A Snow Suprise!

Aaron woke me up yesterday morning, and told me that there was about an inch of snow outside. I couldn't believe it! The kids have been wishing for snow, and I have been secretly wishing for it as well. So when Aaron told me, I woke all the kids up immediately. I told them that they better get dressed FAST if they wanted to play, before it melted.

These were the responses I got:

Madison and Sarah were the first up, and out the door.


Madison made this really cool snowman.

Morgan and Kaitlyn were more interested in staying warm and cozy.

Christian wanted to play on the computer.

When Anderson woke up, Morgan showed him the snow, and he started clapping and saying "yaaaaay". So I got him dressed to experience his 1st snow, and while I was dressing him, Christian decided he wanted to go out too.

I got some cute video footage, but for some reason it's sideways...try not to strain your neck too much!



Here are some great pics of the boys as well:




It's all gone now, but it was fun while it lasted!

Kaitlyn's Kamping Kirthday K-Adventure

So every time one of my children has a birthday, I go through this whole decision process. It drives me crazy! When I was a kid, my Mother always insisted we had family-only birthday parties. Now I know why. They're simpler, stress free, and less expensive. I also think it creates a nice, intimate feeling. I've done both, but I would rather keep it in the family.

This year we decided to go camping at a campground my mother used to camp at with her family (Patagonia State Park). I went on FamilyFun.com and found this great cake! It's a camping birthday cake. The kids thought it was "COOL", and I was very happy that it actually turned out.



This is what it looked liked after transporting it there.



We all had a good laugh!

We arrived at the campground in the evening, after Aaron got off work (He's in crunch time right now with hiring, so he can't take off any time from now through early March-- that's o.k., more time off when the baby comes). It was great because there were lots of campers around, and we found an awesome site! I made dinner, while Aaron pitched the tent. That seemed to work out just right. It was a cold night, probably in the 30's, but we all kept fairly warm with our coats and mounds of blankets. We realized we didn't have any propane for breakfast in the morning, so we planned on getting up early to get some in Nogales, AZ.

The kids woke up hungry and cold, so we loaded everyone up, and headed to Nogales. It was interesting. We were all fascinated with how "Mexican" everything looked. Then Morgan had this great idea..."Let's drive to the border and check it out!" So Aaron saw the signs that pointed toward Mexico and turned the car around. We were driving through Nogales, just checking everything out, when all of a sudden we saw that we were on a one-way road driving into MEXICO!!! This is what we saw:




TRINA: "Aaron, turn around!!!"
AARON: "I can't."
TRINA: "What do we do?" (now that we're in Mexico)
AARON: "I don't know".

You have to realize, that Aaron ALWAYS knows what to do. Even if he doesn't really, he has the ability to make it SOUND like he knows what to do. I take great comfort in this.

So, when I REALLY needed him to know what to do, he didn't. I thought, "GREAT"! We were both panicking by now, and I mean REALLY freaking out. You see we didn't have any passports, birth certificates, or anything (well, besides our D.L.'s)! I had recently heard that you have to have a passport to get back in to the U.S.

I saw a sign that looked like a police station, so I told Aaron, "Maybe we should pull in there." We did and I started to tell the Mexican policeman our plight, and I realized he doesn't speak English! It's times like these, that I really wish I would have served a mission in South America, or at least kept up with my Spanish over the years. Somehow, we were both able to figure out what the other was saying, and he basically said we could drive a little further and turn around. When we did, we found ourselves in this long line, waiting to go through the American border checkpoint. We had plenty of time to let our imaginations run, and trust me I had already resigned myself to think that we may be living on the streets of Mexico with all six of our children for years, completely destitute! So we decided to say a family prayer to ask Heavenly Father to please touch the guard's heart to let us through. We waited and waited...and I told the kids, "Whatever you do, don't stop praying!" I have a strong belief that God hears and answers children's prayers!

So we were finally next in line, and then there was a guard change. This added another five minutes to our already long wait. The guard however, was so nice and understanding-- and it turns out that he lives in our neighborhood! Aaron mentioned that maybe Heavenly Father answered our prayers by switching the guards. I think he might be right. All I know is that our prayers truly were answered, and I have never been more grateful to live in America than I was last Saturday! We made sure to say a prayer of thanks, and now that it is over with, we can laugh! I wish we would have done better during the moment, and had taken Elder Wirthlin's advice to "learn to laugh"-- but for now, I think we'll continue to have to work on that one.

We went back to camp and had a wonderful party. Here's a few pics:









All was going well until the wind picked up, and we had this major gush that completely ripped the fly off of our tent! It is now history. I'm so bummed! I loved that tent, and now I'm wondering when I'll ever want to spend the money to get a new one. What a weird trip!

Sleep Deprived!

Here I am again...up in the middle of the night. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever sleep through the night again. I used to, ya know. I remember sleeping so well...but those days are long past (thanks to pregnancy, kids, and a wee bit of anxiety from time to time). My Anderson finally sleeps wonderfully, in fact, he goes to bed around 8:30, and sometimes sleeps to 10 a.m.--I know, a dream baby! Unfortunately, Christian always likes to wake up around 8:00. He always BEGS me to put on Care bears, and of course he wants breakfast. He has no patience (that comes from Aaron), and he's very persistent (that comes from me), which ='s ANNOYING, especially when you have woken up at least 3-4 times a night for various reasons. So what's keeping me up these days? Just when Anderson has decided that he LOVES his crib (yes, he laughs when we put him down--I love it!), WHAM!!! I'm PREGNANT! I always have to pee numerous times during pregnancy, it's such a pain! I also have allergies, which I can't take anything for during PREGNANCY! So I get up, go to the bathroom, decide I'm hungry, and very thirsty. I get a small bite to eat, drink lot's of water (I know I'm creating a vicious cycle when I do this), and then I realize I can't breathe. My nose is all stuffed up. I'm also uncomfortable. So I get on the computer, or read my scriptures, or say my prayers, or just sit there trying to get comfortable. Last night I coughed so hard (thank-you allergies), it triggered my stomach to turn, which-- well, I'll leave it at that. Anyways, this is one of MANY reasons why I disdain pregnancy. I love babes, but I always question why I allow myself to go through the same, old process, time and time again? It's worth it, I know.

Our Awesome Bike Route

O.K-- so I FINALLY got around to going to the Doc about my feet, and my hypothesis was right, I have Plantar Fasciitis. Now I get to go to a specialist. So in the meantime I have to stick to bicycling. Aaron and I went yesterday. We have a great route right near our house, and I've been meaning to bring the camera, but somehow keep forgetting. Once we saw a huge Tarantula, but no camera-- bummer. We brought it yesterday, and I thought you might like to see how beautiful it is where we live. Pretty cool, huh?