Christmas 2012

Sexy Zach

Cars and Toys make this boy happy

cute piggy bank, thanks Tio!

tilt your head

he does this a lot...yell for fun

He approves!

this serious moment lasted for 3.1 seconds

and we're back to normal

call him Monsieur Picasso

tilt the other way.

Blink Blink Bye Bye Old Year

Noche Buena: Poinsetta's from work

Today is December 28th, 2011 in a couple 3 more days after today and then 2011 will be laid to rest in the beds of history. I have to say: how did it happen? I am still trying to write 2011 and now I probably will when in I should be starting 2012. 
This year brought a few changes with it. We moved to town. It was sad to move from the small town, it was in that place that my boy pretty much began his journey in this world. It was there where my girl started her school career. And for me it was a place with many good people around me. I miss playing basketball on Wednesday nights with my super cool sporty friends. They are super athletes, the kind that go join triathlons, and excercise 2 times or more a day. They are coaches for little kids...I mean, they are movers and shakers. Me, not  so much! I had to sit for a few seconds after each play, picture me on one of those folding chairs, hunched over, index finger up....'give me a sec here!' I am awesomely not in shape, oh well!
Nothing too exciting did happen this year. No new additions to our family, we still have our dog Chachis, she is like a dog to us. Has been with us since the beginning, she continues to be a good little dog, blind as can be, she is still worth her weight in gold, that's normally a little more during this time of year, she gets lots of leftovers and her slim physique, starts to resemble a black watermelon, a cute cuddly one.
All in all, there is a world of possibilities to improve on for the next year, as you can see, the bar was not set high at all for 2011, ok, well, it was not set at all, it's stored away in the garage somewhere, I think I will dust it off and set it out. 

I almost lost her in this sea of red.

Yeah, she was an absolute *angel.

Christmas Eve Dinner: Roast Beef, party potatoes, Tossed Salad, and burnt Rhodes Rolls, move over Martha!

Tio Danny in action

our Christmas Tree

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving, we traveled to SE Idaho to visit Grandma Bennett and also to spend the weekend with Wally and Carolyn. It was really nice to see them again after their mission to the Washington D.C. Temple. The D.C. Temple has got to be one of the most beautiful buildings in this whole world. I am sure my friend Gail will agree with me since it has special meaning in her life. Thanksgiving was all about eating and spending time with family. We have decided that we love the Crawfords a whole bunch. They are a bunch of cool guys (well mostly girls). I am sad to report that I did not take any pictures at Thanksgiving. Posts are not fun without pictures....just like the books I like to read....."what? no pictures? this stinks!!" I'll stick a picture of a turkey in here somewhere. Enjoy.

Trick or Treat

I happened to be perusing the web and decided to visit my own writings. I last wrote of Halloween, and even then, my attempt consisted of 3 sentences; empty in content, so that post really didnt count.
Halloween was celebrated the Wednesday before the actually Halloween, which fell on a Monday. My church, in its infinite wisdom (this phrase is not sarcastic here, I really mean it), held the ever so popular 'Trunk-or Treat' along with some great games and activities, even a potluck dinner. It was wonderful. The kids had a blast. The 4 yr. old discovered the magic of the the words "trick or treat". He ran from trunk to trunk so he could get his bite-size chocolates. He had been sick with some type of tummy bug, but it did not stop him from getting his candy. The boy dressed up as Buzz LightYear and the young lady dressed up as Silvermist, one of the Fairies from Disney's Tinkerbell. On the actual Halloween we helped a friend from Star move out. That was an adventure, but it was great to help out. There is a family in Star that really stepped up to the plate and helped this lady out; the Hernandez family. I have never seen a trio of men work so hard and so steady. Also a couple of our old neighbors helped out a lot. There was a lot of work to be done, A LOT!!! I am grateful for hard working people that put their backs into it until the job is done.
So that was our Halloween. Because we were not home to hand out candy, we got to eat it all, wonderful! now I know why my pants seem to be shrinking on me. I just could understand why, but now, I see. It was a 3 pounds of Snickers, can really add up to about 10 lbs. of Sol.

halloween

Holy Halloween Batman! there are pumpkins and fake spiderwebs all around! I have already consumed way too many fun size snickers.

Monday Aug 22nd---FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

My girl has started 2nd grade in a whole new school. The 1st week was rough. She is a bit of a social butterfly but unfortunately she got to experience getting bullied. She has never had to deal with this sort of nonsense. The very 1st day of school she made a little friend in her class, when recess time came around, she tagged along with the new 'friend' only to find out she was going to play with her 'other' friend. My kid, being logical, said, I will play with you guys too...NO, the 2 girls said they had "their own business" when my girl asked "what is business?" the girlies were stumped and couldnt answer. The outside friend (Bullirina) said: "You can't play with us! You are being RUDE! and don't talk to my friend (the girl in the class). My girl told me she was sad and started crying. Welcome to your new school! What brats! I told her to ignore them and play with other nice kids. The week went by and my kid was just not herself. She mentioned more than 3Xs  "I don't want to go to school....the teacher is mean....I want to go back to my old school" I thought nothing of it until Friday when I asked her about her day in school, she replied very quietly "OK" and then she started crying....she told me that Bullirina would tell her everyday to stay away from her friend or else she would beat her up...when my girl tried to stand up her by saying "you can't beat me up, my mom with come and talk to you" she replied,,,"oh yeah, well my dad is going to beat up your mom!" My girl was just a bawling when she was telling me this. I went straight to the phone and called the office. Appearantly, they know about this brat and were going to talk to her.
That phone call was all it took. BullyBrat is no longer tormenting my kid. And according to mykiddo, she even wants to be friendly. I told her she can be friends with whoever she wants but not to let anyone make her feel bad, not to let anyone push her around. We talked about the word "confidence". 2nd week was great, we are currently on week 3...so far so good. I hate bullies!

We are fast approaching September 11th. I was living in Salt Lake City in 2001 on this date in history. My brother Danny and I had just gotten back from Washington; we went to go be with our older brother, and little brothers, our older brother got married the Saturday Sept. 7th, 2001. September 11th, 2001 was a dark day in the whole world.
 It's important to me to remember that day; the way I felt during the days that followed. I was very fortunate to have my brother living with me during that time, he was a great source of strength, also I had many good loving caring and honest friends during that time. Eventhough something horrendous had occurred, there seemed to be a spirit of love and friendship everywhere I went. People seemed more compasionate.
I hope that we all learn to be a better people. A better world.

longtime no post

I love these beautiful people. Somehow I know they love me too.

Bennett Family Reunion 2011

On Saturday, July 16th, a few of the Bennetts got together at Grandma Barbara Bennett's house for the annual Bennett Family Reunion. When Zach and I got there, we found Grandma sitting in the corner of her favorite sofa, the long one under the mirror. She looked very pretty. She was glowing, her cheeks were even rosy. She sat there as everyone that came, talked and ate. She was holding her right arm, and then she wrapped it with a dry rag. She said it was hurting and it felt really cold. She had a little bit of lunch and then took a long nap in her bedroom. When I took the pictures she was sleeping and then when I wanted to take her picture, the camera's battery died.
Here is what I want to say about Grandma Barbara Bennett. I met her just before I got married and everytime we visited her, she made me feel very welcome. She has been a sweet great-Grandmother to my 2 little monkeys and she is that way with all the children that visit her. This August she will be turning 97 years old. She is a living treasure. I love this great lady. Because of her, I have my little family.

Colleen and Pam smile for the camera....can you tell Colleen is a proud grandma of a gorgeous baby boy? Well she is!

Burke and Zach goofing around and having fun

Burke is a decent guy, he didn't let Zach get a feel for his bossoms.

Chow time: Chicken thighs and drumsticks and chicken tenders for Chester's along with lovely salads, and that sweet coolwhippy salad with the little marshmellows and jello and cottage cheese...oh yeah, and my salsa fresca with cheeeeeeeps.

Most of Burke's and Julie's babies....except for the 2 cute mexicans :) those are mine, all mine!

Uncle Lynn and his bride, Alice and their family.

say cheese!

Phyllis and Larry and Aunt Caroline...these 2 blouses I  thought were so cute, super cute!

Robert pointing at the yummy plate Zachy made..."this here chicken is the best Preston has to offer"

Stay Thirsty My Friends

Discussing the mission and the weather and Zach's videos

Smart idea to set the tables under the shade of those gorgeous big trees. Here's Chris enjoying the shade and the light cool breeze.

Cool Burke and Jaxon

Did Julie want to go outside with the others?

The livingroom was the hangout place for the girls

Burke and Julie's beautiful family just before they left to swim at Downata Springs, FUN!

This was supposed to be the 'silly' shot....not everyone got that memo it seems!

you can add your own caption here.................

This shot was to be the serious one.....good job Zachy!

Granny, here are your granddaughters from Idaho......wish Jackie was here! or is it 'were here'?

We were so happy to see Gramps again. Little Franklin bawled his eyes out when we left. He wanted to take Gramps home

The Traditional "Let's go See the Vacas Shot" They were specially stinky this day. But we thanked them for the milk and then my camera's battery died.

conversations

As we drove into work this morning, my 7yr. old was telling me about her 1st day of 1st grade. She said there was a little boy, who shall remain nameless here, you know, to protect his identity, this little kid sat by my girl and he looked right at her face and said: "you're pretty" I am sure m'girl smiled; who doesnt like hearing these flattering words as a young lady? then he proceeded to tell her: "you want to come to my house after school?".....whoa! was my reaction...when my girl told him no, because she didnt even know him that good, he said "if you go on a date with me I will give you a dollar". She still said no, but they became good buddies in the 1st grade.
Hey, I never had that good luck in school with boys!

Cherry Blossoms

My mother in law is one of the prettiest ladies I have ever met, that's her among all the flowers of that cherry tree. She and my father in law are currently living in Washington D.C. while they serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They sent us a few pictures of the area, the cherry blossoms are so neat, I can only imagine the aroma....mmmmm.

brick houses

I like brick houses. They remind me of old Mexico.

TLC's Extreme Couponers

Last night I finally caught a couple of episodes of TLC's Extreme Couponing.  It was very interesting to see how people in the show were able to obtain so much stuff from the grocery store and pay pennies on the dollar, one lady actually paid 2% of her entire purchase...which was over $1000. This is extreme! I use coupons on a regular basis. I am always looking for deals on the things my family uses. Sometimes, when the item is free, and all I have to pay is 6% tax, I buy as much as I can, which is always, 6 not a 100 or 200!

Because of the show, I am hearing a lot of local ladies say that they get dirty looks at the supermarket when they use the manufacturer coupons, I am guessing because these people, the starers are assuming that us couponers have warehouses chuck full of food and other merchandise that we got for free.
I speak for myself, and some of the folks I know who use couponing as a way to help with tight budgets, we see coupons as a tool that help us save money. Manufacturers send out these coupons so that their product will be sold. We are in a bad economy now,  grocery prices are going up because of fuel costs, to me it just makes 'cents' to use manufacturers coupons to save. Manufacturers reimburse groceries stores the amount on the coupon plus an added compensation for basically advertising their product. I never never never feel bad for using coupons. When I know my checking out is going to take more than normal, I always tell the people that line up behind me that my order will take a while, so far, I just get a thank you and a smile and they go to another register.
So, in conclusion I say, keep on saving.
***if you are going to buy a whole bunch of stuff, which will clear out the shelves, do as my lovely former neighbor did (she got me couponing) she would go to the manager and make a special order, so that other people would not have to suffer. How considerate is that!?

this is not mine...just a pic I found in the internet...Im not this organized unfortunately...some day, I hope!

OK. That's my shpill on couponing. If you have any couponing stories please share...any tips, any worries or concerns, just comment below.

Slow Down

On Sunday night, my body said "slow down there lady!" I felt like an explosion had occurred inside my tracchea, down to my stomach. So much so that I could not lay down, sit up, stand up...I wondered what it could be? I concluded that maybe just maybe 'chile' abuse may have a lot to do with this phenoma.
Everyday, since I can remember, I have peppers with every meal. (except for cereal and pancakes, I am not that psycho!) If we go to a fast food place, out comes the ziplock baggy with 2 or 3 serrano peppers.

I am proud to say that I went all day yesterday without touching or eating for that matter, anything spicy. And today, also. I found that I eat extra when my mouth is on fire. I am trying this chile free life style for a week, and after that I hope to bring it down to about 25% of what I normally ate. Wish me luck! I miss my peppers, but I love my health more!



saying goodbye is hard to do, for this week at least!



time travel

I have decided I love looking back into the past. I started indexing. This means digitizing old records such as a censuses, draft cards, etc.. so that they can be easily accessible.
Because someone did this before me, I was able to find out about grandparents and greatgrandparents on both sides of my family. For example, I learned that on the Castro side, my dad's dad was a big wig landowner, el jefe if you will, and everyone around him worked for him. 
I spoke to my sister who lives in Mexico, and has had conversations with a certain older lady who is a cousin of ours. Mari, my sister learned about our grandfather thru this lady, Teresa. She said he was a mean boss as well as a hardworker. That he treated the people as peons, slave-like almost. Dang it! I didnt like hearing this, but there was a reason why he was on top.
As for Magdaleno, his son, my 'father', she said he was lazy, but ever so good at doing business. She said he could trade a piece of metal, junk essentially for a strong horse. I would like to know more about them, I am sure there is a noble, honest, decent person in there somewhere. I would like to know how they came about to be so 'well-to-do".  So for that, I will just keep on digging for answers!

IT's NOT SUGAR, IT'S A DONUT!

Some of my Favorite Things

I saw this lovely post on my friend Gail's blog. She lists a few of her favorite things. So here I go.



************MY FAVORITES****************

• To get us started off in this list are the expressions on my kids faces. Everyday they make me laugh. They amaze me in how smart they can be and also how much they are a part of me. What a blessing they are to me. I love the whole rest of my family. I am so happy to know that I belong to a very big group of wonderful people.

• FOOD is perhaps my favorite thing in the world. I love to eat good food. I like trying new things, but in the end my biggest love, when it comes to food would have to be my "frijoles de la olla", tortillas de maiz, and chiles to spice up the life.



• FLOWER GARDENS, there's something so fulfilling about seeing beauty come out of the ground to color your surroundings. Love it!

• Basketball, I like you because when I play you, I have fun and dont even realize I am running back and forth as fast as I can. And after about an hour I look like ran a marathon.

• I love a clean house. Is my house clean? No! But I still love a clean house. Nothing better than a clean fresh house to rest your tired body in....ahhh!

• A clean house that smells good is also a great thing. So I like to have good smells in my house.

• A full tank of gas. I really like that. The thought of being stranded without gasoline in the middle of nowehere is a bit terrifying for me.

• I am mad about SUDOKU! I like to do a puzzle almost every night. I am working out my brain muscles, now if only I could be crazy about working out my gut's muscles.

• I love to see kind people in action because it inspires me to try a little harder to make someone else's life more meaningful. Kindness is contagious, I really believe that!

• For the last 2 or 3 years I have come to know the power of coupons! I love to stock up on stuff we need at about a third or less the cost of the product. I love my coupons!!!



• And to end this post I will list a few t.v. shows that I love...

There's something heartwarming in discovering big talent...the auditions are also hilarious!

I'd like to solve the puzzle Pat! "I kick butt at Wheel of Fortune!"

Now, this is more like it, a real family...not like all the super fancy rich, problem free stereotypical sit-com families of the past.

This show is sooooo funny! Who's with me on this one?

And Finally one of the funniest movies of all time, Three Amigos! I love quoting lines from this movie. And others but this one is on the top 5.