I had a wonderful long weekend with Robert and the kids. He came home on Thursday and left Sunday morning.

I LOVE this picture of Robert and Ryan cheek to cheek. He was really tired and just wanted daddy.

Here is Ryan with his grandma (Robert's Mom)on Sunday after Robert left. I spent the whole day there at my in-laws.

Ryan just wanted to lay down in the grass, it was so funny. We placed a blanket on the grass but he didnt want it, he preffered the grass.

The boys with their massive Jamba Juice, they love the stuff.

Friday we took the boys to the play area at Superstitions Mall and they had lots of fun. There were soooo many kids there!



Saturday we went to a birthday party for little Roberts classmate at Amazing Jakes. They had tons of fun there.

It was so funny to watch little Robert with the birthday boy on this ride. He was screaming and loving every minute on the ride.

Ryan and Amazing Jakes in the toddler section.

Ryan riding daddy like a horse

We finally went to go see the puppies at Rachel and Bills house and they were so adorable. Ryan was playing too rough so I had to be careful with him.

Little Robert loved the puppies and wanted to take one home.

Here's one of the puppies snooping in my purse trying to chew it down. They were so adorable! The kids and we were having so much fun UNTIL...

Ryan found the poop. Yup that isnt mud all over his hands and clothes!!! Needless to say I stripped the poor kid washed his hands and went home for a bath. We were probably there for like 10 minutes max when this happened. But it was fun while it lasted! LOL...

Wedding Memories

I was looking through our wedding pictures and just remembering that special day on September 7 2002. It was a dream come true and one day I will never forget. I cant wait for him to come home!!! It's crazy how life can take a turn where you least expected, I never imagined being in this situation. I feel like God wants this to strengthen our relationship, or like he's molding us, I've grown in my faith throughout this horrible experiance and that's why I believe this all happened. Its hard to stay optimistic after so long! I feel like it wont be much longer and that I should stop trying to fight it and let God do his work. I don't know. I have all these thoughts and emotions going through my head. How would you feel about this if it were you? Have you ever had a similar experiance that left you feeling helpless as if everything was going wrong and how did you overcome it?

Easter and Robert's First Day at Pre-school!

The kids and I spent a wonderful week in CA visiting family and friends. It was soooo nice having Robert there everyday and seeing the kids have so much fun with their little cousins. I decided to go to CA since it's been a long time and I wanted to take advantage before little Robert started school! Here are a few pictures of Easter (My sister took more pictures and I'm waiting to get those!)



This is my sister, Angelica on the right and my cousin, Eva in the middle.


Here is my adorable niece, Jessica.


Ryan was more interested in the eggs than my camera! He is so cute!


Little Robert was helping his Grandpa water the lawn.


We took the boys to the Moscow Circus in Anaheim... what a joke! Geez, I was expecting a real circus with elephants and tigers and stuff you would expect to find in a circus. There was none of that, no animals whatsoever. We left during intermission because it was so bad- not to mention Ryan got fussy so we left! But little Robert was a little entertained and we got to spend time together so it was worth it.



Yummy cotton candy!


Ryan was so funny. As soon as we found seats (and there were plenty!), Robert went to find an ATM so he could buy some popcorn and treats. He took a long time and during that time, Ryan quickly spotted a lady in front of us with popcorn (He LOVES popcorn). I could not keep him down, he kept reaching out to her trying to get her popcorn, I was so embarrassed! He kept doing this even with me trying to hold him back and the lady gave him some but he kept going for seconds! LOL... Finally Robert came back with the popcorn and Ryan was happy!




What a CRAZY morning I had today! I was unable to find little Robert's birth certificate and his vaccination record! So I had to drive to phoenix to the Vital Records office to pick that up, then drive to my pediatrician to get a copy of the vaccines, and on top of that I had several errands to run before taking Robert for his 1st day of school at 12:55pm!

Robert started pre-school today 3/26/08 at Oak Tree Elementary, ackward time of the year to get him started but I didn't know I could until recently! He's only going for about 2 1/2 hours a day and 5 days a week. I decided to take him here because it's only for a few hours a day and I feel this will really help him get ready for kindergarten, which I want him to attend at Eduprize Elementary school. I've heard great things about that school and I've gone myself and have been really impressed! But he wont be starting there until next year.

Anyway, little Robert was soooo excited to go to school today, he had a big smile on his face from the moment I took him inside to the moment I left. It was harder for me than it was for him! Needless to say, I picked him up and he still had that beautiful smile on his face and wanted me to bring him back tomorrow. Mrs. Utley said he did really well for his first day. Here is a picture of him at school.

Don't Quit Poem

This is by far, one of my favorite inspirational poem's:

Don't Quit Poem
by anonymous

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must; but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

Ryan gets a Hair Cut and Backyard Fun

I am so sad! I cut Ryan's hair and I cut it way too short! Once I started cutting his hair, I couldn't find the right size for the top part so I had to use what I had and as you can see, it came out really short. ;o( He looks cute with or without any hair, but I wont be touching his hair in a while!

Look at those cheeks!

He sure loves to play with balloons. I just have to keep a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't pop them and stick them in his mouth (he likes to put everything in his mouth!).

The weather outside was perfect to play in the backyard. I took the boys out and they had a blast.


Little Robert lives in a "transformer world" and it cracks me up every time. He is always pretending he's a transformer. Here he is in the yard running all around pretending he's flying like Starscream. It was so funny, he would run all around the yard looking at the sky and yelling, "Oh no! Here comes Megatron!" and then he would transform into a flying transformer called Starscream and he would fly away. It is too funny to watch him.

Hurry Robert, Megatron is catching up to you!!!


I love this picture of Ryan, he is so sweet and adorable! Here he is with Hair! ;o( Don't worry buddy, it will grow back!

Boys love to get dirty!

Mind over Mallard

I just watched the cutest cartoon with my son that had a powerful message.

Mind over Mallard


This duck named Bill had a big dream of flying. He kept dreaming at night of flying. He was curious and wondered, "Why can't ducks fly if they have wings?" His good friend Cecil the duck and him pondered whether ducks are physically cabable of flight. Cecil believes that it is all in their minds. He thinks, "What if our ancestors were well fed and got comfortable and didn't need to fly so they forgot how? In other words it was in their thinking. If you can overcome all the eons of negative thinking and build up your self confidence, you could fly! All it would take is determination and a little coaching."

So Bill said "I'll do it, All my life that's all I ever wanted! I want to fly! If it's just my thinking that stops me from flying, I can change my thinking so I can fly!"

His friend agreed to help him and find out for himself if this concept was true. So Bill began listening and watching positive videos of birds flying in the air and kept telling himself outloud, "I can fly, I can, I can!" And repeating this over and over. He trained and tried to get mentally prepared by using headphones with positive messages constantly and telling himself he could fly.

Then the day came when Bill was ready to fly. So he went with Cecil to the edge of a cliff. He looked down and saw the ocean and gulps. Cecil encourages him and says, "You can do it, I know you can!" Bills says to himself, "I can fly. I can fly. I can, I can!" And just as he was about to jump a crow comes (His name is Raul but I prefer the name "Obstacles").

Obstacles asks Bill, "Did I just hear what I think I heard? Did you say you can fly?" Bill replies, "That was me, you heard right." And the crow starts laughing at Bill hysterically. Cecil tells Obstacles to go away. But instead, Obstacles tries to convice Bill that ducks cant fly and how it's never going to happen. Bill musters out the courage he has left and says, "I can fly, I can, I can!" and jumps off the cliff, and falls straight down into the ocean. When he emerged out of the water he told Cecil, "I almost did it, I almost flew but the instant I jumped I panicked! Maybe what I need is a lift."

His friend thought about this and had an idea. We can strap you onto a big balloon and once you're in the air and in the right state of mind, I'll release the strap and you can fly.

So the next day, they went back to the cliff. The duck was strapped on to the balloon and was high in the air. Then the crow shows up again and shouts "Wait! he gets out his binoculars and his popcorn and sits on his lounge chair. Okay, that's better, go on." He didnt want to miss the show.

"Ignore him, you'll wipe that smile off his beak" Says Cecil.

Bill tries his best to ignore the crow and says to himself outloud, "I can fly, I can, I can. I can fly, I can, I can!" And then the string rips, the balloon popped and Bill couldnt remove the strap. Obstacles the crow sees him struggling and laughs. Once the balloon deflated, Bill fell straight down into the water. He hears the crow in the background just laughing his head off.

That night Bill and Cecil couldnt sleep. Cecil calls Bill on the phone and Bill says, "Maybe we were wrong, maybe ducks cant fly." Cecil tries his best to encourage Bill and tells him he has another idea.

The next day, they go back to the cliff. This time he brings a big sling pointed towards the ocean. Obstacles the crow brought all his friends this time and they're sitting on the bleachers. One of them is selling corn and cold drinks.

Bill hears them talking about how birds fly because they have no choice. They're mom pushes them out of the nest and it's fly or die. Bill thinks they have a point, "Maybe, if I knew I could not have a safe landing, my survival instincts will kick in and I'll be able to do it" So he points the sling towards land. Cecil is worried he can get hurt on the rocks but Bill still wants to do it. He tries to prepare himself mentally, "I can fly. I can!"

The crow walks up to Bill and says, "Look, so far this has been really fun, but you can really hurt yourself I mean look at all those.."

Bill doesnt let him finish and says, "I CAN!" and releases the sling and off he goes.

Obstacles says, "Man, he's one dead duck" He flies after Bill.

Suddenly Bill excitedly says, "LOOK AT ME I'M FLYING!" And he's in the air. Obstacles flies right next to him and says, "Excuse me, but this isnt flying. You are in an updraft that can lift a refridgerator."

"I can fly. I can fly. I can, I can!" Bill says

Obstacles continues.. "And see, the trouble with updrafts is... they dont last"

Suddenly the updraft stopped and Bill went straight down. Then he sees himself flying again, "I'm flying!"

When he woke up he was in an ambulance. "I'm flying!" he says still thinking he was in the air.

"Calm down Bill, you'll be okay. You're on your way to the hospital" Says Cecil. The paramedic asks, "What was he doing up there?" Obstacles the crow was right there and says, "That crazy duck was trying to fly"

Bill says, "Not trying... I flew. I really flew! Maybe it was just an updraft, I dont care. For a few seconds I FLEW!"

The ambulance driver closed the door to the back, goes to his seat and says, "He's really out of it. Everyone knows ducks cant fly."

Wow! I loved this story! He realized his dream and it didnt matter what the critics said or thought about him. He worked hard and made it happen!


YES! I actually found the cartoon online, you can see it at:
http://www.fancast.com/tv/Sitting-Ducks/96457/595474247/Mind-Over-MallardThe-Fly-Who-Loved-Me/videos

Saint Louis, MO

What an amazing weekend we spent at Saint Louis, MO! Boy was it cold, I had to go and buy snow boots because none of my shoes were fit for the weather (25 degrees!)- my feet were freezing! Here are just a few pictures we captured while there (couldnt get them all turned correctly, I'll fix them later):

We went to see the famous Gateway Arch and it was truely amazing. Some interesting information about it is:
Height- 630 Feet
Width- 630 Feet also
Architect- Eero Saarinen
Built- 2/12/63-10/28/65
Weight- 17,246 tons
Projected Life- 1,000 years!
Stairs- 1,076
Cost- $13 million
Outer Skin- Stainless Steel
Annual Visitation- 3.4 Million



Here is the view from the very top of the Arch looking out, very beautiful.


We also went to see the Museum and that was soooo much fun. Robert and I went with Kurt and Shannon and we had a blast. There was so much to do and not enough time to do everything! This museum was made with nothing but recycled items. There was a monster slide from the 3rd floor all the way down, HUGE aquariums with everything from Salt water fish to crocodiles and snakes. We also made snowflakes while listening to a story about a wounded butterfly.

LOL... I still laugh everytime I see this picture...

This was so much fun! But it's a lot harder than it looks! The next day I was really hurting in my arms and back! I thought it was the bed at first, but it was too sore to be the bed. I felt like I got a beating or something, Geez! Wont be doing that again anytime soon... well who knows 'cause it was fun!

Hurry up and take the picture before it attacks me!


The biggest underwear in the world...

Monkeying around

On our flight home I read 2 incredible books:
I ready "Balcony People" and that was pretty powerful. It made me take a close look at myself to see if I truely was a balcony person, or a basement person. I'm working on applying these principles in my life right now and making a concious effort to be a balcony person to everyone I know.

The other book I read has to be one of my favorites:
How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing with People.
This book I will definitely be re-reading over and over again until I master the principles in this book. This book really helps you understand people and the way they think and act and how you should deal with them in an effective way. I love this book!