Family visits Phoenix for Christmas

Scott, Sema, and Shiho came out the day after Christmas to spend some time with us. We opened more presents together and played the Wii Fit alot. We also had a few tennis, bowling, and boxing matches. Rylan kicked butt on bowling with the highest score and had KO's against everyone in boxing!
We took them out to our usual spot, Sol Y Sombra and Armitage in Scottsdale. Shiho had never been and its beautiful to see all the lights from up there. We really didn't feel like clubbing so this was a better option.

Merry Christmas!!

Tanner woke up around 7am blasted through our doors and whispered in my ear with a big grin, "Mama, mama, wake up Santa came last night!" Now first of all Tanner found out that Santa wasn't real and we confirmed it. But he has a part of him that still believes a little bit I guess. This year all the presents that came from Santa were unwrapped by the tree. He said that he figured it out last year cause they were wrapped in the same paper as the others and the handwriting looked like ours. OOPS! There were no tears or mental breakdowns when he found out, didn't seem to bother him.
When Tanner came in we told him it was early and Rylan wasn't even up yet and we would get up when he did. Tanner raced back into his bedroom to wake up Rylan and we heard, "Rylan, come on...look Santa came, look at all your presents, hurry!" After Rylan was dragged out of bed, he ran into the living room to see what was out there. "Wow, Tanner this is awesome, so cool. Wow look at this, yeah, Santa came, Santa came!" Now they both run in our room as Chad and I have been listening to all the excitement laughing at their remarks. It was classic.
We logged onto Skype with Chad's brother and began to open our presents together.
It took us quite a bit longer. We open one at a time and if its a toy for the boys we take it out of the box and put it together for them before we move on. Unless its a big Mega blocks knight castle that took Chad 2 hours to assemble for Tanner.
Tanner got a zillion books, clothes, psp game, Wii games, puzzles, and fun toys. Rylan got pretty much the same except Santa brought him a Nintendo DS. What Santa didn't know is that this was going to be pretty hard for a 4 yr old to play if he can't read yet. Maybe in a year or so, he can play it with no help. He and Tanner will share their little hand held games. The PsP is much easier to play for Rylan.
Throughout the day we just relaxed in our comfy clothes and listened to Christmas music, helped the boys with all their games and toys, put together puzzles, read some books, talked to family on skype, and watched a little basketball. It was so nice and peaceful. We didn't have anyone over and did not go anywhere. It was too cold and rainy anyway. Chad got me a pink Cardinals jersey and tickets to the first playoff game next weekend. The whole family will be making a trip to the University of Phoenix Stadium in their new Cardinals gear to cheer them on. It would be so awesome if they pulled a win off.
I won an authentic signed John Elway framed picture from a Toys for Tots auction. Donated to children and scored with my husband. He said receiving this gift was almost as good as sex...hummm. HaHa! Yes, he loved it!
We spent the evening playing the Wii fit. Chad rarely works out, his BMI was high, he was overweight, and had really good balance. His Wii fit age was 24. Whatever. I work out all the time, have horrible balance, was in perfect weight/BMI shape, and my Wii fit age is 42. Chad laughed his butt off. Tanner had a wii fit age of 28 and Rylans was 29. We had to help Ry with some of the balance stuff, but he did a pretty good job. We all trained for a while to get used to some of the games.

Tanner played his PSP John Madden football 2009 game for most of the afternoon while wearing his Steve Nash jersey that he absolutely loved! Rylan was totally involved with his Space shuttle blasting it off into space and fighting the aliens.

Merry Christmas Eve

Finally...Santa is coming to our house tonight. We looked on line to track him and see where he was. The boys are overjoyed & bouncing off the wall with excitement. They could barely contain themselves when we took off our last ring. The last four years we started a new Tomasso tradition of making rings or "links" so the boys would know how many days it would be till Christmas. We have a little picture we drew of a Christmas tree that Tanner decorated when he was 4 yrs old. This year Rylan signed his name and 2008 at the bottom. The children are off to bed and the cookies have been laid out for the jolly Saint Nick.
This is the first year since moving here that we have not had family in town or gone anywhere. A Christmas all by ourselves. Could be nice. Possibly a little sad. Well thank goodness we have skype video conferencing. We already opened a couple presents with my parents the other day and saw family that was over tonight for dinner. Its always so nice to see everyone. But it makes me sad that we can't be there for the festivities.
The boys have been out of school all week. Chad now works from home which is nice. He did take the whole week off except for today. They boys have been spending some quality time with their dad going around town shopping, out to lunch, visiting the Arizona Science Center and logging in plenty of video game time. I have been working these last few days which were my days off so I could take off after Christmas when Scott and Sema will be here. We went to the Christmas Eve service with a co-worker and here husband tonight and it was awesome! Lots of great music and reminder of what this time of the year is really about. Since we didn't have anyone coming to our house this year, I wasn't planning on doing a big dinner. So after the service we went out for...yep...Chinese food. We sang Jingle Bells just like in the Christmas Story movie. It was funny.

Early Christmas with Family

Since Chad's brother and wife were going back home for Christmas, they had us over for dinner and gift exchange today. As always Jill makes fabulous meals!
The boys just adore their little cousin Ethan. Tanner makes him laugh so hard and loves playing with him. I can't wait till little E gets bigger and they can really play together.
Tanner got a Star Wars Space ship and Rylan a Imaginex toy boat. As a joke they also gave us Billy Bob jacked up teeth. That was a big hit for the rest of the night.

Rylan's last soccer game

Its been a rough couple of months. The Rattlesnakes only scored one goal the entire season. Not one a game...one for the entire season. (did I already say that?) Now, they did score on themselves a couple of times, does that count. ahhh nope! Ry was doing pretty good there in the middle of the season, playing the best he could with the older kids. Then I think as the weather got cooler he was not into all that. He would pull himself out of the game again and take breaks. Today he didn't want to play at all. Of course we told him Santa was watching and if he played well and was nice there was a possibility that he would bring some presents. Worked like a charm! They gave out medals today. Rylan was sooo proud. And we were too.

Training for my first NPC Figure Show!

I have decided to do my a figure show. For real! I have been pretty wishy washy bout actually going through with it. With support from my hubby and a great trainer at the gym, I think I can pull it off.

I am not going to like the diet part. That is why it has been a challenge for me in the past. I love sweets, carbs, pasta, and anything fattening. I at least have some form of a cookie or dessert on a daily basis. To cut that out completely for 3 months might kill me. I think I eat somewhat healthy other than that.

Back in November when I decided that I would train for this I joined a new gym that was built by our house. Signed up for a nutritionist and a personal trainer. My body fat was 19% and I weighed in at 140lbs. I am at a healthy weight and body fat. Feeling pretty good about myself.

I got hooked up with the right people at the gym and they are giving me all kinds of great info on healthier eating tips and better ways to make my body transform into the shape it needs to be for show time.

Now its time to hunker down and get busy. I have to eat pretty clean during the week and only have cheat days on the weekends. Lots of protein, veggies, good carbs, while staying low on sugar and cutting out processed foods. Ohhh very challenging for me! I have to admit, I have been sneaking some chocolate in :-( I can't help myself.

This morning I measured in. 17% body fat. 116 lbs of lean weight, 22lbs of fat weight.

I am happy to see my numbers going down.

Do I have what it takes??

I hope so. I can't believe I am actually going to do this! ! After a long time of going back and forth in my mind, and encouragement from my husband, I have decided to compete in the March 28th NPC Max Muscle Figure Show(the day before my birthday!) that takes place in Mesa Arizona. Now this doesn’t mean I have to get all big and bulky like a body builder…that is the first thing people ask me. Its FIGURE. My muscles need to be defined and cut, but soft and smooth. I have to get a suit that I can floss my booty with however. I tried one on the other day and that was enough to make sure I get my butt in gear so I don’t embarrass myself on stage in front of friends and family.
I enjoy working out and am at the gym daily, sometimes twice a day. Most days I am at there by 5:30am weight training and doing cardio. I am on a pretty strict diet for the show and its only going to get worse. If you know me, you know that a diet is the hardest thing for me to follow. I love to eat sweets and carbs. I miss eating all those crap foods...for example one of my co-workers took out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I had mixed veggies and chicken) and I almost started to cry! They all laughed at me and said, think big strong lean muscles, you don't need that stuff, eat your veggies instead!!! At least they are encouraging me to do the right thing. Since there was no way I could stay on track with all the goodies around the holidays I started after the first of the year. Since January 2nd I think I may have fallen off the wagon once at a baby shower. Otherwise I have been doing pretty darn well. I feel like all I do is eat. My whole day is pretty much planned around me stuffing my face with lean protein, meal replacements and veggies every 2-3 hours. Now that I am starting to see changes with my body it makes it easier for me to stick to it. I was told that in March I will have to cut out all carbs and I will be a monster to be around...we'll see what happens.
In middle of December when I first got measured, my starting weight was 139lbs & 18% body fat. Every month at the same time we’ll do it again. Since then my weight dropped to 134 and my body fat is now 15%. I lost 3lbs. of body fat! I also lost and gained inches in the all the right places. I still have a ways to go before the end of March. My trainer wants my body fat to be at 10% and mentioned that I could possibly weigh under 120lbs when its all said and done. Everyone seems to ask me…isn’t that unhealthy to be so low? Well kinda when the average is 20%, but to compete that is where I need to be. Its not like I will be there forever. When my show is over I am going out to party for my birthday, have a few drinks, and then head to Cold Stone for a gigantic chocolate covered waffle cone with the Oreo overload creation inside! Then I am sure to be real sick for the next day or two.
Stage presentation is everything. Soon I will be working with other women who have competed on how to pose and walk in my 4inch heels. This should be interesting. I have been told to practice daily and watch myself in the mirror.
Check back later and I will keep you posted on my progress.
To see me compete in the evening show, purchase tickets at http://www.npcmilesproductions.com/ticket_info.html

Putting up our Christmas tree

For the last 12 years we have had the same fake 7 ft Christmas tree. Last year while we were opening presents it took a nose dive onto our couch and broke in half. That tree was handed down from my parents who had if for lord knows how long. This year it was time to get a new one. Costco has awesome pre-light trees for a great price. I can't tell you how nice it was not to have to put lights on the tree. This puppy is a 9 ft tree that almost reaches the tippy top of our ceiling with our angle on top of it. We let Tanner and Rylan start the decorating ceremony.

Ahh the finished product...wait who are those two handsome boys?? I think they are waiting for Santa to come on his train. Yep, last year I got Chad his Polar Express Christmas train that he wanted for as long as I can remember. It has all the bells and whistles.

Here is our little Jack-Jack. I hope he is a good kitty and stays out of my tree. "I see you eye-ballin my tree mister" When we lived in Nebraska our two cats every Christmas would knock our tree over almost every other night. After the 3rd year of that, I nailed the sucker to the floor.

Family pictures

Grandparents, my parents, aunts and uncles

Valls Family Guys (4 generations) Cousin Todd is missing because he was cooking the turkey dinner and Uncle Shannon is in the back on the board because he is serving in the Iraq War

Valls Family Girls (4 Generations) My sister-in-law Jennifer is missing because she had to go home early and work

The only girl cousins

Daytona Beach

Friday was the last day before we go back home. My mom was wanting to take the kids to the beach. Just our little family went. My dad and cousin Todd rode up on their Harley’s. We ate on the pier where it overlooked the entire ocean and beach area and it seemed like we were constantly being attacked by birds wanting our food. I believe that was one of the highlights for the children
On our way down to the beach we put the kids swimsuits on. Of course they couldn’t wait to get into the water. Never mind the fact that it was a pretty chilly temperature.
The sun was shinning and it was warm enough for them. They played in the waves for quite a while. Rylan isn’t a dummy, he took one step close to the water and felt how cold it was, wanted nothing to do with the ocean so he made friends with the sand instead. He had no problems playing by himself while the rest of the kids were having a blast in the water.
My mom, sister, Chad and I watched and took pictures.

Chad and I drew our names in the sand with a heart around our initials…come on, you have to do that! Then my (single) sister saw our masterpiece and stomped all over it. Guess she thought she was being funny or something??

After playing on the beach we headed back up to the fountain area to wash off, get some ice cream and go shopping. We were trying to get back home in time to watch the Nebraska vs. Colorado game.

The guys watched the game at my cousins house. I took the boys back to the hotel, bathed them, packed up, Tanner did his homework, Rylan streaked in the halls, finished the laundry, watched the Nebraska game and got ready for our 7am flight out.. I can only imagine what was going through the guys mind as Nebraska was throwing interceptions, fumbling, kicking looonnng field goals, and finally squeaking out a win. It was pretty exciting just watching it by myself.

I got together with my cousins in the hotel lobby so we could chat some more before we all left. Before we knew it, it was 12:30am and I needed to be up by 4:30am to leave at 5am. Get back to my room, settle into bed and Rylan is coughing up a storm. And wouldn’t ya know it, we have nothing for him to calm his cough…go figure. I try to prop him up, I try to hold him up in my arms. Nothing worked. This went on for hours. I kept telling myself, the next time he coughs, I will get up, get ready and go to the store and get him medicine. Around 3am I was still rubbing his back and he finally calmed down and slept. Before I knew it, it was 4:15am and Chad was up and getting ready to leave. UGH!

Thanksgiving Day/60th Wedding anniversary Party

On Thanksgiving day the entire family was at my cousins house for the 60th Wedding Anniversary celebration. The gals went over early to set up and start cooking while the guys stayed back at the hotel and watched all the kids and played cards. My cousins husband was a great and cooked for the whole family all week long including turkey day. My mother gave the toast, my cousin Tanisha read a poem, and I said grace.
After a very filling dinner we started the festivities. First came the great-grand kids and younger grand kids, they were part of our mariachi band.The boys played instruments while the girls danced around in their cute Mexican dresses. My sister and I played the part of Regis and Kelly hosts and my other cousins played the part of my grandparents. “Grandpa” had in a fake belly with a white tank top and white button down shirt on and “Grandma” was wearing her favorite Michigan sweat shirt. My Aunt Tammy had asked my grandparents a series of questions a few months back and jotted down their answers. We interviewed them as a couple and asked questions about how and where they met, having children, life as a married couple, how they lived and so on. We played some of their favorite songs from back in their day throughout the interview in the background. They really got a kick out of the whole thing.
Aunt Yvette continued to introduce the following acts. “the rest of our Mariachi band has shown up and they have come all the way from Phoenix and Omaha….here are Juan and Paco!!!
Of course that was Chad and my brother Marc dressed up as men with their fat bellies hanging out and doing a dance to Mariachi Loco. It was so funny, people were falling out of their chairs laughing so hard, my grandfather had tears in his eyes. My grandmother used to clean the house to her man ELVIS! What would a party be without not one, not 2, but 3 different generations of Elvis’s. Two of my cousins and my dad played the part. This time Grandma was falling out of her chair trying to reach out to the younger Elvis just like she would try to at his concerts. Another favorite of hers was Michael Jackson. She had also gone to his concerts. Well guess what? “Michelle” Jackson was played by my cousin Nicole.
After all the belly laughs and tears of joy we had to get all sappy on everyone. Uncle Art read the words he wrote to his parents and then we played the Family Tree song. One by one all of us got up, went to the front “stage” area and sang out loud to my grandparents. The song has deep meaning and it was a perfect fit for our family. It was very emotional for all of us. My grandparents were so happy, excited, thankful and overjoyed that we put all this together for them. They have very special children (my parents & aunts and uncles) who spent months putting this all together. It was the perfect anniversary gift for them just to have the entire family in one place from all over the country.

Of course you can’t end the party without playing more poker. They had some pretty large pots going. Up to couple hundred dollars I think. Even the younger kids had their own table going. Except they played with fake money! Hey that’s how we roll!

Family Gathering, Day 3 & 4

Chad, I, and the boys spent the first part of the day going back and doing the rides we missed at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We went to Islands first and immediately ran back to the Pteranodon Flyers where we soar through the air and get a view of Camp Jurassic. Its always a 60min wait and it was only 30 when we got there. Was it worth the wait for a 60 sec fly by...the boys would say it was cool! Tanner just couldn't contain himself any longer and just had to go back on the duelling dragons. Over and over and over! Tanner and I went while Chad took Rylan back on the Jurassic River adventure. Here is a little snip it of Tanner on the Duelling Dragons ride.


Then it was back to Suess landing to the Cat in the Hat ride.
There were only a few things we had to hit at Universal and that was Woody Woodpecker's Nut Coaster, Men in Black where we were able to test our alien-zapping skills, and Disaster which took us into the world of filming disaster movies
and then on a major motion picture ride...starring everyone!

In the afternoon and the next day we went back over to my cousins house to have dinner and hang out with the entire Valls family. Poker and Sing Star on the PS3 were the main attractions of the evening.



We were practicing our skits that the family had put together for my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. It was going to be quite the production!

Family Gathering in Florida, Day 2

8:00am Family gathers in the hotels breakfast area where we meet up before going to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

9:30am Arrive at Universal/Islands of Adventure
Our first ride we experienced the rage of the Incredible Hulk as Dr Bruce Banner's gamma-ray accelerator launches us on a high speed roller coaster rampage. Next we head over to the Amazing Adventures of Spider Man. With our 3-D glasses we careen through the streets for an eye popping, pulse-pounding, high tech 3-D thrill. Chad and Marc took a couple of the boys on Doctor Doom's Fearfall where they were shot up 150 feet in the air and then dropped faster than gravity itself!
11:30am Its starting to get warm enough out for us to try out a couple of water rides. Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges is where the gang was brave enough (in their ponchos) to hit the white water rapids splashing raft ride.
To keep with the water theme Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw falls took them on a wild and wet
flume ride with one of the steepest water drops ever created.


1pm We discover dinosaur skeletons and footprints...AHHHH I think a hungry T-Rex might be on the loose!! You didn't happen to see any did you??? Great, I think we need to go on a thrilling river raft ride through primeval dinosaur habitats just to make sure they didn't get out. Vamanos!!







2:30pm Our parents took the little,little kids over to Suess Landing while the big kids soared on the fire side of The Dueling Dragons through hair raising loops and twists across the sky.

4:30pm Its time to cross over the bridge and head to Universal Studios. We stepped into one of the most action packed movie of all time as the swirling vortex of tornado blew my poor little nieces right out of their skin. Yes, they were scared...poop-less! All I heard from little Julia was.."i want out, lets go, I want out, lets go" I believe if my sister and I weren't holding her down, she would have crawled over and through many many people to get away from this tornado. We had to take turns going on the Mummy ride where we plunged into darkness on this indoor roller coaster facing fireballs, scarab beetles, and an army of warrior mummies. Jaws is always a classic favorite...you never know where he might POP out of the water and scare the begeebers out you...or the children! Now the Woody Woodpeckers kidzone was a hit with all little kids who were not tall enough to get on big rides. Also we got to help E.T. save his dying planet as we got on his starbound bike. Last but not least, the new Simpsons Ride was quite entertaining as we swoop, soar and smash our way through Krustyland.

7:30pm Leave parks, hit major traffic on the way back home. Oh wait and accident pulled off to the side of the road, but EVERYone has to stop and look..rubberneckers! GEESH! Luckily my mom called and warned us, so we took the scenic route on the back roads while stopping at Chick-fil-a for some food and cookie shakes...yummmm! Did I say I was still on vacation???

Real quick, we had 30 family members that joined us today at the park. My grandparents and a couple more cousins were still at home. The big Jurassic photo above was just all of us first cousins only. AMAZING I tell ya!!