Thursday, December 29, 2011

A Merry Little Christmas



It took me awhile to get into the Christmas spirit this year because I dislike the added traffic on the roads and in the stores, but once I started shopping I felt much better about it all. 


My favorite Christmas song is Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and this year it's lyrics fit my feelings perfectly. This is the first year I haven't been stressed or dreading Christmas. I had so much fun shopping for everyone and I was excited to be with family sharing memories and traditions. 


FRIDAY
My sister-in-law Susie and her family arrived from Cali on Friday. After work I went over to the Angulo's house to hang out and make tamales. I think it's great that we were all able to help and learn, because one day it will be us making Christmas dinner. 


Lani kneading the masa
Susie and Mama Angulo spread the masa on the husks. Stela, Leah, Jimmy, and I had an assembly line going for the meat, cheese, corn, chili and olives. 
Kids are never to young to be a part of the tradition.

SATURDAY
The festivities started Christmas Eve at the Vigil's house. Thanks Tiffany and Randy for doing dinner. The ham was delicious along with Tiffany's beautiful homemade cherry pie.




 Dinner was at 4PM, we were a little late because Jose wasn't home from work yet. I sent Tiffany a text to let her know we were running late. I was a little embarrassed by what I sent, but it was funny so I just wanted to add it on here so I can remember.



Here are a few more pictures. 





My family minus Bro. He had to go to work.  
I like how happy Randy looks :)

Next we stopped by a new friend's house where we snacked and had a few drinks. 
Jose, Keoki, & T

The family is growing so this year on the Angulo side the adults drew names to be more cost effective and to be able to spoil the kids. The tradition is to wait up until midnight and open gifts. We needed entertainment until then so we had a cookie decorating contest and rented a few PS3 Move video games.


I just wanted to show how things change. There is no longer a need for a recipe card I can just pull it up on my Google Docs.




For the past few years we haven't made it to midnight. This year we started around 11:00 PM. 

We were blessed with all these gifts. It took us two hours to open them all.
If you know me, you know I take a ton of pictures. So it was hard for me to only choose a few to post. Here are some of the best faces. 
New phone!
Jimmy is so funny. When he saw his new Nintendo DS3D he was so happy. He screamed "thank you, I love everyone!"
Janeece brings so much joy to everyone.
 She was taking care of her baby, just like mommy takes care of  her new baby brother. 
She liked the box more than her gifts
Leah got a new treasure chest
Jose gave Jimmy 5 lbs of chocolate
Stela is going to make some salsa in her new molcajete
Susie's sexy shoes
Jose got some fancy new chonies


Stela's sweet new baby


SUNDAY
Christmas morning we headed over the my parent's house for brunch. It was nice hanging out with the Sunday Crew. We missed Vero, Kurikuri, Keisha, Sophee, Natalie & Moeh. 


Kiki told us a funny story about his 3 year old daughter Emily. The other day he buckled her in her carseat a little loose and she told him "amarrame bien huevón!" Meaning-buckle me in right lazy.
 


Monday
went back to the Angulo's for more family time, good food and good conversation.
Memo & Blanca
Maria, Carlos, Henry, Jimmy, Jose, Jaime
Ok so I'm never going to grow up. I put in my adult time, but when the nieces and nephews wanted me to play twister with them how could I let them down. 
And then of course twister turned into wrestling.

We recorded a few music videos but here is the funniest version. 


    

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Receive the Sun

Wednesday morning I attended a yoga session outside by McKay Dee Hospital's pond

Each breath offered liberation as I gazed at at the leaves overhead and the mountains to the east. I can't even describe how good my body felt. The flowing water, crisp air, the warming sunrise soothed my mind and soul. I feel like I never want to do yoga indoors again after this compelling encounter. 

Namaste


Thursday, August 11, 2011

PostSecret

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. The creator teamed up with 1-800-Suicide to answer some of the cries for help.

It is one of my favorite blogs to read. I feel relief for the person who gets to share their secret. Keeping it inside eats away at you, but taking the time to focus on the issue while you artistically work on the postcard helps you come face to face with it and work away some of the pain, fear, and frustration.

If I had to send a secret it would be this...