Halloween in December!

I know Halloween is long gone but I had been so busy that I didn't have a chance to post my Halloween 2013 memories. So here they are!

 

I love that even though Natalie turned 11 years old this October she still dressed up and enjoyed trick or treating with her little brother and sister and her parents. It warms my heart. I don't know if this might have been her last year enjoying it with us so I cherished it very much!

My Kids

Ah man, my kids are just too cute!

 

Sophia modeling a hat my co worker made her!

Jaime's first suit ever!

My First Own Little Family Thanksgiving!

This year was the first year in about six years that I had to work the day after Thanksgiving. After about six years I'm once again out of the home working. Why do I mention this, well because every other year it wouldn't matter if I slept late on Thanksgiving night because the next day I didn't have to worry about waking up early to go to work. Well this year I couldn't do that. So I did not want to have to drive up north to my mother in laws house. I would get stuck driving home all tired late at night. So after some "talking" with the hubby I convinced him to stay home. The only problem is I'm not much of a cook. I was petrified of thinking of trying to tackle a Thanksgiving dinner for my tiny little family. But after mentally preparing the day before and having received a free turkey at work, I decided to try it. The night before I had a small melt down as I was buttering and seasoning the turkey. I just felt so inadequate and lost. I called my friend Ellen from work who gave me a good pep talk and then went to sleep.

 

Luckily the next day my Mother in law decided to drop by and see the kids so I asked her to help me save the turkey. Turns out I hadn't done so bad. She just added some garlic and spices. And here is how it went.

 

After cooking it for awhile we had to do what is now a tradition for us, which is to cover the turkey in bacon. Yup you heard me right, I got this from my mother in law. It's amazing!

 

Tada! What's better than this!!!

I even made home made mashed potatoes which my family LOVED! And don't forget we are Hispanic, so weird food that you would never think would go with turkey had to be present. My mom brought me over some spicy chile chipotle spaghetti.

And pickled, tuna stuffed jalapeños!!! Mmmmm!

All in all it was a success, and now I don't think I'll be as scared next year. I even felt like a cook!

Manners Matter

For our last Achievement Day activity we decided to talk and teach the girls about manners. We wanted to teach them about how important it is to know how to behave properly in different scenarios but especially about how the way they carry themselves affects the way others treat or perceive them.

 

My sister, who is my first counselor, had a wonderful set up. She had a fancy dinner set up for the girls.

 

She went over how to properly eat, sit and use utensils. I also talked about how to properly answer the phone, say hi to people, talk to missionaries, ect.

The girls had lots of laughs when she went over how we should walk. Especially when she demonstrated the way they shouldn't be walking.

 

Over all the girls loved it, had lots of fun and learned something too.