Thanksgiving Day fun

It's almost bedtime but I thought I'd blog now that I have the chance. Eric and Peter are spending the night with my aunt, Ben is sleeping over at my parent's house and Sammy is sleeping. Like everyone else we had a busy and fun day. Our afternoon consisted of playing soccer tennis at the park, coming home to play baseball and then going in to watch football and finishing it off with a King's game. Oh and yeah, we ate turkey!


My Dad always chooses a big turkey and this year was a record at 29 lbs. It was so yummy. Peter always wants a leg.



No one else let me take a picture of them, everyone was so wiggly that I eventually gave up until later on when I tried to get a good pic of the brothers. This did not go very well either. Four wiggly, sleepy brothers are a difficult subject. This is what it went like:







The good news is that Dan and I got a couple of pictures together which almost never happens, here we are in a lovey dovey moment- me and my handsome hubby.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This morning I woke up at 6:45 to participate in Stockton Emergency Food Bank's 4th annual Walk & Run Against Hunger. I didn't bring my camera along but it was so much fun. I opted to participate in the 5K, maybe next year I'll go for the 10. Anyhow, I went with a group of friends and had such a great time we all decided it'll be a tradition.

Among many other things, I am thankful for community resources that are dedicated to helping those less fortunate. With a $35.00 registration fee and about 3,000 participants that is a good amount of money to help local families. This is a rough time for lots of families and it's important to help out where we can.

I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A Miracle!

Image: Janice Kraser, Billy Kraser
Janice Kraser sits next to her 9-year-old son, Billy Kraser, at their Scranton, Pa., home Sunday, Nov. 9. Billy has spina bifida and has undergone an experimental surgery which reroutes his nerves in attempt to attain normal bladder and bowel function.

There is an amazing new surgery that possibly could change our lives with Ben. This is really new and I am still researching it but I was so overcome with emotion that I couldn't finish reading it out loud. Here is the some of the amazing article that fills my heart with hope:


WASHINGTON - It’s a delicate and daring experiment: Could doctors switch a leg nerve to make it operate the bladder instead?

Families of a few U.S. children whose spina bifida robs them of the bladder control that most people take for granted dared to try the procedure — and early results suggest the surgery indeed may help, in at least some patients.

With the technique, pioneered in China, the kids are supposed to scratch or pinch their thigh to signal the bladder to empty every few hours. But surprisingly, some youngsters instead are starting to feel those need-to-go sensations that their birth defect had always prevented.

For the entire article go here

Too funny!

I was spending some time catching up with blogs I read and I came across this hilarious video posted by Dan's friend Jon. So worth watching...despite being a youtube junkie I had never seen this one. Watch the whole thing because the end is priceless. Thanks for sharing a laugh Jon!

Soy Adriana y soy una hija de Dios

I have been terrible not to post anything lately but it has been insane around here again. We've had tons going on and deadlines every week so it's just been difficult to find time for blogging.

Anyhow, the big news from this Primary Pres is that our ward just had our Primary Sacrament Presentation this past Sunday. It went sooooooooooooo wonderfully! That Sunday is always my favorite of the year; the kids are so sweet and I love our sunbeams who either barely whisper or scream into the mic with spit flying everywhere. It was a great presentation and confirmation of how important it is to raise our little children up in righteousness and God's love. This year the Primary theme was "I am a Child of God." What an amazing truth to grow up with! During this season of thanksgiving I am so thankful to have that sentence be a testimony and light I can always count on.

All the kids did a great job but now I'll brag about my boys. Eric did a great job. Every year he has his assigned part memorized right after receiving it. This year his part was very long and included reciting the 4th Article of Faith. He had it written out just in case he forgot it. He didn't need it but I have to say that I am so pleased with how well he reads in Spanish! He is so natural and reads just as well in Spanish as he does in English. For an 8 year old kid I think it's brilliant. Peter did a great job too. He is always super eager as he bounds up towards the microphone and then pauses to make sure all eyes are on him and then in his booming (for a 6 year old) voice delivers his lines with such dramatic conviction. He always gets a couple of chuckles because he always has a "moment". And then there is my precious Ben, who loves to wear Mr.Roger-style cardigan sweaters and perfectly parts his hair to look like he says a "mush-a-na-wee" or missionary. This little boy invited his entire kindergarten class to come and watch the Primary Program and had practiced his lines over and over in front of the mirror. Of course he did a great job. I am always humbled by his sweet spirit and I know that our Heavenly Father appreciates his diligence and obedience. I feel so thankful to have such good examples to follow.

Halloween 2008

This Halloween was fun because it was the first year that everyone was old enough to walk on their own and participate in Halloween fun like a big boy. Sam ran up and down the streets singing "It's just Halloween fun" over and over again. His costume was a conglomeration of a bunch of things he found in his toy box and threw togther. He actually had a really cute Woody costume that we bought in late September and had to hide from him so he would stop wearing it so much before Halloween. Well he didn't even want it and concocted his own look. I actually bought the tiny ninja costume at about the same time as Woody but not for Halloween. He is kind of obsessed with the 3 Ninjas trilogy. For those of you blessed to not know what that is, they are really cheesy kid movies about three little brothers who defeat bad guys because they have amazing ninja moves. Anyway, there is a line in the movie where 2 brothers teasing the older one chant "Rocky loves Emily, Rocky loves Emily." Emily lives next door and Rocky has a crush on her. Anyhow, Sam who lives and breathes this movie and performs his ninja skills for us all day, paid me the sweetest compliment when he said "Mommy ,you Emily, me Rocky, otay? That's how much he loves me! So, I bought him a ninja costume so that he can really feel like Rocky.

Anyhow, I digress from Halloween: Eric was the only one who wore what we originally planned. He was obviously Stitch from the Disney movie Lilo & Stitch. Ben wore Peter's costume which was Woody riding Bullseye from Toy Story. Ben was supposed to be Beast from Beauty and the Beast. And I was Belle from the same movie. Despite being excited to wear it, at the last minute he decided the costume was too heavy and itched him too much. I think I'll have throw it on ebay next year because it's too adorable not to wear. It's very similar to stitch, a big plush costume with the head on top.

The face painting pics are from last thursday, I did a live face painting tutorial using no Ben Nye or Kroyalan paints but just regular makeup for a podcast I do once in a while with a friend. I wasn't too happy with my whiskers and it could have been better but both faces were done within the 28 minute time frame of the podcast and with Sam on my lap. Sam was really cooperative for a live show and I thought his face was adorable.