Happy Father's Day Leo!

One of the biggest factors in my decision to marry Leo was the fact that he was such a good dad. Most women would be a little hesitant to date a man that was divorced with kids. But for me, more than anything it gave me a great insight of what to expect from him as a father to our children to come. He took on the role with Haili beautifully, and loved her and treated her as his own. Although we have had our ups and downs, I couldn't have asked for a better man to be the father of my children. I love that our family isn't your typical "blended" family. I love Stephanie, Elizabeth and Michael as if they were my own.....that is so weird for me to write, because I do consider them my own. I just didn't give birth to them.

I remember as a teenager thinking to myself, "I wonder what my future husband is doing right now...probably on a mission, going to college, traveling the world...just preparing himself for me." And who would've thunk that my future husband at the time had just moved to the US from Colombia, was newly married with twins, a baby on the way and just learning to speak English! The only thing I was right about was that he was an RM!

It's funny what we dream of when we are younger, and even funnier how things turn out pretty much how we wanted them to, but not how we expected them to.

Thanks Leo for being the great husband, friend, partner and father that you are. Thank you for working so hard for us to give us comfort and happiness. And thank you for being a great example to our children of how a husband should treat his wife and how a father should treat his children. Thank you for your wittiness and for standing up to me, thank you for kindness and understanding. Thank you for making your family your number 1 priority.

Happy Father's Day...We Love You!

Gonzo's LOVE Summer!

This past week we had my work party at Raging Waters. This has become a tradition the kids look forward to for months...and for me, it gives me some leverage to hold over their heads for a couple of weeks before the event.

Michael was EXTRA careful up to a few weeks before RW because he is all to familiar with missing out on this exciting day of fun. (A couple of years ago, we were actually on our way to RW and he had been talking back all morning, so once the kids and I got there, Leo brought him home before he even set foot in the park!) Poor kid!

Anyway, this year I made a HUGE mistake...every year we get there right when the doors open and leave in the early afternoon...Well, this year we didn't' get there until noon and the kids were whining about how we would only have 7 HOURS to play...so, after the guilt trip set in all the way to RW, I told them we would stay until it closed! I think that deserves a MOM of the year award or something. Beezer was so excited he put his floaties and goggles on at 9am and actually fell asleep with them on in the car on the ride down..either that or he passed out due to lack of oxygen.

Other than me getting totally burnt...(and the lady wearing her short pleather mini skirt and high heel shoes while swimming with her ipod in the back of her skirt) it turned out to be a fun day. Beezer actually got in the water and had a blast. Michael & Haili went off on their own all day and managed to only get into about 3 fights. Mason wanted nothing to do with the water, he just wanted to walk around in his new sandals and push the stroller around all day.

Leo left around 4ish and took the little ones home and I hung out and gossiped with my girlfriends (mainly about the girl in the high heels)....so, it turned out to be a pretty fun day!

Haili Boo! Our Little Llama...

Okay...so in order to be a fair Mom, I need to rotate pictures of the kids. I think my kids are the only ones who really read my blog, thus it is rated G....I wish I could bump it up to at least PG rating, but hey, at least we have a blog now!

So, let me tell you about our little Jojie Pollie Ollie...this girl has more nicknames than anyone else.

Haili is 10 1/2 and just finishing up the 4th grade. She is extremely smart for her age (not kidding) and is a soccer playin, choir singin, brown eyed beauty. She is an awesome big sister to her 2 little brothers. In fact, Mason's first word was Hay-ee. She loves to hang out with her big twin sisters and listen to them talk about boys and above all she tolerates Michael (he's not that bad) and being in the same class with him at school.

Let me direct this to the soccer part.....If you know Leo (or Tio Leo as some like to call him) you know that he is a very loving father and very hands on. He loves ALL of his kids the same, but he never misses a chance to let ME know that out of all of his kids, he thinks Haili takes after him the most. He loves to sit and chow down on the gross Colombian food that no one else will eat but Haili, he loves to tell her that she has his eyes, skin color, cute face, hair, tender feelings...etc...but most of all what makes him the proudest is she loves soccer almost as much as he does. (By the way, the only thing he credits to me is her stubborness...) And she is an awesome soccer player!

A couple of Haili's nicknames are:

1. Haili Boo - She was born the end of October
   
2. Llama - Her favorite character on Napolean was Tina the llama


3. Jojie Pollie Ollie - She loved playing a game called "Rollie Pollie Ollie" when she was 2, no one knew how to play but her...it involved a blanket and the ward directory...go figure?

So, that tells you a little bit about our Haili that we love so much!