Busy Weekend

Thursday, I cleaned out my closet and did a few things around the house. Normally, my dogs nap while I am cleaning and such, so today was no different. I know no one cares about my dogs, but I have to post this picture of Bailey. She is just too cute! She sleeps so weird and always with her tongue out. Dog lover or not, this is too funny!

That everning, Miah flew home for the weekend and I got to pick him up! It was so great to see him-I felt like it had been years! He is here until tomorrow and I get to take him back to spend some more time w/him. Hopefully he won't get sick of me by then!

Friday night, everyone came over to my house for some Mexican food. We had queso, homemade salsa, ceviche, tacos, chicken enchiladas, and rice and beans. Tia made brownies and some tres leche cake! Mighty good! She is so cute and thoughtful. We had a good time and I loved having everyone over. It is nice when we can all be together and enjoy each others company. Jake had just finished practice and had an 8 o'clock game the next day so he was ready for bed pretty early. Mom stayed and helped me clean up. She rocks!

Yesterday, Jake had 2 games scheduled, but due to the rain, the team only played one. We weren't able to make it due to Jaydan's party, but the team did well and won their game. Woo Hoo! Miah and Jake went to see The Hangover and Miah was disappointed; he didn't think it was as funny as everyone had said. I can't believe he took Jake to see that! Aye! Evan and Josh hung out at Westgate and I stayed home like an old lady! I love that!

Today, we headed to see Jake's tournament game at Peoria Sports Complex. It felt like it was 200 degrees! Jake played outfield and did really well. His team is quite impressive! I am glad he is apart of such a promising team! #34 rocks! After the game, Josh and Evan went to see "The Goods" and Miah and I ran to return a few things before heading to Dad's place for some grub. He BBQ'd steaks, chicken, and salmon. For some reason, I was craving a hot dog so Dad cooked a few. I think being at the ballpark caused it. Jake got mad at me because I kept squirting him with water. Miah managed to catch one episode on his phone, but I don't have it! It was quite entertaining for me and Miah, but Jake had enough! Being around Jake and Miah bring out the kid in me. I act like I am 10 again! I am glad tho because we always have so much fun.

I don't have any pics of Friday night or our Sunday BBQ dinner, but I do have baseball pics of Jake. He is such a stud! :) Love you, Baby Jake!

Look at this cutie pie!

Up to bat

Swing Batta Batta Swing!

Jake in the Outfield

Runnin in

Good Game!

Team Meeting

Miah and Jake--Mom snapped it just right!

Another Birthday!

Today, we celebrated Jaydan's 7th birthday. We all went over to Tasha and Jerry's house in Maricopa and just hung out with Evan's family. Jaydan had a lot of fun with all of her friends. Although we all left with headaches, eating the birthday cake was worth the pain! I don't know why, but something about it was just so darn yummy! Luckily, there are no more birthdays for another month. This gets to be a little bit too expensive with so many!! Anyhow, here are a few pics of the party. :)

Miss Jaydan

Me and Alex

The Santoro Familia #2: Nicole, Alex & Gene

Jerry teaching Alex how to play ping-pong

Alex's 1st Birthday

Saturday, we celebrated our niece, Alex's, 1st birthday! Although Evan and I are not married yet, I still consider his nieces and nephews to be mine :) Anyhow, she is extra special to me because I babysat her during my "no job" period and we got to be BFFs! She is my little girlfriend and I just love her to pieces! I am sad she is already 1! Where does the time go? I always loved having her around and enjoyed the time we spent together. I feel like she is my own! I am still in shock how fast she has grown and how incredibly gorgeous and amazing this little lady is. I put some pics of her as she has grown...I know, totally lame! But humor me!

The day she was born

6 months

One year :(

We went to Marley Park in Surprise to celebrate by the pool. Evan's family was all there, including his dad, Fred, and his girlfriend Virginia. That was an a bonus to the party for sure. They both live in Van Nuys, California, so they aren't able to come out for everyone's bdays and family celebrations, so when they are able, we certainly enjoy them! They are definitely enjoyable to have around. Everyone just hung out around the pool and all the kids got in and swam around. Sure are entertaining! Alex loves the pool and was the cutest little thing in her swimmer! Ethan and Madison hung out together--Ethan got the biggest kick out of the water that shot out. He is so darn cute!

Unlce Evan w/Alex

Madison playing

Ethan having a blast!

Cute cousins

Eric and Ethan

Eric and Jaxen

Jaxen loved it!

Jake and Ethan

Fred, Virginia, Evan and Gene

The ladies hanging out

Evan has 3 older siblings: Eric, Tasha and Gene. Between all of them, there are 9 nieces and nephews. I have had the pleasure of being around for 5 of their births, so it is amazing to see how fast they grow! The 2 newest additions are Jaxen (Eric & Hill) and Bryson (Tasha & Jerry), born 2 months apart to the day. They are very cute! Bryson was awake so we were able to do a little photo shoot with them. Jaxen was smiling up a storm! They are going to be the best of friends! :)

Jerry and Bryson

Jaxen!

Jaxen is so chunky & Bryson is so long!

After everyone went swimming, we sang "Happy Birthday" and Alex got to eat her very own cake! She looked at everyone with confusion, so Tasha went and fed her. She loved it! Nicole opened her presents and showed her what she got. She was quite fond of her new doll and wouldn't put it down. She found a new friend! She got a lot of books, toys and adorable outfits. She is set until Christmas :)

She didn't know what was going on!

Her own cake

She looked so confused

Playing w/her cake

Finally she can eat!

She liked the book we got her

But she loved her doll!

She was done!

We ended up at Eric and Hillary's house to relax after spending the day in the 115 degree heat. The kids got baths and started to get sleepy. Around 8, everyone decided to play poker. I knew this would take a while, so I headed home and left Evan to concentrate. I am glad I did because he won the pot! Woo Hoo! It was worth the late night for him.

Sunday, we went bowling with everyone before taking Fred and Virginia to the airport. We had a great time! I am a heck of a lot better bowling on my Wii than in life, but I tried my best! It is all in fun anyways. The Santoro's always went bowling growing up, so all of them are quite good. It is cute to see them all interact and have fun, as if they are kids again! It was a fun way to end the weekend. My battery died in my camera so I don't have any pics of bowling. :(

Another Baller

Jake tried out for The Wildfire on Saturday and made the team! Woo Hoo!! Way to go Jake! He is very excited to be playing with such a great team. Most of the guys on his team have been playing together for many years, but Jake is ready to catch up. He is excited to be apart of such a developed organization. We are all so proud of him and can't wait to see him show his talents in games and for him to continue to grow in the game of baseball. You are awesome, Jake! :)

Back 2 School

Jake started school as a Sophomore at Bourgade on the 11th of August. He was very excited to get back to school to see his friends and of course, for the homework! He is enjoying it so far and is staying out of trouble. Friday was their 1st home football game & after-game dance. He had a lot of fun. Jake loves to dance so I am sure he enjoyed himself! Saturday, he tried out for a local baseball team and was asked to be apart of it. Jake is very excited to be playing and we will keep you updated on his games and how he is doing in school. So far, so good :)

Josh, Miah and Mom all started back on the 24th. Josh is at ASU and as of now, he is due to graduate in May 2010. Very exciting! He is majoring in Recreation & Tourism-something he is very good at and passionate about. I know he is going to do great things in his life and I can't wait for him to graduate! He is working at Desert Schools Credit Union and is training for a promotion as Branch Lead, which is a step into management. He works part-time for the City of El Mirage as well.

Miah is attending San Diego City College and really loves it. He thinks school is "gay" but his classes are good. He goes to school Mon-Thurs and has baseball practice until 5:30. Friday is his only day off, so it's nice he has that. His games should be starting soon so I will keep you updated on those.

Mom started school as well at Glendale Community College. She is taking a few online courses, a reading course and a country dance class! She really enjoys her dance class most of all! She is working hard and is happy to be back. Now her and Jake can do their homeowrk together! I don't how my mom manages to work at night, go to class in the evening, sleep for an hour and then head back to work! She is dedicated! Keep up the great work Mom and stay focused! We are proud of you!

I am going to be able to get my Masters onling w/my new job. I figure I should get a bunch of degrees since they won't cost me anything. That's my favorite benefit and am very thankful I have it! So hopefully one day I can be a journalistic psychological marketing pro! Watch out!

Longer Wait...

I was supposed to start my new job but due to an error in the recruiting department, I will have to begin my 6 week training September 14th. :( I guess the training class this round was overbooked so being that I was the last one hired, I was rolled over to the next training class. No big deal, but I busted my booty to get things squared away to prepare myself for getting back to reality. Oh well! Calories burned--YES!! At least I still have a job :)

Officially Moved :(

Well, sadly, Miah is officially a resident of California. He is all moved in and ready to go. Dad, Miah and Molly headed out there on Thursday and got everything all set up and unpacked. Mom, Jake, Aunt Jannice and I left AZ early Fri morn and arrived early afternoon. We checked into our hotel and met up with the rest of the fam at Miah's new casa. It is so cute and cozy! Perfect little place for Miah to feel at home. It is centrally located and very close to school and the beach-just perfect! We made ourselves at home while Mom and Aunt Jannice put Miah's bed together (something Mom wanted to do for him). We just hung out for a little bit and were very happy we got to spend some time at his new place.

The outside of the building

The front entrance

Getting his room and bed finished

Molly and Jake on the patio

Miah being silly

A little exhausted

Cozy on his new bed

Mom and Aunt Jannice joined him

Miah and Jake cuddled too

At this point, we were all hungry and decided to have dinner. We ate at Miller's Field by Pacific Beach, where Pizzeria Uno used to be. We all ordered pizza and man, was it tasty! It hit the spot for us all. We killed some time waiting for the food by taking some pics.

Molly bet Jake $10 that he couldn't eat a Large pizza by himself. I don't think she knew that is what he always does, so this was an easy win for Jake. He started to struggle just a little bit with only 2 pieces left, but sure enough, he succeeded! We all wondered where this food goes since he is so darn skinny, and he showed us where! He was a little nervous he was going to vomit later so he ran to CVS and bought some Pepto. Luckily, it was never used! :)

This is where he keeps his pizza weight--must be nice!

After dinner, we headed to Pacific Beach and played in the water for a little bit. We all got pretty wet and when we felt raindrops coming down, we decided to head out. We all said good night and went back to the hotel for some sleep. We needed it after the long day we had.

Saturday morning, Jake called us at 7:30 AM, waking us up, of course, and wanted us to get up and head to the beach. We decided to hang out, relax, and get ready when we wanted to. After about 4 different calls, we got up, got ready, packed up and left to meet them at Mission Beach. Once we got there, we did a little shopping and spent some time looking at sunglasses. I bought Jake some Michael Jackson sunglasses-since we are such fans of his, I knew he would love them! Darn it! I should have bought a pair for Grandpa! He is MJ's #1 fan, after all! ;) Miah tried on a pair he thought fit him nicely; we had to agree! Mom, Dad and Aunt Jannice got some new shades too.

Jake rockin the new shades!

And Miah's

Me and Jake w/his other new pair

We headed out to the beach and enjoyed the beautiful views and weather. Man, I wish we all lived here. It is just perfect there! However, the amount of guys who wear speedos and who don't wear swim trunks that fit them, allowing their cracks to show, could definitely be eliminated but what can we do! Jake did some wake boarding and managed to get some waves. Molly and Miah joined him in the ocean for some swimming. They looked like they had a blast! It was a relaxing time to just sit there and enjoy the magnificent environment we were in.

The cutie pies on the beach

Dad and Jake heading back in

Jake got some waves

Runnin in

Me and Mom

Miah, Molly and Jake heading out

We had some dinner before heading back to Miah's place to spend a few mins with him before we all went home. We got to meet Chance, his roommate. He seems very nice, chill and similar to Miah. We are all very glad he is rooming with someone like that; they seem like they will get along splendidly! He has a good sense of humor so that always works nicely in our family! Chance took a pic of us right before we had to bid farewell.

Saying good-bye was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I know we can all say that. But for me, I just felt this emptiness in my heart. I normally don't see Miah everyday, but just the thought that I could if I wanted to was always nice. Now, I can't. I know he is going to do great things and he is going to be fine. I don't worry about him at all. I suppose that is why it is so sad; he is so independent and such a good person, it makes it harder to let go. I tried my hardest not to cry, but that lasted for about 2 seconds! I just didn't want to stop hugging him. I miss him so much already! We all wish him the best of luck in school and of course, baseball, but most importantly, with his happiness. Can't wait to see what his future holds for him.

I adore you, Miah, and love you very much. We will all miss you!!!