Just one of those moments....

One Sunday we were driving home from church and caught this cute little action between bro and sis on camera. I had to be sly as to not let the Dom know we were filming because he can be a tad camera shy. When Dom isn't beatin' up on his poor sister they do show love from time to time, and it is so cute to see Riah get such a kick out of her brother. I think deep down there is some love there.

Christmas Trip...and eventful three weeks

We have been home now for over two weeks but I have been avoiding this first post for a few reasons. First, I am getting over vacation mode, second, we did so much over this break that I knew it was going to be a rather large post, and third, I chopped all my hair off when I came home and went through a few days of shock/depression. We had a very awesome three weeks off in California and realized that we miss our families very much. It is funny how we miss things and people more after just being with them. This trip also made us realize that we could never, ever live with my mother!! I think she has been an empty nester for too long because we got on her last nerve, sorry mom, thanks for everything though.

JJ wanted to go for a brand new look and surprise his family (promise it wasn't my idea) so he decided to dye his hair red. I loved it but maybe I'm just a little partial like President Thomas S. Monson.

The plane ride there was absolutely awful and you can see that Riah was not a happy camper.

My mom took us to a cute little zoo light show that Dominic just loved. It had all the animals (fake animals) lit up and they flashed to different songs.

During the holiday season, JJ's family, every year, acts out the nativity as part of their Christmas eve traditions. Every year I think that they want it to be a spiritual thing, but it always turns into a comedy routine, because someone is always dressed in drag. The rules are, you pull a name out of a hat and that is your part (so you have men playing women's parts and vice versa) and then you have 5 minutes to run through the house and grab your costume. Hint for next year: If you want it to be a spiritual thing, assign roles. But I kinda like it how it is personally.

So last year my brother-in-law Teddy dressed in drag as a wise man. He must have always wanted to see himself in Merry's dress.

Last Year:But this year JJ took on the role as Mary with his big ole' pregnant belly.
This Year:

One of my favorite parts of the trip was going to see my aunt, uncle and cousins in Sacramento. I hadn't seen them in close to two years, so it was a nice treat and I had missed them a lot. Dominic had fun playing with his cousins (2nd cousins) Issac and Avery.

Aunt Kris made all the kids matching ponchos for Christmas even down to new born baby Bella and they were just the cutest things on them. The cutest part was on the inside had a picture of each one of the kids that it belonged to so we wouldn't get them confused. I wish I had some of her creativity.
It was so cute to see Angie (JJ's sister) prego for the first time, and I was happy that I got to go to her baby shower. We know that she will be just the best little mommy and we will try to make it up to Idaho for the blessing.

With every visit back home, we try to get in to see our very favorite dentist Dr. Schwartz because we are usually due for a cleaning anyways. So this time Dominic had his very first visit to the dentist. Lets just say, all doctor Schwartz was able to do was count his teeth, but he was so great with him at getting on his level and making sure he wasn't scared for future visits. Dominic left happy after raiding the toy bin and getting a new tooth brush.
Needless to say, we had a very wonderful, eventful trip. On the plane ride home, Dominic even managed to throw up all over JJ's lap (sorry no pics of that), but besides that I would say the ride home was much better than there. Dominic keeps saying Talia, Lina, Bella, it was so cute to see him play with his cousins and follow Talia around everywhere...he loved it. Although we miss everyone, it always feels rather good to be home.

Some kind of miracle

We are so pleased to report that the grades are officially in and JJ has passed all his classes and is now officially in trimester 7 which means....clinic!! It was seriously by the skin of his teeth that he passed and truly some kind of miracle considering he was boarder line in quite a few of his classes. Next tri is clinic, which means that he gets to put on his white coat and actually see student patients "legally." We are very excited for this good news and so much enjoying our families out here in California, it has been way too long and I think we realized how much we missed them when we came back....if that makes sense? We got to meet our new little niece Isabella "Bella" and she is just the most beautiful little thing and looks just like her other two beautiful sisters. We hope everyone has a great holiday season, and a very Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Cuties

Yesterday for church, being our last Sunday before we leave on vacation, I thought we would all dress as a family as if we actually had Christmas spirit. I put the kids and myself in red outfits and we left for church early without JJ because I was singing in the choir. On my way out I told JJ to wear a red tie, and what do you know? He shows up in a blue sweater! I often wonder why I try? but I got some cute shots of the kids anyway.

First steps today, off to college tomorrow....

Our little girl is growing up so fast and just took her first steps at eight months old!! She still isn't too confident yet, but she keeps trying. She wants to do everything her big brother is doing, so it doesn't surprise me that she is walking so soon. She is just such a delight in every way, we love having her in our family. She never fails to bring a smile to my face whenever I'm having a not so good day. Yes, she is my coping mechanism when dealing with our tyrant two year old. I just love these baby stages, they seem to be going by way too quick with her, but I am trying to treasure every moment.

Christmas what?!

Seeing as how we are going home (California) for the holidays, we didn't even bother to put Christmas decor up in our house because we would only be able to enjoy it about a week or two. So in an attempt to try and bring some Christmas cheer into our home, we sang Christmas songs tonight for Family Night. Well, it brought something into our home, and I wouldn't call it cheer. Dominic was in his own little world, I didn't know the lyrics, and JJ was off key.... one of those truely eventful Family Nights....why do we do this again?

Attempt #1

I love how Dominic acts like he's really reading that hymn book.

Attempt #2...okay lets try a different song, maybe thats the problem.

Sorry JJ, had to show off your incredable pitch

We finally realized that the song wasn't the problem....

Do or not to do? this is the question.

So I have been thinking for a while to take the plunge. To just dive in and do it.....but I'm scared. It has only been the last few years that I have had really long hair, but it seems like I can't go back now. I know that it will feel very liberating so I am highly considering just chopping everything off. Thanks to my good friend Shandra who introduced me to this free Mary Kay website where all you do is upload a picture and you can see how you would look in any hairstyle and color. I found out that I would never look good as a blond and that red hair looks pretty good. But this picture is kinda what I am going for. Let me know what you think?