Merry Christmas!!

Bday 2010

This year I turned the big 2-7! I am kinda okay with it really. Clint of course splurged and got me a camera for my bday and couldn't wait until my bday to give it to me so I got it like a week early. But then on the weekend of my bday (also Thanksgiving weekend) he made it a point to treat me to a nice sushi dinner and a chic flick. Not to mention all the sweet things he did for me throughout the day. He tried his hardest to let me have a "day off" and tried to handle Lina's needs as best he could.

Thanks honey for a great Birthday!!

Thanksgiving 2010

We started our Thanksgiving day with the Turkey Trot. Lina was pooped from all of her cheering from the sideline.

Then headed over to my parent's house for lunch. We hadn't seen Charlie in forever. She has gotten so big! It was so funny to see her and Lina play together. Lina would try to pick Charlie up to help her walk, Charlie would let her, so they would end up tumbling down and rolling all over each other.

After lunch and all the excitement that came with it Lina was exhausted...again.

We headed out to Scottsdale to see Grandpa Alan and the gang. More food. More exhaustion.

We had a good time with good company and good food. Can't complain!

We are still alive...

I got a new camera for my bday (an early present) so when I went through it and was choosing what to blog about as proof that I am still around I accidentaly downloaded this picture. As my coworker Melisa would say "it's a sign". So I decided I should post it.

We are selling my car. It's a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer. I'm sad to see it go because I really love it...but won't be sad to see the payment go.

First Race

I did my first race! Alexis, my coworker, and I signed up for it 6 months ago and the day finally came. We didn't have any high expectations. We just wanted to finish it.

Ernest was our babysitter/photographer. Lina was our cheerleader. She got tired apparently.

And we did it! We finished!

And felt great afterwards! In fact we signed up for another race once we got back to work on Monday.

FYI- The Shun the Sun 10k is a great event! We even got a few more coworkers in on it for next year.

ASU Homecoming

Clint's studying and quiz taking require a quite home. I mean no TV, talking, playing, or even cooking. He doesn't do well with distractions.

So to appease him, on Saturday after Lina woke up from her nap (which gave him some quite time, I loaded her up in the car and we headed to Tempe. After maneuvering through all that traffic near campus and smiling at fellow ASU fan's colorful language as I did yet another u-turn, we finally met up with Tia Candi.

Lina cooperated with the dress up Shrek lady because she was distracted/bribed with licorice. Now I know the trick to getting her to keep something in her hair. She wasn't too fond of Sparky up close.

She wasn't a fan of Indian fry bread either. That's okay. I didn't mind finishing it off by myself.

Oh, and she loves bounce houses. Mostly she just sits there and lets the other kids bounce her around, which other kids think is weird. But Lina loves it.

She put up a good fight when I had to practically crawl in there to get her out.

And by the looks of these pictures, I've become a frumpy mom. I ate my own words...again.

Camping Trip-Labor Day

I have something to blog about....yeh, it's kinda been a while since this trip....so better late than never right?

We went up the Rim to get away from the heat for a long weekend.

I was hesitant about the "real camping" experience.

We had a good time sitting around the campfire, talking, eating, and eating some more.

Lina had a whiskey tango weekend.

wife beater...check.

socks with sandals...check.

spandex pants...check.

mullet....check.

Lina hated leaving the lake.

The trip home was eventful.

Not just because of hundreds of people who were also trying to make it back to town.

We got a flat tire and had no jack or cell phone service.

Kolby caught a ride back to Mesa.

Ernest eventually turned back to see what was taking us so long.

It only took us 3 hours to get back from Payson.

Clint got a whole two days off of school between semesters so we took a trip to Flag.
great company.
great weather.
What else could we ask for?

Well we did splurge by eating sushi and trying an Indian buffet.

Now back to school.

Calling on all spanish speakers.

How would you say "owl" in spanish?

a. lechuza

b. buho

c. tecolote

d. none of the above

Seriously. I need some answers on this one. I'll explain later.

My mom would be so proud...

I made these, using this tutorial. 

I am now a big fan of online tutorials, they make for some super cute baby shower gifts.

Hope you like them Jac.

Hope this helps Jill.

Is it weird?

Clint took a roadtrip for the day up to Flagstaff. Him and Ernest took their daughters (Emilee and Lina) to go visit Jonathan and his daughter (Charlie). They left around noon. I just got this pic in a text message from him...

I guess they got there okay.

Is it weird that I miss them?

Megan, you should have to come to AZ for the day and left all the boys to enjoy their daughters for the day. We could go do girl stuff that we can't do with little daughters, like go watch Charlie St. Cloud or get pedicures...or both.

New Bloggers.

Jonathan and Megan started a blog. But it's private. And they aren't going to send out any invitations.

Seriously guys? Come on....everyone is waiting to see it....okay well maybe not everyone.....maybe just me.

But come on!! I'm dying here!

This is what my future holds...

Today I got a complimentary palm reading from one of my clients. Here’s my fortune:

I will have three of these, 
but only two biological. And they will be extroverted, powerful, and will drain me.

I will not ever get a large sum of this, but I won’t have any disparity either.

My career line shows that I will not always be working here  

I will have a change of career into something to do with art, and in my later years I will be a teacher of some sort.

  

My  something line shows that I am guarded and don’t give out my love easily. As a result my sex line shows that I treat sex like a and whomever I give this to has had to work for it.

According to my Solomon’s Ring, I am as stubborn as one  of these

Based on how I hold my hand. I my family above anything else, but need my space and 

(independence).

When it comes to giving advice, I have a lot of (good) advice to give but get frustrated when people don’t take it.

I usually give it several times but eventually 

because I get annoyed when people don't take it.

Kleenex and Medications

I am so grateful for these two commodities.

Clint and I both got sick last weekend...lame way to celebrate a three day weekend. Being sick sucks. Being sick with a baby to care for sucks even more. Being sick with a baby to care for when the other parent is sick as well sucks really bad!!

Thank heavens for my in laws (both of them) who jumped in and took Lina so we could attempt to get some rest. Marian and Gabby came over on Sunday right after church to take Lina to their house. They rushed over right after church, they hadn't even changed out of their church clothes when they got there.

Then on Monday, our plans of going to Alan's (my FIL) to swim and BBQ were cancelled. When Alan got the message he called back to say "I know you guys are sick but what does that have to do with Lina coming over?". 30 minutes later we were meeting up in Fountain Hills.

4 boxes of kleenex, a lot of hand sanitizer, and of course some nursing school homework consumed our Memorial day weekend. On Wednesday I went to see the doctor and he sent me home with some antibiotics for ear/sinus infections.

We are recovering. I am back at work and actually feel like I can survive the day.

Lake Trip

We got the fam together (well most of it) to make the trek out to Apache Lake this weekend. Josue's graduation gave us a reason to brave the lake on Memorial Day weekend with all the rest of the crazies out there. We had a blast! Thanks Ernest for making it happen.

Candi has a lot more pics so hopefully she will blog soon.....hint, hint. =)

End of the year awards and stuff

It's that time of year.

With our busy schedules we've missed out on some of the events and celebrations that have been taking place so I hacked these pics from my MIL.  

This is Julia and Greg at  their piano recital. These are Clint's little twin siblings.

All three of them are little brainiacs so they got honorable mention awards.

This is Brook, Clint's younger sister.

(Brook, you get preetier by the second...I can't believe how grown up you are!)

And last night was Josue's high school graduation. First Henriquez to graduate from Mountain View. I forgot how long graduation ceremonies are, and how uncomfortable those bleachers can be!

So proud of you all!!!

A bit of polishing.

I had the awesome privilege of going to Women’s Conference this year. I’d always heard of women going and coming back fully recharged and uplifted, but never had the experience myself. So when Jacque put the idea out there I seriously considered it. I ran it by Tawnya, she was game. Jacque did some flight juggling so she could meet us in AZ for a fun filled classic girl’s road trip.

A few miscommunications, a pregnant lady, a misguided trip to Nielsen’s, and a terrible snow storm in Southern UT made the drive a bit longer than it should have been but we made it.

Collette, Tawnya’s MIL, was very generous and let us crash at her house, and even shared her warm clothes with us so we wouldn’t have to brave the UT spring weather (52 degrees) in flip flops.

The next morning the fun continued. We met in the Marriot Center. What a sight to see. 15,000 women gathered to receive the instruction to become better. We scaled a row of seats to get to the row that Jacque had saved us. As I heard the sisters address us I felt the spirit crawl into the corners of my heart and fill me with a sense of gratitude that I don’t have the words to describe.

Grateful that my husband made so many arrangements with his school/work schedule to make this happen. Grateful for my MIL’s for chipping in with Lina. Grateful for such great friends to do this with. Grateful for parents who brought me up in the gospel and taught me an appreciation for righteous knowledge. 

I learned a lot about my role in this life and how to fulfill it. The privilege of being a mother should be done joyfully; I left UT with some tools that will help me accomplish this.

The spirit was amazing. For two days I was constantly fed by his promptings, tender mercies, and some rebuking.

I have a quite a bit of things to "polish up". My attitude, perspective, dedication, prayers, etc.

I can’t wait to go again next year!