Alegra and Dad!

We were talking tonight to Grandma and Grandpa Frye, Nicholas, Max, Caden, Brian, and Leigh on skype. Today is Grandma Frye's birthday and they were all over at Leigh's for dinner, by the way Happy Birthday Grandma F. All the boys brought out their horses that Grandma had made them. After we hung up Cruz stuck the hat on Alegra and she looked so cute.

Photo Session

Last night I had GNO with my gals over at Charlene's house and while I was gone the boys had a photo session. These pictures are pretty funny.
hard days work
hiding!
heavy load
REALLY heavy load
balancing
more balancing
?
And more balancing....maybe Cruz should consider ballet!
doing construction work
and more construction work
and more construction work
bath time after all the play, and look a reflection! We have lots of shots of all of Cruz's different faces, but I just picked one to post!

As you can tell from the pictures, the boys had a blast. I had fun with my girlfriends too. We visited Charlene who had a little baby girl about a month ago. She looked so tiny compared to Alegra. It is amazing how fast these little babies grow in just a few months. At girls night I shared a story about Cruz and all my friends said I needed to post it so Cruz can look back and laugh one day. Alegra was about 2 months old and the 3 of us went to the grocery store. Let me preface this story by saying in the beginning Cruz was pretty fascinated by the whole breastfeeding thing. He just thought it was crazy that his sister would drink milk from mommy. Anyway, we were in the checkout line and this larger man was bagging our groceries. Luckily he was almost done when Cruz looked up and saw him....Cruz then turns to me and says something to the effect of, "Look mommy, he has boobies to feed babies too!" I can't remember his exact words but it was along those lines. I think my face turned white, I didn't know what to do so I just picked Cruz up, put him in the cart next to the groceries, said thank you, and took off! That was definitely a mom moment where I was speechless!

On Sunday evening we are celebrating Cruz's birthday with family and then on Wednesday it is his actually birthday and if it is nice we are going to go to the zoo. I can't believe our little man is almost 3. It is crazy how fast time flies. One funny thing he says is, "stumpfin" for the word "something" and he still says "o.tay when he means "O.K", that one still makes me laugh. He talks a ton and he has a very loud voice, we have been working on that one. Cruz also LOVES to play....he is very creative and has gotten so much better at pretending. I know I will brag more about our little sweetheart throughout this week, but I realized I was missing some stories and things I want to remember when I am older.

First Rice Cereal Experience

In an attempt to get Alegra to sleep through the night, we fed her rice cereal tonight! We are hoping that with her tummy full she will be able to give us little longer stretches at night, we hope! She did wonderful with the cereal, a little messy, but what should I expect from a first time eating experience. This little girl is so sweet and she has had a pretty rough week so far. Yesterday I ran something upstairs very quickly and I heard a horrible cry come from her. I ran downstairs as fast as I could to find Cruz leaning over her with one of those juice box straws pointed at her eye! Yes, our Cruz man had poked his sister in the eye with the jagged end of the straw, ouch!! I quickly called the dr. and he told me to monitor her eye. She had red in the white part on both sides of her eyeball. One of our neighbors is an eye dr.(luckily) so I took her over to see him today. He said he thought it looked okay, thank goodness. Then this morning when I went to get Cruz his back pack for school I came back to find him hammering (with 2 of his toy hammers) her stomach, pretty hard!! I don't know what I am going to do with that kiddo!! She stills giggles and laughs at him all the time though. I guess she doesn't hold a grudge!

More pictures from the grown boyz weekend in Moab!

I wasn't there, so I can't say what these are all about, mostly just boys being boys!

Church outfits!

The kids looked so cute in their outfits today, I tried to capture it. The first picture is of Cruz showing the love sign that he learned in school!

The next pictures are the sequence of me trying to get a good picture of the kids...I think these are kind of funny! I never did get a picture I loved but oh well!

My crazy boys!

How we found Cruz Thursday night. He didn't make a peep he just had his piles of books next to his chair that he was going to read that night!
Shawn took a boys trip to Moab this weekend. This is how he went. There was not an inch to put anything else in his carrying cases and if he was going to Moab then of course he had to take his bike too!
The boyz!

ARIZONA!!!!

Cruz drinking his apple juice getting ready to go to Arizona!

Shawn, me, Cruz, Alegra, and my mom went to Arizona for a few days and it was AMAZING!!! I think I loved it so much because I have been craving warm weather, and Utah has had the latest snow season. It snowed 3 feet in the mountains last Tuesday, I went skiing in total powder on Wednesday and then was basking in 80 degree weather on Saturday....that is a pretty good week!! We left Friday night after work. We stayed in this very fun hotel that had a lazy river, a kiddy pool, a wave pool, and 3 large slides. Unfortunately Cruz was not tall enough for the slides and they would not let us take him down on them. He kept putting his hands up tall and saying, "but I am this tall!!!" He always wants to do what the big kids do! We hung out at the pool on Saturday and Saturday night we went to Old Town Scottsdale for some yummy pizza and the best dessert ever at Oreganos. Sunday we had a very enjoyable afternoon with my Aunt Nina (my dads sister) and 4 of her kids that live in the area. Kristen and her husband and 3 kids, Michelle and her husband, Courtney, and Whitney and her husband and 2 kids. Cruz had a blast playing with the kids and it was good to catch up with family. On Monday Shawn went to his training and we played at the pool some more. In the afternoon we went to the Phoenix Zoo, which was incredible. I wish we had planned for more time there, it seriously is amazing! That night our friend Monica was in AZ on business and she was staying at the famous Biltmore Hotel (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright). We met up with her and had dinner with her. Alegra was such a gem the whole trip but she did have a total BLOWOUT on our way to Monica's hotel. Shawn and I both heard her make some noises that sounded like poop but I saw the line of cars on the freeway and I didn't want to take the time to stop and change her so I told Shawn I would change her when we got there, besides, Alegra had never had a blowout. We go to get her out of the car when we pulled into the parking lot and there was a pool of poop sitting in the car seat (that she was sitting in) that had leaked out from the diaper. I felt HORRIBLE!!! Poor little girl. It took a while but we got everything cleaned up and luckily ALL were patient. On Tuesday we did a little shopping at the famous store I used to hit when I would visit friends in AZ, back when I was single. The store is called Last Chance. It is Nordstroms total clearance place. If you are willing to work, you can find really good deals! It is a little harder to work at shopping these days with a baby and 2 year old, but it was still fun to go there and be in the madness of people trying to find deals. I did get a pair of Uggs for 1/3. of the normal cost, that was pretty good. That afternoon we played at the pool and went around the lazy river some more. That was Cruz's most favorite part. Between Shawn, me, and my mom we probably took Cruz around it about 60 times that week!! That night we met Shawn and his coworker Aaron in Old Town Scottsdale for some authentic Mexican food, it was pretty good too! Wednesday we made our last visit to my oldest (Chicago days) and dearest friend Bobbi. Her family moved to AZ about 5 years ago. It was fun to see her and see where she lived. Cruz had fun playing with her girls too! We went home that night. The weather was amazing, the food was delicious, the kids were on really good behavior, the family time was incredible, and Arizona was outstanding!!
Dad and Cruz hanging out in the hotel room!
Sweet little girl in her sweet swimsuit!
Shawn and Cruz on the lazy river!
The girls watching the boys on the lazy river!
More lazy river :)
Cruz having a blast at the pool!

Cruz lovin' his sister. Part of the reason Cruz was so excited to go to AZ was that it was warm enough for him to wear his most favorite outfit, his soccer outfit. I don't know what we are going to do when her either grows out of that or it shreds to pieces because we have washed and worn it so much!
Phoenix Zoo!

I was terrible at taking pictures this trip. I think I just got lazy and didn't take my camera out, but I don't want to do that again. I didn't capture lots of our fun moments down there, oh well, live and learn!

One more thing, we have lost Cruz's white blanket. It hasn't been as tragic as I thought it would be, but who knows, the tears might still come. I think one of the maids picked it up with the towels when our room was being cleaned. We had left it in the bed from the night before and I bet she thought it was a towel and threw it in the dirty towel pile. We left all of our information if they find it, but they send their towels out to get cleaned, so I don't know if we will see it again! So far though, so good on Cruz's part!

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter Everyone. This weekend was General Conference for the LDS Church. General Conference is held the first weekend of October and the first weekend of April every year and this year it just happen to fall on Easter too. The conference, in which the prophet of our church and the 12 apostles talk, is broadcast all over the world and in Utah it is actually played on television. The thing that makes this so nice is that we don't get dressed up in our church clothes. We had a very nice relaxing morning. Cruz woke up and had to find where the Easter bunny hid all the eggs. Then he found his Easter basket full of surprises. Most of the toys in his basket were spring toys like bubbles and sidewalk chalk. In Utah, there is no evidence of sidewalk, since they are covered in snow though. We ate breakfast and had some of our hard boiled eggs too! The rest of the day we watched General Conference and went over to my moms to hang out with all of our cousins and have some yummy food. Today I must express my gratitude to my Savior who died and was resurrected for each one of us. I am grateful for my knowledge of the atonement!
This morning we kept asking Cruz to eat over his plate (since the eggshells were getting everywhere). This is what he did!
Snow, snow, and more snow!

Fun, Snowy, Saturday

Happy Girl who has been gooing and talking a ton lately!
Coloring Easter Eggs

We have been hit with a lot of snow lately. Shawn went up to Snowbird with some of his friends for an amazing day of skiing. Cruz, Alegra, and I went to Solitude to ski. We went over to Solitude because Rich, Nick, Russ, Georgia, Grant, Walt, and Grammy were going to be skiing there. Grammy watched Alegra in the lodge while the gang went to do some runs. We went to the very kiddy hill first and it was a little too easy for most of them so we headed over to the bigger hill. I was so impressed with how Cruz skied. We did 3 runs in total and I thought for sure Cruz would be done. We went into the lodge because I needed to feed Alegra. While I was feeding her the rest of the gang came in for a short break and to fuel up on some hot chocolate and french fries. Uncle Russ offered to take Cruz out with him and I thought Cruz would say no, but he was totally up for skiing some more with the big kids. My brother took Cruz and Walt through the trees (first time for Cruz) and he had a total blast! The snow was amazing too! Alegra was wonderful and just hung out in the lodge with Grammy at first and me later. When we all met up at home yesterday late afternoon/evening we colored our Easter eggs and talked about the Easter Bunny. It was a nice day!
Cruz showing you his cool pink egg
This is how we found Cruz at about 10 p.m. last night when we went up to bed. He has really been into reading books lately and he likes to sit in his chair and read books after we say good night.

Fun with Family in Town!

Nicholas, Grant, Walt, Georgia, Macy, Cruz, and Grammy

Cruz, Alegra, and I have had a blast the last few days with Nicholas, Clara, and Katie in town. First of all, the weather in Utah is CRAZY right now. We have had a very cold winter but the storms have all split and mostly gone south, therefore, we have not had a ton of snow....UNTIL NOW! We had a pretty big storm last Friday and then we had a storm on Wednesday and Thursday with more snow to come tonight and tomorrow! We had plans to go to an Easter Egg Hunt tomorrow but I don't think it would be too much fun hunting around in SNOW for EASTER! Yesterday it was a cold snowy day so all the kids and moms and Grandma R went to the Dinosaur museum in the afternoon. It was a great museum for the age range we had 11 (Georgia) down to 4 months (Alegra)....actually she mostly she stayed in her stroller, but literally there was different activities for all ages there. We called the husbands when we were done and met for dinner at Cafe Rio....we had a rather large table, 14 people in all. I was bummed because I forgot my camera yesterday, but the Cruz had a blast playing with Georgia, Macy, Grant, Walt, Nicholas, and Clara. Clara and Cruz actually get along now (most of the time). Last year I don't know if it was the age difference or what but they did not play well together at all....but luckily this trip has been great.

Today our big adventure was sledding. All the kids came to the sledding hill that is right by our house. I love the sledding hill because I think it is just the right size not too small and not too big. By the end of our adventure some of the older kids were building some bigger jumps to get more air but for the most part they all loved it. Cruz had to keep up with big kids. He went down the hill a million times...on his seat, back, alone, with people, laying on people, you name it, he did it....and if any of the older kids were trying something he had to try it. Right before we left he really wanted to go down the hill and hit the jump (since all the other kids did), well I tried started him at the half way point on the hill, he wouldn't have it. So he started at the top and luckily he missed the big jump, but we all acted like he hit it so he wouldn't put up a fuss to do it again! Ali, Alegra, and Clara (most of the time ) stayed in the nice warm car parked right by the hill!
Grammy giving Cruz a push!
Grant and Cruz