T-Minus.... can counting

There are two countdowns going on in our family right now......

The first is Jonathan's deployment for a 9 month tour on the USS Comstock. He has only 11 days left until the ship pulls out. I'm going to miss him being close by in San Diego but what an opportunity to go on a world tour. There's a slim chance we may be in Australia at the same time late January. Jonathan and I have been planning an email contact system so he can keep me updated on all the cool places he visits. 

Australia is the second countdown, It's hard to believe that after almost 18 months of planning and waiting my trip is a mere 17 days away! I've been reading up on shore excursions and in Wellington, NZ there's one that is all the local foodie hot spots. The tour is centered on visiting gourmet food shops, wine tastings, cheese and fruit growers and tastings and a 5 star restaurant.... I'm so taking my fat jeans on this cruise! This morning it was a lovely 88 degrees in Melbourne, time to go dig out my summer clothes and get to packing!

Christmas Happenings

Our holiday season has definitely been Merry & Bright! 

Jonathan made it home for Christmas so we were very thankful for that. We were able to be part of Winter's first Christmas, which was a joy and blessing. 

We spent Christmas Eve with Joe and his family in Woodland, Debe (Joe's step-mom) made a really nice meal and everyone had a great time. There were a ton of presents passed around and I received a killer pair of black boots.... Santa Debe was very generous this year!

Christmas morning started off early as usual, most of us up and about for stockings at 6am but Suz & Justin refused to wake up so we stole Winter and she played with Becca for a while. Around 7am everyone, except Joe and I, drifted back to sleep until 9am then the present opening started in earnest! Winter was the star of the show, she mostly just looked at the gifts and spent time pounding on the boxes... her new favorite past-time. Since she has started crawling and is able to pull herself up on tables & furniture, she spent a lot of time going to whoever was opening the latest gift and checking to see if it fit in her mouth!

After presents we had a yummy breakfast of french toast and sausage made by Justin & Suz then we all hung out in our PJ's and played with our presents. In the afternoon we got dressed for our annual tradition of a movie, this makes 21 years straight that we have gone to a movie on Christmas Day. 

Back from the movies we kicked into entertaining mode as Oscar whole family came to eat dinner and and enjoy the evening with us. We manage to squeeze 18 people in our tiny little living room/dining room area for a sit down meal, it was very nice to have the whole family gathered around the table.

By 10pm guests had departed, the kids had gone off to their own homes or to visit friends, the food was put away and dishes were done. Oscar and I experienced a first in our married life... alone time on Christmas Day. A glimpse of quieter times in future holidays, as our children grow and start families of their own. I thought I would be sad when these days arrived but happily it was nice to be able to spend a few alone hours with the love of my life on my favorite holiday of the year.........

Weekend Happenings

Saturday was very busy day around our place. It started early when Oscar and I took advantage of the fact that we wake up at zero-dark-thirty everyday and hit the outlets for those final 3 gifts we were looking for, a cup of Starbucks and then back home before the crowds made it an unpleasant experience. Speaking of which, Becca works in retail and has had full exposure to "the crowds" and her only comment is that people are robbing her of her Christmas spirit...poor kid!

Oscar and the boys took Andrew for one final fun time before he left Saturday night to go-cart racing. Everyone had fun and as always Oscar was kicked off the course for aggressive driving! It happens every time he goes, my mild mannered husband turns into a speed demon on the course!

We spent the evening alone together at home and it was a nice respite from the crazy holiday party circuit we have been on for the last 10 days. Parties are fun but there's a lot to be said for snuggling up on the couch with your hubby and quietly watching a movie while the weather outside is frightful.

Sunday was a bit of busy as well, Becca moved into her own apartment yesterday. Funny how much I want them to go out on their own and yet when they do, there's a feeling of emptiness when I look into the bare room they occupied. I must have look in there 100 times the last 6 months in exasperation thinking my daughter is a slob but the sight of the very empty, clean room brought me little comfort last night. 

We were excited to spend the evening with our little friend Molly. Mommy and Daddy were off to a Christmas party so Molly spent some time with us. We met some church friends for pizza then drove around our neighborhood looking at lights. Once we were home Molly played ball with Jack and Frankie the dogs for an hour.... throwing the ball for an hour! The dogs were in heaven because we get tired of the game after 10 minutes! Winter came home after that and the girls had fun playing together. Molly was coloring and Winter just kept laughing at her. A deep belly laugh every time she picked up a crayon, it was so cute. Molly has twins siblings on the way so it was good practice to keep Winter away from her crayons and to play with her. 

It's always fun time at Auntie Paige's house so we broke a few rules including staying up past bedtime, ate in the living room and watch all kinds of cartoons. Shhhh don't tell mom and dad!

I frequently find lovely things on other peoples blogs that I like to share. This is a Christmas song I found this morning that really touched me. 

December catch up

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December has been full of good stuff. Last night at the family party we got a great picture of Winter with her auntie Becca.... Becca always gets red-eye in her photo's I need to figure out how to fix this. 

The weather here in Sacramento has been crazy cold at least for this born and bred southern California girl. It seems like we went from 80's to 40's over night. I don't remember a change this drastic in the past 7 years we have been here. Of course I think I say that every year! Because it' so cold I frequently find Jack & Blue dog snuggled together on Becca's bed. They know they aren't supposed to be there but seem to just blow me off these days, when I tell them to get down. Normally these two are mortal enemies with Jack being the grumpy old dog he is..... but with Shelby passing a year ago Jack seems to tolerate Blue much better these days. I think he will be doggie lonely when Becca moves out this weekend and takes Blue with her!

In early December Oscar surprised me with a weekend away in Napa. Between the holidays and career changes for both of us and the fact that our house has tons of people in it.... we needed a little time away. We stumbled upon the 15th Annual Lighted tractor parade in Calistoga and it was so much fun! It got cold once the sun went down but totally worth the freezing bums! I think this will become an annual tradition for us, we had such  a good time. We stayed at a lovely little B&B that Oscar found. Our room had a huge tub (room for 3) and we took total advantage with 2 baths in 12 hours... it was heaven to relax! We did a round of cheese tastings and found that brie is lovely with a light crisp toast and fresh honeycomb.... YUM

Winter had her first illness the first week of December we are thinking it was roseola given her 103 to 104 temp for 3 days and then a  fun rash. She spent days just laying around looking sad, many of these hours on Grandpa's chest while he watched TV and cuddled with her. We figured out what a happy baby she normally is when her smile disappeared for 3 days, it was wonderful to have it back! She also managed to get a regular cold which she has passed on to every member of the household.... little carrier monkey that she is! She is back to her normal smiling self despite the lingering nose and chest congestion.....

Our life group pictured above had  a fun time on Thursday with our Christmas party and gift exchange. The most traded item of the evening was the Jesus action figure, finally secured by the van Riessen's for Molly...or so Amy's says... I think she secretly wanted it for herself!....lol The event had somewhat of a bitter sweet feeling as this was our last official gathering as the van Riessen Life Group. Pregnant with twins Garrett & Paige,  Steve and Amy have decided to take a break from leading life group to focus on their rapidly expanding family. We are very supportive of this decision as a group but individually we all will miss their leadership every Thursday night along with the yummy dinner Amy provided for us. WE all shared what we learned in life group the past several years and there was a common thread among the shares.... that was the feelings of family, closeness and love that our life group felt with each other. That speaks volumes about the leadership Amy & Steve provided. 

At evenings end, Jesus was left paired up with Cinderella as we all departed. 

Final notes without pictures....

Jonathan came home a day early for leave and we are so glad he was able to be here. I've yet to have a Christmas without my children, I know now that they are all adults, some in the military and others with children of their own these holidays will change in the years to come but for now I'm thankful to get at least one more year together!

Thanks to the little carrier monkey, everyone in the household is fighting a cold but we are winning the battle with lots of Theraflu and Vicks vapor rub.... amazing stuff really.

Just 5 more days until Santa comes....... and I only need two more presents! Then I'm hoping the wrapping fairy will come...man I hate wrapping gifts!

Meet Andrew...

This past week has been an exciting time in our extended family. Our nephew Andrew came to visit for the frist time ever here in northern california. It's actually been years since we spent more than an hour over breakfast during a quick visit to Redondo Beach with him. In fact last night when we got the family together we realized it's the first time since July 2001 that all 8 of the Jarquin grandchildren were together at the same time! 

I dont' have a digital picture of the last time but here is something to see........

This photo is a little older than 2001, it was taken before the last 4 grandchildren were born. The kids were all under the age of 10 here.


This is the newest photo... it' lacks Amy's photo quality but what a great picture of all the kids. Back Row: Justin, Andrew (tall one in very back), Alejandro, Jonathan, Esteban. Front row: Kaytlynn, Becca & Breanna.

The Lord has been faithful in providing a great week for all the Jarquin family!

Recap to catch up!

Since I've been off of work I have been a very bad blogger.... Who knew how much I had to do when not working!

For halloween we spent some time at the Greenhouse Harvest festival... Winter just liked the pumpkins!

The big deal in Novemeber was our trip to LA for my Dad's surprise 75th birthday. The weekend focused on doing things from our childhood with dad. So on Thursday night we showed up at his house at 10:30pm and went to a local 24 hour resturant called Norms. He used to work two jobs when we were littel kids on and Fridays he got off late and took us to Norm;s at 11pm for fries and a coke... it was fun Coffee at dad's favorite coffee meeting place on Friday. Friday evening we all went to a football game at Redondo Union High... the alma mater for all 5 of us Young children and 3 of the in-laws. The announcer gave a yell to dad for his birthday during half time...very cool!

Then we went fishing... my brothers have not stopped being obnoxious older brothers.... still... at 50 years old they are still mean to the baby... that would be me!....lol

The big part of the weekend was a late lunch at Cheesecake factory with dad's friends on Saturday. He was so happy... it was very cool. Sunday drew the festivites to and end with brnuch at my brother Richards house and dad's gift. Oscar spent many hours satruday night putting all the photo's from 5 different cameras on a digital frame. My hubby rocks! Now dad has a lastign memory of all our events

Some f the girls from the family L to R Paige, Suz, Becca, Winter, Sam - my niece, Flora her mom, Erika - the newest member of the family. She is engaged to Sam's older brother Richard.

The Young Family Pam, Butch, Dad, Paige, Ron and Richard. This is fishing on the REdondo peir. I hate touching dead fish!

Winter Elizabeth gettign into the RUHS tradition. The kids may have to move bakc to LA just so we can have another RUHS graduate and keep the tradition alive!

This is my big brother Butch... He's the oldest and I'm the youngest. I love my big brother!

Winter with her 6 month purple bunny picture. I've been very re-miss in getting these photo's online. Bad Yis-Yia. 

Sorry I've been so bad about this posting thing......