The Bonilla Family Photo Album

Welcome , welcome! Wow... where have you been for so long? We've just been here... you know, blogging frequently and waiting for you to come visit! It is SO good to see you! Gee, Lui and I thought you'd never come! Please, sit down and make yourself comfortable... can I make you tea? hot chocolate? Would you like to look through our recent family photo album?

Okay, seriously... it's been awhile. I could bore with you with the details, like, I got a promotion at work and have been earning my pay by spending a lot more time there. Or, I could tell you about all the loads of laundry I've been doing and better yet, all the clothes I've hung up that still are waiting in the Ironing Line. I could write about the oil change that the Jeep desparately needed and the time I spent at Big-O reading trashy People Magazine. Or, all the time I've been spending following Michael Jackson's fantastical life on network television, except that it hasn't really taken all that much time afterall, no offense to the Jackson fans in the audience Well, how about the time I've been using for scratching Lui's back at night? Or, the time I've invested in digging my autumn shoes out from under the bed? I guess all added up, it still doesn't equal enough reasons for not updating things here. Guess I'll stop with the excuses and start with the updates... (though I really did get a promotion at work and I really have been scratching Lui's back a lot). I've included some fun pictures to share what we've been up to...

August found us extremely busy with Lui's Kitchen. We had a great time at Harvest Days in Midvale and enjoyed participating with the Provo Farmer's Market a few times before the season ended. It was magical for me to watch Lui totally at home with meeting new people and sharing his salsa with the crowds. He's a natural when it comes to marketing and selling and people really took to him and his salsa. I must admit, I also had a great time wandering the markets and trying a lot of great new foods.

We haven't done much with Lui's Kitchen now that the change of seasons is upon us... it's more difficult to get product out to people without the venue of markets, but we look forward to next summer and participating in more events. We've also looked into the possibility of distributing through local grocery stores, but we'll see. Neither of us are sure we have the time to add something so time-intensive to our schedules... what, with all the ironing I'm doing and all... :)

September was a blur. I turned 34! Luis threw me a suprise party with many of our family and friends and of course, a traditional tamale dinner. The real treat was his mother being in town for the month and the food she prepared for the party (I know, selfish me...). We enjoyed taking her on a date and spending time with her in our home. She is a lovely lady and a beautiful example to me. She also has the most irresistable and contagious laugh, it's wonderful to hear her so happy when she is surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, Lui's dad wasn't able to come for this visit and we missed his presence and fun sense of humor. We hope to see them this Christmas. Lui also started a part-time job with a credit union and full-time freelance work on a computer program
that will be used to teach mathematics on the Navajo reservations.

As is tradition in my birthday month, we also attended the Utah State Fair. This year was kind of different as Jessie (my oldest sister) wasn't able to be here, but Lui stepped up and took me on the Giant Yellow Slide. We also spent some time in the 4-H hog judging contest. Tell you what, it was stinky but infinitely interesting. A nice enough gentleman with a large hat and larger belt buckle explained the hog judging guidelines to us. It was something else! We also waited in the long line for Cajun Fried 'Gator, but upon seeing the micro-sized gator serving and macro-sized price tag, we opted for a gyro instead. Thanks, Lui, for taking me to the fair! Oh, and for carrying my frozen lemonade when my fingers got too cold.

October has found us spending far more time indoors for various reasons. The 8th season of Biggest Loser started (Lui calls it The Fat Loser, not because he is mean but because he can never remember what the show is called) and of course, The Office has started up again. We've also become a little enchanted with The Community and a new form of artistic expression! As many of you know, my husband is ridiculously talented in every way. He's recently set his sites on pumpkin carving and stayed up the other night until 2:00 a.m. working on these:

I must admit, our pumpkins don't quite look like this anymore. They look a little more like Great-great-grandpa without his teeth in and the wrinkled shell to match, but they were great while they lasted. Our ward is having a Halloween party next week, so I think Lui will be hitting the carving table again to prepare our car for the trunk-or-treat.

Over Columbus Day we took a little trip to Sun Valley, Idaho to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday with our family. My dad, my uncle from Colorado, my aunt and her family, my grandpa and sister Adrienne and her family enjoyed a beautiful weekend at Pennay's River Run condos in Ketchum. This is such a gorgeous area at the base of the Sawtooth Mountains, especially in the fall. We love you, Dad! We had a wonderful time being together and cuddling up on the couches around the fireplace at night, talking and laughing and sharing stories. We attended the Sun Valley ward on Sunday and really enjoyed their testimony meeting. It's always a treat to attend church somewhere else on the map...

And now, for one more picture from the Bonilla Family Album. By far this is the most exciting picture we've had taken this fall and the Number 1 Reason Ali has been staying in for the month of October:

Yup, coming from its most nauseated momma and proudest pappa, this is our littlest, sweetest babe. We don't know if we're having a Bonilla-ita or Bonilla-ito at this point, but we've nicknamed it our 'Pinolillo', pronounced Pee-no-lee-yo, which means 'little corn candy'. So far, everything looks great and we anticipate Pinolillo's arrival next May.

I know... right?!!?! Isn't he the cutest little kitty? The sweetest little gummy bear? The tiniest babe with the tiniest legs and arms? Oh, how we love our Pinolillo.

Well, thanks for (finally!) (just kidding) stopping in to visit us and for taking some time to browse our family photo album. I hope to pull myself off the couch a little more frequently in the next trimester to update our blog more often.

In the meantime, honey, do we have more Captain Crunch? And where are those pickles?!!