On The (Long) Road Again

This past weekend, we took a drive to visit my in-laws.

They are not just a hop, skip, and jump away. More like five hours if you don't stop for gas, and if there is no traffic.

We left on a weeknight, and it was smooth sailing! My three youngest ones drove up with my sis in-law, so that took away 3/4 of the noise in our truck!

But, regardless of the long drive, we had a really nice, relaxing visit! 

The town they live in is super small, and you hardly hear any noise in their neighborhood. Unlike where we live!!

Here are Veronica & Eli just chillin' on the porch swing. It's so nice to sit there at night when the stars are out, and all you can hear are their wind chimes.

It was SO BRIGHT outside, so my husband did this on purpose when I tried to take a picture of us!

The little ones (as we call them), getting ready to go swimming at the community pool with my mother & sister in-law!!

We took the big kids with us, and got us THESE!! My son opted out of having one. Really? In almost 100 degree weather??!! Who does that?

We started to get a little hungry, and we came across this little HOLE IN THE WALL Mexican stand. When my husband was ordering, I looked up to see what the place was called, and I was like, "Whoa!! Look at that!!" John 3:16!! And they were even playing Christian music!! Loved it!

Carne Asada Tacos!

After we took a drive around the town, we went back to my in-laws and relaxed. Later that night, we were meeting the rest of the family at a local restaurant! Doesn't this highway look fun?

Here are my kids with their cousin, Matthew! Gotta love my daughters expressions!

And this was the morning we left! My husband in the front between his parents, and the kids in between his brother and sister!! Love this picture!!

Virginia Is For Lovers

When my sister and I were kids, we had t-shirts with those exact words on the front! Oh, and it also had a big red heart! I loved that shirt!

And that really does describe how I feel about Virginia. That's where I was born, that's where my grandparents live, where my FAVORITE Aunt lives, and many more relatives from my mother's side of the family.

All my memories from Virginia are wonderful ones. Even though we never lived there, I can't help but feel like I am "home" when I walk into my grandparents house.

I love to share the stories of my times in Virginia with my children, in hopes that they could somehow get a glimpse of what I felt at the time.

I don't think they'll ever get it! But, that's okay. They can experience it for themselves.

Our plan (Lord willing) is to take a vacation there next summer. I am looking forward to it already. Just spending the little time I had with them and my Aunt this week made me realize how much I miss them. My Aunt is truly an original! She can make the shyest person come out of their shell (or scare them to death). LOL! But, she always has good intentions, and it's a total understatement when I say she is the life of the party!

While they were here visiting in California this week, we went to a couple of places with them! Of course, eating is always involved.

Here is my youngest with my mom and my grandparents. They look WONDERFUL for being 90 and 92 years old! God has been good to them!!

Here we are!! Ready to eat!! The almost hour long wait was worth it!

The day before they left back home, my Aunt & Grandparents treated us to The House Of Prime Rib. I've posted about it on my blog before. It's a wonderful prime rib restaurant in the city, and their PR is to die for!! It was their first time there, and they enjoyed it! Here is my mom, my aunts girlfriend, and my aunt!!

Here's the infamous prime rib cart!! It goes to each room, and they personally cut it for you right there!

Oh yah, baby! Medium well..end cut!! Deeelish!

A CAMPING THEY WILL GO...

The key word being "THEY"...

Do you recall my post last Monday when I said that we were going camping that Friday?

Do you remember how I wasn't that thrilled about going, but I was going to suck it up and go with a great attitude?

Well, it turns out that I didn't have to...

My youngest son Daniel still had a phlegmy cough, so we decided it was best that he stay home and get better before he gets worst (picture me with a big smile on my face, fist in the air, and saying, "YESSS!")

He was a little bummed out that he couldn't go, so I had to make sure he had a good time with me! Remember, he is my "BOYS BOY" and he would love nothing more than to be in dirt all weekend!

Of course, I had to take a picture of all of them before they left. And I don't know what's up with my oldest sons face..lol. I don't know if he's still half asleep or if the sun's in his eyes?

"Peace out!"

Saying his goodbye to Mocha! Can you see her through the holes?

All packed up and ready to go!

Bikes on!

"Please...can I just go???" Just kidding, he wasn't doing that. He was just being silly!

So long, farewell...until we meet again!! In other words..."C-YA!!"

Of course, I wanted to make the most of mine and Daniel's alone time together, so we had this to look forward to later on!

And the next day, we did this! We saw #12 (Night At The Museum) with my mom. The movie was really cute! Better than the first one, in my opinion! Alot more action!

Danny & my mom before the movie. He was saying, "No more pictures..no more pictures!" LOL

So, overall, it was a QUIET, RELAXING weekend!

FRIDAY PHOTO FLASHBACK

I love taking pictures of my family, and I have so many from my pre-digital camera days! So, every Friday, I plan on scanning an old photo and sharing about it! I'm having so much doing this, so if you would like to join me, let me know so I could see your Friday Photo Flashback!

Now, I'm taking this WAY BACK! Back to when watching home videos consisted of a reel to reel and a pop up screen! Yup, that's how we did it back then! I have to say that my dad was way into technology because he was taping us since my sister was a baby...back in 1967!!! In the early 80's (when VCR's came out), we converted all those reel to reel tapes onto VHS! Those movies are PRICELESS to me! I don't know how many of my friends have video footage from the time there were babies, back in 1969!! Anyway, this picture is probably around 1972'ish. Can you tell we were at Marine World??!! That is my dad with me on his left..you know, by his cigarette..LOL..total 70's, right? My sister on his right, my aunt behind my sister, and my mom behind me with the cool shades and headband!! For those of you who may remember, this was around the Sonny & Cher era!!

GOOD TIMES!

RANDOM PICTURE CHALLENGE

I think this is so fun! I'm not sure if this is going to be a weekly meme by 4 Little Men and Girly Twins, but I hope so!

All you do is go to your May folder and post the 21st picture! Pretty easy, if you ask me! She even has Mr. Linky set up! You should just check her blog out anyway. Her kids are totally beautiful, and she does NOT look like she has 6 kids!!

Well, I clicked on my May folder, and can you believe I only had like 10 pictures in it! This was so pre-blogging addiction! Anyway, I got a little creative. I just counted my pictures over and over till I ended at 21!! Okay, I need to get a life! This is the picture I ended up stopping on!!

This was in Nevada last year when we were visiting my in-laws. That is my son Eli wrestling with my nephew Matthew in the backyard! Can you tell who is winning? GO ELI!! YOOHOO!!

GIRLS NIGHT OUT!

Well, not what you think, and not really "out" as in the literal sense of the word!! My eldest daughter decided to build a fort last night in the living room. She put some chairs together and draped blankets over and around it. She even made it comfy inside by adding more blankets and stuffed animals. On top of that she had bottled water and fruit snacks in case we got hungry! That's my girl! Of course, it was an "all girls fort", so no boys allowed, not even to peek in!

She was trying to talk me into staying home from my bible study so I could just stay in the fort with her and Veronica. I told her I'd be back before she knew it, and I PROMISED I would go back in the fort with them! When I was "all ready" to join them, I made hot cocoa for us and I let them have some other snacks. Might as well go all out, right? I kept telling them to keep it down so the boys wouldn't come out and want to see what we were up to. Is that mean? Anyway, we started taking pictures of us in the fort with my cell phone. My camera flash on my cell is so bright. It's literally like using a regular camera! We were laughing at alot of them because some of them came out so funky. We couldn't see when we were taking the pictures because it was too dark to make out our faces on the screen. Some of them had our body parts missing or chopped off, and in some of them our eyes are so squinty! I did endure, and slept in the fort ALL NIGHT. I woke up with a little ache in my back, but that's okay. I know my daughter was so happy that I did this with them! Honestly, so am I!! Moments like those are priceless!

My girls!

Trying to get a decent picture in the dark!

She had to approve the pictures of herself because she knew I was going to blog about it! Girls!

They wanted to take a picture that looked like they were sleeping!

MISS MY SIS...

Well, they left yesterday morning (exhale). I hate saying "good-byes!" It just so sad! They had a rental car so they were able to drive themselves to the airport. I think I'm a little more emotional this time because they spent the last few days with us and I got to see them 24/7. We can literally be around each other (w/ our kids) all the time and not get sick of it. That's how it was when we lived in Hawaii. I could just hang at her house and lose track of time. Her kids are like mine, and vice versa. On their last night we all went out to dinner to celebrate hers and my nephews birthday, and afterward just came home and talked till she ended falling asleep. Just typing this makes me tear up because I wish we could at least drive to each other's houses, but I don't think any bridges will be built from California to Hawaii anytime soon...sigh.

So, here are some of the last shots of us at dinner! I even recorded our two youngest playing because they are just so cute together!

The four older kids. My daughter making faces again!The four younger ones! Part of my hubby on the left, and brother in law on the right.

She was giving him the death stare because he took her crayons!
Happy Birthday!L-R: My sis, my daughter, my mom, me, & my youngest daughter.

They love their little cousin Nicky!

BFF'S! They're only a few months apart, but she totally "mother's" him, and he likes it!! It's so funny!

YOU'RE GONNA MISS THIS MOMENT-FAMILY

My sister and her family are on their last leg of their vacation. They've been in Northern and Southern California since November and are going back to their depressing state of Hawaii (cha, right!) on Wednesday. It's a little chaotic right now, to say the least. The fireplace room is filled with their luggage and many extra things they got while they were here! We exchanged gifts last night and I made a last minute cake for my nephew since it was his birthday last week! It's cute to see the older kids do their own thing (video games of course) while our two youngest play with each other! We're going to miss them when they leave in a couple of days! I'm just glad that our two youngest are bonding exactly like our older kids did when they were little!!! I'm going to miss these kinds of moments, when all our kids are young and all they want to do is spend time together..and not worry about anything else.

They said that they were each other's BFF!! Aww!

They acted like it was their birthdays!

My nephew Noah who just turned 12. I know..how cheesy with the cake pan! It was last minute, remember??? It was oh so good! Strawberry cake with white frosting. I only had Christmas sprinkles left over, but I thought, what the heck, his birthday was the day after Christmas anyway!

CHRISTMAS IS NOT OVER YET!

My mom was supposed to come to our house on Christmas day, but she ended up getting sick. So, because of that, we planned on getting together at her place on Sunday afternoon to exchange gifts. My mom is so awesome. She became a single mom when my sister and I were 10 & 12 years old. When I think back, I took her for granted so many times. I know she did the best she knew how, and I can only imagine how hard it must have been for her. Now as a mother myself, I am able to totally appreciate the sacrifices she made for us. She is really close to my children! They call her "mama", as do my nephews. She really is a great grandma (mama)!

Here is my mom beginning to open the gift that my son Eli made. He made an art easel at Home Depot, and made an ornament painting at Michael's. He decided he wanted to give this to her.

She realizes it is something he made, and she is so touched by it. She LOVES handmade gifts!
She's getting emotional. And look at my two older kids on the right, whispering to each other because they knew she was going to get teary eyed!! We got a couple of more things for her, but I don't know why I didn't take pictures of her opening them! One of them was the Mama Mia DVD which she totally loved! She was hoping I would get it for her. She's been waiting for it to come out on DVD. Now, if you are paying attention..you'll notice they are now wearing different clothes. My mom got them new outfits & Target gift cards! They loved it all!
They were having fun playing War, and then I think the boys started to cheat! Look at their grins, and look at my daughter's expression! She's so not down with that! Can you see Veronica's frustration as she's "checking" out their cards! LOL

It was a great afternoon/early evening spent with my mom. My hubby ended up working today, so he missed it! But, we still have two more Christmas exchanges coming up! My in-laws will be here tomorrow through Wednesday morning, and my sister and her family will be back her next Friday! Fun times ahead!!