Birthday Girl

Leaving California on a gloomy, monochromatic morning

Flying into sunny Salt Lake directly over the copper pits

Especially for this:

CD organized a wonderful get together for our family to celebrate 

mom/grandma's 75th birthday 

Held in the scenic library room of The Roof restaurant in the 

Jospeh Smith Building overlooking Temple Square

 and other parts of scenic Salt Lake

Conference Center

Capitol Building

(I was told it had been raining all week in Salt Lake, but

this evening it was clear and sunny, everything

was so green, the scenery spectacular)

the gorgeous guest of honor

our amazing (and available!) event organizer

Carol-Diane (also gorgeous)

 Aunt Marie

Aunt Ruth

sweet chandelier

mom with her brother Henry

have you had the buffet dinner at The Roof? 

my dessert buffet selections -

holding the most delicious berry swirl mousse

a lot of pictures 

and conversation

and flowers

Salt Lake City Temple

dad and mom

Happy Birthday Mom!  We love you!!!

Feliz Compleanos Don Pedro!

Although Pete doesn't turn 40 officially until July 1st, last week some of the staff, and even more so, the parents of students at his Elementary school planned and executed a surprise birthday fiesta for him in the school's MPR. His boss Lisa told me the parents especially had wanted to honor Peter and the difference they felt he made at the school and for their children. 

The school he is assistant principal of is located in the middle of the barrio in Santa Ana, and there are a lot of struggling families in the area.  Kindly they inivited me and Pete's folks to come and be the special guests of the guest of honor for the party.

When we arrived before the "surprise" it was evident they had put much time, money and hard work into planning his party.  They had hired a full mariachi band to play throughout the party, there was a table full of many different kinds of foods, also decorations, presents, and a giant cake. And there were many excited people who were obviously pleased to have an occasion to be able to show their affection and admiration for Peter. That always makes me happy. 

Pete, too, who really hates the spotlight, was a wonderful guest of honor.

Here he is, lured into the MPR for some reason or another, and getting the big surprise:

                 Let the fiesta begin!

(and yes, Carrie, as you accurately anticipated, I have several video clips as well as pictures to

help everyone capture the full spirit of the occasion!)

Like all good fiestas there was music:

this band of Mariachis was hilarious and muy talented

(well, I assume they were hilarious, 

every time they were between numbers they 

called out to the crowd, and the crowd would roar

 with laughter or respond

with returned wittisisms. 

  Sadly, I don't habla espanol.) 

(There was also a birthday theme - soccer! 

or I should say futbol, Pete is known at the school

for his fondness for futbol.

Actually Pete normally wears a shirt and tie everyday to work, 

but on this day he had played in a soccer game of staff vs. students

 and as a result is wearing his more casual

Martin Elementary polo style shirt) 

And there was dancing!

Pete and I were cajoled into dancing in front of the crowed

for a bit - its hard to spin your husband when he's wearing a sombrerro 

and much better, the Fabulous Fabiola (Pete's office manager!) 

performed some traditional Mexican dances with her dance partner. 

here's a clip:

        Leaves you wanting more, doesn't it!

Performing the "el toro" bull fighting dance 

thank you Fabiola! 

And there was food!

homemade corn tortillas with a lot to put inside them, 

mexican rice, chicken, chili verde, 

salads, rice pudding, noodle dishes, fruit,

 several decadent things I cannot identify,

many jello rings and salads.

So delicious! 

Plus this giant container of homemade horchata, or rice milk

we all enjoyed a run through the buffet

another reason I believe Pete is so embraced by his school community is his ability and willingness 

      to speak Spanish with everyone:

(in the clip you can see Pete's amazing boss/principal Lisa

come through the door in black dress & red sweater

in the background)

And of course there was cake!

This was made by a parent in the neighborhood

who makes wedding cakes out of her home -

the top layer was carrot, the giant bottom layer

was marble cake. Everything (except the cheesy balloon sign)

was edible.  White chocolate ribbon! 

I noticed they spelled our last name

the same way it was pronounced by everyone, with no "d"

And there were several renditions of "Happy Birthday to You!"

       The Mariachi Band sings:

        And the crowd sings over the cake:

Pete's principal told him that it was tradition for the guest of honor

to take the first bite out of the cake before it was cut;

of course she then pushed his face into it! 

One of these things is not like the other....

Thank you Glenn L. Martin Elementary parents and staff for

such a thoughtful and enthusiastic show of love for Peter! 

And one last time to sing us out, the mariachis

with a little bit of the Mexican Hat Dance:

Western Coast

Those who have followed our family since the 

early days of our snapfish photos will recall that

every year our ward holds a big old BBQ hoe-down.

This past Saturday was no exception.

As always with the youth, the mechanical bull is the main attraction-

Harriet on the bull

Jack on the bull

Henry masters the bull

and Jed on the bull

we're not quite sure why he decided 

to dress like a gang member - the bandana (worn like that) 

and cut-up-sock-fingerless glove

look was all his idea.

Pete kept calling him "Tupac". 

Pete and the boys (by now in "indian" face paint) 

watch the bull riders

our little urchin

The entertainment moves inside:

Harriet and some of the girls perform a line dance

Jack and friends participated in a "Davy Crockett" sketch -

Jack was the raccoon trying not to become the next coonskin cap.

by now Jed and the boys have embraced the whole

Western theme, and the potential of a more

weapon friendly culture

shoot-out at the LDS Corral 

Live Action: No bulls would die today

                        Jack vs. bull

                                                               

                           Henry vs. bull

A post with no baseball, no Jed videos, no kids featured at all

Several weekends ago Peter and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary.  As we try to do every year, and as always with the help of our family, we were able to get away for the long Memorial Day weekend and spend some time alone with just each other. 

While past jaunts have included stays in Long Beach, San Diego, La Jolla and Laguna Beach, this year we headed back to where it all began for us, the tri-city area of Altadena, Pasadena and Los Angeles. 

There are a lot of memories in this area for us, and we hoped to be able to relive some of them and remember the part they played in those early years of our life together. 

(We were not, however, able to make it to some other places of note in our relationship, including the LA Temple where we were married in 1997, our favorite Thai restaurant in Sierra Madre, and the Flight of the Conchords show at the Greek Theater.)

Here are some highlights of the places we did make it to.

Places we used to live:

our first home together was in the basement studio apartment of Pete's friend's aunt's home, located on the last street on the right at the top of Lake Ave in Altadena, right up against the San Gabriel mountains. 

Located on scenic Alpine Villa drive in a cozy cul-de-sac

This was our driveway/parking spot/front entrance. Ours was the bottom door on the right side of the house.  Behind that iron fence was a pool in the front yard of the house. 

Learning (at five months along!) that we were actually expecting two babies, we moved out of the studio and down the hill a bit to a two-bedroom apartment located on the corner of New York Dr. and Altadena Ave. in the city of Pasadena. We stop by and I pose by our old front porch.

One of the best things about this house is that it was

 located literally across the street from this place:

Sunday morning Pete and I spend a bit of time here. 

I rediscover some of the hiking trails, while he takes off for a run in the hills.

I find thousands of these beautiful Matilija poppies, 

aka the fried egg poppy for obvious reasons

Pete returns triumphant from his run.  

The next morning he returns on his own 

and runs all the way up

the mountain to Henninger Flats -  

those trees at the top of the left hand side mountain

We also drive by the house we almost bought all those years ago:

Located up the street from our apartment, it was vacant

for the year and a half that we lived near it. I walked my

baby twins by it nearly every day, and often peeked in the windows and

explored the back yard. 

There's a good chance if we hadn't always planned on living overseas

for a couple of years, we would live in this house today. 

Sunday mid-morning we attend our old Pasadena ward in its new building, 

after learning the magnificent

 old building where we always met has now been condemned. 

Although we miss that meeting place, 

we see many, many friends from our time here. 

 Wonderful.

Sunday afternoon at the Norton Simon Museum

in the sculpture garden

Pete joins Rodin's Burghers of Calais

NSM's cast of Rodin's The Thinker

Other notable places we make it to this weekend include downtown LA and a

movie at The Beverly Center, a perusing and ultimately book-buying binge at

Vromans, several delightful restaurants

 along Colorado Blvd in Old Town Pasadena, 

a visit to some friends' home located way up the hillside

 in a community that wasn't even built when we lived 

here, and multiple trips down memory lane. 

After a leisurely Monday morning we check out of the hotel 

and pack up the car.

 And before driving back to OC, we join the throng of people waiting to enjoy

a late vacation day breakfast at this place:

I couldn't ask for a more awesome person to be married to.

I absolutely adore you Pete!