christmas weekend

this weekend has been packed with christmas activities. first up was organ stop pizza and temple lights. if you have never been to organ stop pizza you are missing out!! the pizza is ok but boy oh boy let me tell you that the organ playing is AMAZING. the guy even takes requests. ok, really the crowd that goes there is 60 and over but the kids all loved it and we had a blast watching the kids dance and cheer for all the music.

it isn't really christmas time until you go to see the temple lights and we just barely made it right before christmas. i love seeing my boys explore the grounds and ooh and aah at all the lights.


christmas eve we had all of john's family up to our house for the day. we listened to christmas songs as we cleaned and cooked to gets us in the christmas spirit. we had our traditional dinner of ham and funeral potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, homemade rolls and pie for dessert. after dinner the kids got to open their pj's and then we read from luke 2 and had the kids use a nativity to bring in the right characters at the right time. lilly and jack did an amazing job even if sammy kept coming in to destroy things. we sang some songs and then it was off to see the christmas dancing lights at our neighbor's house.



christmas morning jack and sam actually slept until 6:45, which is late for them. we had nanna and papa with us christmas morning and they were up way before us waiting to be able to go down stairs to open presents. the boys came down to a note from santa and his gifts to them and their stockings. it was really fun to see sammy understand more about christmas this year and open some of his presents. jack was a very lucky boy this year and got everything he asked santa for. lucky for us he didn't ask for too much.

after breakfast it was time for church and we were really lucky because our ward choir is amazing!! the only down side to the whole day is the fact that my family is sick and not up for doing anything. we had a very merry christmas and are so grateful for our Savior, the gift of His atonement and are so glad we have this season to reflect upon His birth and all that He did for us during His time here on earth. we hope that you all had a very merry christmas too!

Merry Christmas

we visited santa

for fhe this last week we went over to santa's house. jack was very excited to finally be able to get to tell santa what he wants for christmas.

sammy not so much!


merry christmas!!

"tri" what!!?!?!?!?

back in the summer i got to talking with my friend tausha and at the end of our conversation she managed to convince me that i could do a sprint triathlon. silly me!! well i managed to convince my good friend ashley to do it with me, silly her!! so off we went to train and train and train for this dang race. there were so many times that i wanted to give up but never did.

the morning of the race it was overcast and it sprinkled rain off and on and it was so so so cold.

first up the 1/4 mile swim. the only part of the tri that i actually felt good about.

yes that is me holding onto the edge of the pool, trying to catch my breath before going under the lane line for my next lap. i managed to pass several people in the swim but that is where it ended.

second the 12 mile bike. my second "best" event in the wonderful triathlon. during that section of the race i really grew to hate the phrase "on your left," which pretty much means you are going too slow and i'm passing you. needless to say i heard that a lot!! but i kept trucking and i actually got to utter that dreaded phrase a couple times myself. it's the little things that keep you going.

that tiny person in the blue shirt in the back is me.

finally the awful, dreadful, loathsome 3 mile run. can you tell i don't like running? i actually pretty much HATE running. getting off the bike my legs felt like cement blocks and it was hard going and i will admit i walked way too much but i also ran and i'm proud to say that i finished the race and i never stopped moving.


that's me crossing the finish line and i never felt so happy to be done!!

this is my girl ashley!! without her i wouldn't have done the dang triathlon. she made training fun and something to look forward to. we are eating our orange slices and drinking our water like true athletes, so she tells me. thanks ashley for torturing yourself with me.

this is tausha, my cheerleader, my coach and my inspiration. the one who started it all. thanks tausha for saying i could do it and always encouraging me.

couple things i learned from doing a triathlon:

• exercising with a friend is the way to go
• i hate running!
• i can do hard things
• i have amazing friends
• i have a super supportive husband who let me leave him every night to go and train. i love you, hooch!!
• i AM a triathlete!
  
  

star performer!!

today jack had his thanksgiving program at school, and john and i were beaming with pride. jack was well behaved and he did such an awesome job. i can't believe how fast he has grown up and how mature he is getting. we are so proud of our little "native american."

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

happy halloween

love,

yoda and obi wan

happy homemaker?!?!?!?

so as of late i've been wanting to be a little bit more productive/creative. this is probably due to the fact that i have really talented and crafty friends and they have inspired me to develope some new talents. so the past couple of weeks i have done just that. here is a little of what i've accomplished.

and of course since last weekend was general conference weekend and we have tons of time at home i decided i would make homemade cheese bread. it turned out super yummy.

and here is sammy enjoying the fruits of my labor

next up, my friend ashley is going to help me make a valance with a box pleat for my window in the kitchen. wish me luck

country girl for the weekend

this past weekend i was lucky enough to be able to go to idaho falls to visit my bestie smellin a.k.a melinda and her cute family. it was a weekend of hanging out, talking, debating, eating fabulous food, playing with the boys, monster truck riding, shopping and gardening. our friendship is one of those that no matter how long it has been since we've seen each other we can just pick up right where we left off. as melinda likes to remind me we have been friends for 20 years and that number is just going to keep getting larger. i'm so lucky to be able to count her as my friend.

those who know melinda know she isn't shy. while we were driving home we drove past the ford dealership and melinda was telling her boys to look at the cool monster truck and then she was like wait a minute my boys would love to go for a ride on that thing. so she flips a brody and wouldn't you know it we get ourselves not one but two rides on the monster truck.

and of course a trip to idaho falls wouldn't be complete without some farming. lucky for me, melinda just so happens to have a very good sized garden of her very own. she put this city girl to work and i'm happy to report i got my hands dirty and i only pulled out one of her plants and ruined it. go me!!

and for old time sake we had to get our traditional chocolate blasts from baskin robbins. those puppies are way too good!!

smellin head, thank you so much for letting me come and thank you to my awesome husband who took off work to watch our boys so i could go.

holy smokes...

we have a 6 year old. this year for jack's birthday we went down to california to visit nanna and papa.

he scored some pretty good loot. batman tower, mario kart race track, trio blocks, mario sports and phineas and ferb the movie. he has the best nanna who made him an awesome mario cake to cap a wonderful birthday party bbq.

we went to disneyland on his actually birthday and i think it is safe to say that jack had a blast. he is now tall enough to go on ALL the rides. we took him on space mountain and john said jack seemed a little nervous during the ride but as soon as we got off jack screams, "space mountain rocks!!" his all time favorite ride was star tours. i'm embarrassed to admit this but i totally freaked out on that ride. i'm a little claustrophobic and as soon as they closed those doors and i realized there wasn't any air blowing on me i lost it, started sweating and almost started to pound on the door to get me off. i managed to keep it somewhat together (so as to not freak jack out), by keeping my eyes closed and taking deep breaths. i'm a total loser i know. after that things were just fine but needless to say i did not go on that ride again.

jack even got to be a participant in the jedi training academy show. he was of course doing his own thing but he was in heaven and so excited he got to beat up on darth vader. sammy was an angel at disneyland but the same cannot be said for the rest of the trip.


the rest of the time was spent hanging out with family, going for night swims, the griffith park observatory, thai food, bike ride at balboa lake park and of course the beach. the weather was pretty chilly at the beach and i actually got to wear a sweatshirt. sammy did not like the sand at all at first but he eventually warmed up to it a little. jack had a blast building a sand castle and making a tunnel.

it is always so nice to be able to go back home to good old north hollywood!! until next time.

the happenings...

things, they are a changing in the florez household. jack started kindergarten and on one of the days i picked him up i asked him how he liked school and this is his reply, "i like school, but i don't like it THAT much." at least he is honest. but really i think he is having a good time, he already made a new "pal" as he calls him and it seems like he is really working hard on improving his writing skills. here is his first homework assignment...

he had to make a paper doll that looked like him. i was so impressed with his patience, normally when it comes to coloring or crafts jack wants nothing to do with it. But with this he pasted he colored and wrote his name.

now for the other little monkey and i mean monkey. this kid has to climb on everything. he loves, loves, loves to climb on the kitchen chairs so he can eat at the table like the big kids. he climbs on all the couches and of course he climbs all over anyone who is sitting on the floor especially his brother. jack just loves this, "mom sams climbing on me; mom sams wrestling me"

and i'm going to go on record and say that sammy is officially walking. still a little shakey on his feet but he is always on them.

and finally sammy enjoys the simple things in life, like shoes. the boy never wears shoes but when you do finally put them on he gets a little giddy

a step in the right direction

sam is finally getting ready to walk. each day he takes more and more steps. i love watching my little drunk sailor try to walk!!

4th of july in st george

i love family traditions and we were lucky enough this year to go back up to st george for a traditional celebration of the 4th of july. to make this trip that much sweeter we actually had ALL but two members of my entire family there with us.

from these two crazy love birds

came all of these crazy kids

we started off the week with the plan to hike the subway in zion but of course we couldn't get a permit even though tommy got there at 5:30am, they were all sold out. we decided to hike the kanaraville slots, through the water, over rocks and up slippery logs and it was awesome. i was so impressed with my nieces and nephews as young as 4 doing the whole hike and not complaining the whole time. the water was so cold that we couldn't really feel our feet but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise because my fancy water shows had apartly torn up my heels pretty good. it was well worth it because i had a blast on the hike.

i know this picture is really blurry but i had to document that we were actually hiking IN the water

matthew, justin and josh suck with us and we made it all the way to the second waterfall.

for the actual 4th of july my parents neighbors have a block party with tons of food, bike parades and of course fireworks. john and jonathan have become the masters of ceremony and had the fireworks show down to a science and put on a great show.

the rest of the week was filled with movies, good eats, climbing around the red rocks, going to tuacahn with the amazing personal pizzas, antigravity and so much more. it was just an all around great trip and i'm one lucky girl to have an amazing family to celebrate with.

let the good times roll

summer has officially started for us arizonians. we kicked off with jack's preschool graduation. jack has been in his preschool class for three years and we are really going to miss his teachers and friends. they crossed over the bridge into kindergarten and performed some cute songs. we are so proud of all the progress jack has made since he started and we know he is more then ready to start kindergarten.

for the memorial weekend john surprised us with a little stay-cation at the squaw peak resort. we had a blast swimming, eating and playing mini golf. we also went down to gilbert to hang with the family and had some awesome food and an amazing dance off.

summer has just begun and we have already had a ton of fun. hope i can make it through the summer with two happy boys.

One Last Plug...

Shannyn gave me one plug on here a while ago(about the ridiculous beard I was growing), but they extended my dead line for getting money turned in and I thought I would make one last ditch effort to get a few more dollars.
I have had the pleasure of working with the March of Dimes for a number of years now and I feel its my small way of trying to raise awareness and help for something that we have had very personal experience with.
As many of you know, Jack was born premature. Something we never expected and never anticipated. Fortunately for us, for the most part, all has worked out well for Jack and our family. It hasn't gone without some struggles and trials, but is has all been for the best.
When I started working for Citifinancial some 7 years ago, I first found out about March of Dimes. Hearing that they work to prevent prematurity and help families have healthy babies (you can read more about it here: http://www.marchofdimes.com/mission/prematurity.html ), I thought this was a great opportunity to get involved and do my part to try and make a difference.
If you have gotten this far, I am sure you are wondering, "What does this have to do with me?" Well, this is the part where I am asking you to help out as well. I have 3 more days to get to my goal. Anything helps me get there, even $1. Soooo...help me out...thanks in advance

www.marchforbabies.org/czarjohn

one year

(sign made by yours truly)

one year ago today we were blest to bring our little sam into this world. we are so glad to have him our lives, he brings so much joy into our lives.

• sammy is finally crawling on his hands and knees
  


• whenever my phone rings he will put his hand to his ear and say hello in his language



• loves to push cars around on the floor and he sometimes even makes the vroom sound



• has to be in the middle of all the action



• loves to climb all over you



• now has three teeth



• will eat just about anything (so nice to have a child that eats.)



• loves to be outside. as soon as anyone opens the back door sammy comes crawling over to get out there and cries and cries if he isn't allowed to go outside
  


• loves to throw balls

for his first party we were lucky enough to have nanna and papa here and aunt laura, lilly, max and luke come up and party.

we had a little easter egg hunt and some awesome torta's. my friend ashley let me borrow her super cute lanterns to make the house a little more festive.

i love our little family.

i made a jello cake with cool whip and i think the cool whip was sammy's favorite part.

he didn't go too crazy with the cake but i think enjoyed himself having the freedom to pick it up and poke it

opening presents. he was lucky enough to have a big brother and cousins there to help him get them open.

we had a blast and are so grateful that our family was able to come and celebrate with us. happy birthday sam we love you so much.