The beginning of...Halloween

We've been having so much fun with Halloween so far! Natalei and Jason hosted a great party. Everyone looked amazing. We even had John McCain and Sarah Palin stop by.

We had the chance to play Taboo and it was the ladies against the men. Guess who won???? Of course the Ladies! :) Natalei made the best homemade root beer I ever tasted. And of course all the other food was yummy. I'm so glad I had my Prince Charming as my date!

(Thanks Carri for the pictures since I didn't have my camera)

That Great Time of Year Again...

We are so blessed to hear the uplifting messages and counsel from our Prophet and from other remarkable leaders in the church (twice a year). Cassidy of course didn't sit still the entire time (what toddler would?) but she would hop onto the couch and watch general conference with mom and dad for couple of minutes at a time.

Cassidy knows our Prophet. Whenever we say a prayer for our Prophet she always includes his name, President Monson. It's very cute and brings a smile to our face that she knows and recognizes a man of God by face and name.

(Don't mind our messy computer desk!)

One Lovely Afternoon

Cassidy and I decided to take a drive to Auntie Marge and Uncle Bob's house. We look forward to our visit with these special people, we always leave their house with lots of love and some new funny memories.

This particular visit we kept laughing at Uncle Bob because Shimee (their parakeet) would sit on his head while we ate lunch. Another highlight of the afternoon was Uncle Bob introducing the water hose to Cassidy and showing her how much fun she can have with this thing.

He taught her how to spray things and then thought it would be funny to have her point the hose at a target, Auntie Marge and I. Of course she fired away! We were caught by surprise and didn't expect a thing because we were busy talking. Uncle Bob ran behind a tree. We were being under attack. Cassidy sure picked this new job up as a new talent. We both looked like we peed in our pants. It was so much fun, and we couldn't stop laughing. Of course Cassidy had a huge smile on her face the entire time! Then we told Cassidy to get Uncle Bob and she of course obeyed her mother. Let's just say Uncle Bob wasn't completely invisible. She got a piece of him too!

I'm so grateful for moments like this, and will always treasue them. Thanks Uncle Bob and Auntie Marge for a fun afternoon, and of course for a yummy lunch. We love you tons!

Boyd K. Packer Message

The following link is a message given by Boyd K. Packer on October 12. He talks about what is happening in the economy and what it means to us. It is very inspiring and I encourage you all to read it. Then, feel free to leave a comment to discuss.


Click Here

I agree that tough times are coming and that now is the time to prepare ourselves and our families.

If you want a SMILE on your face, click on this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13947426@N07/2418995621/

It's really cute!

(I haven't figured out how to have the video directly seen on my blog yet)

Spotlighting...Someone Special

A Shout of Cheer goes out to my sister-in-law, Sara Johnson!!! She completed her 1st Sprint Triathalon. Through all the sweat, hard work, and committments to all the hard training, we just want to say...We're so proud of you!

The North Pole...A Fun Place!

Another fun thing we did with Grandpa and Grandma Strong was take a day trip to the North Pole. Our cousin Erin and her kids Damien and Lydia were also able to join us. We even had the chance to meet Santa! There were so many fun rides, cute Christmas shops, yummy treats, and shows to watch. We also had the chance to feed the goates and watch the Llamas. I think one of the highlights was going down the Candy Cane slide. We did that at least a dozen times. We flew down that slide super fast, on burlap bags.

Even though they had a food court we decided to pack up some sandwhiches and had a picnic right inside the park. It worked out great! They had a nice picnic area. Then we were on our way to continue our fun.

They even had a Haunted House. All of us girls were chickens to enter the Haunted House, due to the anticipation and the guy that worked there was spooking all of us girls. Finally, Erin and I decided to build our courage and enter in the dark hallways of the Haunted House. We jumped and screamed like little girls (well I did, Erin was very brave). What we didn't know was the guy that worked there entered the Haunted House the back way to try to surprise us and really scare us. Not on purpose Erin and I managed to take a wrong turn and exited the house sooner than we were suppose to. So we met up with my mom and grandma and they tell us what he was planning to do. Too bad for him his plan didn't work. :)

The park had a lot of cute Christmas shops we found out that we are allowed to do some Christmas shopping without having to pay full price for the park. So we'll have to consider doing that between now and Christmas. Any excuse to go shopping... :)

It was easy for us to spend ALL day long at the North Pole. We practically rode every ride at least twice. This was Cassidy's first time to experience all different kinds of rides alone and with all of us. Her face always had a smile. It was just as much fun for Derek and I to be a part of her exploring another world of fun. We can't wait to take her to Disneyland.

Grandpa, Grandma, & Abuelita (Little Grandma) in Colorado

We were blessed to have family stay with us for a couple of weeks. We were able to do many fun things and share many laughs.

We enjoyed spending time at the park. We enjoyed being up close and personal with the ducks. Wherever we went they followed literally, we walked around the whole pond and the ducks waddled behind us. Then we enjoyed the playground. Cassidy had fun pushing Grandma and Abuelita in the swings, Grandpa got dizzy pushing Cassidy on the merry-go-round. Us girls managed to all get on the same slide to take a 4 generation family picture. Abuelita did amazing on the slide since she just turned 92 years old. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine.

My mom and abuelita helped me one night to make "Alfajores" a Peruvian dessert, kind of like a cookie with a sweet milk cream in the middle, for a Primary Activity at church. The children were going to learn about new cultures from all over the world. My friend Patricia Allen and I covered South America together. She's from Venezuela and my roots are from Peru. It was fun to share information regarding two countries we love with the children. Cassidy had the chance to dress up with her Abuelita too. It was a fun night to also see the other displays and taste other samples of food from other countries. That night the children also got to learn about Fiji, Africa, Iraq, Australia, France, Germany... just to name a few.

Just hanging out. Grandma taught Cassidy how to play Uno cards, Grandpa and Cassidy built towers with her blocks, played games on the Wii (Derek and my dad were tennis champs.) Celebrated Derek, my Dad, and Abuelita's birthday, just days apart. Abuelita had the men beat by age, turning 92 years old. We had fun dressing her up for the big birthday bash. Hope I can be as good in health as she is when I'm her age. She's pretty amazing! (Notice the little fingers diving in the cake while mom was busy taking a picture.)

So I was successful and convinced my mom to let me straighten her hair. It was a fun mother daughter bonding experience. I love my moms curls but thought it would be fun to see what she looks like with straight hair. She's such a great sport. Thanks mom for trusting me and for playing along.



Just had to include this picutre of my little grandma with her suitcase that's so cutely decorated by my sister Jess.

Welcoming Baby Trenton!

We have a NEW NEPHEW! And he's just SO CUTE!!! He's already soooo loved by his brothers Matt, Branden, & Carter, more handsome nephews of ours. TRENTON DREW was born on October 3rd, at 5:40 am and weighed 7lbs 3 oz and 19 inches long. Congratulations Doug and Jill!!!! We love you and can't wait to meet the little guy! So glad you're all doing well. And so happy to have some happy news in our family since Dad's heart attack.

This post goes out to my DAD. My dad has been in the hospital for over a week now recovering from a heart attack. It surprised all of us, since we just spent two weeks together prior to his heart attack here in Colorado Springs (I'll be posting pictures soon). We are so grateful that even though my dad had a heart attack, through it all Heavenly Father and my dad's guardian angels have been there the entire time. We look back at what happened and it could have been much worse. His heart attack could have happened on my parents trip back to Arizona from Colorado or he could have been working outside on the yard (which he's usually doing and enjoys) without a phone near by. But instead my dad was using the computer right by the telephone and as soon as he felt his arm go numb and the sharp pains in his chest he called 911 immediately.

My mom wasn't home she had taken my grandmother to the doctor. The ambulance drove my dad to Tucson Heart Hospital (an hour away from Sierra Vista). He says it was the most excruciating pain he had ever felt and the longest drive he endured. My mom got home and couldn't find my dad anywhere she was starting to get worried since both cars were parked in the drive-way and the door was unlocked. So she went next door to her neighbors to ask if they knew where my dad was. They did not know anything. As soon as my mom walked back into the house she got a phone call from the hospital in Tucson telling her what happened and that they already did surgery and that my dad was now moved to recovery.

My dad is still waiting to go home from the hospital, he may even need a pacemaker, today he should find out with some testing. Since his first surgery, he has had to have another surgery due to infection and build-up in his arteries. He has also experienced some other complications so has had to stay longer than the doctors originally planned. During my dad's stay at the hospital other complications has worried us, but we're so grateful for the care he's recieving from the medical staff and of course to Heavenly Father for helping my dad since the first signs of his heart attack. We've been truly blessed. It's comforting to know that some family are near by to help and that my older brother Derek was able to take time off and drive to Arizona to help out too. We have already witnessed many miracles in my dad's behalf.

If you could please keep him in your prayers we would greatly appreciate it! Thank you! Hopefully my dad will be able to return back home soon. My Dad's last name isn't "STRONG" for nothing. :)

We're definitely going to miss playing in the water, attending outdoor concerts, blowing bubbles outside, hitting the splash parks, sunbathing, picnicking at the park, running through the sprinklers, going to the Sky Sox Baseball games,just to name a few things we enjoyed this summer. It's been a wonderful 2008 Summer spent with family and friends.