Yesenia's Surprise 30th Birthday Party!

Last weekend, all of the family got together and threw a surprise birthday party for my sister Yesenia who's turning 30 this year. She is such an amazing person and does so much for everyone, so.... we decided to throw her a surprise birthday party for her 30th birthday! We decided to throw her off and make her think we had forgotten about her birthday and all made Memorial Day weekend plans. It worked! She was bumming that we weren't planning anything big, after all it is her 30th! Lionel said she was kind of sad, so that made things even harder for me! I'm awful at keeping a surprise quiet, especially when I know it's going to cause happiness! But I did great, and played my part perfectly. I bought her favorite cake from Fred Meyer - lemon cake, with raspberry filling and a white chocolate crust. Delicious!! I also made her strawberry cupcakes with a calla lily on each one.  Calla lilies are her favorite flower, so I wanted to tie in her favorite things into the theme.  Her husband bought Panda Express catering for all the guests, and planned the whole thing. He's a pretty awesome guy. My sister in law Christina helped with all the decorations and miscellaneous party purchases. The night before the party I went to Christina and Omar's house to decorate. I decided to stick with her birth year theme. It was nice - we decorated with MTV logos and PostIt Notes, and played songs from her year. We hung up Your 30! decorations all over the walls and hanging from the ceiling.  It was also the year the Personal Computer was first available to the general public.  Lol.  It was actually pretty funny. I loved that everyone was able to show up and be a part of my amazing sister's party. I had to work on the day of the surprise party, so I missed the actual "surprise" but it was recorded for me :) and it was so funny! She was first surprised by all of her friends and siblings. She was excited and happy and very surprised. Then my brother told her he had one more surprise, took her around the corner and out from behind the wall popped out my parents and little siblings. She hugged them and tears fell from her face as they shouted "sorpresa!" it was so nice. She had no idea that we made plans for them to come up just for her party.  That made things even more special, because they don't get to come up as often as we'd like.  Kort and I made a video of pictures of her growing up and going through the stages of life. Getting those pictures was not easy, since I had to go through her computer while she wasn't looking to get them, lol.  It was beautiful to see all the people who love her enjoying this day with her. I love you sis!

Mother's Day 2011.

MOthers Day was so nice and relaxing. I didn't get to go home and visit my Mom but we had a small BBQ here with all the family. It was very overwhelming but nice. Sunday we went out and bought some landscaping for our home and then watched movies. Alexis has been sick so she's been kindof grumpy, but last night she was so good! She woke up this morning in such a great mood giving kisses and hugs. I love my doll! Today we're headed out to give Alexis her shots. Yikes! She's already 18 months!

I hope you all had a fantastic Mother's Day! I wish you the best :) with love.

Praying Against More Natural Disasters.

Ok, I've heard so many conspiracy theories already about President Obama and Bin Laden's death...enough already! Why can't we just let things be. Not EVERYONE is out to get you, not EVERYTHING is a lie, I just can't stand people who are always trying to find something bad or negative in every situation.  Stop it already! If you don't like Republicans, vote against that particular person/party based on what they're trying to get through, same goes for Democrats. But let your vote do the talking, not the trash and filth coming out of your mouth.  Baaaahhhhhh!

I just needed to get that out in writing.  It's such a pessimistic world we live in.  No wonder its so hard to truly feel happy some days. I'm surrounded by so much negativity.  And today, I gave in to it just a little.  Now I'm off to think positive thoughts and pray for our people in Alabama and surrounding states, I hope they are recovering from the natural disaster, that couldn't be avoided.  I know there's so much going on, but I hope mother nature calms down and bit and we see some calm for a while.  My thoughts go out to those who have lost their loved ones and possessions.

Triumph for America.

I heard last night as the missionaries were here that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. As we heard the news, all of the people in my house were elated and couldn't believe the news.

I can't help but feel joy that someone who has been so awful in our minds, and has caused so much devastation has been killed. On the other hand, there's a piece of my heart that just can't find the ability to feel happy.  It feels weird to be happy that someone is dead, no matter who they are.  It's a little conflicting because I know I should be elated as well...but being happy over death just doesn't feel right.  I can only think how his loved ones might be feeling knowing that he is gone for doing what he believed, good or bad.  For us, it's a good thing. No one who causes that much harm should go unpunished..I just hope that God takes care of us all and judges us like only he should.

Easter 2011.

Easter was so amazing this year. Alexis loved loved loved it! Nothing makes my heart feel more happiness and joy than to see your kid run around like crazy with a huge smile on her face! She didn't quite understand the goal is to fill your basket with eggs, lol. She was perfectly content having one egg in each hand and her little basket around her arm. We were able to celebrate with both sides of the family and really enjoy our tine together. Pretty awesome.

Grandma's Funeral.

My grandmother passed away on Saturday April, 16th. She had been struggling with her health for several months and her body would go into almost complete failure if she was even exposed to any kind of cold or flu. Towards her last few weeks my mom would go over everyday and give her food and keep her company. When she finally passed it was extremely difficult for my Mom. The funeral was a couple of days for the viewing and then the ceremony the next day. It was tough on us but we're glad that grandma is painfree and in heaven. My Mom is still very visibly upset and even though she was aware that my grandma would pass soon, nothing could have prepared her. It has been one week since her funeral and my Mom is doing a bit better but refuses to be alone. She says she wants to be with family and not have to think about being alone because it makes her sad. It's been such an emotional couple of weeks but we all know grandma is in the best place she can be.

It was wonderful how many family members from all around came to celebrate her life and we were able to reminisce and tell stories. It was a nice to hear about all of her quirks and the things she accomplished and believed. Thanks to everyone for the well wishes.

Seattle Trip 2011.

Kort and I have been wanting to take a vacation this year to Boston to see the Patriots play, but with all the NFL nonsense, I'm not sure how that's going to play out. Financially, we can't take Alexis with us. If I can't take my baby girl with me then I don't want to go. I can't leave her yet! So we decided to cancel that trip and instead go to Seattle for five days.

We took off on Thursday night and landed in SEA-TAC at 6pm. The cab driver outside the airport wanted to charge us $45 to get to our hotel and he kept saying you could only take a taxi to that part of town. I decided to try a bus and they were a bit less pricey at $33. Our hotel was 10 miles from the airport! Luckily Kort's cousin lives near by and came and took us to our hotel. Bless him! We ended up getting to the hotel at 9pm after all was said and done then we were starving so we went to a little burger joint called Dicks. It was very inexpensive and kind of good. We had a long day ahead on Friday so we went straight to bed.

Friday was one of those days where we wished we had just stayed home for vacation. We got up and it was sunny and beautiful so we decided to go to the Woodland Park Zoo. Apparently every one had the same idea. After a long and crazy bus ride (over 1 hour and multiple bus changes) we get there and find out there's a 1 hour wait to get in. Luckily I had purchased a city pass for us so we were able to go in without more than a five minute wait. The zoo was beautiful and incredibly big. We had lunch in what seemed like a circus! There were people and kids everywhere and no tables to sit at. Kort finally found us a table, I got the food and we were off. We were there for about two hours then another hour bus ride back and we decided to go to Pike Place market. It was incredible! So many vendors and the fish :) oh it was fun. Unfortunately, being a small town person having that many people so close to me and bumping into the stroller made me super nervous so I decided to get out of that area and eat down the road on the hike back up to our hotel. To our surprise, most restaurants close between 2-4pm to prepare for dinner. So everywhere we tried to get in was closed. We finally found a Mexican restaurant. The neon signs were lit up and Kort and I really wanted some beers, needed is actually a better word. The waitress informs us that they are out of alcohol for the night! What?! We finished trekking our way up to our hotel, went to a Safeway across from the hotel and bought coronas with lime and called it a day. This whole day Alexis was pretty good. She liked the zoo but I don't think she understood what was happening. Thankfully she slept quite a bit.

Saturday was so much better. We went to the Space Needle and the Explore Music Project/Science Museum. It was amazing! We loved being up in the observatory and just getting to see the city. Alexis loved the sights! She was so fun. Kort was in his element at the EMP and we spent a good hour just letting him listen to all the recordings of his favorite artists and looking at the history of guitars. Alexis was so cute playing the drums and the piano. She really liked being noisy and creative, lol. Just like her daddy. We had lunch at this crazy kids play place that I never want to go back to. $20 for two hotdogs and 1 lemonade. Yikes! But so worth it to see my angel having fun :). That night we went back down to Pikes Place Market, walked around and went to dinner at a place called Fisherman's on the pier. The view was beautiful and the crab was delicious. But the clam chowder stole the show! It was magnificent!!! Even Kort liked it :) and Alexis ate almost a whole cup! We finished the evening off with a trip to the aquarium-Alexis's favorite! She had the most amazing time!!! I'll post a video of her in absolute bliss! She would yell in awe and point to everything and touch the glass. It was the cutest thing.

Sunday I had my hair show in Bellevue - Undressed! It was just too awesome! I loved every minute of my craft :) and I got to take video and tons of pictures. Just amazing. The bus ride to and back = sucked! Seattle is scary when I'm on my own.

Monday, return trip home, but before we left we got to see some cute little shops in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle and had lunch at a Thai restaurant called Phuket, lol. It was really good! All in all, good trip hooves being with Kort and Alexis!