Thanksgiving week

I forgot to post the below picture of Diego playing soccer after Marco's baptism. Action shot!


We had a very busy and fun-filled week with Mima and Opa here. On Monday we headed to Sweetwater Creek for one our favorite nature walks. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a blast. We took a picnic lunch and ate along the trail and hung out near the river for quite awhile. The kids loved it and had fun showing Mima and Opa all of their favorite things along the trail.
On Tuesday, Mima and Opa took Diego and Alexia to the zoo and then to Carter's to go shopping so they were gone all day. It was going to be my day to do errands and get stuff done around the house, but my darling baby boy had other plans...cutting teeth. He was not terrible, but just a little fussier than normal and wanted me to hold him. No matter how many other things need to get done, it is such a joy to be able to sit down and care for a baby in need of cuddles and love.
On Wednesday, the whole gang went to Stone Mountain...Mima, Opa, Diego, Alexia, Aldo, Eliana, Cami and a friend of Eliana. They were gone most of the day and had a wonderful time. They took the skyride to the top and walked all the way down. Alexia walked the whole way down by herself which I was surprised and happy to hear! The kids returned absolutely worn out and exhausted and were ready for an early bedtime. Marco and I spent the day doing a bunch of errands, getting ready for the Thanksgiving cooking marathon, which began Wednesday afternoon. We decided to do double date night in that night so Ricardo and Freddy made some massive steaks on the grill and we had a yummy dinner which was a nice break from the frantics of getting everything ready for Thanksgiving. Before going to bed, we left the turkey in it's overnight brine and left our list of things to do for the next morning. Thursday was a busy day of cooking, cleaning and getting everything ready, but we enjoyed ourselves in the midst of it all. Gracia and I made turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread pudding, cranberry sauce, pecan pie and pumpkin pie - DELISH! Aldo and family came around 3pm and Ricardo picked up our friend, Justo and brought him over at the same time. We served the food around 5pm and enjoyed way too much of everything. Marco was having a tough afternoon and could not settle down easily so I spent most of the dinner and dessert time upstairs with him. Tuesday and Thursday were his two worse teething days and he has been fine since then.
On Friday, Gracia and Freddy headed out to the outlets for Black Friday shopping. I took the kids to have lunch at Chik Fil A with Jessie and her kids. We had not seen them since they moved to Florida in March (or April?) so it was soooo much fun to see them and to meet baby Augie who is just two weeks younger than Marco. Diego and Alexia were thrilled to see Sofia and Albe and we had a nice time. Ricardo took our friend, Justo out for the afternoon so we met back up at home in the evening for turkey leftovers and a laid back night.
On Saturday morning, we took it easy, had pancakes for breakfast and Gracia and Freddy left around 11am to make the drive down to Florida. Our house was in a dreadful state so we decided to run away from it and go out for the day. We went to a taco place for lunch (delicious!), a coffee shop for coffee and donuts and then to a park to play for a few hours. We put the kids down to bed after dinner and Ricardo and I teamed up to get the house back in order.
We put up our Christmas tree on Sunday afternoon which was so much fun. The kids were giddy, pulling out all of the ornaments and decorating the tree. We had a picnic type dinner as we decorated and then I surprised the kids with homemade hot chocolate and peppermint cookies once they finished the project. Bliss!


Sliding down the hills of the forest at Sweetwater Creek

Like last time, we hung out here by the river for almost 2 hours

At the Zoo on Tuesday

At the top of Stone Mountain

Double date night in on Wednesday

As we finished up the meal on Thanksgiving, the kids made their "turkeys of thanks" and wrote what they're thankful for on the feathers.

Alexia and Justo enjoying their meal

Diego wrote all of the place cards and chose where he wanted each person to sit. Of course, he put himself next to Tio Aldo!

Lunch at Chik Fil A on Friday

Diego and Sofia's farewell hug

Jessie and Augie

A fun ride in a wagon at the park on Saturday. Ricardo pulled them all around the park like this and Diego loved holding Marco.

He loved the swing!

Scooter girl

My baby and me

Diego was so busy with these buddies that he made. They spent a lot of time climbing on the roofs of the houses.

Decorating the Christmas tree on Sunday afternoon

Enjoying munchies for dinner

Marco's baptism

So, back to Sunday...two weeks ago. Gracia and Freddy arrived Saturday night and we were out of the house bright and early Sunday morning for Marco's baptism during the 9:15am service. With the baptism of each child, my heart rejoices more and more as I grasp more fully what it means to raise our children in a Christian home. As more truths are imprinted on my heart and my faith grows, I feel more and more honored to have the role of raising our children for the Lord. Baptising Marco does not mean that he is now a little Christian. Baptising Marco means that Ricardo and I have made a commitment before the Lord and before our church that we will raise him (and Diego and Alexia) in a home that honors the Lord and where Jesus is our King.
I have been wanting to share the news that Ricardo was ordained Deacon in our church last month. He was nominated last year and went through a year of coursework and study to prepare him for the role. He is too humble to say it, but is going to be a wonderful Deacon because of his heart for helping people and serving God. As his wife, I am very encouraged by him and so happy to see they ways in which God is working mightily in his life.

Pastor Paul asked that no flash photography be used, so Aldo did his best with the pictures. Marco wore an adorable little outfit that Roberto and Daniela brought for him. Diego and Alexia did really well standing up there with us and barely made a peep.

After church we all headed home for a yummy pizza lunch...

...and some soccer...

...and swinging...

...and smiles!

We ended the special day with cuddles next to the fireplace.

Marco has teeth!!

We had a special visit with Mima and Opa and a wonderful family Thanksgiving. We did so much and have lots of pictures to share, but not today. We have had house guests for three weeks non-stop and it has been absolutely wonderful, but we must get cleaning!! So, I just wanted to share the news that Marco cut his first two teeth this week. He has been drooling puddles of drool (literally) for a few weeks now so we knew they were on their way. On Tuesday, they were just barely cutting through the skin and today (Saturday) they are well on their way out. He is super baby and the teething has barely phased him. He was fussy on Tuesday and Thursday, but I think that was also due to a lot of activity going on in the house and not being able to sleep well during the day. He was been an absolute angel through it all.
We saw Mima and Opa off this morning and decided to head out for the day to escape the state that the house was in...but we are facing it now! We went to Taqueria del Sol for lunch (it was delicious!), Dancing Goats for coffee and donuts and then to a small park in Decatur to play for almost two hours. It was a blast!

A week with Tio Roby and Tia Dany

So, we saw Scott and Paige off on Sunday afternoon and Ricardo headed to the airport around 10pm to pick up Roberto and Daniela. The kids were soooo excited that they would get to wake them up Monday morning. I made them wait until 9am before they went charging into the guestroom to give the kisses and cuddles.
We had a fabulous week with them and were so thankful that they were able to be with us. Every day was special and we did so much. Roberto had to work from home Mon-Wed, but had a flexible schedule so we were able to hang out with him a lot.

I will give a little re-cap, day by day and let you get on to enjoy the pictures :) I know Grandpa and Abue are anxious to see pictures of Roberto y los sobrinos.



Notice their feet - they were dressed up as Tio Robi and Tia Dany! My mom sent Alexia that tu-tu for her birthday so she was so excited to put it on for ballet Monday morning.


It was really special for Alexia to have special guests come to her ballet class. Roberto's morning was free so he was able to join us.


After ballet, we headed to Whole Foods for shopping and lunch.



In the afternoon, D, A & M opened a bunch of gifts from Roberto and Daniela and this tea set was so special for Alexia. The two of them have spent a lot of time playing teatime and chatting - I love it!


This past Sunday was Marco's baptism (more on that in the next post). Our senior pastor came to the house for a visit last Tuesday evening to talk to us ahead of the baptism. We thought it would be a short visit, but we were delighted to have him with us for almost 2 hours and we were so blessed by our time with him.


On Wednesday morning, Daniela went to Bible study with the kids and I and then we went out for lunch at Chik Fil A. We can't welcome out-of-town guests without a trip to our favorite! :)


We went home for some quiet time and once Tio Roby finished his work, we headed to the bowling alley:

Marco slept in my arms for the first round and then enjoyed time with Tia Dany and hanging out in his car seat for the second round

Tio Robi bustin' a move with the kids

After bowling, we met Ricardo at Mellow Mushroom for dinner. I love this picture of the kids with their uncle.

Ricardo took Thursday and Friday off of work. We had breakfast Thursday morning and were hanging out at the house, playing in the backyard and Ricardo suddenly said "Let's go away for the night!" He made a call and within 20 minutes, we were running around the house, packing bags and getting ready for a little getaway. We went to Barnsley Gardens and had an amazing time. I had never been there before and we were all so excited to see what a fabulous place it was when we arrived. It was an absolute blast for the kids and Diego kept saying how much he loved it.

We waited for Marco to wake up from his nap and we hit the road around 2pm. We settled into our room, toured the property and took it easy until dinner time around 6pm.

The hotel had a "fairy godmother" that brought gifts to each child. Alexia received a Cinderella gift set with a purse, sunglasses and pretend makeup. She did not want to take her sunglasses all evening - it was adorable!

We had a great dinner at the restaurant. Diego had pasta with olive oil and cheese and Alexia had the most delicious mac n cheese I have ever tasted. Diego ate a huge portion of that plate of pasta you see in the picture. Alexia wore her sunglasses the whole time we waited for the meal, but took them off to eat.

The "fairy godmother" also brought a basket with marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers to make s'mores. Ooooh, the kids were on cloud nine!

Diego and Alexia slept on the sofa bed in the sitting area and did really well sleeping together. Marco snuck in for a picture.

Singing songs in bed before turning out the lights.

Friday was a glorious day. Ricardo and Roberto woke up early to play golf together. Daniela came over to our room around 8:30 and we ordered room service breakfast which was wonderful. Diego and Alexia had packed their swimsuits, but the pool was closed for the winter so they asked to have a "pool party" in the room. While Dani and I enjoyed our hot coffee and talked, the kids ran around the room in their swimsuits, playing "pool party."

Once the guys returned from golf, I took the three kids for a long walk around the property and had a really sweet time with them. We all met back up again and had a leisurely stroll, running, taking pictures, playing soccer and simply enjoying being together. It was a precious time.

We took a posed picture like this, but I love this natural one, especially since it captures Tio Robi sneaking a kiss to Marco before the picture. So sweet!

We stopped for barbecue lunch on the way home and arrived back home around 4pm. We fed the kids, played for awhile and put them to bed since they were wiped out from a busy day. Aldo came over for dinner and we had fabulous take-out food from a vegetarian restaurant not far from home.

The kids said goodbye Friday evening b/c Ricardo left around 6:30am Saturday morning to take them to the airport. Tios, we love you so much and miss you already!

Saturday was a busy day that included a trip to the mall, a trip to the salon for me, a family photo shoot with Bobbi Jo and the arrival of Ricardo's mom and step dad. I will try to share another post later today...!