Grandma Brown's visit

Last week we had Grandma Brown over for a week long visit and it was a very good week.
The kids had so much fun hugging and talking to their two grandmas and loved going places with them too. We were so happy when she told us that it was final and she had her ticket and she was going to make it to the Baptism. Victor was on 7th Heaven and could not stop saying that he was going to have his two grandmas here for that special occasion.
I tried to make G Brown feel welcome and comfortable as much as I could. She always wanted to help but I have a hard time letting my guests do housework for me. We went shopping together, took walks in the morning and some times in the afternoons (even during a rain storm!!!), went out to eat once for brunch and took her to the park for a picnic.
We appreciate her coming all the way from Virginia and hope to see her again soon.
I am including some pictures I took of the trip to the park where I was able to get a group pic with the kids and the two grandmas.
This was one of the pics that I liked the most, Shayna and her grandma smiling :)

Victor's big day.

We have been waiting for Victor's baptism for a long time now and it turned out really great. We were a little frustrated with the way they deal with baptisms in our Stake since we were told we had no saying in the entire program and we could not pick the date. We were told it was gonna happen April 10th and that we would have to share it with all the other kids that were going to get baptized that month. We were lucky to only have one more little girl on the same day.
Victor had been taking the discussion with the Sister Missionaries and he has been having lots of fun preparing for them and learning through out the entire process.
He was also excited to have his two grandmas here and to make special memories with them. His grandma Brown gave him a special baptism present, a Hymn Book that matches his scriptures.
I will never forget the happy face of Victor on Saturday morning when he came out with his white outfit ready to get baptized. Just like Shayna he was baptized by his Dad and that is a very important thing for me, it means the world to me that they have their Dad to do that for them. Uncle Steven gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and did a great job too. He also was the one confirming Victor a member of the church and to give him the Gift of the Holy Ghost, that to me was the most spiritual experience so far. I was able to feel the presence of my Dad right there with me and the Spirit could be felt so strongly. I am for ever grateful of the choices Victor is making at such an early age, for the knowledge he has so far and the willingness to do what is right. He is a special child of God and such a strong spirit. I know he is going to be a great missionary some day, I will do my best to keep teaching him and to support him in all that he wants to do. He is a great inspiration to me and a great example also, he might not know that but he sure is.
Today was also really nice during sacrament meeting, I got up there to share my testimony in front of everybody, something that does not happen very often but I really needed to do and when I got back Shayna told me she felt that she needed to go up there too, she sat on my lap for a few minutes to get the courage and then she walked very fast and said a very simple but special testimony. You could tell she was also so proud of Victor for getting baptized.
It was a great weekend and I am sure that this wonderful feeling will stay with me for ever.
We also did some other fun things but I will post that later, probably before my next visitor arrives :)

Easter, Vegetable Garden and Spring fun.

Our weekend was all about homework (Dan), watching conference and making a trip to IKEA Saturday morning. I tried to do an Easter egg hunt but I could not find the puzzle pieces to put inside the eggs, I don't want to give the kids candy anymore but I wanted to do something fun with a purpose about Easter. We were planning on going to San Antonio and have some fun there but it didn't work out, I am sure some time in the future we will. My mom made a traditional Easter meal from back home and it involves fish, it was delicious and I stuffed myself. We tried dying eggs that night but the colors did not work so maybe next year we will do them Guatemala style (I like those better).

My garden is growing and doing better than last year. I got one celebrity tomato and one cherry tomato coming out. We are very excited about the progress, or at least I am.
Today I finally found the coolest water slide for the kids. I searched all over for it on Saturday and today was my lucky day. It has two sides so two kids can go at the same time. It was a nice day out today so I set it up for the little ones, the water was cold but they didn't care.
After the older ones came home from school they also joined in the fun.
To end the day we drove to one of my favorite park with trails and we walked for like a mile with the kids for Family Home Evening.

Family time, special time.

Saturday was a nice day to go for a walk, we went to our favorite place... the Arboretum. We took a bunch of pictures since the kids were trying out their walking sticks for the first time. We started working on these walking sticks since last year but after receiving the bad news about Grandpa we kind of stop working on them. Theirs area all done so now I only need to finish Dan's and mine. The kids really enjoyed the walk and we went on a new path, it was a very long long hike but they all made it all the way to the end. My mom came with us and she enjoys walking too and last week we out walking every morning, so nice to enjoy a walk through the trees and hear the birds sing, it is the best thing.
I love it when Dan can join us our trips to the park, it makes a difference when he is there and the kids enjoy showing off all their crazy stuff.

Dan and the kids making good use of their walking sticks by blocking the road :)
Above is a picture of a creek, we love the trees that are in the middle of it, they look cool.


Here is a pond that has a little boardwalk around it.
I liked these flowers all in a row, they are cute.

Another flower picture, I love my new camera even if I can't take good pictures it does a great job.
This one is probably my favorite pick of the day. I love the blossoms.

Victor is 8!!!!!

Now I feel really old, having a 10 year old and an 8 year old sure makes it seem like we are old timers now.
Victor had a wonderful birthday party even with the rain pouring down on us. We had planned some outside games and a BBQ Guatemalan style but Dan did not let the rain stop us and he stood out there for a while grilling while holding an umbrella the entire time.
Victor has two friends from our previous ward and we invited them and their families to come over for a late lunch and games. One of my friends was sick so she could not make it and my other friend's husband was sick he stayed home too. We also invited Steven and Amber since they are the only family around here and so we had a great crowd.
The theme for his party was "The Legend of Zelda" an old Nintendo video game and Victor really likes and so we had some games to go with the theme like sword fighting, bug catching and the kids had fun shooting arrows with a crossbow. They all had a chance at winning some prizes from our treasure chest.
As party favor we gave the boys swords and the girl got fairy wings and a mask. After all the games Victor opened his presents and I think this year he scored big time. He got a new bike a couple of weeks ago and he got his new set of scriptures, he had been waiting for them for a long long time and he LOVES them. Dan and one of his friends got him some Legos, he got a Sorry game, a book, the second season of the Thundercats and I am sure I am forgetting more but that's probably pretty close.

We also had a Pinata shaped as a treasure chest and that didn't last for very long but it was still fun.




We had a cake afterwards and then everybody went home.
I am so glad that he had fun with his friends and family and was willing to have the little people join in the fun.
We love Victor very much and are so proud of the kind of person he is, he is a loving, caring and very smart boy. He has been taking the discussions with the missionaries for a while now and it has been an eye opener for me to see how much knowledge he has of our Heavenly Father and his plan, and how he shares all that information with them. We are so proud of him and his decision to get baptized and we know he is ready for it, we can hardly wait. His baptism will be April 10th and it just can't come soon enough for us.

There is something about my kids growing up and turning out to be great kids that gives me some sense of accomplishment, but in the end it is all them, they are the ones making their decisions and choosing the right, as much as Victor drives me crazy some times, I love him even more and makes this family much more special.

Ha ha!!!

I just realized that I posted about gardening the same day as last year so I making March 12th my gardening day every year from now on :) at least while we live in Texas.

Gardening season is here.

Or so I hope. Living in Texas I have come to realize that you learn as you go. Last year I tried really hard to make my tomato plants grow but with all the rain they soon died, they drowned. I think I fixed that problem by drilling a bunch of holes on the bottom of the planters and hopefully that should work. I planted tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, parsley, cilantro and cucumbers, they are all in planters. Eventually I would like to build myself a big raised box that can go all across the one side of the fence and make it easier to keep it from the fire ants :)
I also worked on taking some weeds out of my flower bed and putting in some more mulch. After working really hard for 3 hours in the backyard I am ready now for some relaxation time... yeah right. I will keep my fingers crossed so my plants can survive this year.
Oh yeah my mom is coming tomorrow so I am also getting the house cleaned up a little bit. Pictures of the garden soon.