Giovanna is 13

 Giovanna is officially a TEEN! My heart aches a little.

 She didn't want a party or anything really, so we did our traditional breakfast in bed, then later we went to Olive Garden- her favorite restaurant still. 

Dear Giovanna,

You are the sunshine of our lives.

You bring so much joy to our home with your beautiful smile and your sweet spirit.

You are growing and becoming a wonderful young lady full of life and kindness.

I want you to know you can always count on Heavenly Father whom will be constantly watching over you.

I am so proud to be called your mamãe. Thank you for choosing me.

Love,

Mom. 

Giovanna goes to the temple

Last Saturday we woke up early and drove to North Salt Lake to leave Bianca with Mindy. After dropping her off, Ale, Giovanna and I headed to the Bountiful Utah Temple where Giovanna would perform her very first ordinance in that holy place.

Any member of the church who is at least twelve years old may be baptized for the dead after obtaining a recommend from the bishop or one of his counselors by completing a worthiness interview. 

Ale has been saving some of the hundreds and hundreds of names he's been finding all these years of genealogy specially for when Giovanna was old enough to be baptized for them. 

It was such a special moment entering the temple with my beautiful young woman. I might have cried a little when Ale extended his hand to take Giovi into the baptism waters. I still feel goosebumps remembering it. 

"The salvation of our dead ancestors is essential to our salvation. Our lives are closely tied to our ancestors' lives, for we cannot become perfect without them nor they without us"

D&C 128:15

Guns N' Roses Concert

 Ale bought tickets for all of us to go to the Guns N' Roses concert in Salt Lake. 

Guns N' Roses is Ale's favorite band and he was excited to take his family to watch the concert with him. A few weeks ago he bought Guns N' Roses t-shirts for the girls and they have been wearing it everyday since then. I had to wash them before the concert.

It was fun and we really enjoyed it. Bianca was so good and only slept towards the end after singing and clapping her favorite songs. She is so cute and such a good sport! Giovanna recorded several songs and I am pretty sure her phone does not have any memory left. Haha

My favorite was Slash's solos. He is the best! Remember when we watched to his concert at The Depot?

It was a fun night that the girls will remember for years to come.  

Fall break 2023 Idaho- Day 3

Day 3. Sunday. After check out and before heading back to Salt Lake, we drove one more time to Lava Hot Springs to soak in the warm waters of Portneuf river. It was so relaxing! The water that comes straight from the rocks is extremally hot and we can see the steam coming from the water, but as the spring gets closer to the river, the temperature gets cooler. It's amazing. Nature is absolutely perfect!

I was said it was time for us to come back home. The girls really enjoyed the trip (after a few frustrations) and are already asking when we are coming back. Lava Hot Springs on this time of the year is so beautiful with all the Fall colors and the chilly weather. I think camping in the summer would be fun too. 

Fall break 2023 Idaho- Day 2

 Day 2. Saturday. We woke up and drove to Pocatello to go to Zoo Idaho, but on our way there we stopped at the Pocatello Idaho Temple. Visiting LDS temples is one of my favorite parts when tripping. We also had breakfast at Elmer's. Delicious!

The zoo was so much fun. A pleasant surprise. It was bigger than we thought and with so much to see. Bianca's favorite part was to feed the sheep, the goats, and the dunkies. It is so cute how much she loves animals! 

Look at these BEAUTIFUL Fall colors! I couldn't get enough of it.

After the zoo we drove to Blackfoot, about half an hour from Pocatello. I wanted to take the girls to the Potato Museum. I mean, Idaho is responsible for one third of potatoes in the US, so we cannot go to Idaho without stopping at the Potato Museum. 

Our favorite part about going back to the hotel is that we knew we could go down to the lobby in our pajamas and help ourselves with as much hot cocoa we wanted. After 7:00pm the only staff would go home and leave us with the back door's key in case we needed to go out or get back in the hotel. 

Fall break 2023 Idaho- Day 1

 We usually go to St George with Mindy during Fall break. This year we tried something different- we drove to Idaho to go to Lava Hot Springs for the very first time. 

The drive was fast and we were at the hotel in McCammon in no time. The fam was surprised and skeptic about the town and the hotel, but it turned out to be a fun little getaway.

 The thing is: everything around that area is... old  historic. Our hotel was built in 1906 and originally housed the McCammon state bank. Renovations took place in 2014 and now it is considered the only luxurious hotel in Marsh Valley. They proudly display their history on the walls.

Day 1. Friday. We checked in at the hotel and walked around the town. It literally took us five minutes to walk up and down the street. It reminded me of Radiator Springs town from the Cars movie. 

After our walk we got our swimsuits on and headed to the Idaho's world famous Lava Hot Springs. The place is exactly how I have seen in pictures.

The water was HOT! It is hard to believe that natural springs can be that hot. Fortunately, they have several pools with different levels of hotness. The girls were able to get in and swim just fine in a couple of them. 

Right next to the pools there is a little park. It was fun to see the "caves" and the beautiful fall leaves. Then we had dinner at Taqueria Peyado. The food was SO GOOD! And I don't even like Mexican food. But they really do a great job! I recommend it. 

After dinner we came back to the hotel for hot shower, hot cocoa, and movies!