Welcome Home Nicco

Nicco Santiago Alonso was born at 11:51 PM on May 9, 2009. He had to be in the NICU for a little over a week. He is home and healthy. We got to bring him home on our 8th Anniversary! The best gift we ever received. He loves to observe and is growing everyday. We are so thankful to have him, he amazes us everyday! Here is a video montage of our precious baby love!

Baby Mama

It is hard to believe that our son will be here in 4 weeks or less. I am amazed at how fast this pregnancy has gone. I feel lucky that it has gone so well. I have felt really good for the most part. I have had a cold for the last few weeks, but other than that things have gone really well. Santiago loves playing music on my belly or tapping out some drum rhythm and seeing if Nicco will respond. Amazingly most of the time he does. I love feeling him move. Neither of us can imagine what he will look like so we are excited to meet him. We went and had some pregnancy photos done with Missy Gowans. I attached some of our favorites. My friend Katie did the henna on my belly. It was a blast. We will keep you posted on when he arrives!!!

Nicco Santiago Alonso

IT'S A BOY!!!

Nicco Santiago Alonso

Here is a video from the Ultrasound - Enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I have a lot to be thankful for so I am going to try to take a moment to express my gratitude.

This is your warning I might get mushy!

I have an amazing family that has always been there for me. My brothers and sisters are some of my very best friends. I appreciate their support and guidance. Specifically my parent's have always been accepting and want us to be strong and independent. They understand that there is a time that you kids need to live their own life. I am especially thankful at this time for them because they have been allowing us to live in their basement until we find a new home to buy. It has been a huge help in our transition of coming back to Utah. My sister's are always willing to help in any way they can. Keri, I am thankful for your willingness to help and offer advice. Your are an amazing mother and very strong woman. I appreciate your example. Sheri, I am thankful for your free spirit. It is always refreshing to be around you and to be able to be silly. You are one of the most genuine and loving person that I know. Niki, your dedication and commitment to your beliefs is inspiring for me. I love getting to be your big sister, but even more then that I really value your friendship and advice. I am so proud of you and the independent, sincere person that you are. I love dancing, singing and being silly with you. I could not imagine life without my brothers. Gilis, I am so thankful for your love of life. You are positive and you like to have a good time. I will always remember you and Santy having your own private concert in our basement. You are such a refreshing person to be around. Wes, I have always looked up to your determination. I am so proud of you. It takes a strong person to truly be genuine to who they are. You are a great example of an amazing, loving father. You are a fighter to the end and I am very inspired by you. I love when we get a chance to talk. Shandon, Quinton, Jaxton, Kadon, Kylee, Ethan, Katelynn, Claudio, Marcos, Mikaella, Camilla, you are the light of my life. Your sweet spirits make me smile every time I am around you. You each make me excited to be a Mother. I love how unique and special you each are. I am so thankful to have you in my life.

I am so thankful for all my in-laws on both sides of the family. My siblings picked very good spouses that add to our family. I could not have picked a better family to marry into. Santiago's family has always been welcoming and loving. I am grateful to have a good relationship with each of them. They are also some of my best friends. I am thankful for the love and support that they offer to Santiago and I.

Santiago, the love of my life. I feel the most fortunate and thankful for you. You are my very best friend. I feel truly blessed to have met you so early in life and to be able to already have so many beautiful memories. You are one of the most sincere, caring, passionate, loving, funny, amazing, inspiring, committed, talented, genuine, silly, special (this list could go on forever) person that I know. You make me a better person every day. I feel very blessing to have a husband that respects me an truly does treat me like a princess. I never thought I needed to be cared for so much, but now I could never imagine my life without you. I feel so grateful that we allow each other to be individuals and yet we are deeply committed to one another. I enjoy every moment that we spend together and I miss you when you are gone. I look forward to many more amazing years with you.

I am so excited for the chance that Santiago and I have to start our family. We have been together for over 11 years (married for over 7) and I am so excited for the next phase of our life together. We get to find out what we are having 1 week from today and I can hardly wait. I feel blessed to know that we are both committed to being the very best parent's that we can and although I am sure we will make mistakes we will both strive everyday to be better parents. I am thankful that everything is going well so far with my pregnancy and I hope that we continue to be blessed.

Friends are such an important blessing in this life and I feel exceptionally blessed. I have amazing friends that will help me get a job, listen to my worries, cheer me up, get pedicures, give me advice and accept me for who I am. No matter how much time passes our friendships burn strong. I am so thankful for all of your continual friendship and support.

I am also especially thankful for the opportunities that have come to Santiago since we have moved back. I feel like we are continually reinforced that this is where we are meant to be. It feels like as soon as we came back here and were in the right place that the universe began pouring opportunities on us. Santiago has been able to do more with music since we moved home then he has done for years. I love seeing the flame that began to fade with the airline reigniting and burning brighter each day. I also have had many new opportunities that I cannot pass up that have reaffirmed that I am doing exactly what I was meant to do in this life.

Thank you to each of you who are such a special part of my life. You have each marked me in a way that I will never forget. My only hope is that I can return the favor. Love and friendship always.

Love

Joni

We Have Some News!!!

So we found out on August 27 that....


I AM PREGNANT!

The baby is due May 3, 2009

This is a video of the Heart beat. You cannot actually see anything, but you can hear it. It was so amazing. Santiago was so cute. He has already been putting music on my belly. He is going to be the most amazing dad. We have decided to find out the gender. Our ultrasound appointment is on December 2!!! We will keep you posted.

How time passes

I have been trying to figure out where the last three months went. We are back in Utah now. Santiago is flight instructing for UVU and I am teaching at the U. I am also doing massage and working on the corporate side of my business. We had a nice drive back from Charlotte. Here are some of the highlights!!!

The upside down house in Gatlinburg, TN

We stayed with my Cousin Jon and his wife Emily in Nashville, TN. Thanks Jon and Emily! While we were there I got to see a friend that I met when I went to DC in High school. I have not seen her since 1997! I am thankful that they drove to Nashville to see us. We had a great dinner and conversation. Thanks Marian!!!

Santiago, Joni, Marian and Jason

Jon recommended that we go through MO instead of OK, so we went to St. Louis after Nashville. We had a great time in St. Louis. We got to see Rusted Root in concert for free at the park and a big firework show after.

The St. Louis Gateway Arch

After MO we drove through KS. We spent the night in a little town a couple hours outside of Kansas City so that we would be closer to Denver. We stayed there for one night and then continued on to Denver to see Dan and Caryn.

Sunset in Kansas

Denver Art Museum
Santy was swept away by all the great art!

Joni, Santy, Dan and Caryn
Thanks Caryn and Dan it was awesome to see you guys!


We finally arrived home on August 6, 2008.

WASHINGTON DC

Santiago's birthday was July 11 so we decided we were going to try to go to NYC for the day, but it did not end up working out. The next day we decided to go to Washington DC. Our flight got in an hour late so we ended up only having about 5 hours to check things out. We saw most of the main sights and just wandered the streets. It was extremely hot. Holy cow! I bet we bought at least 10 bottles of water while we were walking around and stopped at every drinking fountain we came to. I have wanted to bring Santy to DC since I came in 1997. It was a great adventure.
I love all the history and that there is always so much going on. We got to go on the grounds of the White House, which was kind of just a fluke. They only open it 2 times a year and we just happened to be walking by when they were letting in the last tour for the day. It was pretty cool. We talked to one of the Secret Service officers for a while. He was very interesting. Apparently Bush does not use the Tennis or Basketball courts, haha. Anyway we had a blast!!!! Check out our slideshow at the bottom

Singing in the Rain

Yesterday we had a huge rain, thunder and hail storm. It was out of control. We had just put a "For Rent" sign up so Santiago had to brave the storm and save the sign. We had a good time filming our crazy front door that has a one inch crack that you can look through and see outside. Instead of a peep hole we have a crack!!! Make sure your shoes and ankles look good when you come to our house. HAHAHA, we had fun making our movie. ENJOY

Our House

Well, it took wanting to move back to Utah and needing to sublease the house we are in to actually take some pictures of where we are living. Even though we will only be here for another month or so at least now you can see where we have been living since March.

A Day In The Life

And so it begins

12 years ago we became friends. 1 year later we became more. 4 years after that we were married. We just celebrated our 7th anniversary and still spend each day "livin and lovin". We are currently in North Carolina participating in the American Dream. We plan to return to Utah in the next few months to continue our pursuit of happiness. We enjoy the process of exploring life. We love to listen to, watch and make good music, traveling the world and experiencing different cultures. We are thankful for our wonderful family and friends that make this life even sweeter.

Enjoy,

Joni and Santy