making memories

Last week, while anxiously awaiting the arrival of our best friends Scott and Lori, it dawned on me that in the 15 years we've been hanging out we have no pics of just the 4 of us. Of course, we've got tons of the kids...but none of us. So I told myself that while they were here, we would take some. Of course, as always, time flew by. And before we knew it we were on our last day with them. So I broke out the camera...knowing I wouldn't get what I was hoping for but hopeful, none the less.Uncle Scott and aunt Lori only have 2 kids...Chris and Mariah. Chris is 20 and Mariah is 14. Unfortunately, we never get to see the whites of Chris' eyes anymore...and such beautiful eyes they are! He's too old and mature to come visit us these days. He's into his own things like...his band! Which I hear is doing well...they are touring up and down the Coast and in a month or two they are going to Oregon and Washington. I hope he remembers us little people when he's big and famous. Chris and our older son Josh are the same age and back when Josh was still at home, he and Chris were just like these 2!!! Who think the world revolves around them.Mariah is freakin hilarious! When she and Steph get together, they are absolutely crazy! They sit around and speak to us in various accents, they do their make up and hair all day and they take 15 showers each! The end result is this...not 1 beautiful girl, but two!!They just informed us that they're going to college together and are going to be roommates. I'm not sure I like this plan. Because if they're anything like their mama's, they'll be in more trouble than they can handle...Heaven help us!!It's our tradition that whenever Uncle Scott and Aunt Lori come, we go to Old Country Buffet. Don't ask me why...because we could eat so much better somewhere else, for a lot less money but the kids all look so forward to it now that we can't possibly let them down. Which is obviously not the place to take pictures. Not only because we're too busy laughing and thinking back to prior visits at this fine eating establishment but because we get so dang full...and it's hard to look good when you're that full. Here's a fine example of that. And just when Steve was willing to give me a great pic of the 4 of us, the "center of our worlds" jumped in the pic...as though it were all about them!! Good byes are always the hardest. My kids never want to let them go! One year, Steph and Mariah cried so hard they hyperventilated...Mariah was in their car with her hands up on the window in such dramatic fashion and on the other side of the window was Steph with her hands on the window begging her not to go, trying to run with the van, hands still on the window as they drove off. It was so bad Uncle Scott had to stop the car and let Mariah out just for one last hug. So then Lori and I start balling and...well, it was too much!! Another year, Jared chased the van down the street crying begging them not to go...another tear jerker for Lori and I. One year, it was raining REALLY hard so when we opened the door to walk them to their car, the kids just took off!! Running in the rain...ALL OF THEM!! This was back when Josh and Chris were still in the picture and though they didn't want to admit it, they didn't like good byes either. Finally after 15 minutes of running in the rain they tired themselves out and Chris and Mariah just got in the car, they drove off as we stood out in the rain waving. I think Lori and I cried that time too. Oh well!!!...these are the memories that will make our past so fond in about 20 more years. Maybe then we'll get the pic I want :)

not the black ones

Scott and Lori are here. We're all having so much fun...as usual. Of course, we've spent time in the pool, sat out under a shady tree, gone to water & ice, Wal-Mart, and Safeway...and the best part...they got to watch me work all morning!! Because there's nothing like hearing me take 800 calls from customers who have left their fiance's ring in the glove box to customers who can't turn in their truck because they're in jail to customers who were locked in their storage facility all night. They just loved listening to it all. Random fact - I love Red Vines...but not the black ones.

in case you were wondering

My parents packed up their car and left yesterday. They decided they needed a little break from us so they headed to Lone Star State. There's something about Texas that I just love. Back when times weren't so tough, I'd go 2 or 3 times a year. The kids and I would load up the car and drive...and drive...and drive. And after 15 hours of nothing but blaring music and singing at the top of our lungs we'd finally reach our destination. And oh, how we loved it. We'd drive by all of our favorite places and talk about times past, we'd eat at our favorite places, and we'd chill. Until the humidity would remind us of why we love Arizona and then we'd hop in the car and come back home. And we all know... There's no place like home!!

Random fact - I was born in San Antonio, Texas....in case you were wondering.

exhausted

seems I'm saying this more and more lately but it must be because it's true...I'm tired!! Exhausted actually. We had a party over here today for my friends son who is graduating. Random fact - I love to look out of my back window and see a yard full of people and pool full of kids for these are great memories in the making for my children.

Beck

My friend Becky from Tx came to town this weekend. I was so happy to see her!! We hadn't seen each other in 19 years!! and it was like we picked up right where we left off. That's how friendships should be...don't you agree? Anyways, we talked, ate, laughed, ate again, laughed so hard, and then...We. Did. Zumba!! O-my-goodness!!! I've have never seen anyones hips move so fast in my life!! This girl can dance! She even had my hubby sitting on the bed in a trance...just watching her hips. And I can't blame him...it was like nothing I'd ever seen. She's an instructor so I was expecting greatness but not like that!! Anyways, we had a great visit.
Random fact: my family drinks out of pickle jars....which is one of the reasons we laughed so hard! Here she is modeling my fine china..Thanks for coming Beck...can't wait til next time!!

Christmas Memories

Wow!! Time sure has flown by!! I just logged on to write a new post and saw that I hadn't blogged in a month. Guess that's what happens when you're making 8 million tamales!! I never thought I would be as busy as I was. I decided that I would only commit 2 - 3 days a week to my tamale work and the rest of the week was for family and Christmas stuff!! I stuck to my 2 days a week but it seems I just never got around to the Christmas stuff. I checked my calendar and it was suddenly December 20th....and I'd done absolutely NO shopping!! I'm not quite sure what it was but I just couldn't get with it this year. We didn't even get the tree up until the 16th. Anyways, Christmas came wheter I wanted it to or not and with that came lots of wonderful memories. Like...Jareds birthday.. parties with Santa..and a surprise visit from Josh.. Then of course we had Steve's company Christmas picnic..stubborn children...and unsuccessful family pictures.. (guess that's what I get for trying at the picnic) We taught our kids about crack and how unattractive it can make you...beat eachother up...spent time with old friends... and said our goodbyes...

Another great year with family and friends...It's a wonderful life!!

secrets

Growing up, my parents had many great friends. There were 3 families though (including my own) that were always and still are a BIG part of our lives. We'll call these families the Browns, the Smiths, and the Jones'. I won't tell you though which family was mine or where I play a part in this story. So the Browns, Smiths and Jones' were great friends. Since we were all in the military and away from any of our extended families we considered eachother family. We spent every weekend bbq-ing, camping, or just hangin out. We spent all of our holidays together... Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, you name it, we were together. All 3 families had kids and all of us kids were VERY close. Since our families were together so often we had no choice but to hang out with eachother all the time. Well, us kids have a HUGE secret..something that some of us did and later revealed to the rest of us!! So huge that it would probably be a box office hit. So huge that one of the families suffered for it and was impacted by it for years. So huge that, if ever our parents found out, it would ruin the beautiful friendship that they all still have. Us kids are still close too...some closer than others but when we see the others every few years, we can pick up right where we left off. HOWEVER, this secret I speak of, is never mentioned. I don't think we've spoken of it since the day it happened some 20 years ago. In fact, I think if it were mentioned, it would even ruin some of our (us kids) friendships now. I always wonder if when the parents are gone, it will be spoken of, or if it will silently lurk in our memories forever...left to die with whichever one of us kids dies last.
Do you have any secrets weighing you down? Please share...tell me we're not the only ones!!! Please!!

Afterthought: it has nothing to do with any of us "hooking up". We were never involved with eachother romantically...not even once...As far as I know.

Little Red Tomato

I don't sew. I don't quilt. I don't do anything with material. Heck, I don't even hem! But when I saw the little red tomato pictured above I just HAD to have it!! You see, I had a GREAT childhood. My parents loved me and my daddy spoiled me. All I had to do was bat my eyes at daddy and he'd buy me the world. And though I loved that and soaked it all in, daddy could only buy me the world. But mom...well, she could MAKE me the world! She was and still is an excellent seamstress. I remember, so well, many nights, seeing mom at the table, cutting her pattern, then pinning it on the fabric and cutting the fabric. And then to watch that paper and material work together to make some beautiful creation that made me feel like a princess was just awesome!! Dress after dress, I'd watch her sew. And right there next to her, like a faithful companion, always sat her red tomato FULL of pins. As she'd pull the pins off of whatever fabric she was sewing, I would poke them back into the tomato for her. I can't remember watching her sew without it. Then one day it was gone...and she moved on to some magnetic dish and like an old doll, or a treasured photo, the tomato was just a memory. And then one day, walking thru Wal-Mart, hanging on a wall in the craft department, my childhood came back to me. And for a $1.97 I could take it home...so I did.

That's a heck of deal for a lifetime worth of memories wouldn't you say?

remember your first best friend

So one of my weaknesses is wrapped in a little blue wrapper and is called Dove Promises. Not only do I love them because of the way the chocolate feels like silk when melting in your mouth but because of the little daily thought they put on the inside of the wrapper. During sacrament meeting today I decided to have myself a little taste of heaven and popped one in my mouth. My wrapper said "remember your first best friend.". Which got me thinking about mine. Her name was Nicole Kuzma. I grew up in military housing in San Diego and her house was connected to mine...directly next door. I want to say that we were 7 when we met...and we were inseperable. If her family went somewhere I went with them and vice versa. We dressed alike, we did our hair the same, we played softball together and chased after the same boys (when we were older)...inseperable!! So today, I want you to remember your first best friend...and I want to hear one thing about her.

MJ

I know he was a freak in his latter years but I'm quite sad about Michael Jackson. I grew up listening to him...loving him...waiting up to see Thriller when it premiered on MTV is one of my greatest movies. Am I a freak or were you a little sad too?

thats what life is all about

Went to the old hood today. Was quite a somber feeling. Though I have grown to love this new hood of mine and all of the wonderful people here the memories I have in that old one are many. As I drove by our old house, I thought about the day I walked thru the front door with our brand new baby (Jarom), all of the kids filled with excitement to finally have him home. I remembered the many springs where I was colorfully welcomed by my freshly planted flowers. Memories of my kids playing outside...boys chasing the girls, girls screaming, parents ignoring them. The many times we chased our dog up and down that street (having to stop traffic on Guadalupe a few times). The excitement and hopes we had for the future when we added that 3rd driveway, extended my front patio and had the block wall built. The pranks we let our kids play on our crazy neighbors and the wonderful ward!! Oh, the wonderful ward...our kids grew up together!! They played baseball together, took dance classes together, went camping together, vacationed together, even took trips with the bishop and his family...they did everything together!! That bond and friendship, for my kids especially, is what is greatly missed. It took a while to get those relationships though and I know we will have them again here.
A couple of weekends ago my kids were swimming with some kids from our new ward. As I sat in the living room of our neighbor and watched them all play out in the pool I thought to myself how the other kids were so lucky to have eachother for they, too, have all grown up together. They were all so comfortable with eachother. For a minute, I felt sad for my kids...for they are the new kids on the block but you know what? They are not treated like that at all. They have been accepted into this circle of friends as though they have lived here all their lives too. They are as comfortable as the other kids are with eachother. And I am as comfortable with their parents as I was in the other hood. And here, just like there, we are already making memories...memories that will last a lifetime!! Change...that's what life is all about. Guess it isn't so bad after all.