Eight Years!

Eight reasons why I love Cesar Rafael Rodriguez Mejia
1. He has given me the 'other' love's of my life...Samuel, Lauren and Isabella.
2. Thinking about how we met, dated and survived our first year of marriage reminds me that our love can withstand a lot. We love to reminisce about those days! It seems like yesterday, but then again, like a lifetime ago. Why would you ever date someone you met dancing in a club? Why would you ever date someone when you couldn't speak their language? Let me just say...he is a sexy, hot Peruvian Latin Lover! Irresistible!
3. I love that we are so different! I truly believe that we are a better couple because we are so different. Embrace the difference!
4. He really does give me anything that I want. :)
5. He took me on a dream trip to Italy in 2007. It was a wonderful experience and it made our marriage stronger.
6. He is a wonderful, caring, loving and trusted husband and father.
7. I still get butterflies when he looks at me from across a room. :)
8. He is my true love!

Family Vacation 2009

We took the kids to stay in a hotel for the first time this past summer! Can you believe they have never stayed in a hotel? We just went up to Park City for the weekend and had a blast! We swam a lot and spent the day on the Alpine Slide. It was so much fun! Our hotel room was teeny tiny, but we made the most of it and had a great time. I didn't even make the kids go to bed at 7! They got to stay up past ten! I know, I am a wild and crazy mom! Next summer, we may venture a bit farther from home, or we
may not. :) I love making these fun memories with the kids!

We invited Heidi up for a day of swimming and sliding.

Crazy Sam! He wanted to go full speed the whole way! He was mad that I was too scared to let him have complete control. :)

Sam is checking to make sure that they won. He liked to ride with Cesar because he wasn't scared and would let him do the brakes.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Top 6 favorite things about
Samuel Thomas Rodriguez...

1. August 30, 2003 at 6:22 pm, weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long, Samuel came into this world. I remember laying in the hospital room, waiting for him to come, looking out the window. We had a great view of the Utah mountains and of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. As I looked at the beautiful surroundings outside, the very distinct thought came to my mind and my heart, that as I had one mother saying good bye to my sweet little boy, I was lucky enough to have another mother present to welcome this baby into our family. It was such a peaceful and incredible experience. I will never forget the day Samuel came! So small and sweet. The perfect little lips and big, bright eyes. He has been on the go since day one and I love him!

2. Going to the emergency room 5 days before Christmas in 2007 for stitches. Sam somehow hit his face on the coffee table and needed 4 stitches. He is hallarious when he has had Versed. It is a wonder drug. :)

3. On a cold March afternoon, I found Samuel outside, covered from head to toe in mud...with no clothes on ! It was really cold outside! I asked him what he was doing, and he responded that he was Shrek. Shrek plays in the mud without any clothes on. Makes sense. :)

4. The many faces of Sam...cowboy, spider man, batman, pirate, Jedi Knight, Mr. Brown (Nanny McFee), Elliot (E.T.) and many, many, many more!

5. First day of school. Is he really old enough to be starting school? Time has gone by so fast! Samuel was so excited to finally go to 'big' school with his friends from the neighborhood.

6. Finally, one of my favorite things about Sam is that he is so goofy! The older he gets, the more it comes out. He has a great sense of humor and is just plain goofy! He is really funny and makes me laugh daily!

I Wanna Be A Cowboy!

I think that Samuel was born in the wrong time and wrong place. He seriously should have been born 100 years ago on a farm. He absolutely loves to dress up like a cowboy and ride his pretend horse all around the house and yard. He even ropes cows and rounds up the sheep. He has a few guns to shoot the bad guys, although he says he doesn't kill them, he just leaves them for the sheriff. At times, he will only eat beans and buns because that is the only thing that cowboys eat out in the west. How did he come up with that? Buns, not rolls or bread...buns. We go to the Spanish Fork Rodeo every year, and that is the highlight of the year! There are cowboys everywhere! He is in heaven! It is so much fun to go, just to watch him! Such a fun time of life! So much imagination! I love my little cowboy!

Just in case you were wondering...cowboys do eat a hot dog from time to time.

He is so proud of his new hat! He worked really hard and saved him money so he could buy a hat for the rodeo. He had a hat that mysteriously disappeared...not sure why it would disappear...it is not like it was stepped on by some horses or cows or the cowboy more than once. It is such a mystery where it went one day when no one was looking...

Lauren even had a good time watching the horses and cowboys. She does make a cute cowgirl!