My biker chicks!

Dan got a new bike from Meli for his birthday a few days ago so he showed the bike to everyone and offered to give the girls a ride. Sayge jumped at the idea but dad got to try it first to make sure it was safe

2 cops on a bike


Angelyse was happy to be on the bike, however papa (Mati) was freaking out to have his baby on it


Alexye went second, she was happy to copy her sister but not all that excited about the bike.


Sayge loved the ride. doesn't she look great as a biker chick?


Sayge was super eager to accept the ride. she looked so beautiful with her helmet

Setting up the Christmas tree

Mati and Jason started setting the Christmas tree in the morning. They did great till they got to the lights...then they went on strike.

Alana and Sayge decorated the chandelier in the dining room. They did a wonderful job!

I'll take care of your Garfield for you tio Bryce, promise!

Ian and Rachel did a great job at putting garlands around the tree.

Some of the children showing their awesome masterpiece. They worked hard and the lower part of the tree looks beautiful with so many decorations...of course, the top of the tree is a bit bare but I Love it!

Bath time

Since Mati and Misti and Meli were going to be shopping all night, the girls stayed at abuela's house having a sleepover party. In the morning, since the parents were sleeping, I had a clever idea (who knew) and put them in abuela's tub filled with bubbles...they had a blast!

Thanksgiving

Mati and Misti came to visit this year for Thanksgiving!!!!
He and the girls (Misti included in the girls)escaped the freezing Wyoming weather and came to the warm (still freezing for my taste) Arizona winter so they could go out in their t-shirts...
Pam invited us all to her house and so early in the afternoon we went in that direction and knew we were going to have a delicious meal with Pam in the kitchen. We took a few dishes or dessert but she did most of it...and did not even let me help her there with anything which I must say, being a Relief Society president that won't look good in my resume; the brothers and sisters decided to make good on black friday specials so they went out shopping and I offered to sacrifice and stay home with Mati's girls and Alana, yay!!!!


After dinner they sat down at the table to plot Black Friday shopping!!!! Pam, Meli, Mati and Paul met at 10pm to go shopping all night!!! Mati actually came back at 6am. so yep, they shopped.


The girls table. It was fun seeing them play and have fun together

The brothers reunited! and like always, making faces. My little beautiful missionary is missing in the picture, I might have to photoshop him in. I hope the Argentinians know the blessing they have having him there...but he'll be back next year!

the founder of the feast! You did great Pam, and the decorating was beautiful (which is much more than i ever did, i just cooked)

Amanda and Jason had to leave early to go to Amanda's parents and dad was working part of the day but I believe it was a great Thanksgiving...
we wanted to read Bryce's list of things he is grateful for, which pretty much encompass the things we are all grateful for.

Sayge training Versace (Paul's dog)

Paul left Versage with Sayge and she promised to train her.
She tried Very hard to keep her promised to teach her to roll over. She even rolled to show Versace how to do it properly.
in the end, Sayge learned to roll much better than Versace but it was hilarious to watch

Lacey's first halloween

Super Mario Ian and Princess Alana

Carving pumpkins

Where's Waldo with Mutual

New addition

Lacey Mae Collins was born September 15th at 8:43 in the morning.

She is a cutiepie, and I'm not saying that cause I'm the grandma.

Mom (Melia) and dad are doing great as well. It was funny to see Dan freaking out a bit while waiting for the hospital to call.

Big brother and sister are excited. Well...Alana is more excited than Ian, he pretty much ignores Lacey but likes to talk about him and his "little" sister.

It's been a while

I finally got the Jason & Amanda's wedding photos from their wedding almost one month ago.

Fortunately everything went well on wedding day. The Temple ceremony at the Mesa Temple was beautiful!

To be honest, I loved to see Jason's face when Amanda came out and he saw her in her wedding dress, his face lite up like a light bulb and a big smile came across his face. He must really love her - which is great since they will be together for eternity now.

The ring ceremony was very nice, Bryce's letter (which I posted in Bryce's blog) lighten and set the mood. The reception was fun, lots of people showed up to celebrate with us. The bride and groom left around 9pm - they seemed eager to leave, hmmm, I wonder why. The next day they left for California and a week cruise to Mexico.

Another great thing about the wedding is that Mati, Misti and the girls came down to visit. They only stayed a few days but it was so much fun to have them.

This coming week is Bryce's birthday, he'll be 20 yrs old!!!! boy, my baby is getting old!!!! and a week later, it will mark his aniversary on the mission - which means I can start the countdown to have him back! Yay!!!! I wonder if the people in Argentina realize how bless they are to have him there. He is such a great guy, he can teach and make you feel the spirit while making you laugh your heart out. He's amazing!

Christmas = Cold & Warm

So we went to Wyoming for Christmas!!!!

yes, we are crazy! but Mati and his family live there so we initiated the exodus on 12/23 and we got there on the 24th...at night!!!!

ok, so we stopped in Salt Lake to see the Temple lights and because it was late and we didn't want to drive in a snow storm in the dark, and Jorge's flight arrived in the afternoon of the 24th, so we waited for his plane before getting on the road to Wyoming again...but it was COLD!!!!!!!

The Temple lights were beautiful but i think i prefer the ones in the Mesa Temple...and you don't even freeze while admiring them. Parking close to the temple was a different story though, that was a nightmare. I'm not doing it again.

We got to Mati's house and those beautiful, sweet little faces belonging to Sayge and Alex, were looking out the window and came out to receive us...in their jammies...at -6⁰...

Christmas morning was wonderful, seeing the girls go wild opening the presents, they were soooo excited. it was a treat to see them. We had great food and company. of course, Jason and Mati spent their time torturing mom and telling her that the cell phones were not working so the phone call from our missionary in Argentina would not make it through.

but the call came!!!! I talked to BRYCE!!!!!!! my little baby...well, not so little anymore but my baby just the same.

To hear his voice was really exciting, he's doing great, training a newbie. he sounded wonderful and happy. what better present for a mom than that.

OK, Jason's here now so he'll write a bit

Christmas from Jason's perspective:
Christmas in Wyoming was cold. It was a lot of fun being able to see Mistias and my nieces. But the best part by far was playing Need for Speed Under Cover and beating it in three days. If only Misti and mom didn't impound my good cars and waist all my money then maybe it would have been two days. But Sledding was pretty sweet too. Amand and i totally biffed it into the ice ring catching some air!... sorta. I also had a dance off with Sayge of course she won but that's just cause shes cuter than me. i farted a lot but maybe mati bested me a little. Except for one night were i got dad to laugh so loud mati came downstairs to make sure he was ok. o ya and we got to see like a million bambis that was kinda chill too.
Bryce sounds ok, mom was horrible with that though. i finally know what it might have been like for y'all while i was on my mission, so sorry but she's old noways so we forgive her. it was really nice to be able to stay with amanda, she makes the best sandwiches. shes basically all around cool.
mom made me stop talking about amanda, so there nothing more to say. it was a very cool and cold trip.
O but the best part happened when we got to arizona. so the car does really great in the snow and cold and whatever, and of course as soon as we drop amanda off, the frikin car wont start. me and dad had to go to walmart at ten to buy a new battery for the dang car to get it going. it went hundreds of miles and breaks down just fifteen from home. it was hilarious.

ok, i'm back - I'm thinking it wasn't a great idea to ask Jason (and Amanda) to write on the blog. I also remembered that they got cranky during one game one night. do people know who senator Hatch is? and Bobba the Fetch? (or something like that). They are lucky we love them

Anyway, I love the time there with the girls. they are so sweet and smart. i felt like putting them on my bags and bringing them back home with me.

on new year's eve we got a scare call. Mati was on call and he heard that another cop got shot so he had to leave early. they circled a house and had to wait out a guy hiding in his house. the cops outside didn't know if he had other guns, or people in there with him. Finally, and thankfully, at about 11pm this guy surrendered and Mati was able to come back home. just in time to celebrate New Year with us. It was great to know that he was safe.
Misti, I really admire you, i don't know how you make it. i was a basket case while we waited.

i'll post the photos as soon as i can. we had a great time