Relief Society Christmas party!

I had a great time in our Relief Society Christmas party. There were a lot of good stuff: good food, good people, good jokes, good games and presents and most of all, good spirit! I really love the Relief Society sisterhood! Here is a pic. of almost all the ladies from our branch:




and some more pic.

Sarah is 4!










Saritah is such a sweet little girl! We are so lucky to have her in our family! Certainly she makes our days brighter! Here are some of the things that stick out the most at this age. She loves playing with her brothers. He has a special thing with each one of them. She loves playing rough with Joseph and pretending she is a ninja turtle. She likes to chase Jacob and look at books with him. She loves baby Robert and hugs him and kisses him all the time.

Although Saritah loves daddy she is definitely mommy's girl. She comes to my bed every day early in the morning (around 7:00 am) to cuddle with me and play. If I go any where she wants to come with me. She has a really hard time going to bed. She makes up tons of excuses so she can stay out of bed and stay around "mommy" a little bed longer. She has being doing this for a few months and even she is waking mommy and daddy up in the middle of the night and tell us that she needs to go to the bathdroom...

Sarah loves sweets. She will do anything so she can have a piece of candy or anything sweet!

Saritah loves jumping, running and dancing! She is a very active little girl!

Saritah a great faith. She loves Jesus and Heavenly Father so much! She loves going to Church and playing with her friends from Church. She is good in sharing and in helping mommy to pick up toys. She is a good follower. She wants to do whatever Joseph is doing. Joseph definitely is her best friends!

I thank God for Sarah in my life. It's so much fun to have a girl! I have high expectations from her. I want the best in her life. I am trying to teach her to be clean, modest, organize, humble, but most important to be pure and obedient to Heavenly Father's commandments. I am very proud to be her mom!

HALLOWEEN 2011

Today I feel so grateful for my wonderful husband for right now playing the main role in the kids's education. There are often days like today that while I am cleanning the house and doing laundry and making meals my husband spends time in teaching the children about geography, math, science, reading, writting and all the school subjects. Today for example he took Sarah and Joseph on his lap and they sat in front of the computer and they "went" to Africa, and India through google maps. They kids loved it!. The kids love taking "classes" with daddy. They even have sport or physical education class where they do jumping jacks and push-ups and all of that. I am very proud of my husband for stepping up in taking the lead in the kids education. My husband is a really smart guy and what I love the most of it is that he likes teaching having fun!

So if my kids become nerds it's my husband's fault;)!

The rainbow: another expression of love from our Heavenly Father!


Today was a beautiful day so my friend Pinky and I took advantage this morning and went to the park in front of our house with our kids. After we have played for a while we laid down on a blanket with the kids facing the sky and I asked them to take a look of the blue sky and tell me what they saw. They saw a few birds and I told them that Heavenly Father lives up there and He was watching over us and something so beautiful happened: the rainbow appeared. The kids, my friend Pinky and me were so touched by it! I am so grateful for Heavenly Father letting us know in such a simple but exquisite way that He lives and He is there for us! I am grateful that we listened to the Spirit and we were looking at the sky today. I am grateful that I can write those things down because there are evidences of God's existence. I just cannot let those little but so significants testimonies pass of His divinity. I love God so dearly and I know He is my Father in heaven!

I truly feel my Savior's love in all the world around me!

LDS Church Music Interactive Music Player

LEGOS



For Joseph's 5th birthday Stan and I got him a couple of legos and the only thing he wants to do as soon as he wakes up is to play with his legos. Of course he has played with legos before but these ones are a little bit different (not just plenty legos but a pirate ship legos or a dinosaur legos;). So if Joseph is done with his chores by the time the kids are napping I let him play with legos and he can't get enough of them! And honestly I think this is a very good entertainment for him and for kids in general. They develop quite a few skills like learning how to read instructions, how to follow steps and when they make mistakes they learn how to go back, review what they have done, find the mistake and fix it! The legos we got him are for kids 9-16 so I wasn't sure if these ones were going to be too hard for him but the truth he is doing great! He has built a pirate ship all by himself and he is working in a second project!

Joseph is 5!

I still remember so clearly when I held Joseph in my arms for the first time. What a wonderful, unique, divine feeling. I was waiting for him for long time and I don't mean just the 9 months he was in my womb, but for all the teenagers and adult years I had prayed for him (and the rest of my children). Joseph came to this earth, to his mortal home directly from his Father's presence, his heavenly home. He truly has divine qualities, godly virtues inhereted from his Eternal Father and it is a blessing to be sorrounded with that extraordinary influence. I love him so dearly! It is a blessing for me to see him growing, to become a man, a man of God!

So here there are the top 5 things Joseph loves to do at his age. I made a list and my husband made one as well, here they are:

5 things Joseph loves to do: (by mommy)

1. Joseph loves doing things by himself
2. Joseph loves to help mommy to clean the house
3. Joseph loves playing with friends, specially with other boys
4. He loves eating
5. Joseph loves doing things with his hands (building, coloring, painting, making mazes, puzzles.

These are the 5 things daddy says Joseph loves to do:

1. Joseph loves to pretend he is a ninja
2. He loves to play with legos
3. He loves to "pretend" (he doesn't know how to read yet)he reads the scriptures
4. He loves to play baseball
5. Joseph loves playing computer games

I hope you're not so disappoint about the things I'm blogging of. I just have this feeling of sharing the gospel and my testimony in every possible way to every one who can hear me. So in this blog I'll write about the fun things we do and the cool places we go but also I want to write about our faith, our testimonies, feelings, experiences (not too personal) of how God touches our lives daily as a family. All those things are strengthen our family, the fun, loud and noise activities and the reverent, quiet and spiritual ones. I am grateful to have such a rich life and a rich family!

Check out this:

Sharing the Gospel Online

Lately Joseph has been complain to me how much he dislike school, how hard it is to go to a Korean school where he doesn't understand anything they say. He has cried a couple times before we leave the house and although Stan and I haven't decided yet what to do today I am grateful for Heavenly Father showing Joseph how much He cares about him.
Usually before the kids go to bed we read the scriptures and yesterday I had some Friend magazines that one of my friends just gave me and I picked a story to read. The title was: "I can do hard things" I didn't know what it was about neither the kids but as soon as I started reading it, Joseph and I started laughing because we soon realized we were reading a story about the same situation Joseph was going through, a boy named Jon who didn't want to go to school because it was too hard to learn the ABCs and other subjects. It is a beautiful story, here it is:

I Can Do Hard Things - Friend Mar. 2010 - friend

So this morning I told Joseph I hoped he realized how much Heavenly Father cares about him. I told him Heavenly Father knows him, knows his name, his age, what he does, his likes and dislikes and He cares about all those things because He loves him and He wants to help him. He knows what Joseph is going through and yesterday He let him know about it. How wonderful He is!!

SAD NEWS
Today I found out that my sweet aunt Amparito Aguiar had passed away. I haven't seen her for the last ten years but I have sweet memories of her. My heart still weeps her departure but I am truly grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord of letting my mother to go and visit her for the last time. My mother was planning this trip to Colombia for so long and it was delated so many times for so many reasons until last week. As my mom told me today, she thought she was going to Colombia for some other reason (to get some paper work done) but the truth behind it was hidden. The Lord knew what was going to happen and sent my mom to say goodbye to her sister Amparito right before she passed away. Someone could think that it was a coincidence but I'll tell you: absolutely no! It was God's plan and I am so grateful for His love, guidance and wonderful power. Amparito had three children and the youngest one is Soraya who was living with her until the last moment. I know this time might be very difficult for her and for all of us including my mother and that's why I want to share with you these inspired and powerful words of one of the Lord's servants:

I have to confess to me Korean clothes for children specially for little girls are much cuter than the America ones.
I'll be posting little by little pics of some dresses and outfits I have bought for Sarah over some time. I just love them, and yes they can be a little bit expensive so you just gotta look for the good deals out there!
Please, tell me what you think!

ROBERT IS 6 MONTHS OLD!!


Wow, time really flies. I am so blessed for having Robercito in my life. He is so precious! He truly helps me to be better. When I am upset and I looked at him he smiles at me and makes me smile too! He is truly my little angel! He has been such an easy baby. I remember how scared I was when I found out I was pregnant with Robert. Jacob, my youngest one at that time, had verily turned 6 months so being pregnant again was a big surprise for me and my husband! Stan and I didn't want to tell anyone about it for fear of embarrassment or misunderstanding but I did told some people and I got both, pity and uplifting, kind and encouragement words. And I learned from that how important it is to not judge anybody's personal life, even though it might seems so wrong to us. There are truly somethings, little details hid from us just for the Lord's eyes to see. And those little things can make a huge difference in someone's prospective! I remember telling my Father in Heaven how I felt about being pregnant again and the only thing I understood was that I didn't need to worry about it because it was His will and some how it will work out for us!

Today looking back how bless I feel for knowing God, I know I need to learn more and more and some more about Him and definitely I am not like Him at all but at times, like the one when I was pregnant with Robert, it seems I know my Heavenly Father or I know some of His wonderful attributes: everything He does is perfect, everything is possible for Him and I can always trust in Him.

So going back to my experience I was terrify just with the thought of having four children under 5. I didn't know it I was going to be able to do it. I mean being able to be a good mommy, taking time for each child, trying to fulfilled every or most of my children's needs in every way and being a happy and content mom! wow! Just the thought of it was a little bit overwhelming! But the time came and Robert was born and since then he has been an incredible calm baby! He doesn't complain that often, he falls sleep by himself, you hardly hear him crying, everybody who sees him for the first or seven time says the same thing to me over and over: "he is one happy little boy for sure!" . He is always smiling even to strangers so everyone just loves him.

And all of this makes reminds me of someting. Jacob used to woke up the same time Robert does. So before Robert was born in my mind I was trying to figure out how to make things work. How could I feed Jacob and Robert at the same time, and this might seems funny or so irrelevant to you but to me not at all. Since the very day I needed or in other words when I was handle things by myself (I mean , my mother-in law came to help us out for three weeks, and one of them was after the baby was born, so after that...) Jacob started waking up and hour or two later! So the problem was solved by itself! well, no really! God solved the problem for me and I thank him for being there for me. And this was just one little thing from the many others that happened to me, suddenly changes (miracles) that made my life much easier! So when people ask me or tell me something like: "I don't know how you do it" I just answer back: "I cannot do it myself, I do have some extra help from heaven: God. And He helps me daily!

I know that with God in my life I can do every good thing He wants me to do! And I know mothers are not alone! God is with us! He is there for us in simple and complicated situations! He cares about our daily little things in our lives as well as the big ones and eternal.

Here are some pics!

KIDS GETTING SICK

This week has been the week where all my kids got sick. Since the first week Joseph went to school he got sick with a viral infection and right now Saritah and Jacob got it too. I hope this is not going to be a pattern for the rest of the time Joseph goes to his Korean school. It breaks my heart to see the kids in pain or having a weird rash on their feet, hands and mouth. They have been having fever and sore throat as well. I just really hope my little baby doesn't get it!

LOTTE WORLD

For the Fourth of July weekend we made reservations at the Dragon Hill Hotel and head off to Lotte World. I love going on family vacations! Although when we come back we are so tired, we bring home precious memories that will last forever.

Lottle World is like the Korean Disney World and we loved it! The kids had a fun time although Joseph was kind of sick so he didn't enjoy it as much:( but overall it's great! I couldn't take a lot of pictures because the camera needed to be charged so here there are a few for you to enjoy!

AMERICA!

I don't want to let the Fourth of July pass without taking some time to write down my feelings about this wonderful holiday! The other day I told some close friends: "I don't think there is an American who loves this country more than I do". And it's true! I love the United States of America with all my heart and I am glad I am an American! Truly the Lord brought me to the United States. It is a long, wonderful and incredible true story that I will share with you maybe someday but for right now I am just grateful for God giving me this land for my inheritance and the inheritance of my posterity. I am so grateful for every single soldier who serves this country, for all their sacrifices and their families' sacrifices so we can be a free country!

I love the National Anthem of the United States of America! It's so inspiring! Enjoy this beautiful poem!

The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say! can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming;
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
Oh, say! does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In fully glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution!
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust":
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

MY SON JOSEPH

I don't want to ever forget a repetitive act of kindness my son does for me. He has heard me many times telling him and Sarah how much it means to me that they do their chores or anything I have asked them to do for a while by themselves without asking. Joseph a few times has come to my room after being awake for a while (without me knowing) and has told me: "Mommy I have a surprise for you" and it means: he has changed his clothes, he has made his bed and picked up the toys in his room. Well, today he did it again but this time he did something different. He told me: " I changed my clothes, made my bed and I made Saritah's bed and picked up her clothes and mine from our dresser and hung those up" When I heard that I couldn't contain myself and started crying of joy and gratitude for my wonderful son! I know those kind thoughts come from the Spirit of God and I am so happy for him listening to them! I am so happy for Joseph listening to the Spirit. This is a training period right now that he is young and he is showing a great love and respect for the spiritual matters. My Joseph is a very special child. He is so spiritual and there is nothing that gives me more joy as a mother than watching how the Spirit is teaching my children and working with them! Oh! There are not words to describe the joy for having a son who truly loves the Lord and already has a wonderful relationship with his Father in Heaven! There are not treasures on this earth to compare to this blessing! I am excited to see my other kids follow the steps of their oldest brother. He truly is a good example to them and to all of us! I LOVE YOU my Joseph!

SERVICE

I have been having this feeling of gratitude for the opportunity I have to serve others specially here in Korea. I remember when I was back in the States some brothers and sisters from Church stopped themselves from asking me to babysit their kids or do any kind of service because they knew I had small children and I understood their intentions. But since then I have been meditating a lot about service and the right time to do it. The truth is that in order to serve you cannot wait until your life is in perfectly armony or perfectly comfortable! The right time to serve other people is right now when God is giving you the opportunity to live. I know I have four little children and later on I may have more or my husband will be so busy with callings at Church or studying or doing something. Almost always to serve others is going to require a little bit of sacrifice from our part which I am happy to do it! This is the perfect time for me to serve others, right now when I still can teach my children the importance of doing it by doing it! I love helping out, I love helping others because I know the wonderful blessings service brings in our lives!

SUPPORTING MY HUSBAND

Callings truly come from God. I know of the wonderful blessings that come from working with the Lord and for the Lord. I don't know why lately it has been a little bit hard for me to answer so freely and happily to my husband "it's Ok honey if you are late or don't worry at all or just take your time..." when he calls me on the phone and tells me he has another interview to do or he needs to visit one more family or he has a meeting to attend. The Lord knows me and I cannot hide anything from Him even though I try hard to hide my feelings of frustration from my husband. It bothers me to feel in this way. I know I shouldn't. God has been so merciful to us! He has been so good to me all the years of my life! He has fulfilled every single promised He has given me. He has given me more than I requested or deserved! He truly is my Father in Heaven and my God! I love Him so much and I am so humbled for the trust he has given to me and my husband with these four little precious children and for my husband's calling. I know everything I have or I am belongs to Him and I want to be generous with Him with my time and my husband's time to serve in His kingdom.

I don't want to feel in any degree sad because my husband is not at home but he is doing something else so he can fulfill his calling. But I confess it's taking me sometime to learn to let my husband to be lost in the work of the Lord. I plead with my Heavenly Father to have patience with me and to teach me to be totally unselfish so I can be more happy. I do want to learn, I do want Him to teach me and help me because I know there is not a better job to do in this life that the one we do for His kingdom.

JOSEPH'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

Wow, my baby is already going to school! I can't believe he is old enough to start kindergarten!

We couldn't enrolled him in the American school on post because of his birthday being after the deadline (September first) but Stan and I had a strong desire for him to learn Korean and finding this perfect Korean school just one block from our house, we didn't think twice and got him in!

Joseph was so excited about going to school that the day before he kept asking me thousand times if it was time to go. When he came back today being his first day of school he was very happy to see me but excited go back and learn Korean!

I am so happy for him although today I missed him so much! Saritah kept telling me how bad she wanted to see Joseph so they could both play together. I kept a prayer in my heart all day long, I knew God was going to be watching over him and it's Ok to let him go but still I had this sad feeling of not having my wonderful Joseph at home with me. It was a little bit hard for me but I know these feelings are normal and I'll get use to it.

Enjoy the pictures!

To celebrate Father's day I made a special dinner for my husband. I made ribs, mashed potatoes, green beans, spinach strawberry salad and a yummy cake (carrot cake his favorite)! My husband told me after dinner those were the best ribs he has ever had! I was so happy to hear that. We got him some presents, basketball shorts and shirts and baseball hats from BYU and Minnesota Twins (his favorite's teams! He was happy and he thought that was it! The big surprise was not yet to be seen. Monday morning he left home to go to work to pick up some stuff and left right after to the field.

The Saturday before Father's day I took off to go to 'lunch" witn my friend Vivien. I "borrowed" his work office's keys and left. Prior that time I have already ordered online a couple of baseball posters, a picture of Jesus Christ from deseret book, and other decorations and a digital picture frame. I went to his office and put everything together, I got a couple of shelves and a few organizer boxes and two beautiful plants and some other stuff.

When he found out about the surprise he called me on the phone he told me what I did was the very best present ever although he said is hard to compete with all the things I do. He absolutely loved it! He told me he was shocked for a few minutes, he couldn't believe what he was seeing! One of our friends who is a dentist too and works with him told me that he almost tear, he was so moved with this present! He liked it so much he wants me to organize and decorative his Church's office too. And I did all of this because he deserve it! He is a fantastic husband and father so I don't have another option, I have to be good to him!

I also think it's important for Stan to have a special place where he feels comfortable to say a prayer to Heavenly Father or to read the scriptures, a refuge from the world when he is at work. My husband told me he didn't like before to go to his office but right now he wants to be there because it's HIS office! (not just an office).

THE BEST DADDY IN THE WHOLE WORLD!




Tomorrow is Father's day and before I get too busy celebrating I just want to slow down and have a quiet moment to meditate in all the wonderful things my husband is and does as a father. Me, myself, didn't have a good father role model to look at when I was growing up so I found out since I got married what a father is suppose to be like and how he should behave towards his children. To tell you the truth I am SO impressed with my husband and I love him very much and I love how he treats his children. I am sure I can list more but I want to tell the best 10 qualities my husband has as a father.


1. Patient. I have never seen my husband loosing his temper with the kids. He doesn't loose his self-control even when the kids are not listening or are being disobedient. Almost every mom can say that there are better days than others referring to motherhood and those days that the kids are being difficult you get frustrated and you loose a little bit your patience and you feel guilty afterwards but I have never see my husband getting too frustrated with the kids. Stan is so calm and so patient. He truly impressed me and I admire him and I am very grateful for his father because he is just like him

2. Loving. I am so grateful that my husband is not aggressive or violent but the contrary he truly is a loving and an affetionate father that cares for his children and shows it on a daily bases. The kids are not afraid or scared of daddy, they know well he will never do anything to harm or hurt them.

3. He puts himself in the kids shoes. He sees himself in the children and understands what they go through and is compassionate with their faults. He knows how his children feel, act, think. He knows them.

4. He teaches them, everything that it is important to him he makes sure the children know about it. God and the Gospel are his priority subject to teach about. He teaches the chidren from the a,b,c to what is going to happen to us after we die.

5. He honors God and his Priesthood. He shows the children throught his actions how important and sacred the Priesthood and all the commandments of God are. He doesn't need to be pushed by me or anybody else to fast or to go to Church or to the Temple, even if I am sick, he says: "Children, let's go and get ready for Church". I absolutely love that about him.

6. He treats Sarah like a princess. He adores her and treats her very kindly and he is sensitive to her emotional moods.

7. He plays with the children so much. He truly is the best friend of the children and their best toy ;) The kids love when daddy gets home because it means "play time" and to me "bonding time". All the kids (except for Robert) jump on him or push him or whatever, and he doesn't care if it's not that comfortable, he lets them play rough with him and he does it because besides it is fun he knows is a huge way for the kids to feel how much he loves them.

8. He loves me and they kids know it! He is very considerate with me, every weekend (Saturday and Sunday) when the kids wake up he tells them quietly, something like:" let's go to the living room and let mommy sleep". He tells the children to obey mommy and if they are being irrespectul in any degree he corrects them immediately.

9. He never makes any kind of comment that will put down the kids self-esteem. He trusts in the kids and they know it. They know daddy expects a lot from them but also they know they are good enough for him.

10. EVERYTHING he does is for the family. Stan is very unselfish. He always thinks in me and in the children first.

One of these days I told Joseph he was so blessed because he had the best daddy in the whole world and then he asked me: "Mommy, how do you know daddy is the best daddy in the world?" That was a very sincere question and I told him: "Well Joseph, I don't know the others fathers in the world but I do know daddy, he is loving, kind, a hard worker and he loves God, he treats you and the other kids so well, so how can there be a better mortal father than daddy? No! He is the best! Joseph agreed!

So aren't we blessed to have such a wonderful father in our family?

I know, it took me a while to blog again but I'm determined to do it!  There're so many cool things going on with our lives that I cannot simply let them go and be forgotten.   So here we're starting fresh from today!

I want to say how grateful I am for my family! Each member makes an enormous contribution to our happiness.  First thing I gotta do is to  update our family picture! So if I get it done today, that'll be a huge accomplishment!  Cheer for me please!