Alexa PenaVega recalls the time she and Carlos PenaVega almost broke up
Pregnant Alexa PenaVega and husband Carlos PenaVega are expecting baby No. 4, but their marriage hasn’t always been full of happiness.
“I’ve always said to people, ‘The truth is that marriage is a beautiful, sacred thing. It’s something sacred. And you go through bumps,’” Alexa, 35, shared exclusively We weekly on Tuesday, November 28, celebrating the pair’s collaboration with The Salvation Army. “There was a time in our marriage when if we weren’t married, we would have split up.”
The Spy children actress, who announced her fourth pregnancy earlier this month, explained: ‘But that’s the beauty of marriage. You fight through it, you fix it, you work on it. And I feel like we’re stronger than ever because of those bumps. Even though these were difficult seasons, we persevered and soared.”
Alexa and Carlos, 34, tied the knot in 2014 and after nearly a decade of marriage, they are still learning what makes the other tick. Although they have different approaches to problems, Alexa said that “prayer has been a big thing for them.”
“Life is getting hard. It’s really hard,” she said Us. “But take that moment to just sit down and really communicate. I know this sounds so cliché, but it’s true. If we don’t communicate well, we will hit bumps in the road.”
Alexa, who shares sons Ocean, 6, and Kingston, 4, and daughter Rio, 2, with the Big Time Rush member, confessed that communication isn’t her strong point.
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“I’ll be the first to say: I really have trouble communicating. He’s great at it,” she said, shocking her husband with her admission. ‘Are we going to record this? Is this currently being recorded? Can I have this video?” he joked in response.
All jokes aside, Alexa said Us Carlos is “very good at being clear about what he wants and expects.” She continued: “I don’t know if this is just women or if it’s just me, but I’m having a harder time. I’m really into it [the pattern of] pleasing people very easily. It’s a terrible thing. It is not good quality.”
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One thing Alexa and Carlos always agree on is giving back, which is one of the reasons they partner with The Salvation Army. As residents of Lahaina, Hawaii, the pair focused on helping the organization’s efforts to support victims of August’s wildfires in Maui. (Officials estimate a death toll of 97 people after wildfires and winds destroyed much of Lahaina this summer. Property damage exceeds $1 billion.)
Carlos PenaVega, Alexa PenaVega.
Raymond Hall/GC Images“I always tell people, ‘Listen, financially, if you can give, that’s great.’ But there are so many ways to give,” Carlos said Us on Tuesday, he revealed that after the Maui disaster, he brought his family along to help personally. “We had to actually go shopping for the kids and then meet the kids in person. And give them the presents. And I think it was a really big wow moment especially for me and our kids. Like, ‘Oh, this is what it’s all about.'”
Alexa called the Salvation Army “part of our family,” noting that she and Carlos, like many, grew up seeing their iconic red kettlebells outside grocery stores. “The whole point of giving back is not to receive, it’s to give, but what it does to your heart, it just expands your heart,” she said. “And when you see the joy on people’s faces, there’s nothing like giving. There really isn’t one.”
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Carlos added that The Salvation Army also has the Angel Tree program at Walmart locations across the country during the holidays. While shopping, people see trees in the stores with cards on them with a child’s name and something on their Christmas wish list.
“You can pick one and go shopping. And these gifts actually go to the children, children and young people,” he said Us. “We have had a great time there with our children in recent years.”
For more information on how you can give back and help your community, please visit SalvationArmyUSA.org.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi