Halloween - Bah! Humbug!

So I am not a fan of Halloween. I have never liked spooky things, and my family never celebrated it growing up. This year for our family, Rabu and I have decided to not celebrate Halloween. I know a lot of good christian families that do dress up and trick-or-treat and I am absolutely OK with that, it is their decision. I do not feel like this is a deal breaker and if someone celebrates the innocent things of Halloween that they are going strait to "Hades". But for the Leyvas we have chosen to not to celebrate. I just figured, if the people of the Jewish faith can say with such confidence because of how they believe that they do not celebrate Christmas, then based on what I believe can simply say I do not celebrate Halloween. So on that note, I am trying to be balanced today. Unfortunately I am getting some pretty awkward responses when people ask me what Lexi is going to be for Halloween. To some I respond, "we do not celebrate Halloween" and then they get all uncomfortable like I am going to go all "charismatic" on them or judge them for what they have decided for their family. To others when they ask what Lexi is going to be for Halloween, I simply say she will be herself... CUTE!

What a challenge to be who I feel like God is calling our family to be and still be a light. I know that the things of God do make people uncomfortable, but I don't want to be labeled as a crazy christian that people write off and no longer listen to. So, as I take a stand for what I believe is right for our family, I am doing my best to make my love walk apparent to those around me. If only people could see my heart, they would know that I am not passing judgement on them. The only person God has asked me to judge is myself.

We will be attending our church's fall festival tonight complete with pony rides and s'mores. I love fall and how the seasons change. So today instead of focusing on the scary things like witches and vampires, we are focusing on the fact that God is faithful through all the season's changes. He is faithful through every season of life, and we are thankful for that. So no better time to celebrate God's goodness than today!

A New Christmas Tradition

OK, I know it is not even Halloween yet and I am already thinking about Christmas!! I can't help it! I LOVE Christmas! So I was out shopping last night with Lexi Bear and we were looking at some ornaments and I had an idea. I am going to pick out an ornament each year that is reminiscent of the year past and then I will write in a little book why I picked the ornament. When she gets old enough then we will go and pick out an ornament together and fill out her book together. So every year as we decorate the tree we will go through the ornaments and the book of memories.

So for this year I am on the search for a Backyardigans ornament. Lexi loves the Backyardigans, it is so cute to watch her dance when they are singing the intro to the show. She has a plush Tasha toy and even one of her words that she says right now is "Tasha". So I thought it appropriate that Backyardigans be her ornament for 2008.

The only tricky thing is that I am having a hard time finding a very cute one. So if any of you see one while you are out shopping let me know!

So here is to the holiday season and to making memories!

Baby Leyva Update

For all of those who I have not talked to lately about Baby Leyva here is a quick update of the pregnancy so far. They have moved my due date to March 30, 2009. I have had a very similar pregnancy as with Lexi. I have not been sick at all, and I feel great! I finally got my energy back, that first trimester is exhausting. As a sweet friend of mine says..."I am so tired, I am growing an arm today". It takes a lot of energy. I am now 18 weeks and it seems to be flying by!

We will find out what the baby's gender is on November 4th, yes election day! So all kinds of exciting results all in one day! I thought we would be more opinionated on what we wanted the gender to be, but surprisingly we really have no preference. A girl would be fun because then they would be so close in age and hopefully be good friends. Rabu said that if it was a girl, his basketball team would be unstoppable. Ha ha. If it is a boy then we will have one of each and a boy would be a lot of fun too. So I guess we will just wait and see.

As far as names... we are waiting to rule out half of them when we find out the gender so that we can begin to narrow it down. I am hoping to have a name or two a lot sooner than when we did with Lexi. So now the question remains...will we tell you the name... probably not. We will probably want to wait and see the kiddo and make sure that it is fitting for its beautiful little face before we name it. :)

Check back for the results on November 4th.

30 years

Wow what a fun weekend of celebrating! I turned 30 this past Sunday, and I will have to tell you, I think turning 30 is fun! I had 4 days of celebration! It all started Friday with many of my sweet friends surprising me at a restaraunt with a party. It was so much fun, here are a few pics.

Then Saturday Rabu, Lexi and I went to dinner to celebrate. As a birthday gift to me I am sure, the Texas Longhorns remained undefeated on Saturday even though my boy Colt McCoy thought about giving the game away!

On Sunday we went to Tahlequah to celebrate with my family. It was a lot of fun, we ate (what Garcias do best), painted pumpkins, and watched football!

Then when I returned to work on Tuesday my cube was decorated with all kinds of "happy birthday" garb and we had a princess tea party complete with tiara and wands. The theme was from 30 to 3. Very sweet of the girls in the office to do!

So here I am feeling very celebrated and thankful for my family, friends, and living the life that I have so far. The amazing part is that I have years and years to come!

Thank you to all who made me feel so celebrated! Love you all!

because all the cool people are doing it

I have recently been following a few sweet friend's blogs and I truely enjoy looking at them and have been so blessed by thier lives. They have inspired me to start this blog. I am sure as time passes we will see where this goes, and as moods change so will the purpose of this blog. Some days it will be a reporting tool to let you know what is going on in our Leyva Life. Other days it very well could be a "soap box". And still other days it could be a landing pad for all the random thoughts of the day. Regardless I hope that it is encouraging to you.