Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me!

Gabriel's party was amazing, even though the weather kept us indoors. The group was smaller than it would have been if we could have had a guarantee of good weather (large crowds are much easier to accomodate at the neighborhood park!) With mainly just family invited, it was easy enough to stay inside.
The older kids hung out in the playroom with Gabriel playing video games, the younger ones kind of went back-and-forth between that and the pirate coloring pages I had set up in the kitchen. This left the adults free to visit, work on the pirate puzzle we had out, and watch Treasure Planet (the kids were SO not interested in the movie!) The treasure hunt that was planned for the park had to be scrapped completely, and we had no place to hang the pinata indoors. That was actually not that hard to solve - the pinata was a treasure chest about the size of a LARGE football, so we kicked it against the side of the couch to break it! LOL
The treasure chest cake was awesome, but probably won't be remembered as much as last year's 3-D R2/D2 cake. :)
Best part of the party, Gabriel told Raenisa that he wanted a new cousin for his birthday - and Raenisa was able to oblige, by giving birth to Anthony at 9:32 PM (many of the party guests had left by then, but the party was far from over).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABRIEL!

Party update

Hey everyone, the weatherman is trying to rain on my parade (or rain on Gabriel's party, at least). The party is still ON as scheduled, but if it rains we will stay at the house instead of going to the park for the treasure hunt. In fact, the whole treasure hunt will be skipped if it rains :( Lets hope for at least a few hours of sunshine, preferably sunny ALL DAY so the park won't be all muddy. Hope to see most/all of you here this Saturday for Gabriel's Pirate Party!
:)

Happy New Year!

I know this year has flown by for many, and you probably know that the last few months have CREPT by for me. Mike is the first thing I think of when I wake up each morning, and he is my last thought each night when I fall alseep (that is, WHEN I can sleep!)

Now that we've reached the halfway point in this deployment, I feel safe in taking a deep breath and being OPTIMISTIC about his safe return home. I've been working on a scrapbook for him, and wanted to share some of the pictures of Mike in uniform - some were taken during training exercises, some taken during his first trip to Fallujah, and some are from ceremonies.

Enjoy the pics, and here's to a HOPEFUL New Year!

SAVE THE DATE!

Gabriel's 8th birthday will be celebrated on Saturday, January 26, 2008, at Casa de Gonzales (in Winchester) Invitations to follow.....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hope everyone had a GREAT holiday! All I really wanted for Christmas this year was to have my husband and my daughter home with me - guess I haven't been very good, because I didn't get either one! :) I did get to enjoy a great Christmas with my boys, and Chica was a pretty good sport. Three of my four remaining California siblings were able to join us for Christmas dinner with their respective families, and we all enjoyed some GREAT grub.

(Mike, when you get home from Iraq, we will have no qualms about re-creating this day to enjoy with you!)

Peace, Joy, & Love to everyone - look out, here comes 2008!