The thing about bugs is...

...I understand that they are part of God's creation but I have no desire to be around them or have them within a mile of me.  So needless to say I freaked out when I saw this nasty hive at the highest point of our house.

And yes that is my brave husband who is afraid of heights on the top of my house.

With a broom and a can of wasp killer as weapons, he went in for the attack.

And just like that it was all over.

My hero!

I was feeling pretty good about the bug situation after that.  Earlier I had knocked down three other not so big wasp nests so I thought we had things under control. 

And then....

I was driving home the other night and saw a very creepy, very large looking shadow on my driveway.  I got out of the car and found a giant beetle taking a stroll on my driveway!

Clearly he is dead in this picture and missing a couple of legs.  But look how huge he is!   Aric captured him in a jar and he died a day later.  I keep telling myself that he escaped from a South American mango shipment and that he was all alone.   The rest of his clan is still in the rain forest of Ecuador wondering what happened to him...right?...because there is no way that a mutant beetle colony lives out here in my neck of the woods...right?...

Maya's Baptism

Maya's excitement was tangible.  She COULD NOT wait for this day to come. 

 

 

 

Maya wore the dress that I wore when I got baptized.  My mom made it over 27 years ago when my sister got baptized.

 

 

 

We had lots of family come out from Oregon to support Maya.

Tio Marco and his family.

 

Abuelita Hernandez and Tia Lucy

 

My brothers Eric and Ben

 

Papa Joe and Abuelita Elena

 

And The Crowders

Tia Ines and Manuel came up too.  I don't have a picture with them because a certain Tia wasn't cooperating and we didn't have time to get all the pictures taken that I would have liked.

 

 

Tia Ana came all the way from North Dakota.  Thank you Uncle Al for watching the kids and letting Tia come.  We wished you could have been here too, we owe you big time.

 

 

 

 

Micah, Sarah, Karter and Kale made the trek from North Dakota too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monica and Leah came from Utah.

 

Here is a picture with all of the little cousins

 

Family Picture

 

Eden was a very good sport about Maya getting so much attention.  She was very happy to be the little sister and she was just as excited as Maya for this day to finally come.

 

 

 

 

This is the video I made for Maya's Baptism. You can check it out by clicking here until I figure out how to put in on my post.

These were the invitations...

 

This was the program..

After Maya's baptism we had a big dinner at our house.

There were forty hamburgers and a couple dozen hot dogs consumed that night.  Not to mention all of the salads, chips, soda, guacamole, corn on the cob, watermelon and peanut butter bars that were also gobbled up.  Thank goodness there were lots of hands who helped with all that food prep.

 

 

This was such a special day.  Thank you to all of our dear family and friends who made the effort to be here and support Maya.  I am still overwhelmed by the love that we felt that day.  I am so blessed!

We Are Family!

So in honor of Maya's baptism, we had a whole lot of family in town. (Twenty one people to be exact) My sister's family of seven lives in the area so we were quite the circus.  We borrowed an RV to help with the sleeping situation.
These were some of the highlights...

Sing Star 

Clearly we had a lot of fun with this...

Monica had challenged me awhile back to a "Sing Star Battle".  So it was on and I won!!!! Sorry Monz...but I must say you were definitely a worthy opponent.

Party Time
We celebrated Maya's, Eden's, my little cousin Pochito's and my cousin Monica's birthday while everyone was here.  Monica was  sad that she always has to share her birthday with her little cousins, so I made her a special big girl birthday cake.

We couldn't have a proper party without a pinata...

 

 

The loot

Okay that's enough pinata pictures.

Receiving our very first pets...

Micah and Sarah got us these fish, named Aric and Jess.  Micah almost killed them when he overfed them.  Luckily we had a fish expert around (thanks Tia Lucy!) and it took about five people to save these little guys.

Playing Around...

Tia Ana jammin' with Maya, Edee and Aby

Micah playing with the kids

Hanging Out

My brothers Ben and Eric

Tia Lucy, Tio Marco and Dani

 

This is Eric giving Tia Ana stamps to reimburse her for the ones he took over twenty years ago when he about five years old.  He was supposed to be taking a nap in her bedroom when he found her stamps and licked them and then used them to wall paper her bedroom.

What Tia Ana wants...Tia Ana gets.

Tia Lucy having her first taste of "Sour Patch Kids"

Watching Movies

 

"Baby" meeting the family

He still doesn't have a name yet. 

I know this is a long post, but it was a long weekend.  I still don't feel like I captured everything.  We packed a whole lot into just a few days.  It was chaos at times and I'm sure there were a few cold showers, but I loved having everyone here.  Thank you all for coming! 

This is a picture of Maya and Eden saying good bye to the lasts of  our guests....yes they are barefoot and in their pajamas.  That's just how we roll.