Here's to A New Year

We're Ready to Make This:

The BEST Year Yet!!

Chirstmas 2012

CHRISTMAS 2012

We had an amazing Christmas Season! 

 It was filled with fun, family, friends, treats, lights, music and our favorite part.......Kali baby.

We decorated the house with all the trimmings, visited the REAL North Pole up in Flagstaff, played in a new fresh foot of snow, listened to endless Christmas music, visited the largest Gingerbread house in Arizona, took pictures with Santa, spent lots of time with family and friends, drove past Gilbert lights in Lakeview Trails too many times to count and loved every minute of the Spirit of the Season.  

It's a magical time spending Christmas with little ones who are filled with wonder and believe with all their hearts!

SNOW DAY!!

Nothin' like a family from the desert waking up to a foot of snow in the high country!  

The kids had their winter gear on as fast as their little hands could button and zip it all up!

Abby, Kali and I lasted 3 1/2 minutes before we were ready for a warm bath and hot chocolate.

The boys lasted another seven minutes before their thin-blooded bodies came in frozen to the bone.

The snow was beautiful.  The snowman was adorable.  But the hot chocolate and dry clothes were the best part for this family!

Back to the desert.....

See you next year snow!

Javalina Jundred---Round 2

He's done it again!!  Bacho completed the Insanely-Hard-Only-For-The-Crazy-Few Javalina 100 again this year!  

He beat his time by nearly 2 hours and earned the much coveted Sub-24 Javalina belt buckle (which he wears quite well in his little jeans).  

Eat that pizza my friend.  You earned it!!  We're so proud of you for giving it everything you had.

Bodie's 5!!

This little spitfire is 5!

He's passionate, loving, curious, smart, stubborn, funny, tender hearted, clever and just the cutest little cutie pie.  

We love our Bodie and every bit of liveliness he brings to our family.

We love you Bodie Kai Kai.

Squishy Face

 Love

This 

Little

Squishy 

Face!

Kali Faith

Sweet little Kali Faith is here and we are loving her up!
It's amazing how a new little spirit can join a family and fit in perfectly right from the first moment.  
As soon as she took her first breath, I couldn't imagine life without her.
There's no doubt this sweet baby is meant to be in our family.
We feel beyond blessed.
We love you Kali.
 

 

 

 

Feliz Navidad!!

We had a wonderful Christmas season this year…..so many fun activities (with not many pictures since the camera is still somewhere in the Pacific). 

 But pictures or not, we enjoyed many, many hours together enjoying this time of year.

We took a special effort this year to cut out some of the fluff and really focus on the good stuff.

The good stuff included visits to the temple lights, our Ward Christmas Party, our Ward White Christmas, the Office Party, hours of baking in the kitchen, lots of talk of Baby Jesus and the Christmas Story, trying to stay on the good list, the Performance of Feliz Navidad by the kids at their school, approximately 67 trips past Gilbert lights, nightly viewings on ABC Family Christmas and best of all: endless singing of Christmas Carols. The favorite this year...."Feed the Wooooorld."  It's not possible to count how many times we sang that one.

 We are so blessed. What a special time of year.

Our Abby Girl

Kokoro 20!

What can we say....the boy loves him a good dose of pain.  He signed himself up for another good showering of abuse last weekend.  

He thought it sounded like a great idea to let some hard core navy seals torture him for 55 hours straight. 

He flew out Thursday afternoon taking his duffel bag full of gear and his training over the past 4 months with him.

He showed up in Encinitas at 12 noon sharp dressed in his boots and camo pants and waited patiently for the beating.  After standing still for an hour and a half anticipating what was to come......it all began. 

55 hours straight of running with a 40 pound pack, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, pull-ups, a streaming hose of cold water to the face, yelling, being dunked in a trash can full of ice water head first, humiliation, carrying large grown men on his shoulders, hiding in a sand hole, a 26 mile hike with a 50 pound pack, sit-ups in the ocean in the middle of the night, drinking more salt water than any human should, carrying a 500 pound log with his crew, being hosed down and told to roll around in the sand till there was no skin visible, coaches reminding them of each and every one of their flaws, mind games and whatever else these crazy instructors could come up with.

For some it was too much.  They bowed out gracefully (or not so gracefully in some cases). 

 But for those who could stick it out, they found a sweet reward waiting for them at the end. 

They found comradery, praise from their coaches, strength they didn't know they had, life lessons learned and a peace in knowing they can do very, very hard things.

We already knew you could do hard things Bacho.  But you took it to a new level. 

Way to "PUT OUT!"

KOKORO 20!!

Happy Halloween

What's His Shelf Life?

Can I bottle this boy up, stick him in my canner and keep him like this forever?? 

I've decided four years old is the most perfect age of all ages. The tantrums (for the most part ;) are gone. 
He has the best sense of humor.
He goes to school (but not full time so we still get to have jammie days)
He loves dates with his mama.  
His favorite lately is a good ol' trip to QT for a colored drink and 'somethin' with a hotdog in it.
He's so independent and he's the best helper around the house. He'll do anything to beat that imaginary clock.
He's still so innocent and has a super tender heart.  
He cried for 2 hours straight in ET.  Not because he was scared but because he couldn't stand the thought of ET's mom leaving.  He watched that movie to the bitter end just waiting for ET's mommy to come back.
He believes in all things magical. His imagination is in full swing....pirates, cowboys, secret hideouts, hidden treasures and all other things truly "boy"

And my most favorite of all:
He's still little enough to climb up in my arms, make himself into a little ball and ask me to hold him while he touches my face.

I would pay lots of money to keep this sweet little 4 years old forever. I ask him everyday to please stay four years old so I can squish his sqishy little hands. 
His answer to me everyday is the same,

"Sorry mom, I'm gonna have to be a deacon comin' up."

I love you four year old Bodie.

Hello Again

Hello!! 
It's been 10 months.....10 very quick months since our last post. Has it really been 10 months?  Where has the time gone? But we're back as bloggers. Partly because I miss it, partly because it's my favorite way to keep a record of my family and partly I feel like a guilty loser for letting so much time pass. I'll explain my guilt:


Bacho and I were trying to find a picture for his Mormon.org profile. We looked through several pictures that he wasn't happy with and then he suggested we go to our blog to find one.  I sat there for a moment going back in time through the files in my brain trying to type our blog address. My mind was blank....but I knew it had Vega in it. I HAD FORGOTTEN THE BLOG ADDRESS! Bacho reminded me what it was and I quickly typed the familiar address. Our little family history popped up and we sat there for several minutes going through the pictures and stories of our little family.  We smiled and laughed and remembered great times. 
Then I thought about all the things that have happened over the past 10 months and I felt sad we don't have a record of all the happenings in our lives. 

My new goal:  Be a better photographer, record keeper and blogger.  I'll do my best to have 2011 flashbacks to remember all the memorable moments as I add the new ones.

My second goal:  Find our camera that has the only record of the past 10 months!!  It might be at a Marriott, it might be at Seaworld, it might be on Carnival Slendor or somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.  But if you see a little Cannon camera with some pics of us, it's probably ours. Kindly return it and it'll really help with goal #1. 

First Day of Mi Escuela

These two cuties started school! 

Rain, Rain

it's raining

and

it's pouring

and

we're loving every minute of it.
 

Check Me Out

Here's a little conversation that took place in our home about the picture below.

     Bodie: "Abby, look at this picture. This is our Mommy."
     Abby:  "Ohhhhh."    
     Bodie: "Yes Abby. That lady is our Mommy. She's running. She's a very, very good runner."    
     Abby: "That you, Mommy?"    
     Me:   "Yes Abby. That's Mommy."

Today I am grateful for little people who think this picture looks anything like their Mother.

 

Tis The Season

Rice Crispy Wreaths

+

Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas II You


=

A Very Merry Evening


 

Mas Sushi Por Favor

Sometimes you just need a spicy tuna roll before naptime to stretch the belly for the upcoming feast.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Mr. 100

I've been a blog slacker of the worst kind for many a months. But.......I couldn't let this post escape our family memories. It was, after all, simply inspiring and we are still bragging about him.


Our little engine that could completed his first (and hopefully last) 100 mile run.


Some tid-bits about the race:


* It was actually 101.4 miles
* A little less than half of those that started were able to finish
* It took him 25.5 hours to complete the 100 miles
* He fueled with Gatorade, chicken broth and Ensure. Everything else became coyote chum on the trail
* Bacho along with most other finishers were literally delirious by the last loop
* On mile 97 Bacho got a boost of some insane energy and left all 3 of his pacers in the dust
*He was left with zero blisters
* The next day he took a nap, ate a ton of food, got a massage and was walking like he hadn't just run 100 miles.
* He earned the coolest belt buckle (with a pig on it) which he will wear loud and proud for a long time.

 If you were wondering what dedication, heart, determination and discipline look like........
he's right there in these photos.
 

Boys Will Be Boys

How do you know a little boy lives in your home?


You open your kitchen drawer and find a mud covered spatula put neatly back in it's place amongst all the clean utensils.


Love you Bodie!

 

1. Click on this link.
2. Turn the volume way up.
3. Smile and start shakin' what your mama gave ya with whoever will shake it with ya.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35GKY3grWn4&feature=related


 

Dear Abby,

Even though you only know how to say,

"no", "stop it", and "let go",

we still think of you as our little lady.

Thank you for sharing your sweet little spirit and your contagious smile with us everyday.

We love you Abby Girl!

 

Blankies and Fingers

Wanna be a Vega?

Choose your favorite blankie and your best tasting finger (or fingers).
Snuggle the blankie and insert fingers.
You'll fit right in.

Bacho Vega...IRONMAN

Dear Friends,
Have a wonderful weekend.
Love,
Abby

Brotherly Love

These are some orange blossoms that are blooming in my yard. They smell delicious.

(orange blossoms are on my top 5 yummiest smells list)

Every time I hear the word blossom, I think about my brother.

This is my brother Brock. He's not on my top 5 yummiest smells list, but he is at the top of my list for favorite brothers.

(Brock in 1994)

Brock is 2 years, 1 month and 7 days older than me.

He took his job as an older brother very seriously. He never missed a day to tease me. He never passed up a moment to embarrass me. You know....big brother stuff.

One time he spent an entire Saturday pleading for me to answer the question, "Why didn't you tell me Le Mans???"

I didn't know what Le Mans was and I had no idea I was supposed to remind him about it. I was sobbing by the end of the day and apologizing profusely for forgetting to remind him about something so important.

When he'd seen me suffer long enough, he informed me that he didn't know what Le Mans was either and added,

"But it was sure fun to watch you cry about it all day."

Another time when I was about 13, Brock was downstairs with all of his buddies.

I usually had crushes on several of his friends and spent a good amount of time in the bathroom fluffing my bangs when I knew they were coming.

After I'd fluffed them good and long, I strolled downstairs to pretend I needed something.

I walked in the kitchen where Brock and his buddies were eating. Before I had a chance to bat an eyelash, Brock stood up, walked passed me and announced, "Wow Stac, you're really blossoming."

I was mortified.

I ran upstairs and sobbed on my bed. I was so angry with him. I swore I'd never speak to him again.

But not speaking to him didn't last long. He's my brother. And I think in some ways I enjoyed the abuse. I knew it was his way of showing his love to his little sister.

I miss him. He's married with 4 little boys. He's finishing his last 2 years of residency and has lived all over the country for many years.

But I wish he lived down the street.

I wish my children could play with his children.

I wish I could have them over for Family Home Evening tonight.

I wish I could see him often enough to dish back some of his teasing.

But for now I'll have to settle for a phone call and a brief update about he and his family. I'll have to be ok with pictures of his new little baby sent by email.

But I'll also be looking forward to visiting him soon. I'll even welcome some good ol' fashioned teasing while I'm there.