Rolling down the hill

Naomi rolling down the hill. She did this like 6 times and she wanted to keep going!

Getting back to bloggin and FHE con Los Frost

I hate getting behind on bloggin because then I don't even know where to start so I end up not doing it at all. So I'll just start with today, instead of trying to go back to remember what has gone on in our household int the last few months.

Today we had family home evening. We have been trying to be diligent in doing this, even if it's not a seat-down-and-have-a-lesson type of FHE, because really it can be a challenge to do that with a 3 and 1 year old. Not only do they have a short attention spam, but also mom and dad don't really have time to plan a lesson between making dinner and getting home from work. So for the past couple of months we have been trying to alternate between really short and sweet lessons and doing something where we can just spend some quality time together. Last week we went on a walk, I think the week before that we went swiming, we have gone to visit grandma, go for an ice-cream, and things like that. Today we went to the park to feed the ducks, this was our second time doing it this year for FHE, the girls love it and it's an easy pleaser with them so why not, again. Maybe next time we'll emphasize that they are God's creations or something like that while we are at it, he-he!

It was a beautiful evening, the weather was perfect. We came across a few interesting people who let the girls pet their dogs, Jocie is just drawn to animals like I have not seen any other kid being drawn to animals. One dog was deaf, the other was 10 years old! Someone else was doing a bug hunt with his kid and were showing us their bugs collected, that plus feeding the ducks and Naomi rolling down the hill! We had a good Family Home Evening and the girls had fun.

Los patitos (your spanish word of the day visual aid and everything)

Daddy and the girls feeding the ducks

Jocie eating the ducks bread


Naomi and daddy


The Family's photographer taking a picture of herself, somebody's got to do it!

Fourth Generation Picture

I love this picture! My grandma showed up for a surprise visit at the beginning of the new year just a couple of days after my brother and his family had left back to Texas, also here on a surprise visit. Then my grandma shows up! It was way too good, and it was true! Great way to start the year. It had been a while since she last came, maybe about 4 yrs, so this was her first time meeting my girls. The evening before she left we rushed to the photo studio and took this picture. I just had to do it, or I wasn't gonna be able to live with myself knowing I hadn't, fat cheek and all - I had dental work done like the day before, that's why my right side looks funny, I tried to cover it, but didn't do a very good job- My grandma and my mom look fantastic, not to mention my two little "angels". Now my girls will have this picture to treasure and share for generations. They will know who they come from , and who they are, at least fifty percent of it, which is something very important for me. I do not want the part of their culture and heritage, the one they get from me, to be lost or forgotten. I want them to embrace it and be proud of it.

Here's a little about my grandma:

Her mother died when she was about 3 yrs old, so she was raised by her father and older siblings. She met my grandpa when she was in grade school and married him when she was 15 yrs old. She had 11 children, one of them- the youngest, died of dehydration when she was 9 months old. My mom tells me they were very poor (de padre borracho y familia numerosa- with a drunken father and a large family) and had a tough life, but my grandma always made the best out of it for them. My grandma is a faithful LDS. She is a great "confeccionista" confectionist? She made all of her children's clothes, mostly by hand. She makes all sorts of crafts, knits, crotchets, and of course is an excellent cook! Going to her house on Sundays growing up was my favorite thing. She always had something yummy waiting for us: Mole, pozole, menudo, gorditas, Y-U-M! I love her to pieces, she is a great lady. I hope I am like her when I grow old, mmm...I have some catching up to do. Aren't grandmas the best!?

Half Marathon Report

I don't even know where to start. I am so happy with performance! The best part for me about completing a race is the feeling of accomplishment after crossing the finish line. Definitely my favorite part, it makes all the training worth it, despite the early wakings, running under not very pleasant weather conditions at times- snow, ice, rain, 25 F weather, you get the idea. Here's how my race went, starting with tapering week:The training schedule I followed recommended three short runs during tapering week, leaving only 2 days of rest, I took three days of rest instead. I also had lots of protein on the 6, 5 and 4 days before the race and then carb up on days 3, 2, and 1 before the race along with making sure to drink lots of water. I wasn't sure if buying any GU or gels would be a good idea, since I never tried them during my training runs, but came across them on the day I went to pick up my package and decided to buy some. I told the sales guys that I had never taken any and asked him if he still recommended me I used them during the race and he said that I should be fine if I made sure to wash them down with enough water to make sure it would not upset my stomach. He also recommended GU CHUMPS, they are gummies instead of the gel if I wasn't used to the gels. They taste great, just like candy and I could definitely feel them working their magic on me, good stuff. I also tried to be in bed by at least 10PM during that last week of tapering and was really glad I did, because on Friday night, the night before the race I could not sleep, I'm actually not really sure I slept at all. Another thing I did the day before the race, was taking a drive of the race route to get familiar with it and know what I was heading into. I was surprise to find out that I already knew, even had ran about 60% of the route during my training runs without even knowing it. I think that in someway that had to have work to my advantage.Being my first 1/2 marathon I was going into it with the mentality of making this a learning experience to practically come back and redeem myself during a second 1/2 sometime later in the year, still I would give it my best and see how it would turn out. I tried to stay positive from the start, saying thank you to the police officers, smiling along the way and telling other I passed what a good job they were doing. I learned that doing that probably helped me more than it did them. I felt great from the start up, didn't even use my ipod until about mile 6, I just wanted to soak up the energy and take in my surroundings, and I felt my ipod would get in the way of doing that. Then mile 8 came around and the surface started to get really flat, just before Liberty Park, which also happens to be in my neighborhood, so some of that monotony came back to me and I started to struggle. Then... there they were, my two little angels waiting along the sidelines to cheer their mommy on, smiling and squealing excited to see me. I love those little monkeys! I just had to run to them and kiss and hug them, then continued running with a renewed boost of energy. From them on, I knew I had to start kicking the pace up a little bit, I had a goal I wanted to make and it was time to get serious.- I have yet a short running career and not much experience, but one of the things I have learned so far, is that the more you do it, the more you become acquainted with yourself and what you can do. One of my first 10K last year was just brutal, when I thought that starting off strong would guarantee me a better time, how wrong was I! I ran out of gas soon and still had a long way before me, which turned out to be pure torture. Since then I have learned to pace myself and have a plan.-I chugged down some more CHUMPS and with the energy boost from seeing my little girls I was feeling good again. The surface continued to be flat so it was time to change gears to short strides and just concentrating on keeping my pace up. I remember singing in my head "Just keep moving, just keep moving, moving moving" Ha! Then as I turned onto State Street, I could see the road ahead and how the crowd in front of me was already going up hill, eek! I looked at my watch and started to get a little negative, thinking I was not going to make my goal time. Then that little voice inside me reminded me to stay positive. I had ran on that street before, all the way to the Capitol even, so I was not going to be intimidated by it now! It felt so good to get to South Temple, that down hill was great and I knew I was just about done, just a little more. I looked at my watch and I still thought I would not make my goal time and again, something inside of me just kicked in. I was cruising right as I turned the corner to go into the gateway mall, I also had ran that stretch before, during the race for the cure 5K, last may, but this time it felt even better. I love sprinting off at the end! If anyone saw, or heard a weird one talking to herself as she got closer to the finish line, that was me. Hey, sometimes you just have to psyche yourself up, even out loud if it does the trick! So I am happy to report that I too did better than planned or expected coming in at 1:58:24. YAY! My goal was 2:00 hrs, afraid I was too enthusiastic and a little unrealistic, but I did it! And I'm coming back for more, Provo river sounds good. But before that, Ragnar Wasatchback here I come!!

**Thank you baby, for letting me do this and for your patience and support. I know you are my biggest fan, or maybe second, it is hard to beat Naomi's enthusiasm about me running, LOL.

A trip to the photo studio

Grandma Kelli offered to take the girls to get their picture taken. I haven't really taken very many studio photos of the girls, except for Naomi's first Halloween and a fourth generation portrait we took last Christmas when my grandma showed up for a surprise visit from Mexico with my aunt and uncle. If I was more constant about writing on this thing you would all know about that, but I haven't been good at keeping this blog up, so yeah. I will have to scan that one too and show it to you all, it's a good picture.

We had to have two sessions in order to be able to get a good shot of these little angels. Jocie was just a mess in tears the first day we went and she would not want to leave my side to sit for a picture. It was nap time and lunch time and she was not having a good time, so we had to come back a couple of days after. I wasn't there that day, Aaron and mi suegra were, so I was looking forward to finally get the pictures back. Don't they look so precious and cute!? Needless to say, I loved the pictures. These will go up on my bare walls somewhere (if you have been to my house you know that my walls need something to fill them up, other than the girls art)

Anyway, here are my little angels.

OBAMA TO ADDRESS IMMIGRATION

Read HERE
This report says that Obama will address the immigration problem. Said fix (or bandaid) will include a plan to legalize millions of illegal immigrant currently living and working in the country.

This is good news. I am not sure how it will pan out. Now that we have Napolitano pushing the cart on this thing, Obama should be able to make the needed changes. It may not be what we all want, but it will be better than what we currently have.

I am excited. I will keep everyone updated.

WHERE THE WORKERS COME FROM

All,

I thought this was interesting. This map shows where all of the immigrant workers are coming from. Check it out.
Click HERE to see the article in the NY Times

GOLD CURES CANCER?

(Aaron speaking)
I just read a great article that got me real excited, especially when you consider some of the recent health problems of some loved ones. In this article (click HERE) you can read about how doctors in California have found that they can get cancer to absorb gold nanospheres and then they can point a laser their the skin or where ever and then gold will cook the cancer and it dies. Please read.