The Martinez Fam

1st Half of December

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:10:00 +0000

I can't believe it's already been more than a month since I last posted!! Time goes by so quickly. We've had a great December so far! The kids talked me into doing sugar cookies last week. I had been busy doing "Hair Play" parties and it was the first Saturday I didn't have to rush around to get things done, so we had a "family fun day." The kids thought it was the best! We spent the whole day together doing fun family things (we missed you, Martin). I didn't have classic red and green food coloring, so we got to have bright Christmas cookies!:)

Kyson just hung out in his highchair and didn't know what all of the excitement was about.

Here is a picture of the kids after I got them ready for church a couple of Sundays ago. I made them headbands to match Christmas dresses we had from last year and they loved posing for some pictures. As you can see, Mireya had lost her vim and vigor for picture-taking after her pictures alone. She didn't want to take any with all of them together!

I was trying to get Kaybree to pose for me in the latest headband I had designed, but she wouldn't put Kyson down, so yet again, another picture I've taken of Kaybree and Kyson. She loves him so much. She only puts him down when I insist that his armpits and belly are probably sore. She's so cute with him!

I finally got a picture of her without Kyson!!:)

We look forward to the 2nd half of the month!! I love this time of year!!!

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:18:00 +0000

So, after I read Taffy's post, I decided I wasn't going to post about Halloween. I mean, what she said is totally true. No one else's kids look as cute as yours in their costumes and looking at a million kids in costumes isn't really that exciting. Yet, here I am, posting about Halloween. I couldn't help it!:) Sorry, but I want to remember how adorable the kids looked in their costumes, so bear with me as you endure one more blog of Halloween costumes!!:) Lori and Traci were here, so we had a great Halloween with all of the cousins to go trick-or-treating together!!

We didn't get Kyson a costume because my mom just kept him at her house while we took the kids to the carnival. Plus, he slept through most of Halloween night, so that's why he's not in many pictures.

Here are all the cousins together. Kaden isn't in the picture because he was already trick-or-treating and I never did get a picture of Olivia and Paisley. Oh, and Regyn wasn't here because she was really sick, but I think everyone else was there. The kids LOVED having everyone here!!

Our Little Toothless Annie (Mireya)

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:57:00 +0000

We had a little accident yesterday while visiting teaching. We were in the auditorium visiting Andra because she was painting sets for the play. Well, no big deal to visit her there. I've visited ladies at work before for a few minutes, and no big deal, right? Well, not so yesterday. I had 3 of the kids with me and Kaybree & Mireya wanted to go down in the pit with Angela Thompson's kids to play on the bottom couple of steps. They were being quiet, so no big deal. I was a little worried about them getting down those steep brown steps on the front of the stage (you all know the ones I'm talking about). They went down and back up safely. Mireya came and asked if she could go back down one more time and I shook my head yes, then continued to visit. I heard a thump and then screaming. Angela and Andra quickly ran down the stairs to grab Mireya. I scooped her up and sat back down to finish the lesson. There was blood all over my shirt, but I assumed it was from her swollen lip and tried to comfort her and keep her a little quiet so Angela could finish the lesson. In-between appointements I decided to run her home to Martin and change shirts. On the way into the house I asked her to say "Ahhhh" so I could see how deep her teeth went into her lip--there were no teeth. She didn't have her 2 front teeth. Inside I was totally freaking out, but I came in and handed her off to Martin, giving him a quick rundown of what had happened, trying not to burst into tears. That didn't last long. I was kind of a wreck, feeling all kinds of guilt that this had happened while I had her and that it was a totally preventable accident. We called the dentist to see what, if anything, needed to be done and he said to try and shove her teeth back in. Well, thankfully I had gone back up to the school and found her teeth (then I really got sick to my stomach and felt TERRIBLE when I saw how big the roots on her teeth were and thought about how much that must have hurt). Martin had to try and shove her teeth back in, which was horrible, but it didn't work. The chances aren't ever real great that it will work, but sometimes it does. I was really distraught at this point, thinking about my 2 1/2-year-old going 3 or 4 years without her 2 front teeth. How was she going to eat? It's already causing her to talk with a lisp, and she looks a little like a vampire! Well, thankfully, after a lengthy phone call with the dentist, in a couple weeks, after her gums have healed, we will take her to get a mold done for some false teeth. I guess they do it all the time for kids that get their teeth knocked out. He said they were working on 5 different molds right now for some kids. Crazy, huh? That made me feel so much better. So, here are some pictures of her war wounds.

This is her adorable before smile.

It's kind of hard to see, but these are the pictures of her fat lip and missing teeth.

And here's a picture of her teeth.

She was very excited this morning when she found that the tooth fairy had come. She made a killing too. It's amazing what a mother will do to relieve some guilt.:) She kept looking at her dollars this morning and pretending to read them. She said, "This one says 'Jesus loves me' and this one says 'Gramma loves me'." I agreed with her and she was so happy to carry around her "special money." I still feel horrible and it's interesting watching her try to eat, but by watching her you'd never know anything ever happened.

Mylee's Stories

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Nearly every day when Mylee gets home from school, she has some story to tell me. Most of them are far from the truth, but she continues to come up with these made-up stories and then sometimes at the end she'll turn to me and whisper, "Just pretend that's what happened, okay?"

It started a little early today because she was telling stories before she ever even got to school. She was all dressed and ready for school, but it was raining outside so I told her I would give her a ride. We were all sitting in the living room waiting until it was time to take her to school. Then it began:

"We painted the school bus. It's not yellow anymore. The yellow was too bright and sparkly so we decided to paint it bright pink, like my jacket. Our bus is the only one that got painted though. And we decided to put black stripes on it too, so it totally matches the outfit I have on today. Wow, huh, Mom. And if you wear something that matches the school bus, you get a special prize when you get to school and you have to keep it in your desk until Halloween. Then you get to bring all of your prizes and treats home and share them with your family. (Kaybree and Mireya were getting excited at this point.) They give us all kinds of prizes, like Bratz dolls and all kinds of stuff. It's so cool, Mom. You've got to see all of the prizes I have in my desk at school, one for everyone in the whole family."

Finally Kaybree said, "You're lying, Mylee, and it's not good to lie." That was the end of the story, but it sure was entertaining for the moment. If only the school busses really were bright pink with black stripes. That would be a little more exciting, wouldn't it?

August/September

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:13:00 +0000

I am so far behind with the blog, so this will be a long one to catch us up--sorry. Kyson was blessed August 9th. It was a really neat day and we were really thankful to those who were able to come support us. We know that those who couldn't come wanted to be there. Kyson looked so cute in his little tux. I didn't realize how wild his hair was until I got looking at these pictures. He had just woken up from a nap in the swing and I realized after looking at these pictures that his hair could've used a little taming down!!:)

Mylee did NOT want to get her picture taken. She got tired of the pictures, but we finally got her to sit there but she said she "was not going to smile!"

Next we had our little camping trip. The girls had been begging all summer to go camping so we finally decided we'd better do it since school was starting the upcoming Monday. Man it's a lot of work for parents to get things ready for camping. It took forever to get everything gathered and packed, but we did it. The kids were so excited. We only went for one night and then spent part of the next day up there. We were maybe going to spend a second night, but Martin was worn out because he got NO sleep the first night and the hornets were horrible up Pine Creek, so the kids wouldn't get out of the tents or camper. They would sprint back and forth and quickly shut the door so the hornets couldn't get in. I was giving Mylee a hard time about it and telling her to relax, that they weren't that bad and then the next thing I knew, I was sprinting to the camper and slamming the door. Martin thought we were the biggest wimps, but there were so many hornets!! Anyway, the kids loved cooking the tinfoil dinners. They thought they were the coolest thing and we had to roast marshmallows, of course. The kids slept really well (except Mireya) and they were so excited the next morning to snuggle around the fire while I cooked breakfast. They did get a little cold in the morning, but thankfully we had haircuts scheduled with Traci, so we came out for a little while, got haircuts and then went back up for lunch before we packed up and headed home. We were able to take my mom and dad's camper and it was so nice to stay in and cook in. (Thanks, Mom and Dad.) We will definitely have to do it again, but I have to say that I am really glad that we can't go again THIS year. We need a LONG break before we go through all of that again!!:)

Thank goodness for the portable swing. I just put it in the camper, so Kyson was happy as ever!!

School started the Monday after our camping trip. Mylee wasn't really ready for school to start--summer seemed way too short since we had so much rain in June, but she had a great attitude on Monday morning when I woke her up. I was so worried about her all day going to all-day school now, but she thought it was the best ever. She thinks it's so cool that she gets to eat school lunch or pack a lunch and she has absolutely LOVED school so far. I'm sure it will wear off a little, but I'm sure enjoying her attitude about it right now. I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. She is starting to actually enjoy reading rather than me MAKING her sit down to do her reading and it's so fun to listen to her read books to her siblings. She gets so excited when she picks up a book and can read it. It's so cute!! This was Mylee's first day of school. My mom let her pick out an outfit this year and this is the one she chose. She loves it!!

Kaybree LOVES to hold Kyson. She holds him way more than the other girls. She always picks him up and rocks him in the rocking chair. She can actually be a lot of help. Sometimes she gets a little rough with him and then I have to rescue him, but she loves him so much. It's so darn cute!!

These next pictures were on Kaybree's first day of school and Mylee's birthday. Kaybree had to wait a whole extra week to start school and it was so hard for her to wait. She's been asking me when she gets to go to school ever since her birthday in January. She LOVES it. She comes home and practices writing her letters and numbers for hours. She gets Mylee's old homework and traces over it. She definitely has a different attitude about learning than Mylee had at her age!!:)

Next, we had Mylee's 6th birthday. She was so excited for her birthday. We had cake and ice cream with the fam and she loved it. She LOVES brownies right now, so I just made a big oreo cookie and homemade chocolate syrup to drizzle over the top. She thought it was perfect (thankfully)!

Then I decided to have a party for her since she's never had one before. We invited all of the girls from her class. I hadn't even counted them for sure, but once they were all there I realized that with my children included I had 18 kids there at one time!! It was a little crazy, but Mylee loved it and I think the girls had a great time. They each made a bracelet and then decorated their own cupcakes to eat. It sure made a mess, but they had fun. I was left with quite the mess to clean up after the kids were in bed. It only took me a couple hours to get the whole kitchen clean again!!

Then we had a break from the excitement for a couple weeks until Ty (Martin's brother), Nicole and Braelyn came for a visit for the weekend. We were so excited for them to come because we hadn't seen Braelyn yet. She is so adorable. She looks so much like her daddy. Anyway, it was so much fun having them come, even though they couldn't stay long. We just hung out, went up Pine Creek and roasted some marshmallows in our backyard (we have a pit) since it was too cold for the babies up Pine Creek. We really enjoyed their visit and hope they'll come again sometime this winter to hit the slopes!!:)

The last, but certainly not the least, exciting thing that happened at the Martinez residence this last month and a half was the finishing of Mylee and Kaybree's room in the basement. It has been a very long process, but we finally did it!! We started on it before Kyson was born because we knew we were going to need another bedroom, but after I had Kyson we took a 2-month break from working on it. Well, I am ready for Kyson to get out of our bedroom and into his own room, so it got us motivated again. We finally finished it this last week and moved the girls down. I don't know how many total hours I've spent working on that room, but it is definitely worth it now!! We weren't sure they were going to sleep down there since the rest of the basement isn't finished yet (that's our goal over the next year), but they LOVE it down there and haven't had any problems (knock on wood)! Plus, now when they play in their room, the noise level upstairs is so much quieter since all of the noise is downstairs!! We love it!! I wish I would've taken before pictures of this room, but I forgot to. John and Sharon Linford used to live here before Bri and Becca and John made beautiful willow chairs. Well, this was his workroom. There were all kinds of workbenches and shelves and pegboard on the walls and stacks of wood and willows. It was a HUGE project just to get the room ripped back down to the studs before we could actually start finishing the room (thanks, Martin). Then we went to town on it. I actually love doing stuff like that--it's just hard to do it with 4 children!:) This week I hope to finish Kyson's room! We'll see.

Well, I think that catches up the Martinez household. Hopefully I'll do better about keeping up so my posts don't have to be so long--sorry about that!!:)

A Tribute To . . .

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:37:00 +0000

Orlean Sizemore Perkins

My Grandma Perkins passed away this last Tuesday, so she has been on my mind a lot this week. I have known all week that I wanted to do something special for her, but I wanted to wait until after her funeral so that all of my thoughts would be more complete. We've had such a great week in so many ways as we have gathered as family and friends to remember the grandma that we all loved and miss. In moments of solitude I find myself talking to her and thinking about some of my favorite memories of her:

- her purple puffy coat
- her sitting on the edge of the seat in her car so she could see over the steering wheel
- her beautiful white hair
- playing dress-up with her size 5 shoes when I was in elementary school
- her pack of gum that she was always willing to share
- mashed potatoes with white gravy
- the pitcher of grape juice that was always in the fridge
- her holding and bouncing babies
- going on drives with her and Grandpa
- spending endless hours at their house (I was there nearly every day of my childhood)
- her crossword puzzles & pepsi every afternoon
- seeing her snuggled under a blanket up to her chin since she was always cold
- her hugs and kisses
- her famous sayings: "not much of anything," "gettin' along pretty good," "ya don't have to rush off," "I'll have what she's having"
- little conversations we had the last couple years
- the last time I saw her and heard her tell me she loved me

Not many people knew my grandma very well because she was a very quiet, non-confrontational person. She lived her life quietly doing service for those around her. She was such an example of selflessness. My grandma suffered from Alzheimer's the last 8 years or so, so sometimes it was hard to see her being confused and frustrated with herself when she didn't know who we were or what was going on. We got to learn pretty fast that open-ended questions weren't good to ask because she would get frustrated when she couldn't answer them. When her condition became such that my grandpa could no longer take care of her on his own, my parents moved them over to their house. What a tremendous blessing that was in all of our lives! It was really hard, but it was such a blessing as well. We used to all stop by and see them in their little white house on the corner when we would come to town for a visit, but when they moved to my parents' house, we saw them much more often. Not only did we see them more often, but we were given the tremendous opportunity to serve my grandma. She got to where she couldn't do some things for herself that we probably often take for granted. That gave us the opportunity to help her do those things or do those things for her. I didn't think much about it at the time. I used to just chat with her while helping take care of her or while sitting with her for an afternoon so my grandpa could get out for a while. Those little chats have been on my mind a lot this week. One thing I used to say to her often after helping her get ready for the day was, "You'd better go tell Grandpa you're ready for a hot date now." She would just agree with me and head in to her recliner next to Grandpa. How priceless that time I had with her was. I wouldn't change it for anything. Sadly, it finally got to where we could no longer provide the medical care she needed and so we had to send her to a nursing home. The visits to the nursing home (as hard as they were) were no less precious than the time we spent with her in my parent's home. I'm so thankful for the opportunity I had to serve her even when at times she didn't know who I was. I'm also thankful for the opportunity which I had to tell her I loved her before she passed away. We knew she wasn't doing well last Sunday so we went to see her. It was heart-wrenching to see her in pain and not doing very well. I was given one last opportunity to serve her as I held her hand and stroked her arm to try and calm her. I was able to embrace her and tell her how much I loved her. She passed away about 36 hours later.

As much as we miss her and as hard as it is to realize she has gone from this life, what a blessing it is that she doesn't have to suffer anymore, that she no longer has to be confused or frustrated with herself. I am so thankful for my knowledge of the plan of happiness. When I get thinking about her and missing her, I picture the reunion she would have had with her mother, father and sister when she got to the other side. I picture her with our family's future children--getting to know them before they come to earth. I am so thankful for the Savior and for the opportunity which we have to be together forever if we choose to live worthy of that blessing.

This has been a hard week for our family, but it has also been a very priceless week, one I will never forget, as it was spent discussing our Father in Heaven's plan for us, as well as the tremendous part this little woman played in all of our lives. I will be forever grateful that I was able to live just across the lawn from such a wonderful woman who has had such a tremendous influence in my life, especially in her latter years as she taught me what it means to truly love someone through serving them. I pray that I can live my life in such a way that I will be given the opportunity to embrace her once again when this life is over. I also pray that I never forget the wonderful memories I have of this five-foot tall, white-haired woman that I have called "Grandma."

Family Home Evening

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:57:00 +0000

The girls have been BEGGING to go camping all summer long, but with the new baby, we just didn't dare go yet. Well, we have finally decided we are brave enough to give it a shot, so Martin and the girls drove up Pine Creek to find the perfect spot. For family home evening this week, we decided we would try the spot out for a couple hours by roasting marshmallows. The girls LOVED it!! They were so excited to haul their camping chairs up there (Mireya decided she wanted to take her floaty thing to sit on instead of a chair). They settled right in as soon as we got up there.

Then the girls did a little exploring while Martin built the fire. They loved all of the lovely weeds (flowers to them) they were able to pull and bring to us.

Martin and I just hung out once the fire was going and watched the girls play for a bit. Mylee took the picture of me--a little too up close and personal. I don't have any secret flaws on my face now!!:)

Then the girls decided to roast some marshmallows. Mireya didn't get her marshmallow very roasted.:) She had to have a little help since she never got close enough to even begin to roast her marshmallow.

Mireya loved the smores. She would cook one and start to eat it, but then as soon as she saw that another marshmallow was cooked, she would throw her smore in the fire and want a new one. Let's just say we wasted more than just a couple smores.:)

When the girls were done with their smores, they decided to do a little more exploring. They moved their chairs away from the fire and had a little discussion by the patch of weeds. Then they found a little grove of trees to be their "house." They thought it was the best thing ever. Since we were pretty much done roasting marshmallows, they started using the sticks to dig around in the dirt. They got SO dirty SO fast, or at least Kaybree did. Her hair kept tickling her face and every time she would itch her face, her face would get dirtier.

Kyson slept in the truck through all of the roasting action, so when he finally woke up, he just hung out with his dad for a while I took pictures of the girls.

After I first noticed Kaybree's filthy face, Martin and I had the giggles really bad. I went and got the water and washed her face. She came back a couple minutes later looking like the picture below. I couldn't believe it!! Martin and I burst into laughter, but she didn't appreciate it. She finally caught onto the fact that she had been the reaon for all of the laughter and it hurt her feelings. I felt really badly, so we got her all cleaned up again.

We had a great time. The girls didn't want to leave, but Kyson didn't really appreciate being wrapped up so much to keep him safe from the bugs, so we decided to head home. It got the girls so excited to go camping and we decided our chosen camping spot should be just great. The girls definitely found plenty to keep themselves entertained!!:)

Catchin' Up

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:41:00 +0000

We sure have a lot of catching up to do. We've had a busy couple of weeks and I haven't had a chance to update our blog. It all started the 4th of July weekend. Traci and her kids and Lori, Dan and their kids and our family headed to the Congers' beach house to enjoy the pool. We had a great time. The kids loved it since it was the first time we have been in water this summer!! We had a really terrifying experience with Mireya because she almost drowned in the hot tub. Lots of prayers were answered that day because Lori happened to notice her under the water and saved her. I don't know when I'll go around a pool again because every time I think about how close we came to losing her, I get physically ill. Other than the pit in my stomach I had the rest of the time we were at the pool, we had a great time!!:

The 4th of July was an eventful day. There were lot of things going on in the park so we basically spent the whole day there. Plus, we had a booth where we were selling flower head bows and headbands, so we were pretty attached to the park. The kids had a blast because the Baptist church had a booth where they gave out free cotton candy, popcorn and snow cones. My kids thought that was the best thing ever!!!:)

A few days later we headed to Casper to see Martin's family. We haven't been for about 4 months and we hadn't seen Jackson (Martin's sister's baby that's 2 weeks older than Kyson) yet, so were excited to go. Plus, we hit it during fair week so we were able to take the kids to the fairgrounds for some fun and excitement. We had a great week, but were completely exhausted by the time the week was over. We had to stay an extra day just to rest a little before we headed home!!

This is a picture of the two dads with their new babies. Isn't it cute?

The kids had a blast at the fair!! They even found someone to make them balloons!

Grandpa Martinez took Cade and Mireya to the kids' play area while Mylee and Kaybree rode the rides. Mireya was so sad that she was too small to ride the rides.

The kids wore Grandpa "Tinez" right out!!

Kyson got to hang out with Grandma while the older kids had some fun!!

Then the kids went to Darlene and Brian's house to play in the pool (and make a mess with all of Cade's toys in the basement).

Kyson and Jackson hung out and slept most of the time we were at the fair. Isn't Jackson adorable?!! I can't tell you how many comments people made about his hair while we were out and about!! He has the most adorable hair and he's such a cutie!!

We went to the new hospital open house the next day and about roasted to death. We got a tour of the hospital and saw Katie and Mike there as well. It was nice to get in the air conditioned building for the tour, but the rest of it wasn't so enjoyable since it was so hot. We and the Websters (Darlene and Brian) didn't last long!!:)

We finally made it back to Cokeville, but we had an absolute blast while we were in Casper!! The kids were so worn out they slept almost the entire way home. We always love our visits to Casper. Thanks for all of the fun!!

A few days after we got back from Casper we took our first trip to the lake. We haven't been yet this summer since it was so cold for so long, so the girls were really excited. Kyson and I just hung out in the shade while Martin and the girls played in the water. Mireya was scared of the water and hardly got in. She mostly stayed on the beach, but the other girls spent almost the entire time in the water and loved it!!

We've had a fun couple of weeks!! We've been exhausted from it all, but we've had so much fun spending so much time together as a family before Martin goes back to work.

Rexburg Trip

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:33:00 +0000

Last week the girls and I headed to Rexburg to spend some time with Traci & Jasmine. David was out of town most of the time and Braxton and Riley were camping, so it was just a girls' week out (other than Kyson of course). We had a great time. I was so nervous to drive 3 hours by myself with the 4 kids, especially since Kyson has to eat every 2 hours, but we made it all in one piece and it wasn't even that bad.

The first day we took the kids to the splash park. We both forgot our cameras, but they had the best time. My kids finally dared go down the slides, well, at least Mylee & Mireya did. Kaybree preferred to play in the little fountains of water that sprang up all around the park. We ended our little splash park trip with some yummy cotton candy.

The next day Traci had the wonderful idea of taking the girls to the beauty school to get their toenails painted. The girls that painted their toenails were so good with the girls. They had a blast and talked about it for the rest of the day. My girls thought it was the best thing ever. (It did take Kaybree a while to decide she did actually want to get them painted.):)

Mireya's Toenails

Kaybree's Toenails

Mylee's Toenails

When we were done at the beauty school, we headed back to Traci's for a quick lunch and then drove into Idaho Falls to do some shopping at the mall. It was a lot of fun and we were able to find the perfect gift for Martin for his birthday.

After we got back to the house and had dinner, David mentioned going on a boat ride with his parents down the river (which is VERY high right now). Well, we aren't ones to sit around the house, so me and the girls loaded up in the motorhome (which my girls think is the coolest thing ever) and drove to the river. Traci stayed home with Kyson so we could go. Thanks again, Traci. We froze to death since it had been a rainy day, but it was still a lot of fun. Kaybree was tougher than nails. She sat on the back and had the cold wind blowing at her the whole time, but every time I looked at her, she had a great big smile on her face. I wasn't so tough. It was a lot of fun though and the girls really enjoyed it.

This is the famous motorhome that my kids love. Kaybree told me we need to get one just like it so we can sleep while we drive. :)

We had the best time in Rexburg. I was completely exhausted by the time I got home, but it was so much fun. I'm so glad we went. I think I gained a couple pounds (right when I'm trying to lose the baby weight) from Traci's amazing cooking, but it was totally worth it. Thanks, David and Traci.

We got back to Cokeville just in time for a little picnic up Pine Creek. The bugs were annoying, but other than that, it was a lot of fun.

What a great weekend!! It sure made Martin's time away go by faster. Thanks, everyone!!

Anniversary and Happy Father's Day!!

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:49:00 +0000

I know I am more than a little behind. I never had a chance to do a post for our anniversary because I was a little behind and then I had Kyson. Well, now it's Father's Day and tomorrow is Martin's birthday, so I thought it would be a perfect time to get caught up!!

May 23rd was our 7th anniversary!! This is a picture of us before we went out to a nice, quiet dinner without any children. I can't believe it has already been 7 years and I certainly can't believe that we already have 4 kids in those 7 years!!

I am so thankful for my husband. He is such an amazing guy and I am so blessed to have him as my eternal companion. We're attending a marriage and family class for Sunday School right now and each week as we discuss different things that are important in our marriages, I have reflected back over the last 7 years and the many ups and downs we've had and the things that we have learned together. It's been a really great experience and it has made me realize even more just how thankful I am for Martin and the kind of husband and father he is. Here are ten things that I admire about Martin and some of the many reasons I love him so much.

1- The first thing that attracted me to Martin, (well, other than his gorgeous brown eyes) was his testimony of the gospel. I first saw him at institute and then when I heard him talk about his mission at a Sunday Evening Discussion that we always had on Sunday nights, I think I was already in love. I knew I wanted to get to know him better. My roommate and I were fighting over who got first dibs on him when we got back to our dorm room.:) He continues to be a spiritual strength to me and our family.

2- He is one of the most selfless people I know. He will ALWAYS put my needs and wants or the needs or wants of our family before his own.

3-He is a very hard worker. He leaves our family for 2 weeks at a time, sometimes longer, and works hard to provide for our family so that I can stay at home with the kids. When he's home he's always doing projects around the house and working on things that need done around here.

4- He can play the piano. He is an amazing piano player--much better than I am. I love to sit in the living room and listen to him play. He learns new songs so quickly and he's always learning new songs. The first time I heard him play the piano, I KNEW for sure that I was in love.

5- He is very respectful of his mother and he's teaching our children to treat me with respect regardless of how angry or frustrated they may be with me.

6- He can cook, clean and do the laundry. He is actually an amazing cook. Some of the things he comes up with are a little different, but when I am down and out, he can totally run the household. He has done a ton of cooking over the last couple of months and we had some darn good meals around here. He is also not afraid of dishwater hands. He does a lot to help me out around the house. My sisters-in-law are very jealous of this trait.

7- He is the cutest dad. The girls adore him & Kyson already has him wrapped around his finger. He is very hands-on. If he wasn't we definitely wouldn't have 4 kids already. He is such a big help to me. He can do anything I can do for the kids (He even did Mylee's hair for school some this year and he does a good job.). I can leave him with all of the kids, even overnight, and not have to worry at all. This is another trait my sisters-in-law are jealous of. He lets me have breaks from the kids quite often and it helps me be a better mom, so I really appreciate it.

8-He loves me despite all of my faults. He has so much confidence & faith in me as a mother & it helps me have confidence in myself so I can keep our household together when he's away.

9-He's my very best friend. When I'm having a bad day or my best day, he's the first person I want to tell about it. He seems to know when all I need is to just be held for a minute and he always helps me deal with problems rationally rather than getting all worked up emotionally over things. I love to just hang out with him and chat about whatever.

10- He's just plain hot. I know that's a very high school way of putting it, but there's no other word for it. He's got the most amazing eyes and many other features that I could go on about, but won't.

I love you, Martin. Thanks for all you do for me & our family. Happy anniversary, happy father's day & happy birthday!! We miss you & can't wait for you to come home.

Kyson Duran Martinez

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:51:00 +0000

He's here!! Kyson Duran was born on June 1st at 3:50 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and is 21 inches long. Here is our handsome little addition to our family!!:)

I thought I would take you on our little journey over the last few days!! We were so excited to be having Kyson. I was induced, so we happily checked into the hospital and settled in for the day. Martin played his PSP, spent time on his computer and we both watched a lot of TV while we were waiting for the delivery. Once I got my epidural, I was really tired, but of course couldn't sleep. Don't I look lovely?

After waiting most of the day, Kyson was finally born. Everything went really smoothly and we were all so excited to meet him for the first time. My mom brought the girls down to see us in the hospital, so they were so excited to see and hold Kyson. Mireya was a little confused for a minute, but then fell in love quickly.

Kevin, Zoe, Michael and Lori and her kids and Kamille also came to see us in the hospital, but Kevin got all of the pictures of them. The kids had had the hardest time being patient all day waiting to come to the hospital.

The next day I was feeling quite refreshed and I was looking forward to having a day just with Martin and Kyson. I love the couple days in the hospital when I just get to spend so much time with Martin and get to enjoy the sweet little spirit that just came to our family.

This is what Martin did a lot of. We finally went and rented some movies from Redbox to pass some time.

One thing I love about Davis Hospital in Layton is that they do a "candlelight dinner" for parents right after they have a baby. They even bring a bottle of sparkling cider. Martin and I love it. We sent Kyson to the nursery and had nice little romantic dinner to celebrate this new addition and our love. It is one of my very favorite things about the hospital.

By the next morning, we were ready to get out of the hospital and get home to the girls. Martin's dear mother stayed with them while we were gone, but I was anxious to get home and back to real life. We were all packed and ready to go by 10:00, but my doctor was in c-sections all day and so we didn't get released until 2:00. We were SO BORED, so we watched some more TV and tried really hard to be patient.

Here is the proud father with his son. Kyson is the first male in Martin's family to carry on the Martinez name, so they're all pretty excited.

Martin was such a sweetheart while we were in the hospital as always. He jumps to my every whim and just takes really good care of me. I love the bonding experience with him right after we've had a new baby. He brought me a rose the day after Kyson was born. He's so sweet.

When we got home, there were lots of people waiting to see Kyson!! My grandpa Perkins, my mom and Kamille came over to see him, and then Martin's parents & Cade (Darlene's little boy) were also there since they stayed with the girls while we were gone. Zoe and Michael also stopped in for a little visit. We had quite a houseful of people that wanted to see Kyson.

We are so thankful to have Kyson here safe and sound. I am always amazed at the miracle these little babies are. I stare at this new little boy and just can't believe how blessed I am to have these four healthy, sweet spirits in our home and I am amazed at how much trust Heavenly Father must have in us to send them to us.

May

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:59:00 +0000

This may be a record for how long it's been since I posted!! We had a great month of May. It has been busy, as May always is, but it has been nice to have things start to wind down for the summer. The weather has finally turned for the better and we have had several nice days now!! We are loving it. The girls are outside almost all day every day and Martin and I have been able to get some much needed time in on the yard, so we have all been happy campers!:)

A couple weeks ago, we got really bored, so we decided to take a trip to Logan for the day and visit my grandparents and take the kids to the Willow Park Zoo. My kids love it there, even though there are mostly a bunch of birds. They had a great time. It was a little bit chilly still, but not bad.

The next week we had another really nice day (we had been waiting a while for one) and so the girls decided they wanted to learn to ride their bikes without training wheels. I think our kids are about the only ones their ages that still have their training wheels on. Mylee is petrified of trying to ride without them, but she finally decided she would be brave (well, as brave as is possible for her). Mylee tried first and was doing pretty well, but got frustrated and ended up crying in her room from frustration. Then Kaybree gave it a shot. She's a little braver than Mylee and actually rode a ways by herself, but then freaked out when she realized Martin wasn't holding onto her anymore. She ended up in my lap crying because she felt her dad had betrayed her. So, needless to say, our kids still have their training wheels on. It's going to take a little more practice!!:)

We've had a great month of May, but we're so looking forward to June and no more school and the new baby and everything that comes with the summer!!

1st Half of April!

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:37:00 +0000

We've had a pretty busy April so far!! We had a couple things going on a week, so I didn't get a chance to post about them individually as they happened--now I have to get caught up.

The first thing we had going on in April was the Sunshine Generation show. Mylee loves Sunshine!! It has helped her come out of her shell so much and now she doesn't get shy or nervous when she's on stage near like she used to. Anyway, we had to take some before the show pictures. Regyn, Lori's little girl, was here playing, so she had to get in on the action as well!!:)

The next event we had was Mireya's 2nd birthday on the 9th! I can't believe she is already 2 years old. Where does the time go? Anyway, the girls were so excited that it was her birthday (she wasn't near as excited about it as the girls were). She kept saying she was 3 years old though, instead of 2. We've been working out the kinks on that one and now about half the time she'll say she's 2!:) She did have fun at her little party with the fam!! There were so many people there to celebrate with us since Lori and her kids were here, so she had fun. She's my first child that isn't afraid to blow out a candle with a crowd around! As you can see by the last picture, the Mrs. Potato Head was the hit gift of the night--thanks, Mom. She had a great day and Martin and I just can't believe how quickly our kids are growing up. Mireya's like a little teenager already from hanging out with her older sisters!!:)

The last exciting thing we had going on the 1st half of April was Easter!! The girls were so excited for Easter. We even did a little Easter egg hunt with them in our basement since there wasn't a community egg hunt this year. The girls had a blast looking for the eggs. It did take Mireya a little while to catch on though. She would put one egg in her basket and then when she'd find another one, she would take out the one egg that was in there and replace it with the new egg she'd found. She finally did catch on at the very end. Thankfully, Mylee and Kaybree were good about sharing the loot. And, of course, dying eggs was a hit with them like it is every year. This year we did tie-dye eggs, which were a little trickier, but they had a blast and it stretched the egg-dying out for a whole hour rather than having everything dyed within 5 minutes! It made their hands a little messy, but they had fun!

Martin wasn't super enthused about the egg-dying this year. He was trying to get some stuff figured out before he went back to work. He really missed out.:)

Mireya wasn't super enthused about it either--it was a little complicated for her and she did not want to get her hands dirty, so she mostly watched and ate snacks while Mylee, Kaybree and I did all of the work.

We just hope the rest of the month is as fun as the 1st half of the month has been. Martin has gone back to work now, so that's always a bummer, but we're looking forward to a few nice days of weather coming up (we hope)!!!:)

Spring Fever

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:08:00 +0000

About a week ago, we were so excited to have some rather nice weather!! For about three days we went on numerous walks and played outside most of the day. It was so nice and made us crave spring. As we all know, the wonderful weather didn't last and it is winter once again, but we sure enjoyed it for a couple of days.

We went and got the girls' bikes out of my parents' garage and they were so excited to ride their bikes!!

Mireya was feeling a little left out since she doesn't have a bike to ride. We have plenty of things you use your feet to push along, but she really wanted to ride something with pedals. Thankfully Mylee felt bad for her and took her for a little walk on her bike.:)

We sure enjoyed the nice weather for a couple days and can't wait 'til it's here to stay!!

State Basketball

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:31:00 +0000

We have a hard time staying home when state basketball comes around. We have gone every year so far and it is always so much fun to spend time with Martin's family, my family and watch good basketball games. This year was especially fun because my WHOLE family was there. That doesn't usually happen, but everyone kept hoppin' on the bandwagon and before we knew it, everyone was going!! We had such a great time.

The first day there we celebrated my dad's birthday as it had been the day before while we were all traveling. I am so sad because when I took out my camera, my batteries were dead. We all met at the hotel and the kids all went swimming and had a great time. Then we all met out in the breakfast room and had ice cream cake for his birthday. The kids were all shivering from having been in the pool and then coming out into the cold to eat ice cream, but it was so fun to spend time together and celebrate my dad's birthday.

We watched so many good games and it was so fun to cheer for the girls!! Mylee, of course, looked forward to the cheerleaders dancing at halftime. Martin and I went to some late-night games after the kids were in bed and we even went out with Kevin for a midnight snack one night (the weekend was not good for my pregnancy weight-gain, I'm sure). In-between all of the basketball, we got to spend a lot of time with Martin's family. I, of course, had to go to the mall with Darlene and we had to go to playland and do all of the things that we ALWAYS have to do when visiting Casper!!:) Saturday we went to Pizza Hut with all of Martin's family to celebrate Darlene's birthday and then Sunday, we had a family dinner to celebrate Martin's dad's birthday, so it was a busy weekend for birthdays!! I did finally get my batteries charged by Sunday night and was able to take some pictures of the birthday celebration with all of Martin's family.

All of the grandkids had to help him blow out his candles (except for Kaybree, who was a little camera shy).

So I had to get a picture of her by herself since she wouldn't get in any of the other pictures.:)

Then everyone had to be patient while waiting for cake and ice cream!!

But they served it up quick and it was yummy!

Then the kids had a great time running around and playing together. They ended up in the TV room coloring. It's so fun to watch Mireya and Cade play since they're so close in age!!

This is poor Cade sitting in time out. He sure looks cute when he's in trouble.:)

Mireya will take to anyone if they will just read her a book. She LOVES to be read to, so she went around the living room trying to get everyone to read to her. Ty read to her first, but I didn't get a picture of it, then Grandpa, then Grandma and last, but not least, Nicole. By the time she got to Nicole, she was a little tired of the book they were reading, so it went pretty fast.:)

We had such a fun weekend, as we always do when we go to Casper. We were exhausted when we got home from all of the partying and then the time change combined, but I'm sure we'll be feeling better within the week!!

Bathtub Swimming Pool!

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:13:00 +0000

This last weekend while we were in Layton for my doctor's appointment, we decided to go swimming suit shopping since this is the only time of year there are any sizes to choose from in the cutest swimming suit styles. The girls loved it. They were very happy with their selections as was I. Mireya actually didn't get a new one because hers were big on her last year and they still fit! Kaybree has a very hard little body to fit a swimming suit to because she's very tall and very slender. I don't know where she gets her body type from (obviously not from me), but her 2T swim suit bottoms from a couple years ago finally fit her without falling off, but then the top shows her belly. It really has been frustrating to find a swimming suit to fit right, so we were so pleased to find a smaller size suit that had a long top (thanks for your help, Lori). You can't really see their suits in these pictures, but they had a blast "swimming" in the bathtub last night. They begged and begged to wear their new suits in the tub since it was going to be a while before they got a real chance to try them out!!

They had a great time. As soon as I went in there I realized why I was a little hesitant to let them do it in the first place--there was an inch of water all over the floor and the towel I had put down was dripping wet. Mylee quickly explained that they had to pretend to get in and out of the pool. You obviously can't just stay in the pool the whole time!!:) I sure hope they enjoyed it because after wringing everything out, I decided it will be a while before we try the bathtub out as a swimming pool again!!!

Thanks for Crossing Your Fingers!!!

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:23:00 +0000

I know a lot of you already know since word has traveled down the grapevine, but I thought I would post it for all of you that haven't heard--WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!! Can you believe it? I actually lifted my head off the table when the ultrasound tech said "boy." Then she even double checked for me to make sure. Lori went with me to my ultrasound because Martin was working and we were so excited!! Of course I called Martin immediately afterward and he tried to hide his excitement, but it has been apparent since then just how excited he is. I think we were both just kind of planning on it being a girl, so what a surprise!! Lori went shopping with me to buy his first outfit for him. It was so fun to look at the boy clothes!! Thanks all of you that kept your fingers crossed for us--it worked!! Now if we could just agree on a name for him.:)

Kaybree's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:48:00 +0000

I can't believe it, but Kaybree turned 4 on the 19th of January (I'm a little behind, as usual)!! She was so excited to turn 4. She had been asking me for weeks if she was 4 yet and I kept giving her the countdown of days until it was finally her birthday. The timing was perfect because her birthday was on Monday and Martin had to leave for work on Tuesday!! We never know what birthdays and holidays he's going to be around for, so Kaybree was so excited he could be there. We also celebrated her birthday in Casper while we were there, but I totally forgot to take any pictures---these are the best we have. Anyway, she had a great day and now she is so excited to be BIG! She keeps asking me when she can go to preschool now--she's got a while to wait!:)

To give you some insight as to how shy she is, she doesn't even blow out her own candles!! She doesn't dare do it in front of everybody!! She had to have Mylee help for her cake in Casper and Amelia and Mylee helped at home. She's one of a kind. I sure hope she can come out of her shell a little more before September when she starts preschool. She's making slow progress, but it's VERY slow. We love you, Kaybree, and are so thankful you are a part of our family!!

December

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:01:00 +0000

December has been such a crazy month that I have gottten so far behind. Now it's time to play catch up, so here are the goings on for the Martinez household for the month of December.

It started with the Sunshine program. Mylee was very excited for it and it was nice to get it over with early in the month as the end of the month was just plain hectic. She did a great job. She even had a little solo and she belted it out right into the microphone. I couldn't believe it. We were so proud of her!!

Next came my grandma Perkin's Christmas party. Now that she's in the nursing home, we weren't able to spend Christmas day with her so we had a little party for her the Sunday before Christmas. She didn't really get what was going on or what all of the fuss was about, but we sure enjoyed spending the time with her. The kids loved it because they got to sing her Christmas carols and hand her presents to open. Then they each got to take a candy cane and tell her something about themselves before they opened it. It was neat to spend the time with her even if she didn't really understand who we were or what was going on.

Then, right before Christmas, was the school play. The tradition still stands for the dads to sing with their kindergarten kids. Mylee was so excited to sing with her dad. I didn't get very good pictures because I was also trying to film it and watch the other two girls at the same time. Mylee & Martin looked so cute up there together. It was a moment I will always cherish and look forward to with the other kids.

We let the girls open their present from Grandma & Grandpa Martinez early because we had a very big hunch they were going to be Christmas dresses and Martin wanted to see them wear them before he went to work (he had to go to work on the 23rd). This is a picture of the girls in their dresses. They love them, so thank you so much, Grandma & Grandpa, "Tinez."

Next came Christmas!!! We stayed at my parents' house since Martin was gone. I didn't want to wake up by myself on Christmas morning. Plus, Kevin, Zoe, & Michael were there, so we thought it would be fun to spend Christmas Eve with them. We had a great time on Christmas Eve and the girls were so excited for Santa to come. It was really hard for me to not have Martin there, but watching the girls' excitement helped keep my mind off of it. They, of course, loved their gifts and spent the morning getting in and out of their new cars. Mireya was very excited she got a car too and her next favorite thing had to have been the gum in her stocking!! Anyway, we went to the lake to have dinner with Lori & Dan and David & Traci, but because the weather wasn't very good, we had to rush home. It was so fun to spend Christmas together with the whole fam again, as we have all been having our own Christmases for a few years now. We had a very merry Christmas and hope everyone else did as well.

Dare we hope for a boy?!!

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:37:00 +0000

The Martinez fam has an announcement to make--#4 is due to arrive the very beginning of June!! We are very excited!! Dare we hope for a boy?!! Mylee & Kaybree are SURE it's going to be a boy--in fact Mylee has been telling people that I'm having a boy and it's name is going to be Shellyn--what a masculine name!!:)

I have been thinking a lot about motherhood since I found out I was pregnant. I've been contemplating the miracle that each baby is. We were so excited to find out I was pregnant, but I'm always just a little bit nervous until I can make it to a doctor. When Martin and I saw our little baby moving all over the place on the ultrasound screen it was so exciting. No matter how many children we have, the miracle of the creation of a new little being never ceases to amaze me. It's truly a miracle!!

I've been thinking a lot about my other 3 pregnancies and deliveries and how I felt about each one and I'm just so thankful for the blessing I have of being a mother. I know there are so many people in the world that desire to be moms that can't be. I'm so thankful that for whatever reason Heavenly Father granted me such an amazing blessing. I hope that it is something that I will never take for granted. When I am having a hard day with the girls, I always remind myself of that. As I've thought about each of my children coming into the world I've also thought of the bonding that takes place with my husband throughout a pregnancy and delivery. It's so fun to see the look on his face when he feels the baby move for the first time and to anticipate the arrival of something that is a part of both of us. There can't be many things in the world you can experience with your spouse that are sweeter than bringing a child into the world. Every time I think of those times right after having a baby, when it's just me, Martin and our new baby, I feel so much gratitude and joy. Some of my greatest memories of Martin and me have been right after we've had another baby. I know this is kind of a sappy post, and way longer than it needed to be to make our announcement, but I have just had a full heart lately and felt like sharing some of the things I have been thinking and feeling.

Keep your fingers crossed for us to have a boy!!:)

A Little Pampered

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:00:00 +0000

This last week Martin and I got to go on a little trip without the 3 munchkins!! Twice a year Martin has to go to Denver to do some computer work in the office. We, or at least I, didn't used to like the trip so much, but I have come to look forward to the trip for months and can't wait until we can plan our next one!!:) I was so sad when I realized that my camera batteries were dead and I had forgotten to put the charged ones in my case, so there are no pictures. Sorry. Hopefully I won't bore ya with the details of our week--I'll try to make it short. There are some very important reasons why I enjoy the trip so much. I'll share just a few of them as I explain the happenings of our week.

We left Sunday right after church. Mylee stayed with my parents while we were gone so she wouldn't miss school and we drove the other two to Rawlins where we met Martin's dad. He took them back to Casper with him so Martin's parents could keep them for a few days. The enjoyment of the trip started immediately. We didn't have any whining or crying for the rest of the trip to Denver. It was really weird. I kept looking in the back seat to check on the kids, and then would realize we didn't have them.:) We got into Denver around 8:30, so we found the hotel that we always stay in that is a block from the 16th Street mall and right across from the MI office. There are a few things we do on these trips that we don't get to do in normal day-to-day life. The first one of those is to use valet parking at the hotel. There's no parking in downtown Denver, so the company actually tells you to use the valet parking. It's so nice. Everything is in walking distance anyway, so it's nice to just pull up, get our stuff out, and then check in to our room. We enjoyed a relaxing evening in the room--it was so quiet.

While Martin goes to the office, I always just relax a little bit, read my book, and then walk along 16th Street and duck in and out of stores. The first time we went, I have to admit that I was a little bit paranoid. Whenever I walked along the streets, I would hold onto my purse with a Kungfu grip and was very aware of everyone around me, just in case one of them wanted to mug me or stab me or something. I have relaxed a little bit. I still keep a tight grip on my purse, but not to the point that my knuckles turn white, and I can enjoy being out without thinking everyone is going to attack me. I have learned that even though we do see a few VERY interesting (maybe even a little bit scary), people every time we go, most of them are just business men & women going about their day like everybody else. I always enjoy the time alone to wander and think.

One of the other great perks of the trip is the food. Every day I meet Martin (and Kevin this time too since he moved to Denver and works in the office) for lunch and it's not at Wendy's or McDonald's like usual. We have a whole array of nice, maybe even a little more on the fancy side, of restaurants to choose from. The service is amazing and the food...I can't even explain how good it is. Plus, we can order appetizers and dessert, which is something we NEVER allow ourselves to splurge on any other time. The week is never good for my waistline, but it's sure fun to splurge a little. The other thing we can do that we would never normally do is order room service. I had never ordered room service in my entire life until we started going on these trips. It's so much fun to eat a yummy dinner or dessert, or maybe even just some hot chocolate, in the comfort and warmth of the hotel room.

The last, but not least, wonderful perk of the trip is all of the one-on-one time I get with my husband. It's so much fun to spend so much time with him wandering the streets and shopping, eating at nice restaurants, and just discussing all of the wonderful things we have to enjoy in life. Plus, this time we got to spend quite a bit of time with Kevin and Zoe and it was so much fun to have someone we know and love there to spend time with. We were only there for three days, but we had a great time. We drove to Casper to pick up the younger girls, then woke up the next morning and drove to Cokeville to get Mylee. The kids had a great time being spoiled and it's always so good for us to have a little break from parenthood. We come back refreshed, rested and ready to soak up our three sweet little girls again!! I have already started thinking about what I want to do next time we go. It's so fun to be pampered just a little bit!! Sorry--I didn't do a very good job of keeping it short.

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:47:00 +0000

We had a great Halloween! It's not my favorite holiday and it is a lot of work, especially since Martin was at work this year, but my kids always love it. They were so excited all day to go trick-or-treating. They asked if it was time to go when they woke up that morning. They had a hard time waiting until that evening!:) We went to the football game and then came home and got ready to go to the carnival. Mylee was a pirate, Kaybree was a raggedy Ann doll, and Mireya was a poodle. The carnival had really good food and there were lots of fun games to play, but my kids are too shy to play them, or at least Kaybree is. Mylee did actually participate in a few, but Kaybree wouldn't do any of them but the coloring station. So, it's basically a waste of money every year when I pay for them to play the games. They decided they wanted to leave the carnival and go trick-or-treating. Traci went with us for a little while and then Brian came with us. They had a blast!! We tried leaving Mireya in the truck for a couple houses, and she wouldn't let us. She didn't want to miss out!! When we were done trick-or-treating we went to Brian & Becca's to celebrate Brian's b-day. We had chocolate roll and it was SO good.

The girls were pretty worn out by the time the night was over. This was after they were done trick-or-treating!!:)

We had a great Halloween & I'm just glad I survived another year!

Getting Caught Up

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:45:00 +0000

We have had a couple of kind of busy weeks. A couple weekends ago we got really bored, so we decided to go to Layton and stay in a motel so we could swim and just spend quality time together as a family. The kids were so excited to stay in a motel because we haven't stayed in one since Traci's wedding in March. Anyway, we had the best time. The kids had an absolute blast!! We went swimming and ordered in Chinese and it was so much fun. I also got to go on a little girls' night out with my sisters that night because Traci happened to be visiting Lori at the same time. It really was a lot of fun. The only sad part about it was that we had to cut our trip short on Saturday morning when we woke up and watched the news--lots of snowfall. We headed home early, but the kids were still talking about our weekend days afterwards!!

Mireya wasn't so sure about the water for the first half hour we were at the pool, but once she got in, we couldn't get her out!!:)

Sure enough, on our way home from Layton, we got caught in a huge snowstorm. We only passed one wreck, but we had to be super careful. The kids were so excited to see the snow though, so our cut short trip to Layton was quickly forgotten. As soon as we got home, the kids changed into their snow clothes and headed outside for hours. There wasn't even very much snow out there, but they had the best time. Mireya wasn't too sure about it though. She could barely even walk in her jumpsuit, so she didn't last long.

The next weekend Martin's parents came to visit. I don't know what I was thinking, but I forgot to take any pictures while they were here!! The girls loved every minute of their stay. They wore Grandpa "Tinez" out with all of the drawing they did with him. He had to take a couple little naps a day just to keep up with them!! We had some wonderful cooking by my mother-in-law and we just visited and had a great time. Thanks for coming. We loved your visit!!:)

Lori & her kids also came to visit last weekend and so in-between visiting with Martin's parents, we got to spend a lot of time with them. The girls played with Hallee & Regyn for hours and we had a great time. It's always fun to spend time with them.

We were going to carve pumpkins while Martin's parents were here, but we ran out of time. We finally did it last night as part of our family home evening. The girls love it every year. I had never carved a pumpkin in my life until I married Martin, and he loves it, so now we do it every year with the kids. I have learned to enjoy it quite a lot myself. Kaybree wanted a turtle, Mylee wanted a horse & Mireya got what we did for her!!:) We had a great time and the pictures are a little fuzzy because I couldn't figure out what setting to put my camera on, but they turned out quite well. The girls were pretty proud of them.

We had a couple of really great weekends and it was so much fun to see everyone and spend time together. Now that I'm caught up, hopefully I will do better. I can always hope, anyway.:)

My Dad

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:34:00 +0000

Once again, I'm a little slow, but a couple weeks ago it was homecoming. Since I've graduated from high school, it's been interesting to be around every once in a while for homecoming to see all of the things we used to do when we were in high school!! Although, I know we didn't look as silly as the kids do now-a-days!:) Anyway, this was a special homecoming for the Nate fam--my dad was recognized as a coach. He is going to be getting a Gold Card. What that entails and all of the details behind it, I'm not sure. It was a really touching program. We felt like we were at a funeral. All of us (including Brian & Kevin) had red, puffy eyes by the time it was over. If you know my dad at all, you know that he was really uncomfortable with the spotlight being on him. It really meant a lot to all of us that the coaches put as much thought and time into the recognition as they did.

My dad's MS hasn't been doing so well lately, so it has been really hard on all of us to see him deteriorate. He seems to be deteriorating at a much faster rate now. He has to drag his left leg around by the end of the day. It's hard to watch him try to walk to the locker room at half time or walk over to shake hands with the coaches after a football game. The other coaches are so good to him. He's never left to stumble off the field alone. I've thought a lot about it since homecoming and I'm so thankful he has good friends that care about him. He's been coaching with Coach Dayton and Coach Teichert for so many years now. They are his best friends and it's so touching now to see how their friendship has grown over the years. Not all of us have the privilege of living around and coaching with our best friends, but I'm thankful my dad has been able to.

I don't know how long we'll live here--maybe forever--but I'm so thankful we have had the opportunity to live here and spend so much time together as a family. For about two years all of us lived here except Lori, and it has been such a neat experience. I have become very best friends with all of my siblings and sisters-in-law. I'm pretty fond of my brothers-in-law too, but ya know. We're not really "best friends.":) We have made so many memories over the last couple years and I know it's a time in our lives that we will never forget, and hopefully never take for granted. Some of my favorite memories and more that I hope to make are of going on the ranch with my dad. I have always loved to be on the ranch and my girls are starting to love it as well. I could spend every day on the ranch if I didn't have so much to do at home.:) I know a lot of it has to do with the fact that I get to spend so much time with my dad. He really is my hero. I'm so thankful for him and his influence in my life and I'm thankful my kids get to have that influence in their lives as well. I know that he's not perfect, but he is such a good man and I know that he touches a lot of lives for good.

Grandma & Grandpa Nate, Aunt Colleen and Uncle Kent were all there to surprise my dad in support of him.

All of the family was able to make it to the program except for Martin. He was working. Kevin and Zoe were late, so they didn't make the pictures, but the rest of everybody is "kind of" in the pictures!!:)

Mireya was just thankful that my grandma Nate had a wonderful lunch ready for us after the program.:) She had a hard time waiting patiently while her plate got dished.

It was fun to have us all together again, so we decided we'd better get a picture of all us siblings. We would've done one with the spouses, but with Martin gone, it would've been a little wierd.:)

Lori's gonna love me when she sees this picture. I just took some shots of everyone during lunch, so some of them are of people with their mouths full!! Sorry, Lori.

My grandma's favorite place to be is the kitchen. She's an amazing cook!!

It was such a neat day for our family. Not only was the program good, but the football and volleyball games were great as well. Go Panthers!!

Mylee's B-day!!

noreply@blogger.com (The Martinez Fam) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:36:00 +0000

September 1st was Mylee's 5th birthday!! (I know. I'm a little behind.) I can't believe I have a 5-year-old! She was so excited for her birthday. (There aren't many kids that get to start kindergarten when they're 4. We debated for a whole year as to whether to send her to school or hold her back, but every time we came up with the same conclusion--she should go.) Mylee's birthday was kind of a wierd day because the power was out. It went out on Sunday night and it was still out in the morning. Of course my alarm didn't go off, so I slept in so Mylee slept in. When I woke up I figured there's no way they can have school with the power off (I was wrong) and so we doddled around and had a good birthday breakfast (my mom and dad have a generator). Then I called my dad just to make sure there wasn't any school--he said there was. By this time Mylee was already really late for school and she's only there for a few hours anyway, so I talked to her and she decided she wanted to stay home and go on a little date with me during the day instead of going to school. Grandma Nate babysat the other 2 girls and Mylee and I went on a little date to Montpelier. We just went out for lunch and ice cream and talked about everything that goes on in a 5-year-old world and we had the best time. I was so glad I did it!!

She decided to wait for Martin to get home to open presents, so on Wednesday we actually celebrated her birthday!! She picked her cake out of a book and so I did my best to satisfy. It wasn't perfect, but she loved it!!:)

She was so excited to open her presents. She got spoiled since we have so much family close. We even have new adopted members of our family. Brian's mission companion & his wife that Bri & Becca have stayed close to all these years moved to Cokeville a few weeks ago, so now they are part of the fam as well. She loved having so many people there to celebrate with her. She is so into High School Musical, so she was excited to get her Gabriella outfit, even if the look on her face doesn't show it (she got a little tired of pictures).

My girls play dress-up all day long, so when I saw this Fancy Nancy hat, I had to get it for her. She LOVES hats! I thought she looked so cute in it!!:)

She had a great birthday!! I can't believe how grown-up she is getting. She can practically run the household when she wants to. We love you so much, Mylee, and we're so thankful you are a part of our family!!