San Diego-USS Midway

On the enlistee's bed

Our first stop, Las Vegas.  Grandma and Paka flew from FL to meet with us in Las Vegas and go on this adventure with us.  It was so nice to see them again.  We spent the night at the Tuscany and the following morning we drove to San Diego...straight to the USS Midway. 
This is our family's third visit and the battleship is still impressive.

I got lost a couple of times and couldn't find our party.  It was so fun to be experiencing this with the cousins.

Watch your head!

I'll try to not write much since there isn't much to say, except, it was great. Just enjoy the photos.

Getting ready to take off.

Taking a short snack break. 

We love it!

After our visit to the Midway, we headed to Hotel California.  We had dinner and then went for a swim.  We were loving the swim. Can you believe it? Swimming in December!

Waiting for the sunset. 

Christmas Celebration

I think I've previously mentioned how I'm liking having family traditions with our extended family. It's great because when we get together it's like having a family reunion, the same way I grew up in Nicaragua.  I also like how we celebrate.  Our Christmas celebrations are mostly centered on the Savior and family.  I hope this helps strengthen our chidren's testimonies.
On the Friday before Christmas, we went over to Mary's house.  This was such a great night because we had so many of our family around.  Uncle D was there along with Aunt Cupcake, her daughter Laura, Bryan (Laura's husband), and their little boy, Locke.

It's a feast!

Mary, Helen, and I played a bit of Christmas music on our instruments.  Did I mention I'm learning to play the piano? I'm not very good, but I'm enjoying it. We played until everyone had arrived.
The evening continued with a feast of turkey soup, salads, fruits, and all kinds of goodies. 


Later, the adults shared some of their favorite and not so favorite Christmas memories.  We also sang some hymns and Christmas songs.  Even though at times the children were getting a bit restless (well, my children), I think they had a great time.  Uncle D, Newel, Phil, and Aunt Cupcake (I think) sang the Lundskog traditional 'Oh Christmas Tree' in German.  It was pretty neat.

Checking out his gift

However, our night was not over.  Nate and Jessica sent gifts to every single niece and nephew in attendance.  As a matter of fact, each kid received a present or two and other goodies.  The kids were pretty excited.




On Christmas Eve, Uncle Danny and Aunt Leslie were visiting the family from Washing State. Sam, Stephanie, and her husband were also present at Kristen's house. Mary was there with her kids.  Helen was MIA at her in-laws house, doing their family traditions too.

Uncle D, Leslie, and Sam watching the play

Of course our evening started with dinner.  Then, we hung out for a while.   Later, the kids put on the Nativity play.  Kristen read the story from the scriptures while the children assemble the scene. It was short and sweet.  I think it was just right, for there being so many cousins.

Stephanie was feeling sick, since she's expecting, so after the play, they headed out.  The Goebels also headed home.

As the night was winding down, I couldn't wait and had Kristen open the present I had made for her.  I hope she liked it.

We also went home.  We had our traditional, open 1 present on Christmas Eve.  That night, I finished wrapping their presents and finished packing for our trip.

The following morning was Sunday.  I almost wish Christmas was on Sunday, every year. There is something nice about it.  I think it's the perfect combination of being the Sabbath and celebrating Jesus' birth.  We got up and hurried downstairs to open presents.  The kids were so excited. 

Maya with 'Hippo' the unicorn.

We tried not to go crazy buying them a lot of presents or toys.  We asked them if some of their money, we would have used for presents could be donated to children in Nicaragua who were at a hospital sick with cancer. They agreed and I really liked their positive attitude and willingness to give. Arden was willing to give his old toys away to those children...too bad we're so far away.

That morning we got ready for church and went to the 11AM session, instead of our ward.  After we arrived home, we finished last minute details on cleaning our house and loaded the car.  Later, we met up with the Walters and started our trip.  First stop, Las Vegas.

Museum

I can't believe I'm only a month behind on my posts. I'm finally catching up.
During the Winter Break, Arden had to do some Mommy School in order to earn some computer game time aka PVZ. Some of the days it was a bit grueling for Arden to complete his assignments. We were spending most of the day at home working on homework, instead of having fun. I wasn't like this. So, one day, I called our babysitter and made some arrangements.  If he wasn't done with his work, by a certain time, I was going to leave him with his babysitter and I was going out with Maya.  And so we did.  We only went to the library and ran some errands, but I think it was enough to help Arden get his act together...for that day and the following day. He paid his babysitter and later we headed off to the museum.  It opened recently and it was awesome.
We had a great time checking out the sculptures, dinosaur bones and many of the other exhibits.
One of their favorite place was the children's backyard, where they had a chance to dress up (as you can see Mayita moth) and observe at things that can be found in our backyards. 

Walking on top of a dinosaur quarry was also a pretty cool exhibit these kids liked, a lot.
Another fun, yet educational was putting together a cell molecule. I didn't get a good shot, but it was loads of fun. We drooled over the beautiful stones in one of the exhibits.
Our final stop, besides the gift shop, was at the Native American exhibit.  The kids learned a new game the volunteers taught them how to play. This game was played by the native kids.
We were so glad we went because we learned a lot and had a great time. I wish we lived closer to that side of town because we would have so much fun...the zoo, This is the Place, museums, and of course great places to eat.

Christmas Pic 2011

I

I don't know about other families, but I try to kind of plan ahead and do things in a timely manner, but it seems like the month of December just passes by so quickly. 
This year, I thought I was on the ball.  I even made some of the gifts ahead of time...but mid-December was here and I hadn't even sent out the Christmas cards.
So, on a lovely Sunday afternoon, we were dressed for church and I decided it was the perfect time to take our family Christmas picture.

Unlike last year, this year, it only took two clicks to get THE shot. However, before we got the right shot, I tried to get some good photos of the kids. 
Here is what I got:

Thank goodness for Brother Alsop and Brother Zane who helped us nail this shot.

Gingerbread Houses

Halfway in December, we got together at Helen's house for another family tradition...gingerbread houses.  This year, I glued the houses ahead of time with melted sugar...it works better than icing. There were all kinds of designs.  The children were such good artists.  They were on candy overload.  After decorating, we had a healthy dinner.
I'm really enjoying family traditions.

Temple Square

It has become a family tradition in December to take the Trax to Temple Square. This year we continued that tradition. On Monday night, the Sullivan family and our family met up at Kristen's house and from there, we got on the train and headed downtown.  It was a sweet hit.  We had dinner at the Lion House and then we checked out the lights and the nativity scenes from around the world in Temple Square.  For being December, the weather wasn't bad at all.    We had a such a fun time with our family.  We were kind of bummed Newel couldn't make it, and other members of our family were also absent, but we still managed to have a fun and safe time. (I don't have any pics because my phone is being retarded and is not letting me download the photos for this event.)

Austin

On the first weekend in December, Newel and his co-worker, Clark, flew to TX for a planning meeting with their company.  The wives were also invited to attend the Austin Christmas Party.  After making arrangements and dropping off the children at Kristen's house, I drove to the airport and flew to TX.  The guys had flown to TX a few days earlier.  They picked up Judy and me from the airport and quickly drove to Lockhart, TX.  This small town is famous for their barbecues.

The first barbecue house we went to is called Smitty's.  It was amazing.  I loved the smoked walls and the fire pit right in front of you. The place was so cool.  Its claim to fame is that the fire has not gone out in 100 years.  I believe it. This place was not just totally awesome, but the food was so good.  We gorged on so many yummy meats. I liked how our food was weighted and served in butcher paper.  Easy clean up.

Smitty's

Even thought we were totally full, we went to Smitty's sister store, Kruetz.  The food was really good too.  We really liked their smoked prime rib.  It was to die for. 

The Protheros at Kruetz

Checking out the map at River Walk

Remembering the Alamo

Since we were in Austin for the weekend only, we had to make the most of it. After Lockhart, we drove to San Antonio and went on the River Walk.  That was really nice.  There was music and performances all around.  Also, we checked out the Alamo.  Even though our pants's seams were about to rip, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for chips and desserts.  The desserts were so delicious. 
Another thing we really enjoyed was the fabulous weather. The temperature was just perfect, although it rained all weekend long and my hair got really frizzy due to the humidity.
The following morning, after going to the hotel's gym to work off some fatty meats I had eaten the previous night, Newel and I drove to the capitol building. It was pretty nice and I noticed there were stars every where in Texas. Texans are really proud of their state because even their Christmas lawn ornaments were in the shape of the state.

Don't mess with TX

After checking out the capitol building, we drove to the outskirts of Austin to visit with the McDonald family.  It was nice to see them again.  We haven't seen them since we last visited Stanford. Their children had grown so much. Then, we drove to Lake Travis to check it out.  It was kind of cool, although the lake was pretty dry.

Lookout point at Lake Travis

Checking out the girl band.

After our visits, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the company party. It was a great party.  There was a live band and they played so well.  The food and desserts were good.  We had a lot of fun.  After the party, we headed to the main music/party street (our party was on the same main street) and watched Newel's boss and Judy ride a mechanical bull.  That was pretty cool.  I wanted to ride one too, but I didn't have the proper attire.  I was kind of disappointed. After bull riding, we  walked to another bar where a girl band was playing music.  They were really good and I don't usually like girl bands.  Austin has a lot of great musicians. With our party group, we headed to another bar, where we listened to another band, but we didn't stay for very long, since they wouldn't let Judy in because she forgot her ID....it was kind of funny and silly they wouldn't let her in, since she's like 45 years old. Anyways, we were getting tired, so we made one more stop to eat some wings and then took a cab back to the hotel.  We were out late, pass midnight.  I can't even remember the last time Newel and I were out that late...it has been years.
The following morning we headed to a Singles Ward and met up with my friend Debbie.  It was so nice to visit with her.  She's such an awesome girl.  Debbie and I headed out right after sacrament and left Newel at church for the rest of the meeting.  It was Newel's first time at a Singles Ward sacrament meeting. Debbie and I drove to some remote place to drop off some free coupons for some people whose town was consumed by wild fires.  Later, we met up with Newel, Judy, and Clarke at the Salt Lick...another barbecue place.  It was good, but it was not Smittys. 
We had an amazing trip.  I was so glad to go and have that weekend with Newel.  We didn't get to do what we wanted for our 10th anniversary, so for me, this trip was my consolation prize.

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a quiet Thanksgiving this year.  We went over to Kristen's house and had a feast.  It is always fun to hang out with them.
These were the only photos I took.  The carnivores devouring the turkey carcass.

Later, Helen and her family showed up for dessert.
It was a good event.

That same weekend we attended the final Utes home football game of the season.   They lost to a crappy team.  I don't like going to games where a team throws the game away.  I don't mind if they lose, but they have to loose because the other team was just better.  But we had a blast eating junk food and getting all sorts of prizes around a booth.

First Snow, etc.

Our first snow came pretty early this year.  I was worried we would have another long cold winter, like last year.  However, the cashier at Wal-Mart told me that according to the Farmers Almanac, we were not going to have a long cold winter.  So far, he's been kind of right. 
In early November, once there was enough snow to stick, I took the kids sledding in the back yard of our apartment complex.  Sledding is the only winter activity I like to do.  We had a great time and afterward, we headed back home for some hot chocolate.

It takes me a while to choose to buy something.  I guess it might be because I'm kind of cheap. Also, I don't like being wasteful, so I don't want to get something I'll hate in a few weeks and want to get rid of it.   However, we needed new bedding.  After going back and forth on bedding and styles and prices, Maya helped me choose this one. The price was right and the colors were perfect for winter. 

In mid-November, we went to Arden's school.  His grade was doing a presentation on America.  It was a good program, but it was kind of long. My favorite part was watching him dance.  The other funny part was when the teacher announce the students were going to dance, the entire audience busted out their camera phones, cameras, and any other device that would record their children dancing.

Around this time, I started going to Arden's classroom to help him learn how to cope with being in class.  I figured he needs to learn social cues and when it is time to daydream and when it's time to focus.  I was not happy about going to school part of my day when I had a bunch of other things to do. However, I recognize my children are my priority, so grudgingly, I went.  I also found it difficult to focus in his class.  Right behind him was this pile of mess and around the classroom there are too many things for him to get distracted on.  I realize though, no matter how clean or organize a classroom or his work area might be, Arden will still not focus long enough to get his work done.  We changed his study area in our house, so there is very little attractions, and it still takes him a while to get things done. There is some improvement...it's just hard to measure it most of the time.