Happy Birthday Mommy!

I had such a wonderful birthday...being able to share the experience with Kily and focus on her excitement helped me try to forget about how old I was turning! I received a few birthday cards in the mail during the week, and as soon as Kily saw one with a picture of cake on it, she started exclaiming, "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you!" All week long she told my happy birthday, even giving me some of her toys as gifts. I guess she has got this whole birthday thing finally figured out!

Jose invited his family over to our place to have a birthday dinner celebration. Jose was in charge of all the baking. First, he made the cake, with his sidekick Kily attentively glued to his side. Sitting on the countertop, holding the beaters, doing the clean-up (aka licking the batter), were just a few of the "tasks" she delighted in doing with Daddy. Then, Jose made my dinner--his delicious cheesy chicken enchiladas. And no, I didn't forget to get a picture of them, I just don't want you to start drooling as you read ;)

This was my first birthday to celebrate with the Hernandez family and I became an instant fan of their birthday treats. My mother-in-law made Gelatina and Jessica made Flan (the best flan I've ever tasted I might add).

We had a wonderful time with the family, and then to top it off, one of our nieces stayed the night with us (using her birthday coupon). We had a blast playing Checkers all night and watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Don't tell her mom but we accidentally kept her up til 11:)


On a side note, Jose and I realized this was the second time he'd personally made my birthday cake. The first time, was freshman year at BYU---before we were even dating! Let's just say he knew how to speak to my heart! It was a "special" cake--the kind that has a lil different texture due to being mixed by hand, literally,& adding the eggs after it was in the pan. Let's just say his recipe-reading skills have greatly improved since then:) If I can find the picture, I'll add it later. Thanks Jose---I love you! Can't believe we've had 8 Birthdays "together" already!

Meeting Cousins

 

Three of Jose's cousins flew up from Mexico during Christmas break. We had such a wonderful time visiting with them--Living so far away from each other, this was really like a "first time" meeting! We had fun showing them downtown Portland and introducing them to the sweet happiness that can only be found at Coldstone---they became instant fans:)
Come see us again soon Eduardo, Liz, and Alexa!

Reality Check

So, I just need to clear my name. I do not, did not,and will never have an imaginery dog!! hahahaha For those of you who don't know my husband very well, now you may have a better understanding of his great sense of humor. I am suprised people actually thought I wrote it 1. because he is SO much more eloquent than I am and 2. Since when have I ever loved dogs that much?! Well, Jose played a funny lil trick and I do think it was quite funny, but I just wanted to let you all know, I am not crazy!! :) --The real Krystal

(I guess that's what happens when he gets jealous of my cool blog posts;)

Christmas with the Hernandez Family

In Jose's family, they have the tradition of opening up all their presents on Christmas Eve (at midnight if the parents and kids can wait that long:) Christmas Eve day we all made (ok, well mainly my mother-in-law, but we helped!) homemade Tamales. They were delicious. Almost all of Jose's immediate family was there--4 out of the 5 kids. (We missed you Brenda and Mario!) We all got dressed up, Jose took family pictures for everyone, had a beautiful dinner, and the kids danced the night away--anxiously awaiting the opening of presents.
Kily was extrememly tired that night and couldn't make it past 9:30. (Of all nights! All week long she had been staying up til at least 10:30/11 playing in her room at night instead of sleeping!) Once the excitement of opening gifts began, I tried to wake Kily up so she could join the fun---I even brought her out to all the chaos. Gifts were handed to her that she could finally open, yet she fell right back asleep.
Since everyone else exchanged gifts the night before, Christmas morning Kily got to open her presents. Luckily, at her age, she didn't know she'd missed out on a thing. Christmas day we enjoyed playing games, watching movies and eating more Tamales :)
As you will see in some of the pics, we had a big game of Guesstures. Kily insisted on sitting on the stool up in front the entire time--completely fascinated by the crazy things everyone did.
The best part of the Christmas gathering was when the girls (my sister in laws and me) completely dominated the game of Guesstures against the boys!! Well, that and being able to spend time with Jose's family :)

Our Dog Died

Well, more like my dog. Ever since I got married, I've wanted a dog--but since our apartments wanted to charge a ridiculous pet deposit, I went out and got an imaginary dog (without Jose's permission). He thought I was crazy, but I've always had imaginary friends--so why not a pet? He kept saying I was too old to have imaginary anythings, but I wasn't about to drop 500 bucks on a pet deposit, or let necessity dictate whether or not I enjoyed the companionship of a faithful black lab (1/2 schnauzer, couldn't quite picture a full bread since I've only had mutts growing up). Anyway, I don't really know what happened to him. This whole past week he was very lathargic. Every time I called him over to play, he would just sit there. Wouldn't even think of fetching anything I threw at him (including his favorite chew toy I bought him). Anyway, he is in a better place. Probably living in the thoughts of some other lucky child whose parents refused to get them a "real" dog for Christmas. You will be missed Raymond.

(P.S. The dog pictured is about as close to what I could find of what Raymond looked like in my mind)

-Krystal

Random Photos I Found

So, I discovered some photos I never posted! This will mainly be enjoyed by a few relatives who keep asking for more pics and especially of our place. You are about to see pics from: before Halloween, Thanksgiving night (when Kily was past the stage of cooperation), our niece's birthday, our apartment (Jose happened to be playing around with his camera one night), etc. I had to include a few pics of our ward Christmas party--the theme was "A Night in Bethlehem" and they did an amazing job with it!!

Also, One photo is of Kily (in her pjs) doing her infamous "shy" face. Usually her big eyes are staring up at you even though her chin is glued to her chest. She always knows when to use it--like when she's in trouble, embarrassed, or just wants to be cute! Very random mix of photos. Enjoy :)