Disney On Ice

Monika and I took the kids to "Disney on Ice" today...



Here are the girls in their Disney gear... Super excited to go...


Tickets in hand...

Abram equally excited... Really I just wanted to show off his eyelashes... so from his father...

And that's where my pictures end! The camera would NOT cooperate so we decided to leave it, and then we forgot Monika's! Oh well. I stole these from the internet. Some of Malia's favorite parts of the show...

Mali is OBSESSED with Aladdin! We've watched it SO many times while traveling and she quotes several parts of it. When I asked her what her favorite part of the show was she said matter of factly, "Aladdin". Wish I could have gotten a picture of her face when a couple dozen Genie's came out... pure joy!

She, of course, is also very into the princess scene, especially Belle... Although Ariel is right up there too...

And the final highlight, Dory. She had an obsession with "Finding Nemo" for the longest time...

I'm so glad we took them. They loved it! Even Abram did a pretty good job. It was a two hour show and he only had a few brief moments of restlessness. Most of the time he just watched the show. Granted it took some twizzlers :) Other than his few moments of hitting the man next to us repeatedly, smacking his sister for fun, and headbutting me a few times... he did great! Malia sat there mesmerized most of the show. I enjoyed it likewise. Well, except for the kid who kept kicking my chair! And the million dollars I dropped on concessions! Okay, not that much, but they sure do charge an arm and a leg! The point is that the kids had a great time. I would definitely go again.

Do the Hula!

I almsot forgot Mali's video. She was watching Berenstain Bears and decided to Hula Hoop without the Hula Hoop! Funny girl...

Colorado Thus Far...

Wish I could say we are "settled" in CO, but we are still waiting to get into housing. In the meantime we are staying with our friends, the Jewell Family. They are awesome and we love getting to hang out with them. Things can get crazy sometimes with a 3, 2, 1, and 2 month old but we have fun!

Abram still enjoys wearing his food...

A coloring session...

Abram's first attempt at coloring...

And subsequent attempt to eat the crayon...

Malia's finished product. Normally we would mail this off to Papa, but no more boxes!!!!! The box would probably miss him. How exciting is that???

A concerned Ethan. He is such a cute baby.

The girls were out back enjoying a day of fine weather. Mind you the very next day we had a snowstorm... got to love spring in The Springs! Little did we know how the girls were busying themselves .... Poor Brewser...

Not even the dog dish was safe... But they sure do have fun together!

We find all sorts of things to occupy our time...

Cutie Kaela! She and Malia love playing together. They, of course, have their moments when they forget they are friends, but mostly lots of fun!

I'm caught up!!! Yippee! My camera is struggling, so pictures are tricky. The button that you push to take the picture fell out and I can't find it :( I took it to a camera store and it would cost $150 to fix! I can get a new camera for that. I tried ordering the part and that alone cost over $50. I just can't decide what to do. I LOVE my camera and am hesitant to purchase a new one. In the meantime, I jimmy rigged (Definition- To fix something regardless of how it looks or how long it lasts. Using any materials that are available to you in a creative way to make something work) it. I provided you with the definition so you could visualize my attempt... think a needle, Pet Shop mouse, and scotch tape. My plan is to make it work until David gets home and then possibly look to buy a new one. Still makes me sad:( We got it as a gift (one of the best gifts EVER!) when Malia was born and I love it. I guess as with all things, we must move on eventually. Completely at a loss as to what camera to buy, so if anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them. Well, today we are off to see Disney on Ice. We'll see how the camera holds up. Pictures forthcoming...

A Farewell to AZ

The weekend after the party we attempted to head to CO. The car was fixed and we were ready to go set house up in Colorado. Then... bring on the sickness! All forms of nastiness attacked our little family. I'll spare you the details, but it was no fun! I spent the week slowly packing up and tending to the kids ailments. As a much needed diversion, I busted out the instant snow that my mom sent us. It was a hit!

Although Malia still felt it necessary to share a bit of her attitude...

Abram with his Tia Jocy. He sure does love her! I sure do miss her wanting to hold him!

A bit of hydration. The kiddos enjoying some agua...

Tio Nany helping Abram with his water. As you can see, Abram preferred to eat the cup...

By Thursday we were "On the Road Again". We enjoyed our time in AZ and loved getting to be with family. At the same time, we are super excited to be back in CO. It means that it's closer to David coming home! Now everyone just needs to come visit us...

1st Birthday Videos

So these videos are super dark being it was so late at night AND I didn't have the right setting on the camera! Oh well. You can still hear the fun of Mali hitting the pinata and Abram getting sung to. Feliz Cumpleanos Abram!

Happy First Birthday Abram!

We celebrated Abram's birthday on March 6th. We had to celebrate early because David's mom was heading to Mexico and we were going to head up to CO. Just a "few" pictures of the fun-filled day....

A close-up of the pinata, compliments of Tia Eli... This sucker was chock full of candy!

Our decorating skills...

More decorations... we didn't have the balloons out yet because it was so windy...

Where the food went... Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the delicious spread. Too busy eating it I guess. The Menu: Carne Asada, Rice, Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Pasta Salad, Marshmallow Fruit Salad, Hamburgers, Homemade Salsas (My mother-in-law's salsa verde is to die for!)... If you couldn't find something that you liked to eat at this party, you have issues! Delicioso!

The goodie bags for the kids. This was given out in addition to the pinata spoils! A dentist's worst nightmare!

Pre-party presents. As you may be able to tell from Abram's glistening eyes, he was struggling before the party started. I tried to appease him with presents from Grandma and Grandpa in Iowa. Cheered him right up....

So dinner was delicious and then for fun the rain started! We had to do a bit of quick rearranging to get things undercover. No worries though, not even rain could slow this party down! We had to wait for the weather to settle down to get the pinata out. But as you can see, no matter how late it was the kids were still super eager...

They are pretty serious about hanging the pinata. At Mali's 3rd birthday we just hung it on a hook! An entirely different method here... Tio Nany at one side...

Uncle Max at the other... So fun for the kids...

Especially when the candy goes flying! Mali refused to pick up any candy because she didn't have her treat bag yet to put it in! No worries, she got plenty of candy...

Watch out! Here come the adults! Candy for everyone...

David's sisters and cousins...

More family and friends...

Happy Birthday cake compliments Tia Jocy... so cute! Unfortunately, Abram couldn't enjoy it because of his allergies...

Since Abram has his stinking allergies, Tio Nany made up this super cute fruit kabob creation...

Our little man in his brand new PJs... Thanks Grandma!

Even though it was super late... there were presents to open! Tons of fun presents! Thanks everyone!

So there you have it! Our little man's first birthday, done "Mexican style". It was tons of fun and great to be surrounded by so many friends and family. Thanks to everyone who made the day possible. Happy Birthday Abram!

Abram's 1st Pinata

Here is Abram hitting his first pinata at his 1st birthday party. The day before when we went to go buy the pinata his Tia Eli got him to say "pinata"!

Girl Handsome

Here is Malia with Jocy's puppy Belle. The name Belle came later. Here was Malia's suggestion for the puppy's name...

She was so in love with this puppy. I know she would want more than anything to have one of her own. However, I'm allergic to dogs and were not sure about the extent of Abram's allergies yet. I guess for now she'll just have to keep loving other's dogs :o)

Summer Wellness Challenge

I am participating in a "Summer Wellness Challenge". Feel free to check it out if you are interested in joining yourself or if you just want to see what it's all about to support me in my newest endeavor!

http://nicholsflyers.blogspot.com/

FEBRUARY- A Month in Review

So the entire month of February was spent in Arizona. David headed back to Afghanistan, leaving the kids and I the opportunity to spend some quality time with the family. Jocy got a brand new puppy. Needless to say, Malia was is seventh heaven...

Jocy and I took the opportunity a few times to load the kids up into strollers and head over to the nearby park. We were quite the sight with 5 kids in tow! Although the park had great play equipment, the kids opted to play by a tree...

We also went over to Metro Center for the kids to play. Here is Abram conquering Saturn...

Malia, Queen of the Planets...

Lots and lots of climbing...

Awww.... Gabrielito and Malia, primos forever!

The kiddos, minus the non-walker Abram! Alex, Malia (with some attitude), Gabriel, and Tony...

A more pleasant face...

On one of our many walks Malia received her first real knee scrape. Oh, the drama...

Nothing a Pet Shop band-aid can't heal! Although, the pout still stuck around...

The kids decorating a cake for Grandpa... Happy Birthday Gabriel!

Double Trouble... Love these boys!

The band-aid fascination continued...

Another fine looking young man... Gabrielito... Great kid!

Abram enjoying some peaches. Enjoyed them so much he felt it necessary to put them in his hair...

We ended the month of February with a real bang! Literally. Some guy hit us. Totally his fault. A minor fender bender but what a hassle! Fortunately, insurance stepped up and most things were dealt with quickly. The car was fixed within the week.

So there's a bit of what we did while visiting Arizona. I have other great pictures that I took, but unfortunately they are stuck on my phone! Almost caught up... now on to Abram's birthday!