Merry Christmas!!

This Christmas was so much fun!! For Ricky it started on Christmas Eve when we went to church and learned about Jesus and why we celebrate Christmas. Then after we got home Rick made a cake for desert on Christmas day. Well I decided that since it was Christmas that I would let Ricky have some of the frosting. He really liked it. I will say that I was surprised though that he went to bed so easily so soon after eating.

Then after the kids went to bed it was off to work for Rick and I getting everything ready for when the kids got up the next morning. Here's our accomplishments.







So now we are official parents of Christmas doing what a lot of parents do on Christmas eve after the kids go to bed!!! I'm very excited about that and had a lot of fun doing it. Now I see why parents can go overboard at Christmas time, it was so much fun for us.
I have a video of Ricky seeing the presents for the first time but it is really dark and didn't turn out well, so I'll spare you. But it was an awesome sight for us.




I borrowed an idea from one of my friends at work, (thanks Donna) to get the kids special Christmas pajama's, so I finally found a set that was available in both of the kids' sizes. It was very adorable. (Until we forgot to change Ricky's diaper and he pee'd out of it. oops!)


Here are the little munchkins have a great time in Ricky's new jeep. The bummer part is that we've gotten so much rain here in the last couple of weeks that we haven't been able to take it outside yet, but the kids are having a lot of fun riding it in the house. So we have decided that Cynthia is crazy, she'll climb up on things, is not afraid of getting off the couch on her own, plus she'll stand on the jeep and hold on to the roll bar while Ricky is driving, BUT she won't WALK!!!
Silly girl!!!



Anyways here they are opening more presents.




Here's my crazy girl!



Now Grandma and Grandpa are here for lunch and here's Cynthia with her doll that Great Grandma Salinas got her.

After we had lunch at home we drove up to my brother and sister-in-laws place to have dinner and open more presents with their kids, and my parents and two uncles. We had a fun, interesting and loud time with all 5 kids there. It will be even more fun next year when my sister-in-law has her 4th baby and that will make 6!! It is sure to get more loud and more fun with each and every year.

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas as well.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Seeing Santa with Grandma and Grandpa

We went to see Santa with mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa today. We had fun in line watching the trains and playing with the other kids in line. We also tried to escape a couple of times but mom and dad seemed to find us before we could get loose. Then we went to eat and got to spend more time with grandma and grandpa!! We had fun. Here are some pictures from our time we spent together. Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

Ricky and Cynthia

This is when I first saw the train. I love trains!!

Grandma and I are so excited to see the trains together.

I just wanted to be held up high so that I could see. Thanks for carrying me grandpa!!

Here we are with grandma and grandpa.

Then we decided we should take a picture with mommy and daddy too.


Last but not least we finally got to see santa. We weren't too sure about this guy but by the time we were finished we were buddies. See you soon santa, don't forget the presents and our stockings!! ( I promise I'll be good. Ricky)

NFC West Champions Arizona Cardinals!!!

I went to the Cardinals-Rams game with a few friends from work yesterday and we had an absolute BLAST!!! Shannon, Sherryl, Tashina and I had a great time tailgating before the game and just hanging out watching the Cards kick some Ram butt!! Here are a few of the highlights from our day!!

This is when Sherryl had to stand up because it let her eat more. So we decided to play 'Get to know all about Sherryl'

Shannon, Sherryl, Tashina, and Jen.

The sun finally came out, just like Sherryl said it would. We were happy to warm up a little.

Shannon was very intent on the Cardinals game and scoreboard watching to see how her Patriots were doing as well. Here she was nice and paused for a photo with me. :) Thanks for the great time Shannon!!!

This was the best part of all. The Cardinals winning and getting to be the NFC West Champions!!!

Sherryl says that tailgating here is nothing like it is back home in Iowa but I had a great time and hope to do it again.

(Sherryl, I'm leaving out the part where the day was all about you and not taking your picture and you deleting MY pictures from MY camera, and us having to wait for you, and follow you. I hope you're happy. :) ha ha ha)

This is the crazy weather we have around our house today!!!

Happy Halloween!

Ok so I know this is a week late, but better late then never right??? Ricky offically went trick or treating for the first time this year and had a lot of fun. Earlier in the day Jen carved out a pumpkin and he said that we were going to have a Pumpkin Party, so we went with that. We talked about saying trick or treat at the doors and how people would give you candy. So during the day he was saying trick or treat. So after dinner we got the kids dressed. Ricky didn't want to put on his shoes so to help that along we gave him a fold lock bag with a couple of pieces of candy. This was his candy bag for the rest of the night!!

Ricky was dressed as a 50's guy, and Cynthia has a 'little terror' shirt on.

So when we were trick or treating Ricky just held out his little bag and said 'Candy, Candy." It was pretty funny. After all the hard work during the day, he just didn't get it. When we were done going around to the houses we came home and Jen sat outside with Ricky who was very excited to pass out candy to the kids coming to our door. In between ghosts and goblins Ricky of course had to sample some of our candy and so had a 'wonderful' nights sleep. :)

Our Vacation!!!

Tom, Sally, and Kim came to visit us this past week from New York and we had a blast!! They haven't seen the kids for over a year now so they were very excited to see them in person and not just in pictures that get sent every couple of months. They have never been to California so we decided to take a little road trip. We left early Thursay morning and went to the Wild Animal Park at the San Diego World Zoo. Where the kids got to sit in an egg.

Pet some deer.

Ride a Rhinocerous.

And just lay around.

Then we were off to LA on Friday to see a taping of:

Unfortunately they don't let you take cameras in so this was the only picture we got of that. But we did also go see the Hollywood sign.

Saturday was my personal favorite, we went to Sea World!!! The kids did amazing, the first two days were a little trying with a lot of crying and whining but when it really counted they were happy and having a great time!! Neither of them took a nap that day and only Cynthia fell asleep during the Shamu show at 7 that night!!! (Her dancing wore her out!!) Ricky went on two rides and loved them.

We fed the dolphins,

pet sting rays,

saw sharks,

and had a great time.

We came back on Sunday, oh what a drive. Monday we took the kids to the Mccormick Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale and Ricky got to ride a train for the first time!! He loved it!!

Then we had a day to relax and then sent them off back home. :( Everyone had a great time, and missed each other as soon as good byes were finished. I think the kids have taken it the hardest, not being held all day and played with constantly has been a hard thing to adjust to. We are making due though and will just have to look forward to the next time we get to play together.

Prescott Valley

We went to Prescott Valley last weekend and were able to spend time with Patti and her family. This was the first time in about 5 years or so that Dwayne, Jen, Carlos, Dwight, and Tricia were all in one place. Jen was able to learn how to play dominoes, which was very fun I might add, and Rick did dabble in it as well. We had a great time watching the kids play together and just getting to hang out with family. The ride home we thought would be quiet with both kids sleeping but we ended up listening to the movie Bees twice.

Well I finally found time when the kids were in their rooms and it's quiet. I'm slowly but surely figuring out this blog thing, with the help of friends of course. :) So Ricky is 2 and Cynthia is 14 months. So far Cynthia is not walking but she is showing signs of getting there soon. She is walking along the couch and with the help of someones hands. She really enjoys being around people, being held, and playing with Ricky. Ricky loves his sister still and looks out for her needs and wants. If that's what you call it. If Ricky wants milk then so does sister, if Ricky wants to eat then so does sister, if Ricky wants to play then so does sister. It's pretty amusing. He is really starting to form sentences and ask for things correctly. He is also starting to say his prayers with less and less aid from mommy and daddy.

We are looking forward to next week when Tom, Sally, and Kim come out to visit us. They have not seen the kids for over a year and everyone is really excited to see each other. We have been showing pictures of grandma, grandpa, and aunt Kim to Ricky and he can name them so we are hoping that when he sees them that they will be familiar faces.

Ricky and Cynthia have also gotten the chance to play with their cousins Nathanial and Gabriel. Grandma and Grandpa bring them over to our house as well as taking them to theirs. Ricky and Nathaniel love to play together with cars and trains. The are planning on going to see Thomas the Train in November and that will be a great experience for Ricky! He doesn't know it yet but he's going to have a great time!!

Our new blog!!!

Ok so I'm trying out something totally different for me. I know how much everyone seems to enjoy seeing kids and family pictures and reading about how their family is doing when they are miles away or just haven't talked for a while. So I'm gonna try to see if we can keep this blog going to keep our friends and family up to date as to what us Bernal's are up to.
So we'll see how this goes. Wish us luck for keeping this going. :) he he