meet jonathan jay

there is so much to be grateful for on so many different levels. my life's little trials are so minimal compared to these inspiring families battling horrific circumstances. i don't know this young man; i found him on twitter {and i'm so glad i did}.

i've introduced you to sweet gracie and now please meet jonathan. {his prayer button will also link you to his blog}.

when you gotta have it...

you gotta have it & you get it any way you can!

i'm speaking of chocolate, of course. dang, i've never been a chocolate addict until i started serving in primary last year. the other day i had to go pick up kennedy from rehearsal and as i was running out of the house, i needed chocolate! i couldn't find my choco-bag, so i grabbed the first chocolatie thing i saw...frosting.....and ate it while driving.....yummy!!

city track meet 05/30/09

here's kennedy's 440 race with shouts of encouragement from daniel {so dang funny}. she was one of the very few 4th grade girls in B category {as you will see the other girls are way taller}, but she held her own and when looking at the video kennedy tells me {as she's passing the first girl} i told her "you're going down girl". then you'll see kennedy as she's jogging closer to where we are all at, looking for supporters. she's such a celeb competitor, then she kicks it into high gear and passes her 3rd person, to finish NOT in last place!! whoo-hoo!!

on the wrong side of the fence

beautiful union station in downtown los angeles.

we had to go to trinidad's job for a little bit and it's near union station {so pretty}. disney's "a christmas carol" train tour was there, we were on the wrong side of the fence....hee-hee, hence the distant pictures.

birthday wish list

my birthday's coming up and i've determined that we're taking a little family vacation up and

down the 395... to {mono lake} and everywhere in between. i am soooo excited, and normally i am not excited about sitting in a car for hours, but who knew the 395 was so amazing {i know, a lot of you, but i had no idea}. I'm dusting off my canon rebel and stocking up on batteries and 35mm film {this is where family comes in...} it will be a photo frenzy vacation and the best part is that no one can really complain when i want to stop every 5 miles because "It's My Birthday!!".

so, i've already been getting the question, "what would you like for your birthday?", normal response "i don't know", BUT i do know and it can all be found {here} or here

and this is on my list too...

bye...

saturday evening, while putting away chairs at the stake center and convo with the bishop went this way: "you're sacrament lets out at 10:10?", "well, when they're on time.", "can you come to my office at 10:10, it will only take 2 minutes?". ok, what else could it be...hello i'm getting released. i was ok, with it. i know that i'm not able to be there all three hours on sunday, and it was fine. then it came to me, i'm getting released from primary and getting called to relief society. i had a lot of other scenarios going through my head, but this was the only one that stayed with me. i thought it was to be a teacher {it is - but on a little highter scale...yikes}.

now it's sunday morning...

well as you can tell from the previous post, i was released from the primary presidency and called so serve as the enrichment leader in relief society. it sounds like a really big calling, but before i accepted i asked bishop if it was testified to him that i was the one to serve this calling and he said yes and i said ok...who am i to argue with the Lord.

so, in sacrament {i was in l.a.} i was the only ward business {man, i missed it;p} and first they called me to be enrichment leader {and everyone thought i had double duty} then they released me from primary {should have been the other way around}. when i got to church, i knew everyone knew because trinidad sent me a text and the air was kind of weird. i got awkward looks from some, no real congratulations {except misty, she gave me a big hug}, some kinda ignored me and it was just funky, and someone commented "how long did you know?" {so i kinda figured that was the feeling amongst all} so i clarified to all that i had no idea that this was happening until 10:12am this morning. i did not ask to be released. i was not looking to be released. i was cozy in my calling...{lightbulb}...it was time to move on. Katie, Catherine, Misty & Amber {& jennifer, she plays piano, very talented too} are amazingly talented and creative women who really do love the children and love their callings..i'll miss working with you, but please come to enrichment activities...support your sister:)!

so i asked for a minute to say good-bye to the kiddies, and as catherine was announcing my final sunday, she started to cry, then gave me a hug and i was all messed-up from that point and cried and tried to tell the kids how much i've enjoyed working with them, so i said "everyone scoochie together so we can get a group picture."

i love these kids, they are such sweet little spirits!!
{mason, you rock..holding that book of mormon front and center}!!

for you young ladies 8 and older, i expect to see you and your mom/sisters/aunts/neighbors...
at the enrichment activities;p!! i'll make them fun, and i'll bring chocolate!!

New Calling

aloha

grandma kathy had a luau for the girls friday night. they had a lot of fun & kennedy brought home a very cute goodie tote {yes, tote - not bag, now i know where my "over the top" comes from}. auntie kristy said grandma made luau style food, but there were no pictures of that, but i'm sure it was good!
{thanks mom, kennedy had a great time}

happy times

these are my nieces. ryan {big sister} & bailey.
i have not seen ryan this happy...ever!
i downloaded pictures from my mom's camera, and this was one of them...

precious! i love it!! & look at sweet bailey, she looks happy too.

Charity Event 05/16/09 {Dr. Saludares}

Dr. Saludares invited us to this charity event in Covina a few weeks ago. I've been around the Chino docs a few times when there's music and I know they LOVE TO DANCE & they know how to dance {ballroom style}...ok, so not expecting what I saw at this event... it was like Dancing With The Stars!!! {ok, not THAT sparkl{ie}, but they all had "the shoes"}. Dr. & Mrs. Pavia sat next to us and she had shoes too!! We saw all these people coming in with their little "bowling bags" and instead of a bowling ball inside, they pulled out their DANCE SHOES! and what made it really cool, some of them were doctors that I work with!! They're all dancing divas and studs {couldn't think of a d word for the men}. Here's one of the videos. All the video {and they're good} can be found {here}.....{I love the line dances}.

35mm rocks!

 

{disney's electrical parade}

i do miss film, this photo is scanned, so not as vivid, but i know that i could never capture this much color at night {the pro's maybe, but not me}.  i'm thinking about dusting off my canon for a little while...it's just horrible having to wait {sometimes days} to see your pictures!!!

Food Glorious Food..{Soloist Kennedy}

tonight was kennedy's solo {but with another girl???} and she did great!! i am so proud of her desire and determination. she is definitely living up to her name...i've always felt kennedy was a strong name for a girl {woman} and so far it has proven to be right!!

we love you baby-girl and are so proud of all your accomplishments!!

miss bailey

 

you beat me on my birthday

is what kennedy said as she saw this picture

happy birthday mya

miss jocelyn mya turned 1!

The Lord's House

 

i was going through all my pictures from utah and i came across this picture taken from the joseph smith building.  look how the reflection of Jesus Christ is perfectly on the center tower {not sure if they're called towers}.....amazing!!

DIY Wedding: Catherine

DIY Wedding: Catherine & Hans (Part 1)

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too cute!

this is jocelyn's dog & he and daniel became friends at her birthday party. i love the tenderness daniel has for dogs. he's always loved dogs.

rock on lavon!

this is my grandma howard & lavon. technically he's my grandpa, but i just met him this winter when we were in utah and it feels a little weird calling him "grandpa". he's a quiet man and still has a very keen mind. he turned 100 a few weeks ago!

congratulations & happy 100th birthday!!

siblings

i love these two pictures. my dad and his brothers and sisters went through so much in their childhood. the top picture was taken in 1966 and how great it is to be able to take another picture with all 5 siblings again in 2006.

disneyland + angels = unforgettable

meet grace. she has leukemia.

me and kennedy were at disneyland for kennedy's birthday & we were walking by it's a small world from the train & noticed the parade was about to start so we decided to stay & watch. we were lucky & got front street seating. as we were waiting i turned around and noticed a cute little girl in a wheelchair & her mother standing behind her holding a younger little girl. i thought to go tell the mom to bring the little girl up front where i was standing, but i didn't act on it. then a few minutes later i turned around & noticed that they had moved a little further over & behind more people...that's when i put my purse down to save my seat and told kennedy "stay here and save our seats, i'm going to get a little girl in a wheelchair", something must have told kennedy to agree, becasue she didn't question, she just said "ok". i walked over to the mom and tapped her on the back and told her that i had a space up front for her daughter. i really didn't give her much time to think and i probably took her completely off guard, but she agreed and grace had a front row seat.

i have to give the disney parade cast huge kudos because they really made an effort to make grace feel special. the dancers would wave to her, the characters would make contact with her, she was given props to participate with... it was awesome. gracie's mom said "that is so sweet" and started to cry. i then too began to cry. we laughed and determined "it's a mom thing". we didn't say anything during the parade and when it ended i asked her if she had a blog, and we exchanged blog addresses {funny how first it was home phone numbers, then cell phone numbers, then it was email addresses and now blog addresses}. i don't know why i was to meet this family, but i am so glad that i listened to the promptings of the spirit.

this is gracie's story.

...about this time 10 years ago

it's now 12:27am & about this time 10 years ago tyler was asleep in his bed & trinidad was asleep in the bed {because if i was having this baby tonight, he needed to get some sleep????} anyway back to the harp music.. i had been contracting for about 5 hours and they were getting closer apart {we lived in colton & the hospital was in fontana} & i knew we needed to leave really soon, so i went to the kitchen & packed tyler a little cooler of snacks & went upstairs & put my make-up on, then woke my two boys up. as we were leaving, trinidad called our mom's & said something like... "we're leaving for the hospital, but i'll call you if we're actually going to deliver, we don't know, it might be a false alarm"...it was may 12th and my due date was may 12th, i was having this baby! holy moly did the pain start & of course i didn't have all the paper work complete so as i was laboring i was also signing my name on every stinkin' 500 pages of the admission papers. we finally got to the room & our mother's were wise enough to come to the hospital {or trinidad actually had to call them to get down there becasue tyler wasn't old enough to be in the room & there was no one to take care of him outside of the room..don't know, i was in a lot of pain} anyways, i was swollen so they wouldn't give me anything & i was mad at myself because i wasn't tolerating the paid very well {i remember being in the restroom asking myself "what's wrong with you!?!?!? calm down & handle the pain, you can do this!!} & i missed the epidural window because i was now over 7, so they gave me this stupid drug that didn't take the pain away it just made it to where i couldn't open my eyes...then they wanted me to sit up, hold my legs up, push down.. all this bologna... i'm in pain & i can't open my eyes, i'm not doing anything...so the nurse & trinidad held everything wherever it was to be held & i pushed. then they wheeled me to the delivery room where..hello there was a mirror...who wants to see that?? not me. i remember complaining that it hurt so bad & the nurse tells me as soon as she comes out the pain will go away. that's all i needed to hear, i worked up a scream {i know, drama huh...i was hurting, leave me alone} {this is how i remember it anyway} & gave 1 big scream & 1 hard push & she came flying out!! & yes the pain went away & yes she had dimples just like her brother. see her story below...

happy birthday baby girl!

mother's day

this is not me
&

this is not me {although i do love the flower}
&

i don't have any of these around the house
&

this is not my house {but i'd love it to be}
&

these are not my friends.
&

I BELIEVE THIS TO BE TRUE!!!

i am a woman that is trying her best to be a good example to her kids. i don't have the cleanest house, i don't cook the homemade meals, i don't bake all the goodies, i don't wear an apron, i have no desire to do yard work, i don't sew, i don't can my own fruits... i could go on, but i'm starting to cry.

i do love my children, i do give them hugs everyday, i do tell them that i love them 15,000 times a day, i do make sure they have food to eat, i do make sure their clothes are always clean & ironed (yes, even the jeans), i care for them when they are sick, i do try to make it to all the school field trips, i do take lots of pictures & always try to capture the "first" moments - regardless of age, i {we} do everything within our means {and sometimes out of our means} to give our children the tools to succeed, our children never have to "want" {some people call that spoiled, but rest assured my kids do not act like spoiled brats}, we do show the importance of attending church each week and taking the sacrament, we do take family vacations, we do take a family picture at least 3 times a year, we do laugh together, we do cry together, we do pray together {need to work on this a little more}, we are an eternal family.

........i guess i'm not doing so bad after all.

p.s... thanks to the white sequoia driving on the 10 east fwy approaching archibald at appx. 2:48pm on sunday {mother's day}, may 10th, that gave me a bird for mother's day because he did not check his side mirror or his blind spot before trying to switch lanes & had he done what he was suppose to do he would have seen that i had already moved into that lane! then when i kindly alerted him with a long horn sound, he kindly gave me my gift....{jerk}

happy to be a mom...

mother's day this year was just odd {i'll post later}. here's what makes me thankful to be a mother:


these moments


...& these


...& these


...& these


....& these too


...& these


...& these


...ohhh, & these too


...so proud, love these


...& these too, but most of all.......


THIS MOMENT!