Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is my daddy's birthday and I just wanted to tell everyone a little bit about him. I have the greatest memories of my dad, mostly on the soccer field. He was the most supportive dad and my number one fan. I don't remember one gane that I had where he was not there. He took me to all my soccer games growing up and he was definitely the loudest. It is funny how your perspectives change as you grow up. When I was younger, I thought my dad was goofy and embarrassed me all the time with his loud vocals at my games. Now it is one of my fondest memories of him. Even when I went to college, he still attended all the games that he could. I went to the University of South Florida in Tampa, but he would still make drives to almost every college in Florida. I even remember him driving over 4 hours to see me play in Miami. Although he didn't necessarily agree with my decision to transfer to BYU, he still managed to fly out for my birthday, which happened to be inbetween 2 of my soccer games. He flew to BYU both years that I played to see some of my games. One of the memories that has stick with me the most is when I finished playing soccer in high school. We had this grand banquet because we had won the state championship and at the end of the banquet, my dad presented me with a scrapbook that he himself had made. There were pictures of me playing soccer starting when I was 4 or 5 years old, and he had cut out every newspaper clipping that I had appeared on, pasted every patch (which was probably close to 30), and cut out every action shot of my career up until then. Later he added everything that he could get his hands on that had my name or picture on it from high school. He recently came to Utah for Abby's birthday and had the chance to watch me play in a alumni game. He was just as excited to watch me play in that game then in any other game I have played. Dad, I don't tell you often enough but I am so grateful to have had you be my father. You have been my biggest support and number one fan in everything that I do. I know I have always complained about not having a sister growing up but now that I am older, I'm kind if glad that I didn't. I am daddy's little girl and I would not have wanted to share you with another girl :) I love you so much! Have a wonderful day Daddy :)

(unfortunately, I didn't have any photos with me and my daddy on my computer so here are pics of him and his SECOND favorite person :) haha!)

The Best Husband and Father

Lately I've been thinking about all the blessings in my life and the one that I have thought about the most is Jesse. I could not have asked for a better companion and best friend than him. We have known each other for almost 6 years and I fall more and more in love with him as each day passes. The best part of my day is when I hear the back door open and I see Jesse peak around the corner and Abby runs to him and yells "Daddy!" He has the most beautiful smile when he sees her and I can't help but smile too. Jesse is the hardest worker I know and the best provider for our family. He gives us everything that we need and more. I am so grateful that I have the chance to be with him for time and all eternity and I am especially grateful for the way he honors his priesthood and the blessings my family receives from it.
Eu te amo Jesse. Você é meu grande amor e eu sou tão afortunado ser sua esposa.

Mom and Dad's Visit

I really have the best parents in the world. Every April and October, they make it to Utah for me and Abby's birthdays.
They got here on the 3rd at 8pm and we stayed up for a few hours talking and watching Abby booty dance. They then opened their suitcases and revealed all the wonderful treats that they brought for us from Florida. They only stayed 10 days but they packed like they were moving b/c they always bring us a TON of stuff whenever they come. This time, the bought us new dishes, they brought my favorite Portuguese food, and they brought what they thought was a waffle maker for Jesse, but when he opened it, he found a Christmas decoration. My mom forgot that she used that box for Christmas storage..HAHA! We laughed for a good 5 minutes then my mom felt really bad because she knew Jesse was excited for it. Jesse and I were still laughing about it when we went to bed :)
The next day, Abby's 2nd birthday, my mom and I went shopping for her birthday party. With her birthday falling on Conference weekend, we decided to have a party for her primary friends in between sessions (for my non LDS readers, Conference is every 6 months where we get to see/hear our church leaders give inspirational messages.) Abby was overjoyed to see all her friends at her house!
We had the family party on Sunday, again, in between sessions of Conference. She loved her birthday cake which was the Disney Princesses. Her favorite princess is Ariel and she flipped out when she saw her on it. Personally, I don't know what she sees in her. She is immediately smitten by Eric and shows no sense of independence or sass. My favorite is Jasmine, now that girl can stand up for herself!
I had to work Monday-Wednesday so my parents were happy to take Abby. Jesse had Monday and Tuesday off so he went shopping with them and took Abby to the park. On Wednesday night, my parents and Jesse met me in Centerville (where I work) to watch 2 indoor soccer games that I played in. Considering my parents haven't seen me play since my days at BYU, I was a little nervous. I had actually been training for about a month beforehand for this occasion and my alumni game.
Thursday we drove down to the St. George home with Bonnie and Jerry. We stopped in Filmore to have a late brunch. It was awesome because the 2 hour drive that we took from Salt Lake created a drastic change in temperature so we were all very happy. Jesse of course called for a golfing time the day before so within 30 minutes of us getting there, Jesse, Jerry, my dad, and I were on our way to the course. Bonnie, my mom, and Abby went on a walk and took Abby to the park where she apparently made some friends with kids who were twice her size going down a slide.
Friday was the highlight of my parents trip. We drove down to the St. George home with Bonnie and Jerry and went to Zion's National Park. My parents couldn't take enough pictures of it! My dad, bless his heart, still has a 35mm camera that takes the roll films and ran out half way through the trip, so, Jerry and I took the rest with out wonderful digital cameras and their 300+ photo capacities :) We hiked the Narrows, Weeping falls, and Emerald pond.
Saturday morning we went to a Easter egg hunt that the city was putting on for all the kids. My friend Jaime, who lives there, told me about it and Abby had a blast. Jaime brought her son Hudson with her and Abby was immediately smitten. Granted it was only the second time they have ever met, she wasn't shy to give him her signature tongue kiss :) It really was like a scene from a movie watching them run into the open field together holding hands. We left St. George right after that so that I could get back to Provo for my alumni game.
It was so great to see all my friends again and kick the ball around. We had so many alumni show up that we could play a full 11 v 11 game with just the alumni (the current team played 2 games earlier that day). My team won 2-0! I know it is strange, but I felt so great looking down at my shins and seeing them scratched up and bruised again. I felt a sense of accomplishment that I haven't felt since I stopped playing :) After the game, there was a dinner that we went to and they showed old film clips and photos where we reminisced of the glory days. Good times!
Easter Sunday, My parents went to church with us and they got to see Abby in her primary class playing and singing songs. For dinner, we took some yummy food that my Mom made over to Bonnie and Jerry's and met the family. We also did our traditional Easter basket hunt. Jesse, being the punk that he is, put his parents basket on the roof of the house. It was pretty entertaining however watching Jerry get a pole and fish it from the roof :)
My parents left on Monday morning and Abby was so sad to see them leave. When they left the car at the airport, she cried for a good 10 minutes screaming "Nina!!" and "Vovo!!" (both of those being Portuguese nicknames for grandma and grandpa).
Thank you Mom and Dad for coming to spend time with us! We love you and miss you already!

Twilight

My in-laws neighbor, Charlie, told me that one of the actors from "Twilight" was going to be at Walmart signing the DVD's that would go on sale at midnight. Of course I had to go considering my unhealthy obsession of everything that is Twilight. My friend Candice and I got there around 10:30pm and found Charlie in line. She had been there since 8pm and let us cut in front. Apparently, more people showed up to that location than any of the other locations in the nation! The woman who played "Victoria" was the actress that we were goign to meet. A lot of people were thinking that Edward was goigng to surprise everyone so I decided to play a mean joke and shout out "Oh my gosh!! It's EDWARD!!" as loud as I could. Some people laughed, most gave me the death stare...I thought it was funny :) When I finally got to meet Victoria, I was a little star struck. She was only supposed to sign for the first 200 people but she was so grateful to everyone that showed up that she signed for 1000! I thanked her for coming and asked her how her hand was. She replied "It's actually my cheeks that hurt the most. I've never smiled this much! I have everything int he world to smile about right now. Thank you so much for coming!" I couldn't believe how friendly she was to EVERY person that same up to her. Suffice to say, her picture is currently the background on my cell phone :)

Sick Nasty

My little brother Andrew (who isn't so little anymore) and his girlfriend Lauren, came to visit us and we had a blast with them. There were only 2 things Andrew wanted to do while he was here, go snowboarding for the first time, and go to eat at the Rodizio Grill. He likes to call it "the place that serves meat on a sword." Since I had to work on Tuesday, Andrew would drive Jesse to work so that he could have the car and not be stuck at home. He and Lauren went shopping and saw a movie. When I came home, Andrew was jamming out on guitar hero. I like to think the only reason he is better than I am is because of his long Edward Scissorhands fingers, but he is just better than me.
Wednesday afternoon, we got ready to do the night boarding at the Brighton resort. We got there around 4pm when it starts but it took us FOREVER to get all of our gear on, especially Andrew's boat-sized boots that made his toes hang over his already extra large board. After about 3 runs on the bunny hill (slope for beginners), we went up to the top and had some good runs. Lauren had gone boarding before so she was doing great. Andrew....not so much. He ended up falling a lot, but he has the Martins blood in him so he kept chugging along. He tried to do the hell-toe carving but wasn't too successful. On top of that, he wasn't very good at putting on the brakes when he found himself going to fast. See the video at the end of the post to see what I'm talking about. Jesse and I did a few runs together while Andrew and Lauren took a break. I took my first "jump" and got my board a whole 2 feet off the ground! How about them apples Shawn White! Our last run, I decided to go through some trees. I thought Jesse was behind me but he went through a different set of trees. I ended up flying through what I thought was good path and ended up knee deep in powder, pitch dark b/c I had stranded so far from the slopes, and scared out of my mind. I had to dig myself out, unlock from my board, and hike my way back. When I found my way back to the actual slope path. I locked back into my board and made my way to the bottom. The anger I had at Jesse for leaving me soon went away when I found out that he went hiking back up the mountain scared that something happened to me.
Thursday was Jesse's birthday and he wanted to stay home. We played an intense game of monopoly. I really don't know how I lost considering I had the most property in the beginning. It might have something to so with the fact that I didn't land on any purchasable land after I had 4 properties!
On Friday, Andrew and Lauren wanted to go boarding again so they went by themselves. I warned Andrew to go slow and be careful. About 2 hours after they left, I get a call from my dad saying that Andrew was injured and at the urgent care facility. He had a 3rd degree tear of his AC joint in his shoulder and his arm was in a sling. The xray was pretty bad. You could see and feel his bone sticking up!
Saturday's events were limited b/c of Andrew's shoulder so we just went to Rodizio to eat and stayed home. Jesse wanted a rematch in monopoly after losing to Lauren the first time. After having more money than the bank, Jesse ended up winning. I came in second place this time so I redeemed myself!
We spent Sunday morning helping them get ready to leave and driving them to the airport. We had a blast with them and hope they come back soon!

Ants Marching

One of my best friends from high school came to see me this past week. She came with her family to go skiing in Park City and even though I only got to spend 2 hours with her before I had to take her to the airport, it was well worth it. We haven't seen each other in over a year so it was a fun reunion. We mostly end up laughing at each other the entire time, and reminisce about the good ole days (since we are so old now ;) ) Great to see you again Lyndi!!

Our Day of Love

This Valentine's Day, we decided to stay home and just spend time with each other, and it ended up being the best Valentine's Day I have ever had. Jesse worked until 6pm, but as soon as he got home, he started on the delicious dinner that we had. He made us fillet mignon with salad and a baked potato. He also had a fancy shrimp cocktail set up as a appetizer :) YUM! Abby had some homemade mac and cheese with some chicken. We had a lovely candlelight dinner and Abby was on her best behavior (probably because she constantly had food in front of her!) I was in charge of dessert and I made some strawberry roses and a strawberry shortcake and ice cream dessert. The picture really doesn't look all that apetizing but it was really good.

After pigging out, we played with Abby and enjoyed each other's company. Abby did this weird but funny head shaking thing that we laughed about for a few mintues. Her hair was down so she would shake her head vigorously so that her hair would whip her in the face. I guess that feels good? We also watched a few episodes of "Friday Night Lights", a show Jesse and I have come to enjoy quite a bit, so we bought the season on DVD :) I wouldn't have traded this day for anything.


Abby loves Nemo and has learned the song that Mr. Ray sings when you first see him. In case you can't hear her, she tries to say "Let's name the zones, the zones, the zones, let's name the zones of the open sea! Mr. Ray!!"