!Los Ontiveros!: November 2020

We had a great October! Despite the current pandemic, political and civil unrest and lots of neighbors and friends going thru some really difficult trials and loosing one of our favorite fur family members, there were still blessings this month.

We started out the month with going to Utah to enjoy some real fall weather and seasonal foliage changes. Utah landscape always makes me happy, so we enjoyed lots of walks. Mark had to work and my sisters family were in school/work so it was pretty much the kids and I that ventured out to the parks and enjoyed time together. We had a great time visiting and I look forward to when we can do it again, but we will wait for winter to pass.

Aside from that it's been just life as usual. The Covid numbers have been creeping up lately causing us to not be sure what we can and should avoid doing right now. It is a really strange time, just alot of 'I want to take the risk and live life as usual' or 'I want to keep my vulnerable family members safe, so let hunker down and stay inside'. Lily is doing Online schooling again this quarter. Strategic move since Elizabeth gets married in December and her father in-law is going thru Cancer treatments and we'll need to quarantine for a couple weeks before the wedding to keep him safe. She is looking forward to returning to in person school in January, hopefully they will still be meeting by then.

We lost our sweet and amazing fur family, Captain Horton. Andrew's son dog passed away this month. it was a huge shock to all of us and very sudden. He had some intestinal issues that would have caused him a life of pain after surgery and he would eventually die from. So they decided to let him rest from this life. We were so very sad to lose him, the kids and I cried a lot (well lily was sad but didn't cry cause she does not shed tears of sorrow like her dad...she's dead inside. haha She even asked me if she could put water under her eyes so it could look like she was crying cause she was actually really sad but couldn't shed tears. haha! I think thats a sign of a psychopathy? jk) Captain was more then just a pet or a dog. He was family. He commanded respect every time he entered the room and you were in awe by his beauty (husky mix, looked like a wolf) When Andrew and Whitney would talk to him, he would grunt in response and they knew how to communicate with each other. Captain was Andrew's spirit animal for sure, brothers in spirit. It changed the way I viewed dogs and pets, they are so much more. I felt so much sorrow for my brother and his family, i knew how much they loved Captain and you could feel the heartache of their loss. But they know as I do, that Captain is near in spirit, watch over them and helping them as he did in life. He was a huge source of comfort to them when little Lucy was struggling to survive after birth and Captain protected Lucy as she recovered at home. The kids and I talk about family members we have lost, who will be waiting on the other side when it is our turn to leave this earthly life, we know that Captain will be one of them. And we look forward to seeing his majestic self again someday. Rest in Peace beautiful Captain.

We celebrated Halloween with a Trunk or Treat with our neighborhood and Trick or Treating in Tucson with the Gardners and the moms. I was nervous at the beginning of the season that there would be no one passing out candy, but it was great to see how creative people got passing out the candy in safe ways. I knew Halloween would be manageable during Covid times. Lily dressed as Bob Ross the PBS painter, she loves to paint and she looks up to Bob Ross and she has his amazing hair, so it was perfect. She had such a blast being him for Halloween. She and Mark went to a night golf tournament, Mark dressed as a Bob Ross Happy Tree, it was perfect. Jacob was killer croc from batman. Since they don't sell kids killer kroc costumes, we pieced it together with a hulk costume and a mask we found at a thrift store. I think it worked? At least he enjoyed his look. We celebrated Halloween with treats, which are manifesting themselves on my waistline...but they were worth it. We had weekly Harry Potter movie nights, which hopefully will be our tradition. Overall our Halloween season was lots of fun and aint no pandemic gonna ruin that!

It's election time, which is always a time I'd like to escape, but it must happen. I voted, which I usually don't, so that is good I guess. I'm pretty apathetic when it comes to politics, and so it Mark. So we both are happy with whomever is elected. The way we see it, 'How drastically will my life change when a new president is elected?' I still have to wake up in the morning, take care of my family and go to work. I still make my own choice of how I treat others and how I treat myself, that is not dependent on a President. This is not a one man show or life, so why would my world crumble is 'so and so' is elected? I just get annoyed with the noise of others and want it to stop. Now that Biden was elected hopefully there will be more peace amongst the people, but I guess that's up to us, right? Trump was a good president in my opinion, from an economic standpoint. I do not blame him for the civil unrest. I blame peoples poor choices and the liberal media for fueling that fire. He had no filter which got him in trouble, he was not a Politian or a diplomat. But I feel he had wisdom in his agenda and genuinely wanted to help elevate our country. I would've been fine had he been reelected. As for Biden, i know nothing about him other then he is a politician. Which makes him a liar by profession. BUT, I am pretty pumped knowing that we now have a FEMALE of COLOR as a VP. How awesome is that?! Gives all woman out there, especially minorities the fire they need, that they can be anything they set their mind to. I love it. And I'm hopeful.

Lily got her ears pierced finally! She looks beautiful and I of course got emotional because she is looking like a little young woman now! :( SHE IS GROWING UP!! But will always be my little lil lil.

Now for a ton of pictures in completely random order....

I was working in the yard and asked Jacob to bring me a butter knife, this is what he looked like when he came back out. haha! he's nuts!

Obviously from the last pic we know that Jacob has a thing for creepy Halloween characters. So here, he is showing me his lego display with halloween characters like Pennywise, Harold and Dracula. I love my weird kid.

This pretty much sums up our neighborhoods stance on the election. I saw the images of Trump, and thought 'So many Christians are voting for him, yet do they see how these images do not come close to what Christ would be as our leader? Shouldn't we crave someone who emulates Christ?' Food for thought.

Goodness I love this little woman so much. So grateful for her in my life.

Celebrating the sweet wonderful Auntie Clarice. She is one amazing woman, we love her very much.

I didn't get a picture this year of our halloween decor in front of our house! But it looked really cool. Here is what I did at my moms...not as cool as our decor (dang)

We had a great time trick or treating with the Gardner family.

Social distance trick or treating. We didn't go to as many houses, but i'm pretty sure the kids got more candy then ever.

Our friends Christina and Cruz came to our neigborhood trunk or treat. They did such a good job on their display! And Cruz is the cutest skeleton ever.

We were 'Booed', the best part was 'Boo-ing' someone else! Lily chose the families and she and Jacob left them their treat. Good ol door ditching, i miss those days.

End of the soccer season. Lily loves her coach, he really takes it seriously which has helped her to put her all into getting better at the sport. She's with him again this new season. Jacobs coach stopped coming the last few games, so that was annoying. lol, but he's got a more involved coach this season.

Got a visit from Baby Noah! he is so adorable!

We have a new member of the Horton Family!! My nephew Caleb Horton was born this month, and I can't wait to meet him in person. Beautiful boy!

seeing more of me in Lily every day.

I think Jacob cried the hardest about losing Captain. 'I just wish I had pet him more when we saw him.' We saw captain two weeks before his passing. I wish I'd pet him more too Jacob :(