thetorreslunafamily - Stories Page 2

1/13/09: We haven't been doing anything too new and exciting lately. Just back to the same schedule now that the girls are back at school. We did get a new piano though..that's the exciting news in our house this week! Our friends, Barry and Liz Love, had this piano that was Barry's familys' piano when he was a kid, then it was the one that Barry and Liz's children practiced on when they took lessons. Nobody in their family is interested in playing now, so they wanted to free up the space in their living room. We were the lucky recipients... or should I say Maddy and Emma are. Both of the girls love playing; we can't keep their hands off the piano. (We feel liek bad parents telling them they CAN'T play because we are sick of the noise sometimes!) It's wonderful to have a piano in the house though! Now, we can give back the keyboard that Robert (the piano teacher) loaned us.

Ava has surprised us by not walking yet. We all thoguht for sure she would be our earliest walker (so far Emma holds the record at 14 months). We have late walkers around here. Ava is content speedily crawling all over the place. She stands alone for a few seconds, but seems to have no desire to take off walking?!? No hurry I guess. If I've learned anything in parenting, it's that kids accomplish all the stages at their own time and there's no reason to hurry them along.

I have been babysitting 3 children lately. I have them 2-3 times a week. There names are Mirium, Gracie, and Gabriel. Mirium is in 2nd grade with Maddy, so I usually just have the little two. Gracie (almost 3) and Gabe (18 months). It is definitely a challenge to have 7 little kids, but the $$ is good and the time passes pretty quickly. The two little ones don't take naps for their parents. The parents say that it's too hard to make them (Oh NO!!) In the last month I've trained them to take a 1.5 hour nap when my kids go down for heir naps and now they don't even make a peep when they go down (Tah-Dah!!). Thank God, cause I really need the down time in the middle of the day!

Christian has been in Chicago since Saturday. He is putting up with the zero degree weather there while we have had 82 and sunny here. The kids have been enjoying the nice weather and have been playing outside a ton! Daddy comes home tonight. We have really missed him!! We'll be up and waiting for him to return home at 8PM tonight. He took the camera with him on his trip... that's to explain why we've had no new pix to post here lately.

1/8/09: Here is a copy of our annual Christmas letter. I forgot to put it on here a few weeks ago.

We hope this letter finds you all healthy and happy as a New Year approaches. We ended last year with the birth of our baby girl Ava, and we began the year 2008 as a busy family of six. What a great year it has been!

We don't have to add anything to our calendar to make our household busy; with a 7-year-old, a 5-year-old, a 3-year-old, and a 1-year-old, we can keep ourselves entertained without ever leaving the house! Yet, we manage to add fun activities for us all into our on-the-go lifestyle, although, you can often find the entire Torresluna Six taking an "after church nap" on a cozy Sunday afternoon.

Christian remains in his same job at First American Equipment Finance for his 3^rd year. He loves his job and enjoys his co-workers too. He is taking on new responsibilities at work being chairman of a planning committee and he has begun taking business trips to his southern territory to visit clients. He loves to travel! He's going to Chicago in just a few short weeks for the company kick-off in January. Christian is continuing his exercise regimen and marathons are his favorite. This year he ran a few 5K's to prepare himself for his longest run, "The Disney Half-Marathon" which he finished in 2 hours, 55 minutes. Christian lived out a dream of his this past summer by going to Sankey Bull Riding School. Yes, he did get atop of a live bull and ride twice...for a total of about 5 seconds. If you ask Christian, he'd tell you they were some of the best 5 seconds of his life (next to his wedding day and the births of his 4 children of course!).

Madeline is in the second grade. She loves to play the piano and read. She enjoys playing games on the computer in "Webkinz World" and on Disney.com. Maddy is growing up to be quite independent. She played Spring T-ball and moved up to the Player pitch division for Fall Ball this year. With all of the girls' activities they still have plenty of time to play (and fight) with their siblings at home. Both of the girls are participating in Pioneer Clubs at our church- I am the director of this ministry. We all love it and the impact that it is having on the children in our church and community.

Emma started kindergarten this year. She loves it! Along with starting school she also had her first year of piano and her first year of softball. Emma is doing fabulous at both and will continue with them this year. Emma "Gracie Girl" is our girly-girl. For her 5^th birthday our family went to Disneyland. Emma decided that she didn't want a "friends party"; she wanted to invite one friend to the mall and get manicures and pedicures in a salon. That is so Emma!

Landon at 3-years old is enjoying the no-school life. He gets to go to work with me 2 mornings a week at church and then he gets to hang out at home or running errands with Ava and Mommy. We are still deciding if Landon will start preschool in 2009 or wait until 2010. Time will tell... This year Landon learned how to swim, to ride a skateboard, to count, and he's learning how to do chores as part of the family. He has an extremely large vocabulary for a 3-year-old, and he LOVES to talk! Although, when he is playing with his action figures and super-heroes, he makes the typical boy sounds that I wouldn't even begin to know how to spell. He's so funny!

Ava "Claire Bear" is sweet as candy! She is the most laid-back, content baby you'd ever meet! She is such a joy to have in the house. Each one of our children holds a special place in the family. Ava is our calm and quiet one (Not to say she won't love to talk like her brother and sisters later!). At 12 ½ -months-old, Ava is saying a few words, doing a few "baby-signs", and cautiously cruising along the furniture. She is in no hurry to learn to walk, but we think she'll probably do it within the next couple of months. It's hard to watch our last baby turn into a toddler, knowing that another baby will not be coming along "2 years later" (The Torresluna way). We are enjoying every stage of development that each of the children go through. We know they are each created by God to be unique individuals. That they are!

I continue to feel so blessed to be in the role of wife, mother, and Director of Children's Ministry of our church. At times I marvel at God's plan that I got to be the one chosen as Christian's wife and the mother to our 4 precious children. I wouldn't choose anywhere else I'd rather be than right here, right now, in the life I live and love with my family! May God bless you as we enter upon a New Year in 2009.

1/5/09: So sad...Winter Break is over! I love having all the kids home. I love waking up and being with the kids and having no place to go. We stay in our jammies, play, watch videos, do chores, and just relax. When school is in session, things are so rushed in the mornings. Can't wait for summer....

We had such fun family times this break. We went to the snow, ice-skating, baked cookies, did puzzles, played games, had a slumber party, looked at Christmas light houses, spent time with family and friends, and much more. Tons of fun!!

The girls are back at school today... I miss them already. Those of you with babies and toddlers, enjoy it now when you get to have them all the time...all to yourselves. Time flies.

12/28/08: We have had a significant amount of snowfall in the Southern California Mountains which does not happen all that often down here. So Christian and I decided to take the kids to Arrowhead for the day to play in the snow. We left nice and early on Saturday morning (about 7:30) as to beat all the traffic and be home for a dinner party that night. Lo and behold every other Orange County'er had the same brilliant idea! What would normally be an hour drive for us turned into a 2 1/2 hour treck up the mountain. We get about 5 miles away from our destination to find out that we couldn't go any further becasue chains were being required on every vehicle. We decided to "illeagally" go play in a neighborhood full of snow. We found a large area of snow with a nice hill in between 2 houses that were obviously not being used at the time (the snow on the driveways was un-touched!) We dressed the kids in all the borrowed snow gear and took out the boogie boards (Yes- only in California do we use boogie boards instead of tobaggans). And we were on our way. We wre having a blast playing in the snow, zipping down the hills, and building a snowman...when I decide to take a picture of Emma flying down the hill. I captured the photo and then opened my legs for her to pass between them when I totally lost my footing (in my Uggs) and fell -knocking my face on the camera as I came tumbling to the ground. It hurt pretty bad, but the worst part of it all was that I had knocked my mouth on the camera and chipped my front right tooth as I went down. I was horrified!!! Still, with a day gone by, I am still so bummed!!! I don't know what the dentist is going to do to fix it, but I certainly will get an appointment ASAP to find out. We are praying that it is just a chipped tooth and not nerve damage, torn root, or anything worse... I don't know. Even with the minor catastrophe, it was a really fun day!! Was it worth it? You bet! The kids had a blast and so did we!!

12/26/08: I love Christmas! Christmas Eve day we spent at our house with Christian's family. We did crafts, played Twister, Hungry Hippo, played darts, and just hung out. We went our Candlelight service together then came back to our house for dinner, presents, and more games. It was a fun, relaxing, and extremely enjoyable day! The kids made out like bandits with so many wonderful gifts. They were having a blast!

Christmas morning the kids woke up to presents from Santa. Of course Maddy and Emma had already seen them in the middle of the night. Madeline gets SOOOO excited about Christmas that she can't sleep! This year she woke up at 11:00 PM to find that Santa had already come. (Phew! He'd just left!) She came into mine and Christian's room to tell us what she saw, and we told her to take a quick peek and go back to bed. Like every year past, Maddy and Emma were up again around 1AM and then finally we all got up around 5:30 to open presents. One of these days we'll sleep in on Christmas! Thank God for our mid-morning nap!! The top gifts at home this year were: Maddy- Cupcake Maker and a digital camera, Emma- Girl Crush Hair Streaker and Leapster, Landon- Hulk Smash hands and a Hulk costume, Ava- a talking camera and Belle phone. They all had so much fun!

We spent the afternoon at my parents house with "the cousins" and extended family. My mom made a delicious dinner with all of us bringing side dishes to add to it. The kids opened tons of presents there too. They always get so many fun gifts at Christmas time! Our children are blessed to have family that treat them so well!! We drove home that night to put the kids home in their own beds. What a wonderful few days!! Merry Christmas and thank you to all of you!!

12/22/08: Only 3 days left til Christmas! Today is the first day of Winter Break and it's pouring outside! Lito and Lita came over yesterday to pick up Emma. They are going to take the 3 big kids one at a time to stay at their house for a day or two each. Maddy and Landon were both crying as Emma left yesterday. They all love to spend time at Lito and Lita's! Emma will come home tomorrow morning and Landon will get his turn to go. Maddy will go after Christmas. We all miss Emma!

Yesterday at church Landon sang with his 2-3 year old class and Maddy and Emma sang with the preschool-6th grade classes. Last year Landon wouldn't stay up there. He cried and ran to Christian in the audience. This year he stayed up there and looked real cute, but he didn't sing. He sang the songs at home all week, but just stood there smiling yesterday. Oh well, it was cute anyway! The girls did great in their performance too!

12/22/08 We are so proud of Madeline for being awarded "student of the Month" for the month of November. She was honored at a school assembly last Thursday (12/18). Christian took the afternoon off of work, and Grandma, Lita, and Tete came to see her get her award. Fern Drive gives an award for a different "positive character quality" each month. November's character quality was "thankfulness". Madeline's teacher, Mrs. George, wrote a poem about Madeline to read in front of the students and guests. Here is what she wrote:

12/15/08: December weekends are always so crazy! This one was no exception. We started off Saturday morning with the college graduation for Christian's sister, Montse. We are so proud of her to have her BA degree completed!! (Alpha Sigma Lambda- no less) It was a long haul, but determination and persistance pulled her through. Congratulations Montse!!! Now she's off to do her teaching credential... following in the Torresluna tradition. Good work, we're proud of you Monstse. We had a nice family breakfast at the Orignal Pancake House to celebrate with everyone.

From there I had 1 hour to pick up Ava's birthday cake from Costco and a pinata from the party store. To be home at 4:00 for the babysitter so that Chrsitian and I could leave for his annual Company Christmas party. Wowee...was that fancy! It was at the Pelican Grill on Newport Coast, looking over the ocean. Beautiful!!! It was nice catching up with his work friends and their wives. I missed the party last year because Ava had just been born. I was happy to be there this year. Christian received a gift card to the Apple iStore and the spouses received gift cards to Starbucks...Yummo! Plus, Christian won one of the games and got a certificate for a car wash. Woohoo!

Sunday morning was Ava's baby dedication at church. She looked beautiful. Jennifer Landers was named her God-mother at the service and she and her family were there to celebrate with us. My parents and my Aunt Debbie also came to the service. Tina and her family would have been there (they were actually in Orange County ) but, Ashley got car sick and threw up all over her clothes so they had to stop at a store to buy her a new outfit. No biggie. At least they made it to the party!

Ava's birthday party was in the afternoon. We had over 50 people at the church in the fellowship hall there for Ava's party. It was so much fun to see our friends and family and so many people there to celebrate with us for our baby's first year. Ava was a sweetheart! She behaved beautifully and LOVED her birthday cake. She ate every last bite! She got it all over her face and in her hair, but managed to keep her outfit clean (thanks to her bib!) Christian and I baked a 3 turkeys and shreaded them to serve "pulled turkey sandwiches" for the party. It was a lot of work before hand, but turned out to be very yummy. Happy birthday to our sweet Ava Claire!

Now, off to Christmas.... believe it or not, I've barely begun Christmas shopping. I bought one thing on-line and Chrsitian bought 1 thing on-line. Other than that, we've got 10 days to shop! I'm going out shopping tonight with Ava. Christian is going to take the other 3 to see the Christmas lights in the most decorated neighborhoods. It's POURING down rain and down into the 40's at night (that is SUPER cold for California!!), so they will be looking from the truck. They'll all love it! Merry Christmas and wish me luck for my shopping tonight!

12/08/08: Thanksgiving weekend was a very busy one, but a fabulous weekend! We went to my parents house on Thanksgiving day and had the big turkey dinner with family. It wasn't the same without Grandma Dory there, but it was still nice to gather together as a family and be thankful togeher. We stayed the night at Tina's house that night and they left to go camping the next morning. (I got to take a bubble bath in Tina's tub, I love that tub!!!!). We stayed at their house for a little while and then met them at the RV park they go to. My parents went too. We had a great day walking to the Downtown area for lunch and just hanging out with eachother. We got some awesome pictures of the kids!

Later that same day Christian and I took the kids to go see Missle Park in Port Hueneme. It was a cool little "museum" of missles that were used in wars past. The kids had fun looking at the planes and missles and sliding down some of the exibits. We only stayed for about a half hour and then headed to our "Sing Along".

We went to the Landers' house that afternoon for a Christmas party/ Sing along that Jen ahd planned. They had all put so much time and effort into making hte evening special. And it certainly was! We had so much fun singing, playing, visiting, eating.... We captured the fun of the evening in pictures. Everyone had a great time! We spent the night there at "Hotel Landers". We even went to dinner the next night for Michele's birthday before we finally headed home for church the next morning. It was jam packed weekend of events, but every single moment was enjoyed by all!

12/2/08: Happy Birthday to our Baby Girl!!! I can't believe a whole year has passed since Ava came into our lives. She has been such a wonderful addition and such a blessing to our family. With each day I love her more and more which doesn't seem possible to love her any more than I already do. She is such a happy baby and it brings me great joy to be her Mommy! Happy birthday to the baby of the family!!

Here is a little slide show of our sweet Claire Bear's first year from newborn to 1-year-old.... Happy Birthday Baby!

11/22/08: My Grandma Dory passed away last Sunday morning during her sleep. She led a beautiful life full of smiles, laughter, and love. Tomorrow is her Memorial service. I will be speaking and here is what I plan on saying. I hope I can get it all out.

"When I think of Grandma Dory I think back to my childhood of being at Grandma and Grandpa LaMantain's house. It seems as though we were there all the time. We would just go to hang out with the family. I have so many memories shared with family amongst that gold carpet, 2 big EZ chairs (that the kids could rarely sit in) and those hard green sofas. Many of the memories include many of you...that I'm sure you'll remember along with me....

Christmas and Thanksgiving were always big family functions. The food was served on top of the pool table. It was a feast of food where we all went and served ourselves. One of the things that I remember always being on the table were these bright green and bright red pear halves. I don't even know if they sell those things anymore, but they were always at Grandma and Grandpa's house for the holidays. And don't forget the black olives... My sisters and I would walk around the place with an olive on the end of each finger, that never got old.

My favorite memories of Grandma were when I would get to go stay with her at her house for the weekend in elementary school and junior high. She would let me plan the menu and we would go shopping for the food together (it would take us 15 minutes for her to drive us to the store just around the corner) I think we could have walked faster than her slow driving! Anyway, we would shop for the food and then we would cook it together in the kitchen just the two of us. After our dinner was ready, we would sit at the little card table and eat our dinner and desert that we prepared. Grandma enjoyed cooking and I enjoyed cooking with her.

Those were the days when Grandma had really long red hair... Her hair was always pulled really tight in one large bun. I'll never forget the day I saw her hair not in that bun for the first time. I think I was about 12-years-old. I couldn't believe how long it was. In my mind now and forever, Grandma Dory remains a red-head.

There was always the sound of card playing and cribbage in the air. I did learn "Spite and Malice"; I would play that game over and over and over with Grandma... But cribbage was a game that I never did pick up. I just remember hearing all the numbers adding up with the little pegs moving across the board. All the adults seemed to like it.

Grandma Dory must have done something very right when raising her children. My mom, Aunt Debbie, and Uncle JT set an amazing example for us of how to love and care for your mom. Even Uncle Greg until the day he died, loved and respected Grandma Dory the best he could. I look up to the 4 of them and hope to be the kind of adult child they became when their mom was aging. Even though Grandma lost her husband at a young age, she had 4 strong and loving kids to care for her. My mom, Debbie and JT spent numerous hours with Grandma taking her to the movies, shopping, out to eat, or just visiting her wherever she was. She was very well taken care of!

My children are so privlidged to be able to say that they knew their GREAT Grandma. I hope they will treasure memories of having a great grandma like Great-Grandma Dory, as I do. She loved them, and they loved her. She would always sit and visit with them when they were near, and she would ask about each one by name when I didn't have them with me. We will all miss her so much!"

11/11/08: Please keep my Grandma Dory in your prayers. She has been in the hospital and was admitted to ICU on Sunday. She is heavily sedated and in no pain, but we are praying for a recovery. Grandma Dory is the "Come Back Queen" as far as her health is concerned. She has been very sick numerous times that we thought we might lose her, but has always gained her strenghth back and recovered. She was brought to Amanda and Luis' wedding by a medical transport and had a nurse assistant with her during the wedding. She took a few pictures with Amanda and Luis and then returned back to the hospital. It was awesome that she made it there. I loved seeing her right there in the front row with tears of happiness in her eyes. She loves them both so much. Please continue to pray for my Grandma Dory.

11/17/08: What a weekend! We have been amongst smoke for over 3 days now and our streets and cars are covered with ashes! There are several fires all over southern California, but the Brea one and the Yorba Linda one are super close to us. On Saturday at Madeline's game we were watching the smoke coming in on us closer and closer as the game went on. When the game was nearing its' end, we were all headed indoors to breath some ash-free air. The sky looked like it was dusk all day long. It's such and earie feeling. It has been really hot and windy..I guess that's what fuels the fires to keep spreading. Cooler weather is in site though, so hopefully they will all be out soon. We got a phone recording last night to let us know there will be school today, but the children will be kept in doors for recesses and lunch.

Christian and I had 2 extra children the past few days. We were babysitting Gracie (2 1/2 years) and Gabriel (16 months old) for the weekend. Their parents went away for a romantic get-away. It was hectic around our house, but we surrvived. They are sweet kids, but having that many diapers, meals to prepare, kids to bathe... it got pretty crazy sometimes. I am going to start watching them a couple of days a week to help out their family with childcare and also to bring in a little extra money for us. But now it will be just me, no Christian to help....Ahhhh! plus I'll have their 7- year- old sister. 7 kids, 7-years-old and younger- Lord, help me!

Last Saturday's game was the last game for the Grapenuts. The Fall season is over. Practice for the Spring season will start in January. Maddy took a couple pitching lessons this season and she was dying to pitch in a real game. Her coach has been telling her all season that she could pitch in the last game. She did! Saturday, in the last inning of the game she got to start off as pitcher. She did OK, but boy oh boy was she happy!! It made her day.

11/9/08: The wedding went off perfectly! As you can see by the tons of picutres I've posted, it was just beautiful! Luis and Amanda both were very happy. The vows they wrote for eachother were an inspriation to all married couples. It was truly the most gorgeous wedding I've ever seen! Luis is a welcome addition to our family. He and Amanda compliment eachother well. He comes from a wonderful family with strong family values. Amanda and Luis will be very happy together.

Christian and Greg were awesome throughout the day. They had to keep the kids while they had their hair done, give them lunch and drive them to where they needed to be on time. Tina and I have such great husbands. They did all that was asked of them (and it was a lot!) without complaining. It was hard being a mother of 4 and a bridesmaid. I am, truly honored that Amanda had me stand with her for her wedding. It was nice to spend the day with Amanda getting our hair and make-up done and doing pictures and so on... A day we will never forget!

There were a lot of children involved in the wedding. Amanda and Luis did an incredible job finding rolls in the wedding to be sure that each child had their own special place. Landon along with another little girl honored the mothers of the bride and groom with a bouquet of flowers. Landon screamed down the isle and would NOT do it at the rehearsal, but he did it with a smile for the wedding (Yay for Skittles!!) Madeline and Ashley passed out the programs at the door and they also were the candle lighters. Tina and I were a bit nervous that they were carrying an open flame inside the church to light 8 candles, but they both did it beautifully!! Karly and Emma were flower girls and Emily was a junior bridesmaid. Everyone did great!! Oh yeah, Ava slept through the ceremony, looking beautiful in her matching dress.

The reception was tons of fun!! Everyone had a fabulous time. My mom and dad have hosted their last wedding and went out on a high note. This was an absolutely perfect day for their baby. They are finally really empy-nesters. My mom and dad have been married for 38 years. They have set the example of a strong commitment of marriage for all three of us daughters. What a beautiful life they created for us and all three of us girls, our husbands and all of the 7 grandkids get to benefit from their love! Happy wedding day to Luis and Amanda and thank you to my Mom and Dad for making it everything Amanda always dreamed of! It was perfect.

11/7/08: Well here it is, the day of the reharsal dinner. We are pulling Madeline out of school early (at the same time as Emma gets out of school 12:10) so that we can hopefully skip the afternoon traffic and get to the Ekmans' house before we have to go to the church. But you never know with Los Angeles traffic, we may have to head straight to the church. Either way, we are really excited for Amanda and Luis. We are thrilled to play such a big part of the wedding party and see them finally become husband and wife!

I'm sure I'll take tons of pix this weekend. Maddy and Emma are so excited about their "jobs" in the wedding! Landon is supposed to walk down the isle to bring a rose to my mom. I hope he cooperates. It can go either way?!!? He may be thrilled to do it, or he may be too shy so he becomes defiant. If he decides he doesn't want to do it, we won't push it. Who knows with him? No matter what, he'll look adorable in his little suit!

Ava is getting closer to walking, but she doesn't try to do anything on her own. I thoguht maybe she would walk before her first birthday, but now I don't hink she will. She is pretty cautious. The rest of us are doing well. Happy weekend to you all (especially Stacey W. with her sister's wedding as well!)

11/2/08: We had a very fun Halloween. I always stress out over our Fall Family Festival at church. I am in charge of lining up all of the volunteers to run booths, work craft tables, make and sell food.... I worry that I won't be able to fill the spots or that people won't show up. It has turned out perfectly every year and this year was fabulous too. Halloween being on a Friday this year made it so that it was even better attended than usual. We all had a lot of fun!

This past weekend was the Landers/McLaughlin/Torresluna annual Apple Farm trip. This is the trip that we have done since I tagged along with the Landers family when I was in grade school. Now we take our own kids. What a tradition. It's one of my favorite days of the year. This year no exception. I love it!

Maddy has all of a sudden taken a HUGE liking to chapter books. She has been reading since she was 4-years-old. She was plenty capable of reading chaper books last year, but would only do so when we made her. She bought a "Tinkerbell Fairies" book at the Scholastic book fair on Thursday and had finished it by Saturday. Then she picked up a Junie B. Jones book and read that in less than two days. It's so much fun to hear her giggling at funny parts of the book when she's off in another room. Now she's on a roll and can't get enough! I have 300+ children's chapter books that I have been saving from my classroom for years. The time has finally come to break out the boxes! Yay!!

**I have even more pictures to post from the Apple Farm and Halloween night. I'll get them up later. Enjoy the new pix I just posted from last week. Fun, fun, fun!

10/28/08: We are all well in our house now. Christian, Ava, and I never caught the flu bug. Thank God! The kids got over it, but it took them all a few days to get back to their normal selves.

We are looking forward to Halloween approaching. I love dressing the kids up for Halloween. It's so much fun to see them act like their character and be so joyful about being somebody else for the night. Maddy and Emma used to live in dress up clothes all day every day, but they don't do it as much anymore. Landon has a few "costumes" that he likes to wear: fire-fighter, chef, army guy, and Scooby Doo. But, I sure do miss the days of having little princesses running all over the house. Maybe Ava will be into it when she gets a little bigger. I loved Halloween as a kid, and I think I love it even more as a Mom watching it through the eyes of my children. So many families in the Christian culture down play Halloween. It makes me sad to think that some kids don't get the opportunity to dress up and collect candy for the holiday. We don't play into the whole evil and scary parts of Halloween, but it sure is fun to dress up!

Last weekend we went to our neighbor, Betty's, church for thier Harvest Festival. The kids had fun dressing up and playing games and such. This Friday we have the Fall Family Festival at our church. I am so busy working it, that I don't get to enjoy it with our kids. That's why going to this other church for their festival was great for me because I got to hang our with my family the whole time. The kids all looked so cute! Emma (Wonder Woman) won first place in the costume contest. Christian did Landon's hair like Superman with the "S curl" on his forehead- too cute for words! Pictures posted soon.

10/20/08: It's Monday morning, and I'm at home. I usually work on Monday mornings, but Madeline woke up a bunch of times last night saying she was going to throw up. Although, she never did, she still wasn't feeling well this morning and was tired from a rough night. So, we are home today and I'll make up the day at work on Thursday morning.

This was a party filled weekend. We had a birthday party at our house for Jen Landers and all her friends and family. She moved away about 2 years ago and it was great for her to be able to get together with all her friends from OC at one time and place. It was so much fun!

Yesterday was another shower for Amanda. This one was with mostly ladies from church. It was nice to see everyone and see Amanda get MORE gifts! Tina and I got her a new Bible (navy leather NIV thinline) with her new name engraved on it, Amanda Barrios. Ava went to the shower with me. Only 2 weeks and 5 days til the wedding!

It is so sad to see so many of our friends and family struggling with the economy right now. People losing their houses, businesses suffering, stocks and savings falling.... It's just awful! I hope this all gets better soon. With Christmas just around the corner we can't help but worry about how we're going to handle that one. Maybe this year we will all be forced to focus on the real meaning of Christmas...not the presents. May God bless you and your family as our country is going through this economic crisis. Let's all pray that we see it recover soon.

10/14/08: Our little Ava Claire is growing up way to fast! Here are some pictures of her that we've taken over the last 10 months. Sometimes I just wish I could freeze time and stay in this stage of life forever! I love the ages that all the kids are at right now. Children are such a blessing!

10/14/08: Hello there! Most of you know, I am now a member of Facebook. Wow, that sure is fun! I have come into contact with so many of my old friends from highschool and college. Very cool!!

We're chuggin' along here in the Torresluna houshold on edge with our Dodgers in the playoffs. They are playing the Phillies and not doing so well. They have won once and lost 3 times. In order to go to the World Series, they need to win all of the next 3 games. Come on Dodgers... You can do it!!! Our family is supporting by wearing our Dodger clothing and ball caps this week. Go Dodger Blue!!

Ava's hair is long enough for pig-tails! I love doing girls' hair; I wish Maddy and Emma like for me to do their hair though. They allow me to have fun, but when I'm in a hurry, forget it! Tears gallore. I don't know if any of you remember, but when Landon was about 15 months, he callled the brush an "ouch-ouch-ouch", cuz that's what he always heard from his sisters. Emma is pretty good cuz she has fine thin hair, but poor Maddy, she has a full thick head of hair, and man does it get tangley! I want them to have long hair for Amanda's wedding, but after the wedding I think they'll both get their hair cut to chin length. That certainly will make our mornings a little easier.

Landon has now graduated from peeing sitting down to peeing standing up "just like Daddy". We potty-trained him sitting, but now he's wanting to pee like a big boy. Woo hoo for Landon! (I know this was news you all wanted to hear.)

Looking forward to Halloween. We are not doing a family thing this year. Maybe next year. This year: Madeline -Tinkerbell, Emma- Wonder Woman, Landon -Superman, Ava- Ladybug. They'll look really cute!

10/7/08: I guess updating only once a week is what I have defaulted to in the busy-ness of our lives these days. Man, I used to add pix and write updates a few times a week. Well, here it goes...

Ava at 10 months old is: clapping, "singing", walking along furniture, climbing stairs, saying "mama", "dada", "bye-bye", "baba", "Emma", and "no", finger feeding herself, eating table food (chicken, peas, peanut butter sandwich, cheese, lentils, eggs, and of course- CRACKERS...), doing sign language (more, all-done, and bye-bye), taking 2 naps of about 1.5 hours each, sleeps about 8PM- 7AM, sucking her thumb when she is sleepy or bored, starting to not like her exer-saucer, and LOVES roaming the house on all fours. Everyone says she's such a good and happy baby... and well, I'd have to agree with that!

My Aunt Debbie, Tina, and I threw a wedding shower for Amanda on Sunday. It was her second of three showers. It was at a quaint little French Bistro called "La Frite". It turned out perfectly with many guests and lots of presents! Only 4 weeks to go til the wedding.

Saturday was a crazy-busy day! We started off the morning super early with a 5K race that Christian ran. Then we stopped at a campground on the way home that has these loooong slides (see pictures). Then, the girls did a "Stranger Danger" class at a Karate studio and Maddy had a double header softball game after that. To top off the day, we had a baby-sitter for the evening and Christian and I went out with our "Young-Marrieds'" Sunday School class to have dinner and see the movie "Fireproof" (I highly reccomend it). Yes, a busy day, but all fun!

Landon is doing great in his "big-boy underwear". He now is wearing underwear everywhere and for his nap, but still in a pull-up for night-time. He woke up dry one morning, but wet all the other days. We'll trackle that one down the road. Yippee! He's potty-trained all day!

I guess that's about it. Have a great week! ~Julie

9/29/08: Landon is potty-trained! Yay!! Just barely over 3-years-old, but he did it! On a whim, Thursday morning I told Landon he was going to wear underwear that day. He threw a fit like he had every other time I put him in underwear, but this time he actually used the toilet. I loaded him up on chocolate milk, Capri Suns, apple juice, water... you name it, he was drinking! He went pee about every 30 minutes with only 2 accidents on Thursday, only one accident on Friday and not another one since. He even wore underwear to church on Sunday! He's got it down, #1 and #2. He is still wearing a pull-up for his nap and for bed, but we'll work on that next week. Yay!!! Landon is a big kid now!

Ava had 2 teeth at 9 months and now she has 6! All of a sudden I looked in her mouth the other morning and noticed her two top teeth and her 4 bottom teeth are all coming in. Not a fuss, not a whimper. In true Ava form- not a peep about it. She is crawling all over the place. She is super speedy! We wonder if she will be walking by Amanda's wedding (only 5 weeks to go!) I don't think she'll will be walking by then, but it is possible. The girls and I all have our dresses. I am a bride's maid, Maddy is a candle-lighter (with Ashley) and Emma is a flower-girl (with Karly). Ava has a matching dress but she's not in the wedding. Landon will get a suit or a tux. He is supposed to walk down the isle to hand my mom a rose, but we'll see... Landon sometimes has his own agenda. Christian will also be a spiffed up for the day in a black suit. I hope to get a family portrait that day for us to use for our 2008 Christmas card. The wedding is on November 8th- I can't believe my baby sister is going to be a wife!

We have not made any decision about New York yet. We are still praying and letting God take the lead. We can not move to NY and give up my income until Christian gets an increase in his base pay (he works on base + commission). He is working very hard to achieve his goals at work so we can see that increase happen. Ideally, that would happen in the spring so that if we did decide to move, we could do it while the girls are on summer vacation. But, again, no decision has been reached yet.

Nights in the Torresluna home are crazy! It seems as if Christian and I are seeing less and less of eachother the older the kids get. With the amount of activities that we do, we are not home often on weeknights. Although, the kids are home and in bed by 8PM every night but Wednesday, so at least Christian and I have that time to spend with eachother! Monday- piano practice, Tuesdays- hip-hop and I work, Wednesdays- Pioneer Club, Thursdays- softball practice, Friday- Ahhhh- nothing! The time out on weeknights make our weekends even more precious. It's so much fun to go to softball games as a family and church together too. I love this time of life!

Well, I'm off to catch a 20 minute nap before the kiddos wake up. Now that I have written a book to update, tah tah for now! Hugs and kisses to you all!!

**I have tons of pix to load up, maybe tonight...or more likely tomorrow!

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