Beverly Hills Chihuahua

How to party Chihuahua style!

Get 20 of your closest Amigos

y Amigas

Allow 2 Papasito's y 6 Mamasita's to come.

(Hey someones gotta pay for the perro snacks!)

Venture off to the movies to celebrate Alyssa y Alejandro's 8th Feliz cumpleanos.

Laugh, watch the movie, eat and laugh some more!

Baptism

One of the reasons why 8 is particularly great in our church is that this is the age children can be baptized.

Alyssa and Alexander were baptized on October 11th by their Uncle David and it was a very special day. I am so proud of them for the good choices that they make, the kindness that they show to others, the love that they have for their friends and family and most of all choosing to follow their Heavenly Father's plan.

The children, as well as the person who is baptizing, wear white. They are baptized by immersion (going all the way under the water) and later change back into their regular clothes when they are confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Alyssa, "I am glad that my sins got washed away and Grandma Sandy gave me scriptures with my name on them!"
Alexander, "It was fun to get soaking wet! It was pretty cool to get my scriptures too."
Afterwards we celebrated with family and friends with a small lunch and a delicious birthday cake!

Pumpkin pickin' time

Find joy in the journey!

President Thomas S. Monson:

"I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do.

Instead, find joy in the journey—now."
“Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend . . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and

we experience heaven on earth.”
My sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey."

My 3 joys

1. Alyssa & Alexander's baptism yesterday

2. Primary practice running smoothly

3. Family afternoons on Sunday

Seriously?!

The kids got skateboards and all of the safety gear we could find to go with them for their birthday! (I wasn't the only one dead set on the gear. Paul actually was the one who was very careful in picking it all out making sure it fit correctly etc...) I really thought the kids would give us a hard time about the gear and say Seriously Mom and Dad you must be joking! But they knew that we meant business and after about the 10 minutes that it took to get all the gear on Alyssa and Xander were off to try out their new boards and what tricks they could do!

First it was how low can you go?

Check out those looks of determination!

Then 360's

Amazingly enough no serious wipe outs! Yet...

Just huge smiles and tons of fun!

PiNg pOnG

Paul really wanted to take the kids to Six Flags this afternoon. We got 2 free tickets a few months back and just needed to purchase 2 more. The problem was that I didn't want to go! We did housework all morning, Xander had a soccer game and I was tired and just wanted to veg. (Later in the evening I discover it to be due to the fact that I am sick.) But I really vacillated about whether I should go or not.

YES, NO, yEs, nO! Should I stay or should I go? Back and forth in my head like a PiNg pOnG!

Paul found it quite amusing since he could almost see the struggle within my head. The obligatory family outing that I must attend or be a lousy mom. In the end I stuck to my guns because I knew that they would have a great time with their dad! Paul was happy to go it alone and I was happy to be at home. I started a painting, watched all of the morning session of conference, (WOW was that great! So inspiring.) took a nap, woke up sick, ate dinner, watched a movie, and now time to blog. All in all a pleasant evening to be had by all! I called after dinner and they were having a blast. I felt a tiny pang of remorse, but even greater the feeling that I made the right choice and that they are having a great with Dad!

8 is GREAT!

As you can see by the huge smiles on Alyssa and Alexander's face 8 really is great! They are so excited for today to finally be here! Really the countdown began about a month or so ago.

This morning started off around 6:15 with us telling the kids to give us a few more minutes of sleep. At 6:45 they were bouncing on the bed and eager with anticipation to open their presents! After a frenzy and flurry of tissue paper strewn all over the place the gifts were opened and ready to be played with. Much to their dismay showers and getting ready came first. But for once they did not fight us, argue with one another or dawdle! They were done in record time and ready to play. Alexander got a set of Bakugon things- these little magnetic balls that open up into a figure and Alyssa got a basket of art supplies. She HAD to start a picture this morning.

Thankfully we were all in agreement that the new skateboards could be ridden later in the day after school! Too much paraphernalia to put on to lessen the "breakage potential" and trips to the ER. Oh boy!

After dropping them off at school I kept thinking back to the day they were born and how very grateful I am to be their mother. They truly bring the greatest joy into my life! I am so proud of them and their accomplishments, progress in learning and kindness towards others. They really are great! Happy birthday my sweet little (okay a bit bigger now) loves!

With Granddad Andy 8 years ago!