Movie night

Movie night with my girls while daddy is in Salt Lake for the night. We have popcorn, drinks, chocolate, and snacks.

I love spending time with my cuties! 

Mell’s baby shower

Our dear Mell is having another baby girl. And of course we celebrated her and her little princess with a perfect baby shower. Huge shout out to Samantha who prepared everything so wonderfully.

We had a great time.

Thanksgiving 2022

I am so happy for being able to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends this year! (Remember last year I had to work?). We headed to the Matute's home per tradition, and we had a fun time overeating, singing, and laughing.

I absolutely love Thanksgiving time, and I NEVER decorated for Christmas until Thanksgiving is over.

"(...) the spirit of gratitude is always pleasant and satisfying because it carries with it a sense of helpfulness to others; it begets love and friendship, and engenders divine influence. Gratitude is said to be the  memory of the heart".

-Joseph F. Smith

Turkey Trot 2022

 Giovanna has never liked Turkey Trot. She doesn’t like running, and she doesn’t like competitions. This year she asked me if she could skip school and stay home.

Bianca on the other hand was excited to go to school to have a "Pie Party" with her class after Turkey Trot.

Both of my girls walked half way and ran the other half. This year they ran around the school, which was much better than running six times around the field track like on previous years.

Today they had school early out, and they are officially free to enjoy Thanksgiving break.

Bedtime

FaceTiming my gang before they go to bed while I am at work (we are missing Bianca). I love my little family.

With faith in every footstep

 I've been putting a lot of thinking about my personal goals and life in general lately. The world is changing so much and so fast. I recognize signs of the second coming everywhere. It is scary, and makes me wonder how much sense makes to plan for the future.

Today while looking for some answers to my questions, I found a talk from President Holland titled "Terror, Triumph, and a Wedding Feast". I love him and all his talks so much. These particular paragraphs really spoke to my heart, and came as an answer to me:

"First, we must never, in any age or circumstance, let fear and the father of fear divert us from our faith and faithful living. There have always been questions about the future. Every young person or every young couple in every era has had to walk by faith into what has always been some uncertainty. But that is all right. This is the plan. It will be okay. Just be faithful. God is in charge. He knows your name and He knows your need.

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ- that is the first principle of the gospel. We must go forward, as it says in K. Newell Dayley's hymn commemorating our pioneers of the past, "with faith in ev'ry footstep". But like those pioneers, you do have to keep taking them- one step and then another and then the next. That is how tasks are accomplished, that is how goals are achieved, and that is how frontiers are conquered. In more divine language, that is how worlds are created and it is how your world will be created.

God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future; He expects you to embrace and shape the future- to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities. 

God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe".

I know I can build my world and shape my future with faith trusting Heavenly Father is in charge of everything. I know He wants us to rejoice in the beautiful world he created for us. 

Giovanna loses her ninth tooth

Today Giovanna lost her right canine tooth. I am so proud of her for pulling out her own teeth. I remember being so scared of doing it myself when I was her age!

Way to go Giovi! Tooth Fairy is coming tonight.

Giovi turns 12

Oh my, oh my! I can't believe Giovanna turned TWELVE!

Every year now when her birthday is approaching she is not sure if she wants a big party or not. But after seeing me working on her sister's birthday party a couple of months before hers, she ends up changing her mind and deciding for a party.

This year she wanted a Halloween bash. She was so excited to wear her new Maleficent costume! I invited our friends and her friends from school. Everybody wore their costumes too. I love this time of the year. It is so fun.

I decorated the party with everything we had home. It was one of the easiest parties I have planned so far. Mindy made the background with all the balloons. 

We played games, danced, and had a lot of delicious treats. I am so glad Giovi decided to have a birthday party!

Happy birthday beautiful Giovanna. You are getting so big and we are so proud of who you are becoming! You are kind and loving. We are so lucky to have you in our lives!