Breakfast @ Golden Corral

While in Nebraska, my brother in-law Miguel (the one on Julio's side) invited us to breakfast, my other brother in-law (Luis) had mentioned that it was a really good breakfast buffet but, we never tried going here in Colorado because the very few times we have gone to Golden Corral it has been packed so it was a great experience going there, it was really good food and the wait or amount of people wasn't too bad. I went with all the boys (Julio, Braiden, brother's in-law and nephews) and we had a great time!!

Thanks for breakfast Miguel...

Uncle Miguel, Julio, Uncle Luis, Cousin Kevin, Cousin Miguel Jr & Braiden

Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters

The Mormon Trail Center is located right across from the temple so, we crossed the street to go see the all the amazing stuff they have as well as an special exhibit that the family had seen back in April. When we first enter the center, a Sister Missionary approached us and welcomed us, she explained the process, she said we would watch a video about the Pioneers for about 15 minutes. We sat and watched the video and were very touched to see and remember all the things that our pioneers went through. After the video was over, the Sister asked us a series of questions about the video, Braiden was getting ready to go. After we went back to the center, a different Sister joined us since the first one had to leave with a tour, this second Sister had a very special spirit and wonderful attitude that make the visit very pleasant, she was super sweet and patient with Braiden. We loved everything we saw, please take a look.

We had a great time at the Center, we are glad we made time to make the trip. We hope next time we go to Nebraska we can attend a Temple Session!!

Braiden & Daddy

Jofes (as Braiden calls him), Braiden & Daddy

Mommy & Braiden

Look at them, they are really big

(we were told they are actual size)

Mommy & Braiden

By railroad to Zion...

Braiden was not interested in wearing a Pioneer outfit

(so at least we did the hats)

Team work!!

Daddy & Braiden having fun with the wagons

These wagons are so fun!!

An eternal family :)

By handcart to Zion

This is how Pioneers used to

keep track of miles..

Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple

While in Nebraska, we decided to visit the temple, it is about an hour and 10 minutes from my sister's in-law house. We told Braiden we were going and he was excited the whole way there, as soon as we got to the temple grounds he got excited to see Moni (Moroni) and this is what happened.

Here he is pointing at Moni...

Still looking at Moni

I love to see the temple...

Daddy and Braiden

We made it to the temple, yay :)

Mommy & Braiden

Curly is 4!!

Wow, time flies, our first baby, Curly, is 4 years old now. Years ago, Julio said he wanted a dog but, we were living in an apartment and I told him he couldn't have one until we live in a house, then some other things came to mind besides space, hair, maintenance, exercise, etc, we did some research and we looked at Poodles then my sister in-law bought a poodle and we decided that a Toy Poodle was the perfect dog for us, it was small, not much maintenance and exercise required, no hail all over the place. My other sister's in-law has had Poodles for so many years and it so happened that her dog just had some puppies so, we went to see them and we fall in love with one. We have had Curly since he was 8 weeks old, we went to see him when he was a tiny & fluffy hair ball, there were two puppies that looked completely the same, the only difference was that Curly's tongue was sticking out so, that melted our hearts and we decided that he was the right one for us. While looking for a name, Julio wanted something related to the Green Bay Packers so, we came up with Curly and not necessarily because of his curly hair but, after Earl "Curly" Lambeau, founder, player and first coach of the Green Bay Packers.

To celebrate his birthday, we took him to Good Times for a special treat.

Happy Happy Birthday to Curly and many many more, we are hoping he is Braiden's companionship while growing up (Poodles have a life expectancy between 17 - 19 years)

Yummy...

Delicious!!

Birthday treat

Fire Truck

We attended the well known Webster's barbeque, it was lots of great food and people, we had a really good time and to our surprise, Brother Webster had invited the fire fighters over for lunch so. They were showing off their amazing fire truck so, we took Braiden to check it out and he loved it, he experimented everything that he could get his hands into.

Where is the water??

Okay, ready to go now!

Wait, I almost forgot something really important....

Wow, how cool...

Daddy and Braiden checking out the amazing truck

Wow, lots of buttons...

Look at me..

Say cheese :)

Having fun with the amigas!

Hair Cut

It had almost 3 months since Braiden's first professional hair cut so, his hair was really long, as much as I really wanted him to get his hair cut, I wasn't really looking forward to a bad experience. Julio also needed a hair cut so, we decided to give it a try and have both of them get a hair cut at the same time in the hopes of Braiden looking at Daddy getting a hair cut as well and he would have a good time, well, I'm not sure what it was but it was a total success, when we got the hair saloon, he saw some candy machines and he wanted some candy so, we told him if he was a good boy while getting his hair cut, we would get him some candy afterwards and this was the result...

A cute little boy with his hair cut and a beautiful smile!!

We will try the same strategy next time and who knows, it might work again...

My flex day

Today was my day off during the week for working Saturday so, I wanted to take advantage of having a free day during the week to do something that we don't normally get to do. Julio & I were debating whether we wanted to use the day for the two of us or if we wanted to do an activity with Braiden, after a lot of pondering, we decided that we should have a date and do something special so, what better thing than to go to the Temple as we had not been there since April (for one reason or another) so, we got ready and while we were leaving the house, Braiden asked where we were going so we told him we were going to the Temple, he got pretty excited and sadly we had to tell him that Daddy and Mommy were going to the Temple but not him, that he was going to Tia Claudia's and that we would take him to the Temple in the evening.

We made it to the temple a little before 9am so, we couldn't catch the session at that time, we ended up entering the 9:30AM session, after the temple we went to Olive Garden for lunch, it was so nice and special to have the opportunity to attend a session and having lunch together. I loved it.

After we pick up Braiden we took him to the Temple as we had promised him and we were all so happy, we all made it to the Temple that day!!

The temple is a wonderful place to be...

A working Saturday

My department had not been working for almost for years (ever since the Bilingual Unit was created) and of course everybody had been complaining that we didn't work weekends as they do so, after so much thought, management decided to make our unit and other two dedicated units work on Saturdays to make it even for all of the employees. With 13 of us in the unit, our Saturday rotation will be about every 13 weeks (a little over 3 months) and you get a flex day during the week (my will be Wednesday - I will work two days then have a day off and then work another two days and be done with the week.

The highlight of my day was that I got to have lunch with my boys (Julio, tío Luis, Braiden and Curly) brought some delicious ribs and we sat out in the patio an enjoyed a nice 30 minute lunch.

At the end working the Saturday wasn't bad at all, I was off the phones almost the entire day (I got to work 10 claims for my department so that kept me busy and made the day go by quick. In another positive note, I get to go to the Webster's barbeque next Saturday (a must go so I' glad I won't have to miss it)

Braiden having fun running around at Mommy's work

The 3 of us!

The boys (thanks for joining Mommy for lunch)

My baby sister - The Bride

Wow, I still cannot believe it, where did time go??? My baby sister or as I call her hermanita/nenita (she is 4 years younger than me) got married July 9th, 2011. We all get married at some point but, I was under the impression it was really far away for her to get married. I always thought I would be with my baby sister on her special day but, unfortunately, it wasn't the case, things didn't work out the way I wanted them to so I was not there physically but, my mind and heart were with her. My parents and brother and sister were present so they did a great job representing me.

Congratulations to Cesar & Yubia, I wish you guys the best in this new stage of your life, remember, I'm here for you if you need me.

Love you guys, hopefully we will get to see you soon!!

The so happy newlyweds!!

Yubia & the mariachi...

Yubia and our nephew Julian

(he lives in AZ and is 9 years old)

My dad and my older sister Sandra

Yubia and our nephew Sebastian

(he lives in AZ and will be 12 in December)

Bella with tío Cesar & tía Yubia

(she is our youngest niece, will be 4 in November)

My sister Sandra, my sister Yubia & my brother Norberto

(he is the oldest)

My family

(dad, mom, my two sisters and my brother -

I wish I could have been on that picture)

My parents and my sister's family

My baby sister and my dad

(super cute picture)

Siblings love

Youngest and oldest sibling