Thoughtful Gesture

We know, we know...it's been months since we've posted a new entry. Here are some pictures of our new one's blessing day. We tried to keep the event small. We figured since it took place on the Fourth of July weekend most people had plans anyway. Her dress was made from Marcela's wedding dress. Our seamstress told us that there is still enough fabric to make one more blessingdress or two boy outfits. So...if we have one more girl or two boys you'll know why.

Today we were able to spend the whole day together as a family. With Jeff in school this doesn't happen too often. After a day full of errands we were near a dollar theater and thought we'd check to see if there was a movie we could take our girls to see. Well, one's a baby so...

as long as she could sleep she'd be fine. We noticed that Rio was playing and figured Sofía would enjoy it. When we asked for the tickets the employee told us that it was in 3D and so it would cost more. Now, this is going to sound like we're cheapskates but we didn't want to spend the extra few dollars for the movie. It doesn't help that we're just not into the whole 3D frenzy that Hollywood is trying to convince us to love.

Here is where the cool part comes in. As we were walking away an older gentleman comes up to us. He gently puts his hand on Jeff's shoulder and asks if we'd like to see the movie. His wife was standing just off to the side with a grin on her face. They wanted to buy our family tickets so we could see the movie. We politely declined explaining that we were just not interested in 3D movies. They understood and we parted ways. Their nice gesture definitely made our day. How nice to have complete strangers take notice of us and offer to pay for our tickets. I thought they were just coming over to comment on how cute our baby is. Speaking of...enjoy the pictures.

This little girl smiles SO much. She must get it from her dad. Seriously, she always wakes up with a smile on her face and a giggle that comes after.

Beautiful girl.

We hope they grow up to be the very best of friends. I think they're off to a good start.

No longer a baby...she's three years old now.

Snowbird

These pictures are about one month old. We spent a few days up at Snowbird. On our first day we made an impromptu decision that we'd hike up to the tram. You see, if you hike up the mountain you get a free ride down. Jeff loves anything free. So do I. Unfortunately, we didn't take in account that he'd be hiking up with a 2 year old novice and an extremely nauseated pregnant lady (yeah, I'm pregnant - due the first week of April). These two factors made for a more difficult hike than we planned on.

We had talked to someone who suggested a particular path that was steep at first but than became easier. After that first stretch Jeff asked if I wanted to turn back. I'll be honest, I was SO close to taking him up on the offer but I resisted. Since I wasn't feeling the best it was up to Jeff to carry Sofía. Normally we have a backpack to carry her in but we didn't bring it. Instead, he had to carry her in his arms. She actually fell asleep in his arms part way. My job was to carry our backpack and camera. I really wished Jeff could have carried them but since he had Fía I didn't have the heart to ask him.

It took us about four hours to reach the top. The last half mile seemed to never end. Every time I thought we had reached the end there was another turn that appeared out of nowhere. Overall, we had a great time. The scenery was beautiful and Sofía really seemed to enjoy it. This was the longest hike we've taken her on and she was a real trooper. She was even game enough to walk a bit of the way.

Enjoy the pictures.

This is BEFORE the hike. We had to walk to our starting point and we thought we'd give Sofía some training. As you can tell she was having a lot of fun.

I'm not sure who was enjoying this more...Jeff of Fía?

I promise I wasn't going to die. Since we weren't planning on hiking the mountain I hadn't dressed for the occasion. It just shows on my face. Also, I love how focused Sofía is as she's walking.

Lovely girl. Lovely scenery.

Learning Numbers

Learning the ABC's

Happily Ever After

My belief in Happily Ever Afters was shaken up this past week. I found out that a few friends of mine are either in a middle of a divorce or are contemplating one. Seriously, it just tears at my heart when I think of it. How can something that starts out so beautifully turn into disappointment and heartbreak?
Maybe I've watched too many movies where the hero and heroine go off into the sunset to live their lives happily ever after. I actually read once that watching too many movies like that set up too high expectations for relationships. What do you think? Personally, I've seen plenty to keep me grounded in reality. My own parents are divorced. I understand that marriages don't always work out. Yet, it just gets to me every time. Sigh.
Speaking of those kinds of movies I'm really jonesing for some Anne of Green Gables. My mom and I had the tradition of watching the whole series once or twice a year. We'd watch them over a weekend. I'm sure the next time I do I'll be crying. Not because of Matthew or Gilbert but over my mother's absence. It's been one year since she died and I miss her like crazy.
I try to mention her often to Sofía. Just the other night I was singing one of my mom's favorite hymns to her as she went to bed. I told Sofía, "Your Grandma Betty loves this song. She'd sing it all the time." Sofía looked at me and said, "Grandma Betty loves me" and she pointed to herself. It made my day.