July 2013: Wolf Creek Weekend with the Family

 There is something great about all being in the same place at the same time! Lisa planned a fantastic get-a-way for our family. I was impressed with the location, cool weather, swimming, and plenty of room for the entire family. Wolf Creek was a success for sure.

 Lots of time to just chill... and spend time with everyone. 

JJ learned how to eat whip-cream from a can straight into his mouth... thanks to Aunt Brenda and Cousin Tyler. He wasn't too sure at first... but oh, man it only took one lick and he was hooked.

Also, JJ and David loved paper airplanes being tossed up into the loft... good times.

 So, so, so glad there was a pool. Being 8 mo. preggo there are few things to enjoy doing. But the pool was a hit for me and for all the kids too. Actually I am pretty sure everyone like it. No fear with these nieces and nephews... jump right in.

 Trying to find a little something fun to do... took us to Golden Spike National Park. A little bit of a drive, but it was fun to see the trains, and again the kid-os sure liked it.

FUN and more FUN! Good laughs, and good food, good company.

Sadly I didn't take many photos. And what I did was with my phone. I am getting bad at that.

We also celebrated Kevin's 18th birthday while we were there. (Which he wasn't photographed by me at all.) Fun to have Justine join us... welcome to the family. ;)

What else... hum... so many good times. 

David (3 yrs old) told us all about Wonder Woman and her nice boobs. LOL... that was hilarious.

Emma girl (3 yrs old) was up for the pool at anytime even though she wasn't feeling that great.

JJ was his usual self FULL of ENERGY... if I could bottle that up and take for myself... WOW!

Candace and Tyler cooked some delicious pizza cups, I was impressed. Ty said they learned how in Foods class. ;)

Games with the siblings in the evening... We played Uno LISA style. Tricky business.

Alan and Joe did bike rides, Cruz did a long run/walk to the lake one morning.... And me... I just tried to relax and be as comfy as a 8 mo prego lady can be.

For Cruz and I it was a lot of driving, 767 miles! But it was worth each one.

I like this yearly family get-a-way... can't wait for next year when we have a almost 1 yr. old. 

Adventures for sure!

Can it be true... August is tomorrow? (FREE Subway Art Printable}

I really have been excited to welcome the month of August since... well, last Christmas. Why? Because our sweet little baby is due this month. Actually, today marks 37 weeks; which is full term... even though her due date isn't until the 21st. it is fun and exciting to think she can come at anytime now. :)

Yippie, for AUGUST!!!

Here are the Subway printables I have made for AUGUST.

The 1st one is kind of made just for me... and matches what I think of August.

We have no kids in school, so the back-to-school theme doesn't really apply for now. 

We do have several birthday's in August and we are welcoming our baby into the world... plus it's our 5th year anniversary at the very end of the month... so lots going on. 

 But for the rest of the world who have kids in school, 

here is a more traditional 

AUGUST SUBWAY ART!!!

Download here.

Venezuelan Independence Day!

July 5th is Venezuelan Independence day. 

Since we just celebrated USA's Independence day it's easy to just keep on celebrating.

After Cruz got home from work we went to the pool for a little while. Feels so good and refreshing.

(Which is also why I don't have any make-up on these pics. lol.)

Then decided to have a little Venezuelan flair to our dinner. We debated on driving to a Venezuelan restaurant in Vegas, but then decided not too. Maybe we should have... 

Instead we ran to the store and got a few things...

This year, we tried making our own Guasaacaca Sauce.

What is Gusaacaca Sauce?

It is this SUPER yummy avocado, cilantro, parsley sauce that is creamy and delicious. It's not like guacamole at all... (even though I love guacamole too.) In Venezuela they eat it with Arepas, empanadas, chicken etc...

This is our second attempt with a recipe I found online. Not quite right... but it was fun to try. ;) The recipe called for Worcestershire Sauce... and it kind of took over the taste. Cruz thought if we just left that out we would be right on track. 

We also made Arepas filled with chicken salad. 

I have only been to Venezuela once. We had such a fun time there. I got to meet Cruz's family and see where he is from. It's always fun to bring a little bit of Venezuela into our home in whatever way we can. I sure do love this Venezuelan man of mine!

Happy 4th of July

We had such a great 4th of July! I loved the entire day.

Cruz woke up at something like 4:45 am, he couldn't go back to sleep, ... and so he made breakfast. I had some and then went back to bed, he then went for a long walk/run before it got too hot.
Later we went to the pool and stayed for several hours. Randomly we had it to ourselves for most of the time. It was so relaxing to me, to just float around in the cool water. So refreshing because it was so HOT outside. Cruz said it well... God bless America, and God bless having a pool in St. George...

After the pool we had lunch at Dickies BBQ. Then went and met up with Joe and Brenda for a bit, as they were on their way home from California and passing by. Which was fun to see some family since it was a holiday and all. I do miss being able to go to all the family stuff... Candace sent me the pic of the little kid-os playing in the kiddie pool at the family breakfast. Looked like they were having fun. :)

After that we came home and just relaxed, I had a good nap! Then made Red, White and Blue drinks. They sort of worked out... :)

Later that night we enjoyed the fireworks!

Every year I think... I need to learn how to take better firework photos. Until next year!!

We decided to just watch the fireworks from afar. Actually it was really cool, we could see lots of firework shows happening all around St. George. I put my camera away right as the big ending happened downtown St. George... and missed what would have been the best picture opportunity; but enjoyed it all the same. 

Loved, loved having time with me and just my handsome husband-o.

We just relaxed and embraced the day as it came. 

It was perfect.

No stress, no worries... just fun.

So, thankful to live in such a fantastic place... we are blessed!

Cruz's GOLDEN birthday! 30!!

My handsome husband-o turned the big 3-0! 

It was his GOLDEN birthday, 30 on the thirtieth of June.

What did he want to do for his birthday? 

Travel.

I know, big surprise. He loves to get away.

So, we did a quick little trip to California!

Before we left, on Friday I had a little surprise for him... a bunch of GOLDEN treats.

Worked out perfect so we could take them on our little road trip. ;)

I was surprised at how many GOLDEN treats you could find. 

This was just a few. There were lots of things with GOLDEN apple, but Cruz isn't a apple fan. They had GOLDEN gummy bears, which he hates gummy or sticky candy of any kind. 

I had to think "would he like this treat?" For the most part he did. He really liked the pretzels they were honey wheat. Yum!

Our destination was NEWPORT beach California.

WOW! it was so busy! We enjoyed it the best we could... but had a really hard time finding any parking. We finally found something, had time to walk the beach a little and grab some dinner... then our parking meter was out of money... so we decided to go do something else... and enjoy the beach area in the morning.

Our friend suggested SPRINKLES for a yummy treat.

Got to have lots of birthday treats...right?

Well... we got in line, and chatted it up with the guy behind us. Who gave us good ideas for the next day. (Locals know the best places anyway.) We enjoyed the sprinkles sundae. Which is a cupcake cut in half and in the middle is a scoop of ice cream. 

Delicious. 

More sights of Newport!

Next stop was CRYSTAL COVE.

This was the place the guy had recommended we spend at the beach.

The parking was way better, and it made it so much less crazy.

We just soaked up the sun, and relaxed on the beach all afternoon.

For lunch we went up the road to Ruby's Shake Shack... which overlooks Crystal Cove.

We had a turkey sandwich, burger and Cruz got a milk shake.

I must have been super thirsty cause I drank two cups of water. The food was good, but the view and the cool breeze was awesome. We were not missing the 112 degree weather in St. George.

I loved these red flower bushes. 

and... our last stop was Laguna Beach before we headed home.

Had a great time. Love that California is so much closer to us than ever before.

Guess we will have to go more often.

It wouldn't be Cruz's Birthday if we didn't spend a little time in Vegas.

My only request was that we didn't spend much time walking the strip... it was 115+ outside... and being pregnant it would have been just too hot.

SO, we stopped for a quick look at the Bellagio to see the flowers...

then went to the cheese cake factory for a little bit of food.

We shared the avocado egg rolls. It's Cruz's favorite.

Then had some delicious dessert at Jean Philippe Patisserie.

The crepe was super delicious! A perfect way to end your birthday, don't you think?

Happy GOLDEN Birthday Cruz Armando!

Love you!!

JULY!! ★★★ (SUBWAY ART)

I LOVE ★ JULY ★ !!!!
I know it's HOT outside, but this summer fun filled month is one of my favorites. I love that we celebrate our country. I love that it gives us time to think about the blessings of living in a free country!

At our house we not only celebrate the 4th of July for America, but we also celebrate the 5th of July for Venezuela's independence day. Double celebration since the husband is from Venezuela. :) Which usually involves eating some yummy Venezuelan food... so you really can't go wrong. 

For the 4th my family has breakfast in the backyard picnic style... as kids we often went to see the hot air balloons at the crack of dawn. This year we will be in STG again... so we will have to come up with our own celebration. 

Download your printable JULY subway art here.

In Utah, we also have pioneer day to celebrate. 

Holiday LOVE!

SO... Celebrate however you do and ENJOY it!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Excited for you to be a POP! & BABY SHOWERS

What to do while you wait at the Dr's office.... Blog I guess.
Yesterday the weekend plans we had went out the window... So we had to change things up. And... So I decided to give Cruz his Father's Day treat a little early; because I will be in Orem on Sunday and he will be in St. George.

I had this on the kitchen table as a little treat for his pre-father's day gift. Love you Cruz Armando and I really am excited for us to become PARENTS!!

When I got to Orem, it was fun to celebrate with my family a big happy Father's day to my DAD.
We had a backyard breakfast for dinner party. Where we got fed well, shared a few presents, and had a great time with our family. (No, pictures... what is wrong with me.)


So, why was I in OREM?
Well, a few reasons... baby showers, working etc...
I was seriously so blessed to have TWO wonderful showers... and a lunch with the girls from work!
I only have pictures from ONE!

 My cute friend Suzie and Becky along with Suzie's Mom Laurel and Sister Ashley put together this adorable shower for my home ward and friends. It was all decorated and fancy... I loved it. The comment was made that they brought pinterest to life! ;) I would agree! We had so much fun, and it was really awesome to see so many friends who I grew up with.

Thanks for a awesome shower! I loved it.

Glad we snapped this pic... everyone say instagram!

We have literally been friends the longest of all my lovely friends.

You could also add our friend Melissa into this mix. Glad we can still get together once and awhile and pick up where we left off. 

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

 My sweet sites-in-laws Nichole and Lisa went to town on a shower for my family and friends. They really went over and beyond. It was SO, SO, SO fun to see all those who came. A lot of people I wish I could see more often.

Also, my parents gave me this adorable pack-and-play crib... it's super fancy with a changing station and a little vibrating sleepy place for when the baby is really small. We are going to use this in our room while Cruz's parents are here. It's going to be a lifesaver. PLUS, a nice thing to have for traveling to grandma's and grandpa's house in Orem. ;) Thanks Mom and Dad.

I had a car full of wonderful baby things for Claire.

Can't wait to see her wear all of those adorable outfits!

Until the end of August, I will just have to wait.

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

June Subway Art {free printable}

How is it that June is just around the corner? WOW, 2013 is going by so fast!

I have been creating subway art for awhile now... doing one for each month. I planned on finishing them all last year... but then we decided to MOVE and my life got a little crazy between work and relocating my life, I didn't finish very many. :) Crazy to think that was a year ago. Happy to be where we are now! 

We are loving the warm and sometimes just hot weather, that makes a great time to visit the pool, and let's be honest get an ice cream. YUM!

In St. George it warms up fast, and it usually stays that way until October. :) 

I hope that I love the rest of the summer as much as I have been thus far... being pregnant with baby due end of August, I hope it can fly by. Getting really excited to hold that baby of mine in my arms.

For now... I am just loving the happiness of SUMMER!

Download June Subway Art here.

For our house.... since my husband has a birthday in JUNE, I also did one that says HAPPY BIRTHDAY at the end. So, if you too have a birthday in JUNE you may want this one below.

Download June Subway Art with happy b-day here.

All Subway Art can be found HERE.

Tyler and Justine's Wedding!!

May 18, 2013

Big Congrats to Tyler and Justine... they got married last weekend. 

We were so glad we got to come up for the entire celebration!

They had a beautiful ceremony.

Picture with my parents... Ty's Grandparents.

Due to weather, they ended up with their reception inside... but you would have never guessed it wasn't their original plan... because everything looked fabulous. It was nice to see family both immediate and extended. 

There were so may beautiful flower arrangements, all in these same flowers as her bouquet. 

Her color scheme was adorable teal, and coral. 

They had a a yummy waffle bar at their reception... fantastic idea!

Justine is super adorable and so nice, happy to have her as part of the family!

I loved little David... who had his superman t-shirt under his dress shirt. He was excited to show everyone. What a fun and festive celebration they had... so glad we got to come.

Hooray for Weddings!

~~~~~~~

I also did their wedding announcements for them... 

Lots of fun designing these.

Front of card.

Back of card.

Back of both Wedding Dinner Card and Temple Card.

Wedding Dinner Card.

Temple Sealing Card.

So, happy everything worked out with the printing and such.

Again Congrats to the two of you.

Love ya!

Visiting Emma Girl!

My Brother Alan and his wife Lisa had the opportunity to go to Pebble Beach on a all expenses paid vacation for two! So, they asked if I could come up an watch Emma. I was more than happy to come. Plus I really wanted them to be able to go. :)

Oh, and did we have fun!!

We had lots of adventures. 

Including: doing her hair in curls, and with her request a braid (because that is what Grammy does), scooter rides, park visits, shopping at Target. (She kept saying she wanted to go there.) and just hanging out together. She loved playing on my phone, and was a good sport when we had to go into the office.

It was fun, we were able to meet up with lots of people who I hadn't seen in a while.

Wednesday we hung out with Jennie... and her super cute little boy. We went to the discovery park in PG.

Thursday while Em went to Pre-School I met with Marg for lunch to talk work and just to catch up.

Em even came to the office for a bit, so I could pick up some work stuff. 

Also on Thursday we got to the park with Gerald and his two cute kid-os. They have got so big since last time we played. It was cute to see Em and David be friends. We had a little picnic, then played.

Friday we went to Brad and Karlee's house to celebrate Joel's birthday. It was fun to stop in as a surprise! Em was a good sport, she was the only kid except for baby Wayne. She took lots of pictures with my phone, most were not very flattering of anyone... so I didn't post any. She also took about 30+ of herself, which crack me up. 

Saturday we went to a BBQ at Brian and Pilar's house. Em LOVED it there... they had lots of toys and a swing set, so she was on cloud 9. Lexy also was able to join us. So good to see all of them.

After we stopped in at Grandma and Grandpa's... where we hung out for a bit. 

Then we had to get something for her Mom for Mother's day. Em had made the hand print picture at school, and said we needed to get something with flowers. Oh, and a treat. ;) 

Emma is in such a fun age. She would say super funny things all the time. 

She liked to sing in the shower, and in the car. 

I would often hear her whispering to herself... so cute.

She often told me "that is not how Mom does it."

She is learning to say prayers, and one night after I got done praying she said I forgot something...

I said what...?

She answered CRUZ! Which was really cute. 

Sunday I headed home, with a quick stop at my Mom's to say HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to her. Then I was off to St. George.

when I arrived home he had this little set-up for me.

A welcome home and a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to me.

I guess technically we do have a baby now. :)

Staying with little Em, made me even more excited to welcome our own little girl into the world. 

Thanks Em, for being so fun. Hugs and BIG kisses to you.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Cruz's Parents Visit SPRING 2013

The same day we returned from our HAWAII adventure we picked up Cruz's Parents from the airport.

 We were all very tired from all the flying that we just did... so it was a quick trip to see the flowers at the Bellagio, and some delicious dinner before we headed home. Seriously... I was exhausted, we had flown all night... and I didn't get much sleep.

 The next day we had all sorts of adventures. My boss, from Covenant was getting MARRIED... (see pictures below) and it was in St. George... so we went to her beautiful wedding. Sadly I forgot my camera, and so only got cell pics, but it was so fun to see her walk down the isle. Such a HAPPY day for her. LOVED it! Afterwards we took Cruz's parents for a little adventure around St. George, what a pretty place we live in!!

It was really fun to see Margaret get married, I am so glad we were able to attend!!! She was gorgeous.

While Cruz's parents were here, both Cruz and I had to work... so during the days they had to find their own hobbies! Cruz's Mom made lots of things for our baby! Booties, and a dress, hair band, some hats... she is very talented!! They also love to shop, they spent hours at home depot, wal-mart, and other places. Great time to stock up on things that are A LOT more affordable in the states. It was fun that we had our ultrasound while they were here. 

Cruz's parents are both super excited to welcome their 3rd granddaughter.

 We went to the Tuchan street fair... and then went to the Kayenta Street chalk art festival. Lots of fun, stunning works of art drawn on the ground! They also had yummy Mexican tamales... which were fun to have the in-laws try.

 Weekends were all about adventures while they were here... ZIONS! Cruz's Moms personal favorite. :)

From Zions we went straight to BRICE. So pretty and though still chilly there... we loved the view! We didn't visit here last time they visited... so it was all new for them!

 Cruz's "Uncle" was in Vegas for the weekend... so it gave us the perfect excuse to go there.... AGAIN! It was really nice for us to just have some fun with each other. We had dinner with him... but didn't take a picture.

 Hoover Dam! Wow, it's been forever since I had been there! They have totally revamped the visitors center etc... This was a great adventure, and Cruz's Dad really liked it. Nice to have something new to show them.

We had a great little weekend in Vegas... and then went back just 4 days later to take Cruz's parents to the airport! What a great vacation they had. We are so glad that they like to visit us! Cruz's Mom is always so nice and she cooks delicious meals for us while she is here. We are excited to have them come back when our little baby is born.

We had such a FUN time, I think we were all worn out by the end. :)

YAY! For lots of adventures!!!