Funny conversations with Halle

Lately, Erik and I have been telling Hallers we don't want her to get any "bigger"....(meaning "older").....you see, our sweet little girl is going to be turning 6 here pretty soon! We both just can't believe how fast the time has gone and that she's really going to be 6 years old!!! These years are just going way to fast for us.... We grab her and hold her and ask her..."can't you just stay 5 FOREVER?"...she's cute and says..."don't worry mom and dad...I'll always be your baby."...We sure do hope so:)

Well, the other day when we were getting dressed she said to me......"Mom, I don't want you to get any bigger"....I kinda laughed and said..."Oh, haller ballers......mommy is done growing....you see you stop growing when you turn 18"....."Oh" she said......"and how old are you mom?"....."well, I'm 30"....."WOW mom! That's OLD!" I said....."Excuse me little missy! I am not old!!!!" and we both laughed......the funny thing is.....pretty sure she meant "older".....not "bigger" just like we say to her....Love my Hallers!!!!

Dinner with dear friends

Seth and Bri invited Erik, me and the kids over for dinner and wine. We ALWAYS look forward to these nights when we're home visiting! We MISS them so much!!! Ash came over too! Seth made an awesome steak dinner and we actually broke in their formal dining room! They've never used it before, this was the first time~we felt pretty special...lol:) It was really nice! Of course after dinner, Bri, Ash and I headed out to the patio for some wine and OVERDUE girl talk!

They are our dearest friends.......our forever friends! Seth and Erik have been friends since they were 3 and Bri and I always seem pick up where we left off....like we haven't skipped a beat, I LOVE that about our friendship! And, it's so cool to see our kids play together now! Costa and Sage are only 9 months apart and are starting to look like little "mini-me's" of Erik and Seth! Hopefully, they can have a close friendship just like their daddy's and mommy's too~of course:)

As always.....a great night with old friends! Already looking forward to next time......;) Love you guys!!!

Little Ardi loved me....she wanted me to hold her! Little muffin!

Reese's visit phoenix

The Reese's ...Jen, Jas, Bailey, Blake and Brady

It was SO great to be able see Jen and her beautiful family! They came to phoenix for new years this year and we got to see them for one day before we headed up to pinetop! Lynz and Mark had a bbq at their house and we all came over to see Jen and her fam. Jen's like an older sister to us....we've known her FOREVER..... She started babysitting us when I was 5 years old, Lynz was 3 and Les was just a little baby. She has always been around since I can remember and was the BEST babysitter, we LOVE Jen just like a sister! We became even closer when I had my first baby.....she was AMAZING and helped me with all the crazy things nobody tells you when you have a baby! It's because of HER my kids are such great sleepers.....thanks Jen for teaching me about babywise...you're the best!!! We now talk on the phone all the time and I really MISS her! Her and her husband Jason and their 3 darling boys, live in good 'ol Payette, Idaho...we're ALWAYS trying to talk them into moving to phoenix. And I think we're getting CLOSER!!! HA!....she said Jas is going to retire from the police force in about 12 years and they are seriously thinking this is where they might end up for retirement. YEAH~we'd be SO happy to have you and your fam Jen! Hopefully, we'll be back in arizona by then;) Love you!

Us girls snuck out to take Tatym to her 2 month doctors appointment.....it was hilarious~Mom, Lynz, Jen and I all taking one baby to the doctor!

Ringing in 2010

Wow! Crazy how it's 2010 already...a new decade...I can actually say my husband is going to graduate from medical school "next year":) YEAH!!!! It seriously seems like yesterday we got the news we were moving to mexico for 4 years! Time is really flying and we are trying to cherish and make the most of every day......before we know it we'll be off on another adventure:)

This year we headed up to pinetop for new years....we wanted to be able to spend some time with my dad because he had the week off from work. Mark and Lynz also rented a cabin up there close to ours so we were excited to spend time with them as well. And the babies of course....Xander and Tatym....my little Tatey pie and Nars (I nicknamed her but Xander nicknamed himself!...hehe) Alex and Les also headed up, so that was even BETTER....some good 'ol PRINGLE family time.....it was great. Mark and Lynz brought up some quads and Alex brought a snowmobile as well. The boys had LOTS of fun the first day up and were out on the 4 wheelers playing in the snow ALL day long:) Crazy boys..... They had a blast. The kids and I spent the day hanging out in the cabin with Lynz and the babies and her friend Sara and her two kids, John Michael and Banks who also came up and stayed with Mark and Lynz.....we missed Les that day:( She couldn't come up until new years night because she had to work. Hanging out with my sissy's is the BEST.....we have so much fun doing absolutely NOTHING together! I love it, and often miss it living far away:(

We spent the next few days pretty much just HANGING out...just being together and talking... playing in the snow,playing air hockey at Mark and Lynz, making cookies, roasting marshmallows, holding the baby:),riding 4 wheelers,hanging out with dad and Terry, drinking LOTS of wine, eating, eating, eating.....did I mention we ate? ...a LOT? Gotta love my brother in law Alex......he LOVES food and is a good cook! Mark brought up a smoker and they made some pretty good dinners every night. I'm definitely paying for it now, but I'm back at the gym so it's all worth it to go home and eat YUMMY things......

New years eve we had dinner at Mark and Lynz with everybody and celebrated the new year EARLY with the kiddos. Erik and I had bought a fun new years goodie bag with some pop-its, confetti type fireworks and blow horns for the kids. We took them outside at the cabin and let them go to town.....we even did a count down and had them yell...HAPPY NEW YEAR! It was adorable, they got the biggest kick out of it. I'm so happy we did it.....they should get to celebrate new years too....lol!

Yeah! Auntie Les got there just as we were going outside to do fireworks with the kids....they were SO excited to see her!

Afterwards, Erik and I went and put the kids to bed at our cabin where mom and dad Contreras were....they just couldn't make it til midnight to ring in the new year! We were "kid-less" so we decided to head over and say hi to our dear friends Seth and Bri who were hanging out with Seth's fam at the Bingham cabin. As always, it's great to party with them! We have SO many wonderful memories with them throughout the years and can't wait for MANY, MANY more......
New years day, dad and mom Contreras hosted a beautiful breakfast with menudo, chorizo burros, chips and salsa, bloodies, mimosas.....oh, and tamales!!!!!! PERFECT spicy, mexican breakfast for new years day:) Thanks guys! Everybody was in heaven! We had the whole crew there......Lynz, Mark and their kiddos, Bri and Seth and their kiddos, Alex and Les, Grandpa Tom and Terry, and Auntie Lanie and Uncle Sal were also there. It was a gorgeous morning ....the sun was shining so it wasn't too cold but there was LOTS of snow for the kids to play....so we spent most of the morning watching the kids play in the snow and sipping on mimosas! Thanks to Grandma Contreras....she had boots, snow bibs AND gloves for every kid there! It was amazing......so the kids had such a great time and us adults did too! Auntie Lynz got creative and made a super cute snowman with kids also.......they loved it.






What can I say? Another PERFECT trip to the mountains......Until next time!!!!!! Here's to a beautiful 2010!!!!! Cheers!

Christmas Morning 2009~Happy Birthday Jesus!

Christmas morning, after the SANTA excitement we headed up to Mark and Lindsey's house for brunch and our gift exchange. We usually have breakfast and open gifts at moms house, but with the new baby and everything Mark and Lynz had it at their house this year. Lynz made some delicious waffles and muffins and her mother in law, Kathy made an egg quiche......which was super yummy as well. It was great just laughing and spending time together. Lynz has a really cool espresso machine and whipped us up some eggnog lattes:) You know us girls, we LOVE our coffees! The boys of course sipped on their "bloodies".....and played with Costa's SUPER nerf gun that Auntie Lynz and Uncle Mark got him......they were all like little boys again. This was actually the second nerf gun her got, but this thing is like SUPER TURBO AUTOMATIC...It's crazy and shoots by itself! Erik was also pretty excited when Costi opened the Cardinals Fitzgerald jersey also! That was more of a present for daddy than for Costi.... but I must say, it does look PRETTY cute on him:) Although, we won't talk about the "C" word for now........(bummer....)Auntie Les and Uncle Alex got him an adorable adidas sweat outfit also! Hallers got a PINK camera and thought that was a pretty cool big girl thing to get! She's wanted one FOREVER! She also got a cute vest jacket from Uncle Alex and Auntie Les.... She was SUPER excited! We were also pretty excited to watch "Nars"(Xander) open his gift from us....I had asked Lynz what we could get him, if there was anything he wanted(cuz the kid has EVERYTHING...lol) and she actually told me something he wanted that we could get him......a BIG yellow TONKA truck. He LOVED it! It was so fun to watch him open it~ Christmas is the best with kids........

Les was cute and got Lynz, mom and I all the same fur vests...she knows we all like the same things;)

Of course, at some point Les, my mom and I all headed over to Tatym's room with Lynz while she fed her........and ended up hanging out in Tatym's room, talking for 2 and a half hours!!! That's what we LOVE to do! Sit around talking about NOTHING for hours...... such FUN times! Finally, Mark came over and said....."are you guys going to get ready to go to Grandma and Poppie's house for dinner?" We did not realize we had been over there for THAT long!.......We were supposed to be at dinner at 4:30......it was 4 O'clock at this point.........so that was the end of that! We scrambled to get ourselves and the kiddos ready and headed to GG and Poppie's for some prime rib dinner.

Dinner, of course was fabulous! Great to see family and visit with everybody.....Grandma and Poppie are SO amazing to have such a wonderful dinner every christmas! I'm so happy that my kids get to experience this christmas family tradition the way I did as a kid and look forward to many, many more......Happy Birthday Jesus!

He came!.....The BIG guy really came!

Christmas morning 2009 was SO much fun this year! Halle and Costa are at PERFECT ages! They came into the room where Erik and I were sleeping and said..."He CAME mommy and daddy....he REALLY came!" "SANTA came and brought us presents!!!!" Their excitement was priceless. "And he brought us bikes.....I can't believe he brought us bikes!..." Halle said. Aaaaahhhhh they were so cute:) It was DOUBLE the fun for us too this year because we woke up christmas morning with cousins Kaitlyn, Reecey and baby Ally and got to see what Santa brought them. We enjoyed watching each of them open their gifts and play with their new toys from Santa. Halle was so cute and actually KISSED the princess boombox Erik and I got her. And how happy both Halle and Costa were when they opened the play-doh ice cream station we got them (that they wanted SO badly and FORGOT to put on their lists;) I LOVE these Santa Claus years........and it's moments like these when I wish I could just freeze time and they could stay these ages forever! They sure do bring us SO much joy!

Christmas Eve 2009

It has always worked out perfectly with our families for Christmas because Contreras' like to celebrate and make a big prime rib and crab legs on Christmas Eve and my Grandparents like to make a big prime rib dinner on Christmas day. Gotta love eating prime rib 2 days in a row.......eating like kings and queens! We LOVE it! Spending time with the ones we love most!

Each year we try to coordinate going to mass on christmas eve with all of BOTH our families~which usually works out pretty well and everybody goes to the children's mass at St. Anne's. After mass, Erik and I head over to my grandparents house with the kids to have a bite of taco soup and light our candles. My Grandma and Poppie started a tradition when their kids were in high school.....on Christmas eve each kid lights a candle and says a prayer. They have a table set up special for all the candles, and they're coordinated with each family. So beautiful! And she also makes delicious taco soup! They have kept the tradition going and now there are SO many candles.....I honestly don't know how many, but the family just keeps growing with everybody getting married and having babies! I think this is an awesome tradition and may even have to start it in our family when our kids get older! Thanks Grandma and Poppie for being such ROCKS for our family and for all your beautiful traditions.

After this, we head back over to Papa and Grandma Contreras' house for some fabulous prime rib and crab leg dinner....and of course gift opening! We look forward to this tradition also. Thanks dad and mom Contreras:) Sitting down all together for a beautiful dinner! Erik made the prime rib this year, and of course it was FABULOUS! Erik and I bought some nice bottles of wine for dinner so we were all sipping on the wine and just enjoying being in each others company. I LOVE Christmas!!!

After a bit, we decided to migrate towards the christmas tree to enjoy watching the kids open presents. The kids are waiting ever so PATIENTLY for the adults to give the OK to start! As adults, we so easily forget the EAGERNESS of being a child and just wanting to open~Christmas is here and they don't want to wait ANY longer! It was really cute because I asked Halle and Costa what they wanted to get each other for Christmas this year. I figured they were both at good ages to feel excited about "giving" and not just "receiving." They were both so cute and so excited about this! Halle told me she wanted to get Costa a remote control car and Costa said he wanted to get Halle a princess tiara~lucky for me I found a remote control car at walmart for $10 (that broke that night...which was not so "lucky"....but it worked out because he got an even better one from Grandpa Tom:) and a perfect three musketeers tiara that could be a mask also for Halle that she would absolutely LOVE! I was SO excited! I brought the presents home and had each of them wrap their presents to each other. So on Christmas eve, the first gift that both of them wanted to open was the one from each other! It was so much fun! I'm so happy I did this!

The family has grown so much, and the kids are getting so big~Christmas eve just gets funner and funner...(we did miss AJ, though!!!!!) ...after all, the kiddos are what it's all about!