A Bull Ride to Remember

So last year...I think it was actually Halloween...we were down in San Luis, MX, where my in-laws live. They have a cotton fair at that time (they think Halloween is eeevil in Mexico, some people...not everybody) with the usual fair stuff; rides, entertainment, booths, etc. We didn't get on any of the rides becuase we had a sleeping-Kathryn with us, but we did do a few things. Refugio did some rifle games, we watched a guy painted gold pretend to be a statue, we saw the three legged chicken, the hairless dog, the really cheesy spider lady, and then...we rode the bull. I'd never riden on a mechanical bull before, but Refugio had. We decided to do it even though we only saw children doing it. Here are the videos...and I would like to say that I stayed on the bull about 20sec. longer than the video shows, Refugio just couldn't get his act together with the video recording. And although my dismount looks as though I'm throwing myself off it really felt like it was going much faster than it looks like on the video. Anyway, Refugio and I enjoy watching these videos so hopefully you will too.

Christmas 2008

We had a nice Holiday season this year. We spent Thanksgiving with my family in New Mexico and then Christmas in San Luis, Mexico with Refugio's family. At my parent's house I requested that we decorate for Christmas after Thanksgiving day, becuase I've missed Christmas with my family for the past three years. Some, I won't mention names, weren't so excited about the decorating for Christmas, but we all ended up having a fun time and it was so nice to see all the old Christmas decorations and to remember Christmases past.

Christmas in San Luis was nice. We put up a 12 foot tree that was missing the top part. I improvised with the top of a 5 foot tree, it looked a little funky, but it was better than without. Refugio played Santa, as he has for the last three years and gave out gifts to our nieces and nephews. Some of the kids try to figure out who Santa is and they'll say to Refugio, "I know it was you because you are wearing the same shoes as Santa." or "You have the same mole as Santa." Refugio always manages to make up some wild story and you can see the doubt in their faces that they're just not sure what to believe. But they are happy enough to just get a gift, so the debate about Santa's true identity doesn't last long.

We also collected some toys here in the US and took them down with us to give to kids in Mexico. It was nice to do some service at Christmas time. I was on the collecting end and one of my sister-in-laws was in charge of the distribution...so I didn't get to see that part of it. Happy kids at Christmas is always a good thing.

Here's a little slideshow of Christmas pictures and some videos I hope you'll enjoy.



Refugio helped my brother Ben to put up a Christmas tree at Ben's home.


We decorated for Christmas at my parent's house as well.


My mother and Kathryn share a common first name and always enjoy time together.


We gave my nephew a "luchador" mask for Christmas. I think it kind of scared him, becuase he didn't want to put it on. But Grandma wasn't scared...


I put an "extra layer" of clothing on Kathryn while we were playing outside in NM, becuase I thought it was cold, but my brother-in-law wouldn't let me hear the end of it.


Refugio wrestled with some of my nephews and they all had a good time.

Mi Burrito Sabanero

So about a month ago one of the women in my ward at church asked me if I had any talent for dancing. I hesitently told her that I enjoyed dancing but I didn't think of it as a talent. She then revealed her true intent and asked if my husband and I would be willing to present some kind of christmassy dance for the ward Christmas party. To my own surprise I told her "Sure, that would be fun, but let me talk to my husband about it." When I talked to Refugio about it he was also somewhat hesitant but at my urging he came on board. So of course for a few weeks we poked around and talked about it, we even tried to practice once. The practicing only made us realize how complicated putting together a dance that people would actually enjoy watching for three minutes can be.

As the day of the Christmas party grew closer I steadily grew more tense about the whole situation, but I wasn't willing to go back on my word and not present anything. One day I had an epifany(sp?) and thought of a Christmas song I had just learned the year before as my husband introduced me to the world of hispanic Christmas songs. The song was about a boy and his burro traveling to Bethlehem to see baby Jesus. The song is called "Mi Burrito Sabanero." I pitched the idea to my husband of us dancing to this song in character; I would dress up as a little boy and we would find Refugio a donkey costume. My thought was if we couldn't put together a cool dance combo to impress people in our ward we might as well go to the opposite extreme and just make fools of ourselves and hope to make people laugh.

I couldn't find a donkey costume, but I discovered that you can do wonders with hot glue and felt. Refugio didn't want to be the donkey for some reason...so I ended up doing to the job, which was okay with me. I actually ended up making a donkey head for Kathryn as well, which looks just like Eeyore (I'll post pictures later). So we made up a dance for the song and practiced and practiced for about three days. The performance went well even though I botched it towards the end. Kathryn wandered out onto the stage ahead of us and was SO cute. It doesn't show in the video below, but on our actual camcorder she looks amazingly cute waddling out as a little grey donkey smiling at everyone. Well, Refugio just told me that my blog is too long and that no one will want to read this much...so if you've made it this far congratulations now just watch the video. Merry Christmas!

Good Times

This is something I dearly need...to remember good times. It makes me feel happy just thinking about all the good times I've had with such good friends.

Here are the directions....

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I have together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember...

2. Next, repost these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave a memory for you!

Trip to Sinaloa, Mexico

We went to Sinaloa, Mexico in May. Kind of a spur of the moment trip, but one that Cuque has wanted to take for a long time. We spent about four days in Los Mochis seeing where Refugio grew up and visiting friends and relatives...and even an ex-girlfriend. Kathryn was the star everywhere we went, people couldn't get enough of her and who can blaim them...just look at her. We brought Refugio's mom, dad and younger brother back up with us and dropped them off in San Luis R.C. Which made for a very full car. The trip takes about 16hrs from San Luis becuase there are literally a million toll booths on the roads (I can't call them freeways b/c they are definetly not FREE). Hopefully our next Mexico trip will be to Guanajuato, where Refugio served his mission and I lived for a while as well.



Kathryn getting a bath in her aunt's lavadero.


Refugio's brother "selling" agua de sevada to us.

Kathryn and Fugi in San Luis

This is a pic from San Luis, Mexico where Refugio's parents live. I just thought it was kind of cute. We go to San Luis quite often becuase it is only three hours away from Phoenix. Although if you forget to bring your documentation with you it can be a long ways away from any kind of US dirt.

The other weekend I forgot to bring Kathryn's birth certificate and my passport to San Luis, so on the way back in we got sent to the secondary revision of immigration. They finally let us go through but not without asking for some kind of proof that Kathryn was ours. Refugio said, "Look at her...doesn't she look just like her mom?!" They agreed but apparently look-alikeness is not a valid proof of citizenship. They let us go through but asked that I try not to forget documentation the next time we came down. I probably won't forget. Kathryn now has her own state ID that I carry in my wallet. It's very cute. All the people at the DMV thought it was strange that an infant was having her picture taken where most people were getting their driver's licences.

Kathryn Sleeping...Finally

Ever since Kathryn was born she hasn't been a very good day-time sleeper. She's more of a power nap girl with 20 minutes being her average and an hour a complete miracle. And falling asleep without nursing or riding in the car is almost unheard of. However, lately she has been falling asleep in some rather cute places...all by herself. Check out the picks and even a little video.