Gabe & Santa

First time with Santa .... 

didn't love it, but didn't hate it either. 

Just a little curious.

 (dec 16th 2010)

Stacie's Wedding, Birthdays, & Thanksgiving

The past few weeks have been so busy for us! But so much fun at the same time. Since it is Thanksgiving, I'd like to express how thankful I am for everything I've been given in my life. Although I know we all go through hardships and trials, I also know that if it weren't for those trials I would never be a stronger and better person. I am grateful for the country that I live in -- that allows me to practice my religion and faith and that I have so many freedoms. Besides God, my family is the best thing in my life. Gabe is the cutest thing ever and his smile & laugh brighten even the darkest of my days. I also have the greatest friends in my life as well. I have been blessed with people who are better than me and help to lift me up when I am down. You know who you are, thank you. :)

So the last few weeks have been full of family and friends. My younger sister, Stacie, got married on November 6th, and some of our old roommates came in to town for the event. I miss those girls! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera out most of the time because of having to take care of my little lovie muffin (which I love doing, but I can't do both!). Then my nephew, Zander, had is 5th b-day party and that also brought the family together. Then today, of course, we have been all together. I love my family! It's the greatest thing on earth to have such a supportive, loving, and funny family around!

This is my friend and old roommate, Sara. She couldn't stay up any longer on the eve of Stacie's wedding. I loved how she put her hands on her pillow to let her nails dry! :)

Jill and I at my mom's salon getting ready for the big day! (That's apple cider, btw)

Our whole family with the new Mr. & Mrs. Rahlf. 

We are so happy for them!

Gabe at the wedding .... such a cutie in his suit!

Jill and I at Zander's b-day party at Chucky Cheese

Creeper in the background

Family birthday party for Zander. Gabe loves his peas!

Spaghetti!

15 months old on Thanksgiving Day. My big boy. 

Me with Stacie and Jill.

No get together is complete without an ugly picture. I think I could've done better though....

Me and my bro Nick (normal pic -- nice mustache Nick)

Queen and King of ugly

Gabe's favorite spot at my parent's house: the computer

All the kids gathered 'round Uncle Nick

My little chickadee's: Keaton, Lacie, and Zander

Gabe LOVES Uncle Nick

 (and I had to show how freakin' adorable he is standing there)

A Little Bit of Everything

My life has been pretty busy in the last few weeks. I worked really hard to find a job once I moved to California, and I finally started work last Monday. It's not something I thought I would ever have to do: work full-time and have a child to provide for. It's hard, but rewarding at the same time. I like my job for the most part, which is working in customer service at Gap Inc., Direct. It's the online store for Gap and Old Navy, if you didn't know what that was. :)

Anyway, so most of my days consist of working all day, then coming home to be with Gabe as much as possible before he goes to bed. I miss him more than anything when I don't see him all day, but I keep a picture of him with me so I can see his cute little face. Well, I am sure you guys all wanted to know the run down in my life .... Here are some pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Me with all my sisters and my mom. They are my best friends and the best people I know!

Gabe having so much fun one night before going to bed.

Gabe just discovered this chair that my sister Tiffany has and he LOVES sitting on it now. He looks like such a big boy when he does.

My little muffin getting ready to get out of the bath tub. He loves the water!

The 411 on Our Fam

Just wanted to share some pictures from Father's Day of Gabe and Alejandro. Well, the first one is of Gabe giving Alejandro his present. We got him a nice razor and the DVD Mrs. Doubtfire (Ale loves that movie). We had a nice day at church and hanging out together. We both love Alejandro so much. Just a little info on my honey: He recently graduated from BYU-Idaho with a degree in Business Management and is currently completing his internship at the hospital here in town (which isn't paid). Since it's not paid, he decided to get a job at night working at Wal-Mart, just to bring in a little money while he finishes his internship (in his field). Well, if you have never worked at Wal-Mart, then you wouldn't know how hard it really is. But Ale continues to have a great attitude and goes there after a full day at the hospital. 

On top of all that, Alejandro gets up every morning at 7 a.m. with Gabe. He loves to spend time with his little boy before being gone all day. Plus, he lets me sleep in until he has to leave for work at 8. He is always willing to help out with anything around the house: cleaning, feeding or changing Gabe, and playing with his family. We love him very, very much and want him to know that we are so proud of how much he does for our family! We are so lucky. ;)

**I apologize in advance for the excessive use of 'he' ... I really didn't know how to start my sentences all about Gabe.**

On to other news: some little tid bits about Gabe. He is now almost 10 months and such a great little boy. He is becoming much more mobile and working really hard on crawling. He can actually spin a 360 on his stomach, so to me, that's pretty sweet. He can also scoot forwards and backwards and roll over. So that's mostly how he gets to the things he sees/wants. He climbs over stuff to get to things as well. He lifts himself out of his car seat too. Oh no! I don't think I'm ready for this! :)  

Gabe is such a happy baby, if you haven't noticed from all his pictures on here. He smiles and laughs so much, it just brightens me right up. Most the time he is on the floor playing with his toys, jumping around in his bouncer or walking all around the house in his walker. He has four teeth so far {two on bottom and two on top), with at least his other front tooth coming in as well. And through all the teething pains, he remains a very joyful and silly little guy. 

He started eating fresh fruits and veggies and so far he is loving tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, watermelon, strawberries, and cantaloupe. He is a great eater and still eats a little jar food here and there, and of course, his bottles. Once in awhile we give him some crackers and he loves those. We are also trying to get him to drink out of his sippy cup, but all he's wanted to do is play with it, so we'll keep working on that.

Gabe is also a big talker. He already says "mama mama," "dada dada," and "baba baba." He has no problem screaming in the middle of Sacrament meeting or during family prayer. And I also have to say that he loves to put EVERYTHING into his mouth. I mean everything. If it's near him, it'll be in his mouth pronto. Just a funny little story that happened today: I had to take him to an appointment where his iron was checked, so he got a little prick on his toe. The nurse put two band-aids on his toe and then we drove to the hospital for therapy. When I got his carseat out of the car, I noticed he was chewing on something. It was his band-aids! I was totally grossed out, but kinda had to laugh because it looked like he had some crumbs coming out of his mouth. Another thing is that he loves to chew on the pew at church, oh, and the old lady that sits behind us's walking cane. Yummy.

There's a lot more I could say about Gabe, but all in all, we have a really great little guy and he brings so much happiness and joy to our lives! We love you Gabe!

Utah Trip, June 2010

Gabe and I went down to Utah earlier this week to attend one of my good friends and former roommate, Sara's wedding. She was such a beautiful bride and we had an enjoyable time visiting with friends and my sister Stacie (who flew in from California; we were all roomies together). We were able to stay with our other roommate, Danielle for our stay. I am getting used to this new blogger design, so please excuse the weird set up of pictures. They are not in order and it's really bugging me, but just enjoy the pictures, no matter what order they're in!

The day of the reception a bunch of the girls got together for pedicures and manicures. Soooo nice and relaxing!

We went to visit my good friend Michelle one night {she made us the most delicious spaghetti -- thank you!!}

That's Michelle's dog Molly. Gabe and her were obsessed with each other, but only at the wrong times. They would simultaneously get scared of each other, then love each other again.

Stacie, Molly, and Gabe. Gabe's face says a million things. Molly was the sweetest dog by the way.

The picture above and the pictures below are of our trip to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. Gabe was sleeping most of the time, so that's why he's not in many of them. It was such a beautiful, sunny day and we got some nice pictures around the temple grounds.

The picture above is a replica of the SLC temple in one of the visitor centers. If you are ever on temple square, you need to check this out. It looks exactly like the temple, but with openings to show what is inside this temple. So cool and interesting. I never had any clue what is on the top floors of the temple and you get to find out by looking at this display. Plus there were tons of people there asking questions about temples and I was excited to see that!

What a gorgeous & holy building!

The following pictures are from Sara's reception. It was well-put together and beautiful.

This is actually from tonight as Gabe took his welcome home bath. He really missed his bath tub.

Uruguay!

Uruguay is my husband's home country. Today they are playing against France in the World Cup. It's exciting for him because they haven't made it for awhile. And now we have a son who we can teach soccer to and make him love it! (jk) But Ale's mom brought out a Uruguayan soccer uniform when G was born. And a little, tiny soccer ball. So cute!

//

Como Alejandro es de Uruguay y como hoy se va a jugar el partido de Francia y Uruguay por la Copa en el Mundial Sudafricano 2010 decidimos vestir a Gabriel con la ropa official del equipo de futbol uruguayo. No solo para honrar a Alejandro en la copa mundial pero tambien para que sus padres lo puedan ver a Gabriel. Esa ropa le queda re grande porque Mariela trajo un equipo que era para pibes grandes.

...................................................................

We are watching the game today, and in honor of Ale's country, we dressed G up in some over-sized Uruguayan garb. He loved the soccer ball too!

//

Hoy vimos el partido Francia Uruguay. Ojala que Uruguay gane. Es un pais pequeno pero con un gran corazon. A Gabriel le encanto la pelota de futbol. no se despego ni un momento.

California, April 2010

**There are two more posts below this one from our weekend before California. Don't miss them!**

As a family, we went out to visit my family in California from Sunday, April 11, to Monday, April 19th. We traveled on Sunday and Monday, so no pictures from those days. I split the pictures up from day to day to make it easier for me. We had so much fun with my family, especially since G and his cousin Lacie are only 4 months apart. I also loved seeing my nephews, Zander and Keaton.

Monday, April 12th: Hanging out at home and visiting Tiffany (and nephews and niece)

Zander saying that G's head smells after taking his helmet off

Lacie was always trying to push G over or attack his face. G doesn't know how to defend himself yet.

Tuesday, April 13th: Went to visit Tiffany again; had fun with Keaton, Zander, and Lacie!

Wednesday, April 14th: Chico, Aunt J, G, and I went to visit my grandparents in Sacramento. It was a long day, but G had a fun time hanging with his great grandparents.

J & G

J, Great Grandpa O, me, and G (this was towards the end of the day and he was starting to get cranky)

Oh he loves great g'ma O!


Thursday, April 15th: We went out to eat at Lincoln Chinese -- the best chinese on earth (I think I put that on every post when I go to California, but its sooo true) ... and the friendliest Chinese ladies on the American continent. :)

The whole crew, minus Papa Mark

Auntie Stacie with the babies


Friday, April 16th: My mom, dad, sisters Tiffany, Stacie, Jill, and my grandma O and I went to the Sacramento temple Friday night. It was such a beautiful day -- but nothing compares to the beauty of the House of the Lord:

My parents

My mom and sisters

Saturday, April 17th: The WHOLE family went to Six Flags Marine World on Saturday (the whole day -- ugghhh, it was fun but challenging with a baby). I didn't take too many pictures because I was having FUN. But a fun little side note is that I had my hair back in a pony tail with my mom's heavy duty hair spray on. I went on multiple roller coasters and my hair stayed in tact. So if you're looking for a really good hair spray, talk to my mom. :)

My cute boys waiting for the Shouka whale show to start

Shouka

Grandpa and G watching the elephants

At the end of the day -- we just had to try on some ghetto fabulous hats


Sunday, April 18th: Delicious dinner at Grandma & Grandpa O's house. Spare-ribs, potato salad, rolls, strawberry cheese cake -- YUM!

Stacie with G

G and Lacie