Big Girl Haircut!

Hasta...

Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas! Santa (and God) have been good to us this year! We stayed in Durango, just the 4 of us, and stayed in our sweatpants all day. No place to be and no commitments to anybody. It was a very nice change of pace from all the crazy running around we have done for so many years prior. Although we did find that we missed our families very much as the day wore on. 

We made it to Christmas Eve mass at the church where Maia goes to preschool. We went to the children's mass at 3:30 pm and they use glow sticks instead of candles for the kids. It was a little like being at a Christmas rave!



(Notice my tie. I don't get the opportunity to dress up very often these days but when I do... Pretty proud of my tie!) 

(Missed the timer on this one...)

We decorated and ate Christmas cookies.


Our elf, Thomas, blocked off the living room just in case we had any late night sneaking about!



On Christmas, the girls found that they had been good enough for Santa to make a visit! Maia did get her "prince" (a male Barbie doll) and Eva got her new baby. The girls were also incredibly spoiled by their friends and family - thanks everybody for helping to make the girls so happy with all their new toys!  







Maia got new nail polish...Mommy was super happy about that! Looks GREAT!!


We received our first of many, I'm sure, homemade ornaments. And yes, I got teary about it.


Eva ate WAY too much candy for breakfast as evidence by this video!


2013 has brought SO many unexpected changes... But as we look back, we know we are exactly where we are supposed to be (location and life). Looking forward to whatever 2014 has in store for us. Bring it on 2014!

Hoping all our friends and family have also been so blessed this year. Happy New Year!

Hasta...

Flashback

I was looking through some old videos and found this one. It made me laugh. Fitting after today's win! My little Broncos fan! (In case you can't tell the girls apart, that's Maia a couple of years ago!)

Hasta...

Holiday Happenings

We have been busy celebrating the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since...last year! Actually with the girls getting a little older, the holidays are becoming a little more fun. They are now excited about the idea of Santa coming, and finding our mischievous elf, Thomas, each morning (or as Maia calls him "Mister Fish Thomas" because she can't say mischievous!), and holiday get togethers with friends, and egg nog and cookies each night before bed. Oh and learning about Jesus and the real meaning of Christmas since Maia is enrolled at the Methodist Christian Preschool (Maia doesn't know she's really a Catholic!). We are creating some new family traditions and really enjoying Durango in the winter! 

Here are a few pictures/videos of what we have been up to (that cute little blond girl in almost EVERY picture with Maia these days is her best friend Vivian and they are inseparable):

Christmas PJ party with friends. The Polar Express is intense people!

A 21st century letter to Santa. She's asking for a "Prince"...

Come on, that's an awesome shirt!

Christmas cookie decorating party with Daddy at school!

School Christmas Play

Eva has recently learned her ABC's. Really, trust me, she's singing her ABC's!

A word of advice from Maia after her first real performance on stage... Ain't that the truth!

That performance. Luckily, she kept her clothes on!

Hasta...

Ice Skating (Week 6)

This was our last week of ice skating lessons in this series. And good timing. Maia is about done with ice skating for a while. Maybe it's because this was the last week and she knew she was going to be "tested" so she really stepped it up, but her skills improved dramatically since last week. Maybe hockey dad was right (refer back to Week 1). She suddenly got it. Or maybe she just wanted to make sure she passed the test and didn't need to repeat this ice skating business! 

She did in fact pass! And not only the skill set for Snowplow Sam 1 but the skill set for Snowplow Sam 2 as well! Proud Daddy here! 

Alrighty then. Ice skating done. What's next? Dancing and piano lessons are her next requests. Oh and you want a pony too??!! I'll see what I can work out!  

Hasta...

Ice Skating (Week 5)

Although the ice skating is improving, Maia has asked to go back to dancing. Said she doesn't fall as much in dancing! To her credit she gets out there and tries, never complains and doesn't give up. That's my girl! I'm one proud Daddy!

One more week of lessons. She said she still wants to ice skate with Mommy just "not with all those other people who knock me down". I won't tell her that I'm one of "those" people! I consider myself a pretty athletic guy and I can't get off my behind on ice skates. This is Magan's area of expertise!



(Magan got the new iPhone and I was trying out the slo-mo video. It was perfect!)

Hasta...

Let the Holiday Festivities Begin

How sweet is it that we get to live in a town with our own stream train??? Pretty sweet! Especially if you are a kid. We get to see and hear the train running almost daily. What's even sweeter is that the (Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge) train has several themed adventures throughout the year that the girls have loved.
For the holiday season, they turn the train into The Polar Express complete with all the characters, hot chocolate, cookies, singing, and a visit from Santa!
The girls LOVED it! What a great way to kick off the 2013 Holiday Season!

Hasta...

Ice Skating (Week 4)

Showing improvement... Helmet needs work.

Partied Out!

Good to be home. A weekend in the city validates our decision to move to Durango! This Garcia family is partied out. Recap of our whirl-wind Birthday/Thanksgiving celebration weekend:

Wednesday:
Loaded up the whole "fam damily" for a quick trip over the mountains to Denver (this drive never goes quite as planned with 2 young children...). Our best friends and the girls Godparents, the Block's, kicked off the weekend with a pizza and cupcakes birthday party. Maia and Eva were extremely excited to have a sleep over with their best friends Caroline, Sophia and Cooper. Happy Birthday to Brie who also celebrated with us!



Thursday:
Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Birthday Eva! Spent the day with my whole family. It was good to have us all together!

Friday:
We did a little Black Friday shopping. It was actually not bad at all (but we did avoid all Walmarts and electronic sales!). Just the usual...new tires for the Jeep. This was the first time in over 10 years that I have actually had to buy tires as a customer. Yikes, that hurt a little! Good thing I still know a lot of people in the biz!

We met up with Magan's sisters and nephew, Stacy, Stephanie and Tony, for more birthday celebrations that evening (Stacy's birthday was on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving). Eva and Stacy chose Mexican food for dinner. Happy Birthday Stacy!





(On a quick side note... Stacy and Stephanie have had a rough year. We are happy you are both well! We may be in Durango but we are always here for you both...for whatever!).

Saturday:
Frozen!!! This was the highlight of our vacation as far as the girls were concerned. They have been very eagerly awaiting the new Disney movie! And who doesn't love an afternoon spent at the movies with candy and popcorn and blue slushy's?!?! The movie was awesome! Coming from a Daddy who has now watched every Disney princess movie ONE THOUSAND times and plays princesses EVERY DAY and reads princess books and is required to be the "prince" to all their imaginary games... Bravo Disney! This one is my new favorite!





Saturday night continued with birthday celebrations. The "official" Garcia party for Eva and YaYa (aka Christa, my sister, the girls Aunt, and their former nanny who they miss VERY, VERY much. Christa's birthday was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving). Happy Birthday Christa! Eva got spoiled with presents, which she loved and was overly animated about! Way to make every gift-giver feel like they picked the perfect gift Eva!



We allowed the girls to stay up playing with their cousins until midnight. Which turned out to be a bad parenting choice when you have a 6 hour drive home. We thought they would be so exhausted they would sleep the whole way. Bad idea. Overwhelmed, over sugered, exhausted, emotional children are not ideal travel partners...

A great Birthday/Thanksgiving get-away! We caught up with a good amount of family and friends. Celebrated too much. We are a blessed family with so much to be thankful for!



We will be staying in Durango for Christmas - just the 4 of us. I feel like I can officially settle in and begin the holidays!

Hasta...