Dia de los Muertos

Sunday we went downtown and joined the Dia de los Muertos procession. For those of you who have never heard of 'Dia de los Muertos', here is a quick explanation. Dia de los Muertos is spanish for Day of the Dead. It is primarily a mexican cultural tradition, in which friends and family members get together to remember those who have passed away. People will celebrate those who passed by painting their faces as skulls, adorned by bright colors and traditional dress.
Here in Tucson, we have a procession (parade). Bands will march, people will create floats and others will bring memorabilia of their family members who have passed on.
The was my first time going to a Dia de los Muertos procession, I have always wanted to be apart of one. We did not paint our faces, but we defintly will next year. I was surprised by how many people were participating, and I was touched by all of the pictures of loved ones who have died and were being represented by family/friends. We followed the procession, Lily wore her Folklorico dress and we brought her day of the dead mask.
It was lots of fun and very moving. I can't wait to attend again next year!
Here are some photos from the procession...

Remembering My Blessings

This past month I have heard, read and witnessed many unfortunate happenings in my friends and co-workers lives. The more I hear, the more I worry what my trail will be. While driving home from the gym today, I started to think, instead of being afraid of what trial life has in store for me, how about recognizing all of the many blessings in my life and being grateful I have yet to endure a hard trail. I follow the example of my friends on facebook, who have created a '30 days of Thanks'. Great Idea,
so here I go...Tis' the season to give thanks!

1. Grateful to live in a state which is sunny, pretty much 300 days out of the year. Waking up to the morning light and blue skys is a definite blessing.
2. Grateful to have a Job. Which beside the fact can be stressful, provides for the needs of my family and teaches me daily lessons on humility and patience.
3. Grateful for my amazing daughter Lily who is blowing raspberries at me as I type to get my attention. She is one of my GREATEST blessings and brings so much joy to my life. (I will be mentioning her again)
4. Grateful for my kind, happy and peaceful husband who despite my faults, always showers me with his love and concern for my welfare.
5. Grateful for my health. To not have to worry about how I will make it day to day. To not have to feel pain on a daily basis.
6. Grateful to have a belief in Jesus Christ and the power of forgiveness.
7. Grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who I KNOW listens to and answers my prayers. I love him and He loves me.
8. Grateful for a husband with a good sense of humor. He makes me laugh, and appreciates the weird things I do.
9. Grateful for a loving family who watches Lily every day so Mark and I can build a future for ourselves. Without them, I don't know what I would do! They love Lily so much and are so good to her. I know that no matter what happens to me, she will ALWAYS be taken care of and loved.
10. Grateful for the opportunity I have to be personally trained in cross fit. I have become stronger and healthier. My trainer is a great person and shows true interest in my well being, he will always be a friend to our family.
11. Grateful for the little surprises that Mark brings me almost daily. He loves to see me happy, which is what makes him such a selfless person. I love him with all my soul.
12. Grateful that I had a healthy pregnancy. Gave me hope that I can continue to have more healthy happy children.
13. Grateful that Lily sleeps all through the night, allowing me to wake up at 5 am and not feel like I have not slept.
14. Grateful that Lily is a good eater! Yes she is chubby, but I would rather have a chubby baby, then one that is under weight and does not want to eat.
15. Grateful for a loving and happy marriage with someone who I trust and I know is looking out for the needs our family. That we can have a healthy, relationship...but still keep it exciting ;)

Okay, I think that is good for now. I will think of another 15 blessings by the time the month ends. Most of them will probably be about Lily and Mark...but they are in fact my biggest blessings.

 

 

Halloween 2012

First Halloween for Lily went wonderfuly. We dressed up in a western theme this year. Lily was an Old West Saloon gal, which I know, they were the prostitutes of the west...judge me all you want, she looked adorable. I figure best to have the risque costumes now then when she is older and can comprehend what she is portraying...right? Anyways, I was the sheriff, and Mark was the bandito. Lots of fun, and I love dressing up as a family.

/
The little lady went to a trunck-or-treat with our church and enjoyed getting lots of candy. You may think the candy is for us, but lily loves candy! Gave her a sucker, and took it away shortly so she would not choke on broken pieces, she was NOT happy. Definitely don't want to make eating candy a habit....but it is halloween dangit!
Halloween, we went to my mothers neighborhood in Vail. People really get into halloween in her neighborhood. There is a house that gives out hotdogs, a haunted garage, a guy running around with a chainsaw, hay rides, and the fire department passes out glow sticks. Lots of fun and lily enjoyed it...not as much as her daddy though who was reliving his child hood going door to door asking for candy.
Mark and I were talking about how sad it will be when Lily no longer needs us to go trick-or-treating with her. I guess we still have 10 more years to not worry about that. I LOVE Halloween!

Halloween Traditions

This week we comensed our Halloween seasonal traditions. There are only two, but we are hoping to continue them throughout our lives.
We first visited the Corn Maze at Buckalew Farms. Mark and I first went to the Maze together when we began dating. It was our first date after deciding that we would take our friendship to the next level. We have four years of photos taken with the same pumpkin, it will be cool to see how our lives (and looks) have changed over time as we continue this tradition.

First date, 2008

2012

We were curious how Lily would manage the long walk through the maze, but she did awesome! She especially was happy when we started eating kettle corn together. Honestly, the kettle corn and bom fire are my favorite part. We only last an hour in the maze and begin to get annoyed cause we have only 3 out of the 18 check points. Overall we had lots of fun and happy that lily got to experience her first corn maze.

 

Then on Saturday, we carved pumpkins with the Ontiveros family. Mark carved Lily's pumpkin, which he tried to make it look like her, he did a great job. My pumpkin...not so much. I was over zelous and tried to do a dia de los muertos pumkin. Just as I was carving the last piece, the face popped out of the pumpkin and cracked on the floor. SAD DAY! I could not save it, so I opted for carving two big hearts and attaching them with toothpicks in the area where my real carving once stood. So lame. Lily was not to impressed with the pumpkins, she was way to tired to care. But, at least mark and I still had fun!

Next up...HALLOWEEN!!