Q is 2!

When I first found out I was pregnant it came as a total surprise and to be honest I wasn't all that happy about it...turns out it was the best surprise ever!!!  Qyntn is such a sweet little stud, I'm so glad he decided to come join our family.  Happy birthday baby boy!



WHAT A CUTIE!!!

 

Why did we ever teach him to say "cheese?"

He thinks he's talking to grandma...somebody please tell
him the ipod isn't a telephone.

Since Ben was in California for Qyntn's actual birthday we got to celebrate twice...

Grand Cayman

Ben's a lucky guy, his latest "business" trip was to the Cayman Islands.  This time his friend Marcus went with him and from the photos it looks like there was a whole lot of play and not much work going on.  Hopefully Cayman Airways decides to give Ben their business so he will be invited back.  Next time I'm going with him!

4 Blissful Years!

Today Ben and I celebrate our 4th anniversary, him from Grand Cayman, and me from home.  Wish I could have gone with him.  Anyhow, as I think back on the 4 years we've spent together I get a little dizzy.  We've endured 3 job losses, 3 moves, a surprise baby, all the difficulties of dealing with exes, the growing pains of a blended family, etc. and yet for the most part they have been 4 blissful years.  This year has been especially wonderful with a baby blessing, 3 baptisms, and the excitement of building a home.  Life is beautiful and we are blessed! 



Our nice server gave us a free asphalt pie! 

Family Birthday Party

Sunday our extended family got together for a family birthday party.  Since Q is turning 2 this month he was one of the guests of honor.  I love this little guy and his excitement for everything!

Neighborhood Fiesta

On Saturday our family had the opportunity to help with a neighborhood fiesta.  It was an attempt by the church to reach out to the families that we don't know so well that live in the trailers nearby.  Since Ben is a ward missionary he was involved in the planning.  There were many activities going on all day and everything was free!  There was face painting, balloon creations, snow cones, popcorn, a raffle, the chance to win a free month of rent, a dunk tank, food, soccer, a swap meet, a fire truck available to tour, booths on family history, how to get married in Utah, information on English classes that our stake offers.  The mayor showed up and took his turn in the dunk tank which was fun for everyone.  Since Ben and I both speak Spanish we were very valuable to the whole operation.  I worked the raffle ticket table and got to meet nearly everyone that showed up.  In all more than 80 families from the trailer park and several from our ward came for the fiesta.  I was glad to be a part of it!

11 Down 0 to Go



We made it through another summer, phew!  Now it's BACK TO SCHOOL!  3rd grade was one of my favorite years in school, I hope the girls will love it too.  Alyssa has been counting down the days and was super excited for school to start, but Holly, not so much.  Yesterday was back to school night and Holly didn't even go.  I'm excited about their new English teacher, Mrs. Caringella, she seems awesome, but I'm a little worried about their Spanish teacher Sra. Vasquez, she seems a bit aloof and inexperienced.  I hope I'm wrong!  She did tell me that she plans to speak to the kids only in Spanish, which would be an improvement over the past 2 years....we shall see. 





Q was feeling left out

Final Trip of the Summer....Washington

The kids are always begging us to take them to Washington, so we did...


On the drive to Washington we stopped off at
Mount Rainier National Park

We dropped by to surprise Hannah
who is serving in the Tacoma mission

The kids loved picking and Eating blackberries right off the bush

Visited Lake Quinault and explored lots of
waterfalls and massive trees



This was Holly and Tiago's Fort

 

I pulled the kids around in the trailer on my quad

We did a little river tubing

Visited the beach



Built a pretty sweet tree fort

Visited NW Trek and saw some sweet animals

and stopped by Shoshone Falls on the way home

Thank you Willy and Carol for a crazy fun week!