Bolivia Pt. 2-The main family

The day we got to Bolivia was the same day of Albert's Class reunion. Bolivia does those a little differently....All graduating classes have their get together the same time at the same place. So Albert went with his little sister Susana.

This is Albert's dad holding sammy.

This is Albert with his grandma and mom with Sammy
This is Albert's youngest brother with the boys. Susana was a little nervouse because this was the first time Fernando had ever held a baby.

We're back from Bolivia

Well, we're back! We had such a great time. We took so many pictures and there is so much to tell that for the next couple of weeks all I'm going to blog about is our trip.
The flight down there went smoothly. Benji and Sammy were so well behaved that I recieved compliments from nearby passangers. From Miami to Santa cruz, we flew at night so both the boys slept the whole way. We were greeted at the airport by my sister-in-law, Susana. The whole trip was a surprise for Albert's Family. No one knew we were comming except for her. She is a Doctor and wanted to make sure she didnt schedule any patients, so we let her know. But our surprise was that she told my father-in-law and he was hiding behind some cars and actually surprised us. Albert tried to explain to Benji that he was Daddy's papa, but the name "papa" stuck with Benji most, So that's what he called his Grandpa.
To be continued.........
P.S. Saw New Moon last night...loved it...Cant' wait till June 2010!

Halloween Week

We had a family activity of carving pumpkins on Wednesday. Benji lasted about 5 minutes with the pumpkin and Albert 7. I am dumbfounded that I have boys in my family who don't like to get dirty! The one pumpkin is supposed to be a kid in his bed scared of an eye looking through the window...but it didn't quite turn out.
we also went to a trunk or treat on Thursday. On Saturday we plan on crashing Pleasant Ridge ward's Trunk or treat also.
In other news Sammy rolled over today. I got my video camera and tried to film him doing it again but by that time he had no interest in performing again.

Sammy eats baby food and other tid bits of the week

This week Sammy had his first try at eating baby food. It was bananas. He doesn't open his mouth as wide and anxious as Benji did, but he still liked it.
We are also really excited to be going to Bolivia soon. we leave on Nov. 6 and will be back on the 21st. Had I known when I bought the tickets that New Moon would be out on the 20th I would have made the reservations for a week earlier. And right now I am fighting terribly hard to control my desire to see it on the 22nd, which is a Sunday.
I also received a letter this week from one of my baptisms from El Salvador. He has been on his mission for 8 months now and is a District Leader and Trainer. When I got the letter and read it I couldn't help but to cry.

My B-day and We have a baby Girl!!!!

Thursday was my birthday and Benji and Albert surprised me with Breakfast in bed and Roses. Even though it was at 7 am I still loved it. Then I packed up the boys and met my mom at the zoo where she gave me my birthday present of a zoo membership for the whole year for our family. We all love the zoo so much it was a great present. To top off my b-day Albert took me to Salsaritas to eat.
The Angola family would now like to welcome our newest member of the family......Samba, our 6 week old German Shephard baby girl. Benji went through varios names like Gabby Angola, girl, and finally got to Samba.....which is also his favorite kind of dance.

Life goes on

I know I have been far to delinquent in my blog. but I think a good blog includes pictures and I just bought a connecter for my memory card to the computer so now you all will get to see pictures again.

It's been far too long

So I was listening to the radio on the way to the gym this morning. Star 102.1 with Mark, Kim and Frank in the morning. They were talking to Tersa Smith who does the news at 9. She was talking about how her blog domain expired and was turned off for not having written on it so long and it got me thinking about my poor neglegted blog.
I have been struggling with a lot of changes going on....1.trying to adapt to being a stay at home mom. 2.My callings as a 1st counselor in Relief Society and Activities Director for the branch. 3. Trying to be a better daughter of Heavenly Father.
ADAPTING TO BEING A STAY AT HOME MOM-I'm not. I kind of knew I was never the type to stay home all day and have a clean house with the nutritios meals a day. I had to be stuck in the house all week 2 weeks ago due to my radiator giving out on me. I went crazy. Became impatient and took out all my anger on Albert when he got home from work. I knew I was being irrational. So now that I have my car back I am so much better. I am in the gym by 9:30 am every morning, which makes my day go so much better. Not to mention I am now 20 lbs below my prepreggo weight. I still count myself being a stay at home mom because the boys are just in the gym daycare for 2 hours. That still counts right? And.....since I am so much happier leaving the gym my family gets 2 some what nutritional meals a day. Sorry breakfast you will just have to stay with oatmeal packets.
MY CALLINGS- actually they aren't so bad. Gabby Craft is the prez and she is way on top of things. Besides we only have 12 Sisters on our list. Being the activities director is easy too. Everyone in our Branch are such good friends that they are all over at our house on the weekends playing volleyball anyway. I just need to start having an opening and closing prayer. However Pres. Cruze asked me to organize a temple to trip to Nashville to do Baptisms....They are complete booked to the end of the year.
TRYING TO BE A BETTER DAUGHTER OF HEAVENLY FATHER- We had a stake women's conference last week that was such a booster spiritually. I knew that I needed to improve my prayers and scripture study. The conference was a huge shove to do that. We watched Reflections of Christ. I highly recommend it.

Our trip to the Smokies

We went to the smokies today. We had plans to hike to Abrams Falls but got there around 4 pm so we decided just to walk around the cades cove visitors center instead. We saw a bear (pic didn't turn out too dark)a deer and a little birds nest with chicks in it. Benji loved it. Sammy must have thought it was bland. He slept the entire time. On the way back, while we were still in the park. Albert got pulled over for going 57 in a 35 zone. Some how he has the best luck ever, he got off with a warning. That is the 3rd time he has been pulled over for speeding and still no ticket. Not that I am complaining. I didn't want to have to pay a ticket.

Benji's 3rd Birthday

I can't believe Benji is 3. He is such a great kid. Last year we started a tradition of having lunch with Albert at Mr. Ghatti's Pizza Buffet for Benji's B-day. He loves to play the games. Tomorrow is his little party, Everyone is invited. Just call to get directions to the house!

Sammy Update

Most of you might have heard through the grapevine that we had to take Sammy to the emergency room on Monday. He was admitted with a diagnosis of Bacterial Menengitis, which is worse than viral menegitis. I have never been so scared in all my life. I always knew that losing a child was my greatest fear. I was faced with that fear. The Doctor did tell us however that we came in early enough to have a little breathing room. It broke my heart as I had to turn my head into Albert's shoulder as they were doing a spinal tap on my 5 day old baby. It was even worse as I heard him scream from the nurses trying to get an IV into his tiny veins. They tried twice in each hand and twice in each ankle before the nurse finaly got one in his wrist.
We were told on Monday to expect to stay in the hospital from 10-14 days. But here I am on day 4 in my home with my baby again. PREISTHOOD BLESSINGS ARE REAL, PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED. Albert gave Sammy one of the most beautiful and most comforting blessings I have ever heard of in my life.
Yesterday morning when the doctor came in he told us that the bacteria in the culture they took from Sammy's spine had disappeared and looked like it was more viral. This morning he told me that the bacteria had completely disappeared and was replaced by a viras. Which is not really a big deal. The doctor said he had never seen anything like that happen before. Again I say..........PRAYERS ARE ANSWERE!
I finally got my camera and computer working together again so here are some pics of our new addition. Including a pic of Sammy in Children's hospital with all his IVs and tubes. (so sad)

Samuel Ricardo Angola

He is here. He weighed 8lbs 3 oz. 20 1/2 inches long. and yes.......lots and lots of thick black hair. We are both ok. and at home. pictures to soon come

Stay at home Mom

I have been a stay at home mother for a total of 2 days now, and I am already a little frustrated. Day 1 was perfect. Benji and I read books, played outside, I got some cleaning done, and even had dinner ready for Albert. Day 2 was going pretty good. We woke up, had breakfast then went to the pool Benji's swim lessons. After that I had to run to the post office do deliver a package to Albert's Brother. That is where my troubles began. Benji was running everywhere, threw a fit, and even ran out the door into the parking lot. I knew Benji was a very active kid, but I've never seen him act out like that before.
So here is my question to all the mothers out there.......How do you run errands while controlling your children's behavior?
I believe in spanking, as long as it is controlled and with love, however, I do not spank in public. Am I right in doing this? I highly doubt that even if I did give Benji a good spanking he would have acted much better. So I want to know what other moms do to discipline effectively.
Needless to say I am a little down trodden. The general thought running through my head is, if I cant even control one kid, how am I going to handle 2 next week, and 3 in August when we get Gabby? Any advice will help!

Albert and Katina

A montage of us. Plus some sites of Bolivia and El Salvador.....Sorry Stephanie, it was the only pic I had with both Albert and I in the mission.

My Mother's day present!

I got my mother's day present today. It was a complete surprise! Last night Albert told me we needed to go somewhere at 10:30am. I asked him where and he said it was a surprise. So we leave and he drives to West Knoxville. We pull up to Polish. It is a nail salon. Talk about shocker. When we walked in the Asian owner automatically knew who I was and directed me to one of the massage chairs for my Pedicure. Granted due to being Pregnant they couldn't turn the chair on, but it was like heaven on earth; the warm water my feet were in and the excellent massage on them. I Chose a light pink polish.
The last time I got a pedicure was about 6 years ago and I was used to Red, look at me, polish. I guess my personality changed.
After my pedicure I was even more surprised to be directed to another chair to get my manicure. I don't have great nails, but this girl worked wonders on them. In the car on the way home I told Albert how grateful I was for my present. He said "thank-Benji" I said thank-you to Benji, and without missing a beat and acting like he thought it up and made the appointment and paid for it, said, "your welcome, Mommy"
It was the best present I received.

Our new home

Well, at least the outside of it. The inside is still pretty cluttered with boxes

Why God made Moms (long but well worth it)

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:
Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers? 1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?
1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Benji's final update

After a really tough Wednesday night recovering from surgery, Benji was finally released from the hospital at 6 pm on Thursday. All day Thursday, you could have never told that Benji was even sick. He was back to his normal rambunctious self. The hardest part on Thursday for him was giving out all those kisses to the nurses who took care of him and subsequently fell in love with his good looks and charm.

Update on Benji

This morning Benji was wheeled from the hospital to the ENT Doctor's office. They did a hearing sreaning. Benji passed the high and mid pitched sounds but failed low pitch. So the doctor sugggested tubes. This afternoon Benji was given versed (a preanesthetic "happy juice"--video of his bizarre behavior to come later.) The Doctor put tubes in his ears and took out his adnoid. He is really fussy but did just fine. Hopefully we can go home tomorrow......Just in time for me to pack our entire house and move on Saturday. (ok, so I'm a little stressed)

Benji is in the hospital

Last night Benji was admitted into Children's Hospital. He has had a bad ear infection for the past 2 weeks now. None of the antibiotics have been working. So they admitted him last night. We talked to an ENT specialist this morning and it looks like we will be in the hospital for a few more days. After that Benji will have to have surgery to put tubes in his ears and probably a couple more days in the hospital. I will update on how he is doing tomorrow. Thanks all for your prayers.

Divert your course

Benji and Sammy's first fight

It happened last night. I was laying in bed with Benji next to me watching TV. Somewhere between Blues Clues and Wow Wow Wubzy, Benji fell asleep with his head resting on my belly. I noticed that Sammy started getting a little more active and all of a sudden he kicked super hard right were Benji's head was. Benji, being sort of out of it from sleep, lifted his head and smacked my belly where Sammy was kicking and said "Stop Sammy." Albert and I both started laughing. So I was thinking, maybe I should go ahead and buy the boxing gloves.

Sit ups.....Benji style

Katina and Albert needs

One of Alice Gold's posts was so fun, I had to try it my self. What you do is go to google and type in your name and then needs. Example: Katina needs
See what comes up. Mine said-Katina needs surgery. Katina needs help. and one more that was a little inappropriate.
I did the same for Albert his was much more fun. Albert needs love. Albert needs to lose weight. Albert needs hugs. Give it a try.

Husbands say the darndest things too

MY friend Lindsay Rose wrote a blog about her children saying the darnedest things. It was really funny. She invite all her read to write their own. Well, Benji really hasn't conquered the whole English / Spanish ordeal yet so he hasn't had much opportunity.
However, My husband, who is also trying to conquer the whole English/Spanish ordeal has plenty of opportunities to say the darnedest thing.
2 nights ago we were visiting with my dad at my Uncle's house because my dad is taking care of my uncle and he was bored one night. While we were there one of my unlce's friends from his church passed by to see how he was doing. My dad was telling him how Albert and I met on our mission. Then Albert blurts out "She made love to me in El Salvador" My dad's jaw dropped. This man was stunned and I just looked down and started laughing. I corrected him at that point, " Albert I think you wanted to say I fell in love with you in El Salvador" At that point both my dad and this man started laughing and Albert asked what he said. When I told him he started laughing too.

Potty Training (at least I'm trying)

I thought that with the new baby coming I had better potty train Benji. I went to walmart and bought him a soccer potty chair that you can just put on top of the toilet. This is what Benji thought of the idea. He thought it would work much better as a picture frame or hat.

SAMUEL RICARDO ANGOLA

We decided. His name will be Samuel b/c we decided to stick with a Book of Mormon theme....King Benjamin, Samuel the Lamanite......Joke! That was just a coincidence. We both liked Samuel, and it will be easy for Benji to say. Ricardo, because both our dads names is Ricardo (mine in the English form of Richard)

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

We had the ultrasound today and we are having another baby boy! We are so excited because we have just about everything we need for a boy. Benji knew all along what it was going to be. Every time we asked him he would say, "it's a boy like daddy" and if we asked him if he wanted a girl he would firmly say "No, girl" or no sister.
So now we are stumped for names. We were thinking about Brandon, but aren't sure. So leave me some suggestions.

The Silence

This is what I get for sitting on the computer reading blogs. Benji's normal routine in the morning is to wake up, sit on the couch to eat oatmeal and watch cartoons. While he does that I get on the computer. As I was reading I noticed it was rather quite, I looked to where Benji normally is and this is what I found.........empty. So I went to look for him.


This is what I saw next.......Where it shouldn't have been.

I looked in the kitchen and found him......in the strawberry milk mix.......

Creating Art work.........

Moral of the story, silence is never a good thing when you have a toddler.

GO KNOXVILLE ICE BEARS!!!!!

Tonight the Angolas went to a hockey game. We went to see the Knoxville Ice Bears take on The Huntsville Havocs. It was a great game. The Ice Bears won 4-1. Benji really like it and was screaming when everyone else screamed. Even when the crowd was screaming more adult words. The first time he said it, we explained to him that he shouldn't say those words so instead of screaming "hey, goalie, you suck!!!" He was screaming "hey Goalie, You're bad!!" Granted its not as strong but comming from a 2 year old it was pretty cute.

Our 2 favorite parts of the game was when the referee knocked over a player and of course the fight.

A day in Atlanta

Last week Albert and I decided to go down to the Atlanta Temple on Saturday. We asked my parents if they would take care of Benji for us. They agreed happily. Saturday morning as we were leaving. We realized that this was the first time we were going on a road trip with out Benji. We were kinda sad and almost turned around to bring him with us. Fortunately sanity set in and we kept going. We stopped at Waffle house and had breakfast then were back on the road again. Albert drove the whole way and we didn't even make it out of Knoxville before I fell asleep. Albert wakes me up and tells me we are in Atlanta and needs help with the directions. I looked at the clock, 8:05am. He made it down to Atlanta in 2 1/2 hours. Good Grief, how fast was my husband going? Anyway, we pulled up to the Temple.......Gates closed. WHAT????? I had checked the website last night to make sure. So we call the temple and sure enough it was closed for cleaning. We were so bummed. We then went to the book store where we meet a bus full of members who drove 1 1/2 hours to go to the temple only to realize that it was closed. Albert decided to make the most of our trip any way. We decided to take the subway to downtown. When we got to the station, we realized we had to buy tickets from this automatic machine. Figuring it out was exciting.



We finally did!!! Then we realized we had no idea where we were or where we needed to get off at to get to Downtown, So I finally called............

No one answered. We walked down to the platform and finally found out where we were. So the next train that came we got on. It was really fun because neither me or Albert has ever been on one. People got on, people got off. We realized that we might have gone to far so we got of at the next stop. WOW!! Talk about scary. Out of maybe 500 people, I was the only white one. Normally I am used to that considering I grew up in a shady side of town myself, however the people there didn't looked to pleased to see me and I was being stared down by everyone. We got back on the train going back in the direction we came from and finally found the right stop. We walked around a little bit and were getting really Hungary so we decided to go back. We had already decided......better said is....I already decided that we were going to have lunch at the Cheesecake factory. Pure Heaven right there in my mouth. The food was great, especially the cheesecake. Then we headed for home, and again I was asleep before we even made it out of Atlanta. How was Benji being without us the whole day????? The little runt didn't even miss us. He had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa that he was mad when we came to get him.

New Year's day Activities

Benji's Funky Due after the movie
Albert and I at the park

Grace the beautiful (I'm kinda jealous)

We had a lot of fun on the first day of 2009. The first hours of New Years we spent with the Craft family. Benji says that Grace is bella (beautiful).

My sister's friend, later in the day to become boyfriend, came over so the Angolas plus Rosie and Brian went to the park. After the park we went to see the movie Madagascar 2. It was cute. Benji, fell asleep half way through it and as a result we got the most laughs from his hair as we were leaving.