Halloween 2016

Halloween this year was pretty fun.  Eli was a werewolf, Diego dressed up as a ninja, and Ruby was a princess (a Cinderella/ Elsa mix).

Eli at the Swigert parade.  It was a warm day out there in the sun.  Everyone was commentating about how hot it was for Oct. 31st.

Diego with his pumpkin mask during his class party.  I signed up to help with the party- I was in charge on the snacks.  

Mummy Game.  Tallie was wrapping up Diego.

Pre Trick-or-Treating picture.  They all had a great time.  The boys found some neighbor boys to walk around with and Cesar and I stayed right by Ruby as she went from house to house.  She loved it and was always sure to say thank you!  

A few days before Halloween we went to Nick's Gardens just like every year.  It gets bigger and better (and more expensive) every year.  

The boys went on the Tunnel of Terror ride and said it was fun and pretty scary.

 After Nick's Ruby went to preschool and the boys and I went by our old townhouse in Aurora (right across from Nick's).  It was nice to see it and we even knocked on a few neighbors doors, but no one was home.  Eli remembers living there.  

We continued the fun by going to Nickel-a-Play, an arcade in Aurora.  It was our first time there and we all had a good time.  It's not very expensive and they have some games that I like too- Pac-Man, Tetris, air hockey, and skeeball.  The boys loved it!  Diego got 3 stuffed animals from the claw game and Eli liked playing Dance Revolution.  

We also went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat.  This year it was in the afternoon instead of at night.  We ate chili and soup in the courtyard and then came out to the parking lot to trunk-or-treat.  It was another warm day and it felt a little strange to be eating chili under the hot hot sun!

A Good Day

Today was a good day.

Ruby learned a valuable lesson about being brave and being a good friend.  A couple of weeks ago, Ruby told me there is a little girl at Kid Watch (the childcare place at the rec center) that is mean to her.  I asked her what she did and Ruby said she just laughs a lot.  I didn't think much about it and then today when I took her to Kid Watch she whispered to me that the mean girl was there.  Ruby almost wanted to not walk in, but I told her to be brave and that it would be okay.  It was hard to leave her and I worried the whole time I was exercising.  Well when I picked her up she was happy and she told me that the girl wasn't mean anymore and that they were friends now!  Ruby told me that she was nice to her and the girl was nice back!  I'm was so proud of Ruby and hopefully she will remember this.

My mom gave me two family names to take to the temple to do initiatories and endowments for.  Since Ruby started school, I know have 2 1/2 hours of free time in the afternoons without kids.  I knew that wouldn't quite be long enough to go do an endowment session, but I decided I would have enough time for initiatories.  It was nice to be at the temple and I loved it.

During lunch, Ruby asked me, "when will I live with Jesus again?"  I told her when she dies that she will.  Then we had a conversation about how families can be together forever and live in heaven with Jesus if we are good and do the right things.  She asked what if we aren't good?  I told her about repentance.  I also talked a little about baptism and the temple.  It was a great conversation between me and my 3 year old!  I'm lucky to have such a thoughtful girl and I'm also so grateful that I knew how to answer her question.  I'm glad I know about and believe the plan of salvation.  

Ft. Collins Temple

The Ft. Collins Temple was dedicated yesterday, 10-16-2016 by Pres. Uchtdorf.  Cesar, Eli, and I got to watch the broadcast at the stake center.  We all attended the open house in September.  The kids were excited to actually be able to go inside a temple.  It is beautiful and it's nice to now have 2 Colorado temples.
I wish I would have taken a picture of Eli and Cesar yesterday at the dedication.  They both looked so handsome in their suits and really looked like father and son.

We ran into our old friend Barry at the temple.  (I wish I would have gotten a picture of him too).  We got to catch up some and meet his wife.  

After the open house we went to a restaurant in ft. Collins.  I've decided I really like round dining tables; I want to have one in our next house.    

Eli's 9th Birthday

I can't believe I have a 9 year old!  Eli had a nice birthday.  The day before we had family dinner at Tony's house and sung to Eli and Ivaras together.

On Monday, his actual birthday, we went to McDonald's after school for ice cream and to play in the play place for a while.  Then we had a movie night with pizza (his choice).   We gave him a set of scriptures and a skateboard.  

The Saturday after his birthday, he had a friend party with Anthony, Alex, Diego, Ivaras, and Rocky at a nerf gun play place.  They had fun.  Then we came home and had pizza and brownies and ice cream.  

Happy Birthday Eli!  

Preschool

Ruby started preschool last week.  She attends Stedman Elementary and is in Ms. Grimes ECE 3/4 afternoon class.  She loved her first week (and so did I).  Its' so nice to have some alone time!  She already told me she learned that "zero is a special number; it means you have nothing".  She also told me about how bees like flowers and that the rules in her classroom are: "to keep yourself safe, keep your friends safe, and your things safe".  Sounds good to me.  I'm excited for everything else she will learn this year!

She already got to go on a fieldtrip!  They went to Anderson Farms and got to pick a pumpkin.  I also went.  She rode on the school bus and I rode in another mom's car.  It was a pretty cold day.  We had a good time.

on the bus with her friend, Luke.  He is in the morning class and we know him from church.  

porch picture, (3rd day of school).  

Yellowstone

We took a family vacation to Yellowstone.  It was our first time taking such a long road trip and our first time camping for more than a night.  I would call it a success.  The kids did great on the road and we only stopped for gas and food.  We have a DVD player in the van so they got to watch lots of movies!  We drove nearly 1300 miles during the entire trip.

 We saw a lot of Bison- one was right by our campsite!

 Old Faithful Geyser

 mudpots  I remember going to Yellowstone as a kid and one of the couple of things I remember is the smell or the mudpots.

 We cooked our food on a little camping stove.  It worked just fine.  For breakfast we had pancakes, omeletes, oatmeal, cereal, and fruit.  For lunch and dinners we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hotdogs, chicken tacos, and taco salad.  We only ate at a restaurant once in Yellowstone.  

 Here is Diego holding a mold of a bear claw.  We couldn't believe how big it was!  We never did see any bears.

One day we rented a boat and went out on Yellowstone Lake.  It was fun and each of the kids took a turn driving it with Cesar.  I got a little motion sick and I think Diego did too.  

Here is Cesar reading the Book of Mormon with the kids by the fire one evening.  

One night we had "family fun night" put together by Eli.  We played card games, told jokes, and ate dinner.