Halloween 2025

Happy Halloween, one of my favorite holidays!

Bianca had Halloween parade at school and she decided to be Hermine from Harry Potter again. I think it was perfect since her class theme this year is Hogwarts.

Short after the parade she had a class party. As I always like to do, I volunteered with a game. I bought donuts and the kids played donut on a string. They had so much fun!

Trick-or-treating looked a little different this year. Bianca was not behaving and she ended up missing it. Ale stayed with her at home while Giovi and I joined the Matutes in Lehi as usual. I cried a little for not having Bibi there but sometimes parents have to make hard decisions so our children can learn and grow to be the best version of themselves.

Giovanna was a good sport and trick-or-treated with the younger ones and got lots of candies for herself and her sissy.

Giovi is 15

I am officially a mother of a 15 year old. It is crazy to me 15 years ago I brought home my first baby. It feels like yesterday. Giovanna has been the light of our lives since she was born. She brings so much happiness into our home with her kindness and gentleness. She is a real life Disney princess.

She had already told me she didn't want a birthday party and she would like to travel instead. We were planning on going to New York and Boston, but I guess I should had planned this trip a year ago because finding flights, hotels, and tickets to famous attractions was HARD. Everything was sold out and flights were doubled the price. And that was my lesson to never plan a trip around school break. 

The last straw was the US government shutdown. Because of that many agencies funded by the government were shutting down, such nationals parks and Statue of Liberty in NYC. We didn't want to risk traveling all the way there to not being able to visit the Statue of Liberty.

Unfortunately, it felt like everything was pointing us to stay home. Even the girls were not on their best behavior. So we decided to plan this trip to the near future. But of course I still wanted to do something special for Giovi's 15th birthday. I told her that since she didn't want a party we could just make our traditional Halloween dinner a little bigger this year and invite the Matutes and Britos which she agreed.

We used the clubhouse and I bought black chair covers and table cloths. Then I added gold and burgundy to the decoration. I also bought bleeding taper candles, flowers, and black crows for the tables. Everything turned out so pretty and classy.

I cooked chicken alfredo pasta with yellow and orange peppers, French baguettes, and salad. After dinner everyone shared one word to define Giovi. It was beautiful and very emotional for me. Then we sang happy birthday and ate cake while seeing pictures of baby Giovanna.

I baked and frosted Giovi's cake and it only took me four days lol. But it turned out really good and delicious! The first layer I made vanilla and dulce de leche and the second layer I made chocolate with coconut.

Thank you all for coming, for showing our sweet Giovi your love, and for always being there.

Happy birthday beautiful girl. We love you more than words can express.

Fall break 2025

As I have mentioned before Ale and I took Fall break off to go to New York and Boston for Giovanna's 15th birthday. Since it didn't work out I planned something else because staying home was not an option for me. I found a cute Airbnb in Park City and off we went to ride bikes and enjoy the beautiful Fall leaves.

The girls love Airbnb (and so do I) because of their interesting accommodations, we have more space, we can cook our own food, and it just feels personal than staying at a hotel. They had fun going up and down the stairs and jumping over the small wall between their loft beds while Ale and I relaxed in front of the fireplace. 

One of my favorites was the balcony where I could watch the sunrise and sunset behind the beautiful colorful leaves.

McPolin Farm Natural Trail

The bike ride was beautiful. Fall is my favorite season! We did the McPolin Farm Natural Trail which was great because it is all paved and easier for the girls. They did get tired and complained a little towards the end but they did awesome considering it was their first road biking.

P.S. I was so excited to see the American Flag at McPolin Farm BUT I didn’t know they take the flag down short after September 11th. Now you can imagine my disappointment when we get there and see the barn completely white!

 

Park City Historic Main Street

We had all our meals at home with an exception of one night. We walked around Park City Main and had dinner at Mumbai House.

Sundance Mountain Resort 

I was SO EXCITED to finally disclose the surprise I’ve keeping from my peeps! I secretly bought tickets to the Sundance Halloween Lift Rides 

It was a cold night so I made sure to bundle everyone up with hats, coats, and blankets. The lift lasted 45 minutes and we could see the Halloween decorations and set ups around the resort from the above. Sometimes the lift will go a little lower and people would be waiting to scare us. Before hopping on the lifts I made sure to five the girls a glow stick so they wouldn't scare them. After the lifts we head back to our Airbnb for hot cocoa and bed.