The Lara Family

Goodbye OLD blog. Hello NEW blog!

2009-09-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

My divorce was finalized Friday, September 11th! It is time to begin a new chapter in my life so I figured I would start a new blog. My new blog address is:

http://julielara.blogspot.com/

I am so excited to be moving on. My job is going great and I have so much to look forward to. I want to thank everyone for your prayers, love, and support. I have the best family and friends!

Life Changes....

2009-06-05T14:10:00.001-07:00

We didn't get a lot of good pictures as you can see from this picture!
Here is an update of my life since my last post (it has been quite hectic):

1. I graduated from college on May 24th. My parents flew into town to attend. I am so glad to finally be done!

2. I am getting a divorce! This may come as a surprise to many of you since Santiago has been in Iraq for the last 6 months. To make it simple lets just say that he found someone else while he was there.

3. Ashlyn and Austin are going to have a sibling! No, I am not pregnant! Santiago's baby is due in early December. Congratulations Santiago!

4. I am selling my house and going to get a rental house for awhile until I have enough job history to qualify for a house on my own.

5. I am going to start my job on June 22nd. I am really excited!

6. My sister had her baby on May 31st. She is coming to visit me on the 10th of this month which is awesome. I have the best sister ever!

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Well, that sums up the biggest news. It has been both an exciting and painful time for me. I know life is going to get better. My kids have adjusted to the changes remarkably well and I have the best family and friends who are supporting me during this difficult time. I love you all!!!!

I have a JOB!

2009-05-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

I had one of my finals today and then decided to walk over to University Hospital to check on the status of my application. I had applied over a month ago for a few jobs and had never heard back on any of them. I really wanted to work at University because it is where I did most of my clinicals and I love their computer system. It is also a teaching hospital so it is a great place to start out. I talked to the nurse recruiter and she said that the areas I applied to either didn't hire new graduates or had already been filled. She asked if I would be interested in any other areas and I said I wasn't too picky. She said that there was an opening on the medical floor and she would see if she could schedule an interview for me. She had me wait in the lobby for a few minutes and when she came back she told me that I could do an interview right then. I had jeans, a t-shirt, and flip-flops on. I pointed this fact out and she said that they were pretty laid back. So I decided what the heck and went for it. I was offered the job on the spot and now I can cross getting a job off my to-do list! I never dreamed it would be so easy. I only have one more final to go and I am done with school! I am so ready to celebrate!

Oh NO! I have head LICE!

2009-04-01T11:06:00.001-07:00

For our community nursing clinicals we had to do a health promotion presentation at a school. We ended up doing it on lice. We did a skit and I got to be a kid with lice (yay!). The school district's filming crew came in and the skit will be broadcast to all the other schools and on their television channel. They said they would make us all a DVD of it. I can't wait to see my bad acting. I'm just glad the day is over because I hate being in front of an audience!

Can your kids top this?

2009-03-18T20:11:00.000-07:00

What it should look like...

Ashlyn's head did this. Luckily her head came out undamaged, but the glass door wasn't so lucky. This is definately the biggest mess I have ever had to clean up. Ashlyn said she was running. She must have had a lot of force behind it, because there were pieces of glass all over the room - in toy bins, the bed, the train table, the lion's mane. So what is the biggest mess your kids have ever made?

We are still alive!

2009-03-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

My friend Alisha said that I should put something on my blog since I hadn't posted anything in awhile. I told her that I didn't have anything to blog about and she said how about "I'm still alive". So here is my post Alisha (even though you already know that I am still alive).

My little artist!

2009-02-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

I was looking through my pictures and noticed this picture that Ashlyn drew back in December. Ashlyn is quite the artist. She loves drawing and coloring. I thought this picture was cute because she drew a dog and even put it on a leash!

Ashlyn's SHORT haircut

2009-02-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

The other day after Ashlyn got out of the bathtub I was brushing her hair. She hates getting her hair brushed because it gets tangled easily. When she started whining while I was brushing it I told her that it looked like she was in need of a haircut since her hair had grown (which is just that much more hair to detangle). Ashlyn's response was, "Yes my hair has grown since we've been watering it". I guess the logic is that if water makes plants grow it can make our hair grow too!

Our new friend Alison

2009-01-26T16:43:00.001-08:00

Ashlyn doesn't want to take pictures these days unless she is being goofy, so to bribe her into smiling I let her take a goofy picture first.

Alison is a girl that we met on the airplane when we flew back to Oregon over the holidays. She sat next to us and was really fun with my kids. She is a college student here in San Antonio. At the end of the flight she gave me her phone number and told me to call her anytime I needed a babysitter. It was cute because when we flew home to San Antonio after being in Oregon for almost a month Ashlyn asked if Alison was going to be sitting next to her on the airplane! On Saturday I decided to invite her over for dinner. Ashlyn was so excited to see her. I'm sure that we will be hanging out with Alison more in the future.

Slumber Party in Progress

2009-01-23T19:59:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn and Adyson pretending to sleep

Well it is 10pm and the kids are still not asleep. This is the first time Ashlyn has ever had a friend spend the night and right now it is looking like it might be awhile before it ever happens again. The kids are having a hard time falling asleep. Adyson wants the lights off and Ashlyn thinks she needs a night light. Also, Ashlyn's wiggling is driving Adyson crazy. These girls might just need a nap tomorrow. Alisha - sorry if you end up with a cranky kid tomorrow!

Christmas Snow Fun

2008-12-27T06:44:00.001-08:00

The snow tunnel that grandpa made
Austin eating snow. He kept running away from me because he thought I would try and make him stop. I just told him to make sure the snow was white (not brown or yellow!)

The Santa that Uncle Josh made for the kids

Well we did get a little more snow on Christmas. This was the first time I let my kids go outside and play in it. They had a lot of fun. Now I am ready for it to all go away!

Christmas Has Come and Gone Again!

2008-12-25T10:16:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn in Kaden and Versii's new car

We all had a good Christmas. I am sad that it is all over. We hope everyone had a great Christmas too!

Is a white Christmas in store for Portland?

2008-12-21T16:37:00.001-08:00

I was hoping for some snow when I came to Oregon for Christmas break but I wasn't expecting this. It has snowed everyday since I got here on Tuesday. Church got cancelled today and it is supposed to snow everyday through Christmas. The Oregonian reported: "The National Weather Service says the chance of a white Christmas in Portland is less than 1 percent. The last time the city got measurable snowfall during the holiday was 1937." It is looking pretty good that we will indeed have a white Christmas in Portland. I guess I picked a good year to come home for the holidays!

Santiago in Kuwait

2008-12-12T04:36:00.000-08:00

Santiago made it to Kuwait safely. In about a week his unit will be heading to Iraq.

Ward Christmas Party

2008-12-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

My last clinical day of 3rd semester!

2008-12-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

Kathryn and I
Kristy and I

My clinical group

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School is almost over for this semester! I will be done in 1 week!

Six Flags again!

2008-11-30T07:06:00.000-08:00

On our way home from the beach on Friday we decided to go to Six Flags for Holiday in the Park. We had fun but it was a bit crowded. They have a snow sledding hill this year which is new. It was fun but we waited 30 minutes in line for a 6 second ride down the hill.

Thanksgiving at the beach!

2008-11-30T06:54:00.000-08:00

So I know that all of you that live in cooler climates are jealous of the fact that we can still go to the beach in November. It was 80 degrees in Corpus Christi which was the perfect temperature - not to hot and not too cold. We are really spoiled living in Texas. For Thanksgiving dinner we ate at Cracker Barrel. The traditional Thanksgiving meal was really good, and the best part was that I didn't have to cook anything! I am tempted to make this a Thanksgiving tradition!

Santiago's Adventures

2008-11-23T07:50:00.001-08:00

Santiago inside of the rollover simulator

As most of you know, Santiago is in Colorado Springs right now doing his pre-deployment training. He will then be leaving for Iraq in early December. He gets to come home for Thanksgiving next week which we are looking forward to. We are going to go to Corpus Christi for Thanksgiving.

It's a TWILIGHT night!

2008-11-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

So I guess I am going to break my rule of no hair pictures since I had to share these group photos from Twilight (at least they aren't close ups, so you don't get the full effect of my short hair). My friend Alisha made us all T-shirts to wear to the movie. It was slightly embarrassing but fun at the same time. Thanks for the shirt Alisha!

My SHORT haircut!

2008-11-15T04:48:00.001-08:00

So I am not going to post a picture of my new haircut, because I want to see the shock on both my husband's face when he comes home for Thanksgiving, and my families face when I go home for Christmas. My sister wanted to know how short I cut it though and so I will just say that I have A LOT less hair now than this second grade school picture. I do think my hair looks much better than this picture though!

Happy HALLOWEEN!

2008-11-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

So this year we decided to be cheap and not buy Halloween costumes. Austin borrowed a Nemo costume from my friend Tiffani that he enjoys dressing up in when she babysits him. Ashlyn just wanted to be a princess, so I let her pick which one of her dress-up dresses she wanted to wear. The kids just trick-or-treated around our neighborhood with their dad, Aunt Beti and Uncle Joe (who are visiting us from Nevada). They got lots of candy....

...and even some fun vampire teeth!

Oh What FUN a Chair can be!

2008-10-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

Austin and his friend Briley had a lot of fun playing peek-a-boo with his favorite chair today. I got this chair from Ikea for Austin and he just loves it. It spins and the orange cover comes all the way down so the kids can hide inside of it.

FAMILY PICTURES!

2008-10-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today we had our family pictures taken at the Japanese Tea Garden. I think they turned out really cute. We won this free photo shoot at a Ward Valentine activity. Melissa Kroll in our ward was the one who took them. If anyone in the San Antonio area is interested in having your family pictures done, you can check out her website at www.eternityphotography.com. She is having a special right now for $100. That includes the copyright to all of the prints!

The Lara Family

2008-10-11T19:01:00.001-07:00

Santiago and Julie

2008-10-11T18:51:00.001-07:00

Santiago, Ashlyn, and Austin

2008-10-11T18:40:00.001-07:00

Julie, Ashlyn, and Austin

2008-10-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn and Austin

2008-10-11T18:26:00.001-07:00

Ashlyn

2008-10-11T18:16:00.001-07:00

Austin

2008-10-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Playgroup at the ZOO!

2008-10-10T19:52:00.001-07:00

This Tuesday we went to the San Antonio Zoo for playgroup. The best part was feeding the birds. I have been to the zoo multiple times since we moved to Texas, but I never even knew that you could feed them!

Ashlyn and Austin's BIRTHDAY party!

2008-10-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

On September 27th we had a combined birthday party to celebrate Ashlyn's 4th birthday and Austin's 2nd birthday. We had the party at Artworks. The kids had fun painting and making tie-dye t-shirts.

Santiago's trip to Elko, Nevada with the kids

2008-10-05T14:21:00.001-07:00

Ashlyn showing off her new earrings that she got while she was in Elko.

Ashlyn and Austin had a big early birthday party while they were in Elko.

In September Santiago took the kids to Elko to see his family one last time before he leaves for Iraq in November. I couldn't go because of school. The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins, while I had a lot of fun studying!

Ashlyn's 1st day of Preschool!!!

2008-09-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

Austin was so excited to get rid of Ashlyn for a whole 5 hours!
Ashlyn with her teacher Miss Dorothy
Ashlyn was excited about going to school, but she was disappointed that she was not in her friend Adyson's class. I was not able to take her because I had school, but when I got home Ashlyn told me that her daddy took her to the wrong class. She said she was supposed to be in Adyson's class!

Labor Day Weekend Fun

2008-09-05T10:21:00.001-07:00

Ashlyn with the Scooby Doo stuffed animal her dad won

Over the Labor Day weekend, we went to Six Flags on Saturday and floated the Guadalupe River on Monday. It was a fun weekend and a good break from school!

This week's "ADVENTURES"

2008-08-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday night a T.V. fell (don't ask me how it happened!) on Austin's foot and he hurt it pretty badly. I ended up with a 4 hour trip to the emergency room where they put a splint on him. They told me to bring him back next week if he wasn't walking on it yet, but luckily yesterday he decided to start walking again. It is kind of cute watching him hobble around the house. Today I was cleaning the garage and decided to take some extra lumber we had back to Home Depot. When I moved the boards I found a nice little mouse nest made out of a shredded plastic grocery bag . I had the fun of disposing of 5 little mice. It was a pretty tramatic experience! I hope the rest of this week goes pretty smoothly. I start school next week so I don't need any extra stress.

Austin's BIG BOY Room!

2008-08-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

These pictures are the requests of my sister Joy. I recently switched Austin from a crib into a "BIG BOY" bed. Last night was his first night in his new bed and he slept the whole night in it! I kept thinking that he would wake up in the middle of the night and come to our room but I was pleasantly surprised. The best part was that when he woke up in the morning he just came downstairs. I didn't have to wake up to his crying and go upstairs to get him.

Snow in Texas!

2008-08-15T10:51:00.001-07:00

I was babysitting my friend Jen's kids last night and decided to put together a new office chair while they played. I didn't see them grab out a piece of Styrofoam from the box and the next thing I know there is snow everywhere. I was only 10 feet away from them too. It took me a good 15 minutes to dust bust them all off and vacuum the carpet and walls. These photos don't do the mess justice. I guess I need to pay better attention from now on!

Murray Park Pool

2008-08-12T14:28:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn with her cousin Ashley

My cousin's daughter Elizabeth

Ashlyn just getting off the waterslide with Aunt Gail

Austin loved going down the waterslide

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We are currently in Murray, Utah visiting my grandma. Today we went to the Murray Park pool. We went to the pool yesterday too and the kids loved it so much that we decided to take them back today. Our vacation is almost over. We are flying back to San Antonio tomorrow!!!

Fun in Elko, Nevada

2008-08-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn with her cousin Azenette

Ashlyn and Austin with their grandma and grandpa (Santiago's parents)

Santiago's brother Beto's four daughters

Santiago's sister Noemi's two daughters

Ashlyn with her cousin that is the same age as her. Ashlyn is quite a bit shorter!

Ashlyn and Austin sitting on Uncle Beto's motocycle.

Austin with his grandpa

Santiago's sister Rocio with her daughter Nyssa.

Ashlyn and Austin with their brothers Eddie and Joey.

Left: Eddie, Right: Joey

We are currently in Elko, Nevada visiting Santiago's side of the family. Santiago couldn't come because he had some military training, so these pictures are mostly for him. We are going to Salt Lake City today and will be flying back to San Antonio on Wednesday. I am looking forward to getting home!

Mamma Mia the Movie

2008-08-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

My sister Joy and I went to see this movie tonight. I new that this movie was based on a musical, but I didn't realize that the movie was also a musical. It was actually a pretty good movie despite all the singing (and a bit of immorality). I don't know which was more entertaining though, the movie or the audience. I think we were the youngest people there. The audience mostly consisted of a bunch of middle aged women who actually clapped during the movie, laughed hysterically and swooned over Pierce Brosnan. Your opinion of Pierce Brosnan will definitely change by the end of the movie. He has come a long way from his James Bond days. My dad would be very disappointed. Anyways, if your are looking for a movie to go see you should pick this one. It is one of those movies that is funnier to watch with an audience.

My trip to Guatemala

2008-07-25T17:51:00.001-07:00

While we were in Antigua I got to go zip-lining through the jungle.
Here I am at the mayan ruins of Tikal. It rained the whole time we were there. It was the rainy season in Guatemala, so it rained everyday we were there.
Here I am assisting with a C-section. This was the highlight of my trip.

Here I am with the baby I helped deliver.
Here is the hospital where we stayed for the week we were in Uspantan.
These kids wanted me to take their picture. All the kids love getting there pictures taken. This is very typical for you to see the older sisters carrying around the babies.

Here I am with my room mate Kathleen.
This picture was taken on our drive from Guatemala City to Uspantan. There are so many mountains in Guatemala!
Here I am holding up a uterus just because I can!!!
Julie the giantess. Guatemalas are such tiny people!
The gates in front of the hospital. People line up and have to wait to be seen. There was always a big crowd out front.

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I recently went on a medical mission trip to Guatemala. I was there from the 12th of July through the 23rd of July. We flew into Guatemala City and then drove 8 hours to Uspantan, which is where we worked. I mostly worked in the postop area, but got to go into the O.R. a couple of times. The last three days we stayed in Antigua. I did a side trip up to Tikal. It was really amazing. I definately plan on doing more mission trips in the future. It was such a humbling experience.

I've been tagged by my used to be best friend Alisha!

2008-07-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

My friend Alisha will be mad at me if I don't keep this going, so here it is. You have to list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions, 3 random surprising facts about yourself and then tag 5 people that have to complete this too.

Joys:
1. Scrapbooking
2. Just finishing my last summer class
3. Watching Austin really starting to talk more

Fears:
1. Teaching Young Women's (which I just did for the first time today)
2. Getting bad grades in school
3. Being a bad mom

Current obsessions:
1. Getting my scrapbooks caught up (yes Alisha, I am O.K. with admitting that I am behind)
2. Packing for Guatemala (I leave on Saturday)
3. Getting in shape so I'll look cute in my new Modbe swimsuits

Random surprising facts about me:
1. I am actually quite shy
2. I like to read cheesy LDS romance novels
3. ???????????? (it is taking too long to try and figure out something else to say!)

Who I am tagging (don't feel obligated but it would be fun to read your responses):
1. Joy
2. Camea
3. Shawna
4. Janae
5. Emily

4th of July Fun

2008-07-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn and Austin at the parade
Fun times at the circus!
This 4th of July we went to the Schertz city parade in the morning and then to the circus with the Bartons in the evening. We also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary!

Austin's own personal ZOO

2008-07-02T19:11:00.001-07:00

These vinyl animals are my recent vinyl additions to my house. They make Austin's room look soooo cute!

Invasion of the ANTS!

2008-07-02T19:03:00.001-07:00

We have been having a few problems with ants lately. I had seen some in the kitchen and so I called the exterminators. They put some bait on the counters but the ants didn't seem very interested. Now I know why! My friend Alisha called and wanted to see if I had any light corn syrup that she could borrow. I don't use it very often, but looked up on the top shelf of the pantry to find it. I pulled it down to find it full of little ants. The lid wasn't on tightly so I guess that was my fault. Hopefully the ants will be more interested in the bait now that the sugary temptation is gone!

Nike is a big sister!

2008-06-29T21:41:00.001-07:00

Our dog Nike's mother and siblings

After going to feed the animals today at Ft. Sam, we stopped by Santiago's friends house to visit. These are the friends that gave us our dog Nike. We didn't realize that their dog had more puppies. These puppies are only 5 days old! They were so cute. We might end up with another dog! Ashlyn said she thought that Nike needed a sister. I guess they took their dog to the vet to finally get her spayed and they told her she was pregnant so they couldn't do it. These puppies are going to need a home so if anyone is interested let me know.

Feeding the Animals at Ft. Sam

2008-06-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

We have lived in San Antonio for a couple of years now and we never realized that there were deer, ducks, geese, etc. to feed on Fort Sam Houston, which is the Army post that my husband is assigned to. It doesn't cost anything to go except for you have to bring your own food. My friend Monique invited us to go along with her today after church. The kids had a lot of fun. Thanks for inviting us Monique (and for providing the food)!

Some Cute Pictures of Austin

2008-06-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

I got the camera out to take pictures of Santiago's scruff and Austin wanted his picture taken too. He never wants to be left out of anything!

12 Days of Leave = A Very Scruffy Man!

2008-06-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

Santiago took 12 days off of work to help out with the kids while I was taking a summer class. He decided to rebel and not shave. I made him shave before church today though, because he was looking way to scruffy for my taste! He starts back to work tomorrow though, so he would have had to shave anyways.

Ashlyn at Caty's Birthday Party

2008-06-29T21:06:00.001-07:00

Ashlyn and Caty

These pictures were taken on Saturday at Ashlyn's friend Caty's birthday party. Caty was our next door neighbor, but she is moving. Ashlyn always had a lot of fun playing with Caty. She is going to miss her.

My New Vinyl - Thanks Alisha!

2008-06-28T05:36:00.000-07:00

My friend Alisha just bought her mother's vinyl business (Vinyl Chatter). I have been having so much fun going over to her house and playing around with the software and cutter. I have vinyl sayings all over my house. I love it! They give your house a really custom look. If you are interested in giving her some business let me know. You can also check out her website at www.vinylchatter.com. She will be updated it soon with a price list, more ideas, etc. Her prices are very reasonable compared to other companies I've looked at.

Ice Cream Sandwich = A Good Time

2008-06-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

Santiago took these pictures of Austin while I was at school today. I thought they were really cute!

Our new haircuts!

2008-06-23T20:04:00.000-07:00

My sister Joy's mother-in-law Jeanne cut our hair on Saturday. She lives a couple of hours away so we went up there and stayed the night at her house. Ashlyn likes going to "Grandma Mimi's" house. She has a big friendly dog and lots of movies. When we left her house on Sunday Ashlyn kept saying that she wanted to go back to Mimi's house. I decided to trade in my blonde highlights to be a true brunette. I was ready for a change. You'll have to let me know which way you like my hair the best.

McDonalds...I'm Lovin' It!

2008-06-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

Our next door neighbors own a McDonald's restaurant, so they are always bringing us over the toys. The kids love all the "gifts" they get. It is very thoughtful of our neighbors to think of our kids.

Our first concert as a married couple (and we're going on 6 years of marriage)

2008-06-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

We went to see a LifeHouse concert last night with some of our friends. LifeHouse is my friend Alisha's favorite band. They were really good in concert. We didn't get home until almost 1am, but it was a lot of fun.

The Purple Monster

2008-06-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

Tonight when I was putting Ashlyn to bed she said that our dog Nike told her that there was a purple monster living in the back yard. I asked Ashlyn how Nike told her this. I asked if Nike talked to her. She said, "No mommy, Nike didn't tell it to me, she woofed it to me!" We should have never let her watch Monsters Inc!

My friend the driver!

2008-06-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

My friend Alisha can finally drive again! She had a seizure 6 months ago and so according to state law wasn't able to drive for 6 months. My friends Teressa and Heather helped me decorate her car at church today with sayings, balloons and pop cans. My favorite saying was on the back window and it said "Almost 30, and just got my license".

Day Trip to Austin, Texas

2008-05-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

Some friends from nursing school and I decided to head up to Austin, Texas for a little site seeing and shopping. Austin is about 45 minutes away from where I live.

Kristy, Me, Patty, and Mary at a little candy shop on Congress Street.We toured the state capitol which was really impressive. I would recommend it to anyone visiting Austin.
This is the view of Lake Travis from the restaurant we ate at.
This is us in front of The Oasis, which is the restaurant we ate at. It had really good food and an even better view.

Memorial Day Barbeque at the Jensons

2008-05-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

Our friends the Jensons invited us and some other friends (The Bartons and the Hills) over for a barbecue on Memorial Day. They made some really tasty Carne Asada. The kids had a lot of fun with the sprinkler and water guns. Thanks for the barbecue Jensens!

More beach fun in Corpus Christi

2008-05-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn with her friend Adyson
On our way home from our week in Brownsville we met up with some of our friends in Corpus Christi. The Bartons, Scotts, and Jensons all decided to meet us at the beach for a day of fun. It worked out perfectly because Corpus Christi was half way home for us. We had a lot of fun. The best part was boogie boarding in the ocean, except for when a little crab clamped onto my toe and scared me half to death!

Gladys Porter Zoo

2008-05-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for the wagon rental! We forgot to bring our stoller on this vacatation. That was a mistake we have regretted quite a lot this past week.
Ashlyn was kind of scared of all the animated dinosaurs, while Austin wasn't scared at all.
Austin loved climbing on this statue. He actually stood up on it. He was so proud of himself. He is quite the climber.

Dolphin Watching Sunset Cruise

2008-05-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn with her cheesy smile.
Austin playing peek-a-boo.

We saw a lot of dolphins!

The sunset was really beautiful.

We would definately recommend this cruise. It was two hours long and only cost $13.00 per person. We saw a lot of dolphins and the scenery was great. The kids just thought it was fun riding on a boat. The sunset was the icing on the cake.

Andy Bowie Park

2008-05-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

Austin snoozing on the beach.

We had a much better beach experience today. We tried a park that was further north on the island (Andy Bowie Park) and it was a lot less crowded. The best part was that we didn't have to wait in line for a shower at the end. The park we went to on Monday was Isla Blance Park which is on the southern tip of the island. We would definately recommend Andy Bowie over Isla Blanca any day. Ashlyn had a lot of fun on the boogie board. She couldn't do it on her own without flipping over though.

Shopping in Mexico

2008-05-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today we went shopping in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. Ashlyn was excited about a couple of necklaces she got while we were there. The necklace featured in the bottom picture was purchased with the agreement that it would be for dress-up only!

Scrapbooking Overnight Trip

2008-05-19T06:53:00.001-07:00

L to R: Monique, Alisha, Janae, and Me
Janae and I

This post is a little late because I was waiting on Alisha to email me the pictures. On May 9th some friends and I headed downtown for a night of scrapbooking. We got a hotel room and scrapbooked all night (Monique and I were the only two to stay up all night). The pictures above were taken at a Mexican Restaurant where we ate dinner. We had a fun time and I got a lot done.

Aren't vacations supposed to be fun?

2008-05-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

A very crowded beach
One of the few moments Austin was actually happy today.
The end result of going on vacation.

We left home yesterday for a "relaxing" week long vacation in Brownsville, Texas. Brownsville is at the southern tip of Texas right next to the Mexican border and about 20 miles away from the coast. Today didn't turn out to be the picture perfect vacation day though. Austin woke up last night with a fever that persisted throughout the day. He was very cranky all day. We decided to spend the day at the beach on South Padre Island. We didn't end up having that much fun. The sand on South Padre Island is very fine. It sticks to everything. We were there for less than an hour when Ashlyn got sand in her eyes and started throwing a big fit. Her eyes were red and the kids were both cranky so we decided to leave the beach. When we got in the car it wouldn't start. We sat there for an hour doing different things trying to get the car to start. It was a hot day today so the wait was especially miserable. Thankfully the kids both fell asleep in the car which was a huge relief. After an hour Santiago finally told me to call for a tow truck. The wait was going to be another hour. 30 minutes into our wait for the tow truck, Santiago finally got the car to start. That was sure an answer to prayers. Hopefully tomorrow ends up being a better day.

Goofy Goggle Girl

2008-05-18T08:29:00.001-07:00

Ashlyn put her daddy's swim googles on and then wanted her picture taken. She is so cute isn't she?

Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch

2008-05-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

The kids had fun at the wildlife ranch. Ashlyn was still a little scared of the zebras due to a previous experience at the ranch of a zebra sticking its head in the car and grabbing the whole bag of food out. Austin was so excited about "driving". Ashlyn's favorite part was the goats at the petting zoo.

Cinco de Mayo Party

2008-05-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

We had some of our friends over for dinner on Cinco de Mayo. Santiago cooked the whole meal (too bad that doesn't happen more often!). We wrapped up the evening with the kids decapitating a Dora pinata. It was a fun evening.