Blah, Blah, Blog

The New

2012-02-12T00:58:00.000-08:00

Quite a lot went on this January. There's the whole New Years thing, and a couple of birthday boys, and snow.....SO lets get to it!

New Years

We spent our new years at our churches second annual New Years Bowling Bonanza! A few people showed up

The kids loved it:)

Mina's new American Girl doll had a bowling outfit too!

And we got to share a lane with Miss Ruby:)

Good times! I'm glad that this is our family's New Years tradition:) Gotta make sure to get there early though!

Earrings

Magdalena turned two months and was able to get her ears pierced! She was really excited:)

But she did protest a little;)

This only lasted a minute or two, and then she was back to her regular charming self:)

Belated Party

Mina finally got to have her birthday lunch at Red Robin!

John had a blast;)

and the boys racked up!

We love our Bee!

Max's Birthday

The next day was Max's birthday, and since my guy loves breakfast so much I thought I would make him some special pancakes!

They were a big hit:)

I made some fun monster cupcakes that night to take to community group, but I guess I took no pictures of them:(

Boys Birthday dinner

Well in case we hadn't been to enough restaurants and eaten enough, we also had a family celebration at Blazing Onion to celebrate both the boys' birthdays:)

There were gifts

and love

and cake!

I love me some boy!

Snow

In case you missed it, we had quite a bit of snow here in the Northwest and the kids had a BLAST! You can read my snow post here if you missed it but here are the highlights:)

Recital

Mina was in a drama class last semester, and when the semester was over they had a little recital to show what they had worked on:)

The boys enjoyed it:)

It was cute:)

More Birthdays!

Next it was time for Magnus' birthday breakfast!

Big boy!

Cute boy!!

I couldn't decide which of these pictures I liked better so I'll post them both:)

Happy Number 2, Magnus! And not to be outdone I made homemade ice cream cookie sandwiches and cake pops for birthday dessert!

They were a hit!

More Birthday celebration, seriously?!

Auntie Lyssa missed the boys' birthday dinner, so she stopped by with some goods!

Magnus loved his new "ooes" ADIDAS!

Thank you, Auntie Lyssa!

Magdalena enjoyed herself:)

Well, as you can see we had an entire month of celebrating! February has been more low key, but I'm sure I'll at least have a few pictures to share:)

We now interrupt your regularly scheduled program

2012-01-18T22:24:00.000-08:00

So I have several posts to make that come (chronologically) before this one, but the snow interrupted everything else so why not my blog too:) The kids couldn't wait to get to it:)

Get to what exactly? Well, snow ball fights...

and snow angels.

I think Max has the wrong idea.

That's better:)

And there's the tastey snow!

Don't worry, Lena got in on it too:)

A baby snow angel:)

It made me think of this picture of baby Mina.

We got about a foot of snow!

It sure was beautiful!

December to remeber

2012-01-08T23:23:00.000-08:00

Well, we had one busy month (as I'm sure all of you did)! I'll break ours down a little:) Mina's birthday starts us out with a family birthday dinner at Cheesecake Factory!

Then it was time for a fancy birthday brunch with Daddy at Salish Lodge!

Then a big group of our wonderful friends joined us for margaritas and mariachis for John's birthday!

Love my Honey!

We did our family tradition of Lights of Christmas!

The kids helped wrap presents!

We got to go to Grandma's church for Christmas Eve service! The picture is horrible but see if you can see 3 adorable little angels (one with a paci;)!

After service we had a wonderful dinner and opened presents!

Christmas morning was wonderful! We actually slept in till 9! Then ate breakfast before opening gifts:)

Sorry, not too much detail here but it's our holidays in pictures!:)

Wrong Holiday

2011-12-26T15:57:00.000-08:00

So I never did get around to posting about Thanksgiving! (Something about changing diapers, non-stop nursing, and a weekend in the hospital or something.) I thought I better hop to it seeing as Christmas is over and all that!

THANKSGIVING!

We started the day off right, with all you can eat homemade cinnamon rolls and cranberry pistachio biscotti:)

And I quickly put my mom and sister to work in the kitchen:)

John and John got the turkey started.

John had to stick around and "keep an eye on the turkey."

We had a good 'ol fashioned throw down this year for Thanksgiving! One sage roasted turkey (mine!) and one Cajun fried turkey (John's).

I will say that I emphatically won the throw down. And I'm not biased at all;)
This was the best picture of dinner that I got:(

What was I doing?

What I always seem to be doing!
The cousins had fun:)

Magnus really was having more fun than this pictures portrays:)

Max too!

After dinner Uncle John got to hold his new neice for the first time!

And Mamaw got some face time too:)

She enjoyed looking at all the kids baby books with Mina:)

Mina was so excited to wear matching outfits with Kanani:)

And you know what time it is after Thanksgiving....

NAP TIME!!

November

2011-12-03T00:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm sure you've all noticed that it's been a little cold around here on my blog front. It's almost like I've had something better to do with my time. Well, I have:) Magdalena is wonderful and beautiful and I enjoy holding her and cuddling every night. (And I never fall asleep holding her on the couch. Nope, doesn't happen;) But I have been greedy by not sharing our wonderful life and beautiful kids with all of you:) I've decided in light of recent events to change my blog up a bit and mainly have one big monthly recap post. So without further ado, I give you........NOVEMBER!
________________________________

Well November began with a bang! We had a baby! Yeah, if your unaware of that you clearly don't know me well enough to be reading this;) I actually did mange to blog about the big day here if you missed it:) So what did we do the day after we got home from the hospital you ask?

Why decorate for Christmas, of course! It's our crazy family tradition to decorate for Christmas the day after Halloween, and since we were a little busy that day, the next day works just as well:) The kids got into it.

So did Nani and John:)

I mainly pointed and supervised. Oh, and nursed a baby and napped;)

Even Lena enjoyed herself:)

What did we do with the little fat one?

Put him in his highchair and fed him Halloween candy until we were finished!:D Then we let him put the star on the tree:)

Lots of family fun and love!

All finished!

Now what?

Wrastle!
_________________

Then Lena had her first bath!

Grandma and Poppi came by for the festivities:)

__________________

After some light reading with Daddy, she got to meet Papa!

Lena had some presents to open from Grandma, Lexi, and Poppi.

_________________

I took some cute "before" pictures of Magnus before his first haircut!

Then I forgot to take an after! I'll blame "baby brain". You'll see it soon enough;)

_____________

We had so many events this month! My Sissy and her family came to visit!! I KNOW she came to see me and only me:)

This picture was taken less than 5 minutes after they arrived!

And Mamaw came out too!! Also to uh, see me:)

We all had an amazing photo session the next day and then my kids promptly got sick with the stomach flu! That was a good day for my sister's family to explore Seattle, and luckily we were only out for one day:) We then decided it would be big fun to all go.....

BOWLING!! Mamaw and Lena kept score:)

Max got some tips from uncle Doug:)

What did Magnus think of bowling?

He was very upset that he had to throw his ball away! Nani and Papa had to physically hold him to keep him from following the ball down the lane!:)

He got the hang of it after awhile:)

and Lena got in on the action:)

Mama and Val won for the "adults" (I'll use that term loosely;)

and MINA was #1 for the kids:)

Papa had the lowest score of everyone!

Then we had a yummy Burger King lunch:)

They also had a swim day and a movie spend the night party with Nani and Papa at their fancy hotel:) It was BIG fun, but I have no pictures because I was not allowed to come:)

Well I know I said this was the November post but considering the amount of fun we had this month I think I will save the Thanksgiving post as a separate one on its own:) That and my eyes are going cross!

SHE'S HERE!!!!

2011-11-04T01:38:00.000-07:00

Well I'm so glad that I actually DO have something better to write about for Halloween, other than the kids trick or treating in their cute costumes:)
Announcing the arrival of Miss Magdalena "Lena" Margaret Gaitan!

She was born Monday October 31st at 7:40pm. Weighing 7lbs 2oz. and 19 inches in length:) The birth went very well and Magdalena is healthy and happy! My mom made it just in time to see her being born and my wonderful mother in law had the other 3 munchkins at her house overnight! The next morning Magdalena got to meet the rest of her family!
Big sissy was beside herself!

and can't wait to do "everything" with her:)
Max is the sweetest big brother

Magnus was a little oblivious but was (and has been) very sweet with her:)

Poppi came out just to see her:)

and auntie Lyssa:)

and Nani was happy to be there

She also got to meet auntie Lexi later in the day

We all keep wondering just who this baby looks like!:) So I thought I'd put up a little reminder of what the other 3 looked like when they made their appearance:) First up: Mina

Then comes Max:

And Magnus:)

Here's Lena again

What do y'all think?

Here are a few more fun family pics from the big day!

Oh yeah! I can't forget the going home outfit:)

I'll try to get another post up soon about our Christmas decorating!:)

All Hallows Eve Eve

2011-10-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

Well, no baby yet. I'm writing this post in the hopes that I will have something "better" to write about tomorrow than Halloween festivities;)

Every year we take the kids to the "Harvest Carnival" at Grandma's church. They didn't really have the carnival this year. It was more of a pumpkin carving, fire pit, and hot cocoa event. But we went nonetheless, basically so the kids could dress up and we could take pictures:)
We had a beautiful Dorothy:)

A super cute Darth Vader!

and Magnus decided to be an Occupy Wall Street protester!:)

And I don't think Grandpa intended to look like Fidel Castro, but the resemblance is uncanny:)

We had already carved our pumpkins so we skipped that event and just hung out a little while. Then we went back to Grandma's house and the kids raided her candy stash:) It was a fun night:) The plan tomorrow is to do a little trick or treating with our community group. Unless of course Miss Thang decides to make her appearance!!

Punkin time!

2011-10-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

Well we are in "waiting mode" around here. Waiting for our little girl to decide to come meet us:) In the meantime, we like to stay busy and cozy around here, and decided that this rainy, dreary Friday was perfect for pumpkin carving!

The kids were ready to dive right in!

Even the big kid:)

Mina carved hers all by herself:)

Max just dictated what he wanted:) The resemblance is uncanny;)

Daddy did a nice job with his too:)

Aww, a cute family photo:)

Yes, the little fat one was mysteriously absent from this family activity, but we thought it best to keep sharp objects from him at this point! Maybe next year:)
Here's a cute one from the last day of swim lessons awhile back:)

And we'll see if I can get a blog post done with some finished pics of Mina's AMAZING room makeover before the baby comes:) Here is a preview of her face at the reveal:)

Until next time!

The big top

2011-09-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it was OVER a week ago now since we went to the Circus, but here is the recap:) Let me begin by saying that we are not really "circus people", but when Grandma says she got tickets for everyone, who's going to argue? So there. We all had a great "linner" at Azteca and then we headed over to Comcast arena. John enjoyed engaging the PETA picketers before the show;) No pictures of that:) Mina liked meeting the clowns before the show:)

and the "pre" elephant show

Mina was excited to sit next to grandma!

Max....well.....

I know it looks like he's tired, but rest assured he was NOT happy for the whole first half of the show. He sat with his arms folded and a stern look on his face. The only thing we can think of that set him off was he had to change seats before the show started! Geez, Max! Well during intermission we moved around and he sat next to me.

and daddy:)

much better:) They said that there was no flash photography and even though "everyone else was doing it" I didn't really take any pics during the show. For not being "circus people" we had a pretty good time:) And hey, the kids liked it, which is what it's all about, right?:)

Our Peeps

2011-09-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

We have a great group of friends! Tonight for community group we had another "theme" night:) We were to dress as a character from one of our favorite movies! So let's see if you can guess who everyone is:)
We'll start easy on you:)

If you can't see her wings, little Mikaelin is a flying monkey! So cute:) They brought "melted witch" brew to drink:)

Next up:

Tony Stark generously shared his booze with us;)
The next was a group effort

If you need another clue:

If you haven't guessed yet you can take a ride down the "Highway to the danger zone"! We even got serenaded by "Maverick"and "Goose" You've lost that lovin' feelin'! Regrettably, I didn't get a picture of that:(
See if you know this one:

Marty McFly's mom:)
OK, getting trickier:

Yes that is a Twinkie hot dog he's eating;) If you have seen "UHF" you now know immediately who he is. This costume brought on about 10 min of "UHF" movie quotes:)
And here's another:

She may be cartoon but she's been in lot's of movies:)
What about us?

"The Dude abides". I don't know about you, but I take comfort in that:) We still can't believe only like 3 people in our community group had seen our movie! CLEARLY we need to have another "Big Lebowski" movie night!

Thanks for a fun evening friends!

Weekends

2011-08-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying some of the sun that FINALLY came out around here. Last weekend we had some great deck time and the kids had some "tattoo" time with daddy!

Daddy got in on the fun too;)

Here is the original just so you know:)

Pretty Bee:)

And this weekend we went to see Nani and Papa! First up was the fair:) The kids got in on the rodeo!

Roping some hay cows;)

Mina got 'em!

Max got a chance with a real cowboy:)

Pony rides too!

Max's horses' name was Ariel:)

Mina loved it!

She also rode a big horse:)

Magnus had fun too!

Even John got in on the rodeo!

Hee hee, couldn't resist

All the kids could talk about was getting their faces painted:)

Max picked a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!

Mina got skeleton girl:)

Our kids are so creepy and cute:)

Magnus enjoyed the spray fans they had around.

And the kids got to choose a fair ride. Max wanted to ride the airplanes:)

and Mina the carosel

They had fun going to parks and John and I enjoyed ourselves at TWO of our favorite wineries:) We also got to see Fright Night in 3D while Papa took the kids to see Spy Kids in 3D! Thanks for a great weekend, Nani and Papa. We all had a great time! Now I have to buckle down on getting ready for school to start! Oh yeah, and I have a baby coming in like 2 months. Probably some stuff I need to do for that too:)

VBS!

2011-08-19T23:41:00.000-07:00

This past week the kids and I have been in Nazareth! That was the theme of the VBS at our church this year, "Hometown Nazareth." The kids learned about where Jesus grew up and about his ministry. Everyday they separated into the 12 tribes of Israel and came to "The Marketplace" where different "shopkeepers" helped them do crafts and talked about Jesus and what they knew (or didn't know) about Jesus:) Mina was in the tribe of Dan.

and Max was a Levite:)

Magnus was in the nursery;)

I was the Rock Quarry shopkeeper, Rebecca:)

I didn't believe in Jesus and got to ask the kids what and why they believe. They also got to dig rocks out of the "quarry" (a kiddie pool filled with dirt;) and we strung them to make a necklace:) It was a fun time and I got to be outside in the glorious weather we've had this past week! There was also the "wool shop" where they took strands of wool and shrank them to make little balls.

The Bead Bazaar. This one was really popular:) They got to make their own beads out of clay, paint them, and string them on a necklace. There are some pretty creative kids out there:)

There was also the Food Market which was -of course- very popular!

Especially with my kids!

at the Olive oil shop the kids would grind salt and herbs and put it in little canisters with olive oil:)

It can get pretty crowded in the marketplace!

They also go to go out to the field and play outside games with, uh, these guys?

I'm not sure who (or what) they were supposed to be- I don't think they did either;)- but it looks like a good time right? They also got to visit Mary's house and hear stories about Jesus. Didn't get any pictures of that:( I loved the theme of this VBS and how it was all about Jesus. Nothing fancy, over the top or trite, just Jesus and his ministry. They also had an "evidence of God's grace" tree where they wrote their own evidences on leaves to fill the tree:)

I was looking it over I noticed a really cute "evidences" and who wrote them:)

I didn't see any of Mina's but one of the things she said was that we got to keep Mija:) Like I said it was a fun, busy week but we all had a great time! Thanks to everyone who volunteered and put it together, and all the crazy kids who made it fun!

New addition

2011-08-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I hope it's better late than never because this new addition has already been here for a month:) I thought I'd (finally) put out an official announcement/introduction. Meet Mija!

Our new little doggie! She is half Chug (chihuahua/pug mix) and half teacup chihuahua:) She's 4 years old and super sweet and cuddly. Mina is excited to have a new roommate and she is fitting in quite well around here! Welcome Mija! I can't wait to get my newly purchased dog purse in the mail to carry you around in ;)

Nani and Papa weekend

2011-08-04T23:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't take as many pictures as usual, but that only means there will only be like 100 pictures in this post;) This past weekend we headed over the mountains to see my Mom and Dad to try to soak up some sun that hadn't been seen much around these parts. We started the weekend out right:)

WATER FIGHT!!!

Mina was enjoying the sun with her new dog:)

Yeah, yeah, I know there is a whole other story (and post) there, but I'll save it for another time:) Everyone was enjoying the sun!

Well almost everyone

That's better:)

Papa got some kid time:)

Nani got some Mija time:)

The kids enjoyed eating out on the porch

and we all had some patio time!

Cute daddy and daughter!

Nani taught the kids how to give Indian burns (why, I don't know)

and I'm not sure what is going on here

Then it was time for smores! Papa showed Magnus the ropes

but Magnus is a pro

So is Mina:)

Mmmmmm

Magnus is so good at sharing

Mija got in on it too, of course (I mean she is half pug!)

and then the kids got a super treat!

CAMPING WITH NANI AND PAPA!! That was a BIG hit:) I didn't get a lot of pics (well, hardly any, really). This was Nani and Papa camp time;) But I managed to sneak a pic of the scary ghost story telling:)

It was such a great trip! Thank you, Nani and Papa for all the fun!

Who done it?

2011-08-04T21:56:00.000-07:00

Who would do this to such a sweet man?

Ok, so it's not the worst black eye ever, but it looks worse in person. Can you guess how he got it?

He may look cute and sweet, but give him a drumstick and WATCH OUT!

SUN!

2011-07-23T00:18:00.000-07:00

OK, granted some of these pictures were from the other day that we had sun here in Seattle but here are some pictures of us enjoying all 2 days of it:) Here's to many more!
Last week we went to grandma's for some slippin' and slidin':)

Even Magnus go tin on it:)

and he enjoyed a ball:)

All the crazy kids had fun!

and then came the Popsicles:)

Magnus liked that part

and when he finished his, he found someone elses to steal!

It wasn't sunny but we went to the Mill Creek Festival last weekend. Max got to be a firefighter:)

Mina too

and they got fun airbrush tattoos:)

And today on this lovely sunny day we had a great BBQ dinner and SMORES!

started out a little smokey

But Magnus jumped right in!

John prefers a stogie for dessert:)

after toasting

Perfect

you gotta put um put together

then it's yummy time!

and time for philosophical conversation around the fire:)

then some loving

and craziness!

and Mina lost her second tooth!

she is SO excited for the tooth fairy! Which reminds me, I better get to fairying:)
Love my family, love the sun, love my family in the sun! More please!

Fabulous Fashion Sleepover!

2011-07-15T23:18:00.000-07:00

OK so it HAS been over a week but Mina had friends Ainsley and Emma over for a sleepover! They were quite the fashionistas!

Magnus even got knighted by a beautiful princess

I didn't get a ton of pictures of all the crazy fun but one of the highlights was the splash park!

Everyone loved it!

Max's muscle shot!

Actually I think he was just cold;) and there was park time:)

Cute brothers:)

Mina just hung around on the monkey bars!

the monkey!

and swings

and Magnus had fun too:)

and Mina got to try grapefruit for the first time!

We had so much fun with Emma and Ainsley! Mina is already asking when they get to stay over again:)

4th of July n stuff

2011-07-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

We had a great family 4th! The weather was amazing, (a first in my recollection) and I have such a cute family to enjoy it with:) Magnus got the party started (of course)

and more pool time

Max is good at relaxing

Magnus swabbed the deck;)

John drained the tub for the summer

Sorry, I just had to throw that in;) We had some traditional 4th of July snacks:)

so did John:)

Grandma brought over some fun cookies to decorate!

Magnus liked that!

Well they all did really

Next up was the fireworks!

The peanut gallery

Don't forget the sparklers!

Max was pleased with his evening:)

Such loving brothers:) Happy 4th everybody!

I still have to blog about Mina's fabulous fashion sleepover! But it will have to wait for now:) Till next time!

Berry Fun!

2011-07-03T23:21:00.000-07:00

Friday my friend Rene invited us to go strawberry picking with her and her kids ! It was a gorgeous day (finally!) and the kids had a blast:)

I think Magnus had the most fun!

I'm glad to see them picking something constructive for a change:)

Mina was showing Magnus how it's done;)

Max said that Magnus had a strawberry beard:)

Rene got quite the loot

Max found a ladybug

and Mina climbed a tree:)

And we had some lunch at a nearby park/lake.

It was super fun! Thanks for inviting us along, Rene! Later that day we blew up the new pool Poppi got for the kids and enjoyed some deck time!

Cute Honey's!

Cute Poppi:)

The kids had fun

and Magnus tried to steal my floppy hat!

Come back here with my hat!

Fun with poppi and other stuff

2011-06-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am again playing catch up:) But it's been a couple of weeks already, so this is what we've been up to:) First up, some pictures from Mina's open house!

Magnus liked the rocking chair:)

I can't believe school is over!

She loves school, and has done SO well! She will be doing all second grade material next year! Great job, Mina! And the sun came out! (well for a day anyway) so we had some playtime on the deck:)

007-teen months?

On Monday we had a totally 80's party with our community group!

We all took it WAY to seriously;)

The next day Poppi came!

He was bearing gifts, of course;)

The boys loved theirs,

and Mina was pretty excited too:)

Thank you, Poppi!

Today we took Poppi to the Children's museum! There were crafts,

building,

and WATER!

Magnus hasn't been there since he's been walking, so he tore it up!

Poppi will be in town all month, so I'm sure much more fun will be had:) I'll try to keep you posted!
OH! And Mina lost her first tooth!

Backed up

2011-06-16T23:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm a little behind in my blogging (to say the least)! So bear with me while I catch you up on some of the happenings we've been having:) First up, we went to a birthday party for our friend Paul Rand (not Rand Paul, Paul Rand). The kids were excited!

Wonder why.

They just love Sophia, and Sophia's Grandma's house:) And just how old is Paul Rand now?

Happy Birthday! Last weekend we went to the Everett Garden Art festival:) Again, you guessed it, the kids had fun:) Face painting,

and planter painting

I thought I took a picture of the completed project, but I guess not:( They even got to plant a geranium in the pot, It was really cute:) I have such handsome boys!

Later that same day we went to a bar-b-q at the Gerlach's! More fun for the kids!

So glad that camera strap made it into the picture:| I guess the adults got in on it too:)

Oh, and don't forget these two!

Those birthday buddy boys:) And now Wesley's mommy is growing a little birthday buddy for our little girl! She's due the day before me! So crazy!! And she's having a girl too!:) -It's a little exciting!:)-
Yummy!

Thanks for hosting a fun BBQ, Gerlachs! Lastly, Mina's last day of school was on Tuesday! For class they made healthy snacks:)

Max was all over that!

It was a big hit:)

Magnus even got to participate!

Mina had such fun this year at her school:) Open house is tomorrow so I will more than likely have some pictures up soon:)

Texas trip

2011-05-27T23:18:00.000-07:00

Boy did we have a blast in Texas! So much fun and relaxing crammed into one week:) We traveled on Friday the 13th and everyone did really well considering the 4 hour flight to Austin and then almost 2 hours to San Antonio:) We didn't get in until close to 10 and the sweet cousins were waiting outside to greet us:) We were too busy hugging to take pictures:) But the next night we held a talent show! I know your bummed that I'm not posting video but here are the highlights:)
Jacob did his Tae Kwon Do!

He's really good!

He insisted on leaving on his "awesome" outfit. He had cut the leg out of his pajamas because they had a hole in them and would not let Valerie cut off the other leg because "they look awesome like this";)
Next Max tried his hand at the recorder

Be glad there is no recording of that:)
and a break dance party with some old skool RUN DMC

I think that was Phoebe's (my sissy's cute fuzzy face dog) favorite part:)
Next was piano

My sister is a piano (among many other instruments) teacher, so the boys are quite good:)

Caleb and Valerie played a duet:)
Mina and Max got a mini lesson and a try at it:)

Mina really liked it and would go back off and on while we were there to practice:)

Magnus even got in on it!

and Caleb plays drums too! So he showed us his stuff.

That was about all the talent we could handle and we turned in for the night:) Sunday we traveled to the BEACH! The kids were SO excited! I was too to be honest, they had never been to a real beach with waves before:) Even though it was almost 6pm we wasted no time:)

I love these loving kids!

and this one:)

Nani didn't think they should get too wet before dinner

Too late!:)

Valerie rented a beautiful beach house for the week! It had a "game room" that was a big hit:)

Max was the dealer

and Mina was the bar tender at the tiki bar

Like I said the house was gorgeous but the pictures I took really don't do it justice:) But this is was the "boys room":)

and the awesome kitchen

Monday we hit the beach! Phoebe liked it!

Magnus liked splashing around:)

and hangin' with Auntie!

Mina and Max got to play in the sand!

That night we ate at a yummy seafood restaurant and had this

Key lime pie! It was SOooo good!
Can you guess what we did the next day?

More beach!

It was Doug's birthday! And he wanted pizza (the kids were really sad about that);) So we ate at a pirate pizza place called "The Gaff"!

Actually it was more like a bar but it sure was fun!

The next day we were all pretty pink:) So we decided to get some treats:)

It was krazy ice cream! And before we left we had to go here...

Max was in heaven!

Mina was pretty happy too:)

And we just had to do this!

Back in San Antonio the kids got to go to a fun park

Mina went down the fire pole!

and the kids got to play Wii!

The morning we left we got to swim in their pool!

it was super fun!

Mina was chilaxin:)

and Auntie got some more Magnus time:)

We had such a fabulous time! Thank you Valerie, Doug, Mama, and Daddy for bringing us:) I was so good to see my sissy and her cute boys. I hope I get to see you again soon my Voo! Hmmmm, maybe November;)

Babymoon in Vegas Part Deux

2011-05-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I didn't post a follow up last night as promised, but I have a good excuse. I was busy cleaning puke:( Not my puke, boy puke and baby boy puke:( Aren't you glad you asked? So since there is no puke to clean tonight I will pick up where I left off, which was Wednesday! After a breakfast of champions (Starbucks) we hopped on a bus to "downtown" which is where all the old casinos are.

We saw a film crew at this intersection and found out that they were filming a movie with Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba. We didn't see them though.

Here's the tried and true Vegas cowboy.

We played some blackjack and John found his slot machine!

Too bad it didn't pay out:( I took this one for Mina.

We didn't get to see the fancy "Fremont street" light show but it was fun to see all the old school casinos:) After running amuck for awhile we hopped on a bus to New York:)

And John enjoyed a "yard" O' margarita!

After hanging out at the pool for *ahem* a few hours, we took a tram to the Rio where we visited the famous Vodoo lounge.

The view was amazing!

Then we were off to see Penn and Teller! The show was awesome (again, no photography allowed) and we got meet them afterwards!

Wednesday was great! Thursday was awesome too! We headed to the Bellagio to check out the conservatory.

Those arches are water! It was so pretty:)

Mina would love this:)

This piece of art was made of flowers! So cool.

We wandered around for awhile and I came across this.

Yes, that is a chocolate, a REAL chocolate fountain! Three kinds of it. I must have one of these:) Then we had an amazing dinner at Prime steakhouse at Bellagio.

We could see the fountain from our table!:) But we went to get a closer look after dinner.

and we had a good view of Paris:)

Then we had fun celebrating our last night in Vegas

3rd row center seats for Blue Man Group! The ponchos were more of a "just in case" thing because we didn't get any paint thrown on us. Bummer;) It was a great show though!

And before you leave Vegas you can't forget about these guys!

Well that about does it; wraps 'er all up. Thank you honey for the wonderful memories! I'm so lucky I got to go with my best friend. It was fun because you were there:) I love you!

Vegas Baby!!

2011-05-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

Well, here's the low down on our babymoon in Vegas:) First things first! Right after we arrived we headed off to the iconic "Peppermill":) Here we are at the fireside lounge (Sinatra used to sit in this very spot!) -well, maybe:)

We caught the Treasure Island "siren" show.

Rise and shine! Here's the view from our room at the Mirage!

Here's the pretty atrium inside that glass dome,

We headed off to see the sights.

John blue himself!

And I finally got to see Venice;)

and the fountain outside of Cesars Palace.

Then we went inside to see the "Atlantis" show

Oooooo.

Then we hopped in a cab and went on a pilgrimage of sorts for John...

Frankie's Tiki Bar!

John was in heaven:)

I gotta admit, it was a really cool place:)

That night we ate at Tao *apparently Tao is translated as "overpriced PF Changs"*

Thanks for taking this flattering picture of me fondling myself with a doofus grin on my face, honey:) And I hadn't even been drinking.

We wandered through the Palazzo on our way to T.I. to see the Cirque du Soleil show "Mystere"!

They don't let you take any pictures in the theater so I don't have any of the show but it was AMAZING!! LOVE their shows! And we got to see the volcano erupt on our way home:)

Well that's the first day, anyways. You'll have to tune in tomorrow to see what happens next!

Easter stuff

2011-04-25T01:08:00.000-07:00

Oh, I have quite the recap of Easter happenings around here. So lets get to it! Thursday we got color eggs with Grandma!

Everyone had fun.

Magnus got in on it too:)

Although all he did was huck the eggs across the room baseball style! (good thing they were hard boiled:)
And of course there were Easter "bags".

Max got some more pirate gear.

And everyone got jammies, candy, and "things":)

And stogies!

The baby decided to try Easter eggs! Too bad they weren't peeled yet!

Thank you, Grandma! The next day we headed over to Nani and Papa's house. John and I leave Monday for Las Vegas for a few days and the kids are going to stay with them:) First things first.....

ice cream, of course!

Magnus for sure got in on that:)

And then we got to go to a fun park...

and dip our feet in the Columbia river.

I use the term "we" very loosely here, I was nowhere near that cold water! Love my cute boys!

Today after church with Nani and Papa we had an Easter photo session.

Taking them outside wasn't working out too well:)

That's better:) Can you spot the photo bomb?!

Cute Nani and Magnus:)

Cute family!

Then there was the business of hunting eggs!

And the serious business of eating candy!

Nani made yummy roasted lamb for dinner.

I was too busy stuffing my face to take pictures of the beautiful table setting:( You'll just have to take my word for it:) Hope you all had a wonderful Easter! He is risen!

Catch up

2011-04-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

So here is what we've been up to the past week... last weekend we had our annual (brother in law) John & Ande birthday celebration spectacular:) And since we won't be in town for Easter we threw in Easter brunch celebration too (well at least the brunch part:) We went to a favorite, Azul in Mill Creek (yummy!)

Uncle John got some Magnus bonding time:)

Mina and Max like it too!

I got gift certificates for massage, PF Changs and Gene Juarez! Can you say spoiled! Thank you everybody!
My goofy boys at home:)

Sunday night Mina had friend Lily spend the night!

AND we got to have Auntie Lexi over this week since she's on spring break:) So Monday we had fun doing a craft!

We made paper flowers!

Pretty! Nice job girls:)

We are going to dye Easter eggs with grandma tomorrow, so stay tunes for pictures of the mayhem:)

Big weekend fun

2011-04-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been too consistent with my blog posting around here but we had a fun filled weekend with my folks visiting, and here's some proof:)

There was much park-ing. Cute brothers

although Max found out he could score more chicks when he ditched the little guy:)

Nani showed the kids how to roll down a big hill!

a REALLY big hill!!

I think they are starting to get the hang of it:)

Papa and Magnus enjoyed the show

and Magnus tried his hand, he just needs to figure out which way to go:)

Next he tried out some walking

My cute boys.

All that rolling sure does make dirty kids!

Back at home after some goofing around (or would that be yaking around?)

and a quick nap

The kids got to embark on a right of passage...

Making banana pudding!! (I blame myself for Max's lady-like appearance, as I have not yet gotten around to making him a more "manly" acceptable apron like I promised. It's on my to-do list, honest.)

These kids are pretty good pudding makers:)

and beater lickers!

(don't worry we were done with that one;)
Nice job guys!

It was a hit! (surprise)

Even Magnus liked it:)

Then we all enjoyed doing "dum ditty". I have some video of it for those of you unfamiliar with "dum ditty" (although I'm not sure you want to know) I'll try to post that soon:)

Thanks for coming to visit Nani and Papa! We had so much fun! I can't wait for our Vegas vacation in a couple of weeks and I'm sure I'll have lots to blog about then:)

Things we do...

2011-03-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

Here's what we've been up to for the past week or so:)

Some baby wrastling...

Daddy horsey rides...

And popsicles have made an appearance again! Yay for spring:)

The kids have been having fun at swim lessons

and we've actually been enjoying a little sun here in Seattle! Time to hit the park!

The kids like the monkey bars (the monkey's:).

Although Magnus was less than enthused with the swings.

Is this not exciting enough for you, Magnus?

Auntie Lexi got to come too!

Cute Bee!

Max said the sun was in his eyes:)

I think this was Max's favorite thing:)

What could top a sunny day at the park?

ICE CREAM!

Magnus liked that idea.

And he's been brushing up on his walking skills.

Today Mina got to go to her friend Violet's birthday party:)

Max was invited too! (what a nut!)

They got to decorate their own cupcakes!

That was a hit:)

Birthday girl opening presents...

and blowing out candles.

What cute friends:)

They had so much fun. Thanks for being born, Violet:)

Back

2011-03-19T23:33:00.000-07:00

So, it's been brought to my attention that I haven't blogged in awhile! I'm not sure why. Time is just getting away with me! But have no fear; I am back to entertain the masses with our riveting adventures and crazy antics. You can rest easy tonight my friends. I do it all for you. You're welcome.

So today Max got to go to a big boy birthday party for buddy Caleb! It was a drop off party so I have no pictures:( While Max was having a blast at his big boy birthday party, John and I decided to meet Margie and Lexi in Mill Creek for some ice cream! It was really hard to convince Mina to go;)

Yes, his eyes really are THAT blue!

We're so cute!

Lexi was there too, She's getting SO big!

Magnus was enjoying the sunshine

Pretty Bee

and you might have heard that there is a new light heavyweight champion....

Alright, that's all for now. I'll try not to leave ya hangin:)

Presidents day!

2011-02-20T22:18:00.000-08:00

Well it's not a holiday that we usually "celebrate" but John received a lovely gift from a friend earlier this week, so we were able to celebrate in style:)

The kids had fun "spreading the seeds" on Obama's head.

Not really sure what they're learning about Presidents Day here, but hey, they're enjoying themselves:)

Now we wait for the sprouts! I know you're excited!

The directions said to put a bag over it to create a greenhouse effect and help it grow. I thought Obama looked funny with a bag over his head. I'll leave you with this image, which is not in any way meant to be taken as a political statement.

Happy Presidents Day!

Open House!

2011-02-03T22:30:00.000-08:00

So this post is a week in the making, but LAST Thursday we had Mina's first open house:) It was so very fun, and cute to see all the stuff she's been working on at school:) First up was a Gymnastics demonstration:)

and what a demonstration it was:)

Then we got to walk to her classroom and see her work and meet her teachers. All this I do every week but it was nice for John to see what we do every Tuesday:)

Max got to come too!

and so did Magnus of course:)

the kids' favorite part was at the end when they got to play on the gymnastic equipment:)

All in all it was a fun night. Mina is doing SO well and really loves her school!

The big ONE!

2011-01-30T16:21:00.000-08:00

Yup, remember this?

Well now it's turned into this!

My once little baby

is now ONE!

Oh my! When (and how) did this happen?! In celebration, Magnus and his birthday buddy Wesley had a little joint celebration:) Wesley's mommy (Addie) had the great idea of a "potato head" themed party! (she's a clever one) and she graciously offered to host the whole affair! The cast of characters:
Wesley, of course

and Magnus. It wouldn't be a party without him (he had just woken up from a nap).

We had a potato puppet making station

and a spirited round of "hot potato."

There was a baked potato bar, tater tots, potato chips and meatballs (I know the meatballs may seem a bit out of place but it's a long story) OK it's not a long story, my crazy kids like to call sweet Wesley "oval head" which (I think) is what made Addie come up with the "potato head" theme for the party. And they call Magnus "meatball head" so there, that's is why we had meatballs at the party:) He does kinda have a meatball head:)

Pretty miss Mikaelin was there:)

They got some fun gifts!

Addie made an adorable "potato head" cake (thankfully it was NOT made out of potatoes:)

and I made some "potato" ice cream treats:)

it was a hit!

Magnus especially liked the cake:)

OK, well, he liked it all:)

a LOT!:)

Then Magnus really got the party started!

Thank you so much to our dear friends for making our day special! And especially thanks to Addie for putting it all together and to Wesley for being born.

Big boy day!

2011-01-16T23:10:00.000-08:00

So Max got ANOTHER birthday celebration this weekend! Nani and Papa came out to help celebrate! And we went to "Trax" to race cars!

Magnus came for support:)

He was pretty excited!

Too excited to be bothered with,..you know, watching to road!

He liked it for a little bit

but after a little fender bender decided that he didn't like it anymore.

On the way out he just kept saying "I don't want to come back here." Oh well, we tried:)

Later that night it was party time! Spend the night party, that is! The boys wasted no time getting silly:)-Papa included:)

and playing trains! Magnus included!:)

Then it was pizza time!

These boys liked the sparkler candles:)

and the cupcakes!

Magnus too!

Then it was Movie time!! (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was Max's request:)

Magnus can't wait to be a big boy!

Next we moved into the bedroom for a Hot Wheels encore:) Magnus tried to get in on it:)

The boys actually did really well:) They even slept in till 8!! The next morning after eating some cinnamon rolls it was present time!

Hot Wheels from Preston! Max said "Mom, how did Preston know I wanted Hot Wheels?";)

And when he opened Caleb's present he said "It's a.......THIS!":) LOTS of Playmobile knights and mans:) He was SO excited!

And an Optimus Prime Transformer from mom and dad:)

Then everyone enjoyed playing for a bit before heading home:)

It was a great time! Thank you for coming boys!

All Max has been talking about since Christmas is how he wanted to have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory! So Saturday we got the family together and treated our man to a birthday lunch at the Cheesecake Factory:) He was pretty happy about it:)

And so was Magnus:) It was however his birthday celebration too:)

Max got.....you guessed it....

Chicken nuggets.

and a lot more loot!

Magnus made out pretty good too!

Max was excited about the Birthday ice cream

but got a little shy when they came to sing him his birthday song:)

A good time was had by all!

We took home some special strawberry cheesecake for dessert:)

Max, you are the cutest, loving boy. I LOVE being your mommy. You make me laugh everyday and I enjoy seeing how your unique personality comes out more everyday:) We all had a great time celebrating with you! Thank you to everybody for coming out!

Max! You're 4!

2011-01-09T23:44:00.000-08:00

Max! You're so crazy and fun! We had a great low key birthday with you today:) Sleeping in, being snowed in from church, eating our weight in pancakes, Costco shopping and then home for jammies and your specially requested movie.....

with popcorn of course!

Dinner was also by your request.

Chicken nuggets, fructons (croutons:), and cantaloupe! About as silly of a meal as you are a boy:) And you couldn't wait for your cake (well really, neither could I!:)

You enjoyed it just like you do everything else...

To the Max!;) At least you did better at getting in your mouth than you did on your first birthday!

Magnus sure liked it!

and we ended the night your favorite way...

Some of my fondest memories of you are.....

You are my loving and my big boy! I love that I get to hang out with you everyday. You're so fun and you bring such joy and life to everything you do! Happy Birthday!!

The End

2011-01-06T23:17:00.000-08:00

Alrighty then, here it is (finally:)! The last post of last year! John and I aren't big New Years partiers or anything, so it suits us just fine to be home with kids in bed in our warm house drinking handcrafted cocktails and watching the countdown on our TV in front of our fireplace cuddling and sipping our cocktails (oh wait, did I already mention that part?:) Oh, and we don't have to drive home in the traffic either, so there. But this year we did decide to venture out a bit. Our church rents out a bowling alley every year for a few hours for some free, fun, family entertainment:) Sign me up! John got a chance to wear his official bowling shirt and drink a signature White Russian!

Magnus was happy to be there:) Although he didn't bowl much:)

Bowling makes Mina a little......uh.....crazy?

Friends Ainsley and Emma were there looking fabulous as always!

And Mina and Max had fun hanging out with Caley and Amelia!

Even Magnus had a buddy!

Max loves bowling! And rejoicing when his ball (finally) knocked down some pins:) I think his high score was 35:) But hey, he had fun!

It was cute to watch Mina dance as her ball rolled down the aisle:)

Her and Emma would have "races":)

Baby Mikaelin was there too!

Mina liked that:)

And I had the most awesome bowling shoes:)

I didn't take any pictures of the after party. The jammies and the fire and the kissing at midnight, the cocktails and what have you. But rest assured we had a GREAT New Years! Happy New years to all and to all a good night!

This is the Christmas post

2010-12-27T23:05:00.000-08:00

I know your all overwhelmed with the creativity of my post title but I'll make up for it with some cute pictures of my kids:) We definitely have our traditions over here at the Gaitan household (as you have seen in previous posts:) and Christmas is no exception! Christmas Eve we headed over to Margie's church for a wonderful service and then back to her place for dinner!

Ham! Homemade Tamales! Potatoes, rosemary sea salt rolls and burnt carrots (yeah, I was too busy opening presents to be bothered with tending to my roasting carrots) Also two kinds of pie, lemon pound cake, cookies, ice cream, peppermint bark and a partridge in a pear tree! We opened gifts while the food cooked (or overcooked in the case of the carrots). Mina and John had some birthday business to take care of first:)

Magnus was excited to get started on his first Christmas:)

I think Nani was more excited than he was though:)

There are people in there underneath all those gifts and paper!

The stockings were hung on the chimney with care

Look what Mina got:)

Max REALLY enjoyed himself:)

and Nani helped Magnus put together his new toy:)

I didn't take a TON of pictures of every gift but rest assured much gifts were given and received! Thanks to all who were there:) We love you!

Once we were home there was another tradition to adhere to:)

The next day the kids slept in till almost nine! And waited patiently while I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast:) But let's get to it already!

I got a Pug for Christmas!!

Well really JUST for Christmas:) We are sitting for "Pippin" while his owners visit family in DC:) The kids enjoyed themselves:)

So did Pippin:)

and the day was spent hanging out

and playing:)

I was in the kitchen preparing MY favorite part of Christmas!

Dinner!:) Comprised mostly (OK all:) of Pioneer Woman recipes:) It was all SOooooo very good!

Christmas really is our favorite time of year, reminders of how good our God is and all that he dose for us and we get to share that with our children. What could be better than that?

Lights! Lights! Lights!

2010-12-23T01:05:00.000-08:00

We've enjoyed us some Christmas festivities this week, and I will take you along for the journey! Monday night we went to one of our favorite neighborhoods to Look at Christmas lights:) A family tradition:)

The kids really enjoyed it and liked to tell us what their favorite color was:)

Max liked to exclaim everything (I know, big shocker)! Like for this one he said, "Hey! Dat wooks wike a B-cano!"

That's Vol-cano for those who don't speak Huckahodle:) On this one, John said, "Oh no! Look, Santa is falling off the roof!" And Max replied....

*very matter of factly* "Dad,, wats wust for deco-ration." Then he had to tell us about everything that was "wust for deco-ration":) It was a fun time:) Tuesday we had a cookie swap for my Womens group.

This was the only picture I took (I must have been too busy eating:) Then we had some fun Christmas crafts with the kids.

But that night it was time for the highly anticipated LIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS!!! The kids have been waiting for 2 months:)

We stopped at my favorite place first:)

Then we headed to Mina's.

Horse rides!

Max was unsure at first but after some reassurance

he liked it!

We just had to see the cheesy "Bruce the Spruce."

Magnus didn't want to wear his hat.

We also got to see some "Victorian Carolers."

Then we strolled along and took in some lights:)

These were my favorite.

While John got us some of these

the kids and I waited to ride the train! This was Max's favorite part. Can you tell?

They all liked it!

My cute boys! I love this pic:)

Then it was time to see the big guy. He said "Hey little boy, what do you want for Christmas? A new haircut?"

Bwuaahahahahaah! Funny Santa!

Magnus liked him too:)

And the yearly family photo:)

Such fun! We did some grocery shopping today to stock up for Christmas dinner, and had dinner with some wonderful friends. God is so good to our little family!

Crazy Train

2010-12-17T00:08:00.000-08:00

This week for community group we had a good ol fashioned white elephant gift exchange and ugly Christmas sweater shindig:) The Players:
Gerlachs, hosts extraordinaire:

and kinda shifty

The Hanns, leaders and proud new parents!

Magnus found a new love;)

The Griffins, I'm not sure what to say here:

The Hansens, I'm REALLY not sure what to say here!

The Fleshmans (pay no mind to the photo bombs in the background). They didn't know it was ugly sweater night, this is how they always roll:

And these two need no introduction:

And here's the whole group. The whole freaky bunch of us!

I kid you not, after this photo was taken Addie said "now are we going to take a silly one?"! Bahahahahaha!

I love our group!
Bill couldn't wait to try out his white elephant gift!

Don't ask.

Now I realize that I never told you what happened on the Santa train, and I know inquiring minds want to know.........The pictures might look OK but it was just a big disappointment:( the train was fun

The "conductor" lead some Christmas carols.

Then we stood in a line outside to meet Santa,

who was cute, but really, do we need to go out of our way to find Santa? And the weather was HORRIBLE! Sideways rain horrible. So the only other thing we saw was the inside of the refreshment cart that had Coffee (it wasn't horrible), hot cocoa, and really cheap, day old, store bought cookies:( Now maybe we would've gotten out and explored a little more if the weather was better but I don't think we will ever find out. For now the lights of Christmas will remain our family Christmas outing:) What about you? What family traditions do you have? If I may though, I would suggest you skip the Santa train:)