Stella's lunch

How can you not love that little face?  She was downing the apples and peanut butter she had today for lunch. I thought her face was going to explode with goodness when she tasted the peanut butter. 

It's her favorite place to sit, right by the window so she can watch Chloe while she eats. 

Fire pit

 

There is no better place to sit around and tell stories than by a fire pit.  So many ghost stories have been told there this year with our little family that I think we're going to have to change the theme for next year. 

Then there's the s'mores....we love s'mores, regular s'mores, s'mores with mint cookies, s'mores with chocolate covered cookies, s'mores with no cookies.  I only wish that we had a few more cool days left in the season.  Soon AZ will be on fire and we will have to say bye to the fire pit for a few months.  But we will bring you back dear fire.  Too much fun is had around you to keep you in storage for long. 

Best Seats in the House

As the weather warms up that means one thing around our house. It's ball season! This week we have a game every night. The boys have 3 games. Alexandria has 2. It can get kind of crowded at the games since the bleachers aren't very big. No problem for the boys though. They have Papi's innovative skills. They just made themselves a seat in the trees, little monkeys! I'm not a big fan of the weather warming up or a big fan of ball. But I love watching my kids play. 

Conference Weekend

Did you hear about the stupid criminal who kept boxes under the hood of his car?  He robbed our flip house, stole all of Papi's tools then couldn't leave because his car wouldn't start probably due to the boxes under the hood.  So he called a taxi and a tow truck instead.  The thing was we got there before the tow truck.  He left his wallet, ID, everything we need to know who he is and where he lives. If it hadn't have ruined our long anticipated conference weekend I would have been laughing at the dumb guy's losing efforts.  Let's be honest, I am still laughing.  Such a fool!  But now I'm wondering who is really the fool because it's been 3 days and the Mesa Police still haven't arrested him. 

Fortunately, we were able to watch conference as a family on Sunday.  We love conference weekend!  My kids even watched it while we were talking to the police on Saturday.  And they were home alone!  Everyone has their conference binders.  We eat candy, lots of candy.  We make food that we only have on conference morning.  It's such a relaxing two days at the Cesar home.  I'm already looking forward to October!

Stella's Sunday Afternoons

When 1:30pm approaches on a Sunday afternoon, things at the Cesar home get really busy.  Everyone in the one little bathroom, trying to get everyone's hair done and teeth brushed can sometimes feel like how many clowns can we fit into the car.  But it's all worth it when I walk outside after shooing all the children out the door and see this picture perfect scene in front of me, a big brother taking his little sister's hand and leading her to church.  He loves his baby sister.

 

Know who else loves this little girl?  How else could she have gotten him to paint her toenails?  She's already working that Cesar charm on her Papi.

In the cabin

Sometimes the best memories are created while doing nothing.

Heads

 

Why can't Spring Break be Spring Month? Pics courtesy of our Kohl's Ranch stay.  Did I mention that it was beautiful weather and just chilly enough for a jacket? We needed a month.

Bye 312!

Thank you for your warming fireplace, delicious grill, Jacuzzi tub, cowboy light fixtures and most of all for the great family memories.

Now back to the hot, well,...warm!

Grandparents, KFC and Guns

 

The good thing about going less than two hours away on vacation is that Grandma and Grandpa will come visit.  We showed them the creek, played games and had fun.  But not wanting them to leave without some excitement we decided to go back to Payson with them to have dinner and a little adventure.

 

As told by Grandma

 

Grandpa and I went up to Kohl's Ranch yesterday and enjoyed the mountain air and played with the kids.  We watched as they enjoyed the stream.  They were jumping across it from rock to rock.  I was not so adventurous. It was fun however.  We played a little tennis, horseshoes, and basketball.  Then went inside when it got too cold and dark and played games.  Courtney and I decided it was time to leave and Ondria and family decided to go to Payson with us to get something to eat.  We ended up at KFC.  While ordering Dionys accidently left his phone on the counter.   Apparently, some creepy fellows came up to the counter after them and asked the worker for change.  They didn't order anything.  They took Dionys phone and left.  😱  Dionys didn't realize he didn't have his phone until he was sitting down with the kids and eating. All of a sudden he realized it was missing and thought the counter was the last place he could remember it..  We asked everyone there if they had seen it and no one had.  

 

Then Ondria's phone rang, it was the guys who took the phone calling her phone!!!!  She said, "Hey, you have my phone, can I come and get it.?"   

The guy said he hadn't taken it,  he said it was his friend that took it.  He told her to go to an abandoned building a couple of streets away.  Well by this time, Dionys and Courtney were out the door walking in that direction and Ondria grabbed her keys and hopped in the car.  She past Dionys and Courtney and was at the appointed spot when she realized she was alone and that maybe this wasn't a good idea.  About this time, Dionys took off running to her and showed up at her car door. The kid who stole the phone came out of the dark and gave it back. 

 

At this point I guess Dionys' adrenalin came out,  and he turned on the kid and very angrily, asked why he had taken the phone.  Ondria didn't want there to be any trouble. She jumped out of the car and grabbed Dionys, " It's okay, it wasn't him. It was his friend.  We have the phone, let's just go."  

Now keep in mind while the three of them are off chasing the bad guys I'm sitting with the 5 kids in KFC. They were a little worried about their parents.  Then Alexandria said, "What do we have to be worried about?"  Papi has a pocket knife, and grandpa always carries a gun!"

Then DJ pipes up and said, "Ya, what are we worried for?" 😃😃  I felt like I was in a western movie somehow.  I had to work real hard to not laugh out loud.  Thing was, I knew they were right! 😉

** A few edits, the guy told me to go to an abandoned building but then decided a big blue house would be easier to find.  I knew it didn't seem like a good situation but I really wanted to get Papi's phone back.  Besides, it was Payson.  Although, it didn't help that the night before I had a dream that Papi lost Stella in the street.  I found her and got mugged walking home with her.  As soon as I pulled up at the big blue house I began to call Grandpa but then Papi appeared out of no where just in time like he always does. Later Alexandria specifically asked Grandpa if he was carrying a gun.  He replied, "lets just say I was prepared."

Pony bite

 

"Mom! I think the pony bit me." DJ showed me the red markings on his leg while in the Jacuzzi tub in the cabin.  Then, he looked at me with pain in his face, making his eyes like he needed help. This kid tries to get away with everything.  Luckily, I'm usually a step ahead but it's a challenge that I am always working on.  This time was an easy one though.

"Oh, dear! You could get pony rabies!" I lied. "We need to get you out now and cut that out of you." Fear crossed his face as he looked at his marked up leg.  I continued.  "Unless you think it might have been the intake for the Jacuzzi that made that mark? Then you're probably fine. You'll just have a funny looking tattoo for the rest of your life."

"Really, Mom?" he caught on.  I smiled, then told him not to do it again or he might get spots on his whole body.