Halloween

New Obsession

For the past few months I have been obsessed with reading. I've always gone through phases where I read a lot and then I don't read at all. This time the reading phase is not going away! I keep finding more and more books I want to read!

I've read a lot of sad books: My Sister's Keeper, The Last Song, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John, The Hunger Games trilogy... of course I cried through all of them!

My sister-in-law Cristina started doing eyelash extensions. She asked if I could be her guinea pig and I thought why not??? Well you're not suppose to get your eyelashes wet for the first 24 hours. Reading sad books was definitely not good! My eyelashes came off!

Amos and I are now both reading The Girl Who Played With Fire. We read The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo and liked it. I never thought I would like a murder mystery type book, but this trilogy is great! A little graphic, but very good.

Izzy loves reading too! She's been reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. She's flying through them. Hopefully Cam will get a little more into it too.

My little artist

Izzy is so into arts! It's so fun to watch her color, paint, and come up with new creative arts and crafts. She's always making something.

Last week she got Principal's Pride Award for her coloring. She did a great job on her art project. I'm glad her teacher recognized her efforts.

Zions National Park

For UEA weekend last month I took the kids to Zions National Park with some friends and family. The kids had such a fun time! The weather was perfect!

We hiked through the Narrows and the Emerald Pools. The water was freezing at the Narrows. But it was gorgeous! Cam and Izzy were so good! They surprised me with no whining during the hikes, and we did hike a lot!

Too bad Amos didn't make it, although I'm sure he enjoyed 4 days to himself! Who wouldn't right???

Good Thinking

Last week when the weather was still nice during the day, I got an e-mail from Izzy's teacher requesting she be reminded to bring her jackets home. Both of my kids forget their jackets, gloves, beanies at school all the time. So I wasn't surprised to receive that e-mail.

Of course, I e-mailed her teacher back stating I would be happy to talk to Izzy about that, but that I was sure the reason she was forgetting to bring them home was because the weather was still nice and warm in the afternoons.

Well, Izzy happened to forget her homework that day. Since we live only a block away from the school she hurried back to get it. A few minutes later I got another e-mail from her teacher explaining that Izzy grabbed her jackets and that the reason why she kept them at her desk was to make her chair more comfortable, because the school chairs are really hard and she has to sit on it all day!

I was laughing so hard when I read that! It was such a typical Izzy's response.

Life is so fragile

Last week one of my friends died in a 4wheeling accident. She was only 28 years old. I was so shocked! Having kids myself, I can start to comprehend the pain her family is going through. I always thought I knew how much I would love my kids when they came, but it was not until I had them that I realized how much parents really love their kids.

These last couple of weeks have made me think about how I take so many things in life for granted. It's so easy to think that the people I love are always going to be around, but the truth is, something can happen to them at any minute. I can loose them! That thought really scares me!

Growing up my father never told us he loved us, was proud of us, or appreciated anything we did. He taught us a lot of great things, but expressing our feelings wasn't one of them.

I tell my kids and my husband I love them everyday, but I have never really told my siblings and parents how much I love and appreciate each one of them. My father always told us that we need to do things for the living. That once people die, going to their graves and crying won't help with any regrets we have. He is so right (although I hate admitting it)!

So I decided to write down a few of the things I would say to my family:

Dad- we don't always get along...well, I should say we hardly ever get along, and although you were so strict and hard on me growing up, I appreciate all the good values and morals you taught me. I know you love me in your own way and I love you too! I wouldn't be who I am today without you.

Mom- There aren't words to describe how much I love you. You have been there for me through everything. I don't think I could've gone through the hard times in my life without you.

Alex- You're so full of wisdom, so calm. You're such an example to me. You have accomplished so much in life.

Sam- You have always taken care of me. You were so crazy at times growing up, but I have always admire how you weren't afraid to do what you felt you should.

Camilla- You're so independent, so self confident, so tough. But there's also this soft, caring side to you that I love so much.

Jenn- I know I can always talk to you. You always stay so strong and have such a great attitude. You always help me see the good things in life.

Sarah- I'm so proud of you! I can't believe you're all grown up. You are so responsible and so mature. And of course, as mom says "voce e a mais linda de todas!"

Life is so short! I really need to start appreciating every minute of it. Some times it's so easy to only see the half empty glass. I really need to start enjoying my half full glass.

I did it, I did it, I did it!!!

I've been wanting to run a half marathon for a while now, but have never had the courage to sign up. But Amos got into running this year and decided he really wanted to run one, so I decided why not???

At first I was super excited. I followed the 12 week training perfectly. As the weeks went on it got harder and harder, but I was still determined to run it.

October 9th came so fast! I was sooo nervous! But I figured I'm already signed up, might as well run.

It was harder than I thought! I did finish it in less than 2 1/2 hours, which was my goal. I was tired, but seeing my kids waiting for me gave me the energy to keep running and cross the finish line.

I will definitely run another one. I will train a little more though, so I can improve my time.

Amos on the other hand, did great! He's so fit! I was so impressed! He finished 2nd in his age division and 33rd overall. He ran the half marathon in 1 hour and 45 minutes! He motivates me so much!

Andy and Debbie's Wedding

Our friends Andy and Debbie got married a couple of weeks ago. I know, as usual I'm way behind on my blogging. The wedding was great! Debbie looked beautiful!

Amos and I had a great time...well, I should say that Trish and Amos had a little better time than Cody, Kariann, Rusty, and myself, but I will not got into details. lol

My beautiful family

I love this picture of us!

Cam and Izzy are sooo cute! They were great! Smiling in all the pictures, playing with each other. I couldn't have asked for better kids.

Daniel and Ethan. I don't think the photographer could get enough of them!

My mom trying to take a picture with all the grandkids. Ethan was not in the mood for it! He cried for " meu papai" the whole time!

My beautiful niece Crystal.

Ethat finally happy in his mom's arms.

Daniel. He's got to be the cutest little boy on this planet! Always in a good mood, great personality, super happy!

All the girls in the family. Wow!

My whole family, well almost! One of these days we'll get a picture with my dad and Joanne.

I love this picture of Izzy. She is gorgeous! Such beautiful hair!

My little family.