Friends
kiddie birthdays
April 2, 2012
We were invited to our very first kiddie birthday party (outside of our family… at least that I can remember). It was Bentley’s first birthday, which means that Graciela got to go to a birthday party for the very first time.
And she wasn’t even scared of him this time around.
bowling
February 23, 2012
I discovered two things last weekend when we went bowling with some friends.
1) I am a much happier bowler if I use the bumpers and avoid gutter balls every frame.
2) Graciela is afraid of boys
our fabulous easter
April 25, 2011
Our friends, Mike and Suzy, invited us over to their place for Easter this year. Luis and I definitely prefer spending holidays with friends/family so we were very grateful that they included us as part of their family. (Luis even commented at how familiar it felt having the Spanish-speaking grandmas there).
The afternoon started out with apps (as in appetizers, not iphone apps). I didn’t even think to take a picture, but Suzy had a wonderful spread going, and I made pão de queijo to add to the mix.
I had fun coloring Easter eggs
And Luis had fun teasing me
Following some wii-ing, we sat down to this amazing spread.
No, I didn’t upload the wrong picture, and your eyes are not deceiving you. We did not have ham for Easter. Instead, we had (clockwise from the top) salad, potatoes, rice, salmon, carne asada, and grilled vegetables. I didn’t get a picture of it, but dessert consisted of 4 delicacies: a sugar-free trifle, chocolate cake, banana cream pie, and/or tiramisu.
And I can’t forget to mention the cute little Easter basket Aunt Suzy sent over for Graciela. When I told Suzy she didn’t need to get anything for our unborn child, she responded, “It is not her fault she’s not born yet.”
Just dance
April 21, 2011
Our neighbors (the Bindrups) were so impressed by what the Wii could do (thanks to our Rock Band party), they decided it would be a perfect Easter present for the entire family! So, last night, they invited Natalia & I over to help debut their system by playing Just Dance 2.
It’s a super fun game (and really gets your heart beating). I was sweating for like 20 minutes after I was done dancing!
What was that? You want to see me dance to “Hey Ya” by Outkast? … Well, okay… here’s a minute’s worth of entertaining dancing by yours truly!
our family & friends weekend
April 20, 2011
This past weekend will be dubbed “Our Family & Friends Weekend.” Instead of breaking this down into a bunch of different posts over the next few days, Luis and I are just going to knock out the whole weekend in one sitting. So sit back, relax, and hey, at least we took pictures with something other than our iPhones so we aren’t forcing you to stare at a ton of blurry pictures.
Luis: We drove up to Provo on Friday night after Natalia got off of work. We got up there really late and Natalia wasn’t feeling too great so she went straight to bed. I, on the other hand, immediately went to catch the tail end of my friend Brent’s birthday. (If you recall this post)
Natalia: The following day was kicked off with breakfast at Kneaders with Luis’ cousin, Eduardo. Kneaders has some awesome all-you-can-eat french toast, made with their own thick, cinnamon swirl bread. My only gripe is that they charge an extra $1.50 if you want more strawberries and whipped cream for your 2nd helping of french toast.
Luis: Vultures!
SATURDAY
Luis: After breakfast, we were off to help Natalia’s younger brother move into his first apartment. It was quite the family event!
Natalia: Two trips to Walmart later (and a Hobby Lobby visit), we met up with almost the whole family for our “early dinner.” We heard that Gloria’s Little Italy was a great restaurant that served gnocchi, and in my family we LOVE gnocchi.
Natalia: The food was a little over-priced, but the gnocchi did not disappoint.
Luis: I was saving myself for our “later dinner” and decided to go with the bruschetta.
Luis: We literally went straight from one restaurant to the next. Our “later dinner” was at one of our favorites, Goodwood.
Natalia: I had tried planning a little surprise birthday celebration for Luis and Brent. I told Brent it was a surprise for Luis, but I didn’t mention anything about including him in the festivities (despite the fact that Brent’s actual birthday had been the night before). I told Luis we were just going to meet up with friends for dinner. Unfortunately for me, Luis hacked into my facebook and saw that I had been messaging Brent, and I don’t think Brent really got that the party was for both of them. So it was kind of a flop. But regardless, they each got a big poster with their friends’ birthday wishes, we watched a bunch of YouTube videos about them, and had lots of dessert (which no one really ate).
Luis: A) I didn’t HACK into anything. It was an accident that I happened to see Natalia’s message… I know that sounds fishy, but I happened to be on Natalia’s computer and she happened to leave Facebook open. ANYWAY. I hacked nothin! B) The party was NOT a flop! I loved it! We all had a great time! I appreciate having a wife who went to so much trouble just to make me happy. :)
SUNDAY
Luis: Sunday. The day of rest. Unless it is family weekend, in which case there is not much resting to do. The morning started off with breakfast at the Roger’s (my 2nd family) with one of my good childhood friends and my cousin.
Natalia: From there it was straight to church. We were late and my two little nieces almost had to watch themselves during sacrament meeting.
Luis: And then it was back to Flavio and Niki’s house to ooh and aaah over their new baby, Eva, (she’s absolutely precious) and have a delicious dinner.
Natalia: For those who don’t know, my parents and younger siblings live in Hawaii. With the distance and expense of travel, we rarely see everyone all at the same time. So it was such a fun experience to have everyone under the same roof again. This hasn’t happened since our Hawaii vacation nearly 2 years ago.
Natalia: I have to post this picture.
Luis: Please don’t.
Natalia: Lia had just awoken from a nap. Luis kept waving to her, and she said (in her cute little pouty voice), “I don’t like that.” Luis, being the teasing uncle that he is, kept doing it. At which point Lia bursts into tears.
Luis: I immediately hid from shame.
Natalia: I laughed.
Natalia: And that, my friends, is the end of our family weekend. As soon as we had finished dinner, Luis and I got in the car and made the 6-hour drive home. We didn’t get home until midnight, which kind of threw off my sleeping schedule, but you know what? It was totally worth it. Can’t wait until we do it again.
My Happiest Moment
April 16, 2011
While living at the Branbury, our friend Larkin introduced us to a little thing called “the Happiest Moment game” which consisted of sharing your happiest moment of the day while around the dinner table. In honor of this traditional game, I’m starting a blog feature around this idea.
So, I’ll start off by sharing my happiest moment of the week:
Yesterday we arrived in Provo around 11:30 pm and were in time to catch the tail end Brent’s birthday celebration.
I had turned on Google Latitude on my phone, which allowed them to track my exact location as we were getting closer. So when I pulled into Brent’s parking lot I wasn’t too surprised when I saw Brent descending the stairs to his apartment.
With a warm greeting and a hug, he welcomed me… Then Spencer shuffled out of the apartment… Followed by Kelvin & Jilleun… Then Brent’s sister Rachel and his husband Joe. All greeted with hugs!! Inside Todd and Brandon waited to welcome me back. Everyone was saying how they’d been tracking my progress for the past half hour.
It felt really good to feel so warmly welcomed and appreciated. I haven’t felt the awesomeness of these friends for months and it was great to feel it again!
This has been a Happiest Moment.
The Schoolmate’s Birthday
April 15, 2011
Remember this kid?
He’s my “schoolmate” and he turns 27 today!
Happy Birthday SM!
Four years ago, when Natalia and I were single, we threw an epic Luau-themed birthday party for Brent, as evidenced here:
To watch the full episode of THE PLACE where this clip comes from click here.
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