Birthday month now not day!

That's right we no longer celebrate just the day but the whole month. Do you know why? Well because you eat for free everywhere. Who knew! Well we saved the best for last. Today Rodd had the day off so he took a little time away from his errands and honey do-list to take me and the girls out on a lunch date to Benihana. I forgot how pretty of an environment they have there. Very serene minus the heat and bright sun the perfect spot to hang out on is their patio.

 
The girls laughed and loved the show! The food was pretty good too! Except my tummy didn't like it too much. I tried to get something different and a little spicy...I need to learn to just stick with what I know.

On the actual day of his birthday we went to BJ's for dinner. Thank you dad! for treating us all. It was a lot of fun. The Pizookie's are awesome!

All I heard from Elly was I can't wait for my birthday. Landon is going to visit. I think she is starting early with her wishes, petty sure Landon won't be here to celebrate.

Well Happy Month Rodd! Your a great father, husband, brother, uncle and friend. Hope you find the time to stop and see all you have accomplished in your life. We love you dearly!

Celebrate Good Times...

Lola is loved, Cherished and respected by all in this family. She has accomplished so much and has lived long enough to get to know some of her great-grandchildren. 97 years is what we all came together to celebrate today. Friends & family from all over is spending the day with her.

 Potluck dinner was served to all.Lot's of yummy food...even I enjoyed it.

We invited the missionaries over to feast with us. We feel that by feeding the missionaries here someone is feeding our Missionary in Costa Rica. We think of him often and cherish the blessings we all receive from his service to others.

Elder Dent & Elder Cancel

Of course if you were to ask all my kids their favorite part of the day, they would say "all the swimming". They are all like fish in the water. They would be in the water all day if allowed.

We were blessed to have the Jones clan with us for this celebration. There is no bigger fish then Landon that's for sure.

We sang Happy Birthday to Lola and watched as she blew out her candles. We were very nice and didn't have 97 candles to blow out.

It was also a day to celebrate Rodd's sisters( Tess's) wedding anniversary and Brandon's (Tess's foster child) birthday. WOW! There is so much to be grateful for.

I had to lure the kids out of the pool for awhile. For the past few weeks our family has been addicted to the Mahjong game. Rodd showed us how to play the "real" version of the game so we have been playing ever since. So it was no wonder when they provided a kids table and adult table at the party today.

Uncle Bong helping Andrew with strategy

Yup I didn't win once!

They have higher stakes then the kids table.

 What a wonderful reason to gather. We hope for many more as Lola is looking strong and healthy. We truly feel very blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family with so many different beliefs. We all still know what is important and cherish our moments here together as a family. Roll the family photos:

cousins can be crazy together

what's good food without some beauties.

Friends make our lives GRAND!

Tess, Dzen, LOLA, Matthew & Sheila

Too bad Rodd couldn't get out of the pool for this photo. Daddy duty called.

AWWWW! Sheila & Lola

One of my Favorite boys in the world!

Such a sweet heart...

Garcia family

Lola got to watch a video dedicated to her 97 years of life. There were photos from throughout her life. What a wonderful idea. I know she will cherish that moment always! She just looked so happy!

 The real reason for our celebration. 97 years..97 birthdays, 97 years of life, blessed with health, family and grandchildren that love Lola dearly!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOLA!

Till next year!~ Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again.

97 years is a milestone!!

 

Seriously my life span will be nowhere near 97 if we factor in our family history. Let's just say life is meant to be enjoyed and Lola has definitely been enjoying life. It was a wild party at her house last night. We all gathered to wish her the best in the next year and to celebrate a record milestone of 97 years gone by. Lola is a fighter and she is strong. Okay can cute be used to describe you at 97? Adorable, gorgeous, fantastic, happy, full of life..They all stick when I think of Lola and all the time that I have gotten to know her. 

Family members from all over dropped by during the day and night to express their love and joy for her. This was her birthday cake. So adorable I loved it! Who made it? I have no idea but it was definitely a conversation piece. 

It's always fun to have family around and I know my girls love it more then anything. They are so spoiled by their aunties...

 So have I EVER mentioned that this family loves photos. Me too! SO of course we can't end the night without some laughter and group photos. Roll them:

 Gosh is it me or does Analise look very unhappy with all these photos?

 Elly is the life of the party for sure. Note to self: tone that down before the teen years hit. My girls love their great-grandmother.

 I really wanted a funky cool photo. I mean come on if we are going to have photo after photo let's have some fun with it. Except Tess needs to learn to close her mouth when she is puckering up to kiss people. Did she think it was Oscar?

 Time for the extended family to pose.

O'Connor Family

 What no gangster pose..Where is the fun?

Evan Jr. & Andrew

 Aww much credit to Cez for these photos. As I forgot my camera she took all these wonderful photos through out the night. Muchos Gracias.

Cez & Bong de Guzman

 Birthdays come around once a year but what a wonderful time to remember the joy that Lola has brought into our lives. As we were heading home Gabe and I talked about how lucky he was to have a great-grandmother that he can spend time with. Some blessings have to be pointed out and reflected on.  I appreciate every year I have with my family  but I live by this thought and they should always remember that this is the life. Do what you love and do it often. Travel more, go out and start creating, LIVE YOUR DREAM!

What a great way to head into a weekend of celebrations..Happy Birthday Lola! May you have lived well, and continue to do so. We love you!
 

Party for many!

Andrew turning 10, Aunti Minda turning ? and Tess turning a larger number then me is celebration enough but tack on our wonderful family members from Spain visiting and what do you get? Well if you haven't guessed in our family you get a Kamayan feast. When the family tells me they are going to hide the silverware I know I am in for a surprise. We have had these feasts before but every time they get a little more involved. Walking in the Chaos in the kitchen is enough to get me to sit back and watch. Not to mention the fishy smell my clothes and skin are absorbing.

Eating with your hands is a whole new concept. First off no photos allowed when we are eating like the animals we were born as. Just for our family memories I snapped a few. It was worth the lecturer from Andrew. He corrected me stating that the evite stated no pictures during dinner. Oh well good thing I don't read those evites. Plus it's a lot easier to ask for forgiveness then it is to ask for permission. I can't even list the foods because I have no idea what they all were..shrimp, tilapia, rice which we ran out of and lots of other stuff.

Rodd always leaves it very interesting for us family members who just can't find it in them to eat fish in this style. ewww!! 

 The best part was seeing family members come out of the woodwork. People traveled from everywhere to wish Andrew a Happy Birthday and visit with Auntie Minda and Uncle Cesario.
Our birthday gang got the traditional cake and gift opening ceremony. Of, course I could never give a simple cash gift. Money is so boring but the container it comes in doesn't have to be.

I never thought we had a large family but moments like this make me realize WOW!!!! It's a blessing and a curse all at the same time. ;0) I am so partied out.. feeling very lazy.

As the night came to a close my kids sang this song all the way home.