A quick update

Well, we did end up getting a new camera, so we're in the process of figuring out how to use it. I think we've gotten some nice pictures so far, but they're not on the computer yet (we got a 4 GB memory card). Raulito took the camera to Texas with him this week, so he should come back an expert. Yep, I am a free woman this week! OK, not really. Raulito left for Austin, TX with a group of Industrial Design students Tuesday morning. I have to admit I almost cried...It's been a while since we have been apart...Meanwhile, I have been looking for babysitters (Thanks to everyone who has been helping out!) so that I can cover some of Raulito's classes. I am especially enjoying his Floral Design class. He has been telling me I should go sometime. It was a lot of fun, and today I got to make a floral design and bring it home! I will post some pics when I get the camera back. Oh, and by the way, a little note on communication. The night before Raulito left, I asked him where the computer cable was for the cell phone. He showed it to me (it also charges the phone). The communication failure was that I neglected to tell him that I wanted that cable for MY phone, because I had packed the other one. Well, he ended up taking both with him...So today I got to go and buy a new charger. I hope I can return it, because my mom is coming this weekend and is going to bring the other one that ended up at her house in Idaho over Christmas... Somehow I don't think we need 4... Funny story, but without a home phone, I kind of need my cell, plus, how would I survive without being able to talk to Raulito for 5 days! Update on Raulito's mom. She had her interview with the Embassy last week. They told her everything looked good EXCEPT, Raulito's birth certificate says he was born at a different hospital than the one he was born in...Don't ask me how they found out. So, we have to get that fixed and she has to go back for another interview (yes, it will cost more money to get another appointment...) So she has been trying to get it fixed, but the hospital doesn't have any records before 77 (he was born in 75..) . So option #2 is to have a DNA test done...YAY! We're still waiting to hear back as to how we have to do that, but we heard from someone that we have to go to the Colombian Embassy here in US (Which is in San Diego). Who knows, we might be doing a quick trip to CA soon! This "quick update" didn't turn out to be as short as I thought, but there it is... I'll get some pictures up soon. Wish me luck until Saturday (Raulito comes back)

Happy President's Day!

Well, as you can see, I have been slacking. But nothing really exciting has been happening. Our camera broke, so we are in the process of either fixing it (which would be around $100 and take about 2 weeks...) or getting a new and better one. I think we have finally decided on the latter, but we're not sure which one to get...I know some of you out there have taken some really good pictures, any suggestions on a new camera? We've been looking at Nikon...Anyway, Raulito is pretty much obsessed (in a good way) with it so the sooner we decide the better, then he can get back to other things... As far as other things go, Raulito is going on a trip the first week of March with his fellow Industrial Design students to Texas (I'm pretty sure it's Austin) to tour some companies and hopefully pass out a few portfolios. Yes, we are looking for a job. We are really excited to be moving on to "Life after School", but at the same time we know it's not the best time to look for a job. So if anyone hears anything about anyone needing an Industrial Designer, please let us know. Some really good news is that Raulito's mom has her interview at the US Embassy in Colombia at the end of this month!!! The last obstacle before she can come live with us! (Yes, after all the money and papers and months of waiting, they could still tell her no at the interview, but it is not very likely..) We're really excited for her to come, although it probably wouldn't be until the middle of summer or something. We need to figure out where we'll be first...And because she wants to stay as long as possible in Colombia to support Carlos (Raulito's brother) because he will most likely be going on his mission around the end of the year! I'm so proud of him. He has come a long way in getting himself ready. I wish we could be there when he goes through the temple or leaves for the MTC...We'll see. Speaking of the temple, we went the other day and did sealings, and I fainted...NO, I'm not pregnant...The sealer mentioned that he had had a few people pass out on him lately, so he warned us against it...So I think my mind was so focused on not passing out that I did...Yeah, a bit embarassing, but the sealing session was nice while it lasted... And then there was VALENTINE'S DAY! We actually went out on Friday the 13th because both of us had to work on Saturday. We went bowling at the BYU Games Center and then played some pool. It's been a REALLY LONG time since we've done either. I ended up winning the bowling game, but losing at pool (which was actually not fair, because 2 of the 3 games that I lost were because I accidentally knocked the 8 ball in when I only had 1 other ball left...) yeah, it took us over 5 minutes on the first game to get one ball in...It was pretty funny. (By the way, all of it was free!!! The games center gives students a free game every year, and the pool tables are free for students, too!) Well, that's enough talking, I'm sure you all have better things to do. I think there's some pictures that I haven't posted yet, ENJOY!!! They always have the most fun with the boxes! We went to our Friends Brent and Shanda's for their Superbowl party, and Raulito and Abby loved playing ping-pong with their Daddy... Rakel likes to play dress-up with Raulito sometimes, and he lets her!!! Rakel wanted to make a cake, and she was really excited about eating it, too. You can tell because we didn't even get a picture before part of the wing was eaten... I made a shower cake for Alycia's baby shower a couple of weeks ago.

Snow anyone?

We finally made it out sledding last week. We went with our friends, the Grays for Family Home Evening. I don't think it was the best night to go out, it had been snowing all day long and the roads were TERRIBLE. We made it to Rock Canyon Park and, after finally making it up the hill, Raul and I had a great time. Rakel...the first time down she started to cry and complain that she was cold and didn't wan to go anymore. We finally got her to go down with Khalillia, but at the end of that run, they both were crying, so we decided maybe that was the end of our fun...And we made it home ok. In other news, we had a basically un-eventful New Years. New Years Eve we wanted to go to a Colombian Restaurant in West Valley, but by the time we got there, they were closed, so we went to a Chinese Buffet across the street. We went with Sergio and Brenda, Kijung and all their girls. We would have partied some more with them afterwards, but Rakel wasn't feeling good, and Raulito (jr) had been sick also, so we ended up going home. After putting the kids to bed we put on a movie and ended up falling asleep until we heard noise outside and looked at the clock. HAPPY NEW YEAR... Oh, well, next year will be more exciting. Everyone except me (knock on wood) have had whatever bug has been going around, but seem to be feeling much better. Rakel returned to school last week and was so excited to see all of her friends. I have started working at Golden Corral, mostly Saturday morning/afternoon unless Raul prefers watching the kids and I go to work for him. I like working there and interacting with all kinds of people. Anyone's welcome to come see me there. It's great steak! Also, we have started going to the Spanish Ward. We have thought about it for a long time, but it has become more convenient because our regular ward's schedule changed to 1pm, and the Spanish ward now meets at 9am. We're sad to leave our other ward because it seems like we were just getting to know people, but I think we will have a good experience in the Spanish Ward, too. I have also started back at my 6am aerobics classes. I'm the TA for the Monday/Wednesday class. It's been hard to get back in the habit of going to bed a little earlier and getting up and out of my warm bed into the cold car, but I really like the class. Anyway, we hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. This year will bring a lot of changes for our family. Raul will finish school and we will most likely not be in Utah after he graduates. Also, Raul's mother will be coming to live with us sometime in the next few months. We are really excited about that. And who knows what else will happen, but we're ready for new adventures! Just out for a bike ride in the snow...

Late Happy Thanksgiving, early Merry Christmas!

Things have been a bit crazy lately, and I missed blogging about Thanksgiving completely. So I thought I'd get a bit of a jumpstart on Christmas.... MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! We had a couple of Thanksgiving dinners, one with friends, and the other with family. We went up to Logan for Thanksgiving Day to hang out with family there. I have an aunt that lives there, and it is kind of a middle point between Provo and Twin Falls, Idaho, so that's where we ended up. We had a really nice meal, lots of food, and great company. We even brought some Christmas presents back from Grandma. We did the Black Friday thing, but not at 5 am. Raul has really been wanting a new tv (HDTV 40") and there were some pretty good deals that morning, but I really didn't want to deal with the hassle, and I enjoyed my nights sleep very much. We also decided it was really just a want, not a need, and think it can wait until next year. Since then I have started working at Golden Corral, just one or two days a week, and since Raul is home to watch the kids, I get a nice break and make some money at the same time. The people there are really nice, and I like interacting with the people who come in. Anyway, so Raul is done with finals, although he is still working on a project and his portfolio, so we won't have him completely to ourselves during the break. Hopefully in January we can start looking for internships or jobs after graduation in April (If anyone knows anywhere that needs an Industrial Designer, let us know!) This weekend has been a little bit different because we have a couple of extra kids staying with us. Our friends decided to go to Las Vegas (by themselves) and so here we are with double the fun. Their kids are just about the same ages as ours, so Rakel is having a great time. Raulito is working on sharing and being nice... He's also been working on that in the Nursery. He started his first week in Nursery last week, and he didn't do too bad, except when someone pulled his hair, and when everyone started leaving. We'll see. They have lots of cars and trucks to play with, and those are his favorite. Oh, and in the meantime, We were going shopping earlier this week and I ended up rear-ending the car in front of me. Of course, for some reason our coverage does not include collision, so we get to pay to fix it. Nice time to have a big bill, huh? It really could have been much worse, but it's still going to be almost $1000 to do the most basic parts (less than half as much as it would be to get everything fixed...). Anway, we're still planning on going up to Idaho for Christmas. Raul doesn't have to work on Christmas Eve (surprise!) so we might get to spend an extra day there. Then it's back to Provo to work and prepare for another semester. We hope everyone is doing well and has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Here's some pictures from the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Funny Story, he really did fall asleep like this! He was watching TV one minute and I looked over the next and he was asleep on the table! It was really funny!!!

Feeding the ducks at the Botany Pond at BYU

He now knows where his tongue is, and he was showing it off!

Rakel and some of her friends at the Ward Christmas party, waiting for Santa

The box is always the best toy! Although those packing peanuts are not so much fun to clean up...

Raulito at Thanksgiving, as always, working on homework...

The girls new favorite place to play...

One of Raulito's favorite toys.

New Pics!

We took our yearly family pictures today! Raulito was scared of the flash (this happened when we took him to get his year pictures) and hardly smiled at all. He mostly wanted to play with the props and the toys...We had a really good time, and, if we had had the money to spend, would have gotten a lot of pictures. But the cheapest package would have been $85 and it went up from there, so we didn't do it. We did get some really cute pictures, though. Enjoy! Tomamos nuestras fotos anuales de la familia hoy! A Raulito le asustaban las luces cada vez que tomaban una fotos (lo mismo paso cuando le tomamos las fotos del ano) y casi no sonreia. Solo queria jugar con los juguetes que tienen para hacerles reir a los ninos...Pero nos divertimos mucho y salieron unas fotos bien bonitas. Si tuvieramos el dinero que gastar, tendriamos muchas mas fotos que estas, pero no lo tenemos. (el paquete mas barato valdria unos 160.000 pesos, y de alli para arriba) Que disfruten las fotos!!! One of the only pictures where Raulito is smiling! Una de las unicas fotos con Raulito sonriendo!

Rakel the supermodel!

Neither one look like they're completely enjoying this hug, but we liked it...

No parecen disfrutar este abrazo, pero a nosotros nos gusto la foto...

Pictures of us playing around after the shoot.

Estas fotos son despues de la seccion professional.

All Grown Up

Today was our Primary Program for our ward. At last year's program, Rakel just stood there and wouldn't say (or sing) anything. So I was a bit nervous this morning. But I guess I didn't have much to worry about, she did GREAT! She looked at her teacher instead of the audience, but she repeated the words loudly and clearly. It brought tears to my eyes. Of course, that had started when the primary president got up at the beginning of the program. And she sang just as well as the other kids. I was surprised at how well she knew some of the songs because we hadn't practiced them at home with her. Anyway, we are SO PROUD OF HER. She does seem to be coming out of her shell a little bit and showing her personality. And every time I stop to think, I think she's growing up so fast! She's not my baby any more! I think children are so special and they exemplify the qualities that we should all have. My kids are always reminding me of what I should be doing to follow Christ. I LOVE MY KIDS!

Hoy fue el programa de la primaria en nuestro barrio. En el programa del ano pasado, Rakel se quedo alli y no quiso decir (ni cantar) nada. Asi que esta manana estuve nerviosa. Pero parece que no tenia por que estar asi. Le fue SUPER BIEN!!! Miro a su maestra en vez de a la audiencia, pero dijo su parte muy bien. Me salieron lagrimas. (Por supuesto, ya habia empezado a llorar desde que hablo la presidente de la primaria al principio del programa...) Y Rakel canto tan bien como los otros ninos mas grandes. Me sorprendio de que bien sabia algunas de las canciones porque no las habiamos practicado en casa. Estamos muy orgullosos de ella. Parece que esta saliendo mas su personalididad. Cada vez que me pongo a pensar, pienso de lo rapido que esta creciendo! Ya no es mi bebe!

Pienso que los ninos son tan especiales que tienen las cualidades que todos nosotros debemos tener. Tienen espiritus tan lindos. Me recuerdan mucho de lo que debo estar haciendo para seguir a Jesucristo. AMO A MIS HIJOS!!!

Discoveries

For a while now, I have been on Facebook with my hubby, and sometimes he would be like, who is he/she? Because it was someone from Idaho, before we met. So he finally bugged me enough and I got my own account. (As if I needed more things online to take up my time...Oh well!) And I was so excited to find a bunch of people from Murtaugh (Idaho, where I grew up)! It's really cool to hear about people that you have no idea where they are or what they're doing. So to all of those who are reading this blog for the first time, welcome!