The Garcia Family

2011-12-30T15:25:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it's been a year since I last posted anything! Wow! I guess my new years resolution should be to stay current with posts! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Family Pics!

2010-12-26T13:35:00.000-08:00

The weekend after thanksgiving we had pictures taken with my family, since our last one was very outdated but unfortunately my eldest brother and his family weren't able to make it... but it's a large fam! There are 35 beginning with my parents (including spouses/fiances), they have 1 great grand child and soon will have another one which will bring our family tally to 36!

We were freezing cold as the "blizzard" hit. But we all were troopers and made it through! We got some really good pictures and of course memories that will last a life time.... and fortunately we all left with all our fingers and toes as well!

Turkey Day & Updates

2010-11-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving we went up North and had dinner at Nick's parents and then spent the rest of the day with my family. My brother Ben and his wife Yuki were in town from L.A. it was the last time we get to see them before they move to Japan for 3 years in February. And it was the first time they met Kogan. We had a great time hanging out and playing games together, we are sure going to miss them but hopefully they'll be able to visit and maybe some day we can visit them! We also got family pictures done, there are 35 people in my family starting with my parents! Craziness but unfortunately my oldest brother and his family wasn't able to make it... I guess that's one of the disadvantages of having a large family, it's hard to get us all together! But I love them all and am so grateful to be a part of it!
Well now for a little bit of catch up...
The kids are doing great and growing up fast! It's crazy to look back and wonder where the time goes! Xander is 3 and can't wait to start school, he asks every day he sees the school bus come by if he can ride on it and go to school! He is such a great brother and is so talented, I can't wait to get him into sports, but man time flies, and sadly with the second kid goes even faster! Kogan is already 8 months and is crawling around and pulling himself up standing. He can babble a few things such as mum mum and da da and ba ba! He is such a happy little guy although we call him our barf bag because he literally is! I swear he'd be as big as his brother if he could keep everything down that he took in, he is a great eater!
Nick has closed another chapter with the end of the football season, they had a great season accomplishing a great west conference championship and were invited into the big sky conference! He will have his degree the end of this semester a major in Criminal Justice and minor in psychology, but may be continuing to get a second minor in Biology! We aren't really sure what we're going to do, just roll with the punches I suppose!
We're excited for Christmas especially Xander, he saw presents under grandma's tree and everyday he asks if it's Christmas yet so he can open them... it's gonna be a long 26 days!
Well I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and hope to have even better Christmas's'!

Xander's 3rd Birthday!

2010-08-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

Birthday boy smiles!

Xander, Kasch & Gunnar

Splash pad action!!! He's one mean kid with a squirt gun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER!

The birthday loot!

Just showin' you all what a three year old does best.... Doesn't listen but looks cute doing it... or would that be not doing it!? :)

I can't believe how fast three years have flown and how much a kid can grow in that amount of time! Xander is so full of life and a total boy.... bugs, worms, boogers, the whole nine yards! He has the funniest personality and says the darndest things. I love to see him learn and grow! He amazes me how mature he can be at times, he loves to help with everything even if I would rather him not. He's a great big brother and loves to play with his friends and cousins! He was the most coordinated 2 year old I know, and possibly still at the age of 3 and he can't wait to play sports! We love our little big guy and look forward to many more birthdays!

Random days of boys!

2010-08-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

Everyday is something new, with two! I just have to say that as easy as it is to fall into the mother role I've come to believe that it was the same for Xander to be a big brother! One of my biggest fears was how Xander would react to having a new addition to our family, you hear of horror stories of jealousy and mean feelings toward a new sibling, but I am so happy and extremely grateful to say that since the day Kogan was born Xander has loved his baby brother, he is very protective of him and loves to hold him. I can only imagine the adventures ahead these two are in for, Kogan isn't even old enough to really interact but he sure does enjoy being a part of Xander's imagination. He just smiles at the sound of Xander's squeaky voice when he trys to baby talk to him. You can see the amazement in his eyes just watching his big brother play and loves to be involved even if he accidentally gets covered with a blanket from a collapsed tent or buried under the couch pillows because Xander likes it and figures Kogan will too and even giggles to be carried around by his big brother even though his feet are near dragging! They manage to put a smile on my face everyday! I love my boys, even the big boy that I am so happy to call their daddy! I love being a part of all their lives and am so blessed to have them in mine!

2010-08-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July weekend we went camping at Tropic Resevoir with my parents! We had a lot of fun, my dad was a little sore that he was outfished by a two year old but of course was proud too! Xander caught the biggest fish out of our three fisherman.

Layton park with the Fam

2010-08-04T19:20:00.001-07:00

Just some Pool days!

2010-08-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-07-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

We went fishing up at a kids pond and then headed to Sand Hollow to camp for a night. We had a blast playing in the water, Nick caught a duck and also a lizard that was accidentally killed in the process but Xander fell in love with it and carried it around all day!

Vegas in May

2010-07-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

We went to Las Vegas back in May for our neices dance competition and to vedge at the pool. We stayed at the Excalibur and Kogan did great for his first trip and loved takin naps sprawled out on a lawn chair!

Our new Arrival!

2010-03-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Kogan Jestin Garcia!

It was the luck of the irish on St Patties day... ok well it was just the kindness of Dr. Newman to induce me at 39 weeks and it just happend to be this green wearing holiday! Our reservation was at 4 am so after an hour of sleep tuesday night we headed into the hospital. I got all ready and set up and started out with a medication to help thin and ripen the cervix and 4 hrs later they started me on pitosin. I spent the majority of the morning and afternoon walking, rolling around on a medicine ball, and walking the halls, I had consistent contractions that gradually got more intense. I dilated to a 3 when the Dr decided to break my water, and that's when the ball really got rolling... Contractions got really painful and so I decided to get my epidural about a hour later, and when I was checked right after I was all hooked up I was a 5, I was still having pains so the anesthesiologist had to give me another dose. Not only 50 mins later I was complete and ready to start pushing. I was so so so numb which was kinda inconvenient, I hated not being able to control my legs, but they weren't expecting me to progress that quickly. I only pushed for maybe 15 mins and our handsome baby Kogan was brought into the world. I couldn't believe my eyes... Xander has a twin! :) Nothing can describe the feeling of having a child, only the tears of joy rolling down my cheeks could explain. He was a tiny 6 lbs 10 oz, 19 1/4 inches long born at 4:48pm.

Temple Square

2009-12-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

I love the fact that my mom's birthday is in December just for the fact that it's always during Christmas break and that I never have to miss it! This year my dad arranged for us all the meet in Salt Lake to walk through the temple square lights, my mom had no clue and thought that's all we were doing until, we said our goodbye's and she and my dad went to the roof for dinner.
We took the front runner and tracks, which Xander was way excited about although he doesn't really look like it in the pictures, but he calls it a choo choo train! He especially loved the ride back since he got to sit with his cousin Gunnar, those two are definitely partners in crime! We went back our parents house and they destroyed the place... I was still picking up the loot they had chucked down the stairs the next day! And that was after the laundry detergent all over the laundry room/bathroom floor, and mass of toys in the living room. They always get into trouble together but it's so much fun to see what mischievous adventures they come up with. They were lot's of help with opening grandma's presents and Xander couldn't believe the sweater we got my mom, he helped open it and said, "WOW!" and started hugging it, it was hilarious!

09 SUU Football Season wrap up!

2009-12-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

SUU had a very good season and the program is improving every year with the new coaching staff. We had a 5 and 6 season, defeating Dixie state, North Dakota, UC Davis, San Diego University and Texas State. The losses were all pretty close calls! Nick had an amazing year and has made great strides at improving his obviously heaven sent talent every season, anyone who knows him, (or at least has seen him) knows that he was born to play the game of football! I was so proud to see my beaten up husband return from games with numerous bumps and bruises and other more outstanding injuries like a hyper extended elbow, sprained arm muscle, sprained ankle, bruised knee bursa, and horrible looking field turf burn (I'm sure I'm forgetting some too)! But he never skipped a beat and never let it stop him, he gives it his all and leaves it all on the field with no regrets! Xander loves to watch and imitate his daddy on the field, he gets down in his stance and you have to say, "down, set, hike!" and he'll take off to tackle someone or
something, or to retrieve a ball. He can already catch and throw a football like a pro, and surprises many people by his drop kick! We love to support Nick, and can't wait for one more year to be there in the stands cheering him on! GARCIA #79!!!

Cal Poly Trip

2009-12-15T10:46:00.000-08:00

Every year I planned to go to the Cal Poly game in San Luis Obispo, and every year plans fell through until this year... Cyd and I flew to see our men play and I was in for an even bigger surprise. My big brother Ben and sister in law Yuki decided to drive up and join us for the weekend, I was ecstatic to see them. We had a blast. We went to this Castle and although we walked around forever and our tour guide was totally lame, we managed to have some fun of our own, we thought we were hilarious copying the statues! You can't go to Cali and

not visit a beach, so of course we went! We were amazed with the star fish we found, I don't think it appreciated us detaching it from it's rock and poking at it, but we returned it to a safe nook.

The game was totally nerve racking but we ended up losing by ONE stinkin point! By the end of the trip I was ready to be home with my hubby and little Xander man, but was so happy for the experience and memories!

The BIG 2!

2009-09-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

Xander was born 7-29-2007, and although it feels like just yesterday we were going to the hospital two years have flown by! Our little baby boy has grown up into a rough and tumble toddler! We have enjoyed every second of being Xander's parents, he has filled our lives with so much love, joy, and laughter. There's nothing that can explain the love we have for our little X-man!

For his big day we celebrated by having a pool party and barbeque at my Aunt's! Xander is like a fish in water and has no fears! Our brave little guy has no second thought about jumping off the diving board and going down the slide into the pool.

He loves every minute he spends splishing and splashing in the water. When we were all water logged we busted out the presents and when I say busted I mean it, Nick was so excited to give Xander our present he brought the best out first instead of last! Xander was extatic to see his big boy tonka bike!

And had no plans on getting off it to open his other gifts, so when i tried to put him in his chair you can only imagine how he reacted.....

so long story short he ended up opening the rest of the loot while sitting on his bike. We finished with the good ol' cake and ice cream!

Bye Bye Shag... Hello MULLET!

2009-09-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

Well we finally decided to get rid of Xander's long hair a week or so into July. Nick was begging to give Xander a mullet and of course my first response was "NO WAY!" But after some pleading and pouting I made a deal with Nick that if we did give our poor son a mullet that it would only last ONE day... Nick tried to negotiate but I stood my ground and he promised, so don't judge, we did it!

We had the perfect timing because we did it the night just before Nick's grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary! So he sported it for the dinner with the family and then had it completely cut for the big celebration at the park. It was so funny because you could actually tell that he enjoyed having it because of all the attention he got, of course it was mainly everyone laughing at him but that didn't matter to him, he just smiled and laughed along with, he's so funny!

Just Like Papa!

2009-07-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

Grandpa's biggest fan!

So my dad has recently came back to his great hall of memories and got a Harley Davidson Sportster, it scares my mom to death that he is driving it now in his latter years but since it makes him happy she's willing to allow it (as long as he wears his helmet), but she hasn't been brave enough to bust open her brand new helmet and climb onto the back of it yet.

But one person who isn't scared is our little rugrat, first thing he did when he escaped into grandpa's garage was climb up onto the bike all by himself and immediately try to figure out how to get it on and now any time he sees a motorcylce driving around he yells "bike! bike!". So the other morning my dad walked into the kitchen while getting ready to leave with his helmet under his arm, when Xander spotted it and called it a hat and insisted on wearing it! And soon enough he put two and two together and put it on his head on and staggered down the stairs in the over sized helmet into the garage and climbed back up on the motorcylce! Any time we aren't quite sure where he's at the first place to check is the garage and we usually find him sitting on the Harley. He's too funny and I'm sure makes his papa proud!

Yesterday my dad had his first passenger in years, my sister in law Yuki went for a ride to antelope island with him. Xander was reluctant to get off and upset to see them drive off without him. My mom was just happy to have them both happy to return in safety... maybe she'll be riding with him soon!

Backyard Blast!

2009-07-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

What else to do when you're bored on a summer sunday evening!???

Well here's and idea and this is what happened...

The big boys (Nick, his little brother Luke and my brother in law Josh) decided to cool off by rigging a sprinkler to spray onto the trampoline and since that didn't turn out as fun as they thought one idea let to the next. They ended up making a 50 ft slip n' slide and lathered themselves with dishsoap and hurled themselves down the slick surface. It was hilarious to watch! But of course it's always fun until someone gets hurt which they all did. They each headed into the house with their baddle wounds when the sun went down. I wish I knew how to get a video on here, because it is just too funny to keep to myself, but oh well.

Yeah that was a fall! :)

Mean while the little boys (Xander and his cousin Gunnar) enjoyed following the men around copying their examples. They had a blast jumping on the soggy tramp, and being hurled by there dad's down the slip n' slide. And also enjoyed eachothers company gettin some sun, playin in the pool and in the sandbox!

Every time a picture is taken, Xander screams CHEEEEESE! for as long and loud as possible. Gunnar thought it was fun to do too, so he joined in and together they were bouncing up and down saying, cheese! cheese! cheese! Silly boys!

4th of July

2009-07-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

We had a rockin’ fourth of July! We started out early by heading to the Clearfield parade, I wasn’t so sure if Xander would get into the festivities, but he totally did! I had to hold his hand a few times and run out to grab the candy the floats were throwing but after a few times he picked up quick and sooner then you know it he was darting around snatchin up as much candy as he could and was so proud to admire his stash! It was so fun to watch him get so excited and he waved and said hi to everyone!

After the parade we hung out at Nick’s sister;s and grabbed some breakfast before we headed to the next activity on our list. When we caught our breath we headed to a big backyard pool party! Xander is like a fish in the water and has no fear, so we invested in a good old life jacket for our amphibian of a son, that way maybe he might make it to the day we put his little bum in swim lessons, A.S.A.P!

Once we had enough fun in the sun we raced to get ready and we met back up with Nick’s family at the best place ever, Burger Bar and grabbed us some dinner before we headed to the demolition derby in Ogden. We were running late and there was a line of cars waiting to find parking and we noticed people driving into a backyard at a near by house and we followed them and found us a spot for $5, those people are pretty clever, it was great! So anyways we had a great time and saw some definitely peculiar people, if you know what I mean! But it was a fun to watch the cars crash into each other and especially exciting to see a few cars rammed over the cement barriers! It was wild! After the derby there were fireworks, which were good, but we haven’t seen any that top Cedar’s opening ceremonies fireworks for the summer games, but that’s OK it was still fun of course!

Xander was a monster from all the cotton candy, sweets, and junk he'd eatin all day, and ended up throwing up because he was so upset for waking him up to put him into bed, but when the night was over were totally spent and we crashed as soon as our heads hit the pillow. So all in all I'd say it was a very successful day! :)

Cabin Fever!

2009-07-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

So my brother in law invited us to Idaho to a friend's cabin in Island Park the end of last month! And let me tell you it was beautiful, definitely worth the 8 hour drive it took us to get there! It comfortably accommodates 19 people, meaning that many people have a bed to sleep in! It was like 6200 sq ft! It had like a 10 person hot tub, it wasn't very far from Yellowstone, and four wheelers were also there for our pleasure and I'm tellin you took advantage of it all! It was awesome!

We went sight seein, we went to big springs where we saw rainbow trout that were like 30 inches and some were were smaller but still big! We went to Yellowstone and saw old faithful, and also some buffalo and elk. Then we went and shopped around in west Yellowstone like all tourist we bought Xander some memorabilia two really cute shirts!

While we were there we relaxed a bit and had a fire, and we also went on a few four wheeler rides and saw some more wild life, including a mama moose and her baby! We had a really good and loved spending the quality time with family and creating those memories and we can only dream of having a cabin, or a house like that some day!

Father's Day Weekend!

2009-07-07T12:50:00.000-07:00

For father's day we went camping at Sand Hollow, it was really windy but hey we're used that from living in Cedar so we didn't let it rain on our parade, which it did just a teeny bit, we were just glad it didn't tip our old ugly camp trailer over!

We tested out the water but it was kinda miserable because of the wind so we headed back to camp. The crazy weather calmed down by the evening and once the sun went down the critters came out! And let me tell you, they weren't shy either! The little kangaroo rats were scowering for food, running right over our toes! We went on a toad hunt and rallied together almost 20 FROGS! it was crazy and we were laughin so hard watchin nick round them all up, at one point he had like 8 or 10 crammed in his hands!

The next day was decent so we went and played in the water again and had a blast, Xander played in the sand and a little in the water, seriously if you give the kid a rock around any mass of water he is entertained for hours!

Nick and I got a chance to do a little snorkeling it was a little windy still so the water was a little chilly, but we had a ton of fun!

Gone Fishin'

2009-07-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

Finally we had some luck at fishing at a kids pond up cedar canyon, usually we go home empty handed, but we managed to snatch about 7 from the water we kept 3 the rest were just little ones! Xander loves fishing with his daddy and reeling them in!

Spring Game

2009-05-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

Nick and the rest of the SUU football team has been training since January and practicing outside since March preparing for the Spring game. The game was Red vs. White, the game was great despite the cold which we happened to get every precipitation possible (rain, snow, and hail, am I forgetting anything?) and also a little sunshine, but the whole team did really well even though they were playing against each other. Nick did great he got in on a lot of tackles and also sacked the quarter back! It was awesome to watch! Nick was on the red team and they one 13-12! During the game it was too cold and I was too busy keeping Xander off the field and trying to stay warm so I didn't get any pics of the game but snapped a few after.

Trips to the Red Cliffs!

2009-05-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

Our first trip to the Red Cliffs was with our friends Cyd and Drew. It was the warmest day yet in Cedar and so it was even warmer being close to St. George, it was great! We had a little picnic before we started then hiked up to a little water hole with a waterfall. The guys jumped into the freezing water... and that included Xander, although he wasn't very happy with his choice after the fact. But the nice hot sun warmed them up real fast! We had so much fun that we had to take our family there when we came to visit Grandma Cindy, Papa Mario, uncle Luke, Aunt Chelle and Ben enjoyed it just as much as we did it was a great way to end their visit.

Easter!

2009-05-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

We planned on going camping for our Easter weekend but our plans got rained out so we made the best of our weekend. We colored eggs friday night. Saturday we started our day out with the Cedar city egg hunt at the park, it was freezing but we did manage to snatch a few eggs, there were tons of eggs and even more eggs! We went to Del Taco for lunch and let Xander play in the play place since it was too cold to play outside, then we went to the movies to see Monsters vs. Aliens. Xander's not the best at sitting still through movies but we managed to make it through, and had a lot of fun! Sunday we woke up and went to church afterwards Xander found his basket that the easter bunny hid for him, and then we went to the park and had our own little egg hunt. It was a fun filled weekend!

Catch up!

2009-05-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been over a month since I last posted so with the next few posts I'll bring ya up to speed!

Bubbles, Baths & Laughs!

2009-03-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

After a night of my sister Taryn's Birthday fun, we decided to get the two little rascals cleaned up and ready for bed. They had lot's of fun splashin' around and sharing bubbles, and didn't seem to mind a few bums in the face.... as long as no one tooted! hehehe! After the tub they escaped the bathroom and went straight to playing on the slide, we video taped it because we just could resisted how hilarious it was, but thought it may be a little too graphic to post, but I'll paint a little picture... Just imagine two little naked bums trying to inch their ways down a little tikes slide, Gunnar wised up after the first few times but Xander didn't seem to care that each time he squeaked his way down, his little cheeks got a little redder and redder, he literally was holding onto the sides and had to muscle himself all the way down, he would hit the carpet and do it all again, the fun never seemed to run out! It was quite the sight to see!

Bang Bang

2009-03-17T10:34:00.001-07:00

We recently got our Concealed weapons permit, and before buying guns we wanted to try a few out, so monday we went to the Impact Guns to have a little fun and shoot! Nick's dad has a friend that is pretty well stocked on guns and experience so he was kind enough to lend us a helping hand.

Who says girls can't shoot?.... This is the gun we were originally considering buying for me and let's just say I handled it pretty well haha. It's a 38 revolver.

These girls are armed & dangerous, so watch out!

My twin sister Michelle also took the class with us, so she joined in on the fun. We may not look alike but might I say we look pretty hott in our safety gear! We shot two different 9mm, two different 40's, and two different 38's. I really liked the 9mm but there kind of big to conceal so who knows what we'll end up getting!
Well when our time was up and the targets were plastered with holes we called it a day it was a blast... literally! haha.

"peee-ewww"

2009-03-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

It's only the beginning of the good old potty training process. Xander's already done some big boy business on his throne which we were very proud of although we aren't cracking down on it until he's a little older, we're just getting him familiarized and liking the idea of things! I'm hoping he has the hang of it when we really get into it. He says "Pe-eww" and signs/says "poop" when he's got a full diaper, and depending on who's turn it is to change him, one of us gets a good ol' laugh! It's all fun and games til the messes start happening but until we'll enjoy it and catch a few pics!

2009-03-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

Our first official blog picture, I'm so proud of myself for finally getting around to it! Well Sunday was our stake conference and it was such a beautiful day so we dressed according to the Springy mood! Xander looked spiffy in his new and first "Big boy" tie the first and only one was a clip on!

Well we figured while we looked nice and had a spring theme going we should take some pictures... yes it was a little akward smiling for the camera while the main road infront of our apartment buzzed with passing cars, but of course it was worth, so enjoy! :)