Maya's great 8 birthday!

The year has flown by for us as a family.. October is always a busy month but this year the stress of life meant more chaos than normal.. Before I knew it I realized that Maya's birthday had snuck up on me..

This year Maya wanted an all girl event..

Thankfully she wanted games and music. A few pink party supplies and a homemade cake was all that was needed for these girls to enjoy their afternoon..

Lily was a sight with the hula hoop..

They started the games with the limbo game and enjoyed being silly..

A few hours of fun and games was perfect for celebrating...
I think it was an extended playdate..
However, we couldn't let a birthday pass without family which meant a long day for all of us.. If it wasn't for my mom and Deanna I think I would have passed out from exhaustion..
Her 8 shaped cake was shared with family and our neighbors (our second family)..

She was flooded with gifts and by 8:00 exhausted beyond her 8 years!

I still can't believe it but ready or not she is the Great 8..

Happy birthday baby!
Love,
Mom and Dad

It's that time again...

SOCCER SEASON!

This season Martin is head coach and the girls are the Mighty Mermaids..
Maya has decided to be an offensive player and that she wants to score.. Who knew?These little girls are showing some amazing heart, teamwork and tumbling (yes, tumbling!)..
The season is about half way through and every practice, scrimmage and game we are enjoying watching them grow as soccer players..
Go Mighty Mermaids!
Alex

Amanda's 15th!

I don't know how it happened but our little Mandy grew up... This September we celebrated her 15th..

We had a great time celebrating in traditional Mexican fashion Amanda's 15th or Quince..
The Father-Daughter dance was by far my favorite..
The Garcia family was all dressed up and so were we for celbrating this special event..

Look at mom and dad, so proud!
We don't get too many chances to dress up.. This was a great excuse to put in some effort..
Happy Birthday Mandy!

The big 3-0 for....

My little brother!

Ok, so he is almost a foot taller but he will always be my little brother..
With some help from his best friend Andre and cousin Ed, mom and I pulled off a surprise bash for Arthur complete with friends and family..

Andre and Diana are the best friends a guy could ask for...

The Cortez family made it down for the celebration...Grandma Cortez, Margaret, her daughter and of course our sis Veronica!

Mom and Arthur pose for a picture..

Arthur is happiest surrounded by friends....

And FAMILY!

Happy 30th!
Hugs,
Sis

Great 8!

I can't even believe that I am already posting about another birthday for Gracie.. Today is the day.. She is EIGHT..

I was lucky enough to hear the girls giggle and wish her a happy birthday this morning.. Maya and Lily woke Grace up with quiet HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
Carl and Deanna had a robot themed house ready for all the girls..

The main event was building human robots.. Who knew 13 kids could get along so well over aluminum foil?

The girls opened presents with Grace and oohed and awed...

Another year has flown by! Gracie we wish you a great year of 8..
Hugs,
The Galvans..

The Dans and the summer hang out..

Colleen and Dan were kind enough to host us all at their awesome house.. Colleen went all out with the summer lemonade stand decor. So cute! We all got a chance to catch up on each other's happenings.. Which is mostly about how much the kids have grown!

Look at little Evan..

Emma is anything but little she is a young lady!
Look at what a good big sister she is to little Miss Gillian..

Ava and Paige are sweet and funny...

Colleen's AMAZING apple pie doubled as a belated birthday cake for Denny.. The kids (and Stef!) got some time in the trampoline..

The Dan's got to talk comics and music..

Us moms got to talk kids and life.. As always it was so good to see one another..
We are setting records this year..
Alex

Lily turns SIX!

Another summer time event was Lily's 6th birthday..

Maya and Lily are often partners in crime whether it be making mud soup or chasing after Grace on the scooters..

Lily is a feisty and whip smart girl who cracks us all up with her adult like remarks and scratchy voice.. She is another sunshine girl who reminds Deanna and I of the happy color yellow..

It was a Pump It Up party this year which meant worn out kids!

Lily was in full queeny mode and enjoyed the crown to its fullest..

This is a girl who was born to rule! Look out world here comes Lily!
Happy Birthday Miss Lily..

Big Hugs,

Auntie Alex

Summertime in SLO...

I realize this entry almost two months late.. Where the past months have gone I just can't tell..The summer flew by and I am still trying to adjust to the whole routine..I can taste fall and am excited for the cooler days..

However, over the summer we decided to trek up to Avila beach/San Luis Obispo for a week with our interchangeables, the Bell family.. Their van fits both our tribes and with all the bells and whistles that car has the girls and their parental units were set for the trek..

Martin and Carl were in charge of keeping us moms away from the girls..and the looking at the scenary of course..

We discovered a hidden gem of a beach and an amazing little town in SLO.. We are still trying to figure out what job we could all create so that we could move to SLO.. So far no luck.. We hope someday we will be within walking distance of Cowboy Cookie and all those great little shops.. Hmm... maybe we can convince all 3 girls to attend the local college..

We booked a KOA cabin which suited us fine except for the mickey mouse that decided to keep Deanna and Carl up one night.. Thankfully Martin and his mouse trapping skills did not fail us..

The girls were in heaven in their loft, the pool and even the ice cold water at the beach..

This is our new favorite summer beach spot..
Martin enjoyed his first ever bowl of Pho.. We visited the gaudy Madonna Inn.. The girls loved the pinkness of it all.. we enjoyed the real danish breads and the sights..

I could go on and on about some of the neat places and food..
Can't wait until our next visit..
Alex

First day of school!

Maya was a little nervous for the first day of school.. It was a new place, new teacher and new dress code.. She is now at the Temecula Preparatory and they wear uniforms..

At first the thought of uniforms shocked her but once she tried them on.. She was hooked!

Today my heart swelled with pride as I watched her off to 2nd grade.. It was a dream of mine for her to attend a school that had uniforms.. We love our school district and love that she has such an amazing school in our own neighborhood..

We look forward to many more happy memories at TPS..
Go Patriots!
Alex

Troop 462 at Disney

This summer the Girl Scout troop got to spend their cookie money at Disneyland... The day was hot and the lines were long but the girls kept each other company and the sights kept them wanting more...

We met up first thing in the morning and didnt leave until 10 pm!

Troop leader Angela had a great idea to have red troop shirts.. super cute!

H.ere are Bailey, Maya and Tessa getting ready for the parkHere are the girls as the wait over an hour for the log ride on a VERY HOT day.. we were all refreshed by the time we came off.. Needless to say we were soaking wet and enjoyed the drying off process..We did everything from ride It's a Small World to meet the princesses...

The end of the night would not be complete without a visit to Mickey's House!

The smiles went on all day and night..
What a great summer day!
Alex

Summer recap...

These entries are my attempt at recapturing the summer.. Part 1.

I don't know where the summer went? the warm weather is still here but school shopping and angst has already started... Maya has been as busy as her mother bee this summer.. from the day she got out right up to this final weekend..

School let out in Mid June

Maya and a few of her friends gathered for a School's Out party.. The theme was tea party so all the girls came in cute dresses and enjoyed themselves in the jumper..

Are these girls cool or what? The sunglasses added to the summer time fun..
That was just day one!
Alex

Happy Father's day!

Maya is all about her daddy.

This year her class hosted Donuts with Dad at her school..

She made him a pet ladybug in her favorite colors, hot pink, black and white.. She also wrote a super cute story about her dad where she commented about how nice he is and that he is as cool as a soccer player..

She's a lucky girl...

Life is good!
Alex

A friendly game of soccer

The Red Hot Chili Peppers continued their good play and winning ways..

The girls gelled and the coaches decided a Mom vs team game was in order..

The girls had a blast showing us their moves, keeping the ball away from us and oh yeah, scoring on the moms!

It was a great chance to walk/run in their shoes.. I think all the moms have a new appreciation for what it takes for these little girls to play soccer..

Soccer Rocks!
Alex