Almost there...

Not the greatest picture but this is Suzanne my daughter in law and grandchild Winter. Winter Elizabeth Jarquin, I've really grown to love that name.

Today we started the countdown to delivery only 15 days to go. The official due date is May 9th and we are getting ready...Suz is already ready...way ready... in fact we hear daily that Winter could put in her appearance today!

You can throw a dart at a calendar of May and hit a birthday for some member of our family! My mom, sister, brother, uncle and that's just my side.

We tried to do one of the 3D ultrasounds last weekend but the baby was to far down and facing the wrong way so no fun pictures. The upside is that means we will see her soon.

Paige fun fact #6 - I share a birthday with my brother-in-law Bruce and Laura (my niece - his daughter) I love it when that happens because then I don't usually forget their birthdays! I vote for May 10... I think that's Ronald's birthday

Bad news and a test

Sad is the feeling of the day....

The baby kitty died last night. It went to sleep around 4 after a feeding and potty, then around 6 Suz noticed it wasn't moving or mewling for food so she reached into it's box and it had passed. She and Justin had already grown quite attached to the little fellow so its' was a sad night for them. Thanks to Marianne who was so very supportive not only with advice but willing to help foster the little one... Is there a kitty heaven? I've been wondering since Shelby died last summer what happens to animals... Not really sure I want an answer I guess I'm just hoping she will be waiting for me in heaven and hopefully hasn't ruined any of the rugs before I get there.

But the there's another sad thing on the horizon....


See the very first church we went to, North Redondo Chapel (NRC) was a wonderful church. We had gone to visit on an invitation from my brother who attended there. We loved it when we walked through the door. The pastor Greg was a brilliant speaker and I really liked him. To make a long story short... he went a little bonkers and over 90% of the church membership left in a mass exodus. One pastor down.....

We spent a few short months at a church called Community Baptists Church (CBC) with fellow NCR refugees as we affectionately referred to ourselves. They were very welcoming but it didn't make a good fit for us. We visited many churches and ended up at Oceanside Christian Fellowship (OCF) where we found a pastor that spoke right to our hearts. We decided after a few months that OCF was to be our new church home. We were just getting ready to commit to membership and the Pastor decided to step down because of personal issues with his wife and the need to focus on his family. That made two.....

I spent many years out of the church. Not apart from God but tired of feeling like every time we found a church home something crazy happened with the pastor. Occasionally over this 5 year period we visited different churches but nothing stuck.

A little over a year ago, my sister who live in CO called to say she had just heard a visiting pastor speak and met his wife and they were so nice! His name is Eric Bain and his church is somewhere in Sacramento... "do you know where Natomas is?". I thought "Natomas". I'm so not hauling my cookies all the way to Natomas every Sunday. But we did and that was a year ago. We have found many new firends and gotten very close to many. Eric is a great pastor, gifted teacher/speaker and just this month we finished the process for membership... Can you guess what happens next? That's right folks Eric has been offerred a postion as pastor in Colorado. That makes 3, seeing the pattern yet?

This is awesome for our pastor Eric Bain and his family but really sucks for me. I don't feel like "looking at the bright side" of the situation... I feel like being selfishly sad and disrupted. I'm wondering if this is a new test from God. A good friend told me as I complained and whinned about change.... that "church" isn't about the Pastor, it's about God. God is still at Sanctuary.

This doesn't make me any less sad to say goodbye to the Bain Family and I really am happy for them!

Trader joes is fast becoming one of my favorite places to shop. They have been expanded their selection of ready to eat foods in the past 6 months but I think I've found a new food love... mini chicken asada burritos with fresh salsa. There's two in a package ($2.99) for me that translates into two lunches, add half an apple and hunk of cheese and baby you can't beat it!

Its made with thigh meat coursely chopped, fresh cilantro, the onions are small and look to be the re-hydrated type and spices... not excited about the onions...nothing better than the fresh onion cut and cooked to tender/crunchy perfection but for this application it will do. The enclosed salsa cup is of the "El Fresca" variety and mild enough for me to enjoy.

I definately encourage you to pop it in the nuker for a minute or so... heat brings out the flavors but in a pinch cold will do.

Lunch at my desk really blows but since the food is good I guess I'll survive!

Eat well friends

Happy Endings - The Kitty Tale

On Saturday driving home from work, my oldest son Justin noticed a poor kitty had been run over by a car and he stopped to help it. Those of you who know Justin well, will not be surprised by this because it's a very "Justin" thing to do.

Fast forward past the grisley details because it involves some very mean & hungry crows... yuck. There was a liter of kittens fromt his poor dead momma kitty and only one survived until Justin showed up... He scooped up the little guy and rushed home.

Fast forward again to my 8 1/2 month pregnant daughter in law comes running through my front door asking for a heating pad. After I heard the story we rushed down the street to their house, while I called my friend, a Davis vet student on the cell phone to find out what to do. Warm it up and stimulate it she said.... I found a very cold, non-moving, seemingly non-breathing kitten that looked only a few hours old.

I'm happy to report that after many hours of rubbing, warming and a late night visit from my friend.. the kitty is doing well. I'm so surprised, I really didnt' think it would live past the first few hours. Justin has been doing the all night feedings...every hour and a half.... I think it's good practice for Winter's arrival personally......

Today Justin works and Suz has mid-terms so the kitty is staying with me at work. Man it brings back memories... so helpless but cute! Kitty needs a name.... any suggestions!

Thank God for babies....

I'd like to introduce the newest member of my extended family... Oliko Ikaika.




This is big brother Akahai Zadok.. handsome young man!

My niece Laura lives in Hawaii with her husband Ikaika and their two boys pictured above. Akahai (A-ka-hi) is about 17 months now and Oliko(O-lee-ko) was born on April 2nd.

I'm totally stoked! We just booked a 14 day cruise from Auckland New Zealand to Sydney Austrailia. "WE" is myself, 3 siblings and my mom.

In 2000 my mom re-kindled a tradition from her parents to take her children on a vacation. Teh first trip was everyone, Butch the oldest, Pam my only sister, Ronald and Richard, the boys in the middle and of course me the "baby". We went to Ireland, London and Paris... two fun filled weeks. There was so many B&B in Ireland and plains, trains and automobils in all 3 countries, while very excitign it was exhuasting!

Trip 2 2005 was a great time, we took a 17 day cruise in the Mediterranean. We started in Barcelona, Spain and touched many places in Italy, Greece and almost Turkey! There is the whole broken boat engine story that I won't tell now. We got to our final destination of Venice Italy...stayed overnight and flew home... It was wonderful to just unpack once and still 11 different cultures. The only downside to the trip is that my oldest brother decided not to join us. We missed him a lot. he had his personal reasons and I respect that but boy it just wans't the same without him.

Now the fun is about to begin again. We fly into Auckland NZ on Jan 15th, well we leave the USA on the 15th but with long flights and crossing teh international date line... we get there on the 17th.

Here's a link to the cruise
http://www.celebritycruises.com/search/vacationPorts.do;jsessionid=00001R-st7C9G7DwNiTMdTeRnpf:12hdebebp?packageCode=ML14K011&backPageName=Itinerary+Search+Results

More later...but just wanted to share how excited I am.....

French Onion Soup

Hands down this is the best onion soup I've ever had. I used to say that you could only get truely great onion soup at The Kettle in Manahattan Beach, Ca near my hometown but I'm now a believer that it is made right here in my own kitchen.

It's importantt that you use the correct amount of salt for the onions to carmelize corrrectly but adjust to taste witht he salt at the end. Also, don't skip the balsamic, red onions can make the soup cloudy without it.

INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
1 (48 fluid ounce) can chicken broth
1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 sprigs fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 thick slices French or Italian bread
8 slices Gruyere or Swiss cheese slices, room temperature
1/2 cup shredded Asiago or mozzarella cheese, room temperature
4 pinches paprika



DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in salt, red onions and sweet onions. Cook 35 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are caramelized and almost syrupy.
Mix chicken broth, beef broth, red wine and Worcestershire sauce into pot. Bundle the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf with twine and place in pot. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the herbs. Reduce the heat to low, mix in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep over low heat to stay hot while you prepare the bread.
Preheat oven broiler. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet and broil 3 minutes, turning once, until well toasted on both sides. Remove from heat; do not turn off broiler.
Arrange 4 large oven safe bowls or crocks on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill each bowl 2/3 full with hot soup. Top each bowl with 1 slice toasted bread, 2 slice Gruyere cheese and 1/4 of the Asiago or mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle a little bit of paprika over the top of each one.
Broil 5 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. As it softens, the cheese will cascade over the sides of the crock and form a beautifully melted crusty seal. Serve immediately!

Eat well all!

Baby Showers

Celebrating the birth of a new baby is an exciting time. Suzanne was blessed by family, friends and Church family with 3 baby showers welcoming Winter Elizabeth into this world. Each shower was very lovely and meant a great deal to Suzanne for different reasons.

On March 1st my sister-in-law Flora, my sister Pam and good friend Erica held a shower in my hometown of Redondo Beach. This shower also served as an opportunity for famiy that couldn't make it to the wedding in December, to meet our new daughter-in-law.It was great. Oscar's extended family arrived and it was so wonderful to see them all! My sisters culinary skills as always, were greatly enjoyed, Flora did an awesome job hosting and Erika on the games....a fun time was had by all.

On March 30th Riena Williams, Suzannes' fathers fiance and I co-hosted a shower for family and friends in the greater Sacramento area. The food was great but I have to say the mimosas were the hit of the party! Watching My daughters Becca & Suzanne interact with their friends from Chico and old high school firends was fun. The games were played, gifts opened and everyone had a great time.

On April 5th, Amy van Riessen from our church hosted a lovely Saturday luncheon for the moms of our church to introduce Suzanne to other mommy's for advice and support. This shower was so unique in that the advice was so sound from all the new moms and the gifts so practical.... just like a new mom would give! I learned a few things myself.

As I unloaded the car from this final shower and helped Suz start to put things away... I looked around the nursery and was amazed and humbled at the generosity and love of our friends and family..... Everywhere I turned I saw gifts.... bedding, boucy seats, a bumbo, blankets, clothes, shampoo, lotions, rocking chair, crib, sheets and diapers...yikes so many diapers! But it's more than the material aspect.... for every item I realized that the gift giver is someone important in our life as a family. The bulk of these items came with words of wisdom, money can't buy wisdom.....

So to everyone who shared a piece of their heart and wisdom, who helped plan games, cooked food, sent out invitations and took part in this wonderful time in our lives...welcoming the newest generation of "Jarquin".... thank you from the bottom of my heart!