There were tons of flowers everywhere. Emily loved to stop and smell them.
All the buildings were German style, even the bank and Starbucks.
We stopped to enjoy a strawberry ice cream in the park.
Andres standing under a beer wagon. The drivers were dressed in traditional clothes.Emily's best side, either that or she takes after her mother.

Ok, these pictures were suppose to be second, not first. Either I have no idea how to do this, or this computer is just a pile of scrap metal.

Leavenworth, WA

So, Luis turned the big 30 on Sunday. I decided to suprise him with a trip to a little German town about 2 hours away. We have never been there so I figured it was a good place to try, besides, I have never had German food. I forgot that Luis had and unfortunately doesn't like it, but I will come to that.

I had worked 2 weeks setting this trip up and it seemed like the stars were against me. Things became difficult last minute and Luis kept changing his mind about what he thought we should do for his birthday. He even invited people to a party we weren't going to have! Anyway, after much damage control, the secret remained intact. I decided to get him to the car (which was packed with overnight stuff and presents) I would tell him I wanted to get up early and go garage saleing. We woke up to RAIN. He decides it would not be a good idea to go to a garage sale. Then I tell him I desperately want to go to Costco (we needed gas for the trip) before the crowds came. We get there before the store opens (on purpose of course) and I tell him to get gas and we would come back later. I then tell him we have to go to my friend Megan's house (on the way to Leavenworth) and drop something off. As we pass her house I tell him to keep going, that I changed my mind. Finally he starts asking questions. I can't believe the suprise lasted that long. I do have grey hair from it by the way. Anyway, it was a beautiful little town and we had fun looking at all the shops, sampling cheese, ice cream, gelato, and even a bratwurst.

So, as I said before, Luis doesn't like German food so we went for chinese and pizza which were very good. We visited museums, went for hikes, walked the parks, and played on the beach of the wenatchee river. Very pretty. The funny part was when Andres realized that we were there on a Sunday. (We went Saturday to Sunday afternoon, it isn't a suprise if you have to get your husband to ask for a day off work!) Anyway, he was so upset that we went to a museum, had a hotdog and gingerbread cookie, and played in a play area on Sunday. He made me promise not to do it again. :) What a good boy! I know, I am a bad example.

Overall, a great trip. Luis was happy with the suprise and his presents ( a zune and new pants).

A view of main street

This is inside the Nutcraker museum. The only nutcracker you are allowed to take a picture of.

Andres was licking chocolate off the foil, then he looked at us and said, "Quick daddy, take my picture!"

Andres and Emily in the park.

Playing on the play area.

Andrés' first day of preschool

Well, I am the only mom I know who has not blogged about their child's first day of school. I am so bad I don't even have a picture! Oh well, better late than never.

Andrés started preschool this year. I wanted to give him a year to get used to the school atmosphere and get used to a teacher before going to "the yellow school" as he calls it. He was up at 7:30 am that morning, dressed, and heading for the car before I caught him. He told me he was going to wait in the car until we left for school...in 2 HOURS. Anyway, I convinced him to go upstairs and eat breakfast. We got his lunch and then I tried to distract him until it was time to go. He kept asking, and asking, and asking. He was so excited. I finally was able to go and drop him off. When I went to get him, he came out and told me he was so disappointed. I was concerned and asked him why? He said "Why did you take me to this house? I thought I was going to the yellow school with the bus!" (He attends preschool in a house run by some ladies I know from church in a house.) I had to contain my laughter as I explained to him that this was the school we had visited and he had been there before. That he would go to the yellow school next year. For a week after that he kept asking me if it was time to go to the yellow school. Obviously he has trouble understanding time periods. Needless to say, 2 weeks later he is having a blast. He loves school and always comes out singing or telling me all kinds of stories about things they did or learned. I am glad he is enjoying it and this gives Emily and I 3 days a week to spend together doing girl things. :)

Monkeys at the zoo

Kinsey and Emily just hatched from their egg!

Megan, Andrés, and Jessica impersonating spiders.

Andrés and Emily were so cute holding hands!

In the butterfly garden.
The whole gang. Kinsey, Andrés, Emily, Kyler, Camilla, and Isabella. What a group!

Olympic National Park

A week ago we went to Olympic National Park with Luis' cousin and her family. What a beautiful place. We loved it and plan to go back sometime when we have some more time. It takes hours to drive around and see all of the Park, not to meantion the time hiking. I loved it. The only boring part was waiting 2 hours to get onto the ferry at Port Angeles. The kids did great though. Probably because I was well stocked with snickerdoodles from Costco. :)
Somehow we made it out of the house without shoes for Emily. Hiking in the forest was a challenge so Luis tried to carry her on his shoulders most of the time, but Emily didn't like it. She wanted to walk. She got very dirty, but loved walking though the dirt, pine needles, rocks, roots, and who knows what else. She had a great time though.
This was a ricketty little log bridge we had to walk on to get over a stream.
This was the waterfall we were hiking to. Very pretty. It was an uphill climb on some wooden stairs built into the dirt. Andres was so fast running up the stairs, and the hills, and the dirt. No fear in that one.
This is Marisol, Kevin, and their daughter Monica. They came with us. We had lots of fun and really enjoyed their company. Emily and Monica had a great time together. They are about the same age, height, build, and hairstyle. Well, until her mom cut her hair (Monica's, not Emily's). What great friends!

A day at the beach

We went to Juanita Beach in Kirkland, WA with Jessica and her niece Andrea. We had a great time. Unfortuantely I was not prepared for swimming as I thought it would be too cold. Andrés did not mind and rolled his pants up to walk in. Eventually he fell a few times and got soaked so he gave up and jumped in. I did not have dry clothes for him so I had to use some of Emily's spare undies that I had and my sweater to get him home. He was not happy to wear girlie undies, but glad to be dry. He had a great time so it was worth it. :)
Emily did not think it was too fun and refused to go in the water or even to walk on the sand. I had to hold her the whole time. Although she was willing to eat her chicken nugget that had fallen in the dirt.

Andrés would follow Andrea around splashing her. She was a great sport to play with them.

A day at the beach...cont

Kinsey decided she didn't want clothes on when they got wet. Lucky for her, her mother was prepared with dry clothes.
Andrés loved splashing everyone!

Kyler didn't seem to mind the water at all. He kept crawling toward it until Jessica just took him in.

Microsoft Company Picnic 2008 cont..

Andrés was such a monkey climbing on these things. He loved them!
Coming back down. The fun part.
His balloon snake, who had a short life.

Emily eating the watermellon rind again.

Microsoft Compay picnic 2008

The picnic was a lot of fun for Andrés. They had close to 20 huge inflatables and that is where we spent most of our time. Oh, and the food. Luis loves that part. We also took a hay ride and had a snake balloon made by one of the clowns. Emily slept most of the time and ate when she was awake. Overall, a great trip.

My First Quilt!

Ok, so this is obviously a very easy pattern. It is a lap quilt and the pattern is called a kiss and a cuddle. (Note the "Kiss" in the center) I hand stitched the top, but machine stitched the sides of the quilt. It also was not a quilt with a binding, but is stitched and flipped. I wanted to start with an easy one. :) I gave it to my parents to take to Utah for their Mission.

The many occupations of Andrés

Andrés the Motorcyclist. He loves anything with wheels, but he adores motorcycles. He was so happy to just sit on them. This is at his bisabulela's house. (Greatgrandmother) She sells Motorcycles in Guatemala. He spent more time here than anywhere else in Zacapa.





Andrés the Master Chef. He loves to cook and is always asking me.."mom, what are we baking today!" He pulls his chair up to the counter and helps me cook. Here he is in Guatemala where his Aunties dressed him up and gave him a moustache. They were baking sugar cookies.

Andrés the Pilot. He loves the computer game Flight Simulator. His grandpa Guayo got him the hat and headphones. He is in Guatemala here also.

Andrés the Cowboy. He loves Merry-go-rounds. Every time we pass one he has to ride the horses. This one is in Guatemala at an amusement park called Xetulul. It was tons of fun.








Andrés the Payaso (clown). He is always telling jokes and laughing. He makes everyone around him smile. His favorite is to make Emily laugh. This was his Halloween costume last year.

potty training cont...

Well, here we are at day 4 and I am doing better with potty training than keeping up with the blog. Good new is that Emily went all day accident free. (Well, potty accidents...she did fall down a few times thanks to older brother.) I think she is starting to realize the M&M's are for when she goes in the potty, not just a snack. Andres is always hanging around to make sure he gets a treat when she does. Keep your fingers crossed for me that she continues to do well.
So, today I was cleaning out the fridge, trying to make some space and found a tupperware of watermellon in the back of the fridge (old). I decided to give it to the kids to get rid of it. I put them in the bathtub to cut down on the mess and let them eat. When Emily got to the rind, I tried to take it away to put it in the garbage but she cried...so I gave it back to her. To my utter disbelief, she ATE the entire rind. I didn't even think you could chew it, but she loved it. I hope it is ok to eat. The things we let our kids do to keep them happy hu.

potty training

So I finally have a blog, thanks to a very good friend who started it for me. :) It is interesting to have started this blog the same day I started potty training my daughter. I hope the blog goes better than that. I will try hard to keep up with blogging, I make no promises Megan. ;)

Brotherly-Sisterly Love