Christmas Day 2009

I woke up a little early and the girls followed and ran downstairs to see if Santa had come.   He sure has!

Larissa and Arianna are sooooo excited!

They seem to have received just what they asked Santa to bring!

Arianna can not seem to be able to open her DVD Player box, so I help her.

Manuel hands Veronica one of her gifts....nice!

Nice, even with PJs!!

The girls enjoy more of their toys while we prepare for Christmas lunch....

 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch....turkey, dressing and all the trimmings...

Aunt Corina poses with Lari and Arianna.

Manuel, Veronica, Arianna and Larissa.   What a beautiful family!  What more can I say??!!

 

The timer goes off and This is our Beautiful Esparza Family!   I love gatherings like this.

The girls continue playing with their toys.    They have had so much fun!

We have had a year full of God's blessings.   We are forever thankful!

Manuel, Veronica, Larissa and Arianna will be heading out to Disney World on January 8th and they are looking forward to that family vacation!  They have worked very hard all year without a vacation and they truly deserve it.   Happy and safe travels!

Corina has also worked very hard this past year but was able to take two wonderful vacations; one with us up in Seattle and Canada and the other one in Puerto Rico.  Glad she was able to take time off her busy schedule.

Manuel and I have traveled 6 months out of this year and were able to visit many beautiful places, from Texas to Washington State and back.  The 6 months we were with family, we truly cherish those moments!

Christmas Eve With Family

This morning we slept a little late....we needed the rest!   At noon, we headed to Manuel and Veronica's house.   We are scheduled to all meet at The Old San Francisco Steakhouse for dinner.   We arrived at 6 p.m. and met Veronica at her office.   The girls are really excited to see mom.   Some of the employees have brought them gifts so they open their gifts.

They have fun opening gifts....

Then we head downstairs to have dinner.  We had a wonderful steak dinner.

Seated are:  Arianna, Me, Corina, Veronica, Manuel Jr., Sr., and Larissa.

Manuel takes more pictures....

I take more pictures while we wait for dessert.   Lari and Arianna are playing with the swing girls up at the front desk....

They are really concentrated on their dessert!!!

Shelly, one of the swing girls, sings a song with Mark, the Pianist.   Good Job!

We had a wonderful evening.  Wonderful time with family and great food.  We will head over to Manuel and Veronica's to wait for Santa.   Lari and Arianna are really excited.  We will spend the night there.

Larissa & Arianna Visit with Great Grandma

We picked up Larissa and Arianna and went to visit my Mom for a few hours on Dec. 23.    We had a very nice visit.

Lari and Arianna help Welita (Great Grandma) open her Christmas gift.

Mom really enjoyed the girls!

Suddenly we hear someone singing in the courtyard of the apartment complex.   We all rush out.  It is a Children's group singing.....

We sat Mom right outside her door and we all enjoyed the singing.

Mom enjoyed the kids' singing while I move closer to take pictures of the children.

 

The girls really enjoyed that, too.

We headed home for a while and then we went to the movies to watch "Alvin and The Chipmunks" which we all enjoyed.   We have had a long day!

They decide they want some hot chocolate and a snack....

Then they want to play dominos so we pick a pillow to sit on the floor to play.

 

We played a couple of games of Cajun Train.   Lari picked up the game quickly!  We had fun!

 

We get ready to watch a Christmas movie in bed....

We called it a night at about midnight......!

Oscar's Graduation Day

We are scheduled to attend Oscar Esparza's Graduation in Corpus Christi tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.  Tonight, Friday, we invited our friends, Frank and Adela Garcia to our home to play dominos and cards.   We had a nice time playing.   We played until a little after midnight.   We have known this couple almost 40 years.   It does not seem like it has been that long but it sure is nice to have nice friends like them.

Saturday morning we were on the road to Corpus by 9:30.  We stopped in Pleasanton for breakfast and arrived at the American Bank Center by 12:30 for the 1:30 ceremony.  This place is already packed.  After leaving the house this morning, we realized we forgot our extra camera lens so we will see how the pictures come out.

We wait for the graduates to march in....

The A&M Band plays beautiful Christmas songs....

We spotted Laura up above us.   Laura is Oscar's wife.

The Graduates begin their march in to the auditorium... 

Each graduating group is introduced and they are asked to stand.   This is the Master of Science in Education Class, which Oscar is graduating from....

This lens just is not doing the job, as we are sitting pretty far.   Oscar is next in line to receive his diploma.

We are up high but catch a picture as Oscar stops for the photographer.

Oh, so proud!  We are so proud of you, Oscar.   Great job!

We meet outside the Center and take pictures with the Graduate!

 

Oscar, Laura and little Oscar....Teresa has left with her grandma.

Manuel's Sister, Alicia and husband, Mauro with Oscar.

Manuel's brother, Robert and wife, Sylvia with Oscar.

 

Manuel and I with Oscar.

Manuel's Sister, Terry and husband, Joe with Oscar.

We made plans to go have dinner at Brewster Street Ice House.   A picture of the Harbor Bridge as we drive to Brewster's.

Oscar Jr. and Teresa Esparza.   Beautiful children.

We all had a very nice meal and enjoyed each other's company.

Robert and Sylvia Esparza.

Mauro and Alicia Longoria.

Gorgeous Teresa Esparza.

As Manuel drives, I take pictures.   We took the scenic drive to Robert and Sylvia's house.

A beautiful church as the sun is setting.

Sunset in Corpus Christi.

Sylvia and I prepare coffee and dessert....and wine.

We played dominos again.   Alicia and Mauro came over to Robert and Sylvia's, too.  We played until 1 am and got up at about 9:30.   We headed out  to have breakfast.

Paco, Sylvia's puppy, sits watching from the kids fort.  She says he sits there to look in through the kitchen window.   He is so cute.

We left Corpus at about 3 pm.  We had a wonderful weekend with family.   We will see what the coming week brings.  We are hoping to go pick up Lari and Arianna for a few days but we will see what Mom and Dad say.