Animarl adventures, part 2

Waco has a great little zoo that is a short drive away and very reasonably priced. It is 52 acres and has typical zoo animals and then a large section dedicated to Texas native animals and wildlife. Uncle Ryan accompanied us, he said he hasnt been to a zoo in like 15 plus years!! The weather was nice, but I am little red faced this evening (i brought sunscreen, but neglected to put it on!)
Maggie's favorite part was the slide. They have a couple slides and play areas through out the park and Maggie could have stayed there the whole time!!! OF course I only have a sideways shot of Maggie doing her favorite thing! Ugh!





Sophie's favorite thing was the giraffe. She loved watching them and didnt want to leave! They are definately interesting animals!




Sophie got alittle grumpy part way through the zoo, but got over it pretty quickly.



Uncle Ryan was a big help and seemed to enjoy himself.


My favorite part was spending time with my beautiful little girls!!

Animal adventures part 1

I had the opportunity to take the girls out to a little farm that someone in our church owns and lives at. That particular sister is always bringing farm fresh eggs to church free for people to take. I love it-cause eggs are one of my most favorite foods. Anyway- the girls had such a good time and it was so fun to see them running around and interactin gwith the animals. They were not shy or timid at all!

First we saw the bulls. We werent able to go inside the fence-which was probably pretty smart, but they ran up to us at the fence and the girls enjoyed watching them eat their lunch.


Next we strolled through the field past some donkeys and over to the ponds. There were some fish, frogs and even a turtle but I am not sure if the girls really saw any. They just had fun running around!


Next we visited the goats. There were 2 baby goats that are taking a bottle and the girls got to help feed them their bottles. Maggie did a great job. When the goats got too much milk, they started sneezing and rubbing their noses in the dirt.



Sophie was super excited!!

And then she realized she was out numbered!!



Finally, we saw the chickens. The girls got to feed the chickens some bread and even got to see where they lay their eggs. Their was about 6 eggs in the hen house for the girls to take and carry back to the house. Sister Garcia had plenty of eggs in the house and let us each take home a dozen of eggs!




We had a great time and really appreciate our friends at church opening up their home to help teach my little ones about the farm!!

Snap shots from the month

I realized this morning that I had faltered when it came to keeping this blog update, not as bad as in the past, but I have got to keep up with my new year's resolutions!! Not much has happened this month. We were all sick for a few weeks and sat around being grumpy and tired.

It had been sooo cold we decided to bring the Little Tikes CUbe in the house so the girls could actually play on something and get their energy out!



We had a snow day! Sophie was not interested in playing outside! She just wanted to be held.

Maggie had a blast and really wanted to build a snowman, but the snow just woulnd't pack enough for even a snowball.

Oscar really seemed to love it too!!

For Valentine's Day we made Kai-lan snuggle pillows and chocloate covered strawberries! Yummy!!



A few days later, we were basking in 80 degree weather and loving the sun. One Sunday before church, the girls were so cute and still clean in their dresses, I just had to take some pictures!!

A new decade!

I had the opportuninty to celebrate my 30th birthday this weekend! Its funny that I used to think 30 was old!! How silly! 30 is the new 20! My husband took part of Friday off and thanks to an awesome uncle watching the girls, we go to spend some adult time together. We went down to my most favorite store, Ikea. We actually got to spend time walking through the store at a leisurely pace and I got to pick out a light fixture for my kitchen! Yeah!!!

For dinner, one of my friends gave me a gift certificate type thing for an amzaing resturant in Austin, Hudson's on the Bend. The atmosphere was wonderful with mood lighting and modern art displayed (one painting of a tricycle was for sale for $2500.00, incase anyone is interested!). The food was delicious and there was not a child in sight!! Gerson and I had a wonderful time enjoying each others company and had great conversation while feasting on an amazing 3 course meal. It was a great night!


Saturday, I enjoyed some girls time and wnet to a local craft show with a couple of girl friends. We then enjoyed a yummy lunch and some afternoon shopping. It was a fun time and I think it would only have been better if I had gotten a pedicure!!!

While I was celebrating the start of a new decade, I was thinking of the last 10 years and all the accomplishments and memories I have collected. I thought I would share a few of my favorites. I have been extremely blessed with a beautiful family and the opportunity to receive 2 degrees.

I received 2 diplomas from the University of North Texas, my bachelors and my masters degrees. I chose not to attend my hight school graduation, but I sure did go to both of my college graduations!!


I met and married the love of my life, 3 times! I say that jokingly, but its mostly true. February 22, 2008, Gerson and I went to the justice of the peace and were lawfully married. It was just us and Maggie (plus a friend to keep control of maggie and take a few pics) and it was a sweet occasion.


April 19 2008, we had our ring ceremony and reception for our family and friends. It was quite a party with a live mariachi band!

In April 2009, we were sealed together for all eternity in the Dallas Temple.


I gave birth to two beautiful little girls!! They are a joy and a miracle!

Maggie was born December 20 2006, she just celebrated her 4th birthday. She is a beautiful, stubborn, smart little girl-she is a lot like me!!


Sophie was born June 29, 2009 and will be turning 2 soon. She is talking so much and is so sweet-sounds alittle like me too!

I would say those are some pretty amazing accomplishments!! I cant wait to see what the next 10 years hold for me!

Fire Fire! Is my house on fire??

I was sitting in the living talking on the phone with my sister when I heard a loud horn honking. I looked out the window and saw a fire truck!



My first thought "Did Sophie call 911 again?" and then I remembered I was on the phone. Then I realized, "My brother is a fire fighter and its probably him!" He stopped by to give his neices a personal tour of the fire truck! The only problem? Maggie was too afraid to come outside! Seriously, how many kids get a firemen to come visit them with a firetruck at their house!?! Sophie did let Uncle Scott hold her, but started crying when they got in the truck!



It was a super sweet gesture, not to mention super cool!! and hopefully the next time Uncle Scott stops by in a fire truck, the girls will have more fun!!!

A new addition..

The last few months I have been wanting to get a dog for my girls, but I had a hard time making a decision. I didnt want a puppy and have to deal with the chewing and messes in the house, but I didnt want an older grumpy dog that wouldnt be good with the kids. In December, I was told that the county animal shleter was going to be closing and they had several animals that needed a good home. The timing just didnt workout for us, between holidays and travleing, I couldn't see us getting a new pet and then leaving it to go on a trip as soon as we got it. Then a friend of my parents had a dog jump in her car while she was loading her groceries in the Wal-mart parking lot. I never called her about the dog and just didnt feel like taking it. So finally Saturday evening, my sister called me and said she had found a dog hiding under her van. She already has two dogs and couldnt keep this one, so I talk my husband into letting my sister bring it over. Now Gerson has never had a dog in his life! and he really didnt want me to get one for us, but with the sad boo-hoo story of a lost dog and an artic front moving in seemed to open his heart just a little. As soon as Becca and Seth showed up with the dog, he latched on to Gerson. We decided on the name Oscar for this sweet daschund.



The girls were very excited when they woke up the next morning and love having the dog around. They seem to be having more fun with his stuff then with him!! They enjoy getting in the kennel and apparently prefer to drink their water from a bowl then a cup!!







We took a trip to Petsmart today so Maggie and Sophie could pich out a collar and leash for him. I saved him from pink and directed Maggie to a cute green collar with brown polka dots! Then of course Maggie saw the sweaters and we had to get one, especially since it is so cold and we have had that cold front move in. Once again, I saved Oscar the embarassment of having to wear pink and we settled on a tasteful red and gray strip sweater.




Oscar is good around the kids and tolerates their unending affection, but I think is has attached himself to Gerson. He follows Gerson, sits next to him on the couch (UGH!!!), tries repeatedly to sleep on our bed next to him, and has been whining ever since he left for work this morning. I think Gerson has become pretty attached to Oscar as well!!

Happy New Year!!

Warning: this is a wordy post with limited and mostly unrelated pictures-forgive me and bear with me!!

Another year has come and gone and it is the time of year to make our resolutions. Every year they tend to be about the same and I think most people have very similar resolutions. I usually resolve to get organized and to get healthier. Both of those are on my list for this year, but I already got a headstart!
I spent most of last week and weekend purging and organzing my house! The upstairs tends to be neglected most of the time. I had BOXES of baby clothes in the attic and the guest bedroom closet was full of my brother's belongings. We were swimming in toys and clutter! I am happy to say that everyting has been reduced and we dropped off bags and boxes of things at goodwill and a big pile a crap was just picked up by our local trash collector. I have a box of baby clothes to give to a family at church and then some clothes to sell on ebay( which I have seperated into lots and picked up some boxes at the post office this morning!)!! Can I tell you how much better I feel and how much more pleasant it is to walk into my kids rooms and not feel like I am walking into an overwhelming mess?!?! Awesome!! I really wish I would have gotten a picture of the mountain of clothes in the floor, but I didnt!

Getting healthier is never fun! As I told my grandpa last week-its sure is a whole lot more fun to get fat then it is to get skinny!!! But I am proud to announce that I am well on my way to a new healthier me! Since the birth of Sophie Lyn I have lost 40 lbs!! Holy Crap! Thats a big number! but the sad part is that I have 30to 35 more to lose to get to my goal weight; however, I do feel good about my progress and am excited about losing the rest. My grandpa gave me a great compliment last week and said I was "starting to look like Leslie again".

Other resolutions include keeping this thing updated. I am going to try to take my mother's perspective and look at this like a journal. Along with this goes the resolution to take more pictures of my beautiful family .I have 2 unpublished posts waiting for me to add pictures-that is my goal this week, but I do resolve to do better and try for a PUBLISHED post per week.

Lastly, my house!

It has come along way and I love our home. But we still have alot to do. I hope to finished the kitchen, entry way (paint and molding), and add much needed curb appeal (new front door, plants, shutters, paint, etc). I have 12 months to get this accomplished-I need to remind myself of that cause otherwise I tend to want to get it all done NOW!

I could go on and on with goals and resolutions, but dont want to get overwhelmed and then not do anything! I wish you all luck and hope for success on your New Year's Resolutions!!!