Maya in the Snow

This was filmed a month ago, but I it was cute.

Wood for the Wood Pile

An interview of Arden and his wood.

Cousin Love and The Zoo

I know I've said this many times, but the more primas, the merrier.
Last Friday night, Arden had his first sleepover with the primas at their house. They had a blast. As the evening progressed, they were getting sillier and more tired. So at one point, Arden said something impolite to his prima Beatrix, which caused her to cry. He apologized, and they were friends again. Finally, they all fell asleep. The following morning we went over to their house to pick him up.

As Newel, went to the basement to let Arden know we had arrived, he was attacked by the primas so we wouldn't take Arden away.

Ah, true cousin love.
This isn't the first time they've attacked Newel for trying to take Arden home. A couple of weeks ago, they hid under blankets as Arden decoys, while the real Arden hid elsewhere. After Newel found the real Arden, the primas attacked Newel, and he ran back upstairs and told me to get Arden from the primas.
Other times, when the primas are visiting our home for FHE (Family Home Evening) they will hide Arden in their car. It's really cute.

I remember as a child, I loved playing with my cousins. Every Saturday, my mom and I would go visit my grandma (Abuelita Tere), then we would go visit my other grandma (Abuela Aura) where I would play with my cousins for hours. It was so much fun. Once we emigrated from Nicaragua, I missed my cousins terribly.

I loved them so much. They really were my best friends. Later, when we moved to the US, my other cousins were either too young to play with and hang out with. I was more like their babysitter. In the US I had other cousins , but I didn't really grow up with them in Nicaragua. Plus, they lived in Miami, which was 3 1/2-4 hours away. I didn't see them often.

Anyways, I'm really glad Arden has his primas to play with. They mean so much to him. Maya also loves to play with her little cousins. They are really cute, and they all play so nice together.

Back to our story. After Newel was attacked by the primas on Saturday, we were going to bring them home with us to play...but those plans changed to going to the zoo instead.

Newel took Mayita home. Arden and I went to the zoo with the primas.

They crack me up! They love to pose for the camera, unlike Arden and Maya.

So, as we were walking around the zoo, looking at the animals, the girls kept saying, "Karen, take our picture."
And they posed for me. How fun!

I think this photo is so fun. They're tying to get the cat in the back. I don't know if you can see it.

Ah, the new merry go round. It had all sorts of animals to ride on. I would have liked to go on the ride just to ride on a fun animal.

Arden chose the cheetah/jaguar? I can't tell them apart.

Zoe, rode on the white spotted cat.

Beatrix riding on top of the king of all cats.

It's Ruth-E riding on the okapi.

I think I would have liked the snakes on the log, or the ladybug with the grub.

They are so much fun.

"Karen take our picture with the gorilla."
Tabitha was super tired, so we it was time to go home. But the primas and Arden were not ready to go home. Can you see the disappointment on their faces?

Cheetoh Pulls the Fire Wood

He no longer wants to be called Jaguar. He is a Cheetoh. No, not a Cheetos, like the chips, but a male cheetah. Notice his mixture of Spanish and English =)

Anyways, last week we met up with a friend at the park so the children could play together.

They found a broken branch and they were playing with it, showing us how strong they are. As we are walking back home, Arden starts to drag the branch home.

"That's a big branch. Why do you want to take it home?"

"To make fire wood."

"We have lots of fire wood at home."

"Paka and daddy need it. They'll like it. "

"How are you going to take this home? We don't have a car, and it doesn't fit in the stroller."

"You can carry it."

"I don't think so. I have to push the stroller. Why don't you leave it here?"

"I'll carry it."

"All the way home?"

"Yes."

And so he did. He carried it for about 4 1/2 blocks, across a busy street, until we got home. There were no complaints from him and he even kept up with my pace...well, I did slow down for him.

He never ceases to surprise me.

Maya Moment

She amazes me all of the time. She's growing up way too quickly. She loves to climb on anything. No fear. And knows when she'd doing something naughty...like pulling books out of the bookshelf and then runs away...or playing/splahing the water in the toilet bowl.
She's so much fun. She loves to put on her 'jewelry,' hats, and hair clips. I didn't know I was going to get a girly girl. I love it!

Arches National Park

A few days before Newel started his new job, we decided to take a short trip to southern UT at Arches National Park.
Newel and the kids at Double O Arch

We had so much fun. It's not your roller coaster, shopping kind of fun. It's more like appreciating nature, the outdoors, raw beauty type of fun.

As we were hiking with the kids, we kept thinking about my uncle Dirk, and how he and Tia Idalia would love this place.
Newel and Maya at Pine Tree Arch.
So, I guess, this is for you guys, and our way of enticing you to come visit us...soon.

A couple of Mondays ago, after I got home from work, we loaded the car and headed to Moab.

Arden and I at Pine Tree Arch.

The drive wasn't too bad. Well, Maya was going crazy, since she doesn't like to sit in a carseat, but we managed. We found a hotel room to stay at, and the following morning...very early, the children woke up, got ready and by 8:00AM we were inside the park.

I knew Arches was going to be nice, but I didn't expect it to almost take my breath away.

There is such a raw beauty about this place.

Arden at Landscape Arch

It's amazing how these arches formed through thousands/millions of years. The landscape is so beautiful.
I feel like none of these photos do justice to the actual beauty of the formations.

That morning, we headed to the Devil's Garden for a little hike.

Hiking the primitive trail on our way to Navajo Arch and Partition Arch.

I was panicking a bit while taking this photo(below) of Newel and Arden. They are at the top of this massive rock structure, and there is a long drop on all sides. No rails or any way to hold on. I got scared.








This view was so awesome. At the top Partition Acrh.

It was too windy to enjoy a picnic outdoors, so we ate our lunch in the car, and got ready for the next adventure: Ranger led Hike at the Fiery Furnace.

This place was amazing.

Once again, it was beautiful.

Arden helping Ranger Bobby with a geology lesson. Arden really liked Ranger Bobby, not only because he was way nice, but because his name was Bobby, like his 'ricket'.

We walked and crawled through some narrows and that was fun.

While Arden wore the ranger hat, he led us through some narrows. Way to go Arden!

The hike was three hours long, and it was pure enjoyment. We were lucky we were in a small group. Counting Maya and Arden, there were seven of us. We had the place to ourselves.

While we would make stops to discuss the land, rest, etc., Arden loved playing with the sand.

The hike was fun. By the end of the hike, our little family was tired, so we headed back to Moab to find a place to eat, returned to our hotel, and called it a night.

We all slept really well, and the following morning, we were all up early. Once again, we got ready and headed out for more fun.

It's a Karen with a cairn (pronounced the same way).

Our final destination for this trip was Delicate Arch.

When Newel told about hiking to Delicate Arch, it didn't sound like a hard hike. It sounded like a fun hike. I thought, we would just walk a little bit and the arch would be right there. Ha!
The hike is about 1 1/2 miles long, and increases in elevation quite a bit. So, I got a good leg work out.

The hike there was still fun, but it was getting colder.
Mayita taking a break from riding in the backpack.

The view, once again, was amazing. I know, I need to expand my vocabulary.

After we finished our hike, we drove back home.

Most of our drive home was in the snow, but it was somewhat relaxing. The drive didn't feel that long, and the kids were pretty well behaved.

Arden and Maya taking a final break before we head back home.

Bonnevile Shoreline Hike

A couple of Saturdays ago, the weather was really nice, it really felt like autumn. So we decided to go out for a hike. I feel like we're really becoming outdoor people while living here. I like being outside and so do my children, so this is perfect for us.
We took Grandma along with us. We didn't do the entire hike, since it goes on for miles, and we weren't prepared for a long hike, but in the future we'll plan on hiking a good portion of it.
Maya and Arden's favorite part of the hike was playing in the dirt.

My favorite part was the view. It was so nice. I can't wait to go back there and hike again. After the hike, we had worked up an appetite and went to the recently opened burger joint by the mall...yes, there's a Counter here! I'm so happy they have it here. We love their burgers!

Halloween

So, a few months ago, Grandma bought a pink unicorn costume that was supposed to be for my niece Beatrix. Although she liked the costume, she didn't want to be a unicorn for Halloween. Somehow, the costume ended up in our dress up box. Arden liked playing with it for a few days, and hadn't worn the costume for several weeks. On the night of Halloween as we're getting ready to go to my sister-in-laws house for the Halloween Party, we have the following conversation:
"I don't want to be a dinosaurio."

"Oh, okay. Would you like to put on your pirate costume?"

"No, thank you. I want to be a unicornio."

At this point I pause and I really want to say, 'No. You have to wear the dinosaur or the pirate costume. It's a PINK unicorn costume, and I would feel embarrassed to be seen out in public with you. Or, no honey, the color pink is more for girls than for boys.'
However, this is kind of how the conversation went: "Are you sure? You might get hot."

"Yeah, I want to be a unicornio."
"But what about being a cantasorous?"

"No. I want to be a unicornio."

Finally, I gave in. Our family was so nice and polite to him.
'Wow, I've never seen a pink unicornio.' 'That sure is a nice costume, etc.'

Thank you family for being so open minded and so nice. I guess they're used to it, since it's well, Arden, and he's surrounded by girl cousins. And the people at the houses thought he was a girl anyways, with that wonderful hair cut I gave him a few weeks ago =)
And once you look at the photo with the primas. He totally fits right in with all of those magical creatures, fairies, wizards, witches, etc.

After a fabulous dinner, we went trick or treating.

Maya had a lot of fun getting the candy. But what she really wanted to do was go inside the people's houses to play and explore.



After Trick-or-Treating around the neighborhood, we headed over to Great-Grandma Olsen's house.

We did some Trick-or-treating at her house...took some more photos, because this annoying person (ME) likes to take too many photos.
It was a great evening. We had a lot of fun.
Halloween is more fun with children.

I just hope years from now Arden won't say something like this: "How could you have let me wear a pink unicorn costume? What were you thinking? This is so embarrassing!" Hopefully, he'll say something more along these lines: "Gee mom, thank you for trying to be open minded and letting me express myself, and letting me make my own choices." I doubt I'll get the 'thanks mom' conversation.