A spiritually fulfilling week

Wednesday we started off by welcoming home Eli's brother, Andrew from the California Fresno mission. It was so good to see him and has been so nice having him home. He is finally getting his feet on the ground. He is living with us and it is great. The morning after he got home I was talking to Zach and said "doesn't it feel good to have Andrew home?" and he said back to me, "that's because he has the Spirit with him, mom." What more can I say....

Our family on the right, Elder Hancock's family on the left
Andrew and his friends Cody, Brantley, Scott, Britni and our boys. It is so fun having them in our house again, keeping us busy.

Elder Hancock & Elder Peña. They both served in Fresno and got to travel home together.

On Saturday Eli's brother Jared and his wife Maquel got to go through the temple and then be sealed together and to their little boy, Lucas. Next to my baptism and sealing it was the most spritual thing I've experienced. When they brought Lucas into the sealing room, the feeling was almost overpowering. He is such a sweet little baby and they have such a neat family. I'm so excited for them and am so blessed that I got to be a part of their special day.

Some handsome Peña men & boys

The happy eternal family

Our Vegas Trip

What a cute couple!

My favorite thing in Vegas


What a bunch of tough lookin guys :)

Haha, the best pic of them all. You'd think we were all getting old. That's what happens when you try to go 24 hours with no sleep!

So most of the time I blog about my kids and the crazy things they do and their important, special days. Believe it or not, every now and then me and Eli get out of the house. We were lucky enough last month to head to Vegas with some friends for a fun few days away from home. We went with 4 other couples and crammed ourselves into a 2 bedroom condo for 3 nights. We had so much fun going to shows (the Mentalist and KA....so awesome!), eating great food, shopping a little and walking the strip. There is so much to see just walking around...ok, so many crazy people to see just walking around. It was so nice to spend some time together without the kids, even though I miss them every time I leave. It was a quick trip...we were at the airport at 4:00 Sunday morning for our flight home. Why was it so much easier to pull all-nighters 10 years ago?

Last night away

Happy 5th Birthday!

I can't believe that his is already 5! He was such a funny little boy all day. He kept saying "I'm gonna be 5, I'm gonna be 5!" We had to keep telling him he was already 5. He had so much fun on his special day going to lunch with his dad...just the 2 of them. (Mom and Allie weren't allowed!) He helped make his cake and had to test out the track with his dirt bikes before it got the ok. Then we headed to the Rex so he could bowl with his aunts and uncles. That was all he wanted to do for his birthday. Once we got there he decided grandmas and grandpas could bowl too. He made it about 7 frames before he tried diving into his presents. I'm pretty sure he got everything he dreamed of too. Everything from a CAT shirt to his very own wheelbarrow. Now if the snow would just melt so he can get out and dig in the dirt! We love you Zacky and are so glad you had such an awesome, special day. Happy Birthday!

When mommy isn't paying attention...

While I was cooking I lost track of my daughter. I didn't realize she was in the pantry trying to cook up something herself. I heard a noise and this is what I found.....

Love this little girl!

Allie is getting more fun by the day. Her hair is finally growing and is long enough that I can put "real" pigtails in. She is a little mom in training. Britni gave us matching aprons for Christmas and she loves to put hers on and "cook" with me in the kitchen. She helps put the dishes away, vacuum and today she helped me move furniture.

This little girl loves her shoes...already! She is no dummy either, if she had it her way she would wear her shiney black church shoes everywhere she goes...see, they even go with diapers!

This is not taught. Somehow this little princess already knows how to love a baby, carry it around, push it in a stroller and that she can't leave home without the diaper bag. This was not set up...she did this all on her own. I can't get over how cute and how fun she is. I love that she follows me around and watches every little thing I do, that she sings me to sleep more times than I do to her, that she loves making faces to make us laugh, and that she cries when her brothers cry just because she can't help it. She is growing up so fast, but I am loving every minute of it.

Happy 7 Years Old!

I can't believe I have a 7 year old! Tyler had his birthday on the 18th last month. He was so excited because it was the last day of school before the break so he got to have a school party, a friend party and a family party all in one day! He had so much fun with his friends playing games and breaking the piñata into a hundred pieces in our garage. He is getting so old and grown up, it blows my mind. He put me to the test this year with his cake too. He decided he wanted a shark cake....not just any shark cake though. He found one with the shark jumping out of the water. I was right in the middle of toothpicking it together when the power went out for half the night. I was so worried it wouldn't work, but it ended up turning out pretty good. The most important part is that he thought it was the coolest thing ever! Happy Birthday buddy, we sure love you!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

I feel like I'm getting so behind with this blog. No wonder I don't keep a journal. Just a little bit to catch up...we went to Becky and Jason's for Thanksgiving with my family this year. It was so nice to get away for a change. We usually do Thanksgiving at our house and I love to have everyone here and to do all the cooking (I'm seriously way to anal about cooking the turkey, it's a big problem I have), but it was nice to get out of town and just get to help out this time. We needed a little break and it was so fun to finally see Becky's house. We went to the planetarium with everyone and then to see the lights. It was the night they lit them so it was a zoo, but still so pretty and the kids loved it. Me and Eli even got away for an afternoon to do a little Christmas shopping so that was an extra bonus. I would post pictures but I didn't take any. Becky has a zillion on her camera so when she posts them I'll steal them over and sneak them in. Now for Christmas...I have been ready for the holidays this year since it first snowed so I was so excited to finally get the decorations up. The kids loved helping. Our poor tree was all weighed down in the back from the heaping pile of ornaments Zach wanted to put all in the same place. They do such a good job. We got our tree from my dad's yard this year. It is so big and pretty, we really lucked out! With decorations up, and most of the shopping done we are ready to enjoy the rest of the season!