Christmas 2012

Christmas is always so full of fun activities and one of my favorites is watching the kids perform their Christmas programs. Each year it is the same old songs but different children. Carlos is so animated but yet he was shy when he sang. Some days I wonder if he would like Tavacci like  Michaela and Carson did. He loves music.

 

 Carlos posing for a picture before the program starts

 Singing the Idaho Christmas song. This is my moms favorite song and it does have a lot of the West feel.

 Christmas at the Figueroa's . We got to stay home and enjoy lazy days here in Idaho. You need to be proud of Santa and Mrs. Santa. They did not start shopping till after the 20th this year because Mrs. Santa was in school and her studies and working full time kept her quite busy. We were successful however this year. YEAH!

 Carlos was so excited to get this book. He was one of the first to receive this book. They were not going to release it till after Christmas but the author decided to release it in time for Christmas. Carlos was very excited.

 Michaela and her excited face of a load of new clothes.

 Carson with his gifts. He was the hardest to buy for this year. So we had to improvise and he did get a cell phone this year. We will see how long he gets to keep it.

 Michaela with her haul of clothes and gifts

 Carson with his pile of Christmas gifts. He was being a turd so this was about as good as it gets for a smile.

 Carlos and his load of toys and presents. He was excited and enjoyed all that he received. He was the easiest to buy for.

 Carson being the cool dude he is with ribbon and his smile.

The day at grandmas and grandpas dividing the gifts. This year like the last Jody and Tate came home for Christmas. This year Jocelyn and Tyler hit the mother load. They had so much fun opening gifts and were so excited . It was a blast watching their expression after each unwrapping. Fun Christmas and hope next year I am a little more prepared. I did however try to stay not so stressed but I was a bit.

Carlos Scouting and awards

Carlos is fast approaching becoming a Weblos. He loves scouts and being with his friends. They have went through several scout leaders but each one has been great with the boys. This activity he received some belt loops and a patch for food drive.

 

 Here Carlos is receiving some of his awards.

 The boys and Carlos are writing letters to missionaries and for the pack meeting we were gathering canned food to help a family for the holidays.

A young scout wrote on the wrong missionaries paper so I creatively came up with this to cover up his writing and small picture. Thanks to my mom who taught us all how to make grass, trees and tick figure people.

Co-Ed, another big dance

Girl ask guy dance. Michaela asked a boy named Dallas who was going to ask her to homecoming but Stihl beat him to it. Michaela decided to ask Dallas to be nice and to just have fun.

 The dinner was at Michaela's best friend Kaitlyn's home and we helped decorate and clean up....meaning us moms.

 The other table in the front room. It was simple but very pretty and fun.

Michaela and almost all the girls, excluding one.

 Here is all the girls in their group. Michaela wont go on a date unless it is a group. Smart child. Makes mom happy.

 Michaela and her date, Dallas Kelly. His uncle works with grandpa so he was extra careful. Always helps when the big guys know the other side.

 Michaela and all those who went together to the dance. They had fun but homecoming was a lot more fun for Michaela.

 The boys posing for the moms. They were a bit stiff so we joked to loosen them up a tad.

 Michaela enjoying the night. Isn't that what it is all about. Having fun and dating around.

 Playing some games before leaving for the dance. I got to Kaitlyn's at 6 and didn't leave till about 10 and then headed home to get ready for the after party which I stayed up for till 1:30am. If you know me this was a hard thing to do. I watched some of the movie and was adult supervision so no one would be naughty.

Here we go off to the dance. Don't they look cute. Michaela helped pick out the outfits and the dress was on sale for $40 regularly $89. I felt I did well especially with a small 4 foot 9 daughter.

Undefeated season

 Carlos's football team this year was undefeated. He had a lot of fun playing and the coaches knew how to coach these boys. Carlos has made a decision to only play football and not soccer. He likes soccer but enjoys football more. I also think it is his connection with his dad.

 Carlos playing with some of his teammates at the end of the year party.

They played dodgeball to get the boys ready for next year. Next year is tackle football and let me tell you, dodgeball can be awfully rough. I think some of the boys were balling after the games from all the hard hits from the ball they took from the adult coaches. But they all left happy. Go figure, get beat up  and still be happy. I guess that is football?

Nova Tournament

This by far was the coldest tournament we have been to in a long time. It was 13 degrees one morning in Boise. Good thing the wind wasn't blowing then or it would of been colder. The 13 degrees actually felt warmer than the day before if you can even imagine that.  Carson's team tied for 2nd out of 5 teams. The team who won was from Utah and a year to two years older. The team they tied with was a year to two years older too. They did well.

 Carson and his running feet.

 The frost on the grass. My mom and I took these pictures because it looked so cool.

 Carson getting control of the ball. This was the Utah team. Can you tell how much bigger they are and notice the guy behind Carson has facial hair. A big difference from 13 years olds.

 Carson and our old friend Rowan who joined in this tournament to play with us. We tied this team in scoring but beat them in the tournament.

 Carson and his buddies all bunddled up. It was sooooo COLD!!!

Carson trapping the ball. He reminded me of the KArate Kid here. Love soccer and am glad my son enjoys it. We are gone a lot for this but what I wouldn't do for my children. I am having just as much fun traveling even though it costs a fortune. What else do you spend your money on beside your kids?

Boy scouts

 Carson is so close to getting his Eagle. He was receiving his some 10 merit badges from his leader.

Carson thanking his leader and getting his awards. All he has left to get is the camping merit badge and the Eagle project itself. YAH!!!!

Halloween 2012

Carlos came to me one day and said this is what I want to be for Halloween. Really? YES! OKAY, here it is. What a sense of humor this kid has. At first he was embarrassed to be in his costume but later was so proud of it. WHY? He won first prize in the children's costume  contest. I guess that would make me proud too.

 Carlos as Nacho Libre.

 Carlos acting like Nacho Libre and doing a great job. I made the cape, mask, underwear, and part of the pants. The socks are Michaela's Highland baseball socks and part of the pants were bought at Walmart. Total cost of the costume, about $13.00.

 We have a tradition to carve pumpkins every weekend or Monday before Halloween. This tradition was started by my mom and we love it. This year we all had to carve and we all had great pumpkins to do so. Juans' pumpkin is from a police officer that Juan works with (He is also making Carson deer into jerky) My pumpkin is from our garden. The kid's pumpkins are presents from Carlos's friend, Kellen Merica.

 Juan's pumpkin is the BIG guy, Mine is the owl, Carlos's is the cyclops, Michaela's is the crown and the transformer sign (she had a date and this is what they did besides just hang out)

 Here is Carson's. It started as a alien Einstein but was transformed into an evil Halloween clown.

 Juan's close up on his pumpkin.

Carlos and his great pumpkin. He loves Halloween and I sometimes forget he is still full of imagination. Where Michaela and Carson are acting so grown up I have to remind myself that Carlos need to have fun still.

Gem State Tourny

Carlos having fun on the bench.

Carlos getting the ball. He was focused and enjoyed this game

Getting a pump up at half time. They were losing but learning too.

Carlos having fun during a half time of Carson's game.

Carson getting a elbow in. He is getting good at this game and I love watching.

Carson sweating. We can smell it too. At least I know he is working hard and having fun doing it.

Carson getting a shot off. He has been unlucky but one day it will all fall into place.

Carson listening to the Gem State Tourny guy giving a speach.

Getting his medal for 2nd place. They did well just couldn't get any of their shots to go in the net. We had over ten shots and some hit the crossbar, wind pulled them, or hit the side bar and bounced out, not in.