Eight Years!

Eight reasons why I love Cesar Rafael Rodriguez Mejia
1. He has given me the 'other' love's of my life...Samuel, Lauren and Isabella.
2. Thinking about how we met, dated and survived our first year of marriage reminds me that our love can withstand a lot. We love to reminisce about those days! It seems like yesterday, but then again, like a lifetime ago. Why would you ever date someone you met dancing in a club? Why would you ever date someone when you couldn't speak their language? Let me just say...he is a sexy, hot Peruvian Latin Lover! Irresistible!
3. I love that we are so different! I truly believe that we are a better couple because we are so different. Embrace the difference!
4. He really does give me anything that I want. :)
5. He took me on a dream trip to Italy in 2007. It was a wonderful experience and it made our marriage stronger.
6. He is a wonderful, caring, loving and trusted husband and father.
7. I still get butterflies when he looks at me from across a room. :)
8. He is my true love!

Family Vacation 2009

We took the kids to stay in a hotel for the first time this past summer! Can you believe they have never stayed in a hotel? We just went up to Park City for the weekend and had a blast! We swam a lot and spent the day on the Alpine Slide. It was so much fun! Our hotel room was teeny tiny, but we made the most of it and had a great time. I didn't even make the kids go to bed at 7! They got to stay up past ten! I know, I am a wild and crazy mom! Next summer, we may venture a bit farther from home, or we
may not. :) I love making these fun memories with the kids!

We invited Heidi up for a day of swimming and sliding.

Crazy Sam! He wanted to go full speed the whole way! He was mad that I was too scared to let him have complete control. :)

Sam is checking to make sure that they won. He liked to ride with Cesar because he wasn't scared and would let him do the brakes.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Top 6 favorite things about
Samuel Thomas Rodriguez...

1. August 30, 2003 at 6:22 pm, weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long, Samuel came into this world. I remember laying in the hospital room, waiting for him to come, looking out the window. We had a great view of the Utah mountains and of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. As I looked at the beautiful surroundings outside, the very distinct thought came to my mind and my heart, that as I had one mother saying good bye to my sweet little boy, I was lucky enough to have another mother present to welcome this baby into our family. It was such a peaceful and incredible experience. I will never forget the day Samuel came! So small and sweet. The perfect little lips and big, bright eyes. He has been on the go since day one and I love him!

2. Going to the emergency room 5 days before Christmas in 2007 for stitches. Sam somehow hit his face on the coffee table and needed 4 stitches. He is hallarious when he has had Versed. It is a wonder drug. :)

3. On a cold March afternoon, I found Samuel outside, covered from head to toe in mud...with no clothes on ! It was really cold outside! I asked him what he was doing, and he responded that he was Shrek. Shrek plays in the mud without any clothes on. Makes sense. :)

4. The many faces of Sam...cowboy, spider man, batman, pirate, Jedi Knight, Mr. Brown (Nanny McFee), Elliot (E.T.) and many, many, many more!

5. First day of school. Is he really old enough to be starting school? Time has gone by so fast! Samuel was so excited to finally go to 'big' school with his friends from the neighborhood.

6. Finally, one of my favorite things about Sam is that he is so goofy! The older he gets, the more it comes out. He has a great sense of humor and is just plain goofy! He is really funny and makes me laugh daily!

I Wanna Be A Cowboy!

I think that Samuel was born in the wrong time and wrong place. He seriously should have been born 100 years ago on a farm. He absolutely loves to dress up like a cowboy and ride his pretend horse all around the house and yard. He even ropes cows and rounds up the sheep. He has a few guns to shoot the bad guys, although he says he doesn't kill them, he just leaves them for the sheriff. At times, he will only eat beans and buns because that is the only thing that cowboys eat out in the west. How did he come up with that? Buns, not rolls or bread...buns. We go to the Spanish Fork Rodeo every year, and that is the highlight of the year! There are cowboys everywhere! He is in heaven! It is so much fun to go, just to watch him! Such a fun time of life! So much imagination! I love my little cowboy!

Just in case you were wondering...cowboys do eat a hot dog from time to time.

He is so proud of his new hat! He worked really hard and saved him money so he could buy a hat for the rodeo. He had a hat that mysteriously disappeared...not sure why it would disappear...it is not like it was stepped on by some horses or cows or the cowboy more than once. It is such a mystery where it went one day when no one was looking...

Lauren even had a good time watching the horses and cowboys. She does make a cute cowgirl!

Summer Memories

We have had a whirl-wind of a summer! Here are a few memories....

Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house
We had a great time talking with the kids about the importance of the temple and of how we are together as a family FOREVER. It was a wonderful experience, one that I hope created a memory that Sam and Lauren will always remember. Maybe not the details... but of how they felt when they were inside.

Isabella hanging with Aunt Heidi and Chino
We love Aunt Heidi! I am so glad she is so close and so much apart of the kids lives! What would we ever do without her?! I keep telling her that someday when she has kids, she will understand how much she helps me. I can't wait to repay her!

Crazy Aunt Heidi!
We loved watching fireworks with my dad and Heidi. Never a dull moment!

Playing in the fountain at the Gateway
We did this a few times this past summer, and the kids love it! The first time we went it wasn't really planned, so they were with their clothes. When we went again, we remembered the swim suits. So much fun! Great hot summer day activity!

Cousin Time
We have loved spending so much time with my brother's kids! Here is Kaylee, Cameron, Jenna and Lauren (L-R) at Discovery Gateway.

Sleep-Overs
Seriously, who but Heidi would take on 8 crazy kids for a sleep-over? They all loved it! Good thing her apartment is small...less space to clean-up. :) I think she was probably happy when her time was up and the kids went back to the parents. Where did they all sleep? Did everyone sleep? Good questions...glad I wasn't there. :)

Stranger Danger!

So you always teach your children 'stranger danger' but never really think they get it because they are always wondering off or.., you know..., talking to strangers. Today Samuel was up the street (too far by our rules) so I was started to call him back. But, as I was trying to call him, I could see off in the distance, at the end of the street, his bike laying on its side in the gutter. I could also hear him screaming at the top of his lungs. I couldn't make out what he was saying and thought for sure he had been hit by a car and was bleeding or something aweful like that. As he got closer, I could make out that he was saying "Stranger! Stranger! A stranger is after me!!!" He was beyond hysterical! Seriously over the edge upset. All he could get out was that a stranger was after him and was going to take him. In the meantime, our friendly neighbor, had picked up Samuel's bike and was walking toward us in an attempt to return it. Samuel was completely beside himself and completely hysterical. He was so worried that this man was going to take him and me. I sent him home so I could get the bike and explain to our neighbor what was happening. All the while, I could hear Sam screaming as he was running like a bandit to our house. When I got home less than a minute later, I could still hear him screaming in the house, but now, it was accompanied with Lauren's scream that a stranger was outside and was going to take him. Cesar was trying to feed Isabella and when I walked in, he asked what was going on and why was Samuel on the phone. What? On the phone? Well, take it away from him! He doesn't need to be on the phone. Sure enough, who was Samuel calling? 911! Yup, my little Sam dialed 911 because a stranger was up the street. Cesar had him hang up the phone, not realizing until after who it was. Then I had to explain to the dispatch lady when she called back that my 5 year old son had made a mistake and was afraid of a stranger and that I needed to do a bit more education with him. She asked me two or three times how old he was. I was trying SO hard not to laugh! All the while, Sam and Lauren are screaming like crazy! After Cesar reminded me not to laugh about this, we had a little heart to heart about the proper way to use 911 and that the man up the street was his friends dad and that he really wasn't a stranger. He wasn't following him, he lived there. Don't worry, I reassured him a hundred times that he did the right thing, but next time, ask mom or dad for help in calling 911. He said he didn't know the number for 911, so he just counted the numbers out for the 9, then the 1 and again for another 1. Can you believe this kid? I am still laughing. I know I shouldn't, but I am.

Questions to ponder

A great question...
Sam: Mom, who is the king and queen for the pool?
Mom: What do you mean, a king and a queen?
Sam: You know, a king and queen. They have life guards, so I was wondering who the king and queen were. They have the guards there.

Another great question...
Sam: Have you ever had a moon burn?
Mom: A moon burn?
Sam: Ya, a moon burn. You know, like a sun burn, but from the moon.
Mom: No, Sam, I have never had a moon burn.