Point of View from Austin

I found in my camera the other day some pics that Austin had taken from his "point of view." What I really liked was seeing things from not only his perspective, but his height! The cabinets seem so tall, or how he loved his new Mesa Temple photo from primary, or the food from Costco on the counter.

The best is the picture of screaming baby Levi in the carseat. I often see Levi from the rear view mirror as he sheds those tears, but here I could see what his brother thinks of his crying!

Austin has really made a best friend with Isaac these last few days of Christmas break. He gets up with him in the morning, gets him dressed, makes his bed, makes him his toast or cereal for breakfast, plays ALL day long with him, encourages him to finish his meal (which Isaac won't do for me, but he will for Austin), goes potty with him, gets excited to watch movies together and has really just been a little BFF for Isaac. I love their friendship. Isaac is equally as happy with Austin and is constantly asking for him if he is no longer in the room. I hope they can maintain this strong brotherhood as they get older!

He is very tender with Levi and can calm him down pretty quickly (unless mama is in the room, then Levi cries to be held by me!) I also LOVE his "heart men" that he now draws, and I also included a letter he wrote to his favorite babysitter that I thought was sweet.


We keep telling Austin what a great builder or engineer he is. This morning he told me he only likes to build, grow muscles, eat candy, go to fun places like Disneyland and Sea World (to buy drinks). I asked him if he liked to read or sleep or eat...nope. He also told me a few days ago how he can speak three languages: English, Spanish and toddler.

Austin just told me today at the park, "Isaac is like my wart. He keeps sticking to me wherever I go."

Jared 32 and Wesley 8 Birthdays

The holiday season is a crazy one. For our family, it's ESPECIALLY crazy. Throw in three birthdays, as well as Christmas and New Year's...all within three weeks...and things tend to get overlooked!

Jared's birthday was celebrated with his HS best friend Joey Darnell and his new wife Perla. We met them for burgers and a movie up at the Desert Ridge Mall. I nursed Levi the entire time or held him as we walked around.

Sure is fun to see old friends, especially as newleyweds and to remember what it was like back when we were "before children." The movie projector broke, so we ended up just getting our money back, but it was a fun date and we made it back before it got too late for the babysitter.

Happy 32nd birthday honey.

Love, jellybean.

Ps...Thanks for the extra movie we watched at home :)
Wesley had a pizza lunch with Pipa and Grandma, not to mention 2 days at his favorite cousin Jaden's house in Rio Rico, AZ. He loved the big birthday cookie we ordered him, and his new Game Cube video set was a great surprise!

Christmas 2011

Feliz Navidad! The boys were thrilled to run downstairs and see the presents under the tree.
We stuck to our theme of three presents: something you want, need and to share.
Wesley: tetherball set, undies/socks
Austin: ninja robot, pants
Isaac: Buzz lightyear and Woodie, shoes
Levi: clothing outfit.
The boys all got a board game, "Head bandz" to share and books/pens/candy in their stockings. Jared surprised me with perfume, boots and kitchen items. I only got him some running shoes b/c I thought we were not doing big presents!

The boys were still looking for more presents, even when there were no more...go figure.

Church was great for an hour. We then exchanged gifts with Gpa Lowe (the boys got Marley Park hoodies) and headed down to Sahuarita for a Mexican Dinner with the Wilsons/Molinas. I am so grateful to have family (somewhat) nearby to celebrate holidays. My boys LOVE their cousins and I can finally just settle down and relax when we do these family events. I used to be more uptight, but now I just do what I can to help out and enjoy watching the boys play.

Too bad Levi still HATES his carseat and cried to and from Tucson. I ended up wedging myself in between to seats (sitting in mid air) and holding him/nursing him for the 2.5 hour ride home. His screaming was unbearable and I just prayed that we would be safe. I balanced the DVD player on one arm and tried to help Levi out with the other. It was miserable.

But worth it.

Marshall the Elf on Christmas Eve

We were doing some browsing Christmas Eve at Marshall's (our favorite dept store) when the boys spotted HIM. A silly looking elf in a basket. I had wanted to do "Elf on a shelf" but didn't get around to buying the kit this year....so, we made up our own...and at 70% off!

The boys were thrilled to have an elf of their own (who we named Marshall, appropriately), and bought into our story of how he was an orphan and needed a home, etc. We watched him hide in new spots throughout the night, since this was his only night in our home before going home with Santa (or in my wedding gown bag where he will stay 'til next year). Marshall was very acrobatic as he went from the top of the Christmas tree, to the fan, to the kitchen cabinet, to the tv!

We had also been the recipients of a 12 days of Christmas (my favorite being on the 5th day where we received 5 golden pineapple RINGS). The sweet couple, Larry and Diane, came by to drop off 12 little plastic drums right as we were preparing dinner. So, of course we invited them to stay and enjoy our Argentine milanesa dinner. Yum. We were happy to share with them, and how fun it was to have all their thoughtful treats on our doorstep for 12 days!

We made sugar cookies to leave for Santa (boy was that a HUGE mess), along with a note and some carrots for the reindeer. I love Christmas with my children. They make it all so warm (and chaotic), full of work and memorable :)

'Tis the season to share.
'Tis the season to watch Marshall light up my boys' eyes as he moved around.
'Tis the season to be together.