The BEST Christmas Present of All!!!

Carlos and I bought a new house. We are really excited!!! It's a house in Cedar Hills..this is by no means a great picture of the outside but it's the best I could get my hands on at the minute. It's a brand new house and we can't wait to move in the middle of January. We love the whole thing but I am especially excited for the kitchen...finally, a big enough kitchen to cook in (I'm not complaining about the others, I just like to cook, and to finally be able to spread out is a blessing). We were almost sick to leave our current house and could never get rid of it completely (we're way too attached) so we are going to be renting it out, hoping that all goes well and it remains in good condition.

So yes, Christmas was good to me this year and Carlos and I are very blessed to be able to have this new home. We can't wait to have everyone over for fun times and food in the future!!!

The fabulous kitchen...yeah for kitchens!!!

** (I have posted a mother load of blogs this morning so make sure to scroll down and view all of our Christmas time celebrations).

Opening Presents at Grandma and Grandpa's

Lance helping Atticus open his noise making truck! Have fun with that Lance! (ha, ha, ha)

Talmage saying thanks to Grandpa with a hug!
Thanks for the toys Atticus!
WOW...what could it be?
The mayhem of it all!!!

Opening Presents at Grandma and Grandpa's CONT...

On Christmas morning we woke up at 6am and made a beeline for my parents house so we could be there to open presents with everyone by 7. First we look at our socks, then open presents, and then my mom makes a great Christmas brunch...yum yum!

Opening presents at Abuela and Abuelo's

Opening Presents at Abuela and Abuelo's (in pictures) CONT...

Guatemalan Tops...the entertainment of choice!

This is what Talmage did with his dad and Abuelo on Christmas Eve Day.

Abuelo (grandpa in spanish) has these great little tops that he brought with him from Guatemala (and saved all these years). For some reason these things only come out around Christmas time. You have to wind a string around the top and then throw them just the right distance for the string to unravel and let the top go spinning on its own. Of course Abuelo and Dad were doing most of the throwing but Talmage was excited none the less. This was the first year he was able to actually hold one in his hand while it was spinning. Too bad we didn't get a picture of that!

Tamales...the Christmas Eve tradition!

This is a recurring scene every year at the Caceres house on Christmas Eve. After all, what would Christmas be without tamales? Nothing...if you ask us! Even Talmage goes nuts over these...and even though it takes a long time to make them...they're worth all the trouble for that first little bite! DELICIOUS!!!

YUMMY!!!

These are the treats I made for Carlos to take to work this morning, they looked so yummy I had to take a pic. (and sneak a few for myself).

Winter Wonderland!!!

Talmage loves the snow...everyday he wakes up to open the blinds and see if it has snowed...and if there is even a little skiff of snow he thinks it's prime playing ground. So these are some pictures of Tal in the first snow of the year...not much snow, but it made for one happy boy...see for yourself! (This snow pales in comparison to what we got on Sunday)

Nice throw! look at that form :)
perfect angel....
now if that doesn't melt your heart....

Sunday morning we woke up to a foot of snow, and it was great! The first thing Carlos said is let's go for a drive, little did he know I was thinking the same thing.... until we walked out the door and looked at this....


I was beginning to change my mind about that drive when Carlos says "this is why we have a Land Rover..he loves this stuff" (referring to the car as a person), then he adds "and it's about time you write a manly blog about how grateful you are for the Land Rover". So there you are hun, my manly blog about the rover.

Happy Holidays!

Wow! What a month...I am so behind on my blogs, what with the season and all! Time goes by so quickly, especially at this time of year, it seems like we're too busy to take a second and reflect on what this season really means. The birth of the Savior. I keep trying to remind myself that during all the rushing and doing it won't hurt to take a few minutes to think of Christ, the reason for the season. It seems like life is so chaotic these days. We are taking in all this information, doing all these things but, do we really have time to reflect and act on the things were learning and doing.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

So now, a little update. House is decorated, lights have been up for a while, Ornaments are hung, Christmas cards out, Work parties attended, Neighbor gifts ready to be delivered, two presents left to be bought, packages mailed, Santa seen (several times), Christmas concerts to attend, and candy waiting to be made.

We hope everyone is having a great holiday season. We are so grateful for all of our dear family and friends who we love so much. Please, find time to reflect on Christ this season.

Love, The Caceres Family

Camel-Squash

I got a kick out of Talmage today when he comes out of his room with this blanket over his head proclaiming "I'm invisible". These days Talmage is on this huge super-hero trip, so anything that even remotely sounds like a super hero thing is sooooo cool. So He comes running out of his room with this blanket "I'm invisible, I'm invisible" then slams into the couch! whoops! I ask him what he's doing and he says "remember when you telled me about the camel-squash and it makes you invisible in the forest" I thought back in my mind, I know I've never said anything about camel-squash so I said "NO" and he says "yeah you remember the camel-squash" and he holds up his blanket. I busted out laughing "Ohhhhh you mean camoflauge" "yeah, camel-squash" he says. Oh my gosh it was so funny!
And just to make you laugh about the super hero thing...about a week ago Tal was saying his evening prayers and right after he thanked Heavenly Father "that all the toys are mine" he quickly says and and thank you Heavenly Father "for having all the powers". So in our house, for now, God is a super-hero. Too funny!

FHE makes me cry!

Don't get me wrong....I love Family Home Evening but when your child truly understands a concept, it can make you cry. At our house, (so that we can all get something out of it) we alternate weeks so every other Monday we have a "kid style" FHE and on the other Monday's we have the "adult" FHE.
So Monday, kid style FHE rolls around and Carlos and I decide to touch upon the "I'm trying to be like Jesus by sharing and being nice to others" point. All is going well until Carlos says "where does Jesus live" Talmage in his usual "know-it-all" self says "in heaven". Fabulous, great answer right? and then he continues "I get to live in heaven too"
"that's right" Carlos and I say (proud with ourselves for atleast teaching him this) until he continues so matter-of-factly. "I'm gonna die and I'm gonna go to heaven"
I become a little perplexed.
Carlos tells him "no Tal your not gonna die".
He comes back even more insistent "everybody dies daddy", "I'm gonna die and Scout (our dog) is gonna die and we're all gonna go to heaven"
At this point tears are beginning to form in my eyes as I keep hearing Talmage contest the fact to Carlos that he IS going to die and go live with Jesus.
Carlos keeps starring at me incredulously as if to say "what do I say".
Finally, bawling, I tell Carlos just make him stop, make him stop. So Carlos makes up some story about Tal playing soccer with his friends and sharing the ball etc...etc....
ANYWAY...moral of this story...it's perfectly fine, absolutely great for my son to know that he's going to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus, but it's another thing when he insists that he IS going to die!

Tal's program

Here's Tal at his hilarious Halloween program at school. I'm so proud of my little guy, he's getting so big! It was so fun to watch him and his little personality(actually it's quite big, for those of you who know Tal, I'm sure you won't disagree) sing songs. We just love Tal's school they do such a great job and he is learning so much. He's almost learned how to write his whole name! YIPPEE!!!.......(ok maybe that was a little much)

Halloween Festivities

Our family tradition of carving pumpkins with Tio Lee and Tia Andrea had lasted for six years and is still going strong. We all got together and had soup in bread bowls for dinner and carved great looking pumpkins...these are the two I carved!

This year we took Tal (along with our friends and their daughter) to Trick or Treat Street. It was so neat. A Hollywood props team came in and erected what looked like a real city block with houses, businesses, a park and all. It was great Tal and Lexi got to knock on every door and boy did they get a lot of candy!

much better...

Talmage, cousin Atticus and Aunt Katie Dawn

Atticus, completely worn out!

Smile Tal!

All of us on the hayride, minus Carlos and I taking the picture.

What a cute little guy!

Everything is so much more fun with kids, don't you agree? (ok, maybe not everything) Going to the pumpkin patch or a carnival just wouldn't be the same without showing your child what it's all about! Maybe it's just an excuse for me to pretend I'm young again, but I don't care. This past week when my brother and his wife and their new little baby were in town all the kids got together to go to the Pumpkin patch and hayride at Thanksgiving Point. It was a blast! My brothers make things fun (or should I say funny) no matter what we're doing, but it was nice to have all the little ones together. Talmage loves playing with his cousins and being with his Aunts and Uncles. It sure did wear the little guys out! I'm so grateful that my family is close and we all love each other so much, it's such a blessing to have so many people who love you!

I can't wait til tomorrow, Halloween, when I can post fun pictures of Tal in his costume and the house at Halloween and Tal's program at school (please bless Talmage is not the child screaming the songs, making crazy faces and jumping around like a monkey). Until then......