February 2008 Highlights

I took the day off from work to spend the day with Jacob at Disneyland. I like to do that with him from time to time. I love mommy and me time with him. He's getting older now and he's starting to enjoy bigger rides. So it's a blast.

Dinner With The Cousins

Just a fun picture to share....

Valentines Day

On Valentine's day the kids woke up to Valentine's cards from Mom and Dad and some fun little gifts.













Jacob wants a puppy so bad that I gave him a talking dog. He loved it and Gianna did too. She wanted his puppy so bad. Jacob had to be on his toes or Gianna would grab it from him.

The night before we spent the afternoon writing out valentines for Jacob's class and filling heart bags with candy. Jacob had a fun day at school and came home even more excited with a bag full of valentines he had received from his friends.













Danny and I celebrated on the weekend. My parents baby sat so we could go out to dinner and see a movie. We don't do that very often so that was a treat!

Remembering Julio Aldas

February was a difficult month for the family. We lost a very dear uncle, my Tio Julio. He is actually my mom's cousin. My grandmother had only one child, my mom, but my grandmother's sister had 9 kids (I might be off by a sibling or two). So my mom grew up very close to her 9 cousins. They were like bothers and sisters to her. Tio Julio was one of those cousins. My uncle lived for the most part in Ecuador but he and his wife would come to California to visit every year. He was here visiting and while at his son's house he collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital where they worked on him for hours but by the afternoon he had succumbed and past away. My uncle was at times a hot head but for the most part he was funny and sweet. I have fond memories of spending summer vacations in Ecuador at his house in the city and at his beach house. He will be missed.







This is a picture I took of my cousing Monica and Gianna while were at the hospital. We were waiting outside hoping for the best while they worked on Tio Julio.

New Toys

Jacob and Danny both got bikes for Christmas. We've spent lots of Sunday afternoons at the park. They like to ride the bike trail around this big park by our house. Jacob loves time spent with his Daddy.


















Gianna's favorite toy right now has to be this lion my cousin Luis gave her for Christmas. She is so amused and entertained by it.













Another favorite is this doll that Alexandra gave her.

Christmas - A Time For Family

Christmas Eve we had Danny's family over for the traditional Christmas Chili and presents. Danny's grandmother owned a restaurant in Texas way back when. The chili recipe is a family favorite that comes from the restaurant. It's a meat chili with tomatoes served with Frito's, shredded cheese and onions. Sound kind of funny but it's yummy. We've served it on Christmas Eve for the past ten years or so.













Jacob couldn't wait to open presents. We opened presents before church this year so he didn't have to wait too long. He had so much fun!













Christmas day my family came over for breakfast, family time and of course presents! This Christmas was very special with the additions of our daughter Gianna and my cute little nephew Tristan. Here they are. Gianna is 4 1/2 months and Tristan is 5 months old. Too cute!













This is my sister Cindy and her family. Cute family!













And this is my baby sister Jessica. She's so much fun. I think she enjoys opening presents just as much as Jacob does. Well I guess who doesn't like open presents.

Playgroup Christmas Party

We had so much fun this Christmas season. We were super busy but we enjoyed every minute of it. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays.

About six years ago a group of us at work were all pregnant around the same time. Through sharing our pregnancy stories and later consulting each other on baby questions we became really close friends. Over the years our kids too have become close and look forward to getting together for birthdays, holidays and play dates. This year we hosted the playgroup Christmas Party. The kids enjoyed a visit from Santa which included presents, a Christmas story and Christmas songs. They also decorated gingerbread houses which turned out to be more of a craft for the Moms then the kids.

Here's a photo of the group. There's 10 kids now. Aren't they cute?!

Decorating gingerbread houses.....