We had a huge birthday celebration for Anthony, Zoe and Parker last weekend. We started with Zoe's surprise room makeover. She wanted a Tinkerbell room really bad so we did a few little things to make it look new. This is the before picture: and this is the after: I started my morning by decorating a cake for all three birthday people. Anthony got a football cake: Zoe got a star cake with pixie dust: Parker got a Batman cake (not my best cake ever): We had a balloonist come and he did an amazing job. Some of my favorites were; The Roadrunner, Batman, Donald Duck, Elmo, and a penguin. The kids all did the pinata. We had face painting too. The kids got way too many gifts (thank you very much everyone).The party was a great success and we had a ton of fun.
We were up at 4:15am this morning. We finished packing the stuff into the van and headed out around 5am. We had planned to stop in Vegas on the way for the M&M's factory and a buffet. We did a specialized bag of M&M's for both of the kids at Knott's though, and they were both still super tired. So we just stopped at Jack in the Box for breakfast and kept going. Sam decided to scream (scream not cry) for over an hour to express his desire to get out of the van. We had to get Sam an Icee in Cedar City so that he would relax. We made it home just before 5pm (Utah time). We are all so very happy to be back home. Zoe started bawling after a while though. We asked her what was going on, and she said that it was because, "Dad woke me up super early." We cleaned her tears and snot up and put her to bed. Here is a video from the fair that we were not able to post until we got home. Harvey rode the mechanical bull and he did a great job. We promised to post it, so here it is.
We were all up way too early this morning. Anthony went out to help Grandma in the garden, and Sam decided that it was a good idea. He went out and helped by throwing things and telling Grandma some interesting babbles. Grandma went and picked him a tomato. He ate a few bites and then threw it in the garbage and went looking for some mud to play in. After a short morning nap (for me and the kids), we went to Knott's Berry Farm to celebrate Zoe's fifth birthday. It was not even busy today at the park. There was no wait on any of the rides. For some of them, we just stayed in the seat and they did the ride another time. Anthony and I took turns watching the kids and running up and riding the "big kid" rides. Another fountain! This picture is a tradition now. I found one of Anthony in the same plane when he was eight, and I realized that I had taken the same picture of Zoe when we went to Knott's a couple of years ago. Now I am going to do it every time we go. Sam was too little to go on it this year. We also took a picture like this one a couple of years ago. Sam really liked driving the little diesel trucks. He was getting way into it. We went over to Ita's for one last visit after the park. They had a little cake there for her, but no #5 candle. So we told her that she could add #2 and #3 to make #5. Today was Anthony's cousin Iris' birthday too! Sam and Anthony were really excited for the cake. We went back to Grandma's and packed after cake. The vacation is coming to an end. I keep telling Anthony that I feel like we need another day. He replied by telling me that he thought we should go home tonight instead of tomorrow, just so that we can have an extra day to be home and relax.
We had ebleskeivers (pancake puffs) for breakfast this morning. Then we headed out to Hunington Beach. As soon as I set up the beach chairs, Sam was ready to relax (as much as he is capable of). He was climbing in and out of the chairs and they were even folding up on him. Sam learned very quickly that it is not a good idea to throw tantrums at the beach. He threw himself down on the sand and came up with sand everywhere. Anthony headed out into the water to do some boogie boarding for a while. He had a lot of fun. Anthony was out in the water and looked next to him and saw his life flash before his eyes. He panicked and wished for a moment that he had taken out a larger life insurance policy. Then he realized that the shark that just swam up next to him, was actually a dolphin. You can see it right in the middle of the picture if you look closely. Zoe was very brave this year at the beach. She wanted to go out and swim, but the waves were too strong for her to go far. She had a lot of fun playing with Anthony and learning all about the ocean though. We went looking for shells for a little while. Anthony found more in the water than we did on the beach. I found one that was closed and had an oyster in it still. Anthony took it into the water and washed it out. I owe him big for this he says. Sam was eating cookies, but they became sand covered cookies very quickly. Zoe said, "MOM! Sam is eating sand!" I told her that they were sand cookies and I made them for him out of sand. She was like, "Oh. Can I have one?" Ha ha ha! I love her! We finished the evening by going out to dinner with some of Anthony's relatives.
We had a wonderful day at Disneyland today! Anthony got in for free because it was his 30th birthday today. Him and Zoe both got little buttons that said, "happy birthday" with their names on them (Zoe turns five on the 10th). Everyone kept saying, "Happy birthday Zoe!" She said, "How does everyone know it is my birthday, and how do they know my name?" We told Zoe that we were going to go into a fun house (The Haunted Mansion) and that it looked like it must be Cinderella's, but she did not believe us. She kept telling us that it looked haunted. When we got in there and things started she was like, "See! I told you it was haunted!" Anthony also told her that Snow White's Scary Adventure ride was really called Snow White's Happy Adventure. When we got out he kept calling it that. Zoe said, "That was more like Snow White's Scary Happy Adventure." This is us getting ready to go into the It's A Small World ride. Sam was very concerned whenever we went on a new ride. Anthony started our day off with Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, so Sam was really nervous about what the rides would be. He was pointing at everything and talking about it. This is him on It's a Small World. Another fountain! Sam had fun on the teacups, until they started to go. He got so mad when Anthony started making it spin even more. Zoe wanted to go on the teacups twice because she had so much fun spinning them. Sam took an afternoon nap while we waited in some lines and even while we rode on the Alice in Wonderland ride. Zoe got to go into any store and pick one thing for her birthday. She picked some light-up Tinkerbell wings. We met lots of characters like: Pinocchio Winnie The Pooh Tigger Minnie Mouse We finished the evening by grabbing some burgers from In-N-Out on the way home.
We started the morning by going to a police training field. This is where Anthony used to play when he was younger. Sam wanted to do all of the obstacles. Then he wanted to walk on every ledge or piece of wood to prove his balance (he has none). Then we went to breakfast at Ita's. She had Mexican bread and some rice pudding like stuff (arroz con leche). We went back to Grandma's for a little while and Zoe started to help her make some of "Grandma's Lie Jam". This is a jam that seems like strawberry jam, but it is really made out of figs. Then we met up with Mikey and Edith at Mimi's cafe. We had the worst service, but our food was free so I guess you get what you pay for. We were going to go to a science museum, but the kids decided that they would rather go see "UP" at the theater. I thought the movie was cute. Sam and Anthony slept through it. After the movie, we rested for a bit. Then we went over to Ita's again for dinner. Anthony's Tio Victor brought his wife and kids over. We had pizza and tamales. The pizza was great, and this was my first time having tamales. They were pretty spicy, but I enjoyed them. The kids had a great time playing with the soccer ball and the pets. This is a picture of the guayava fruit that I tried. Anthony loves our new camera and the pictures it takes.
We started the morning with church. We went to sacrament with Grandma Meservy at 9. Then we hurried over to Ita's ward for her sacrament meeting at 11. Ita's was in a Spanish ward, so Zoe and I were a little lost. I acted like I knew what was going on, and I even got out the himnos book. I leaned toward Ita and said, "Here! I cannot read this." She smiled and replied, "Well, I cannot sing." We had the hardest time not laughing. Then we just sat there and looked at the book while everyone finished singing. Anthony had a great time seeing all of his family and friends in church. Then we went to visit Benjamin's grave. The cemetery was massive, so it was a good thing Anthony remembered how to get there. We then drove out to see the L.A. temple. It was nice to go on a Sunday, because there were not a lot of people there. Zoe had to stick her hand in the fountain. We recreated some of Anthony's parent's wedding photos. This one is our favorite. We had one wedding guest (Sam), and our photographer (Zoe). Our kids both enjoyed nature in their own special ways. Zoe picked flowers and strolled through all the gardens. Sam plopped down in the rocks and laughed as he threw them at me. Boys and girls really are so different. Zoe and Grandma played some fun games again while Anthony made Sunday dinner for everyone. Then I made some chocolate dipped bananas for dessert. I had never had one and we all thought that they would be fun to try. Sam just sucked the chocolate off and made Anthony eat his banana.
We went over to Mike and Edith's new house in the morning (it is an old house, but they remodeled). Their house looks amazing! They put a lot of work into it and made it very beautiful.?:" Then we all drove out to the L.A. County Fair. Anthony explained it by saying it was "Like Syracuse Heritage Days". When we got there I told him that he was right, if "Syracuse" were "Los Angeles" and "Heritage Days" were "County Fair". This thing was HUGE. The parking lot was like going to Disneyland. There was so much to do, we did not get to do it all. We met up with another one of Anthony's cousins there, Harvey. Him and his wife Lorena lead the way around the fair. As usual, Zoe had to stick her hand in all if the fountains. Zoe's favorite part was the petting zoo. There were a ton of goats and sheep just running around eating food from the kid's hands. She was fearless and excited to have the animals come to her. Sam was so nervous about the animals. He had fun pretending to be one though. We had some fun fair food. We actually had a fried Twinkie. I have been wanting to try one of those for the longest time. Harvey's little one tried some ham too. Sam was having a really hard time with all of the heat and people and not being able to run free. But then he did some shopping, and seemed to find exactly what he wanted. After the fair we went over to Little Letty's house for a BBQ. When we got there, there was a little pool out for the kids. Zoe did not have a suit so I, being the wild and carefree mother that I am, allowed Zoe to play in her clothes. We came back to Grandma's for dinner and she made Hawaiian haystacks. Mmmmm! What a great way to end a long day.
Getting ready for a nine day family vacation is very difficult. I had so much to do, and Anthony was VERY busy with work and his new semester. So I had to finish packing the van and getting everyone ready while Anthony was in class. Sam sat in the bathroom screaming while I showered. He did not stop until I was actually out and attending to him. Then he did not want me to stop paying attention to him even for a second. Either I am a horrible mother, or he is a complete brat (or both), but he made me strap him to me the entire time that I did my hair. I tried setting him down at one point, and he started screaming again. I know that I should not give in, but sometimes I just want him to stop screaming. We left the house at 9pm and drove all night to get to California. Sam was screaming to get out of his carseat the entire way there. When we arrived we all took a short nap. Then Anthony reminisced about his childhood at Grandma Meservey's (that is where we are staying). We played games with the kids and had lots of fun. Zoe is awesome at Jenga. We made a visit to the .99 cents store and bought some fun stuff. Then we went over to Tio Chuy's for Ita's roast and Mexican bread. My favorite part of the day was all of the fun new things I learned about and tried. I ate my very first fig at Grandma's house. At Tio Chuy's house I had guayava juice, and I tried a guayava. I have no idea what it really is. I like the juice, but not the fruit. I tried a Mexican lemon (they are just little lemons). I ate raw sugar cane. I tried a quince (they taste like very sour green apples). I saw lots of other fruits in their yard, but some of them were not ripe yet. Hopefully I can try some of those before I leave. I also ate dried papaya. It was delicious! The kids played with the dog and cat tonight too. That was the first time Sam was brave enough to touch an animal. We are having lots of fun so far and are really excited for what else this week will bring.
Our ward had a big luau last weekend. It was so much fun! They roasted three pigs. We showed it to Zoe before she ate, and she still tried it. When she was getting some, there was a hoof hanging off the table and she asked what it was. We explained everything and she just went along with it. She really surprised me.
Sam loves to listen to music on Anthony's headphones. He is talking on it like a phone. :D He likes to push the buttons like he is doing something important.
I spent almost an entire day sewing a table cloth for our kitchen table today. Just so everyone knows, it is very difficult to find a square table cloth. I insisted on getting a counter height table with eight chairs, so I guess it is my own fault.
I have been starting to do more crafts and projects around the house lately. It probably has something to do with the fact that Sam is getting a little older and starting to leave me alone a little more during the day. I bought the supplies for this little bow holder at a craft store. I spent less than $2 for the entire project. The big pink daisy on top has a ribbon hanging on it and I have clipped all of Zoe's bows on the ribbon. Thank you again Shannon for the bows!
Genevieve did a great job planning the first annual Monsivais family reunion. It began on Friday night with a "preach and pie". Dad gave a talk and everyone had some pie. The older siblings then attended a temple session at the Provo temple. Anthony and I were too late for all of this. We stayed the night at his parent's house. We started the morning out by having breakfast at Magleby's Fresh. They had all-you-can-eat french toast with the most awesome syrup. Then we went to a gymnastic gym. We reserved it for an hour and a half. There were tons of fun things to do. It was great! The three older kids got the hang of things really fast. They were a little hesitant at first, but then they had a blast and went wild. Sam loved jumping into the pit. He was happy as long as he was active. We were taking him off the swing rope and bouncing off of tramps into it. He was even willing to jump in on his own. As soon as he was in, he would hurry to get out so that he could jump in again. Anthony was so excited for the contest. His stomach had been a little off for a few days, but he was not going to forfeit the chance to participate. Sam won first place, finishing four hot dogs in 1 minute and 50 seconds. Hyrum came in second and Jacob came in third. This hot dog belt buckle will be the prize awarded each year. Here are all of the hot dog eating contest participants. Heidi was a great sport and made sure that all married families were properly represented (Dave had to work). In the battle of the sexes game (boys against girls), the boys won and 'took home' the trophy. Sam finished the evening with a nice slushy. He LOVES frozen drinks! I love to give them to him because he will sit with it in his mouth and continue to drink until his hands are frozen.
We went to a carnival this morning (after all of the yard sales of course). There was a clown doing face paintings and balloon animals. Sam got a painting on his hand so he could see it, but he ate it off. They had bounce houses, a pinata, hamburgers, sno cones, and a raffle. I won a backpack, which I thought was a little lame. Anthony won an awesome dutch oven dish that you can use to cook dutch oven meals in the oven. I was so jealous! Zoe was so proud of her face painting. Zoe's half-brother Seth is turning seven on the twelfth, so we took him to the dinosaur park to celebrate his birthday. I am so amazed at how the kids never get bored of the park. We have gone every weekend for the last three weeks and Zoe still gets excited when we say we are going. Seth had a lot of fun. He does great when he is with us. Seth spent the night of course, he loves to stay over here. Sam and Seth decided to play some Xbox before bringing the evening to a close. Sam sat so contentedly in Seth's lap and just watched him play. The biggest part of Saturday was my birthday present. It came rather early, but I guess Anthony was not able to hide it (I have no idea why, it is not like it was big). I do not know how to play the piano, but Anthony does and he has promised to teach me and the kids how to. I am really excited! He always gives me the best surprises. I fell in love with him after the first time I celebrated my birthday with him. He is always so thoughtful. We went to the zoo last Thursday. I just bought this new wagon for our zoo adventure. It has two seats in it, which makes it perfect for TWO kids to ride in. Zoe does not like to play by the rules however. She decided to sit between the two boys (the one on the right is from my daycare). She had her little map out and told me where to go. It was soooooo hard to pull three kids up those hills. It was evern harder to outrun the wagon when it was going downhill. Sam was hilarious at the zoo. Everything was a really big deal. This is his face for such occasions. He would point and make this face and then start to growl. EVERYTHING at the zoo growls, even the birds. (Notice the necklace? He loves necklaces!)
Anthony likes to unwind by playing a little Xbox 360. Sam uses an old Xbox controller and pretends to play with him. He is such a boy. Look at him just lounging in bed playing video games.
Here is a picture of Sam's first black eye. He is at the dinosaur park (last Saturday) posing with Anthony's favorite dinosaur. He loves to lift the kids up and put them in the mouth of the T-rex. Sam is usually pretty good about it and smiles while he does it. The black eye happened when Sam hugged his friend until they both fell off the bed (we have a platform bed so it was not a long fall). Sam's friend went straight down, but Sam caught his cheek on the nightstand.Here is Cave Zoe. She plays along so well. I told her to make a fat face and this is what I got. I love this picture.
This is a video of Sam digging for bones at the dinosaur park. Him and Zoe get way into it and they love to do it every time we are there. It is so fun to watch Sam dig. I could watch him for hours.
We celebrated Sam's first birthday this weekend (it was on the 17th).
Anthony had Thursday off, so we started the fun right away. We went and took a tour of Mrs. Cavanaugh's chocolate factory. Anthony's sister Genevieve and her son Josh came with us.
After the factory tour (it was a very small factory with a very small tour) we went to the Capital again. With Anthony working there, our kids are going to get great exposure to the Capital.
Friday started very early. First, we took the kids to the dinosaur park. They had a ton of fun walking around and finding all of the dinosaurs in the park.
Sam was excited for his cake, but it does not show because I had to take the presents away and make him really mad.
I have been so busy lately, so I did not make Sam's cake. I already feel like such a bad mom for celebrating late, so this was just like the guilt cherry on top.
Sam had a ton of fun with his Elmo cupcake. He was not using his hands at first because he was not sure about touching it.
He ate a bit, and then he started painting on his tray with the frosting.
Then we went outside and did some fireworks. Carson was scared of all of them. He did not want to hold the sparklers and he covered his ears when we did the loud ones. Sam and Zoe were little pyromaniacs and could not get enough.
We went to the a family reunion (for Anthony's Mom's side) on Saturday. It was at a park in Salt Lake.
We made cotton candy for everyone.
Sam is learning the art of cotton candy very early.
Dave and Heidi were married on July 11th at the Timpanogos Temple. We were up at 6am and did not get home until after 8pm, so it made for a very long day. It was more than worth it though. We are so happy for Dave and Heidi.
Here are the kids looking so cute.
Here are the kids looking um....... Well not so.....you get the idea.
Sam loves to give hugs. Carson is his favorite person to hug.
He always starts to hug and it gets all of the kids going.
Sam liked his tie, but he loved the girls bows even better.
We love Zoe so much! She has always given us a lot of good laughs. We just wanted to share some of our funnest memories of her and some of the things she is still doing. Translations (Zoe to English): Efalint = Elephant belax = relax bemember = remember assmorning = this morning last day = the other day qwount = count bisgusting = disgusting Anfernee = Anthony Peter Potter = Harry Potter Biona and Dohnkey = Fiona and Donkey D..D..D..Dora = Dora the Explorer shwimp and cwab = shrimp and crab (Zoe's favorites) Gordita and Gordito = Ita and Ito (AkA Anthony's parents) Just nothing = Zoe's response to, "What are you doing?" (When she is up to no good) I just want something = Zoe wants something to eat, but is not sure what I don't want anything (with one hand covering her bottom) = Zoe's response when she knows she is in trouble and does not want a spanking
If Zoe is done with her dinner she will say, "I am full and I don't want any dessert." This is because every time she said she was full, Anthony would ask if she wanted ice cream and she would yell, "Yes!" She finally caught on that she would not really get ice cream unless all her dinner was gone.
The other day she did not want to finish putting her laundry away and she needed an excuse. She decided that she would tell me that she was, "out of muscles" and that she could no longer work.
When there was snow on the ground Zoe was always sneaking some to eat. I would tell her not to every time. One day I was putting her in her carseat and she was chewing. I said, "Are you eating snow?" She replied with a look of disgust , "And sand!" as she chewed the dirt. She has since decided that it is not good to eat snow.
On our way home from California once, right after celebrating her third birthday, Zoe had to go potty really bad (#2). There were not rest stops coming up and she was three, so we had to pull over. I helped her go potty and then explained that this was only something we did in an emergency. She was baffled by the term, and started looking around. She saw some garbage on the hillside and decided that she did not know what it was called. Then she pointed to the garbage and said, "Look Mom, an emergency."
I had a great Fourth of July weekend. So many things happened. Anthony and I sell cotton candy at the parks during the summer. Leah and Josh came up to help us. Leah made a great post on her blog. It was so great that I decided to just post a link to hers. She captured our kids very well.
We have only been married for a year and a half so far, but we have had a ton of fun in this short time. We have made lots of memories already and we look forward to the ones we will be making in the future.
Zoe Silvia
Zoe is our oldest. She turned five last Semptember. She loves to learn new things. She is very social and ALWAYS has a bunch of interesting stories to tell. She is a very sweet spirit! There are so many wonderful things that she brings to our family. She is a great big sister to all of her brothers.
Carson Anthony
Carson turned four in February. He loves having Parker with him, mostly because he can tell him what to do. He is very sensitive, which makes him difficult to warm up to people, but a sweet friend once he does. He loves to play with Sam and they both can bring a smile to eachother's face any day. He LOVES trains!!!
Parker Benjamin
Parker turned three last September. He has always seemed very advanced for his age. He has no fear about anything. If there is something that the other kids are hesitant about, Parker will always be the volunteer to try it first. He knows what he wants, so sometimes we have to remind him that just because you want something it does not mean you are going to get it.
Samual Atlas
Sam turned one in July. He is running everywhere. He is coming into his personality. He is a very silly little boy. He is a handful, but he is also the funniest part of our day, every day. He has a spark to him, and we love it!
