Time is valuable and gone so fast..

I haven't written anything in almost a year.. According to Katherine she is still looking at 3rd grade... Even I can't believe that Maya will start 4th grade in almost exactly a week. It's true that you mark time by your children.. The school calendar helps keep us on a schedule.. the summer is almost over for Maya and 4th grade is looming.. time for me to put some effort into catching up on the blog..
Where do I start? Maya survived 3rd grade with flying colors.. She made honor roll all 4 quarters. She learned so much about American history.. She is definitely a history buff. She had Mrs. King and enjoyed the stories about her animals. She is still an animal lover in every sense of the word. She was very excited to make a new friend in Acacia E. They played two square and took turns bringing a soccer ball to school. Thanks to the help and patient tutoring of Bree, Maya was able to stay on top of her school work and note fight with mom and dad..
Soccer ws a whole different ball game this year. Martin took on the Wolfpack team with Rueben in the fall. The girls were the first team.. they pushed, they played hard and were 3rd overall at the end of fall and placed 3rd in the playoffs. That season spoiled us, it was the honeymoon period. The Spring season started too soon. We lost half our girls and assistant coach. I had to add assistant coach to my manager hat. Not sure both parents in coach spot is the best for Maya. Its a lot of pressure and somehow we survived. We had a hectic schedule and the teams were now made up of our former team mates. Maya really struggled with playing against her pals. She wanted her friends on her team. We try to remind her how important it is to play hard always and cheer on good players, no matter what jersey they are wearing. The girls had a harder time this season geling and trusting eachother. All we can do is plan more fun time..
We spent a lot more time as a team and the parents have all found friendships which is so neat. We spend two to three days a week together, its great to see us click and connect.
Work has been fascinating, overwhelming and challenging.. I have learned so much about the products. I made some great friends in my team and I love working hard to help them succeed. The company is on its way to turning around. Its been hard but we can see the progress..
I finally made it to quilting class after missing several classes which means months.. The last quilt I made was Martin's 40th birthday. I was itching to sew. I needed the time to put some pieces together. Literally.
Blogger looks different. I need to relearn how to post. As soon as I can do that I will add some pictures and some posts with a little more than my random babbles..
Buzz!
Alex

Third Grade..

I don't know how it happened? I blinked and school was upon us.  The supply list was posted.. We ironed uniforms and then it was time to start getting Maya to bed early again..

Last week we went to the back to school picnic and found out the good news.  Maya got the teacher she wanted.  She was placed in Mrs. King's class..

Yesterday was the first day of school...

Where is the time going? Our baby is a 3rd grader.. She is now expected to learn Latin roots in addition to her spelling and vocabulary.. She has a new red binder and shiny white shoes.. She is growing up..

School's in session..

Alex

Road Trip..

This summer our two week vacation was a road trip to Montana.. Whitefish to be exact.. We headed out at 4am with the Bells on July 1st..We crossed through several states on our two day trek.. The girls survived with movies, animal and landmark games and a few rest stops along the way...
There were stops at Cracker Barrel to refuel along the way..

 We are almost there.. we had to get by this HUGE lake.. yes, it looked like the ocean..

 We went up Big Mountain on the ski lifts.. Behind us is Canada!

 Deanna, Carl, Grace and Lily on big mountain..

 This picture of Lily is priceless.. The water was so cold but they wanted to swim!

Somehow our two tribes managed to survive and enjoy two weeks together..

We visited the Herrmann family in Whitefish, discovered coffee and pink holstered cap guns. So much fun.. 

We visited Glacier National Park (there are still glaciers there!).  Glacier will have to be its own post as we got some great pictures.

We rode the pontoon boat out on Whitefish lake thanks to Grandpa Herrmann. 

We stayed at a great cabin with a wonderful view of the lake..  Martin and Carl spent a lot of time relaxing... 

We made some great memories with the Bells.. We ate some great food. Sushi in Montana.. Who Knew?. Deanna and I came back with lots of coffee (Montana Coffee Traders rocks!), pictures of everything from the kids to the mountains and most importantly memories of our silly families....

Time flies when you are having fun!

Alex

Summer fun!

Where do I start?  Maya got out  of school what seems like yesterday but was really months ago..

 Every time I think I will have a minute to breath something else comes up.. So here are some of the things Maya did this summer..

She took a week long soccer camp with the LeBrun boys...They were such troopers.. it was about 95 degrees in the shade.. (of which they had none). it was full sun all week long..

She took 3 sewing classes at our local Joann's with Zea.. Look at her behind her very own Hello Kitty machine.. (Thank you Auntie Deanna!)..

 My favorite part of the class was what Maya did with the scraps of fabric.. She made herself a no-sew outfit.. Not bad.. I have seen worse outfits on some designer shows..

 Maya and Zea and their American girl dolls also had a mini-spa day... Yes, those are cucumbers on their eyes.. I didn't realize 8 yr olds had puffy eyes..

She had a week of Girl Scout camp...

These are just the highlights.. She managed to spend a whole week at Auntie Deanna's so she could go to summer school with Grace and Lily.. She also had regular day camp at her school which meant she came home with lots of crafts and neat hairdos thanks to Mrs. Coltrain.. I am sure I am forgetting something..

Summer was full of camps and friends..

Alex

School's Out!

School was out way too early.. Probably not for Missy who was a bit fried by the end of the year, but too soon for us..  She held up her sign proudly on that last morning.. It says "Done with 2nd grade on to 3rd"

I was not mentally ready for the summer madness, heat and additional scheduling.  Maya is a mini-busy bee after all. She has a list of must do summer activities and we had an additional list of "camps" to keep her busy while we worked.   

To start her summer off on the right foot, Martin and I put together a little A frame tent and set up her room with some additional decorative items.. She was completely surprised to come home and find her personal space updated.. The colorful dresden plates that I had made in quitling class lent a cheerful spin to her little tent.  A matching pink carpet, some framed soccer pictures and a new bulletin board finished off the loft space. 

This tent makes me wish I was 8 yrs old and could climb in for a nap..

Happy summer snoozing..

Mom

P.S. Yes, I know school got out May 25th and its almost July 25th.. We have been busy.. More summer post to follow..soon..

May Day!

This is a new tradition borrowed from one of our favorite people- JULIE!.. It was a lovely May day.. Maya took a little bouquet to her sweet teacher. 

In the evening we delivered some sweets and yellow daffodils to a few neighors..

Happy May Day!

Alex

Soccer time!

Here we are again.. Spring 2012 and the team got off to a great start.. Martin and Megan are back as coaches.  They were thrilled to see some faces from last fall and a happy to get a few new friends.  The Avalanche is an exciting group of giggling girls.. 

Have a great season!
Alex 

The egg hunt..

Maya had a mini egg hunt out front after coming home from auntie Deanna's house.  It was just a few of us at home.. some food and a little basket..

This picture was so sweet.. I see a little bit of me at that age..

It was a good day.. Thanks be to God..
Alex



A blast from the past...

This April we got to celerate Rusty's 40th.. We had a blast catching up with the Pato's. You know you are friends when no matter how much time has passed you can just talk as if you saw each other last week.. Rusty and Kelle started out with us at RCIA and 13 years later here we still are..

Friends then and now..

Happy 40th Rust-O-Rama!
Alex

Spring Break!

This year we were lucky enough to visit the Malone's in Tennesse for spring break.. They were kind enough to take us into their home and their cabin.. We got to see the Smokey Mountains, Dollywood and Nashville.. 

We had a nice time relaxing on the lake..

Maya spent a lot of time with Izzie.

We visited Andrew Jackson's plantation home for a little history. We walked the entire grounds..

The week flew by.  We can't wait to visit the south again.. We enjoyed everything from the relaxed pace, the kindness everywhere we went (they call you mam!) to Crackel Barrel for breakfast.. Next time we have to try the pancakes in Seiverville.   A big Thank you to the Malone's!
We had a blast! The Galvans..

An extra day...

In honor of leap day I decided to use this "extra" day to catch up.. Here goes..

In January Arthur ran a crazy thing called a Spartan race..
There was running, crawling, climbing and mud..
I somehow logged over 4 miles just taking pictures.. that was half the course! But in the end Artur finished it strong!In February, our annual meet up with the Dan's took us to Kit Carson park for a picnic.. It was a great day and while the kids explored we all caught up on life... Speaking of going strong.. We have been friends for over 20 years.. Now that is timing moving fast! Last but not least we celebrated my aunt Lidia's 65th last weekend..

It was great to hear live Mariachi music and catch up with the cousins..
Life is good!

Alex

Wrapping up 2011...

This year was full of changes for us.. Some were unexpected and sad while others were welcome and exciting.....I don't want to make this a depressing post so I will try to focus on the fun stuff that rounded out the year and reminded us how much we really have to be thankful for..
This fall brought a new school for Maya.. After some initial transition anxiety we came out on the other side a bit smarter! Maya is learning French, music, drama and other classical subjects at her school.. She has decided that history is her favorite subject. She loves the uniforms and especially her WONDERFUL and DEDICATED teacher.. Martin took on head coaching and his heart expanded as he watched the girls on his team learn to love soccer.. His 8-2 record wasn't too bad either.. His dedication, spreadsheets and hours really showed.. I was lucky enough to be offered a new opportunity within my same company. I was not only flattered but fortunate to be picked up by one of the up and coming business units.. We have a lot of work to do but in these tough times, I am beyond grateful for a new role.
We spent lots of time with extended family and long time friends.. My uncle Miguel helped us video Maya's games and was a frequent cheerleader with my mom at those early Saturday games. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson also came out to watch the games and hosted several fun poker nights..

The Bell family has become our family in a thousand more ways.. Maya and the girls are so close it warms my heart. It's hard to believe we live 40 mins away.. We are always together and the girls can't get enough of their play time. Martin is now a huge fan of Vietnamese Pho. Carl's gopher count was amazing. Deanna's patience and dedication to all things care taking continue to amaze me.. We had some fun summer days, fabulous dinners and wrapped up NYE 2010 with a feisty Lily crying about the difficulties of being the little sister. Looking forward to many more memories..

My quilting pals put up with me all year and Julie hosted a fabulous Christmas party for us which took my breath away.. Karen gifted me an amazing snowman which will be treasured for years to come.. That class is my version of therapy and I look forward to many more years..

Our neighbors are still awesome and watching the kids grow and play has reaffirmed the fact that this is a great place to live.. It's HOME! We love our neighbors generosity and thoughtfulness. Whether I need the proverbial cup of sugar or a dip in the pool in the summer, our neighbors are there for us..

My little brother keeps growing and I am amazed at his dedication to helping children in need. He is still a crazy basketball fan and a life long student which is great...He is a fun uncle to Missy which is so neat to see.. He is a friend to many and a unique soul..Wishing Arthur a productive 2012!

My mom is a busy bee and is always on the go.. Whether she is up here visiting us, watching a soccer game, babysiting or driving north to visit Arthur. She is constantly sending me pictures or texting me to keep in touch.. Not a day goes by that I don't know that mom is sending me good vibes... Wishing her some rest in 2012. The rest of family was also a source of strength.. As a result of the loss of my aunt and uncle we really spent the year reconnecting . Its hard to admit that it would take the mourning process to bring us closer but thankfully it did.. We spent more time with all the Martinez brothers, my aunt Chelo spent more time here and brought her grown kids around.. We made more phone calls to cousins, we sent more cards out for the holidays, we had bigger tables to set for the holidays.. I only hope that in 2012 we continue the new family get togethers and don't need another funeral to remember our extended family...

In our little world Maya discovered dolls, lost several teeth and continued to lighten up our life.. It's hard to believe she is 8 yrs old. She is still our little cuddle bug, she loves to color, imitate animals and ride her scooter as fast as she can.. She is super girly and pink and glitter are always at the top of her list..
Christmas was full of cookies and presents but the best gift was just the 3 of us enjoying our family time...

Wishing everyone a fabulous 2012..
Blessings!
Alex

Maya's great 8 birthday!

The year has flown by for us as a family.. October is always a busy month but this year the stress of life meant more chaos than normal.. Before I knew it I realized that Maya's birthday had snuck up on me..

This year Maya wanted an all girl event..

Thankfully she wanted games and music. A few pink party supplies and a homemade cake was all that was needed for these girls to enjoy their afternoon..

Lily was a sight with the hula hoop..

They started the games with the limbo game and enjoyed being silly..

A few hours of fun and games was perfect for celebrating...
I think it was an extended playdate..
However, we couldn't let a birthday pass without family which meant a long day for all of us.. If it wasn't for my mom and Deanna I think I would have passed out from exhaustion..
Her 8 shaped cake was shared with family and our neighbors (our second family)..

She was flooded with gifts and by 8:00 exhausted beyond her 8 years!

I still can't believe it but ready or not she is the Great 8..

Happy birthday baby!
Love,
Mom and Dad

It's that time again...

SOCCER SEASON!

This season Martin is head coach and the girls are the Mighty Mermaids..
Maya has decided to be an offensive player and that she wants to score.. Who knew?These little girls are showing some amazing heart, teamwork and tumbling (yes, tumbling!)..
The season is about half way through and every practice, scrimmage and game we are enjoying watching them grow as soccer players..
Go Mighty Mermaids!
Alex

Amanda's 15th!

I don't know how it happened but our little Mandy grew up... This September we celebrated her 15th..

We had a great time celebrating in traditional Mexican fashion Amanda's 15th or Quince..
The Father-Daughter dance was by far my favorite..
The Garcia family was all dressed up and so were we for celbrating this special event..

Look at mom and dad, so proud!
We don't get too many chances to dress up.. This was a great excuse to put in some effort..
Happy Birthday Mandy!