hispanic heritage month!

Since, by definition, I am of Hispanic decent I thouhgt it would only be appropriate to wish everyone a Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!!! I am not really sure what we are suppose to do during this month - maybe Hispanicy sort of things like eat empanadas, tortillas, or tamales (my personal favorite). Or maybe we could get a pinata, have a fiesta and then a siesta, rounding out the day with a good mate (pronouced ma-tay). However we are supposed to observe this month I have to say that I am grateful for my heritage. So here is a little bit about what I learned in observation on this month:

Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18. The term Hispanic, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, refers to Spanish-speaking people in the United States of any race. On the 2000 Census form, people of Spanish/Hispanic/Latino origin could identify themselves as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or "other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino." More than 35 million people identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino on the 2000 Census (information taken from http://www.factmonster.com/spot/hhm1.html).

So there you have it. In honor of this month I have decided that my children will dress up as Dora, Diego, and Boots for Halloween (I kind of decided that a while ago when I realized my children look just like them and shorts and t-shirts are easy to find). Adios!!!

A day with Grandma Dearie

Yesterday afternoon the kids and I went to see my Grandma Dearie. She is truly amazing. She is 89 years old (a fact of which I had to remind her of yesterday - she still thought she was 88. Oops) and still is in relatively good health. She hadn't met Gracie yet, so it was an historical moment.

One funny thing did happen later - BUT you can't tell Grandma. When Scott got home and we were eating dinner I told the kids to tell him who we saw that day. Without hesitation Lily blurted out, "we went to see the dinosaurs!" She's old, but not that old - although I think the lady sitting in their lobby might have been.

Pals and Pigtails

We had some visitors the other day - my mom, Renee and Isabel, and Melissa and Clara. We all went to explore Ikea - since I live about a block away. Isabel and Grace had such fun poking at eachother. They are only four months apart and are destined to be pals (probably whether they like it or not).

Yesterday I decided Gracie's hair is long enough for a pigtail. It was just too cute that I couldn't pass up taking a picture.

VRROOOM!!!

The kids and I are stuck at the apartment all day today - so this morning I decided we would make the best of it by turning some moving moxes into cars. Lily jumped right into action, even adding her own artistic touches to the car. It took Adam a few minutes to realize he wasn't really going to move but that this would still be fun. Gracie was having such fun watching them (sorry about the nakedness - she had just spit up all over herself and I was in the process of getting new clothes out).

Tourist for a day

We went exploring on Saturday and ended up at Temple Square. It would have been more fun if it wouldn't have been at lunchtime/naptime. Adam was tired and Grace wanted a bottle bad.

Depite this, it was still a fun and beautiful day.

NOTE: there is no warm or hot water on Temple Square (this presents a problem when you are trying to make a bottle).

What a Breeze

To say the least! We went out to Antelope Island last week with my parents and my brother and his family. We were going to have a nice picnic dinner, play in the sand, and maybe take a dip in the Great Salt Lake. Well the weather gods had a different plan in mind. While we were driving out the water was like glass - it was calm and beautiful. But as we drove into the parking lot a little breeze started. Before we knew it the little breeze had turned into a full on wind storm. I don't think I have ever been outside in winds this strong. It was so strong it actually started knocking the kids down. If the pictures are a little blurry it is because everytime I tried to stand still enough to take one the wind would knock me over. However, despite the strong winds it will still a really fun time and really exciting to see a storm roll in so fast.

Hit the Road Jack!

Well, we did hit the road and now we are here! After a very very very long trip we got in late Sunday night. The kids did fine - well sort of. Saturday night it took us until 2:30 in the morning to find a hotel and poor Grace is totally teething. So when we finally got settled in she decided she didn't want to sleep. I stayed up until 4:30 holding her because everytime I put her down she would start screaming. The people in the room next to us actually started banging on the wall. Finally I woke Scott up and told him it was his turn. He is a miracle worker and finally got her to lay down on her own. Needless to say, it was a long trip. But all is well that ends well and here we are. YIPEEEE!

A Fond Farewell

After four and a half years in Washington, it is time to say goodbye. I have to be honest, it isn't that hard. There are some friends we will really really miss. But other than that we are very excited to be moving on. We want to thank everyone who made our time there a good one. It was certainly a fun (and very soggy) adventure. Oh, and by the way, it really does rain as much as everyone thinks it does. When we first moved there someone tried to convince us that that was just a myth. Oh no - no myth there. It really does rain ALL year. So we are off to greener and sunnier pastures (where all my vitamin D doesn't come from milk). And as they say in the song, "Here comes the sun."