Sylvie’s 4th birthday

We had a low-key celebration two days before her real birthday this year. Her birthday was on Wednesday, but since Julio was going to be out of town that day for work and Mom and Dad and Brandon were leaving for the weekend, we celebrated on Monday night. We just did cupcakes (pink Hello Kitty) and presents. She’s a pretty low-maintenance girl! I feel bad that she has not had a friend party yet, but we really don’t have anyone to invite. Sad, I know. Her best friend, cousin Eden has moved and so we skyped with her. That was fun for Sylvie to see her cousin again. Sylvie was excited about opening her gifts.

Helping decorate her pink Hello Kitty cupcakes

She got a unicorn from Grandma and Grandpa (and clothes and the tea set.)

Uncle B was quite excited about this gift-it was a big hit!

A new “tea party”. She already broke one set, so here’s another one for her to break!

A piggy bank. Hope she doesn’t break this either!

a Lalaloopsy doll. I honestly don’t understand the hype.

Getting ready to blow out the candles.

Enjoying the cupcakes and ice cream and her foot.

On her “real birthday” I kept telling her Happy Birthday and she kept saying, “I already had my birthday!”  We went to get frozen yogurt that night-just so it wouldn’t go unnoticed. Sylvie is still our silly girl. I wish for the world and happiness for her. She doesn’t ask for much, just love and attention. We love her so much.

A great loss

I’m sitting here with so many thoughts going through my head and a very heavy heart. I just found out-on Facebook no less-that a friend of mine passed away unexpectedly last night. She wasn’t sick, was very happy and just died. She has 4 kids and a loving  husband that she leaves behind. Her name is Kendra. I met Kendra about 7 1/2 years ago through a playgroup. When Lucia was a baby and the following 5 years, we would meet at a park or at someone’s house every Friday for a potluck and playdate. We would stay and talk and eat for hours while the kids played. They were good times-carefree and time to bond with other mothers with young kids. Kendra and I did a preschool co-op together. She was always so creative and did some cool activities with the kids. When Kendra started homeschooling her kids, I thought-Hey, maybe I could try it too and so I did for a half a year. We would get the homeschoolers together and do some fun stuff.  Lucia and Kendra’s daughter attended each other’s birthday parties. When Lucia started school, I gradually stopped going to the Friday playgroup. But, Kendra and I were in book club together and would still see each other once a month. She was a faithful book club goer. Here are some other things that Kendra was: she had a degree in biology, was an excellent gardener, cook, crafter, homeschooled her kids with so much dedication, and could build and do anything. She had opinions, but would never force them on anyone or judge someone if their opinion differed from hers. She had a strong testimony of the gospel and served faithfully in the Church. She was a loving mother and wife. She had a large group of friends. I wonder why God would take such a wonderful person from this earth, from her family? She was doing the most noble thing a woman could do in rearing and teaching her children. What will they do without her? It makes me think that if it could happen to Kendra, it could happen to anyone, it could happen to me. I wonder what she is thinking now, as she looks down on us from heaven. What is God’s purpose for her now? She must have been needed for a very important cause for Him to take her now-so prematurely in her life and while her children are so young. I hope that her husband and children will find peace and be able to understand why God took her from them. I hope that I can rise to the standard Kendra set of being such a wonderful person and mother. She will be greatly missed.

Kendra is in the middle, in the purple shirt. This picture was taken at Kendra’s house a few years ago. We were having a going away party for a friend who moved away. I wish we could have had a “going away” party for Kendra! We love you Kendra!

Marco’s 6th birthday

Our little stud

We all went to Raging Waters on Saturday-Marco’s birthday. It was his idea. It was a record heat day-so we knew it would be crowded and it was. Marco was too small to go on any of the big waterslides, so we stayed in the kid area most of the day. We didn’t realize until we got to the car that we had been there nearly 5 hours! It was fun, but exhausting! Everyone fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Look at that loot!

In the evening, Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle B came over for a bbq, cake and ice cream and presents. Marco requested a Batman cake-I did my best!  I’m not a cake decorating pro! He loved his Angry Bird and so did Tessa! He got some Ben 10 stuff, a backpack, Toy Story video game, Pokemon, and clothes. He was excited and happy with all his gifts. I can’t believe he’s getting to be a big boy! He’s not a baby anymore. We love him and hi stubborn playful personality!

A little update

The summer is quickly drawing to a close. I have mixed emotions about this. I like being free from worry and tied to a schedule. But, I miss the schedule at the same time. I need to get back into the routine of going to bed early and getting up early and starting my day before noon. But, it’s been nice to relax and enjoy the warm carefree days.

Just some recent things: Sylvie started her occupational therapy for her sensory integration disorder. The OT gave us a sensory diet for her. We use a soft bristle brush to brush her arms, legs and back. Then we do compressions on her pressure points. It helps her to feel more calm and organized. After just two days, I’ve seen a difference in her. She actually came to me and calmly told me she was hungry and wanted cereal. She usually will either yell and scream at me that she’s hungry, or she’ll just get into food and make a mess and not eat it. She hasn’t been running and jumping and flapping her arms as much either. She also was able to sit through an entire story last night without interrupting or wandering off. Good for her!

Marco started soccer yesterday and he’s really excited about it. But, it will make life a little bit crazy for a while. He is turning into a fish in the pool-diving to the bottom of the deep end to retrieve rings and doing flips into the pool! Crazy! We are looking forward to celebrating his birthday on Saturday. We are going to Raging Waters and then doing cake and presents in the evening with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle B-no other family here to celebrate with us.

Tessa is turning into a little spit fire. She climbs on anything she can get up on! She gets onto the table and chairs and onto the beds.  Her new favorite words are, “Chase” and “no no no”. Of course, she still loves to say Elmo and Dada. It’s impossible now to sit through meetings with her at church. Only 3 more months til nursery! She is loving the water too and thinks she can swim on her own.

Lucia is growing like crazy! I got her new school shoes and she wears a size 2! I think I wore that size in 6th grade. She is eager to start 3rd grade next week. She started activity days for church and has made a new friend at church. A girl named Sofia moved in and so the three girls in her class call themselves the 3 “ias”. (for Lucia, Sofia and Mia).

I guess that’s all for now!

Some things we did in July

We went to the Drive-In and saw Brave-very fun! Marco would have preferred to see Madagascar 3 because Brave was too scary for him!

Music Circus-one of my favorite summer traditions. We saw Little Mermaid and it was spectacular! I loved it!

We rode the train and went to Folsom Zoo with Callie and the girls and Grandma.

We had a kid Olympics at the church.

We went out to dinner with the whole family-including Great-Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Steve.

We also had a dinner with the family at our house. This is Tessa’s first time meeting her Great-Grandma.

We participated in the Pioneer Day Celebration at the church.

Old NauvooThe petting zoo

My first time EVER on a horse! Can you believe it? Tessa didn’t like it so much. The other kids loved riding the horses.

The giant slip n slide was a big hit! The whole activity was so  much fun!

We also did a lot of swimming at Grandma’s house and got in as much time with Eden and Riley before they left for Chicago!  It was a good month.