TIME TO CELEBRATE

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Happy 4th of July

Catching a flick, we took the kids to see "Cars 2" Saturday night.

Our little ones in their patriotic red, whites, and blues; ready to celebrate the 4th of July.

HAHA, had to post this one of Elaina, her cousins were teasing her and she got mad and started pouting. She IS our little fire cracker.

The handsome Montes boys.

Little miss attitude. ;)

The Handsome Montes boys!

Marcus and Lainey, she LOVES her big brother!

Our little William, ready to celebrate his first 4th of July.

Popi and William watching the fireworks

We planned to go camping this weekend in our favorite little camping nook in the mountains...however, events earlier in the week caused us to have to cancel those plans as well as the plans we had made during the week with the kids. While it wasn't the week and weekend we had planned, we still had a great time and had some fun in the process. Saturday Manny and Marcus went fishing on 'The Pearl' with the Bogenrief's and out to dinner at McDonald's. Meanwhile, Elaina, William and I had a pool party and picnic in the backyard with Papa, Maca, Aunt Jessie and Justin. Saturday night we took the kids to see the new "Cars 2." They loved it and thought it was pretty cool. Elaina was super excited to go to the movies. She got a little restless about 3/4 of way through it but then snuggled next to Manny and was fine the rest of the time. Sunday was a chill day, just church and hanging out with family but all in all, even though it wasn't the weekend we planned and were looking forward too, we still made the best of the time we had and had a great time.

A Breath of Fresh Air

The last 3 months have brought about a LOT of unexpected little ripples which have delayed just about all of my plans/ambitions or cancelled them completely. Here we are in June and I still haven't taken Marcus to do his 5 year old milestone pictures. Today, I was bound and determined to finally make it happen so I started to get him ready to go. Elaina seeing we were getting ready to go do pictures took it upon herself to go and finish getting herself ready. She got a little pink and brown sundress back in the Spring which she hadn't worn yet due to our cold Spring we had this year. It being a beautiful and warm day, I put that on her today. While doing Marcus' hair I hear her coming down the stairs. She had gone and got her little cowgirl boots and put them on as well as her pink cowgirl hat. She looked so stinkin' cute and I couldn't believe how well she matched her little outfit. She says, "I'm to go Mommy." She certainly was, she looked so cute, I told her I was gonna take a few pictures of my best cowgirl even though she had scratched her little face up at her Aunt's house a few days before. I put a few loose curls in her locks, we packed up the camera and William and off we went. We had fun but they were clearly more interested in the many ducks and geese and other random animals walking about to focus on posing for pictures. I still got a few cute shots.

It was dinner time afterwards and Lainey said she wanted pizza for dinner. We decided to grab a pizza to go and eat it at the park and let the kids run around afterwards and play. It was a lot fun to just chill and enjoy each others company and the beautiful weather. They had a blast running around chasing each other and playing on the playground, they even chased Popi down the hill and saw bats flying around which they thought was awesome!

Class of 2011

June 1st, 2011

Marcus' Preschool Graduation

Marcus had a fabulous year in preschool. His teacher, Ms. Hilary is simply amazing and is so great with children. His year was filled with new experiences, learning, new friends, reading, ABC's, numbers, songs and music, playtime, art projects, and so much more.

We had a fun day all day celebrating. We went on his last field trip with him in the morning, spent the afternoon with his cousins, and then came home and got ready for his big night. After graduation Manny and I took Marcus out to dinner [his choice] and we went to none other than Cafe Rio! It was especially fun because we met the Meyers there and Aunt Amy came to celebrate also!

Congratulations on your first BIG milestone as far as school is concerned kiddo. We are so proud of all your hard work, determination, willingness to try new things, and for all that you have accomplished. We hope you remember what you learned and will apply it into your life for years to come. It was certainly an experience for all of us and was fun to watch you grown and learn throughout the year. One of our favorite things was being able to watch some of those 'ah ha' moments. Daddy, Elaina, William and I were so happy we got to be a big part of your special day!
Congrats on a job well done.
We Love You.

Wheeler Farm

June 1st was Marcus' last field-trip as a preschool student. His class went to Wheeler Farm and had a blast. Manny, Elaina, William, and I were all able to go with him. They got to look around at all the farm animals and go on a big wagon ride. It was fun to go exploring with his class and watch them interact with one another.

Elaina's favorite animal was of the coarse the horses and Marcus' favorite were the sheep. It was lots of fun and we were so glad we got to go with you kiddo!

One Month Old!

A few snap shots of the day you were born and your first month.

June 2, 2011

Happy One Month Old day William! I can't believe it's been a month already since your sweet little face joined our family. You are such a little sweetheart. I love to cuddle with you and listen to your little sighs. I love your little newborn cry and pouty lip. Soon as we give you your bottle you put your little arms around both sides [hands in little fists] and make the cutest little grunts, it's you're saying, "Now that you finally brought it, I'm not giving it up so don't even think about taking it." I just love that.

Everyone you meet can't get over all of your beautiful dark hair and chubby cheeks. They think you are quite the handsome little ma, and of course, so do I! One of my other favorite things is how you smile at me when I sing you lullaby's. I remember the first night in the hospital after you were born, the nurse brought you sometime in the middle of the night so I could nurse you. I remember being SO exhausted. I nursed you on both sides and you were wide awake. Right after delivery I got pretty sick so I had barely gotten to see or hold you much at all that day, instead of sending you right back I took advantage of the quiet, still night and snuggled you close and talked to you about our crazy day. I wished you could tell me about it from your perspective and told you I was sure it would be an even better story. I remember how immediately I fell in love with you and feeling very much at peace and a feeling immeasurable amounts of joy and happiness all the while feeling very inadequate and unworthy knowing you just came from the pre-existence. I cradled your little head in my hands and put your little face in front of me and just talked to you. Then, I sang the song I sung to Lainey many nights..."You are My Sunshine" and you just beamed the most beautiful, handsome, big smile. It melted my heart and ever since you always smile no matter how horrible the singing is. :) I LOVE that. I know you will do many great and wonderful things on this Earth and I am so honored to be your Mommy. I love you more and more each day...you will never come close to understanding just how much until the day you yourself become a Daddy, then and only then will you begin to understand. I hope and pray I can be the Mommy and example you need and deserve to have. You are a choice son of our Heavenly Father and I hope you always remember and KNOW that. I love you son, I'm so pleased you are finally here. We had a long journey, you and I, getting you here safe and strong and healthy but it was well worth it. It brings much joy to finally cradle you in my arms and kiss that sweet little face.

Love, Mommy

Hippity Hoppity, It's Easter Time...

We got a jump start on Easter this year. We don't have Marcus for Easter this year so we decided to go ahead and give the kids their gifts from us a weekend early. The rest of the holiday festivities will happen next weekend but we wanted to do at least part of it together as a family while he was home. They loved their gifts and strutted around Saturday night in their new PJ's and Sunday morning in their new church outfits. Everything Elaina got she jumped up and down yelling with excitement and saying, "Yes!" I love her ability to be happy with the 'little' things in life and to be grateful for what's she been given.

Marcus and Elaina in their new pajamas. Marcus thought his baseball pajamas were pretty darn cool and he looked so cute in them too! Elle loves her new Minnie ones. I'll never forget her jumping around with pure excitement for a pair of pajamas and Spring clothes/shoes. I love seeing the world through children's eyes.

They LOVED their new PJ's! Elaina strutted around showing everyone home how cute she was. I didn't realize I got Capri pants for her but I did and they are pretty dang cute on her!

The loves of my life, all decked out! I love this picture and how good they all look. I am almost 38 weeks pregnant so I didn't buy anything new for me just yet. Feeling VERY pregnant and swollen, I opted to not be in the pictures this day. :)

My boys looking all slic. Manny has been wanting a new suit for a couple of years now. With the upcoming baby blessing it was a good excuse to have it so we got him one for his birthday and Christmas. We actually got a great deal and he got two for the price of one. I really wanted Marcus to have a suit to match Daddy and his brother too so we decided to go ahead and buy him one for Easter, turning the big 5 this year also I thought it'd be fun to take his milestone pictures in style too. He's not into getting clothes vs toys as most kids are so I was worried he'd be just blah about it but he LOVED it and felt so handsome in it. He kept saying it was his favorite suit ever and loved he got a zipper tie like his cousins. We couldn't believe how he looked like such a little man in it, fun to see but also hard to watch him grow so fast! He is well on his way to becoming a young man and it's coming up all too soon.

This one was for Manny. One day Marcus will be as tall or taller [if he keeps growing at the rate he is.] Years from now, he can look, see and remember the day when Marcus was just a little guy next to him. :)

I just love these little faces. We're so pleased you both liked your gifts.

Laughing at Daddy...I think it's funny how Marcus always goes to play with Elaina's hair during pictures if we are doing crazy, silly stuff to try and get their natural smiles.

Daddy's girl

It's killing me how fast they are both growing up. Seems like yesterday we just brought her home from the hospital and look what a little lady she's growing into.

HAPPY EASTER KIDDOS! WE LOVE YOU!

"There's that beautiful little girl..."

Since Elaina was born we have been stopped by countless people in countless locations who stop to comment on what a beautiful little girl she is. Every piece of her adds to the whole package that makes up her beauty but her most stunning features has always been her dark hair [and lots of it], big blue eyes and delicate, flawless little face. She has literally stopped 'traffic' in stores and such while people fuss over how beautiful she is and call someone over to come look at this baby or little girl. Seeing how she is now 2 1/2 we've become accustomed to this sort of thing and as long as people don't violate the personal space or get too weird or crazy with her, I [we] thank them for the compliment and are on our way.

I have used Sam's Photo lab several times to print off pictures I've taken of the kids whether it's their milestone pictures or snap shots. Many times it's the same lady there that checks me out. Today we were doing some shopping at Sam's Club to get ready for the baby. Elaina was in the shopping cart which my Mom was pushing and I had stopped to look at some kites. Once I caught up to them, my Mom tells me that a lady just came up to her and said "there's that beautiful little girl whose Mom takes so many cute pictures of." She laughs and joked saying, "Wow Jana, that's pretty pathetic she recognizes Elaina in the store from ALL your pictures." We had a good laugh and continued on shopping. A few minutes later she came walking back towards us said hi to me and was talking about Elaina and how beautiful she was. I told her what my Mom and I had just said and she said, "No, I don't blame you for taking all those pictures, her eyes are just so beautiful and stunning, how could you forget them?" Then she talked to Elaina and told her how beautiful she was and that she loved seeing pictures of her and her handsome brother.

We thought it was pretty funny, not the first experience like this, so I decided to write this one down so I don't forget it. I think she's pretty dang adorable but I do have a biased opinion. :)

The Big 5

March 16th

Children's Discovery Museum

Marcus' preschool class had a field trip to the Children's Discovery Museum at The Gateway the day of his birthday. We all had a really fun time with the kids, complete chaos, but it was way fun nonetheless! It was especially fun to have the Meyers and Justin there to explore with as well. We took a ton of pictures, here are a few of them. [I just used the collages Ang made from this day to save time. ;) ]

Exploring in mini market store and in the farm.

The 3 youngest LOVED the water area! They all came home sopping wet!

We let Marcus open one gift on his actual birthday [his baby book I made for him] and the rest he had to wait until his family birthday party/dinner on Sunday. For part of his birthday, he had a date with Daddy to the Monster Truck show back in February. He asked for a Monster Truck cake so that's what I made for him. He also received a lot of cute clothes, sandals, and toys including a few monster trucks and remote control car. We sure had a lot of fun with you kiddo and hope you know just how much you are loved. We are so glad you are part of our family and are so grateful for the joy and happiness you bring to our lives. Hard to believe you are already 5, seems like yesterday we were at Utah's Hogle Zoo celebrating your first birthday.

We love you. Happy 5th Birthday Lil' Buckaroo. xoxo

Marcus' 5th Birthday

Starry Party Birthday Invitation

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