The Jolly experience

Many years ago, I mean many years ago like 16 years I worked for Santa Bob during the holiday season. I was the one that worked at the Santa Booth taking pictures of all the kiddos with the jolly guy. I did this for a few years and really liked it. I dressed up as characters when they introduced Santa the day after Thanksgiving and also when the Easter Bunny came to the Mall. I really liked working for Bob and Jean. They made the experience for children very magical.

This year was the first for both Ryan and Maya. I did the worst thing a parent can do and waited 2 days before Christmas to get the picture. Since Mike was working I recruited my parents to help me with my bundles. When we got there of course the line was a mile long. Ok I thought we are going to do this and it is going to be fine. My mom took the kids (Ryan and my Dad) to eat at the food court while I waited. When they were done they were off to the indoor playground for Ryan while I waited and waited. I remember looking at my watch when I first got in line...10:30am. When I finally approached the desk where they were taking the photo orders I realized there was a sign indicating the times Santa was on break. 12:30-1:00pm. As I looked at my watch it was 12:20pm. Panic set in. I was line for almost 2 hours and I was at the cusp of having that red rope hold me back for another 30 min. It was the time to pray...to pray really hard. As I stood there realizing the mistake I made to wait last minute, horrible parent guilt set in.

I called my mom to let her know to bring the kids since it was almost my turn. I have this intuition since I am a mom and told her to check Maya's diaper before coming over. She told me she was asleep and didn't want to wake her up. I persisted and said " Please see if there is ANY odor coming from sleeping beauty." ( you can see where this is going )

They came with the kids and got the ok sign from the gal that we would be seeing Santa before his break. Thank goodness! Prayers do get answered. I gave her my order, pulled sleepy Ryan in line and took Maya out of her car seat. She was so cute in her green velvet dress, white tights, and black shoes. (Thank you Elaine) As I pulled her out the smell hit my nose. OH MY GOSH! I saw the wet seat she was in, felt the wetness hit my shirt as I was holding her. Too late now. The deed was done. I made a fast "I told you to check her pants!" at my mom. I think I even yelled it. I grabbed a blanket put her on Santa's lap along with Ryan and said to the girl "just take it". Santa asked me if I wanted the pink blanket in the picture. I just said "No, but you will want it in the picture."

The experience was not like I pictured it years ago. I guess that's ok because a different kind of memory was made. I know I hurt my moms feelings and I am sorry for that. I just had to remind her I have those mommy feelings that are never wrong. (ask Mike)

And of course I had to enclose the end result of my "Jolly Experience".......Enjoy!

P.S.- At least Santa could of smiled. ( Santa Bob would of ) I guess Maya smelled that bad. HA HA!

Only 68 degrees

As I sit here enjoying the window open and gazing at the beautiful sky, I am reminded again why I love Arizona. The sky is cloudy and the sunbeams are hitting the desert mountains. The White Tank Mountains are pretty but not as gorgeous as the Superstitions. Friends and family that are dotted around the country are getting the wonderful "white" stuff I try to avoid. With bare feet and jeans, I hope this is what Heaven is like. Now if you want to talk about the long summer... that's a different story. The kind of place that feels like h*ll.

I do have to say to the small crowd that reads my blog that this weekend is going to be yet another ending chapter in the Moore lives. A new one is going to start on Monday. We are leaving our beautiful home and heading back to Mesa. (Mike thinks it is so overrated.) But I know you Mesa people...you are like me and always yearn to come back. Well..maybe some of you.

I am sure going to miss my co-workers dearly. You know who you are. The ones that I spend so much of my day with. We are going to miss my sitter. She is as awesome as you can get. My very diligent visiting teacher companion. She is such an example to me. We are going to miss the Schwans guy too! (There is more we are going to miss but to long to type.)

There are things we have learned being on this side of the city. We have had to learn to live out in the middle of nowhere. I am going to have to re accustom myself to "city". But I do have to admit the privacy and quietness has been very nice.

So we are off again to a new adventure. Lets hope it doesn't involve snakes in the backyard and scorpions in the house!!!

Show Low, Santa, wipes, and a binky

We like to thank Brooke and Jim for letting us stay this weekend and enjoy the freshness of a new baby. Oh, she is sooo cute! It was nice to snuggle with Michelle for about an hour as her momma took a well deserved nap. Mike and Jim were carrying away with the bathroom tub and tile. They are such handy guys. Its funny to me to see them enjoy the job of cutting, ripping, and tearing apart a tub. Then replacing it with a new one. I don't know how many runs to the local Home Depot were made but I'm sure glad they knew what they were doing. Like I said before, everyone needs a plumber.

As we reunited with Ryan and Maya on Sunday they seemed like they grew inches. We knew the love and care they were given...a.k.a they were spoiled rotten! My parents went over the experience of taking Ryan to the ward breakfast meet Santa shindig. He wasn't sure about that Santa Claus guy. He liked the big waffles that were served and like even better to see Santa from the distance. He didn't know what to think of him. I guess we were all like that when we were his age.

There are many things in this world I take for granted on a daily basis. i.e. air, water, food....you get my point. But today was the day I realized how much I use baby wipes. Lets just say I have finally ran out. It was a shock to me since the last time I bought them was in September. You know that HUGE box from Costco. Having 2 kids in diapers is a chore in itself but not to have wipes! OH, what do I do? Ok, I don't have time to make the homemade ones. The other ones are just so more convenient. I guess I have learned my lesson. Keep a spare pack with the spare diapers which is an indication to buy more. Mike's suggestion as Ryan advised us of the prize in his diaper was to use the Lysol wipes under the counter.

So Mike and I made a rule. Once Ryan turns 2 years old no more binky. Yup cold turkey! He only uses it when he goes to bed or if he needs to stop talking VERY loudly in church. I don't even think he uses it at daycare. So do you think we will stick to the rule in 11 days? We shall see.

She is here!

My sweet sister in law Brooke had a baby today! Michelle was born this afternoon in Show Low, AZ. Mike and I plan on going up there this weekend to see the new addition and dote on her like they do ours.

Maya is 4 months!

Just a quick update on our sweet baby Maya. She had her 4 month check up last week. She is 15.5 lbs and 24.5 inches long. She started cereal and is not really interested in it. She sure loves her bottle though! And as you can see she is all smiles!

Many Thanks...

This year I am in charge of making rolls and bread for our Thanksgiving Dinner. The vote was unanimous. Oh, I feel so honored. Let the work begin! (wink wink!) As I watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving tonight and made sure I had enough flour and yeast for the bread making. I pondered on the things I am thankful for. And I would like to share with you the pondering I did.

I am thankful for my family ( you know who you are ) , my children and husband.

I am thankful for free agency and for religion in my life.

I am thankful for my friends, my freedoms.

I am thankful to have a job, my coworkers, my small 401k.

I am thankful for my health and knowing my hair on my head will grow back.

I am thankful for having someone to love and someone to love me back.

I am thankful for my bed and my froggie pillowcase.

I am thankful that I am a mother, wife, and friend.

I am thankful for trials that make me a better person. (ok sometimes I am thankful for them)

I am thankful for beauty all around us.

I am thankful to have time to do the things I like.

I am thankful for the Macy's Day Parade.

I am thankful for so many more things.

I know you are thankful that I stopped.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

P.S.

Thank you to the UTES for kicking BYU's butt!

New camera Santa

Just an update on us.



This one please Santa....


Our poor 8 year old piece of junk camera has finally failed us. So we have written a letter to that jolly guy to ask him for a new one. And of course it has such cute pictures of the kids on it. I think I will do the most common thing that people do and throw it down the stairs. It may work after that. I'll keep you updated.

We are all doing fine. Ryan is into Cars still and its driving us nuts. At least we are not alone. Mike was telling me the other day as he talks to friends, co-workers, family that the big thing with kids this age is Cars and The Little Mermaid. Did I not say that some time ago?

Ryan came home yesterday from Daycare with a wish list for Christmas. Jaci had the kids cut out pictures of some of their favorite things. It had about 5 pictures of Cars and 1 of Elmo and 1 of The Little People Farm house. He was so proud to show Mike his list on beautiful blue paper.

Ryan also has been very interested in the potty. Ok, he is not even 2 yet and we know its a phase. So we got the potty for him. He likes to sit on it, stand on it. Last night after dinner he said "dad poop". (sorry about the language) So Mike ran and got the potty. Well, the deed was done. Dad was just a little to slow for what was coming. (Oh typing this is funny. I bet the visual is just great.) But we know he won't be interested soon then the real time will come for the full time potty training later.

Maya is getting bigger and bigger. She LOVES watching her older brother. If she isn't watching and talking to him she is chewing on her fingers. It seems like they are pork chops to her. Savoring every moment. She is a talker and will just chat away at anything in her view.

Mike is busy these days with the business. Hey, everyone needs a Plumber right? He is happy that the weather is cooler too.

As for me I am just happy as a clam. Thanksgiving is next week and I will be with the family I love. We will miss you Moores!

Until then....

P.S.- We here at the Moore house are anticipating our first niece Michelle to be born. My beautiful sister in law Brooke and crafty brother in law Jim are expecting any day now. Hang in there Brooke! We can't wait to see her!

Cars! Cars! Cars!

So most of you parents can relate...your child gets into a phase of obsessiveness. We introduced Ryan to the Disney movie Cars about a month ago. Has it been a regret? Ummm...some days! It is so cute though. He loves everything about this movie and wants to watch it all the time. It reminds me of my early babysitting days when I watched the Fullerton kids. They loved..I mean loved The Little Mermaid and watched it ALL the time! Over and over until I wished I broke their VCR. Its funny to me that I still find toys, crackers, clothes with "Cars" all over it. Seriously how long has that movie been out? I went to Payless yesterday to get some cheap work shoes and guess what?? I found Cars themed light up flashy tennis shoes for Ryan. Those suckers were more than my shoes! Did I buy them...yes I did. On the way home from Jaci's house he reminds me what he wants to do when he gets home. Play outside and Cars. (Good thing its 70 degrees now that we enjoy the outside) Since he is turning 2 next month I guess it is very easy to decide what kind of birthday he will be having. And if Santa is really watching him, then Cars will flood Christmas morning.

Family Halloween Party 2008

Our family (the Mioni's) have a Halloween Party. This year we had it a week before Halloween so most of us can attend. My mom makes her famous soup along with other goodies. We have Halloween bingo, cookie decorating and guessing games. We had a lot of fun costumes this year and the contest was pretty competitive. Here are a few pictures of the party.

We usually have a theme but this year we decided to do the traditional orange and black.

The backyard waiting for guests to arrive.

I was 1 of the 4 Pink Ladies Gang and Mike was a T Bird. And cute baby Maya was our 50's poodle girl. To bad the age group for the costume contest was 1year and above. She would of won! I just know it!

Here is Ryan as Batman standing on the toilet. Who took this picture??? Nice place to take it right Dianna? Ha Ha!

Our entertainment for the evening...Ryan playing the harmonica. Since he saw Papa play it, he loves to play it too!

My sweet Aunt Alicia as Scarlet...Carol Burnett style.

Lisandra and I along with our poodle baby! She was such a good sport considering she was held by my cousins Sophia and Solana. She really did sleep in their arms as they talked very loudly. Plus, I had to do some major intervention when one of them made up their mind that they were going to take her home.

My beautiful Grandma was alittle political this year. She is dressed oh so beautifully in her Mexican themed dress along with a sign on her saying

" Get Arpaio out! "

Nice.

The kids decorating their cookies. Thank you Suzette for providing them along with the frosting!

Looks like they are discussing answers from the movie trivia game Veronica made.


Herija as the "Pirate" and his Pink Lady Lisandra.


I love these people!

Cody, DeMarco, and Skyler

Two face!!! I can see a Batman theme going on here...we had Batman, the Joker and two face.

Thank you everyone for coming and enjoying the Party! We had so much fun and hope you did too! We are open to creative suggestions for next years party!

P.S. Sara, I was thinking about you all night! I hope you are feeling better!

It has been a long summer...bye bye...

On Saturday the weather was perfect! I think it was about 75 degrees or less and breezy. We have long waited for this day us Arizonians! We headed over to my mom and dads house to visit and to see how my Grandma was doing. ( she had foot surgery a few weeks ago ) With jeans on and doors wide open we had a great day. We didn't visit the pumpkin patch ( we miss you show low! ) due to nap scheduling issues..maybe next weekend. Here are some things we did...well what Ryan did.

-Ryan pointing at all the Halloween decorations. Don't you love that pirate shirt?

-Oh course I had to make Chex muddy buddies. Back in my day it was called "puppy chow"...you know what I am talking about! Cody and I made it and then we ate it! Yum!
-Ryan liked this spider for some reason and kept taking it off the table. I think it was because he could reach it. Its funny how all of a sudden you realize your child it tall enough to grab stuff off the table without having to be on tippy toes!
-And of course Ryan giving Frankenstein's bride a ride in a red convertible car. I think she kidnapped Swap Thing and he is laying in the back seat.

-And the traditional "Push..mama push ba ba" ride. I guess he felt that Maya needed to have a "ton ton" ride with her to keep her company. Who knows? ( let me know if I spelled that correctly DeMarco ) ***we are reminded again...only 1 picture of Maya and the rest...Ryan. I guess we haven't learned yet**

PUSH PLAY FOR A LAUGH

P.S. Yes, Ryan is going to be Batman for Halloween!

Chase has called

Well its official...I am back to work. I started last Thursday and it was an adjustment. Mike was kind enough to drop my babies off to Jaci and crew. As I drove into the high manicured Sun City Grand I seriously felt I was going to have an anxiety attack. ( I am being honest here sisters its hard to go back to work after having a baby.) I know it was all in my head. What was I afraid of this time around? As I came to the first stop sign I told myself to relax and keep driving. Of course I did and made it to the branch. I felt fine, I just had to shake it off. As I walked in I received such a sweet welcome from my coworker Sue, arms open and all. Tears came and went...they were tears of joy for being back. Yea right. Thursday and Friday were a blur since I had to help on the busy teller line. It was good to be busy. Its Monday night now and we are still trying to get into a routine. Its working slowly and my sitter is very patient and supportive. Work is same 0 -same -o, nothing has changed. Good thing for that. It has felt like I have never left.

Truck mommy truck!

Ryan this morning watching the road work outside our house. He loved watching the one guy work as others looked on. You know we have all seen that before. Ryan pointed and kept saying.." truck , road, truck, truck "...it went on and on. I just sat there and took it all in and answered him every time "yes Ryan I see the truck ".

It may be green eyes..who knows?

On Sunday we just got done watching conference and Mike was having fun with Maya and the camera. Our poor semi-tongue tied baby. I do have to say she loves the Bumbo. She likes to see everything going on. Between the dogs and Ryan there is always something to watch. I just cannot believe she is going to be 3 months old in 11 days.

If only...

Well its been awhile and people are asking for more pictures of the kids. I haven't been slacking I promise but trying to use all the time I have during the day to be with Maya and Ryan. I am going back to work on Thursday. I have a great, wonderful sitter Jaci and I am not worried at all to leave them in her care. But as a working mom I have found out it's sure hard to go back. I am thankful don't get me wrong about having a job to go back to. I guess our bank is the only one that has money now a days to buy other banks. But being off work since June 25th, its sure going to be an adjustment.

I took this picture of Maya a few weeks ago when I had to help Mike with some of his invoice work. As I emailed the picture of her to my aunt and sisters explaining if only I worked from home this is what it would look like. They laughed at her just sitting there taking it all in to the new experience of her BUMBO. My aunt said to put a headset on her and put her to work and probably thought Ryan was in the back room filing. HA! I can imagine this being the same situation with my friend Robyn. I can imagine Andon sitting oh so patiently looking at his beautiful mommy working away on the computer and Sierra filing in the back room.

So I promise I will get some more pictures of Maya and Ryan soon. I know there are Grandmas in other states wanting to see their gorgeous grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Phantom of the Soap Opera

My very talented cousin Cody performed tonight in his school play. Phantom of the Soap Opera it was called. He played Harlon Gaspar and a mighty handsome Harlon he made I have to add. This kid ROCKS! Yes I admit I am jealous that he is talented when it comes to theater and dance. I have never been blessed with that kind of talent but my family would probably say I was born a natural "drama queen".

Cody hold on to this picture because someday I know there will be one in New York City!
Mr. Gaspar and myself. Look at my cute grandma in the background. She is so proud of Cody!

Of course here is Maya talking to her aunt Vero about what little she saw of the play. :( But we are sure noticing those chubby legs there Bubbles!

P.S. Thank you Suzette for taking the pictures!

Why Chuy why?

I have no idea why he insists on sleeping here. He thinks he's a cat that can sleep on the top of the couch. Truth is Chuy you weigh 50 pounds!!!

Maya is 2 months old!

Maya just had her 2 month check up yesterday and is growing like the weeds in my yard! She is now 12lbs 12 oz and is 22 inches long. She is doing very well and likes to be chatty Cathy in the morning. She loves watching everything around her, especially her brother. She is all smiles ( most of the time )and loves to be held and cuddled!

Deja vu

Monday was peaches and today was apples. It's sure a lot of work. Right Sophia? Good thing we have WONDERFUL mothers that teach and help us. And yes we had the obvious conversation on pioneer women and men who did this. Along with other things to live and survive that I would not want to do on a daily basis. So I am very thankful to only have to do this when the opportunity comes once a year. Also to have the TIME to do this. I go back to work in October and have realized my time is short.It seemed like the apples would never end! My poor mom had the job of peeling. I was demoted after my second attempt. At least I tried.

We canned 24 quarts of apples. And I wasn't in the mood to make apple cobbler. It was hot and my kitchen floor was sticky! But the aroma of apples were heaven! :)

Why we love little boys like this one!

This is for my sister Lisandra since she can't see Ryan or Maya on a daily basis. From what she tells me she sure needs a Ryan fix! So Lisandra..this ones for you and we hope those brown eyes melt you heart as it does us!

P.S. Veronica... the rule about no feet where we eat..well that went out the window! And yes we know he needs a hair cut.

A little piece of heaven

So I got an opportunity to purchase Utah grown peaches and gala apples. OH MY! Since I have a Utah grown boy in the house it was commanded that I order some. So I obeyed this one time! :) Plus, my mom and I were both bit by the canning bug and decided to do this. It was very nice to have the aroma of peaches in my kitchen for an afternoon. I also enjoyed my mom's company for the day. It was fun to be just us girls to accomplish this. Maya helped alot!

When I told Mike I made the syrup light-medium he was sad. He loves sweet sweet peaches.

Oh well he'll get over it!

All 30 pounds done! We canned 24 pints of peaches!

And of course the end result.....

Peach Cobbler anyone?

Good eye!

Ryan and I were outside enjoying the rain (sprinkles) and he wanted to take a picture. And I promise it was raining though it may not look like it. So I thought what could it hurt to let him just take one. ( maybe the camera falling to the sidewalk! ) He wanted to take a picture of the "cloud". So I lifted him up and showed him how to click, which he probably wondered why since he has done it a million pretend times before. So this is the result. His house and the cloud. Not bad. But don't worry Dianna you won't be replaced just yet. wink wink :)