X-Mas Party 2008

This year DRI surprised everyone by holding the X-mas party in someone’s private garage filled with classic and very expensive cars.  It was pretty sweet!  The highlight of the evening, besides the yummy food, was the very classic Delorean.  Oh yeah!

Sleepy Friday

This Black Friday came and went and we hardly noticed it.  We usually look forward to this day all year long but with two new babies, we were too tired to stand in line in the middle of the night just to get something that was a few bucks cheaper.  I think this year we are going to focus on Cyber Monday which doesn’t require leave your house at all.

We were all so tired in the middle of the day from staying up with the boys, I managed to capture everyone in the household passed out!  Including the pets LOL.  I haven’t heard the house this quiet in a long time.  

Rose and Ernesto came over to have Thanksgiving dinner with us like we do most years.  This year we went with Mimi’s  pre-made traditional Thanksgiving dinner and it turned out to be very yummy!  Last year we tried Marie Calendar’s pre-made dinner and it was just so-so.  With Mimi’s, you get a full turkey, tons of sides, carrot cake, and a pumpkin pie!  Sweet!  A special thanks to Rose for picking up the dinner, preparing things and cleaning up…Rose, you’re a life saver!

Early X-Mas Tree

Marco couldn’t wait any longer.  He went out, bought a Christmas tree and now it’s up and decorated!  This Christmas is going to be so different in many ways.  For one, we have added two new members to the family to celebrate with and second, we normally spend Christmas overseas.  It will be nice to spend Christmas at home, as a family for once.  

Spanglish?

Oh yeah, I finally got a chance to take a picture of this sign.  I remember the first time I saw the name of this place I couldn’t stop laughing.  Why? Well if you speak Spanish you’ll get it right away.  LOL!

 

Made it to Phoenix AZ

Now that they are in Arizona, my folks with be staying with my uncle for a couple of nights since they haven’t seen him in years.  On Wednesday they plan to leave Phoenix and head toward Los Angeles.  It’s not too far so they should be in the area early Wednesday.  They still want to visit a few people they haven’t seen since they moved (over a year ago) including their old neighbor, my grandmother, my brother, and a few other family members.  

On their way...

Today my parents left Dallas and are now on their way to California!  They will be staying with us for about a month to help us out with the boys when they arrive.  They won’t be here until later next week but it’s nice to know they are on their way.  Today they traveled several hundred miles and made it to Las Cruses, New Mexico.  Their next stop is going to be Arizona where they will be visiting an uncle of mine, and after a few days there they will be on their way into California.  I can’t wait to see them!

Austin's First Visit

Today little Austin and mommy visited us at work!  It was sooo cool to see little Austin again.  He’s getting bigger and looking more like his daddy every day. 

Our Work Baby Shower

Today Marco and I attended a work baby shower that Amanda and Karen organized for us.  How super sweet of them!!! We got some awesome gifts, played three fun games (name the baby animal, name the nursery rhyme, and guess Ana’s ratio), and had a relaxing afternoon hanging with friends at Pat & Oscar’s.  We had such a wonderful time! Thank you Amanda and Karen!!!!

Halloween @ Wahoo's

LOL, and I thought I was a big Halloween fan!  The Wahoo’s in Torrance went all out this year plus they have cool “Halloween” music playing at night that makes it extra creepy.

Brad's 30th B-day @ By Brazil!

Today we celebrated Brad’s 30^th Birthday by taking him to By Brazil for lunch.  We had the yummy buffet with endless grilled meat. Yum!  Happy 30^th Birthday Brad!!!

Lemon's 25th B-day @ Sea World!

A bunch of us went down to Sea World to celebrate Lemon’s 25^th B-day!  We watched Shamu and the other whales perform, watched them feed the arctic penguins, had a lovely time hanging out as a group, and watched Lemon pet the white whales.  I wasn’t sure if it was smart of me to go since I am so close to my due date but I sure am glad I did.  Happy Sea World Birthday Lemon!!!

Ethan's 2nd Birthday!

Marco and I attended Ethan’s 2^nd Birthday today! Wow, time flies!  It seems like just the other day we were having a baby shower for Janice!  It was so great to see everyone again.  Ethan is a big boy now, and his little brother is growing quickly too.  They’re such a sweet family! Happy Birthday Ethan!!

Welcome Austin!

After 36+ hours of heavy labor, my buddy Angela gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Austin.  He’s  soooo beautiful!  Both mom and baby are doing great.  I’m amazed at how wonderful mom looks after such a difficult labor.  What a trooper!  I’m super excited ‘cause I finally got a chance to hold a 1 day old baby, and I loved it!  Congrats to Angela and Brian!!

Cleaning Time

It finally happened! Amanda decided to clean out the area near her desk.  Things were starting to get really crammed around her desk but she did an awesome job of clearing it out!   Next stop….her desk LOL…..one day. 

Dinner @ Chart House

We had another client visit for the project I will be working on until I go on maternity leave.  This time we took the client to Chart House in Redondo Beach.  Yum, this place is one of my favorites!  The view is amazing since it’s right on the beach and the food ….. mmmmm….makes my mouth water when I think of it LOL.  This time I had the salad bar for starters and created this yummy salad, and then I had the prime rib and shrimp with a baked potato.  Yup, I ate everything and still wanted more LOL.  

Welcome Isabella!

Congratulations to my buddy Tiffany who gave birth to a healthy little girl named Isabella on the 21st!! Congratulations Tiff and Scott!!!

Awesome Discount

Angela’s hubby hooked us up with awesome discounts at the Mattel store in El Segundo.  I got a bunch of fabulous stuff that I needed for just a little over 50 bucks.  Woohoo!  Thank you Brian & Angela!!

September Birthdays

We celebrated September birthdays with yummy Marie Callender’s pies.  Although they looked delicious, I had to stay away…gestational diabetes and all….but man they were tempting!  Happy Birthday Rand, Joan, and Karen!!

Surprise Pics

I love finding random pictures on my camera!  Today while I was uploading new pictures I found a few gifts from Manda on my memory card. LOL! These are awesome, thanks Manda!!! 

Grilling like an American

This weekend we celebrated Marco’s becoming an American by buying him a brand new grill. You can’t get more American than that! This is his first grill so he’s very excited. We have already made some yummy steaks, grilled chicken, and freshly grilled corn on the cob. Yum!

August Birthdays

We celebrated August birthdays by making our own ice cream sandwiches and they were a hit! Happy Birthday to Manda, Regi, Dean, Jordan, and James!

Marco the American

Today Marco became an American!! That’s right; he is now officially an American Citizen! We drove out to the Los Angeles Convention Center where he attended his citizenship ceremony with 6,000 other new citizens. After being sworn in, and given their citizenship certificates, the were later bombarded with people who wanted them all to register to vote LOL. After his ceremony, we celebrated by having a nice lunch at Chili’s.

Manda is Back

Manda is back from her honeymoon cruise to Italy, Monaco, and Greece. She was kind enough to take Pablo along so I will be posting those pictures soon. She also brought me back this super cool kitty and some yummy chocolate. Thanks Manda!!!

John's 26th Birthday!

Tonight we celebrated Farmer John’s 26th Birthday at Pockets Sports Bar in Manhattan Beach. We had a great time hanging out, some played pool, others played air hockey and toward the end of the night we had yummy cake. Thanks for inviting us guys, we had a nice time! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!!!!