Wine Tasting

Last week we went to the Garcia residence for a lovely afternoon of wine tasting.


Our Host Miki with Brenda.


The lovely array of wines: David called one "pretentious yet obtuse"


Cheeses, fresh fruits, chocolates and desserts were devoured.


The girls Brenda, Heather, Elia, Izzy and me.


The Daddy's T-kay & David our babysitters for the day.


They kept the kids busy with water guns. Oh boy did they have fun!

A Big Thank You to Miki & T-kay for a wonderful Summer Get Together!

All Aboard for Alex's Birthday!

Back in January, we discovered the Orange County Model Engineers and their free train rides for the public every third weekend of the month. Well, it worked out that one of those weekends fell right before Alex's birthday. So of course we had to have the party over there. Some of the kids from Alex's class were able to make it as well as some cousins.


Our baby is 7 years old! Make a wish sweetie.


Alex's friends Joseph and Amanda in the baseball caps.


JC and Jasmine enjoying the ride.


Alex goofing around with Uncle Tason.


Alex's friend Andrew.


Leila gobbled up the chocolate cake.




Cousin Abigail havin' some fun.


Alex's friends Mason and Zion.


Oma zooms by with cousin Tanner.


Even Miss Lori from Newland School stopped by to visit


My friend Brenda and her son Zion.


The grandparents riding the train.


Alex and me singing Happy Birthday on the kazoo.



Alexander at Disneyland on his Birthday.

You know, You make me happy.

Today while running my morning errands I was listening to NPR and there was an author being interviewed. He wrote a book called Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth. It was really interesting to learn about Nigeria in Africa, a country that is so poor, but is high in the spirit of happiness. Reflecting on this made me think about the simple things that make me happy. Between 1 and 10 I would say I am 25 on the happiness quotient...why? Take a look at these Christmas photos (and listen to one of our favorite songs "HAPPY" by Mocrac).

Alex opens his gift from Santa Christmas moning.

At Oma & Opa's home for our annual Christmas breakfast.

Dad and Tason enjoyed their croissant and scrambled eggs.

David, Alex and Omi loved the Quaker oats.

Alex keeps his feet warm, with his firetruck nearby just in case.

We end the morning cozy by the fire.

Alex thanks Oma for all his Christmas presents.

We pay a quick visit to see my neice Leila and Lougene.

Then, it's the Ancheta's house for lunch to see Papa and Mom.

The Uncles strike a pose as do the Aunties.

Justine goes back to Spain Dec. 26 to her family in Sevilla.

Moses will go on a road trip to Minnesota where he will live for the next two years.

Alex gets the toy of his dreams from Mom and Papa!

Jasmine plays with chopsticks since Alex won't share.

Our cousins kick back and watch the Laker game.

My Papa web chatting with our relatives in the Philippines.

A nice shot of Auntie Rosalyn and me.

Christmas day ends watching Alvin & the Chipmuncks.

Happiness is Family!

Parties & More

Saturday was a busy day of parties.

Back in May, when we had Alex's birthday with kids from his class, we had no idea we were at the beginning of a wave of birthday parties from his class. Every 3 weeks since then has been another birthday for a classmate. Saturday's was Amanda and her older brother Joseph's pool party. It was held at their great-aunt's house, who happens to teach swimming to little kids--one of her students was a 9-10 month old girl who astounded us by how well she was swimming!



The birthday girl, Amanda


Lucas, one Alex's best buds at school


Amanda’s brother, Joseph, and mom, Elizabeth


Alex discovering the joy of lounging by the pool

We had to leave the party early, as Armilyn and I had to go to a wedding in downtown LA. We had an hour to get home, shower, get dressed, and drop off Alex at Oma and Opa's house. When we left, we saw Dad coming home on his motorcycle from the hardware store.


The wedding was for Armilyn's distant cousin, Carlito and his bride Mylah. We later found out it was the first anniversary of their civil marriage, so this was the church wedding. Well, the wedding was at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, the huge, new (a few years old) cathedral in downtown. We had never been there, just driven by a few times. This place was amazing. Very modern on the outside, but still beautiful and spiritual on the inside.


A panorama after the wedding, from the back of the cathedral



The beautiful cross above the altar, inside and outside


Detail of the lights in the cathedral


The happy couple posing for pics in the cathedral garden.


A panorama of the garden photo shoot. Click for a bigger picture


The Ancheta girls strike a pose

So as we were waiting for the photo shoot to end, we went downstairs to the masoleum as Justine's dad said Gregory Peck was laid to rest there. We found him.


Well, I immediately noticed that 2 spaces to the right and 1 space down from Mr. Peck is the future resting place of another (unrelated?) Ancheta girl. Cue the Twilight Zone music.


The reception was at Lumineria, a hill top restaurant in Monterey Park. Our cellphone battery was low, so no pics, but we had a great time and the food, once it arrived, was delicious.

All in all, a busy but fun day.

by David