De Los Angeles Wedding

After 3 weddings/weekends of partying within a span of 8 weeks, wedding season has finally come to an end. We celebrated the nuptials of my cousin Ken and Tasha De Los Angeles. This was by far the biggest wedding yet as they had about 360 guests with relatives who flew in from all over the US and the Philippines. A wedding reception is not a good place for toddlers or Michael. It was really loud, and all Michael wanted to do was to be outside. He did really well considering we were there from 6pm to 2am.

Highlights of the wedding: The bride and groom danced a choreographed routine from Dirty Dancing. The bride surprised the groom by singing him a song by Faith Hill. It was so cute and romantic.

Congratulations Ken and Tash! We are so happy for the two of you! Let's get this family growing...we're waiting for your contribution.

Lola, Lolo, Michael, Jason, and me

My First Leaptop Laptop

Michael received his first laptop from Tita Amber while she was visiting from Arizona. We were shopping at Target, and he wouldn't sit still in the shopping cart... so she decided to buy him a toy to keep him distracted. He insisted on walking through the store, and being the lucky guy that he is, he still ended up going home with the laptop! The laptop is personalized so when he turns it on, Scout greets him and says "Hi Michael!" He loves receiving email, listening to music, and learning all the letters of the alphabet. Michael is quite the studious kid. He's very attentive and loves to learn. He knows almost all the uppercase letters, and has begun to sing the alphabet song. Well, all he sings is "A B C D" and then stops. His favorite letters are A, E, M, O, P, R, W and Y as he's constantly repeating those letters. My favorite to hear is W because he says "double-U-U".

Love how his hands are crossed

This is comfortable, especially with my foot up

Miniature Golf

Michael played 18 holes of miniature golf today at Speedzone with Tita Amber and Tita Tin. We thought that the warm weather would tire him out midway, but we were proved wrong. He played all 18 holes, some more than twice and wanted more. He even brought his own golf clubs! When the 18th hole arrived, I warned him that if he hit the ball in the hole, the ball will go bye bye and won't return. He proceeded to hit the ball with all his might, and yep, it never came back. He cried real tears and got so angry that he threw his golf club! Sorry Happy Gilmore, you'll get to play again...just be sure to bring $5 next time.

Hole 1. Par 2.
Looks like he's not off to a good start.

Yay! I made it!

Disneyland with the Cousins

Since we have back to back weekend weddings, family from out of town is in California this time. So we decided to meet up with the kids at Disneyland! Ethan and Nana were there too, so we met up with them for a little bit before joining the out of towners. Michael and Ethan had so much fun running around and imitating each other. I love how these two can entertain each other, and all I have to do is make sure they don't get hurt.

I got juice. You got juice.

We met up with cousins Jake, Ashley, Jillian, Baby Jake, Violet, Cozmo and their Seattle friends. After riding two rides, the kids decided it was time for lunch. I packed a peanut butter and banana sandwich for Michael and me, but I had no idea that the kids with peanut allergies were there, so we skipped our lunch. Just kidding! Tita Lorna was kind enough to buy us yummy Mexican food. I wouldn't dare eat peanuts in front of these kids. They're so allergic that they have to go to a peanut-free school. Anyway, Michael had a great time hanging with his older cousins. We can't wait to play again on Saturday!

Jaeden?, Jillian, Violet, Michael, Cozmo
(Baby Jake was sleeping)

De Los Angeles-Guevarra Wedding

After dating for 9 years, Amber and Dennis have finally tied the knot! We don't get to see them too often since they live in Arizona, so we traveled 6 hours one way just so we can share in their special day. The reception was held at a golf course conveniently located next to our hotel. Since Michael loooves golf, he was easily entertained checking out the course. It's too bad we forgot his clubs though. Nevertheless, he was a happy guy at the reception.

Michael witnessed Lola "get low low low" on the dance floor! Haha. And he hoovered two slices of cake. He cheered when everyone cheered, and raised his glass of milk to every toast. He was definitely the life of the party. After the reception, the festivities continued in our room where we played flip cup til 2am, and Michael partied with us!

Michael, you bring so much joy to everyone you're around. Your smile and laughter is contagious. We love that you can party with us! =)

First Road Trip to Arizona

We had our first family road trip to Arizona this weekend to celebrate my cousin Amber and Dennis' wedding. About 30 family members from California drove or flew there to witness them tie the knot. Michael did very well during the 6 hour drive. You would think we would've stopped a few times for Michael, but our stops were more for daddy's uncontrollable bladder. It allowed Michael to stretch his legs and play with all the rocks Arizona has to offer. Who knew that rocks are so entertaining to a 21 month old child?? He collected a rock or two everywhere we went.

Hello, Arizona!

Michael wearing daddy's backpack

Stay tuned for actual wedding pictures...

Happy New Year & Goodbye Christmas Tree

We rang in the new year intimately in our cozy home, just Jason, Michael, Carmel and me. It was the quietest new year's celebration ever because Michael had a slight cold, but we made the most of it. He was a trooper and stayed up til 1:30 in the morning.

Since our Christmas tree started to dry out and droop significantly, it was time to pack up our decorations, and say goodbye to it. Michael did a great job undressing the tree and packing up the ornaments. He was such a fantastic helper! When we were all done, he didn't want to part with the tree. He wanted to give it one last big hug before we said goodbye. Thank you tree for making our house look so festive and smelling so pretty! We already miss you so much.

Bye bye my first 8ft tree!