A surprise visit from President Eyring!

We had a great Christmas surprise in our ward. The sunday before Christmas Albert called me at 8:30 from the church (our ward starts at 9:30) and told me to hurry up and get to church with the kids to get a seat. He said that President Eyring was going to be there and word was just starting to get out. So the kids and I raced into high gear getting ready and were there by nine o'clock. I was so excited in anticipation as I waited in my seat and then when he walked in the side door, I was amazed at his very presence. We don't often get these kinds of experiences here in California. He spoke during sacrament meeting and then afterward came to primary just to speak to the children. Gavin and I were walking in the hall as he passed and I was crouched down to Gavin's ear telling him who he was and pointing him out to Gavin and President Eyring stopped and leaned down and smiled right to Gavin and shook his hand. We all were able to shake his hand and Albert shook his hand four times! Then, another surprise was just yesterday again at church--he was there again! He was spending time here with his family on a little vacation (who wouldn't want to vacation here!) and his cousin who is in our ward. We didn't think he would be here two weeks in a row! This time he spoke again in sacrament meeting and then spoke to the youth the third hour so Jacen had the opportunity to ask questions in a small group environment with the other youth. He is such an amazing man and with such a powerful spirit! I can't imagine how one could ever doubt his testimony when he speaks with such power and such a strong spirit. I'm so grateful that our family was able to experience meeting him and hearing several times his testimony in such a close atmosphere. It was an amazing christmas present!

(For those who don't know, President Eyring is the first counselor in the first presidency of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. We revere him as a prophet of God and he serves under the direction of the prophet and president of our church, President Monson.)

(This is the christmas letter I sent out with my christmas cards this year.)

December 2008

“When we have the spirit of Christmas, we remember Him whose birth we commemorate
at this season of the year. We contemplate that first Christmas day,
foretold by the prophets of old. You, with me, recall the words from Isaiah:
‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel—‘God with us’.”

Our Dear Family and Friends,
We recently listened to a Christmas address from our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson. He spoke of the story of the innkeeper who turned a young couple away because there was no room in the inn. He commented that the innkeeper wouldn’t have turned them away for all the gold and silver in the world, had he known who they were. He then went on to speak of the love and service we can give to those around us. We are striving to reach out to others. This is the spirit of Christmas and, I believe, why the world is enveloped in a special feeling this time of year. We strive to be a little more like Christ, of whose life we celebrate. There is much we can do through the small acts of service we give.
Our family has had an exciting year. We have moved to a new home in the neighboring community of Pacific Grove—our favorite spot in the world--and also now expecting our fourth child to be born in early June. We feel so blessed with these changes. It’s been a year of growth for our family.
Albert continues to work for Nova Management in Monterey and enjoying that. When he’s not working he enjoys spending time with our family. I’m so grateful that he loves to be with us at home. When the kids hear him open the front door a little after 5 o’clock, they run and laugh and try to get to him first. They are so happy he is home. He is a wonderful husband and father and so supportive of our needs and desires. I feel truly blessed for him. The longer we are married, the more I feel we are so perfectly compatible. In his extra time he enjoys playing sports, weight lifting, playing computer games, going for walks and bike rides with our family. He is completing his Masters degree this month and will begin his doctoral program in administrative leadership in May of 2009. I’m so proud of him for accomplishing that.
I stay busy with my family. I love having the opportunity to be a homemaker and involved with my children and all the things they do. I’m grateful to my loving husband and his support in enabling me to raise and teach my children in a time when it is very difficult to have one income. It is so very rewarding for me and beneficial to our children. Besides that, I am continually working slowly on my bachelor’s degree online. I’m so grateful that I can complete my degree online at my own pace. It has not always been easy but has worked out well and I am grateful for that opportunity. In my extra time I love to play the piano and my flute and work on my blog. I am so happy about the new addition that will come into our family. We are all eagerly anticipating what June will bring.
Jacen is twelve now. He is growing up so quickly! He is in 7th grade and in middle school. He is a good student with excellent grades and so responsible with completing his assignments. He is really very self-motivated. He loves to read and write. He is making plans about when he will publish his first book. He is also active in his church deacon’s quorum in the presidency and very responsible that way as well. He has been enjoying boy scouts and will be completing and achieving his second class this month. The scout and youth leaders in the ward here are great and take the boys on many adventures: hikes, camping trips, kayaking excursions, cave exploring, and rock climbing. The effort they put forth is amazing and Jacen is learning and growing so much. The group of boys he associates with are amazing too. Jacen continues to better himself on his trumpet—listening to him play has become one of my favorite things. He sounds really good and practices so faithfully. He definitely has a talent for it.
Linnea is my sweet, helpful, kind 8 year old. She was baptized this summer and we are so proud of her in making that faithful step. It was a beautiful baptism and it was so nice for so much family to come and support her on that big day. She is in third grade and excited about more extensive writing this year and learning her multiplication tables and even dabbling in division. Her teacher recently told me that she is the perfect student. She has had a wonderful example to follow in her older brother and she is a wonderful student. She is a good friend and kind to everyone. She is helpful at home and such a sweet little “caretaker” for her little brother. When Gavin has a problem, so often she knows just what to say or do to help him and it’s so nice to watch. She is talented in that way and, I believe, is better at that than I am. She will make such a wonderful mother someday. She has been taking piano lessons and I love to hear her play. She is a very musical little girl.
Gavin is growing up into a big four and a half year old! He loves to go to preschool twice a week and is so excited about when he will start kindergarten and get to go to school with Linnea. He is social and has many friends and is such a good boy at school. I love spending time with him during the day and teaching him little things and going on outings with him. He loves to go to the aquarium and the beach and for walks. He is so affectionate and just wraps his little arms around me and tells me how much he loves me. He says, “I love you more, Mom.” He won’t hear of it any other way. He wants to marry me and is upset if I tell him anything otherwise. (I remember when Jacen used to say that and now it’s quite another story!) One of his exciting feats this year is learning to ride his two-wheeler bike. He never had training wheels but went straight to the big bike and one push and he was off! He has his daddy’s skills! Since then, we have enjoyed riding bikes to take Linnea to school and family bike rides.
We hope this time of year brings you many happy memories and please know that our thoughts and prayers are with each of you. We think of you all year long.

With Love,
Albert, Jaime, Jacen, Linnea and Gavin Zuniga

You wouldn't believe it....

You wouldn't believe that we actually had hail! It has hailed here before several years ago but not often! Yesterday I was at Trader Joes thinking about and hoping that Jacen was waiting in a dry place for me to pick him up, when he called me and asked me to pick him up in front of his school because it was hailing. I thought, of course, that he was exaggerating about the hail and told him I was checking out my groceries and would be there soon. When I went outside, sure enough, it was hailing. I drove down Forest Avenue towards his school and there he was, standing right out by the street completely drenched and loving it actually. Boys! During the night the hail woke me up and this morning our front yard was covered with it. When I took Linnea to school, hail covered the ground along side of the road and looked like snow and several cars were covered with it. Talk about excitement in a small California beach town!

Gingerbread Houses

We have a tradition in which we make gingerbread houses with the kids each Christmas. In some years past I have used graham crackers and have even made the gingerbread pieces myself but this year I needed to make it a little easier, so thank goodness for Costco and their easy gingerbread kits. I felt a little like I was cheating but the kids loved it. Even so, Albert was the one who underwent the project and did almost all of the work helping them. He's such a great dad. They all had fun with it and will probably have even more fun eating them after Christmas!

Snow in the Park

Linnea and Gavin here--I never did get a picture of Jacen as he was way up on top playing rough with the big boys.

We had a fun weekend at the annual snow-in-the-park festival here in town. The kids look forward to it all year. The city brings in a big truck and makes a HUGE pile of snow right in the park that the children play on all day long and sled down and make snow men. Here in this part of the country where we hardly ever see snow, this is quite the exciting activity! The funny thing is that it is totally warm (quite possibly a good beach day!) when this was going on. After the kids got a little wet and cold, they had fun jumping in the bounce houses, going on pony rides, horse drawn carriage rides, petting zoo, Santa and the Snow Queen. (The part I love is that it's all free!) The kids have so much fun with the snow but I think this is just about all the snow I want to have. It's so pretty but also so cold! I don't know what I would do if I had to bundle up three children every day to go out in the snow!

Thankful for Family...

Unfortunately my camera was lost last weekend. Unfortunately also was the fact that it was lost because it was buried in my messy house. Someday I will have a clean house... I used to be so clean and organized... then I had kids and now I am pregnant and well... I digress. We had a great Thanksgiving at Grampa Neufeld's house with him and Tera and Jared and their family and my parents. I ordered all of my share of the meal from Whole Foods. (I'm in no position to cook!) I was able to eat however. Leif and Jen and their family were in town having thanksgiving with Jen's side of the family (her brother is serving in the military in Monterey). We were able to see them Friday and Saturday and Sydney got to spend the night which was the highlight of the weekend for Linnea. (I still heard them up sneaking clementine oranges when I went to bed at eleven). It's so fun to have cousins. Saturday we went to the butterfly sanctuary with them and my parents and saw all the butterflies which was pretty amazing. Of course I missed my buried camera. Then we all went out to lunch to Chinese and spent the afternoon visiting and then out again for dinner for pizza before they had to head back home. We're so glad to have their family back in the state and be able to see them more often. My family is so special to me and to my children. We were also able to visit with my oldest sister and her husband and catch up a little with them! It was very exciting--the kids were so excited at their house that they were running up and down the stairs and everywhere! Spending time with our family is such a precious time for us. Although I am sorry I don't have any pictures to post, the good news is that I did find my camera (which also means I did clean my house) and will get that to use soon.

Full of Hot Air!!

My Grama used to say we were "full of hot air"! This weekend we went to visit both grandparents and watch the annual hot air balloons. We hadn't been there for this event in at least a few years. Gavin had never seen them and Linnea didn't remember seeing them. It was very fun and the kids really enjoyed seeing so many hot air balloons. I like the fact that it's not so crowded and we could just walk across the street from Grama and Grampa's house to see them. Ever since I can remember, I remember the sound of hot air balloons early in the morning in November and being excited to watch them from the front window, even as it was still dark outside. Someday I will ride in one. There, they actually do give free rides to people who wake up early and help them set up the balloon. Maybe I'll try that next year.

Toby, the Newfie

We live down the street from a beautiful Newfoundland dog, Toby. We love to go visit him and run into him on our walks. Toby especially loves the children. When we walk by, if he sees them through the front window, he will bark and become so excited until he can go outside to play with them. He thinks they are his playmates. It's so cute. The kids love to run around and play with him and it's funny to watch because he is triple the size of them. Albert and I love his sweet nature and his beautiful show-dog look (he is only three points away from Champion and will most likely have that by Christmas). He is such a sweetie and HUGE! The picture doesn't do him justice. His owner is refurbishing his cart, in which he will be able to pull the kids in. We love Toby!

Walk Out

Gavin has been watching a lot of Wallace and Gromit these days. Do you know those movies? They are cute. Anyway, in one of them, Gromit, the dog, runs away because he feels left out and unwanted. So when Gavin is not quite getting his way around here, he thinks he needs to run away but he calls it "walking away." So the other night it was totally pitch black outside and even raining and Gavin felt abused for some reason or other, I don't even know why (maybe he wasn't sure either) and he packed up his stuff (his pillowcase filled with some halloween candy and his bear) and walked out. We were trying not to laugh at his very SERIOUS situation. He got as far as the front sidewalk when he quickly turned around to run to the safety of his own home, after thinking about the recent mountain lion spottings in our area. My sweet little boy....

Okay, I am finally getting around to posting Halloween pictures. I have been so sick and so tired! You're lucky you're not at my house. I'll admit it's a great big mess and I've been feeding my family mac and cheese most nights or Whole Foods sandwiches (that's what I can keep down). Anyway, aren't my two little spooks cute? Gavin is a ninja and Linnea is a witch for like the third year in a row. (She buys a new witch costume every year.)
Anyway, Happy Halloween (on November 10th)!

Vote Today!!

I voted! Have you? Their are only less than three hours until polls close! Vote! Vote! Vote! Pray for Prop 8.

I will be making my calls tonight reminding Prop 8 voters.

Gavin's Prayer

I just wanted to tell you about the sweet, sincerity of my little boy. I just love to hear him pray, although when we are in a hurry someone else should probably be called on. Let me tell you what he said in our family prayer last night:

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank thee for our family.
Thank thee that Jesus loves us.
Thank thee for my sweet mommy. (He takes my hand at this point)
Thank thee for my toys.
Thank thee for the spirit.
Help us to listen to the spirit.
Help us to do what is right.
Thank thee that Jesus can make our "boo-boos" better.
Help us to listen to the spirit. (He adds this again)
Help us not to punch anybody. (I wonder who that's for!)
Thank thee that Jesus loves us so much and we love Jesus.
Help us to be kind and nice.
Thank thee for my mommy and daddy and Jacen and Linnea.
Thank thee that Jesus loves us and we can learn about him.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I repeated some of those things in my example. When Gavin prays he repeats certain things a lot. He is just so sweet and sincere and really praying to Heavenly Father. Their is a lot that we learn from our sweet, little four-year-old. Families are really here to enable us to help each other return home. My children help me as much as I ever help them. I'm so grateful to them.

The kids had a week off for fall break so after dentist appointments, and after Achievement Day night and Scouts, we headed to Coalinga to visit grandparents. We hadn't been there since May so it was a trip long overdue. (It's so unbearably hot in the summer, we encourage them to come and visit us). The kids were so thrilled to go and one of the things at the top of their list to do was ride Grama Shirley's horses. One horse she actually bought just for her grandkids to ride; it's name is Promise. They all rode and fed them carrots. Even though it started to get quite dark, they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Gavin feeding the horse a carrot.
Linnea leads Gavin on the horse with a rope.
Linnea with the horse.


Gavin was so funny. He told us that he was a real cowboy and loved wearing a cowboy hat and boots. He had a rope that he made into a kind of lasso and was determined to rope something with it to then ride. The goats in the nearby kennel did the trick. He did get one!


Jacen feeding the horse.

Twilight

I know I am late getting on this band wagon! I started reading Harry Potter when the 4th book came out to see what all that commotion was about so I was very late there too. I guess most of my excuse is that I had such a long list of books to read before this one and that is in between my required reading for my literature classes. (The class I am taking now; however, requires only short stories.) I just finished reading Orson Scott Card's Rachel and Leah (for like the third time--and exasperated that he hasn't written the sequel yet!!!) and still need to read Brisinger but decided to read Twilight first. I am well into it now in the few hours I have started it and wondering if my family will eat for the next little while. It's so good. At least, getting started on these things late has it's advantages, the books are already written! I don't have to wait. Anyway, if anyone has any good books to add to my list of ones to get to, please feel free to let me know. In the meantime, you know where I'll be--wrapped up in the romance of Edward and Bella.

Lovers Point PG

Sometimes as parents, we realize that to keep our sanity we must pack up and leave our house to get the kids out and moving about. This was one of those times. We had enjoyed watching conference immensely but it was about all the sitting still our kids could handle and we walked to Lovers Point to bask in the beauty Heavenly Father created in our part of the world.
We climbed up the huge rock pile at the tip of Lovers point and watched some surfers catching waves, saw a shark, and watched in awe of the beautiful ocean.
If you look out at the end of the point, you can see the rock pile that the kids love to climb on. It looks kind of small in the picture but is actually pretty large and great for stretching their legs and getting out a little energy.
Albert is pointing out the seagull to Gavin. Kinda funny....we don't like them so much when they sneak up and steal our picnic on the beach!
Linnea and Gavin relaxing in the soft grass at Lovers Point.

I'm so grateful for my family and I love them so much and love our little outings in which to enjoy their company more fully. I'm also so grateful to live in the most amazingly beautiful part of Earth. I am in constant awe of its beauty and grandeur as I look out over the ocean.

#4

Yes, you saw that right... #4! Are we crazy? I think so. We are excited, crazy parents though. I just found out and haven't even been to the doctor yet, but I am about 5 weeks along and my due date will be around June 5th. I'm apprehensive about being pregnant again. At least I know what to expect but it seems harder with three other children to take care of and my last pregnancy, I swear, I had every symptom in the book! It seems each pregnancy gets a little harder in that way. Please give me some advice if you have any!! And if you don't, you can give me some sympathy as I will be sick as a dog for the next few months.

Welcome Monarch Butterflies!

Pacific Grove, lovingly called PG by it's residents, is such a quaint, cute town and we love it! The Monarch butterflies migrate here every year to a forested sanctuary that just so happens to be down the street and the elementary schools always have a celebration to welcome the butterflies. The monarchs travel over 2,000 miles to come here and the sanctuary houses tens of thousands each year. It's really amazing to see. The kindergarteners dress up like butterflies and each other grade dress up as various things. Jacen has been a clown and miner, Linnea has been butterfly and tree, there are jellyfish, otters, penguins, painters, etc. This year Linnea was a Native American. I helped make the classroom's outfits and was walking in the parade with her class so I went ahead and made Gavin one too. He didn't know what to do about all the attention!This is a picture of Linnea and several of her friends from school.

Happy Birthday Marilyn!

My great aunt Marilyn turned 72! Do you want to know what the amazing thing of it is? She is doing complete marathons all over the place! (And that was just taken up a few years ago!) She's my idol. I really admire her, in that way, but also in just the great person that she is. I really look up to her. Happy Birthday!!

One of "those" days...

I love to cruise around blogs and see what all my friends are up to. Everyone is smiling and life is rather near perfect. Perhaps my blog deceptively leads one to believe that about the life of my family. We love each other and we love life overall, true. However, my sink usually holds dirty dishes, my children are very often fighting, my living room usually looks like a hurricane came through from 3-6 o'clock (wish I had a playroom or even a family room!), my hair gets done usually once a week although I do manage to shower every day <:, it seems all my free time has to be used for my school work, and sometimes I break down and cry in the bathroom. Life is like that and sometimes my days seem so monotonous and I wonder where is all the excitement that I used to envision adulthood to hold? And yet it's all worth it and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love my family with all my heart and am so grateful that I can have eternity with them. My husband stands by me and supports me and loves me and our family and I'm so grateful for him. He's patient when I have one of "those" days. And when my 12 year old (who is starting to act a little teenager-ish) will still cuddle up and read with me, and when my 8 year old surprises me with a clean room and a heart felt note on my pillow, and when my four year old hugs me and kisses me and says he loves me more than anyone, my heart melts and I'll take the messy house and the tears and frustration and endless bad hair days.

108.6

Yay! Jacen got 108.6% on his country report on Sweden!

Sweden

No, we're not going to Sweden....at least right now. (We are saving up for it though!) In Jacen's history class, the students were to choose a country to complete a project on. He was to make a visual poster to orally present and also complete a written report. He chose Sweden and was very interested in finding out more information on it and learning more about where our family came from. Jan-Ove and Ingrid (our relatives over there) were kind enough to send some Swedish money to him (which will get him some extra credit). Jacen did a great job and we even made a Swedish dessert for him to sample out to his class.


Jacen is making the Swedish recipe.


Jacen made a type of a apple crumb cake with a vanilla creme sauce. It was delicious!!

Love Boden!

So, have you heard about Boden? They are an online store based out of Great Britain and have very cute clothes. I have been shopping there for a couple of years--just a couple of items here or there or when it's a great sale (and they are practically giving it away!). Mostly I buy things for Linnea because I love to relive my little girlhood through her! Too bad she won't wear half of what I buy her, but my niece gets lots of nearly or even new stuff from us! Anyway, I have exciting news about this place. The other day I got an email from them saying that eight orders placed that day would be complimentary. I had a cute sweater and beret in my online shopping basket so I went ahead and ordered it. Lo and Behold! I was one of the lucky winners! (Too bad I hadn't added those cute leather boots!) This is quite exciting stuff for me though because I am not one of those lucky people that win everything. Growing up I always thought my sister Tera was one of those lucky people. <: Below are the items that I won!

Cumpleanos Feliz!

Albert, you are getting old. Sometimes I feel like we are actually growing up!!
Okay, Albert--funny guy--lose the bunny ears!
Tera and Maila at the restaurant. Every birthday the birthday person gets to pick what restaurant they'd like to go to and Grampa treats us all. We went to El Torito on Cannery Row.
Carter (my sister,Tera's son) and Marilyn (my great-aunt) and Grampa.

We had a fun time celebrating Albert's birthday. We didn't do anything too fancy but had dinner out and Gavin helped me bake a cake. The kids had fun brainstorming and picking out presents for him. We enjoyed celebrating with Tera and Jared and Grampa and Marilyn. Happy Birthday! We love you!!