Vegas Trip

I went to Vegas to see Dan and family and also met Steve and Lou there as well. We had a lot of fun just hanging out and playing on the Wii. We also went to Red Rock and climbed around like little monkeys which totally reminded me of all the trips to southern Utah not to mention all of our near death experiences. Later on that Dan grilled and we cheered on RSL as they sadly missed out on the cup final. Finally we went hot-tubbing where we cooled off, froze actually, every once in a while in the pool. Good times.

Halloween

Natalia and her friends Cassie, Victoria, Bentley along with
Alejandro and Gavin made out with all kinds of loot trick-
or-treating this year. Because of falling on a Friday this year
and perfect weather, there were little monsters and such
all over the place.

It was fun seeing houses that really get into the spirit. One
house was had a wicked-scary set-up but instead of candy,
they passed out hot dogs, nachos with cheese and apple cider.

Since we were out with these kiddos and not home to answer
the door I left a bucket full of goods which I'm sure was
emptied within seconds even with all the spiderwebs the ghosts
and goblins had to get through. When I was growing up and
came across a house that had left a bucket of candy, the whole
thing got emptied into the waiting pillow cases. That's right,
pillow cases. We were straight business on Halloween.

Alejandro has been introduced to paint in some of its
varieties and has been tearin' it up ever since.

Soakin' it up at Lake Michigan

I know that the cold is barely beginning here in
Indy but here's to warmer times anyway.

Haunting the Indianapolis Children's Museum

We went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum and rode the Eerie Express, a haunted train that, even though visited during friendly hours, was not friendly at all. Even though the lights were on and the "scarers" were friendly, the displays were more than little scurvy pirates and tiny poohs are ready for. Very cool for older kids though.

Speaking of Remembering......

Eli and I took the kids and met some friends downtown for the Light the Night Walk put on by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We joined about 4,000 others and walked in memory of Matthew and for Steve as well as others who we continue to pray for. It was inspiring to see all the white balloons representing survivors and sad to see all the gold balloons which represented people taken by Leukemia and in general to see all the lives that have been touched in some way by these cancers (red balloons).

Matthew Tree

This fall has been awesome with a little bit of chill and lots of nice days. I was looking out the window the other day and noticed for the first time the brilliant red leaves from this Maple (I think it's a Maple) that sits on the back of our lot. It reminded me of Matthew and the tree that was planted in his memory back in Utah. It's good to remember.

Natalia Joins the Club.....Unfortunately.

The other day I took Alejandro and Natalia to her gymnastics place for some playtime. We had only been there five minutes when Natalia broke her arm. She was about to jump from the balance beam into the foam pit but somehow managed to fall sideways off the beam. She landed awkwardly on the edge of the pit breaking her forearm in the process. It looked like her arm had two elbows. I felt terrible. After x-rays we saw that both the radius and the ulna were broken. Initially they were thinking that surgery would be needed but when the pediatric orthopedic surgeon finally arrived (4 hours later) he set it and casted it on the spot. Aside from some swelling and itches Natalia is doing fine.

This picture shows almost exactly where Natalia broke her arm.

Here is a picture of some swelling the next day.

And of course her cast had to be pink.

Good Weather Slippin' Away.........Again.

It doesn't seem to matter how much time we spend outside during the warmer months, the canteen doesn't ever seem to fill enough to last through the winter. I used to look forward to winter months because they meant snowballing cars, sledding, doughnuts in parking lots and most of all snowboarding and skiing. None of that here in Indiana though.

Last year we had one small dusting of snow and a whole lot of mind-numming cold! Anyone need a snowboard? Anyway, winter provides us with plenty of time to sit indoors and look at pictures of warmer times like this summer when we helped raise these Painted Lady butterflies from caterpillar to butterfly. Good times!

Bought a Truck!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOO!

Where's the mud? I'm ready.

Before and After

Buzzers meet scalp in Alejandro's latest shearing. Por kid has his old man as his barber. Can you feel his pain?

Mom and Dad visit

Natalia and Alejandro sure had fun with Grandma and Grandpa!




Natalia and Grandpa had a lot of fun building a fire truck from a kit. He had to be careful with his fingers because when Natalia hammers, she lets it rip. She must get that from me. I still manage to hammer my poor fingers. At least she knew to hit Grandpa's and not her own. She must get that from her mom.

Abuelita

Eli's mom visited from Spain during the first part of the summer. We had a lot of fun hanging out and just being together. We all were completely spoiled rotten on a daily basis with the most authentic Spanish cuisine.............delicious. Natalia misses her a lot and asked Eli if she could go to the airport and pick her up, as if she were just hanging around in the airport. Since she has been gone we have started a new tradition at home, churros for breakfast Sunday mornings (these are not the same things most you have eaten at Disneyland). Delicioso!

Crazy Summers

No news is usually good news but in this case, we've just been really busy....and if this doesn't make any sense, it may be because you are really small. Alejandro, Natalia and I have celebrated birthdays and Eli and I had our 7th anniversary. All of this combined with everyday living has made for a crazy summer. So...................I promise to update with pictures and details now that things have cooled down a bit.☺

What a BOZO

We have been having fun hanging out with Eli's mom. She has been here for the last few weeks helping out so I can study and get some writing for school done. It has been a BIG help. This last weekend we went to the Marion County Fair which is just up the street from where we live. It was fun but only for a little while. The rides were three and four dollars a pop so we could have easily gone broke. Luckily we didn't bring very much money. There was a clown that was entertaining but not for the reasons you might think. He was sitting on a dunk-tank and for a few dollars you could try to knock him into the water. He was either really smart or really stupid and I'll tell you why. He insulted everyone that walked by, saying all kinds of crude and racial insult to each and every different person that walked by. He said to the Hispanic guy "Hey cabron hehehe(evil laugh) come over here like you came over here if you know what I mean hehehe" and to the black couple "Hey jaszniqua hehehehe where did you get those brades done hehehehe I hope you got a refund hehehe." He made fun of black guys' grills and red neck hair cuts and outfits some girls were wearing and everything in between. He was smart because he seemed to burn everyone that tried to insult him back, maintained a large group of onlookers eager to laugh at the people being made fun of, and had lots of angry people spending their money trying to knock him in the water. Stupid because one day someone is going to wait for him to get out of his metal cage. Now that would have made for some good entertainment:)

Primeros Pasos

Alejandro empezó a caminar cuando tenía casi un año así que tiene más de un mes caminando. Estos son algunos de sus primeros pasos :)

Here are some of Alejandro's first steps.

My Main Man Dan

Came out to see us last week and got paid for it. He flies for Southwest and just happened to pick up a trip that ended here. So...........we took the day off (Eli did anyway) and we went to the Indianapolis Zoo (a very cool zoo by the way). While there we touched sharks (Natalia still has all 10 fingers:), saw the dolphin show, watched the polar bear swimming in the water, and finally decided to follow suit and get a little wet in the water park as well. Good times.

Swimming Lessons

Natalia finished up her first session of swimming lessons! Her first day she hopped into the water and forgot to hold onto the side. Needless to say she sank right down to the bottom. Nobody else noticed so I rushed over and fished her out. Anyway, she has learned a lot. One thing she loves to do is put her head under water (when she is wearing goggles) and has a record of holding her breath for 15 seconds. During her last lesson she made me jump up and rush over when she let go of the side and sank into the pool again. This time though, she was able to kick and kick until she could reach the side, smile at me and give me a thumbs up. :)

Happy Birthday Alejandro!

We celebrated Alejandro's 1st birthday a few days ago. He loved holding a fork and trying to eat his cake with it. He loves cars and got many for his birthday. He really loves his monster truck.

My mom and dad came out and stayed with us while my mom attended a trade show downtown. It was awesome having them here with us and highlights include hanging out, working on some garage projects (my dad was cracking the whip), celebrating Alejandro's 1st b-day, seeing Natalia at her swimming lesson, and going to the zoo. My dad also helped me clean out my stuff from my classroom at Craig.

She isn't old enough!

The other day Eli watched a little bit of "Freaky Friday" with Natalia. A little bit later that evening when we were eating dinner I told Natalia to eat her food. She looked at me with her little 3 year old serious face and said to me "Daddy, you're ruining my life!" She couldn't hold the serious face for long and started busting up. Then a few days later when Eli was putting her to bed Natalia made that serious face and told Eli, "Mommy, I hate my life!" Of course she was trying the whole time to keep from laughing. Eli asked her why she hated it and Natalia said that she hated her life because it always told her what to do. When she had to get up, to brush her teeth, to get ready, to take a bath. It told her when she needed to go to bed etc. She couldn't hold the giggles back for long and she and Eli had a good laugh. Natalia does have a point, however. Life does tell us what to do all the stinking time. I think I hate my life too. :)

Family

Greg y Yolanda vinieron a visitarnos de Florida y lo pasamos muy bien. Jugaron las niñas muy bien (Hannah y Natalia) y por supuesto Natalia y Alisa tuvieron sus momentos. Mientras estuvieron fuimos al zoológico y al museo de niños. Las niñas lo pasaron bien jugando en la piscina también.

Lawrence Park

We met Kim and Victoria at a park in Lawrence Township for a picnic and play. While we were there, the kids got a little pony ride, played in the park, rode bikes, watched the ducks cross the road and touched a fish someone caught in a pond. Alejandro loves to go down the slide head-first without any fear. Reminds me of someone.... Anyway, it was lots of fun for the kids.

Metiéndose en todo.

Alejandro se mete en todo.....Todo el tiempo. Aquí están algunos de los momentos más graciosos. ¡Disfruten!

Go Chivas

Our friend Antonio sent us some a Chivas soccer outfit for Alejandro and so I donned my Chivas USA t-shirt for a picture. Thanks Antonio!

Memorial Day has always meant another day for picnics and barbecues..... Not anymore. Now that little Matthew isn't here with us, this holiday has taken on a different meaning. We miss him and know that Mike and Connie miss him terribly. We love you Mike and Connie and think about and pray for you often.

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!!!!!!!

We are finally getting our blog up and going so some of this material is long past but equally chereshed. Here is a short clip of Natalia; she really loved kicking things around the house!

Natalia's First Bike

Natalia apenas aprendió cómo andar en bicicleta y le encanta. Me da ganas de ir a comprarme una también. Cuando salimos para estrenarla el niño de al lado vino con la suya y con muchas ganas de andar con Natalia. Después de practicar un ratito dimos una vuelta grande en el caminillo que rodea la comunidad. ¡Solo volcó y cayó un par de veces!

FOUR MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL!!!

Florida

We were able to go on a little vacation in Florida. Thanks to my bro. Dan's help we were able to fly in, rent a car and then finally drive back to Indiana. We stayed in Titusville just east of Orlando and very close to the Kennedy Space Center. We had a great time playing in the water, collecting shells, swimming in the pool and catching turtles, frogs and lizzards.