That is the scariest thing ever!!! Feeling so out of control, knowing we're in the sky and there's no where to go but down. And don't get me started on the landing. OMG!!! The descent is just too much.

Now that we got the scary parts out of the way, let me say the good part. I actually loved how extraordinary it was to be able to see God's beauty and creations from up high. Being in the clouds was incredible. Like I couldn't believe it. I could see all the mountains and trees and sun and clouds. Like I couldn't believe people were sleeping through it all, how the frequent flyers where probably use to it. I just felt like no matter how many times I would ever fly, I would always want a window seat to enjoy the amazing view. I couldn't believe man had conquered flight and we were able to enjoy this view.

And we made it safely. Utah's airport was way different than Chicago's Ohare airport. It was half the size and half as busy.

Our trip was basically only a day and we didn't have time to do much. So on Sunday before we left we literally did a drive by through temple square. They literally dropped us off at one side of the temple where we walked through and took some pictures and walked out the other side to be picked up. We snapped some pictures and we were off to the airport.

And we were back on the plane back to Chicago.

Now the reason for this whole trip was to support David's cousin entering the temple for the first time. He entered the Payson temple. It was beautiful beyond believe. There are no words to describe it's beauty. And knowing I'm able to go in with my partner makes me feel blessed every single time.

The experience was wonderful. All of us waiting for his cousin to pass the veil. Made me think of how wonderful it must have been when my Gramma passed and was able to be greeted by all her love ones. It's hard to understand why so many people turn away the opportunity of entering the temple. It was nice though to see everyone there supporting him, even those none members or those who hadn't entered the temple yet. Having had a long rough road trying to get my husband there, every time I'm there and see him there, I still have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. We have both come a long way.