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!”

Graduation Day!!!

So on the 22nd of this month my little boy graduated preschool. I was so sad but happy all at the same time. I still can’t believe I have a 4 year old and now he is up and graduated! I should prepare myself though; I will have a few more graduations to get through. Now I am faced with the daunting task of finding another preschool or pre-K to put him in. I had no idea how hard it would be to find a good one that also fits into my schedule. I did find one lady out here by me, and she said she had a little bit of a waiting list. My next obvious question was, "what is the probability that my son would be able to get in." She expresses to me to not get too freaked out but she had a waiting list of 80 people. 80 PEOPLE!! I then replied “oh so you’re saying there’s a chance.” She informed me that some mothers put their children on the list the day they are born, I guess I wasn’t as prepared as I thought I was. I guess I will have to put him on the list for Kindergarten now! I am prepared, or at least I plan to be. I have however run across a few private schools but they are in the $600-$800 range (FYI that’s a month). I guess money doesn’t stand a chance against a good education. Wait am I talking about preschool here or Harvard, I will rethink that. So if anyone knows of ANY good schools here in Coolidge/Casa Grande, on MWF let me know. Or any good schools in town during the morning on TTH, please let me know. I am desperate!
Okay now on to Gavin’s graduation day. He had a great graduation and looked adorable in his little cap that had a tassel. Although I must say that the room we were in had this HUGE mirror on one wall, it wasn’t the most pleasant sight to constantly be starring at myself during the program however; can you guess who didn’t mind. That’s right my incredibly vain son discovered the mirror right off the bat. Throughout the performance he kept looking back at himself and I tried in a quiet yet firm way to get his attention. It was quite comical I have to say. His part in the whole program was to repeat the poem “Jack and Jill.” We practice and practice and he got it down pat but, the teacher was helping all the kids so Gavin kept pausing so that she could say the next line. He did great thought and I am so proud of him. It was the cutest sight I have seen!!

Here is the point he discovers the mirror, its classic Gavin!

Gavin's Party

On Saturday we went to Bounce U for Gavin’s 4th birthday party. Everyone had a blast and it was a lot of fun. Bounce U (for those of you who don’t know) is this giant place with all different kinds of inflatable bouncers. It was nice to have a whole room just for our guest. It had a huge slide, obstacle course, a boxing ring, and one where you can strap yourself and an opponent in and try to pull the other one down. Gavin and all his friends enjoyed the slide the best however; I think the adults enjoyed the boxing ring more. Troy and Ed had and all out boxing match, it was apparently very intense because they both came out sweating profusely, YUCK!! I have to say it was pretty entertaining to watch. It seems those boys are VERY competitive (who would have guessed ;)!) FYI that is sarcasm they are the most competitive people I have ever met, almost to the point of arrogance, almost!! After the bouncing portion was over we had pizza, cake, and ice cream. I have to thank my wonderful aunt Liz for making Gavin’s Ninja cake. It is what he wanted so I tried to deliver. Gavin got tons of presents, so much in fact that I now am in the process of organizing and discarding the old toy in the playroom. He got this awesome drum set from my parents, which he loves. Everyone thought I was crazy for allowing him to have one but Gavin loves music so if he wants to be the next Tommy Lee I will let him. Strictly in the drumming sense not the lifestyle (had to clear that one up)! He received tons of other gifts that he loves, thank you so much for all those presents. He won’t need anything for next 2 birthdays!! :) I am also sorry that some of the pictures have dust on them, I need to get my camera cleaned!

Ed and Kingston, this is after the boxing match as you can tell!!!

Papa and Gavin, oh how he loves his papa

My beautiful mother, what a cover girl!Troy and Ed boxing, again I need to clean my leans SORRY!!Family and Friends watching Gavin opening his MANY gifts!!Gavin's best friend and the greatest Auntie Kendra and her goodie bag (Gavin talks about Kendra all the time)Waiting for food, people get angry when they are hungry! Or maybe that was just me?!Gavin trying to stick his finger in the awesome cake Aunt Liz made!What a Ninja cake!Crazy kids on a crazy slideWade and Weston on the slide, who is having more fun?!The adults! Thanks Kristen and Scott for coming even though you don't have kids, you can barrow mine until you get your own:)!Emmy and Anna getting ready to bounce Grandma and Grandpa Ethington Bethany clearly didn't want Troy to take her picture! The people who didn't want to bounce, go figure!
I wanted to post a little clip of Gavin rockin’ out on his drum set. For some reason though the camera didn’t pick up the sound very well, sorry!