The Noriega Family

We love Thanksgiving!  It seemed like we were busier this year and did not do as much Thanksgiving prep as we have in years past.  I think a big part of it is that this is the first year having a kid in school and everything is different now that I plan around a school schedule.  We still did our Thankful tree, the girls love it.  Natalia did lots of fun Fall and Thanksgiving crafts at school.  She had a Thanksgiving feast on Monday and Sienna, Estelle and I went to help out.  It was fun seeing her so excited with all of her friends in her little environment.  She had a total meltdown when it was time for us to leave (Total meltdown is an understatement), but she gave her teacher a really nice apology the next day.  She is such a good kid.  

We had a pie night with friends the night before Thanksgiving!  Any chance to eat pie is good to me, so hopefully this is a tradition that continues.  

Thursday we went down to Hector's parents' for Thanksgiving.  We had a wonderful time; the food was so good, the kids had a blast running around playing with each other and us adults got in lots of good game playing.  

A couple of years ago we had warm weather on Thanksgiving and spent a good portion of the day playing in the leafs.  The kids talk so fondly about it and Natalia is always asking if we get to jump in the leafs at Thanksgiving.  Well, it was not warm this year, but we bundled up and played in the leafs anyway.  We all had fun watching the kids get chucked in the pile.  

We spent the night and got to help set up Grandma and Grandpa's tree.  The kids loved helping and grandpa was nice enough to pick them up so they could get decorations up high.  

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We are always so happy that we can spend time with family.  We have so much to be grateful for.  We have the best family.  Hector and I feel so privileged to have these three awesome girls.  They bring so much joy to our lives.  They are always making us laugh.  They all have such a joy for life and their enthusiasm rubs off on us.  We are so grateful for our extended family and we are grateful for the comforts we enjoy, we are thankful for this country and the freedoms we enjoy and we are profoundly grateful for our knowledge of the savior and his plan for us.  I am so grateful that I get to teach my kids about the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the peace that that will bring to their lives.  

We came home Friday night and the girls couldn't wait to get out our Christmas stuff.  Saturday is still going...the tree is up and the girls are so excited about the Christmas season.  

The girls are awesome.  Natalia is still loving school.  She got to be the line leader today, she was excited.  She also got to be the magic musician in music class...all I can gather about this is that she got to sit in the comfy chair.  Ha-ha, she is so funny.  

Not all school days are perfect though.  Last week, all on one day, she forgot her library books so she couldn't check out new ones (if you know how much Natalia loves books then you understand how devastating this is).  She was suppose to have a walking field trip, but it got canceled because it rained, but I had her wear her boots in case they did go.  Because she did not have tennis shoes on, she did not get to participate in PE (I did not know this would happen), she had to walk around the gym while everyone else participated, poor girl.  And I forgot to put her folder in her bag that morning, but she is awesome and bounced back from a bad day.

Sienna is super fun right now; she says the funniest stuff, but she is also emotional.  Her emotions are usually for the good, but we do see tears on a regular basis.  Sienna went to a birthday party last weekend and got a little purse that she really loved, but it was a cheap little party gift that fell apart after a couple of days.  She was so sad as you can see by the picture.  We talked about it and she felt better but she still really wanted her purse so she decided that she would ask for one for Christmas.  Natalia decided to help her write a letter to Santa.  They worked hard together and then she showed me her letter.  She told me that she only wanted three things; a little purse, lip gloss and an Elsa globe like Natalia has.  She is so cute.

Sienna has a sweat little voice and she miss pronounces so many things; I love it.  This is Sienna about ten times a day, "MOM...(dramatic pause)...I wubb (love) you."  She is very thoughtful and loves to do nice things for her sisters.  

Estelle is great right now, she is hovering between the baby phase and the kid phase.  She is saying more an more words and we all love trying to figure out what she is saying.  She loves to be silly.  Her favorite thing right now is to sit on my legs and have me bounce her.  She loves to do whatever her big sisters are doing.  She likes to have books read to her now and she likes to give hugs and kisses.  Her kisses are so funny,  She comes at you with a big open mouth and then just plants her mouth on you until you pull her away.  She gives me big hugs every morning when I take her out of her crib and it is the best way to start my day.  

The girls have been so excited about Halloween.  I love their enthusiasm; we had a count down going all week long,  It was a fun filled day for everyone and the fun never stopped for a second.  Natalia got to wear her costume to school.  The kindergarten kids did a little parade around the school so we stayed and watched that before we walked home.  Natalia had an early release so we picked  her up early (but it messed up the other kids' naps) and I let the other girls wear their costumes...which they thought was great.  We went straight to volleyball from school.  All the girls were excited to wear their costumes to volleyball practice and the volleyball girls gave them all the attention they could hope for.  

Hector picked the girls up from volleyball and then we all went to a Halloween party when I got home.  We had so much fun; there were lots of friends and good food and fun games for the kids.  My girls loved the games, Sienna loved digging for prizes in the leaf pool and Estelle loved digging when everyone else was done.  She dug forever, but never found anything.  She did not care, she loved it.  Natalia loved the toss games and the pictures.  Sienna had fun being turned into a mummy.  Estelle and Sienna loved dancing to the Halloween music.  Estelle did not want me to stop.  I was holding her and she just kept laughing and laughing.  It was really nice.  Everyone from the party Trick or Treated in the neighborhood.  It was fun walking around leisurely with everyone and watching our kids.  Sienna really got into it.  She kept up with the big boys.  Natalia loved it as well and Estelle picked up on what was going on real fast.  She has figured out what candy is and she couldn't wait to get her hands on more.  She was really cute walking up to the houses and sticking out her little hand.  

After we made the loop in the neighborhood we headed home.  Estelle fell asleep in the van with a lollipop in her mouth, so we put her to bed.  Natalia wanted to pass out candy, so she sat on the porch and Sienna and I walked around our neighborhood and did a little more trick or treating.    

Halloween was a blast and it was so nice having it on a Friday.  The girls actually slept in a little the next morning and when they woke up they jumped up and down and asked if they could have oatmeal for breakfast.  I guess they needed something to counter the candy.  Then they spent the morning shopping with Hector.  They went to Costco and fell in love with the giant teddy bears.  Who would ever want one of these in their house.  It would literally fill an entire room.