WINTER wonderland

......Pinetop was SO snowy~winter wonderland!!!!!!!!!!! 2 weekends ago we headed up to visit my dad since he now lives up there full time. We love to get up there at least one time while we're home from mexico and now we have perfect reason since he's up there. It was SO cold..........brrrrrrrrr, LOVE it this time of year~especially when there's snow on the ground! So romantic and SNUGGLY! Just makes you want to curl up in front of a fire. Being from washington state I really miss the snow during the holiday season.....but that's the ONLY time! It's just so pretty during Christmas time and it gets you in the holiday spirit! It was SO great to see my dad.....I sure do miss him! Especially since he doesn't live in the valley anymore, we can't just head over to his house for dinner to visit with him when we're home from mexico. This time was extra special too because we got to meet his new girlfriend, Terry. What a sweetheart! And she absolutely ADORES my daddy! SO cute~ He seems very happy, and that makes me happy! They have a beautiful new home......so cabiny and cozy but big enough for all of us to stay with them! Terry was so cute and baked cookies with the kids on saturday morning and blueberry muffins on sunday morning! They were in HEAVEN! We also enjoyed a really nice steak dinner saturday night at their house with Terry's parents and Grandma and Papa Contreras as well.
Saturday my dad had to work so Erik and I took the kiddos sledding in the Spilsbury's neighborhood, they have a perfect sledding hill.....the snow was perfect and we had such a great time with our little fam! Halle and I even built a snowman....or should I say "woman".....hehe~we put pine needle hair on her and a pink beanie!.......and Costi named her Kelly! TOO funny.....he's such a character! By the end Halle and Costa were so brave they were going down the hill on their bellies OVER jumps and Erik even had them strapping on my snowboard....trying it out. They actually did pretty good and we're excited to hopefully take them down the BIG hill next time we go up!

Such a BEAUTIFUL weekend.....awesome to see my dad and meet his new girlfriend(wish I got to see more of them but excited for new year's because he won't have to work!!!!!.....can't wait dad!!!!!) and SO much fun playing in the snow with the kiddos!

Visit to see the...

Big guy......SANTA!!!

Both kids were SO excited to take a trip to the mall and get pictures with Santa! I am so proud of myself for going early this year and not putting it off until last minute.......Of course when we got there, Santa was on his break and wasn't going to return for 45 minutes....but it worked out ok because we were one of the first people in line when he returned~
Halle and Costa were ear to ear smiles when it came their turn to sit on Santa's lap.....and both knew EXACTLY what they were going to tell Santa what they wanted!

First time for everything

This time it was ICE SKATING! The other day I took the kids to the new Polar Ice skating rink here in Gilbert. Their cousins Justyce and Elianna are in figure skating lessons there and their dad, my cousin Justin told me I could bring them down and let them try it for free. They did SO good and weren't scared at all....SURPRISED me....I thought for sure Hallers would be scared and hesistant to try it but NOPE she took the ice like a little champ and was very determined to do it on her own with no help! Costa, too~of course he's our little dare devil so I knew he would be anxious to get on the ice....we know we're in trouble when our 3 year old asks for a skateboard for Christmas~makes me SO nervous!....everybody put the good angels on our little guy! I was SO scared they were going to fall and crack their heads open! Thank GOD no injuries this time!

Ethnic Holiday

Tamale day, that is. So we made it home for Thanksgiving, which was pretty darn special....BUT we also made it home in time for the annual TAMALE day! Our family calls this their "ethnic" holiday because they take school and work off for this day, but SSShhhhh we dont' want anybody getting trouble for calling in sick! I have been making tamales with them since before Erik and I were married and I LOVE it, I've missed the last few years because we usually aren't home in time....and I'm always BUMMED out to miss it! It's lots of work but MORE fun than anything.....and I LOVE the tradition part of it~and the reminiscing of old times and stories! I remember back in the day making them thinking to myself....."I hope Erik and I have a daughter someday so she can share in this cultural tradition and miss school for her "ethnic" holiday!"~(so thankful God BLESSED us with our little Hallers)...... So this was our little Halle's first tamale making day and boy was she a HARD worker. We were so proud of our little mexican:) Her cousin Veronica showed her the ropes and taught her how to wrap the tamales, which used to be her job when she was little. The girl didn't even want to take a break! This year we had my mother in law~ Gloria, Auntie Sue, Auntie Mabel, cousin Veronica and her friend Latoya, Halle, myself and my cousin even Libby showed up for a little bit........we made a grand total of 60 DOZEN:) I feel SO special to participate in this day and to share it this time with Halle~and hopefully we're back in time for next year!!!!!

WE MADE IT!!!

OH MY GOSH ~21 STRAIGHT LONG hours in the car, but we made it, and just in time to surprise our families for THANKSGIVING!!!! Erik came home from school last Wednesday with the OK from the doctor he was working for that we could GO!!! Good thing I'm johnny on the spot and pretty much had everything ready to put into the suitcases. He came home and said "I made an executive decision and we're leaving TONIGHT!" Ahhhhh.....NERVES, (I know this was the moment we had been waiting for I was just feeling a little nervous about the drive).............. we got everything together and we were on the road by 5PM Wednesday night. We were OFF!!!!!!

5:30PM~first stop at wal-mart for some snacks for the car ride
8PM~stopped in a little town called Tepic for some dinner~chicken from Pollo Feliz....:)
8:30PM~stopped at OXXO to get some coffees and popcorn for the kids......(We are SO bad! sssshhhhhh!)~we took both kids car seats out and made the kids a bed in the back of the car! We let them watch a movie for a little bit and then turned it off around 10PM and told them "night, night"........
And we went like the WIND~ and did NOT stop except for gas and the pay tolls( 20 OF THEM TO BE EXACT!)..........Erik knew that we needed to get as much driving out of the way while they were asleep! He was SO awake it was AMAZING! I tried to sleep, because I knew I would need to relieve him but I drank a coffee at 8 and I was SO antsy and anxious I COULD NOT SLEEP! I was so frustrated with myself for drinking that coffee! I was worried Erik would get sleepy so I felt like I needed to be awake for him........he was so funny every time I looked over at him he was "jamming" to his music with his headphones on~ so DETERMINED and on a mission to get his family home, I love him! I didn't know HOW IN THE WORLD he was SO awake, but I was praising the Lord for it because my eyes were too sleepy to drive!
I finally crawled to the backseat around 3AM to really try and get some shut eye because I KNEW I was going to have to drive at some point! I dozed for a little bit but couldn't for the life of me FALL asleep! VERY Frustrating~of course, when I NEED To sleep I can't....and I am the girl that can usually fall asleep WHEREVER and WHENEVER, go figure.
Around 6AM I could tell Erik was getting tired and knew that even though I didn't "sleep" I was better off than him at that point......he need to rest his eyes for a little bit~so we pulled over and got me another coffee and we were off again~with me driving!!!!!! I don't know what my deal was but my eyes were SO sleepy! I drove for about an hour and half and then I just couldn't do it anymore~I know, I know a BIG wimp!

Here's the dialogue for 11 pm -4:30 am
Lexie: "you ok"
Erik: "fine babe go to sleep"
11:30pm
Lexie: "you ok"
Erik: "fine babe GO TO SLEEP"
12:00am
Lexie: "What are you listening to?"
Erik: "GO TO SLEEP"
12:15am
Lexie: "are you ok?"
Erik: "Uhhhhgggggg, GO TO SLEEP"
1245am
Lexie: "so you think we'll make it if you drive all night?"
Erik: "I don't know, GO TO SLEEP"
1:15am-3:30am ( Lexie changes position 15 times in the front seat and moves from the front seat to the rear seat, then back every time repeating the same question)
Lexie: "How you doin babe?"
Erik: (nodding head to the music) "Fine babe"
4:30am Lexie takes over driving
5:15am
Erik: "How you doin babe?"
Lexie" I'm tired I think I need to switch"
5:45am- 1:00pm Erik finishes the drive

and the kiddos were ANGELS~slept until 7AM, and didn't start complaining until about the 20th HOUR.......they were DONE at that point..........I don't blame them~

So we made it for Thanksgiving! We were so excited to see everybody but we were serious ZOMBIES! The drive was long, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be~and SO worth it to be home....in the USA:)

Pictures of us just after crossing the border into the USA:)