Our Arizona Trip was a Success!

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1. The Fountains at the Bellagio, 2. Daddy - hitting the slots at Caesar's Palace, 3. My very proud Grand Canyon Junior Ranger, 4. Sunrise over Monument Valley - from Goulding's Lodge, 5. Goulding's Lodge - Monument Valley, 6. Dad - in Monument Valley, Utah, 7. 4x4'ing Canyon de Chelley, 8. Canyon de Chelley in The Navajo Nation, 9. Road-tripping leaves lots of time to admire (and relish) sleeping children!, 10. Señor Bob's in Sedona, AZ, 11. A 6:00 am wake time translated to 4:00 am in Arizona! Mommy enjoyed many cool-morning strolls, solo time, good coffee, and great sunrises this vacation!, 12. CJ...roadtrippin' in Arizona, 13. I <3 Daddy - Tombstone, AZ, 14. Stagecoach Tour of Tombstone, AZ, 15. View from our room...JW Starr Pass, Tucson, AZ, 16. Kissing Cousins - JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort - Tucson, AZ, 17. In-n-Out Burgers - YUM!!!, 18. We've arrived! - Phoenix, AZ

Our 2011 Summer Vacation Photobook

Click here to view this photo book larger

Sweet Home Chicago

I know it's been ages since my last post...but we had such a fantastic time in Chicago with the entire family, I decided to take the time to post a link to my online album!

TO DO: Nutella Ricotta Calzone at Toby's Public House

Does this look absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS or what?!? Some friends from Brooklyn recommended Toby's Public House for their pizza since I made it known that I was gonna want to try some Brooklyn pie on our next visit to NYC...but now I'm more lookin' forward to trying THIS!

For those of you who may not know...I'm a HUGE Nutella fan...and have been known to eat spoonful after spoonful straight out of the jar on more than one occasion...sooo...to happen upon THIS masterpiece is more than just serendipitous...it's destiny. :)

TO-DO : Carrot Cake French Toast!

Ok...I always come across stuff...online, emails, word of mouth, TV, etc...that I'd like to someday do...but, of course, never actually remember 'em. SOOOO....it is HERE where I will post 'em as they reveal themselves. :) Today, my TO DO is to visit South Congress Cafe in Austin, Texas to taste their...

*drum roll please*

and it's heart healthy?!? wow! oh. wait...the heart means vegetarian...ooohhh.

pft. as if it mattered. :)

my sis vouches for it's goodiness and so carrot cake french toast from South Congress Cafe...you are SO mine!:)

Celebrating 15 years of Marriage at Los Cabos!

I'm spending a small fortune on Internet time uploading pics...if you want to read / see more on the WONDERFUL time we're having while in Cabo...check out my photo album on Kodakgallery!

Our Past Travels...

This page imported over from a self-hosted domain...and thus the actual links will not work until I fix 'em...
or in other words...
UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

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1999 - Denver

Zachary, Laurie and I visited Denver, Colorado to be part of the first ever fan club sponsored Star Wars Convention - CELEBRATION

2001 - Indianapolis

Zachary, Will, and I visited Indianapolis to visit the second Star Wars convention - Celebration II.

2001 - Los Angeles

Laurie and I spent our first sister trip at Walt Disney World...and decided to spend our SECOND trip in Los Angeles and Anaheim where we visited Disneyland for the first time! We also got to visit Long Island and Catalina Island!

2002 - Los Angeles

Willy and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary by going to Anaheim to attend the West Coast Believers' Convention and to visit all the lovely places I got to see with my sister the previous year.

2002 - Guanajuato

Jaime, Stephanie, Willy and I took the youth to Guanajuato, Mexico for our summer youth trip. It was absolutely beautiful!

2002 - Chicago

Laurie and I decided to make Liz's wedding in East Chicago our chance to have our THIRD sister trip. So before meeting up with our old hometown friends, we visited Chi-town!

2002 - Las Vegas

Tom and Laurie met up with Willy and me so we could celebrate my THIRTY year birthday in Las Vegas, NV. I especially enjoyed our suite at Caesar's, Rita Rudner's comedy act at New York, New York...and of course, the hold-your-breath-it's-too-awesome-to-behold..."O" at the Bellagio. Thank you Tom for the hook-up!

2003 - Chicago

Willy and I decided to ring in the 2003 year in Chicago! We saw the sights...and Willy saw SNOW for the first time! One thing we won't forget...it was FREEZING! :)

2004 - San Francisco

For our TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY, Will and I decided to tag on an extra week to our yearly convention visit in California so we could visit San Francisco! From there we also visited Monterey...BOTH places were lovely. [This website is unfinished.]

2005 - Anaheim

We visited Anaheim for our yearly visit to the West Coast Believers' Convention and tagged on a weekend in San Diego...our second visit! Last time we basically only saw Seaport Village and the San Diego Zoo...this time we checked out Coronado Island, San Diego Wildlife Park, and we finally got to visit the Festival of Art at Laguna Beach! It was fantastic!! [This website is unfinished.]

2005 - San Antonio

In return for some help in scoring a hefty contract, Laur's bosses treated Willy and I (and two visitors) to a weekend in San Antonio and a Spurs game! We took my nephew, Zachary, and Will's nephew, JR, who were treated to box suites at the SBC Center! We had a GREAT time!

Cristián's First Trip into Mexico!

This weekend was Cristián's first time joining Daddy to Cd. Victoria for a visit to their church! Pastors Jon & Marissa joined us on this leisurely visit to Jose & Jeanette's house near Llera and to the church in Cd. Victoria. The trip went smoothly and included LOTS of good food and fellowship! Cristián did very well on his first (of many) trips to the churches in Mexico. His presence was a blessing to everyone at the church in Cd. Victoria, but even more so to his Daddy who'd dreamt of this trip for many many years. Praise God for His Goodness!
<<Pictures from the trip>> <<General pictures of Cristián during the month of September>>

Cristian's first visit to the beach

We finished up our week in Southern California with a visit to the beach...Huntington Beach to be exact - also known as Surf City U.S.A. Although we had just hoped to park, stroll the pier, and grab a burger at Ruby's, we instead encountered a HUGE crowd...seems we planned our visit durin' one of the largest events in the area - the Honda U.S. Open of Surfing. Sooo...we ended up doin' VERY little here...but at least got the pic we had hoped for (thanks Mom C, Sandra, and Sonia!) - this one of Cristián on the beach. :) With that, we skipped lunch entirely to make it to the airport on time and headed home. :)

Goodbye to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Well...it's goodbye to Disneyland today. The visit went smoothly overall and I hope everyone got what they had hoped to from it. We hadta change plans a few times and skip a few rides...but we made the most of our days there! I've finally uploaded one hundred fifty photos from the trip to my online gallery...you can view 'em here. Our next trip? A SMALL one. :) Rushin' around the San Diego Zoo made us decide to give our local zoo another try...a more relaxed try. :) We'll be reportin' on our visit here. :)

Cristián's first visit to San Diego!

Today we visited the San Diego Zoo with dad, Willy's parents, and sisters, Sandra & Sonia...and what a day! We started with a visit to see the famous pandas...and that was just the beginning. After several bus rides and a guided tour, we then headed over to the USS Midway in the afternoon. After that, Willy and I, along with Cristián, Sandra & Sonia, returned to the zoo to ride the aerial tram and see even MORE animals! We stayed right up to closing! Seein' the wild cats so active late night was an experience! Although Cristián was with us, he napped quite a bit, and so Willy and I are now plannin' our next trip to the zoo - Gladys Porter Zoo. More pics coming soon...

Cristián's first flight!

 

Cristián's first trip on an airplane went without a hitch! The boppy I carried on didn't make for a very comfy fit for me (or for whoever was beside me), but it made the trip for Cristián VERY comfortable. After nursing during takeoff...Cristián slept for the rest of the flight! Both legs! He didn't make a peep. A gentleman seated next to my father even commented on how well his grandson behaved...told him that his grandson was the best behaved baby on the plane! Daddy was very proud. :) Here he is enjoyin' the view after landing in Houston George Bush Airport.

California, here we come!

Willy and I have been summer Californians for years now, but this year have the opportunity and pleasure to share the experience with not only our wonderful new son, Cristián, but our parents (on both sides) and his two sisters, Sandra & Sonia, and my sister, Laurie! We'll be visiting San Diego and the Anaheim area...and racking up plenty of firsts for Cristián! First flight, first beach, first theme park, first trip to the zoo, first trip with grandparents, etc...we can't wait! I've jampacked our five day trip with lots to do! See our itinerary here. I'm lookin' forward to posting pictures and how it all goes here...so come back soon!

Our trip to San Antonio and Austin w/ Tio Meme and Tia Rosita

Meme and Rosita joined Willy, Dad, and me on a trip to visit Laurie in Austin! We stopped in San Antonio on the way so that Tia Rosita "conociera a" San Antonio...and we had a great time! After a visit to the Alamo, we took a stroll down the River Walk and ate at the County Line. During our stay with Laurie in Austin, we also got to visit the State Capitol! Click here for more pictures from our trip!

Our Trip to Mexico was GREAT!

Willy and I, along with our parents, tried to visit Rancho La Tapona near Tula, Tamaulipas, but were deterred when we were told it would be a 2-3 hour drive off the main road on caliche. :( That adventure will have to wait for another trip. We did get to visit San Luis Potosi, Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, and Real de Catorce though! We stayed our first night at the Westin in San Luis Potosi and the following three nights at a lovely B&B called Casa Estrella de la Valencia on the fringe of Guanajuato. Our last night was spent at the Meson del Refugio at Real de Catorce, a mining "ghost town" with lots of old world Mexico (think Nacho Libre) charm. :)
See the rest of our photos from the trip here.

West Coast Believers Convention 2007

Well, we're back...here's a pic of our last evening in California right before celebrating Willy's birthday by enjoying the Pageant of the Masters! It was wonderful! Our whole trip was blessed! We spent lots of time in God's Word...in quality fellowship with one another...and elbows deep in GREAT FOOD! :) See pictures from our trip here! Next year the West Coast Believers Convention won't be in Anaheim, but in Long Beach! Who knows, eh? :)

Our trip to Central Texas with Pastors Jon & Marissa!

Although we were gone only two days...we did so much! A great BBQ lunch in Blanco ending with coffee and WONDERFUL baked goods from a nearby quaint bakery, a canopy tour among cypress trees near Spicewood, TX, some relaxation, evening snacks, and a lovely breakfast at a fine B&B in Wimberley, the BEST steak dinner at Cedar Grove Steakhouse, strolls in two quaint small Texas towns (Wimberley and Gruene), a picturesque lunch overlooking the Guadalupe River at the Gristmill in Gruene, old-timey photos at an ol' western themed photo gallery, a stop to shop at the way-cool, new Bass Pro Shop in San Antonio, and a sunset evening dessert of delicious peach cobbler, apple pie, apple cake, ice cream, and milk at a quiet rest area on the way home. *sigh* Everything was GREAT! See our pictures here!!!

Celebration IV was AWESOME!!!!

I haven't had a chance to create a log of our trip to Los Angeles just yet, but thought I'd post a video I found on youtube that gives a pretty good overall picture of what we experienced:

Check out our pics from the trip here.

Hill Country Jaunt

Just for the fun of it, Willy and I spent the weekend at the Hyatt Regency and visited with Laurie and Tom in San Antonio! We then strolled the vendors at Market Days in Boerne, ate and polka'ed through Wurstfest in New Braunfels, and then praised and clapped along at the Gospel Brunch (with a Texas Twist) in Gruene! What a weekend!

- click here for more photos -

Back in the USA!!

We couldn't have picked a better way to reaquaint ourselves to the good ol' USA (and to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary) except with friends and family at a feast of American food (at Taste of Chicago), and a great game of America's favorite pastime...baseball!!

...more pictures...