Since we've been gone

We are home for the next three months, and everyone has made it well

worth the visit!

We started with a week in Mesa, and Grandma Anna's very Best Party EVER! I loved..

The Door Decorating..
My personal Favorite, Tricia popping out of the dryer to scare the kids that came to her door for

Trick or Treating...
the Screaming (those two screamed So loud, So many times, that the everyone in the room would just scream right back at them.)
Some wonderfully- Creative Cookie decorating...
And of course the Costumes and Run-way show!! It was just Fun!!
A bloody chief,

Pretty in pink princess,
A "Prrr"fect cat,

A valiant knight,
A pirate king,
and the first mate,
a courageous cowboy,
a poising princess
a confident cowboy,
a brillant in blue princess,
and the purple fairy!
We had visitors from Columbia (my sisters friend in town for the weekend-Dre), Germany (my brother's old company-Winkler.), and Mexico (yes that's me, but Mexico is a long way to come from, so I am counting it!), and of course my entire Knudsen family, including grand-kids... A pretty good turn out, I would say. And the most fun we could possibly have asked for! I loved it! It was a great way to kick off our visit home, and Halloween!

Maya's Blessing

Grandma Susan and Grandpa Tom came down to celebrate Maya's blessing in church today. They came only for five days so we had to make every moment count. As you can see, Maya is doing her part.

A couple of weeks ago, Maya got to know her Grandma and Aunt on the Knudsen side, and this weekend she enjoyed getting to know the Biggs side grandparents.

They brought presents for every day and the kids have enjoyed everyone of them. One of the days' present was a blow-up swimming pool that they actually brought from Aunts Rachel and Mary.

Grandma and Grandpa have been here before, so we didn't do a lot of sight seeing. However, we did go eat at a couple of taco places. But we had to get creative to figure out how to fit four adults, three toddlers, and a baby in a tiny Nissan Versa. (If any of you are law enforcement, we claim refuge in Mexico) The kids enjoyed seeing where we have been as they made faces at the cars behind us.

Here we are eating the best tacos al pastor that we have found. The kids have become pros at eating and enjoying hot Mexican food.

Here is Maya Susanna with 1/2 of her namesake. The other is Anna, Jenn's mother.

Maya's blessing day wearing a dress crocheted by Grandma Susan.

Here is a better look at the dress and the blanket, both made by Grandma Susan.

The kids sure are proud of their baby sister Maya. Thomas asks why Maya is so "Beautiful".

And here is the answer:

Just on a funny note. Thomas and Hyrum both like to play on Jenn's iPod, but they don't know the pass code. And every time you enter a wrong number, it locks for longer and longer. Now the iPod is disabled for the next 21+ million minutes (40+ years). I guess this will be a good present for Thomas' 44th birthday.

A Busy Few Weeks

Here is another post from Maya's Mother Land

Hopefully you will see all the activities that have gone on since the last post and will understand why it has been so long.

Here are a few pictures of our latest celebrity. Everywhere we go people love to stop us and look at our baby. Then they love her even more when they find out she is Mexicana.

Here are a few of Maya with her loving brothers

Hyrum is really starting to love his baby sister.

And here she is with a couple of her compatriots.

Kim Arcila

Daniella Arcila

Jenn has been superwoman. She hosted a lunch for all the other American wives ("The Wives Club") shortly after her c-section.

Here are Kirtlyn and Hyrum with a few of the new American kids in our Stake. (Yes, Hyrum has a headless Superman hanging by the cape in his mouth...he is in a comedic stage)

And a highlight of this time has been Grandma Anna and Aunt Trisha coming to visit from Mesa, AZ. The kids were so happy to see them.

Hyrum instantly looks older here.

Grandma Anna brought presents for everyone...shoes for the kids, clothes for Maya, and brown sugar for Jennifer and Thomas.

We went to Tarasco's to get Tacos al Pastor (You can see the meat cooking on the other side of the man in the blue shirt, notice the pineapple on top).

We also went to Tonola to get some typical Mexican shopping done. There, there is a good restaurant where you can get the best Mole (Thomas' plate), and the best Enchiladas (Jenn's plate)

Kirtlyn is the only one that we could get to sit next to the skeleton. But even she wanted to keep her distance.

HAVE A GOOD DAY!