Destin, Florida

Here are all the Nogales cousins. Tess, Diego, Ryan, Olivia, Marisa & Leo. We had so much fun seeing them. They live in Atlanta and we don't see them but about once a year or so.

Our little gang - Marisa, Ryan, and Tess

Ryan and Diego - cutest boys ever :o)

The day after we arrived in Destin, TS Claudette hit us. It washed in tons of jellyfish for us to catch. The kids caught a bunch - but this was the biggest. 

It was about the size of a dinner plate!!

I was pretty surprised at how much time my kids spent in the ocean. They were a little freaked out by the jellyfish but got over it quickly. Ryan swam so much that he now has swimmer's ear.

I have to admit that Marisa took half of my best pictures. I love this one she took of Ryan on the shore.

How the heck did Marisa get those eyelashes?! That's WITHOUT mascara, curling, or editing - it's unfair, I tell you!

Marisa and Ryan

Tess and her cousin, Olivia, boogie boarding

Lacie in Destin

We took little Lacie to Destin with us this past week. She was such a good baby during the 10 hour car ride. This was the only time we brought her out to the beach. We didn't want to worry about getting sand out her fluffy coat - isn't she cute?!

Little Lacie

Luckily, Lacie is very tolerant of having bows tied around her neck, being pushed around in a doll stroller, and carried in all sorts of baskets and things. She has been so cute and is so fun to watch as she pounces on her toys and our toes!

Fun little pretties for Puppy :o)

This is going to be the fun part of owning a little girl puppy -

THE SHOPPING :o)

Here's the crate we're getting her - I'd almost like have my own to crawl into so I can escape!

Isn't this car seat cute? Maybe we'll ask Santa for it ;o)

She might need this plush little coat for our cold Texas winters! - jk ;o)

It is kind of cute for those doggies with no fur

We can't forget the hairbows - good heavens, what a disaster that would be! ;o)

(I'm sure she'd have them pulled out in no time!)

We Did It!!!

We are proud first time puppy owners. We went to meet this scrumptious baby tonight (she's even cuter in real life - can you believe it?!). She is the sweetest little thing ever! She will be only about four pounds at full size - perfect for us.

 It was love at first sight - even for Jose :o)

We're still deciding on a name - the front runner is Lacie...what do you think?

My Mermaids & My Dude

Marisa had cute Kylee over for the day - they wanted to try out Marisa's new camera. For her birthday, we got her a waterproof one since we practically live in our pool.

(aren't these girls super cute?!)

Marisa & Tess - let the water fun begin!

This reminds me a bit of my post here - ahhh...the joy of no gravity :o)

And here's my little Dude - he came late to the camera party but still had fun!

Our upcoming Baby (maybe)!

This hopefully will be our future puppy! - we just have to convince Jose to buy her. Any suggestions on how to do that? Let us know :o) She's only one pound right now and will only be about 5 lbs - a quarter of the size of our cats!! 

Which name do you like best? Dolly, Bear, Baby, Belle or Love.

Dog Days of Summer!

As you know, we have two cute fat Ragdoll cats. We've always been cat people. My heart has been softening towards some dogs since my kids just love them. I'm very particular though - a lot of dogs are kind of smelly and high maintenance. We can leave our cats for a few days with just extra food and litter boxes - you can't do that with a dog. So, we went with Leland's & Rossi's to the Dog Show last week. It was really a lot of fun - Tess was in heaven with tons of dogs around to pet freely. I totally fell in love with the Poms and Samoyeds - they are gorgeous. I realized that they are my cat, Sugar, in a dog costume - see our white kitty here

Now you see why I love them? :o)

Marisa's photos

Lately Marisa is dreaming of being a photographer - I think she already is pretty good! She just has a cheap little point-and-shoot camera (which just broke) but is always taking great photos. She loves to edit them and create her own vision. Here are just a few fun ones from her summer views of the world. (do you see her little signature on the pictures also ;o)

Her brother, Ryan

Ryan, Tess, Reagan & Madison Vance - Utah

Cousin - Hannah in Utah

"Dandelion"

Provo, Utah - apple orchard

Family Reunion 2009

We stay up at Solitude Ski Resort every three years for our family reunion. It was such a nice break to be in the mountains and have cool air. We were wearing sweatshirts in July while everyone back home in Texas was sweltering in the 100+ humid heat! We had tons of fun catching up with everyone's comings and goings - it was great!

Utah Happenings...

Here's a little sampling of some of the fun we had up in Utah this summer. Ryan attended a BYU football camp. He loved it - especially the dry weather after being in the humid Texas heat!

(click on the pictures to see them zoomed in)

We went to a really fun new waterpark with my sis-in-law, Louise, and her daughter, Katie. The slides were really fun and not too scary for the weak-at-heart (myself :o)

A Summer Treat

I feel like I've forgotten how to blog! I've been crazy busy with Girls Camp (I was director this year) planning and gathering. The day camp was over, we repacked our bags and left for a trip to Utah. We had a family reunion over the 4th of July weekend. We had a great time but sure missed our own nest! My sister made these cookies and they were so yummy - I had to make a cute card so I could make them too :o) 

(Perfect for that corner lemonade stand your kids might have)

I thought it was over?!

Ryan finished a great season of baseball last month. He ended up batting on the top of the lineup and pitched in most of the games. Last week he was invited to play in a all-star tournament this weekend. We thought we had packed up the baseball equipment until next Spring :o)

Good job Ryan!!

I like this picture below of Ryan with a cute smile coming into the dugout. Ryan had just made an awesome surprise out in a playoff game. He was playing 3rd base and there was a runner on there. Ryan pretended to throw the ball back to the pitcher but held on to it instead. The runner steps off the base and Ryan tagged him with the ball in his glove! It was awesome and the runner didn't know what was going on - it was a huge out - finishing that inning.

Memorial Day Pool

Wow! Check out the cute group of kids we spent Memorial Day with - 

lucky us...it was so much fun!!

Memorial Day

I just wanted to say a huge "THANK YOU" to all the servicemen & women who have bravely (and maybe sometimes not so bravely but still there) protected us through our country's history. My dear friend, Nicole, has just sent her husband over to Afghanistan for his FOURTH tour - he'll be deployed a year. He has been in the military for about 23 years - and still has to serve again and again. My heart and prayers go out to her and her family.

Thank you Princeton for stepping up to the

 plate over and over!!!

God Bless America!

My Mom...

This is a cute and touching tribute to my mom, Judy, from a dear family friend, Morena Harris. My mom is the kind of person who should have run a homeless shelter. She has always had so much love for others and has shown endless amounts of service in her life. I remember always taking meals and other items to people's homes when I was growing up. I love my mom and the example she has shown in her life. She's now the one who needs service done for her and she has built up a big reservoir of people willing to do it!

When a person is in the mist of experienceing "The Journey" here on earth, "angels" are sent to be of comfort, to teach, and to simply love you. This person in my life from the time I was 17 until now was Judy Blackwelder Craig. She has always encouraged me to be the best person that I could be. She taught me to "love" beef liver and onions along with her home made bread and the trimings served on her best china. And she loved me uncontionally.

It was my priviledge to live with the Craig Family for 2 and 1/2 years. There was never a dull moment with the LDS missionaries and boarders (me included) living under the same roof along with this family. Judy made special sweet rolls, cheese cakes, and you could not beat her butter milk pancakes on Saturday morning.

We sang together, did millions of dishes together, scrubed and waxed the hard wood floor in the front foyer together. And in doing these things there was a lot of teasing and laughter. I loved living there and felt I belonged.

Life brings changes and it was time for me to go out to BYU and leave this family behind. It was hard to go away and the homesickness was felt for a long time. I had grown to love this family and in God's tender mercy they came to Salt Lake to the University of Utah to finish grad school. This meant that I could see them on a regular basis. Our ties to each other grew and off to Texas and then Hawaii this family went, but we never lost touch.

All Judy's children are grown and married with children of their own. Judy loves her grandchildren so much. She had a special apron and puppets in the pockets and as she would make gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies and other kinds as well, she would play and have such a good time with them. I wanted to be like her when it was my time to have grand children. Let's just say, I never got an apron with pockets and puppets, but I always thought that it was such a neat idea.

Everytime Judy would come to my home for dinner, she would always praise me in some special way. She always wanted to take my hand when she talked to me about old times-I love that about her. She has such a special giggle that makes you laugh when you hear her laughing. Her special cards over the years have been dear to me and the phone calls out of the blue, "hi hon, what are you doing?" are treasures to me.

Judy has a strong, powerful testimony of the Savior and has influnced me and many others to want to be in service to others. Yes, in some small way, I want to honor you, Judy! You are family in my heart and a hero of goodness to me. You are a special "soul" of great worth-thank you for always being there for me and my family and know you are the special angel in my life - Love, Rose

Cinco de Mayo!

Last night I went to a friend's home for a Cinco de Mayo dinner. It was really yummy and fun with crazy Mexican decorations and music! I made this hominy to eat with the delicious other foods. I don't have the recipes for everyone's dishes but here's what I do have:

Rebecca made these enchiladas and they were so good. She made her homemade red sauce for the top.

This is the best and fastest salsa to make. You can add whatever else you like - such as green chilies, green peppers, fresh tomatoes, etc.

I'm not an avocado fan but this is seriously good - especially dipped in the salsa also!