Sweet Breakfast

It seems like I am always talking about food in my blog but anyway this is a sweet post. This morning I woke up at around 6:00am to see Gillian and Savannah fully dresses for school and in the kitchen making breakfast for the family. They made scrambled eggs and cinnamon toast and served Jason and I breakfast in bed. How sweet are they. I am not sure if they planned this in advance or just woke up early and decided to make breakfast for everyone but it was the nicest thing. I love my girls!

Wicked Saturday

Yesterday we had a big surprise for Savannah. Months ago she had said she wanted to go see Wicked the musical for her birthday. I had went online to get the tickets but they weren't selling them yet for the dates around her birthday. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get them or not so I told her don't count on going but we can still go to Hollywood if she wanted. She said yes and that was the end of it. So when I finally was able to get tickets Jason and I decided not to say anything to her and it would be a surprise while we were down in Hollywood we would pop the tickets out right before the show started. The plan worked perfectly.

Her first stop on our Hollywood trip was Pink's hot dogs. Our family loves Pink's. Well everyone does. The line is all the way around the block just to eat these hot dogs. It is worth it though. It is a little shack that has been in Hollywood for about 70 years. They started as a hot dog cart that serviced the celebrities at the studios which are all near by. It evolved to a little store and they still honor all the stars by having their autographed photos all over the restaurant.


Chyna and Gillian prefer the hamburgers which are just as delicious as the hot dogs.

Gillian can barely wrap her mouth around that hamburger.

Savannah excited to get her mouth around that Pink's hot dog. She is a traditional mustard and ketchup girl.

Jason goes all out. He got the Millennium Dog which is a 12" jalapeno dog with tomatoes, chili, guacamole, grilled onions, lettuce and bacon. Needless to say he was pretty full for awhile after that.

So this is us giving Savannah her last gift. She was so excited.

The girls hanging out on the balcony in the theater.


All of us in front of the theater.

The girls excited getting ready to go in.

Our final stop before heading home was Universal Studio's City Walk. It is always a lot of fun to go there and people watch. We went to Ben and Jerry's and then walked around for a bit. Then it was time to head home. It was such a fun day hanging out with the girls. They are so much fun. And of course Wicked, I have seen it three times now but I could see it another million. It is the best show I have seen so far. For my birthday I want to go see Wicked too... in New York.

Happy Birthday Savannah!

Today is Savannah's 9th birthday. We celebrated in her class today and then she went to see High School Musical 3 and dinner with her grandma. Tomorrow we are celebrating and there will be big surprises for her so I will post about it Sunday.

Welcome Ayden Jade

We have a new addition to our family! Jeff and Monica had a baby girl on Sunday, Oct 19th at 12:14 pm. Her name is Ayden Jade Manriquez and she weighed 6lb. 10oz. We haven't been able to see her yet but here are the pictures. She looks absolutely adorable and I know Kaylee is going to be a great big sis!

Cool Weather

Finally the cool weather has come in at least for this weekend. So we decided to head outside and have some family fun. On Friday while the girls were at school we took Gabriel to the zoo. His favorite animals are the Bengal Tigers and the Crocodiles. Neither of those were visible while we were there but he had a great time anyway.



Jason and Gabriel with the Giraffes. It was funny because he knew every name to every animal, even the less common ones. Thanks to Go Diego Go!
Then on Saturday we went over to the Big Fresno Fair. I love the fair. Actually Jason has a joke for me that whenever I see a tent I get excited. He's right I don't care what it is you put a tent or canopy up and it equals fun. This actually is a fun fair. I love the animals, food, shows, etc.
For the past few years my nephew Eric has been in FFA and has had an animal at the fair. This year he raised a cow, steer well I don't know what you call it. I like to think of him as Filet Mignon. This is him and the kids petting and feeding him. Savannah loved him she would stay with the animals the whole time. I don't think we will tell her that we are going to eat him because she might become a vegetarian again.
Jason even got to meet Sarah Palin, she didn't have much to say but she does take a good picture.
I also took the girls to the Demi Lovato concert at the fair while Jason and Gabriel went to the horse track. It was a really fun weekend.

11 Years Deserves a Relaxing Weekend

Well this past weekend Jason and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. We decided to head over to the central coast. We stayed in a bed and breakfast (our first one ever, Desna should be so proud) only because the reviews were so great and it turned out to be fantastic. We had the master suite so it was two floors the bedroom and the attic which they made into a living room with a private bath. I don't share baths with strangers so that was a must. The owner was great and they had a cook who made the neatest breakfasts and she was very funny. She also made homemade fudge that she put out everyday. So we really enjoyed the B and B.

Splash Cafe is always our first stop when we head to Pismo Beach. Of course our families know all about it but to our friends this is a MUST when you come to California. They have the Best clam chowder. You can even buy it at Costco now but I like the original restaurant.

We made a great find on the trip and that was Jocko's Steakhouse. Or should I say Jocko's Cocktails. It is this little dive bar looking thing that we would never attempt to go in if everyone didn't talk about how good the food was. The Inn keeper made us a reservation for Saturday night and it was by far the best steak I or Jason have ever eaten. I don't know if you can tell by the picture but the steak is a good 1 1/2" if not thicker and I ordered the small. We had never heard of it before but I saw some reviews on the internet and then once we got down there everyone was talking about it. People were waiting up to 4 hours stand by just to eat there. Luckily we had reservations. The people were looking at me weird taking this picture but I wanted to share it with everyone.

Our weekend was so relaxing, of course we did a lot more than just eat but good food is always a plus. We walked along the beach, went to Solvang, ( a Danish town) went to the movies and basically just did whatever WE wanted to. Something we don't get to do usually.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I want to tell my mom happy birthday. She is always there for me when I need help with the kids, someone to talk to, or advice. She has never turned me down for anything I have asked of her. She is a wonderful mother, grandmother and friend.

Donuts With Dad

The Friday before last the school had its annual donuts with dad. The kids were able to take Jason to school with them and have breakfast together. They are always so excited to bring him to school and show off their dad.

Vegas, Again

Well this past weekend we headed back to Vegas. This time it was to celebrate our Uncle Jim's 50th birthday. Many from Jason's family were going so we thought it would be fun to spend some time with them. Friday night we spent at Mark's house where we had dinner, cake and ice cream.

After that we all headed over to Fremont Street. I had never been there before so I was excited. The lights and music were cool but to me it wasn't that great.
Saturday was fun. We took all the kids over to Circus Circus to ride rides and then headed down the strip to eat lunch. I wanted everyone to go to Pink's Hot Dogs that was located in Planet Hollywood. Once we got all the way down there we found out by a casino employee it didn't even exist so we ate at Earl of Sandwich; which by the way is DELICIOUS! As we were walking out of the casino Jason spotted the Pink's stand. But it didn't have the same menu as Hollywood's so it was okay. (Maybe the staff should memorize a map of their casino)

This was all of us at Luxor. We walked all the way down there from Treasure Island and then all the way back. The kids did great with all that walking. Jason and Justin decide to go to the sports book and check on the Fresno State game so Lesa and I took the kids up to make this Vegas video. Here is a still picture from it. They had so much fun and were so cute doing it.
We had a good dinner with the whole family Saturday night at Mandalay Bay and then headed back down the strip to Circus Circus. The kids rode more rides until midnight and then we went back and passed out. I tell you I was so exhausted from that whole trip that I slept in until 3:30pm Monday. It was a good time though.

Thanks to Wolfe's for again letting us crash at their house.

Is It Fall Yet?

Okay, I have to admit I am a bit tired of summer. I do not like heat at all. So since this past week our temperatures have dropped below 90 degrees I am pretending it is fall. I have already started decorating my home and now I am decorating my blog in autumn colors. I love this time of year. I start gearing up for all the holidays to come; there is just so much to look forward to the rest of the year.
Anyway we are leaving for Las Vegas in the morning so I will post all about our trip when I get home. I hope you all like the new blog.

Happy Birthday Gabriel!

Today is Gabriel's actual 3rd birthday and what a joy it has been to be this little guy's mom. He is absolutely the cutest, smartest, funniest, most adorable child anyone could have. ( I might be a little bias ) I would like to share some pictures over the last three years, I hope you all enjoy.

It all started Sept. 17th, 2005, he was two weeks late so I had to be induced and he still didn't want to come out. By the time he was born he looked like a two month old. He had the biggest head I've ever seen on a baby (ouch!!) and weighed 8 lb. 14 oz.

Here is Gabriel's first trip to Disneyland. All the kids have Mickey ears from their very first time. (4 weeks)

Two months old, he was blessed by his daddy in The Sanger (Ca) Ward.

10 months old, this is his very first swimsuit on his first 4th of July.

Gabriel's 1st birthday. He devoured that whole cake.

Pismo Beach, Ca ( eating sand optional )

His 2nd birthday, Thomas the Train party.

2 1/2 swimming in Las Vegas, NV. This was his favorite pastime all summer.






What a big boy he has grown in to. I no longer see my little chubby faced baby, but a little man who is so loving and rambunctious. I only look forward to the years to come and feel so blessed to be his mommy.

Gabriel's Party

Last night we had Gabriel's 3rd birthday party. All of his aunts,uncles, grandparents, and cousins came. Gabriel had been looking forward to this party for weeks. This was the first year he really understood what was going on. He picked out his own cake and was excited about presents. All week if I would tell him "I love you", he would reply with "I don't love you, I love presents." I was worried he was going to be greedy and unthankful but he opened each present posed with it and said "thank you". He is a little sweetheart. He had a great time and passed out around midnight after the final guests had gone home. Here are a few pictures of the highlights at his party. Notice the picture of Gabriel and his cousin Luke(3), they decided to ditch the party and go around to the side of the house and play in mud from the garden hose. I guess that was funner than the bounce house.

Nascar

So last weekend Jason, my dad, and my brother Adrian all went down to Fontana to watch the Nascar Race. They had a good time checking out all the cool stuff and concerts and then of course watching the race.I sent my camera with him but the battery was dead once he got there so this is the only picture I have of the trip. Jason even had a few fans take pictures with him so they could say they met JR. People always tell him how much he looks like JR. What do you think?

Takes Me Back...

Well today I turned on "The View" and guess who's back... New Kids On The Block. I heard them sing a few songs and they are actually still good at least in my opinion (the song playing is one of their new ones) Then if that was not good enough tonight the new 90210 starts. I feel like I am twelve years old again. They always say what's old is new again... I can't be old yet, can I?

Finally....

School has begun. The summer has been chaotic but all in all we had fun and I am thankful that I am able to stay home with them. But it was time for school to start because the girls were getting on each others nerves. We have had a lot of girl fights lately. The girls were so excited to get back into school and see their friends again. The house was so quiet today Gabriel even took a nap which he hasn't done in months.
Anyway Chyna started the fifth grade today, Savannah started fourth grade, and Gillian started first grade. When we got to school I could barely take a picture of Chyna and Savannah before they were off to find friends, but Gillian of course let me take her to her class and give her a kiss good bye. She's my mama's girl.