Fun Weekends!

I am desperately trying to pull myself to the computer to post more, but lately I hate the computer and can’t stand the Internet. This feeling exists because of several reasons one my computer is alarming slow (which I should get checked out), it hurts my eyes, and I seem to be a lot more busy lately. However despite my negative attitude towards it I will soldier on for that sake of memories.

Now that, that is off my chest I will be more pleasant. I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Zoo Walk this past Saturday. The walk helped raised money for Autism research. Weston had so many supporters and awesome groupies. I have to admit we had the coolest shirts out of any group (thanks Giselle). Although the walk was short being that it is only 1.1 miles around the zoo, it was so neat to see all the supporters. I am so grateful to my family and friends that came out to support such an important cause. It is always helpful to have life’s purposes refocused at times.

I want to say thank you Chari, for being such an advocate and involving me as well as opening my eyes along with many others to such important issues. If I could just say I have the most amazing sister! Not only is she the sweetest most humble person I know, she is an amazing mother and aunt. My sister is so proactive it amazes me and I can only hope to be more like her. I love talking to her and listening to all the information she holds in her brain. I am lucky to have you as family. I love you!

Now for the second part of my post the SYTYCD concert. I lacked in pictures due to the fact that I never charge my camera. So my lovely photographer friend Tricia took the majority of the pictures. It was so much fun and we stood out like a sore thumb, which is exactly what we wanted. We all had shirts made the night before that spelled “WE Love S Y T Y C D”, they were awesome. It was so much fun and the concert was GREAT! My vocal cords were killing me from screaming so long and loud. Tricia’s wonderful husband Jared even got us Twitch glasses, for those of you who don’t know they are glasses with no lenses. Thanks Jared!! I don’t want to go into too much detail but some other highlights of the night were an incriminating picture some one took and a two really nice female who TRIED to cut off Tricia, it was classic! It was so much fun can’t wait until next year!

A little late

Okay so I am going to make this a really short blog for two reasons. One I have to blog about something else and still need to get some other things in the blogger book before. Two, I am in a hurry!

Gavin started soccer again this year in the Gilbert League. He loves it and I love the outrageously loud colors of the uniforms. Seriously you can see them from a mile away. It makes it really easy to find them on the field. This season we have had some really intense opposing teams and I am slightly shocked. Some four year olds look six, and some players look like they are preparing themselves for high school soccer.

If you can’t tell these are two different games, my son is bald in one. We have officially shaved his head again and the long process of wanting the surfer long hair will have to wait. Gavin’s hair just doesn’t seem too grow that fast. Oh well he is still a cutie!

Secondly, the Ethington’s had a family reunion. This is a foreign concept to me because my family reunions consist of Sunday’s at my aunt’s house. There aren’t tons of people in my extended family so there is no need to have a vacation for our gathering. Well I married into a family were there are so many grandchildren you loose count. So a reunion is in order. I have to admit I do enjoy them, I have never seen so many kids for Gavin to play with other than school.

It was a camp out however; it was only for two days so Troy and I didn’t feel like hauling up the camper and setting it up for only two days. So we stayed in a near by hotel which we used to sleep. It might seem a little ridiculous but at least I got a shower. There was so much to do and Gavin really enjoyed himself. Can’t wait until next year!

One long Vacation!

I was able to take two awesome vacations back to back. Well, actually I would almost say three rolled in to one. The end of August my best friend Lynn flew me out to California to watch Annabelle while her and Jake took a much needed weekend away. Since Lynn lives far away I don’t get the chance to see Annabelle enough. So needless to say I was so excited to have a chance to spend a whole weekend with her.

First Annabelle is one of the most well behave babies I have ever been around. Not only does she have a smile that melts your heart but, she hardly ever cries. Even when she does cry it is only because she sees you making her bottle and she wants you to hurry up. So in reality she is just telling you to speed things up a bit. I really had great time with her and am so happy that I had the chance to spend some quality time with her. Thank you Lynn and Jake for going on vacation so that Annabelle and I could hang out. I miss her and can’t wait until I see her again.

Now for my second vacation, this started when Jake and Lynn came home. I got to spend some much need time with Lynyrd Skynyrd (aka Lynn). We spent most of our time laughing. I seriously forget how much we make each other laugh. Lynn and I got hook on this show “Gossip Girl”, and I am now a devoted fan! We watched season one and ate sushi. Which is a passion we both have, we ate it three days in a row! I think the best time was on her bed while we watched Gossip Girl on the computer. Thank you so much Jake and Lynn for allowing me to invade your space.

On Wednesday I was able to pick up Gavin in California, which worked out perfectly I might add. Gavin was on a vacation as well and then was able to join me for our third vacation but, before that started Lynn, Jake, Annabelle, Gavin, and I got to spend a little time with each other. Gavin loved Annabelle so much, he tried so hard to make her smile and when she did he would beam with excitement that he achieved a smile. It was so CUTE!! I was also glad that Lynn and Gavin got to hang out because he doesn’t get to see his Auntie Lynn much either. By the way the whole next week he kept asking me where was Auntie Lynn. I had such a wonderful time and am so glad that I got to spend time with the Halladay’s, I miss you guys!

Now last but not least the third vacation. My mom, sister, nephew, cousins, and aunt’s all joined me in California to have a girl and kids trip to Disneyland. Gavin and I have been to Disneyland before but never when he is tall enough to ride all the awesome rides. He only missed out on two, Indian Jones and Bear River. I was debating if I should take him on Thunder Mountain Railroad, I did and he loved it! The neat thing was while we were on the ride they were having the fireworks show right above us. So we had the best seats and were able to see Tinkerbelle fly across the sky. He also loved Splash Mountain, we rode it five times it was great!

I had so much fun and loved spending time with my family. This was Weston’s first trip to Disneyland and we all were so excited for him. He did great and I love to see how happy he got on the train. It was so much fun! We went at the best time, there was no wait and it wasn’t too hot. Oh but note to self I HATE THE FINDING NEMO RIDE!! We got suck and were in the cramped submarine for 10 mins. I will never ride that ride again. Not to mention I am slightly claustrophobic.

I loved all my vacations and am so glad I went! Troy was dying for us to come home it is the longest time we have ever been apart. He was going crazy so much that he called me to ask if I missed him because I only said it once. It was cute!

The Start of School and a Trip to the Hospital!

Okay so these past few weeks have been packed with new things. First my baby boy went back to school; he now is in Pre-K. It is a private school at a Lutheran Church. It is an awesome school and the teachers and staff are extremely friendly. I feel like he is already learning so much. My sister enrolled my nephew at this school as well and I really wanted them to be in the same class. At first they weren’t and a week before school started a spot opened up in Weston’s class so Gavin was able to get in. So now our little babies are off to school and growing up. How time passes you by!

Our next awesome little adventure was one that landed Gavin in the hospital for two days. He got a very bad case of Cellulitis. He has actually had this about 4 times before one of which made him look like the Hunchback of Norte Dame. However, this time they where really afraid because it was in his hand and the anatomy of the hand is so small that it can become more dangerous at a faster rate. His poor little hand looked like a mallet. I didn't get any before pictures of his hand but it looked like it was going to explode!

It was his first time in the hospital and at first he was scared, but Mercy Gilbert is an awesome hospital and by the end he didn’t want to leave. I love that hospital it was so nice and a great staff. I highly recommend going to Mercy Gilbert for your next accident or birth.

He is now back at home and doing well. Unfortunately the doctors think he has bacteria called MRSA and that is why he keeps getting it. It most likely originated from the first time he had Cellulitis. There are some interesting methods on how to kill this super bug and we are going to try them. For starters a bleach bath is one, not all bleach but bleach and water. I have to say I was a little scared when the doctor told us that one. I really hope that it goes away because every time he gets bitten by a mosquito he gets Cellulitis. It is starting to get to the point were I am always worried when he goes outside to play. This is a horrible thing considering my boy is an outside boy.

Sorry there are not a lot of pictures I can’t find my camera charger so I am relying on other people to take pictures for me. I also wanted to include a picture of his very first Cellulitis.

The Great Escape!

This past weekend my whole family went up to our cabin to escape this dreaded heat and enjoy the pines. I have to say that I found the forest so relaxing and enticing. I literally love to get lost in the scenery and enjoy a good book outside. Which is precisely what I did all weekend, that and eat.

Gavin loves the woods as well and always calls it camping anytime we go to the forest. Although we have never truly camped. Oddly enough it is my manly husband that refuses to sleep in a tent. Thank heavens we have a trailer otherwise we would never get to “go camping.” This weekend was filled with lots of little surprises. The first one was that my poor baby got stung by a bee. For those who know me I am dreadfully afraid of this one inch flying killer. Every time I see one I run and scream, I can’t help it I am just so terrified of being stung. Luckily I have been able to escape this irrational fear; unfortunately I can now say my son has not. The moment I heard him scream I thought that he was just wining, and then it occurred to me that he and Troy were shooting the gun outside that’s when the panic mom sunk in. I rushed to him with alligator tears streaming down his face. It had stung him through his clothes on the side of his chest. Wade found the bee and the stinger was still on, which is a good sign that sting wasn’t too bad. Gavin cried for a moment and then he was fine. I was shock to see how well he handled something I would have completely overreacted too. When I first saw the bee on the floor it wasn’t dead yet but dying and this is sad to admit but I desperately wanted to hurt the thing for stinging Gavin. I want to make the bee feel pain. As if dying isn't enough I wanted him to suffer. I am terribly weird and apologize if this come to a shock to anyone. I however did nothing but comfort my son.

The next exciting and ten times more serious situation we had was that concerning my brother in law Wade. He and Gavin we playing outside while I sat in the hammock close by. They were making some type of sling shot with a rope or something. Then they would sling sticks into the air. All of the sudden I heard a rather short “aaaa.” I looked over and Wade was on the ground. I didn’t think much of it at first because I thought he was playing dead for Gavin’s entertainment. Then I asked him if he was okay, no answer. I then managed to remove myself for that remarkably comfortable position I was in. I walked over and asked the same question with no response but a hand in the air. Then he got up and walked away. Gavin relayed the story to me and said the he was pulling it back and the stick went and stuck in his eye. (What an imagination) As Wade continued to walk off the pain my sister chased after him to make sure he was okay. Well to make a long story short, he wasn’t. He had torn off the first layer of his eye and sliced through the first three. His eye filled up with blood and pieces of stick were embedded into his eye. He went to the doctor where they had to “rise” it out. I wasn’t there for this part by was told it was painful. He now has to see the eye doctor here for a little while to see how his eye is healing and make sure there is no loss of sight. FYI he has a great eye doctor here! (Plug for Dr. Lambson)

It was a great trip with only a few set backs. I spent a good majority of the time reading and laying in the hammock. I love hanging out with my family and just laughing. I can’t wait until I go again. Which will be soon, and I am bound and determined to learn how to snowboard this winter. So that means more cabin trips YEA!!!!

4th of July At The Beach!!!!

So I guess I will jump on the bandwagon and make a post about the 4th of July. This year we took a trip to Newport Beach with the Patterson’s. We went to California last year with them all we wanted to do was stay longer. So this year we rented a beach house and stayed for a WEEK!! It was so nice to get away and being that I am a big fan of the beach/tanning it was a perfect place to go. We could see the beach from our porch and 20 steps would take you right to the sandy escape.

We arrived at the beach house late Saturday night and the very next morning, first thing we went to the beach. I have to explain a little something about my husband, this will come as a shock to most but he hates the beach. I know how can anyone hate the beach, well he does?! He doesn’t tan he burns and he hates getting sand everywhere and he thinks it is more relaxing to sit inside then in front of the ocean. Needless to say we got in a few disagreements over this but he was a trooper, most of the time. I on the other hand was elated to get some natural sun without melting and giving up like I do most of the time here in Arizona.

Most everyday was spent on the beach getting a tan. FYI I have an awesome tan although my sister thinks I am too dark. However I am now peeling excessively on my back and chest. I don’t mind as long as my arms and legs don’t peel. To my horror I learned yesterday that the back of me legs started to peel. I guess that is the result of not wearing any sun block and lathering my self in tanning oil. I did wear SPF 70 on my face because I am freak about getting my face too tan.

So to move on we went to the beach almost every day except on Thursday when the boys decided to meet Harold (Ed’s brother) down in San Diego and go deep sea fishing for the day. Much to my surprise they wanted to take the kids. Which of course meant a day of shopping for the girls; I must say I love it when that happens. The boys spent too much fishing and I thought I made out like a bandit shopping. It usually is the other way around so no hard feelings. Troy called me that night and told me he got two hundred dollar fish. In my mind I thought that the fish must be huge for a hundred dollars a pop. No they were tiny little fishes, so this was a big waste of money but the kids still enjoyed it.
That night after the fishing the boys took the kids to Belmont, much to Gavin’s disappointment he was the only kid not tall enough to ride the rides (you have to be 42 inches Gavin is 40 inches). He did however stand on his tip toes to get into the bumper cars and made it on because the guy measuring people failed to notice.

I also got the chance to spend time with Lynn, although it was only one day it was so much fun. Lynn and I spend most of our time laughing. It was so nice to get to spend some "girl only" time with her. We went to the beach with everyone and later that night went to dinner just the two of us. When she was driving me back to the house we thought we saw a UFO but it turned out to be a helicopter and we stopped right in the middle of the street, which displeased of the officer behind us. Luckily the cops are more concerned with the crazy drunks/hilarious drunks that flock to the beach on the 4th.

The whole time we where there we heard people talking about 20th and Court Ave for the parties. We were on the corner of 20th and Court, so we had some awesome shows for entertainment right out side our window. One show that happened was on Friday night around 3:30 am, when an electrical power wire fell in the middle of our street and caught the tip of on of the party house on fire and burned two HUGE holes in their roof. No one got hurt and the fireman came shortly after but, I woke up form that loud noise and the wasted people freaking out about the wire lying in the middle of the street. Let’s just say they said some pretty funny things.

Well to wrap up this long post it was a great trip and I can’t wait until we do it again next year!! I love the beach and so does Gavin so sorry Troy you are out numbered!

Grandpa's 90!!!!!!!

I know it has been a while since my last post; well it hasn’t been that long. I have waited because I desperately wanted to post about my Grandpa’s 90th birthday and I had to wait until I loaded the pictures. For all my family that is reading this you will receive your copy of the pictures this week. So don’t be mad that I posted about this first. On May 31st we celebrated my Grandpa’s 90th birthday. It was a surprise party with an Argentine theme. Everything was blue and white (Argentina’s colors) and my aunt Liz made a GORGEOUS cake. You might not understand what is on the cake if you are not from Argentina. The food was fantastic and as in true Alvarez style we made enough to feed an Army. I am not kidding; we still have food that we haven’t eaten. In the old days my Grandpa BBQ over coal on a rack and to mimic this tradition we did the same. My dad and Wade were in charge of roasting the pig and BBQ on the racks, while my cousin Shawn was in charge of using the grill. We had chimichurri to top of the meat. My dad also bought something called Sweet Bread, why they name it this I am still clueless however it is some kind of gland from a cow. I had to steer clear of that on a count of my stomach would most likely reject it.
As my family stuffed their faces and talked I was in charge of taking the pictures, Hence the lack of my face in many pictures. Everyone enjoyed themselves and ate until their hearts content. My father, Wade and Shawn on the other hand worked fast over the heat. I was afraid my dad would pass out from exhaustion from working so hard. In the end though it was all worth it. You don’t get the chance to see your Grandpa hit 90 every day and still be kickin’ and screamin’ I might add. By the way his reaction once he was walked into that surprise party was a peace sign. It was so cute!! After we all ate we all gathered into the family room to watch a picture video that my sister worked so hard to but together. In the end though we didn’t have the soft wear to complete the project so we had to surrender it to someone who did. The movie was a huge success and it was so fascinating to see all the old pictures. I love learning and seeing what my family looked like growing up. It was such a special moment for everyone.
I have to say that I have an amazing family, who always looks out for each other. I would say almost to a fault but that’s my family. I am so grateful for my Grandpa and that he always showed his grandchildren how much he loves them. I vividly remember sitting on his lap and him singing me songs and always telling me to “Remember the Alamo.” It is something that he still tells me every time I see him. I love you with all my heart Grandpa and am so lucky to have such an awesome Grandpa!!! I will make sure that Gavin always “Remembers the Alamo!”