I know how you feel girl...

...I'm not a fan of the snow either!

The Gathering of the Esquerra's '09

Robert and Jennifer sure know how to rock out a fabulous Family Reunion! I love seeing the sweet Esquerra's that roll on into town every once in a while! BEST. FAMILY. EVER!
We began the festivities with an awesome trip to the temple to do some family names...so precious! Breakfast at Oma's house along with some killer tie-dyingness followed by a day of fun games and just enjoying the fam!
So sorry that it's taken so long to get these pictures up...I'm trying to catch up on this blog...promise!

Thanks Esquerra Family...you're the best and we love you!

Ava's baby

You would think that a house with 4 girls would have baby dolls strewn about all over the place. Wouldn't you???
Well not the case here. At least not until little miss Ava came along with her tender little heart and obsessive personality. Her baby doll, who's name is yet to be determined, goes with her at all times. And if she doesn't go with her, we are in big trouble.
Her birthday is at the end of the month and it is taking every ounce of strength that I have to not cave and give her the new baby doll set with the stroller, swing and bed, that I bought last week, right NOW! I can't wait! And maybe I won't wait...she doesn't know that she's supposed to get something for her birthday right? We'll see how the next couple of weeks go...

i love you

Stadium of Fire...Jonas Brothers...yada, yada, yada

..please pardon my lack of complying to the "Rule of Thirds"...

Does this little angelic girl with the packaging from a bundle of hangers on the top of her head look like someone who just hours earlier drew all over her mommy's new MacBook with permanent marker???

Dear Marco and the couple standing behind me at Wal-Mart tonight...

Dear Marco,
You don't know me and I don't know you, and I'm sure you'll never read this. But I just want you to know that I am positive that you are an amazing person! You seemed a little stressed tonight, i'm sure working the graveyard shift at Wally World can make you want to pull your hair out at times, but I just wanted to Thank you for being so kind as you scanned the Marshmallow Mateys that I promised Bette that I would get for her.
I hope so much that you have a good life and that your family shows you that they love you and appreciate all that you do for them and how hard you are working for them! I often see people riding bicycles down the street on Hot days like today with a cooler in one hand that they probably brought their lunch to work in. And I say a little prayer in my heart for them asking Heavenly Father to please have someone waiting for them when they get home from work to greet them with a hug and a kiss and tell them thank you for working so hard for their family. I don't know why I felt such great love toward you like you were a member of my family. But I hope that my smile and friendly conversation helped you to not be too stressed about the long line behind me.
And if anyone out there is ever at Walmart around midnight and the man with the kind face behind the register is Marco...will you please give him one of the friendliest smiles that you have, no matter how big of a hurry you might be in? Thank you so much!

And dear cute couple standing behind me in line to buy a 12 pack of Dew and a pink plastic Ruler,
I wasn't trying to eaves drop, but I couldn't help hearing the sweet things that you were saying and having said to you. I think what caught my attention at first was hearing you (guy) saying so sweetly to you (girl) "I just want to take care of you, I worry about you" I also heard you (girl) say "I'm sorry" about something, I don't know what, but what was the sweet response from you (guy)??? "Sorry for what? For being so amazing???" I also observed from the corner of my eye a little huggin' going on and it just made my little heart so happy!!! I am so happy for you two! Because I know that you are going to have a wonderful life together!
How do I know this you ask??? Because I have my very own sweet "guy standing behind me at Wal-Mart" in my life too. Who says those exact same things with the exact same sincerity, who is the reason that I have no feelings of Jealousy at all that one might have from hearing such precious words being said to them.
Man, I love you guys too! And I don't know ANY of you!

Sincerely,
Me (the girl with a bag of Marshmallow Mateys and a stack of about 20 Lean Cuisine Three Cheese Ziti Marinara..yum)

I did it!

all right everyone,,,who's ready for Conference Bingo...MOMMY STYLE????
I put together a couple of cards, just in case some of you out there are feelin' a little competetive and want to play against the hubbs- maybe the winner gets the others candy??? Speaking of... Hershey's Bliss Chocolates are the perfect size for the squares!!! Here you go, ENJOY! And ENJOY CONFERENCE EVEN MORE!!!!! I love Conference!

wow!

This is amazing - as you listen intently, follow along with the words forward and backward, make sure you read as well as listen.

This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20 year old. The contest was titled 'u@50' by AARP, and won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awestruck and broke out in spontaneous applause.

So simple and yet so brillant; take a minute and watch it.


Thanks for sending this Pam & Levi!

I write tonight about an unusual phenomenon that has been occurring on my computer desk lately.  A stack of dollar bills has been growing steadily for the last 6 months or so.   "Hmmmm, I wonder why Blake (the hubbs, not the kid) keeps leaving dollar bills on my desk?"  I think to myself.  But then I remember how, early in the morning, before he leaves for work,  I can hear him putting change in his pocket for his daily Jamba Juice.  Why would he rather pay with change when he has a stack of money on my desk? Weird?  I don't know you tell me.   

So when I asked him about it he answered with, "I thought you were saving it for Disneyland or something."  ( I do think in "Disneyland Dollars, you know).  This is getting weirder and weirder.  Finally I asked the kids if they knew where this money was coming from.  Well it turns out that Blake, (the kid, not the hubbs) would throw a dollar onto the pile every time he'd buy a song from Itunes.  Wow, really??? I was wondering how all of those dang cool songs were getting there!  But that got me thinking about something else.....   

Do my children realize how good they have it when it comes to getting songs that they love?

And for those of you who may be worried about the songs they are buying..don't worry..they're good.  Anyway, back to the point....

I remember having to sit next to the stereo with my finger on the pause button while the play/record buttons were already set hoping with all my heart that the dang DJ would NOT talk during the intro to one of my favorite songs so I could have the most totally awesome mix tape in the world!!!

And now look how easy it is to just click the buy now button and upload it onto an ipod and off you go....MAN!!!!!  Kids these days....I'd complain about it a little more but if it weren't for them I would have had no idea how to even figure out how to put my totally awesome work mix together.  

What would people say???

IF they were to complete a sentence about you, that began with "I....".
What would people say???
Well we found out what they'd say about my love one night as we sat in my living room playing a rousing game of Partini.
I don't know about you, but I find it completely precious that those who know him best know what an amazing and loving guy he is. Because he SO is! I love him with all my heart! For shizzle my nizzle!