Youth Conference

Skippy and I were chaperones at Youth Conference this year. We were the parents of the "John Taylor" family and were in charge of 10 teenagers. It was held at UCSB and we stayed on campus in the dorms. We had a ton of fun, but came back exhausted! It was a great experience and it was fun to watch the youth have such a great time.
Skippy showed up the teens at the dance...

Bryce and McKenzie busted a move...
Our John Taylor children- they were a nice group of kids.
Making our neck-beards. John Taylor was the only prophet to have a neck-beard so we capitalized on that when we had to make up a song about him.
Me with some of the girls from my ward.

It was so great and I know that these youth will remember this weekend forever.

The Ponies Came to Preschool!!

A photographer brought a pony to Belen's Preschool....

I pretty sure I've never seen them happier...

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

I've always said that Regan knows how to party. This year for her 5th Bday, she invited Belen to get a Princess make-over at Disneyland! The girls couldn't have had a better time. They were pampered by Fairy Godmothers and Julie made them matching tutus. It was a little girl's dream come true! Thank you to Regan's Poppi for treating us! It was truly magical!

Check out Julie's blog for more pics, too!

Poor, Sad Maidens

Getting Started.....

Make-up time!! They also got to take home all their make-up!

A little sprinkle of Fairy Dust....

And we get a beautiful princess!!

The Happy Princesses!

Thanks again Julie, Regan, and Poppi! We had a GREAT time!

Belen's Birthday

I finally got around to sending off the thank-you notes from Belen's Birthday party (which was in January). That's just how my life is right now... I think everyone understands, right? I'm sure I'm not the only busy mom out there :) Here are the pics from her party- she had so much fun!! Thanks to all her little friends for making it such a great day!

Family Vacation

(the view from Ben and Jessica's living-room windows)

Here are some pics from our UT/Vegas trip this year. We had such a fun time visiting friends and family. We stayed with Ben and Jesse and had a blast. I love their boys, it was so much fun getting to know them more. Thyssen clobbered Mag every chance he got and gave him a new nick-name of "nus" (noose) because he can't say Magnus. He followed him around the house yelling, "Nus!! Nuss!" Belen went back and forth between Uly and Gar as to who she paid more attention to. She loved having 2 boys to play with all week. We also visited Skippy's sister, Kelly, and her family. Her boys are so sweet to Belen and her youngest, Garrett, 2, was so cute and always asking for soda.

So, the weather: At first, the cold was very shocking, but after the 2nd day, I was completely use to it. I really didn't expect that. It snowed for us the last few days and we extended our trip because of it. Belen loved the snow, Thyssen HATED it. On our way home, it snowed in Vegas and so we extended our trip one more day there too. We stayed with Jill and Don and finally got Hannah to smile and giggle at me after 3 days. Her nick-name for SKippy was Doopy. Love it! Here are all the pics.

Taking a break at the Vegas Outlet Mall

At the park by Jill's The Breakfast Club Belen and Thy's first snow-trip Bundled Mag Thyssen and I feel the same way about being in the snow. Belen and Uly got the "all-you-can-eat" snow-deal. Liberty Park Temple Square Right before this pic, I asked B and U to hug... (awkward!!)

Visiting the Wixoms: Here's Garrett- and then Aunt Kelly and Belen.

I didn't get a pick of TJ and Alec.

We ate at two places Skippy found on his fav. show-"Diners Drive-Ins and Dives"

Lone Star Taqueria, and Moochies

T hanks to the Vegas Vuongs and the UT Stiers and Wixoms for showing us a good time!!

We love you guys!

Fall Happenings

So, we started off our Fall season with a little trip to the pumpkin patch in the mall parking lot. I really want to go to a REAL pumpkin patch some day, you know, one where pumpkins actually grow, sawdust is naturally found, and there's no sign of any bounce-houses.

Next stop on our Fall adventures is Halloween. We went to the Palm Springs Ward Halloween Party with my parents, grandmother, Trena and Aaron. It was a very good time. Belen walked in the costume parade and won "Most Beautiful" She was very excited to get her own container of candy. The kids also trunck-or-treated and got way more candy than will ever be eaten. Thyssen has such a huge head that his hood was too tight and it squished his face and it was hard for him to open his eyes all the way. He looked pretty funny all night.Aaron finally exposed his anorexic diet: One gummy crabby-patty a day.

We went to a really cool air-show but got there too late and missed a lot of it. We also had to walk over a mile to get there from the parking lot and it was hot and muddy. Once we refreshed ourselves with slushy lemon-aides, we were all smiles once again. We are totally going again next year, it was really cool.




We started feeling the Christmas spirit and made a ginger-bread house for family night. It turned out pretty ugly becuase I had to use left over orange frosting from halloween when we ran out of frosting.. but, hey, it still tasted delicious!

Yesterday we started decorating the house and Belen decorated her very own tree- When I told her to stand next to it for a picture, she said, "Mom, what do you want me to do? This? or this?" and she started stricking poses. I was cracking up- Too much America's Next Top Model?? What do you think: high-fashion or commercial?
We've had a lot of fun experiencing the change of seasons this year and hope you and your family are enjoying the spirit of the season too! Merry Christmas!