Here is our little boy getting his first taste of a popsicle. By the end of this episode, he had so much green coloring staining his body he looked like the Incredicle Hulk. He loved it though. Our little Hulk sure loved his popsicle.

Here's one of Orion getting a little too dizzy. Alex was spinning our cup just a little too fast, even for me, being 8 months pregnant and all. But when we got off, he surprisingly wanted to stay on. Not to worry, he wasn't at all traumatized by the experience.

We took Orion to Disneyland for the first time and rode the Merry-Go-Round, The flying Dumbos, the spinning teacups and watched Fantasmic (my absolute favorite show). I know he was a little overwhelmed with all the excitement but he sure slept well that night. Here is a short clip of Father and Son on the Sleeping Beauty Carousel.

So, here is our little family on a Beach named after us. Jk. I've always loved eating at Ruby's on the pier. I went there quite a few times as a teenager with groups of friends from highschool and mutual activities. It's a fun little Diner where you can sit and overlook the ocean. I had signs literally everywhere telling me this was to be my destiny and I never even noticed. Who would have thought I'd turn into a Huntington? This fun little beach has so much more meaning to me now that I can share it with the one responsible for changing my life (and my name for that matter) forever. I love you Alex Taylor Huntington. Here's to sweet memories that have been made and for many more to look forward to.

At this time, I feel the need to dedicate a post to my dear Grandfather Nestor Edmundo Velez. He passed away December 10, 2008. It was sort of a special date. It was the date of my own Father's birth and a day before my own. So for my Dad, I know it was a special thing. My grandfather died as my Dad was administering to him a blessing of calm. He'd suffered a stroke that paralyzed him from the waist down back when he was in his fifties. All of my own life, I've known him to be this quiet little old man in a wheel chair who liked to bake and garden with tools he designed for himself to do his work so as not to have to get out of his chair. More recently his bed sores had gotten worse, and so his death was no real surprise for our family. It was a blessing really. I know he's in a more comfortable place now where he can walk and perhaps even run. I had the privilege of writing his eulogy. A couple years back, in my choreographic ensemble for dance, our director asked us to work on a completely different kind of dance project. The assignment was to choose an ancestor, someone who was still living, of whom we could interview and really get to know better. I chose my Grandfather. My Teto. It's what my cousin called him as a child. We later had to type out the interview and use pieces of it as monologue throughout our choreography. It was definitely different from anything I'd ever done in the past. But of all the dance performances I've ever participated in, whether dancing or choreographing, this was the most important project I'd ever done. I learned more from my Teto in one hour than I'd ever learned in the entire lifetime that I'd known him. He was no longer just a handicapped baker and a gardener to me. He became real. He became human. A flight mechanic and a paratrooper for the Peruvian air force. A loving husband who made his fair share of mistakes. A father who struggled to bring home the bread. Through all the experiences he shared with me about his life, I learned that day what it truly means to "turn the hearts of the children to their fathers." I learned what it truly means to do Family History. Family History isn't just about tracing and recording names as far back as possible. Though that is important, it's also about capturing stories and preserving them in time. And for what? As we strive hard to tame our own flesh, we are doomed to repeat history if we don't learn to turn our hearts. Keeping this blog now, is a modern day way of keeping my thoughts alive and sharing with others how I feel and how I grow as a daughter of God. So this moment is for my Teto. I'm so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that I will see my Grandfather again someday. Tis but a brief parting. I love you Tetito. Here are some pictures of the pallbearers carrying my Teto's body to his final resting place and the beautiful casket his mortal body will lay in. Notice the 9th pallbearer in the back. That's my cousin's little boy Leighton filling in for the pallbearer who couldn't make it. It brought many smiles to the day. Below is a painting of my Grandfather in his younger days next to his wife. My Nona. A dignified couple they are. Delicate yet strong. And if I may be so bold, my Grandfather was a good-looking man.

The Gingerbread House Family Contest:

Boys Against Girls.....

Can you tell which group made which?

The time grows closer. We are ever so excited to finally meet our little girl. This is a picture of me at about 8 months along. Could be any day now. Orion couldn't be more excited to be a big brother. He sees babies everywhere we go (because we do happen to live in Utah) and gets so lit up at the sight of them. He says, "It's a Baybee!" and claps his hands when he's reassured that he's right. It's so great. We can hardly wait now.

Here I am at about 7 months pregnant with Chrysalis Rae.

Here are a couple fun family photos taken over the Christmas break in sunny southern California. My siblings are a crazy loud bunch but I love them. The bigger group photo was taken courtesy of the camera timer. Those things are actually quite nifty when you really think about it. Orion loved the little flashing light. Fun day.

So, I've decided to try and make our family blog a little more "bloggy" if that's a word. Many of my friends and family are keeping such nice blogs up and I felt a little left out. We never really started our blog properly I don't think. Alex was excited to blog his political views a few months ago and got a little carried away writing. Don't get me wrong, I think writing is a good way to get emotions and feelings out and a great way to share ideas. But perhaps some of you would like to know more about our daily family ongoings instead. I suppose with a little time and effort, we can make this blog more of a family journal for all out there to keep up, no matter how far apart we may be.

So here is our first family photo. We sent these out in our family Christmas cards. It's our most decent and recent photo, captured by the professional Gioconda Velez, my little sister who somehow always manages to get good angles of me on camera.

This new year of 2009 awaits many great adventures for our growing family. Alex and I are expecting our second baby (our first little girl). Though one can never be 100% sure, that's what the ultrasounds have told us. So if all turns out as planned, we will be meeting our Chrysalis Rae Huntington on Feb. 11th, 2009. Orion is super excited to be a big brother. We've seen him interact with his little cousins both on the Velez side and the most recent of them being on the Huntington side (Tate Elliot). He loves being with younger children. He says, "Bay-bee!" with the most excited tone every time he looks at my water color hangings that I made two years ago when I was pregnant with him. I'll have to post these later so that those who may not have seen them can know what I'm talking about.

This April we will be traveling to Chicago for the summer sales program once again. For those who may not know, we're quite a traveling bunch. Alex and I first went out to do summer sales in 2007 with APX Alarms. It consists of doing door-to-door sales for home security systems. This last summer, we went with a different company but followed our manager from the extended program into it. AMP Alarms proved to be quite promising for us and with that we've been able to pay off a lot of our debt. Our focus right now is to get completely out of debt, and save up a good food storage. We hope to be able to finally buy a house after this next summer. We would really like a place to finally feel settled in even if we continue the sales. Orion has been a good sport about it all but moving stuff into storage and back gets kind of hectic after a while. We'd really like to have a place Orion can feel at home at because lately, we struggle to get him used to new places everytime we move. Since his birth, he's been from Provo to Denver, to a new home in Provo, then to Philadelphia, and is now living in Pleasant Grove. Not to mention all the trips we take to California and South Dakota to visit family. I think he's the world's youngest traveller. Well, atleast this summer he will be joined by his little sister.

Anyways, I've finally finished school. I officially have a BFA in Modern Dance from BYU. It's only taken me eight years. My mother was right. I should have gone into medicine. JK. It's taken me a while to finish but I figure, "Slow and Steady," right? It feels good to be done. I am now ready to really focus on being a full time mother for a while. I would eventually like to be able to go back to teaching part time but I really need to shape up my body first. So that's my goal this year. Be a mom, shape up, be a better housewife to my hardworking hubby and I suppose my last goal is to be more committed in my church callings. Moving every 5 months or so, has made it rather difficult to make close friends and get as involved as I would like to have been, but it's something I need to work on. I tend to be on the shyer side by nature, so it takes a lot for me to open up to new people, but I know there are blessings to be gained if I but make a more dedicated effort.

Well, that's all for now. Hope you've enjoyed our little intro into our family story.