It's the Journey...: January 2011

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Thanksgiving at the Beach - Thanksgiving Day & Group Photo

Take #1 without the kids...

I think this was the most successful photo that we had the automatic timer function take of us. We wanted to take a pretty scenic photo out by the beach, but on the day that we went to take the photo, it was so windy and cold! Oh well, this did the trick! It was an awesome week! As if you can't tell that from the millions of photos that I have posted! :) Well, this blog helps me to remember everything down the road, so hope I haven't bored you with so many pics of one vacation! :)

This was on Thursday, Thanksgiving day with us all sitting down, waiting to dig into the yummy buffet dinner!

Molly (Julio's sister), Scott (Brother in law) and Scott's son Addison who all drove over from Fayettville, NC with Molly and Scott coming from St. Louis originally for the big birthday week! We had Aunt Judy and Uncle Henry from Saturday until Wednesday and Molly, Scott and Addison from Thursday until Saturday.

Group shot minus Ayden down on the water front pier on Thanksgiving! We were walking off all the food! Ayden was too busy to come take a photo, go figure! :)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Thanksgiving at the Beach - Granny's Birthday Dinner!

After the sand dune park, we ended up at one of the popular local mexican restaurants in town, which was pretty yummy and festive for the occasion of Granny's birthday!

And the kids swoop in to "share" Granny's birthday dessert! :)

We got back to the house and presented Granny with the homemade birthday cake that we had made that morning. It was a chocolate cake with white/vanilla frosting, which is her favorite and again, a family recipe.

Here is Granny reading the special poem (a birthday gift) that Julio (Pancho) wrote for her from all of us! We framed it for her as a keepsake.

Added to this bunch is a cute pic of Aunt Judy and Uncle Henry, which I had them pose for so that I can put it up in the frame that has been waiting for a photo on my family photo wall in the living room! :) Now I just have to print this photo out and put in in the frame! Baby steps! :)

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Thanksgiving at the Beach - Sand Dunes Part 2!

We were TRYING to have Papi take a family shot but because we had a 2 year old that didn't nap...there wasn't going to be a photo with us all actually looking at the camera! Oh well!

Love them!

The sunset at the sand dune park was AMAZING! This photo doesn't really do it justice!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Thanksgiving at the Beach - Sand Dunes!

Later in the day after the park (waiting for the car tire to be fixed) and the trip that the others made to the Wright Brothers Museum, we headed over to Jockey Ridge State Park, which is basically one big giant sand dune! The kids loved it and it was a pretty warm night!

They say the cutest things...

10.09 - Teacher at preschool: "Ayden, where are you from? (during Celebrating Cultures Week at preschool)

Ayden: "I am half of a Puerto Rican!"

6.1.09 - Ayden over dinner tonight, "I love these Rolly Ollies!" (Ravioli's)

1.22.09 - Ayden: "Mom, upstairs I heard God talking in my heart!"

1.19.09 - Ayden: "I am a scientist at legos cause I have a creative brain to make them."

12.21.08 - Ayden: "I am a really good expert!"

"Israel is not in the United States, but it is still on the Earf (Earth)!"

"When baby Gabriel was born from your tummy...let's be grateful that God gave us a baby!"

6.6.08 - Ayden:"Spiderman and God have special powers...they can control the earth!"

I love how I have filled his head with the power of God! :) He (God) comes out in his thoughts as right up there with Spiderman. :)

5.13.08 - Conversations with Ayden:

Ayden: Mom, why is it cloudy out today?

Mom: Well, the sun is there, but it is behind the clouds.

Ayden: Oh, the sun is playing hide and seek!

5.7.08 - Ayden was getting ready for bed last night and he found his children's bible on the bathroom counter and recalled his "reading" from his nap/rest time that day. He said, "Jesus and God are our friends!" I said, "Yes, they are!" He proceeded to look at the cartoon photos on the front of the book and tried to guess who was Jesus. He pointed to Noah and said, "That is Jesus!" Then he pointed to Moses and said, "That is God!" I told him that God is not pictured there, that he is up in heaven. It did make me quite proud that he was reading his bible during rest time! :)

3.18.08 - Ayden and I were talking on the way to school and he was talking about where we were going and we had also just passed our church. He said, "Only I go to school and church." I said, "Well, Momma and Daddy go to church too, but we don't go to school anymore, we are all done with college, high school, grammer school and preschool." He replied with, "When I go to college, I can go to Stanford!" I laughed and said, "And when you graduate from Stanford, you can find a job like Daddy." He then said, "I can find a job at Stanford...I can do art or painting or stamps!"

This cracks me up, it is like a combination of what Daddy did (Stanford) and the things that Ayden and I do together (crafts, etc.)! I have to admit that we did feed him a line a few weeks ago about going to Stanford when he grows up! :)

2.27.08 - He also has been curious about more complex issues and concerning himself about the future. He said today, "When I am older, I will have hair on my cheek like Daddy." Another cute thought of his was, "Daddy has to work so that we can have toys, food and our house and other things." Of course he learns these things from us, but it is cute the way he processes them. :)

2.11.08 - I was putting Ayden to bed tonight after he read his books to me. He often does this because he memorizes how his favorite ones go and he reads them to himself or rather recites the sentences from memory. :) We were trying to quiet down, which is often difficult for Ayden to do (surprise, surprise!) and after sitting there for a few moments, he reminds me that we need to pray. I said, "Who do you want to pray for?" He said the usual folks and at the end, he said "And tank you for ebrebody in our wife (life)!" This is how he ends most nightly prayers.

Oh and by the way, Ayden went pee-pee on the potty all day today! Not just a small portion of the day. We are making slow progress!

2.6.08 - Ayden was helping me vacuum the stairs. He did the whole flight of them and when he got to the top, he said, "When you've got yuckies, you have to clean them up! Then you can have juice or water or somsing (something)."

It's the Journey...