Tydingco Family

Snow day

2012-02-05T12:51:00.001-08:00

The girls playing outside the day after. Typical CO weather, blizzard one day and then sunny and mostly melted the next.

A Year in a Flash

2012-01-23T09:11:00.000-08:00

We were so happy to celebrate our god daughter's (Kailyn's) first birthday with our friends this past Saturday. I always find myself saying "I can't believe how fast time flies." Guess that's what happens when you have kids and you can remember a time, not too long ago, when they were just babies. All we can do is enjoy every minute and never take our time together for granted. Happy Birthday Kai!

Mountain Fun

2012-01-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

We took the girls up to Winter Park for the weekend. Went tubing on Saturday, spent the night at the base of the mountain right next to the ski lift, and ice skating on Sunday.

Canvas and Corkscrews

2012-01-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

I met up with some girlfriends to get our paint on at a Canvas and Corkscrew class. Wine and art. Great combo.

Auld Lang Syne

2012-01-04T09:46:00.000-08:00

We rang in the new year with my extended family in Aurora. Full of food, family, laughter and love. Cheers to 2012!

Ana gave daddy a hat while he took a nap

Love this picture of Ana

Happy Birthday, Baby

2011-12-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

My baby girl turned 4! We didn't do anything too grand. Decorated a bit with balloons and had cake Christmas day while my family was still in town. It's not easy to think of ways to celebrate with Christmas preparations to worry about. However, we did make it a point to give her a separate set of birthday presents. Jocelyn took a bunch of pictures while Ana opened her gifts, but the memory card didn't save them!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-27T13:42:00.000-08:00

Seattle

2011-12-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

I went to Seattle to visit my girl, Lori. It was 4 day of pure foodie heaven. We ate and did activities to build up our appetite to eat again. Love this city and can't wait till I can visit again!

Momentum

2011-12-09T08:28:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I attended a business convention in San Diego. It was a great experience and I'm glad I had my girl, Lori, there with me. There's a lot brewing and I can't wait to see where this all takes me. If you want to hear more about my trip, message me. I would love to share with you all.

Our hotel and the view from our window. The convention center where the conference took place was right across the street

Evening meeting at our SVP's weekend rental right on the beach

November Roundup

2011-11-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

This has been quite an eventful month full of fun, friends, food, and family.

Tailgating at the Air Force vs Army game. It was super cold and actually started hailing at one point.

My friend, Lori, came to visit for a weekend. We headed up to the mountains for a a little shopping and boarding.

Bahn Mi sandwiches!! We bought them in Denver the day before. Best idea ever!

Boarding in the morning and party that night. Had the cadets and friends over for the Pacquaio fight.

Other random activities:

We had Thanksgiving dinner with our family up in Denver. Sadly I forgot my camera and have no pictures of the girls in their pretty dresses. I may have to dress them up again today just to get a shot.

Anthony's Black Friday Haul
(not all for us...thank God)

Thanksgiving meal part II. My dad was flying back from the PI all Thanksgiving, so we decided toprepare a spread just for him the following day...PS the turkey is fired hence the Cajun color ;)

Visit from Lola

2011-11-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

Anthony's mom came out for a long visit this past month. We really enjoyed having her here and during her final weekend here we went out to brunch at the Broadmoor.

Boo!

2011-11-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

We went to our favorite pumpkin patch in Broomfield CO, carved and painted pumpkins, threw a Halloween costume party, and went trick-or-treating with the kiddos around the neighborhood. Busy few days but I wouldn't have it any other way. Happy Halloween everyone!

Ninang Aprille searching for a pumpkin

Dia de los muertos

Lola

Trick-or-treating with Lola and daddy

Jocelyn's 7th Birthday

2011-10-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

On Jocelyn's actual birthday, Ana and I had lunch with her at school. We ate the traditional celebratory pancit that I made at home right after I dropped her off at school that morning. She was really surprised.

After school we let her open some presents from the family, her godmother and Lola.

We had an official party a couple days after her birthday and this is the first year she invited school friends. Hello Kitty themed party...pretty obvious by looking at the pictures.

Homemade cake pops. I've tried making these suckers 3 times in the past and failed! Finally got them to work.

My cake on the other hand did failed miserably. We bought a Hello Kitty cake pan but as I wend to unmold it, the entire face stuck! I had to improvise and salvaged a round piece, iced it and called it done. Just needed something to put the candle on anyways.

Decor

Friends. We painted all their faces to be kitties for the party

Pass the yarn game

Searching for mice

Pin the bow on Hello Kitty

Kitty commands...like Simon says

Decorating Hello Kitty cookies

Gift from mommy and daddy

Happy Bbirthday JoJo. We love you so much!

Feliz Cumpleaños

2011-10-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

The day after my marathon, Anthony and I left for our trip to Cancun. This is the first real vacation we've had as a couple alone with no family and in a place we didn't know anyone. Way overdue! I used my 30th birthday celebration as an excuse to book our trip :)

We stayed at the Excellence Riviera Cancun Luxury Adult Only All-Inclusive Resort. Just 15 min from the airport. Right on the beach with tons of pools, food, drinks, food, entertainment, food, spa, FOOD. FUN!!

To view this page, please maximize your screen otherwise pics may be cut off. If you are still unable to see the pictures, visit our photobucket page.

Direct flight from Denver to Cancun International Airport

Champagne upon arrival.
Checking in

Pics of the room, balcony view main plaza and open air theater

French restaurant, Chez Isabell

Fountain in the main plaza

In the shade!

Beach volleyball

More beach pics

Beach massage area

Gluttony!

In front of the spa. I had the best massage of my life!

Pool

Fire show

Games

Happy birthday to me! Walk on the beach after dinner

Leaving the resort

Cancun International Airport

Flight to Denver

Race Day!!

2011-10-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

Please check out my fitness blog to read all about my first 1/2 marathon.

Ballerinas

2011-10-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

Analise voiced her desire to become a ballerina and I decided to take her to her first class last week. She cried the minute I dropped her off and I finally had to pull her out after 15 minutes of wailing. We watched the rest of the class through the viewing window and by the end of the hour she was ready to try it again the following week. While waiting, Jocelyn had an opportunity to watch some of the other classes and wanted to try it out for herself too.

Yesterday was JoJo's first class. She was terrific!
(That's her in the front row far left facing the teacher)

Then it was Ana's turn. She was so excited and even jumping up and down when she walked into class. All the parents that were there last week were clapping and saying that she's done a complete 180 from last week. While the teacher set the kids up in their positions, I could tell she was beginning to get a little upset. All of a sudden she full-on lost it. The class hadn't even officially started. She ran out and never went back in. Ugh. I'll give her sometime and try again in a couple months.

Here's the one picture I got before she started to cry.

She must have worn herself out with all the fussing that when we got home, this is what happened...

Fall Colors

2011-10-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

We LOVE FALL! We went for a drive on Saturday to see the aspen trees changing colors and came across Mueller State Park just about an hour outside of Colorado Springs. We paid the entrance fee and were able to walk around their trails. The views were fantastic.

Don't Stop Believing

2011-10-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

The sibs and I got dad tickets for the Journey concert for father's day. We had a fun time jamming out with the ol' man. Great night

The first song is Foreigner and the rest are of Journey. Enjoy and feel free to sing along.

Beautiful Fall Day

2011-09-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

It was a gorgeous day in Colorado today. We drove up to Denver, picked up some bahn mi sandwiches and boba and had a little picnic at City Park. After lunch, Anthony took the kids on a little paddle boat ride.

Found Pics

2011-09-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

Totally forgot we took these pictures. After running the Metro Dash, Anthony and I had a mini photo shoot while we waited for the rest on the gang at Fuego De Chao.

So Long

2011-09-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

I have met some amazing people people in my life, but unfortunately the military forces us to say goodbye sooner than we would like. My friends Liza and Toni finished their PA program at Ft. Carson and are off to their next assignments. Lori PCSd back to her home town, Seattle, to work with Boeing. So sad to see them leave. Why couldn't we have met sooner?! Will miss you guys :(

(pics stolen from Lori)

Parent's Weekend 2011

2011-09-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

This is the second year that we hosted a party for the Filipino Cadets at the academy and their families. Due to the large turnout last year, we decided to move this year's shindig to the Milazzo club on base. We rented out their sports room.

The after-party at the house

Sib off to San Fran

2011-09-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

My younger brother, Michael, got an amazing opportunity to start up a new branch of Beatport in San Francisco and will be leaving later this week.

I happened to be in Denver Thursday night and we had a sibling dinner at Z Cuisine. Fantastic fresh french food. I had potato and goat cheese gnocchi with cream sauce and bacon lardons served with kale and swiss chard, pork belly and a fried egg! You're drooling right? So was I when the waiter described each entree. My brother had the duck confit that marinated for 2 weeks prior to cooking. Aprille had the beef bourguignon made sheppard's pie style. We then hit up Little Man ice cream.

I drove up again last night so we could have dinner as a family. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Pappadeaux. It was nice getting a chance to spend some time with my bro before he took off.

Please excuse the crappy iPhone pictures.

Breckenridge and Warrior Dash 2011

2011-08-21T23:17:00.000-07:00

The crew and I all participated in this year's Warrior Dash in the Rockies. We made an weekend out of it and went up a day early. We spent the night in a kick ass moose themed condo in Breckenridge. That night we walked around town, carb loaded, played cards and in true pre-event fashion, had a few alcoholic beverages. To see more info about the Dash itself, head on over to my fitness blog.

Pic of the outside of our condo

Warrior Dash!!!

That's me in the mud right by Aprille's knee

Shoe donation pile

Debauchery in Denver

2011-08-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Justin was back in CO for a weekend visit, so we met up with the gang in Denver for some drinking, dancing, and a whole lot of BSing. Always good times. "How long is your one hours fotos?"

Back to School

2011-08-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

First day of first grade.

Weeeee

2011-08-11T11:27:00.001-07:00

We brought the kids to Elitches this past weekend to celebrate cousin Claire's birthday.

Gotta love that Anthony's riding the moving horse on the carousel and the little kids are stuck in the boring carriage.

Swings for big kids

Kids playing at the slash point from Shipwreck Falls. They loved it!

Ana on the swing for little kids

Dinner!

We went on a ton of other rides but I left my camera in the bag for safe keeping.

Table for Two

2011-08-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

We were finally able to get away for a date night. It's been nearly a year since the last one! Anthony and I had dinner at the Briarhurst Manor in Manitou Springs. The four course meal was delicious, which was only surpassed by some much needed QT with my man.

Here are a couple crappy pictures from our phone.

No Couch Potato

2011-08-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, we participated in Denver's Metro Dash. A series of 30 obstacles from cargo nets, tire flips, wall climbs, kettle bell carry, to low crawls.

And this past weekend, the whole family went on another rafting trip. We even got dad on board! Good times except for the part where my loving husband thought it would be fun to pull me out of the raft as he fell in during a rapid.

The Great Outdoors

2011-07-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn and Ana have been asking us to take them on a hike, so after a rather large breakfast, we decided to work off the bacon calories and go on a family stroll though one of the Air Force Academy's many trails. It was a scorcher with temperatures well over 90 degrees! Needless to say, we didn't last very long.

Jocelyn had me take a picture of this tree. She thought it was so pretty

ust

I Love Denver!

2011-07-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Food Truck Party

I-Up Bar

Ghosts Busters car outside of the bar

Lobster-dog from Biker Jims

I LOVE DENVER!!!
(View from the museum)

God Bless America

2011-07-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

Anthony returned home from his 5 week training in Alabama on the 30th of June. Just in time to celebrate the Fourth of July together as a family.

We went to the Air Force Academy to watch their fireworks show. This was the first time back since Anthony and I watched them 10 years ago:

Absolutely amazing

Class of 2015

I Be Smart!

2011-06-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

I finished all my course work in February, but wasn't able to make it to last semester's ceremony, so they allowed me to walk this spring. MBA Health Care Management. Kinda bummed I didn't get any additional recognition for finishing with a 4.0. Oh well...I give my self a gold star!

We ate at one of my favorite BBQ places following the late evening commencement. I was worried that they would be closing soon, so I completely forgot to take pictures with my friends and family (yeah yeah...I'm a big fatty!) Decided to wear my gown into the restaurant/gas station just to get a few shots with me in my getup.

Forgive the crappy pictures. I forgot my camera and only had my phone. All the students had professional pictures taken before and during graduation. I'll be sure to post as soon as I have them in hand.

9 Years Later...

2011-06-22T21:55:00.000-07:00

Pool Play Date

2011-06-20T20:09:00.001-07:00

My friend Dee Anne and her handsome little boys came down for a play date with the girls. We hit up the community pool and worked on our "summer nude." haha

Family and Food

2011-06-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

My Lolo and Lola

Yabby Hut for my brother's birthday

The remains of 8 clusters of dungeness crab, 4lbs of craw fish, 1lb of shrimp, corn on the cob, and potatoes (not pictured: half dozen oysters, sweet potato fires, fried shrimp and chips)

Goodbye Kinder..Hello First Grade

2011-06-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn's Homeroom teacher, Mrs. Gellerman

Other Kinder teacher, Mrs. Vinchattle

Language arts teacher, Mrs. Simon

Jocelyn's best friend, Lexi

Last story

Road Trip to Disney!

2011-06-02T22:40:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a last minute road trip to LA with a stop in Vegas with my extended family over the Memorial day weekend. When I say last minute, I mean we decided to go the day before. There were 22 of us in 4 cars. Nuts I tell ya... in a good way. We had so much fun.

Zip Lining

2011-05-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

Zip lining at the Royal Gorge. Hella fun!

Inked : Part 2

2011-05-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

Went in to get some work done on my tattoo. Another 3 hours and still not quite done. He went in to clean up some of the lines and did a lot of shading on the upper 2/3 of the original outline. Really pleased with the results so far. He does want to add a few more wind bars up around the top front...*cringe* that part hurts the worst. I can feel the vibrations running through my rib cage. Forgot to take an after picture immediately after. Had to wait until now to get one since it's been looking a little "rough" due to the healing process.

To see pictures from the first round, click here : Inked

Spa Day

2011-05-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

Anthony and I sent the kids to school and spent the day relaxing and enjoying some quite time together. Before our couple's massage, we were able to soak in the private hot tub. Ahhh. I could get use to this.

Spoiled Rotten!!!

2011-05-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

With all the craziness of Anthony coming home and both of us getting sick, we put off Mother's day for a week. Boy was it worth the wait!

I'm a lucky gal....and I'd like to think that they're lucky to have me :)

Fun in Denver

2011-05-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

I'm getting better at posting on our blog, but I need to focus on taking more pictures. I'll take my little G9 with me, but get so caught up in whatever we're doing that I forget to take pictures.

Anyway, we spent a day in Denver stuffing our faces with crepes, shopping, and more gluttony at Fogo De Chao.

Mama's Day

2011-05-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

After an eventful Saturday with family celebrating Manny's win and Anthony's re-deployment, we kept mother's day pretty low key. Highlight...family nap on the couch! LOVE

Home Is Where the Heart Is

2011-05-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

Daddy's Home. After 6 months, Anthony is finally back home. His homecoming is bitter sweet since he will be leaving for a month long training in Alabama at the end of the month. In the mean time, we will cherish every second we have with him.

Easter w/ Family

2011-04-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

I Feel Like Chicken Tonight

2011-04-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

I took the girls to have dinner at my favorite fried chicken joint in CO, White Fence Farm. Perfect setting for families. There is a playground, animals, pond, country store, horse and carriage rides....oh and fantastic chicken with tons of sides like corn fritters! Yum.

My BFF Diwata and baby Kailyn joined us too

What's Up Jo?

2011-04-24T19:54:00.001-07:00

A lot of things have been going on, keeping us busy and making time fly. This past week, Jocelyn had her first Paragon night. It's then the school gets together to see what the kids have been learning in their paragon unit. They focus on cultures around the world. Kindergarten learned all about Australia. Jocelyn made a diorama of the great barrier reef. I took a bunch of pictures of the process by somehow erased them off my camera :( She did such a good job drawing coral, sea life and even a scuba diver.

V is for Victoria (she kept saying Victorious..the name of a Nickelodeon character)

One week in Australia song

Jo also lost her first tooth

What's Up Jo?

2011-04-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

Baby Model

2011-04-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

When Ana was one, a friend of mine asked if they could photograph her and use her photo as part of a mural for the Birth Center at Parker Adventist Hospital in CO. My grandparents were recently patients there and I was able to see the mural for the first time.

Ana's the one in the upper left corner

Close Up

Artsy Fartsy

2011-04-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

It was cold and wet out last Sunday, so we decided to go back to Color Me Mine for some nice indoor fun. The girls love this place.

GTMO

2011-03-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

I had the unique opportunity to visit Anthony in Guantanamo Bay Cuba. He's been out there since November for a 6 month deployment. My mother-in-law offered to watch the girls for me during the week that I was away. I flew from Denver to Baltimore and arrived at 1 AM. Stuck around for the 2 AM showtime for the standby military flight. Flight left BWI at 6 AM stopped in Jacksonville and finally to GTMO. I didn't get there until 10 AM on the next day.

When we landed, I immediately noticed the brown and un-tropical vegetation. There are a few palm trees, but mostly everything was brown and more like a desert with cacti....absolutely not what I expected. The water, however was blue, clear, and beautiful.

Being that Cuba is off limits, we were secluded to a small part of the island where the Naval base is located. There is really nothing to see or do. We went to the NEX (a very small shop that sells clothing, electronics, etc.) everyday. Ate at the chow hall and a few other eateries. Anthony still had to work while I was visiting, so we only had the afternoons to hang out. We did go snorkeling a couple times. I'm not much of a beach person (don't want to get dark..ha) but it was quite an experience.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my stay and Anthony and I were happy to spend some quality time together.

Please forgive the lack of variety in the pictures. Like I said, there isn't much to see or do there.

View from the plane

Anthony awaiting my arrival

We took a ferry from the air strip to the main part of base

Beaches
Mostly rocks on the shore

Anthony's room

Eating at the Windjammer

Picture taken after breakfast at the Hospital. Yes, at the hospital. Apparently that's the place to be on the weekends

First iguana spotting

After my first time snorkeling
I even saw a barracuda!

Mc D's! We had chicken wings and rice.

Sneaking up on this guy

Island desert?

NEX

Last dinner

One more month till we are reunited again. Until then...Love you babe!

What time is it? Girl Scout Cookie Time!

2011-02-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

Jocelyn started Girl Scouts a couple weeks ago (she's a Daisy) and we just got our cookie order form at tonight's meeting. Let us know if you want any. We can have them sent directly to your home :)

No more excuses

2011-02-27T17:59:00.000-08:00

Done with school work, so now that I've caught up on my bad TV shows, I think it's time that I start updating our blog.

Last Friday we went comic bowling with the Guerrero Family. Even though we were all up way past out bedtime, the kids had a blast. This is something we are definitely gonna do again.

Too School for Cool

2011-01-06T22:02:00.000-08:00

Almost done!!! This is my last term of classes for my master's program. Up until now I have been taking one class at a time (considered full time), but I figured...why not take 2 and finish early? I'm crazy, I know.

Screen shot of my school calendar

Last assignments due on 2/6/11. With HW and working at the hospital 3 days a week, I may be MIA for a while. Wish me luck. Get er done!

Wee...Ana's 3!

2011-01-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

Since we already had the family over for Christmas, we decided to celebrate Ana's birthday on Christmas day. We made pancit and I got a cake from Whole Foods the day before. It's my...I mean Ana's favorite. She also got to open her birthday presents, which were separate from her Christmas ones...super important. Can't let her get gypped just because her b-day is the day after Jesus' :)

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T13:27:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! This was the second Christmas we've had to spend without Anthony. A week ago while I was looking for more decorations, I came across this package that Anthony hid for his girls (me included)!

We had the whole gang over at our house for a Christmas Eve party. Enjoy the pictures.

Dad's Roast

One of the games for the adults. They had to make one of their team members into Santa w/ tissue paper and cotton balls

The cousins even had some dance performances

To see all the pictures from our Christmas Eve party, click here.

Tangled

2010-12-19T07:42:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I took the girls to see Tangled. Anthony's usually the one that takes them since I'm not a big fan of movie theaters. Just can sit still for that long without stretching out my legs. Guess that means I'm getting old. The girls were really into the movie and sat quietly with no bathroom breaks!

Sleeping Beauties

2010-12-09T19:41:00.001-08:00

Ever since Anthony left, the girls have had a hard time sleeping on their own. They like to snuggle up in Ana's little twin size bed. Uber cute.

Internship

2010-12-09T19:25:00.001-08:00

Started my internship this week. So far I'm having a great time. I work hand in hand with the systems director and management team for the radiology department of Memorial Health Care Systems. This week I have been focusing on learning about each radiology modality and starting next week I will be tasked to work on some leadership projects.

Took these pictures while I was driving into work for the first time. Not a bad view.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T13:26:00.001-08:00

It's been about 3 1/2 weeks since Anthony left and I have to say that they have been the longest and hardest 3 1/2 weeks I have had in a while. Some things have happened that I would rather not talk about. Let's just say, I really wish Anthony could have been here to help me though it all.

Now that things have calmed down a bit, I decided I needed to update.
Despite all the bad things that has happened, there is still a lot to be thankful for.

Keeping It Together

2010-11-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

As you know I have been working on my masters for the past year and have recently landed an amazing internship. I found someone willing to mentor me provide me with an opportunity that no one else in this industry will ever get. I will be working directly with the System Director of Radiology & Imaging Services at Memorial Health System. He manages the radiology department in 3 hospitals. I will be accompanying him on all his meetings, working on projects and learning about the different hospital departments. I will be able to interact with an influential group of people and I'm sure I will have no trouble landing a paid position after this internship.

As awesome as this all is, I am not fully able to enjoy my success. Anthony's deployment is not ideal and now I have to worry about what I'm going to do with the girls. This is not a paid internship and the cost of daycare is not cheap. Not to mention the process of trying to find a good daycare provider. If I didn't care about my kids then I would find the cheapest place and call it a day. I love my girls too much to let anything bad happen to them and I would never forgive myself if I found out they were mistreated.

On top of all of this stuff going on with my internship, I still have to finish school. Finding time to work on my papers is proving difficult. Anthony use to watch them for me while I locked myself in my office, but with him gone, it's hard to get anything done.

That's enough of my grumbling. Here are some pictures of the past week and our final goodbye to Anthony.

Packing

Last few hugs

It was just the girls and I that dropped Anthony off at the airport. Didn't take many pictures...I'm sure you all can understand. Jo and Ana did get some disposable cameras in the deployment care packages the AFR gave to them and took a ton of pictures. I'll have to develop them soon.

We're hanging in there. Trying to stay busy and get on a schedule. Keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.

QT with daddy

2010-10-31T11:03:00.001-07:00

With Anthony's imminent deployment, we decided to spend a whole day doing fun things with the girls. We headed up to Denver, stopped by the mall to pick up a prize for Jocelyn (she filled up her "good behavior chart"), had pizza for lunch and dessert at Yougurtland. YUM.We decided to head over to City park to take a pedal boat out on the pond, but the girls were not so sure about that idea. Guess they didn't trust us when we said they wouldn't fall in the water. Instead we rented a surrey (a 4 person bike) and rode around the park.

Took a break from biking to run around and play in the fall leaves

All the pictures and the video were taken with Anthony's phone.

Twenty...What?!

2010-10-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

Celebrating the last year in my 20's with a bang! We threw a COSTUME party! It was fun having all my friends come out and celebrate with me. Those that know me well should know by now that I can't simply go to the store and buy my costume. I had to be original and make it myself. Took a few days of figuring out how I was going to piece it all together, but it came out great...if I do say so myself.

Fabric and store bought leotard
Hmmm....what could it be?

SAILOR MOON!!!

Back

Pretty dead on...what do you think?
I did have a wig, but it was too tight and gave me a headache..ha

I made the girls' costume too.
Ladybugs

I wanted to make sure I got some good pictures of all my guests in their costumes, so I set up a makeshift photo booth in our dining room.

Dead Aprille

Ghosts Diwata and Tako

Nerds Janelle and Joey

Eggs and Bacon Eky and Eleanor

Ladybug Bit and her mini bug JoJo

Denver Gang

Ghostsbusters Liza and Mexican Justin

Mechanic Johnny and Patrick as Zack Morris

Justin's second costume...Ty LOL. Anthony as Top Gun

Spiderman Alex and crazy clown PJ

Gas mask guy Craig and Minnie Mouse Jin

Fireman Liz, Lady Gaga Eliza, and Jin

Nice chest hair!

Me and my Hubby....bwaahaha

Me and my REAL hubby.

Big Bird Rachel and Where's Waldo Nate

Flynn as the Joker

My siblings. My brother's a zombee

We ate, drank and danced all night. Couldn't ask for much more. Time to start planning my 30th!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

Went to the Rock Creek Farm pumpkin patch again this year. This is starting to become a family tradition. After picking just the right ones, we decided to paint them. Much easier for the kids to maneuver a paint bush that a rather than sharp knife.

JoJo's 6th Birthday!

2010-10-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

On Jocelyn's actual birthday, we brought cupcakes for her to share with her class. After school we let her open presents and I made the traditional birthday pancit dinner. Can't believe she is 6 already!

Fun City + Friends = Happy B-day Girl

2010-10-19T20:36:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Jocelyn's birthday a little early this year. We are going to do a small family thing on her actual birthday this Thursday, but this past weekend we had a party at Fun City in Littleton. The kids ate and then got to play in the 3-story foam ball factory, arcade, and bounce castles. It was a hit.

Brunch Bunch

2010-10-10T09:20:00.001-07:00

Had brunch at Cheyenne Mountain Resort with the "Uncles." Didn't get a group picture but we did remember to get one of the family.

The girl's love their uncle Justin

Downsizing

2010-10-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

Check out my new fitness journal called Downsizing. Here I will document my progress towards getting more healthy. I'm hoping it will also keep me on track and motivated to workout and eat right.

There is a link on the right of our family blog or you can click here to check it out. Had to backdate some posts, so make sure to check older posts.

Don't let me slack!

Tin's Weekend: Day 2

2010-10-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Anthony and I drove up to Denver for the rest of my surprise weekend. First stop, City park where we went on a sweet little boat ride. The had paddle boats available for rent, but our legs were spent from hiking the day before.

We had a lot of time before Anthony's next planned event, so we walked around the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Lunch time at Crepes 'n Crepes in Cherry Creek
SOOO good

Playing at one of my favorite toy stores, Kazoo.

Anthony playing a 3-D game at the Sony store in the mall

After a quick costume change at my friend's house we went to dinner at this swanky restaurant called Kevin Taylor in down town Denver. Forgive the pictures of the food. I was too embarrassed to use the flash in such a fancy establishment :)

Amuse bouche : sous-vide pork loin

Appetizer : Seared Grade “A” French Foie Gras
with Apple Tarte Tatin, Duck Prosciutto, Apple Preserves, Calvados Gastrique

Soup : Lobster boullibaise with saffron

Salad : crab salad with avocados, caviar, avacado and champagne gelee , popcorn

Entree : Roast Colorado Bison Tenderloin and Bison Rib Strudel
with Butternut Squash, Glazed Cippolinis, Crispy Sage, Blackberry Jus

Entree : Beef short ribs, mashed potatoes, spring vegetables

For my final surprise of the evening, Anthony took me to see the Jabbaockeez!
A bunch of my friends were there too.

Tin's Weekend: Day 1

2010-10-02T10:30:00.001-07:00

Pikes Peak

Anthony planned a surprise weekend just for the two of us. All the activities were planned around things that I like or have been wanting to do. We dropped the kids off with family on Thursday night and started our first activity bight and early Friday morning. Actually we were up by 4 AM and at the base of Pike's Peak an hour and a half before the sun even came up. It's a good thing we brought a flashlight to navigate through the Barr Trail. We hiked in darkness for about 3 miles.

Our first stop. Sun finally shinning.

Half way through (6miles) stopped at Barr Camp to have lunch. There's nothing much here other than a decent outhouse and some benches and picnic tables.
The birds there were ruthless trying to snatch up our grub

6 miles to go!

The Aspen trees were so beautiful. Fall is here

3 more miles to the top

Potty break...ha

Anthony's view for the majority of the hike

2 more miles

1 mile marker

16 Golden Stairs
A series of boulders and short switchbacks. Don't have a clue where they got the 16 from...way more steps than that!

I was determined to beat Anthony to the top, so I pushed hard at the end and made it to the top in 9.75 hrs. He was only 5 minutes behind.
That's me on the far left

The Cog train that I took the girls on a few weeks back. Gotta love the looks we got from the passengers. They couldn't believe people actually hiked up

Our buddy Johnny picked us up at the top

13 miles from the the bottom of the mountain in Manitou Springs to the summit of Pike's Peak. Altitude gain of over 7,800 ft ending at the top of "America's Mountain," elevation 14,115 ft.
Can't believe we did it!

Bring it on!

2010-10-01T09:52:00.001-07:00

Jocelyn attended an all day cheer camp at her school a couple weekends ago. We were able to watch her do the cheers and dances she learned when they performed during half time at the middle school football game.

It was cold an raining and that's why she's wearing her sweatshirt over her cheer shirt.

How to : Lumpia

2010-09-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

My sister wanted to document the process of rolling lumpia (egg rolls). This was the first of 250 or so. Please excuse my appearance. Didn't want my good clothes smelling like pork :)

Parent's Weekend

2010-09-08T14:39:00.000-07:00

Anthony and I volunteered to be the hosts for this year's Parent's Weekend gathering. The tradition has been that all the Filipino cadets from the AF Academy got together at their sponsor's house along with their families who are visiting specifically for Parent's Weekend. Acting as the unofficial Flip sponsors this year, we thought it would be a good idea to have everyone come to our house for food and fellowship. The guest list grew to nearly 100 (but everyone here knows 150+ actually showed up). Little did I know how much of a task it would be to prep and cook for all our guests. 2 days of straight cooking! Special thanks to Justin, Ace, Johnny and J.Fern for helping out financially with some of the food. And to my sister...my sous-chef, couldn't have done it without her.

Just b/c I think it's amazing how much food we prepared, here's a list of some grocery items we bought:
30 lbs of pork
15 lbs of chuck beef
10 lbs of ground pork
9 packages of lumpia wrappers (9x30 wrappers per pack)
3 bunches of bananas
6 roasted chickens
6 packages of noodles
5 lb bag of carrots
4 cans of spam
Oh my the list can go on and on. Time for pictures.

Our fridge
That handle of Crown was consumed the night before all the work began. Pusoy Dos till 3 am!

Meat for lumpia. Rolled about 250 and it took me 3 hrs!
(Don't have a pic of the finished product, but we had 6 gallon sized ziploc bags full)

Meat for BBQ

My helpers

Ended up with 2 full trays like this one. Over 300 sticks!

Ending day one with a shot.

Sushi

FOOD!
This is not nearly all the grub we had. I had food in the kitchen put away that I used to replenish items as the night went on.
Menu: Spinach salad with Mandarin oranges, California rolls, pork BBQ, pancit, calderetta, lumpia, spam fried rice, roasted chicken, fried fish, brownies with cheesecake, fruit pizza, and turon.
(Forgot to take a pic of the desserts)

Time to eat

All the people scattered around the house.
The younger crowd hung out in our basement

No Filipino party is complete without karaoke

People on the deck
I think many were there just to get the BBQ and lumpia as soon as they came off the grill or out of the fryer.

Shoes

Hot dang that's a lot of people!
The cadets all introduced themselves and even put together a little video/slide show for the families.

I think that everyone had a great time and I received many "thank yous" and kind word of gratitude. I've got 1 word for next year's party POTLUCK!

Cog Railway

2010-09-08T09:13:00.001-07:00

Took the girls and my mother-in-law on the Cog Railway. It's the world's highest cog railroad. It takes you from the small town of Manitou Springs CO all the way to the top of Pikes Peak. It's 3 1/2 hr round trip. Highly recommended. The views are amazing.

(Note: I accidentally uploaded the pictures in backwards order. Also, all these pictures were taken by Jocelyn except for the one pic of her)

Top of Pikes Peak
Elevation 14,115ft

World famous donuts. Featured on Food Network

We did what?

2010-08-30T19:46:00.001-07:00

I always seem to forget all the little activities that our family has going on until I look though the camera's SD card and find all sorts of pictures from past outings. Here are a handful from the past couple months.

I enrolled Ana and Jocelyn in swim classes at our community pool.
2 weeks in the sun = major tan

My cousins schooling Ty at basketball

Claire's birthday at Water World

Spending the day walking around the cute town of Manitou Springs, CO

Children's Museum

Royal Gorge
(Note: As some of you may know, the Royal Gorge is the the highest hanging bridge in the world. I am terrified of heights and every time we come here, I tense up and try my best not to pass out while crossing. Hence, no pictures of us on the bridge itself. Ha)

Kites

Found this picture and was quite impressed with JoJo's artistic skills. Can you guess what she drew? *

*Answer: Sponge Bob in the lower right. His house and the homes of his buddies in Bikini Bottom.

Internship

2010-08-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

We all got together last weekend to celebrate Justin's homecoming. He was "deployed" for the past 4-5 months to South Carolina. Gotta make up for lost time.

The Fam.
Justin, Ace, Johnny, Pat, Ty, Liza, J.Fern

Patron for the ladies and Crown for the fellas

Welcome back Justin!

Johnny must have been hot

Nice stache

Good times

A is for Apple

2010-08-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

I have a few more events that I need to post about, but I just couldn't wait to post about this one... It's Jocelyn's first day of KINDERGARTEN!! I think I was a little more anxious than she was. I was up late last night making sure she had her snacks and lunch money neatly tucked away in her backpack, which I labeled. I also scrubbed her sneakers and hand washed the laces. The whole family dropped her off at her new school and classroom. I could feel the tears welling up, but was able to hold them back...I didn't want to be THAT mom.

How cute is my big girl?!

Sisters

It's Potty Time

2010-08-08T19:25:00.001-07:00

I felt like I was really slacking on potty training Ana, but a couple weeks ago we finally got down to business. I am happy to announce, Ana is diaper free. Well sort of. We still put one on her at night and when we have to run errands...just in case. She got the hang of it in just a couple days. I'm so proud of her.

Picture of my big girl
She wasn't happy to have her picture taken while doing her business

Last Week of Summer

2010-08-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

We've been trying to fit in all sorts of activities in before Jocelyn goes back to school next week. Everything we ended up doing was on a whim so all of the pictures were taken with my phone.

Painting at Color Me Mine

Cheyenne Mt. Zoo
Sky Ride

Feeding the giraffe

Horseback riding

Man it's HOT!

2010-07-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

Decided to do the "Incline"" once again. Crazy, I know, but I have some sort of sick obsession with it. Persuaded my friend Liza to come up with us for her first time. The weather was an absolute killer. Started the hike before 7Am and within an hour it was 90 degrees outside. No bueno! We finished all our water on the way up the stairs and were running on empty for the 4 mile hike down. Overheated and hungry, we were happy to make it back to the bottom. Praise the Lord!

The Crew
(Lisbeth, Jamie, Ty, Me, Liza, Ace)

Here we go
(FYI the top of the Incline that you see in the pic is called the false summit. Still more stairs past that point)

Guess Ace was trying make a 12 to signify how many times he's done the incline. I must have thought he was throwing up peace signs and tried to follow along. Fail.

Illegal!

Damn tourists

Finally to the top
"You don't want to know."

The guys monkeying around. Ace scraped up his knee pretty bad...his excuse "Ty's big butt."

Made it! Water taste so good.

Later that day, the girls and daddy played outside while I took a much needed shower and relaxed inside in the air conditioned house.

Sis, bro, and cousin Claire came down for a short trip so we took them to the pool. Let's just say I'm at least 3 shades darker than I was a day ago.

Dinner at Golden Corral

The end of a long day. I was in bed by 8:30. Can't wait for the weather to cool down a bit so we can do it all over again.

Ni Hao

2010-07-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

Found this video as I was clearing pictures off of my camera. Ana makes me LOL

San Diego/LA

2010-07-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

We went on a little trip to CA from the 23rd of June till July 3rd. With school and work, we all needed a vacation.

Daddy and Ana on the plane

Tea Time

San Diego State Fair
(Chocolate covered bacon and deep fried butter!!)

Daddy and JoJo are in the basket just right of the flags

SIL trip to LA. Went to a Make Up convention
(IMATS: international Make Up Trade Show)

Spent the night at the Standard Hotel in LA

Our bathroom with a giant foot

The room was very open. Better not be shy when staying here

Thought this was funny

Had to take a pic with the iCarly poster. JoJo's favorite show

Dinner with my cousin Philipp, Diana, Lexa, and Julianna

Yogurt Land!

Homemade smores

iPhone Pictures

Jollibee

Disneyland

Chandler Bing!!!
He was sitting right across from us at the Waffle in LA.

Knocked out at the pool

Again, there are a lot of pictures stored on Anthony's computer that I can't get to right now so I'll have to load them later.

White Water Rafting

2010-06-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we braved the rapids down the Arkansas River. We opted for the day long trip. Started at the Lower Bighorn Sheep Canyon, stopped for lunched and then continued through the Royal Gorge. A total of 22 miles. Rapids ranging from levels 3-5. Absolutely amazing! Everyone made it out in one piece. Only had one person fall out. I won't name names but it rhymes with "bike" and starts with an "M." LOL

Us
(Clockwise from the front left. Anthony, Ace, Me, Instructor, Instructor Mike, Aprille, Lisbeth, Mike)

Incline

2010-06-14T21:58:00.000-07:00

"The Incline" in Manitou Springs Colorado. (~2000 ft elevation gain in ~1 mile, average grade 41%, steepest grade 68%, starting at ~6500ft above sea level, ending at ~8500ft up where the air is rare)... and a ~3.5 mile trail back down (RP from Ace's Facebook post).

Anthony went a few weeks ago while his roommate from the desert, Rob, was in town. I had to stay home to watch the kids, but got my chance on Sunday to conquer the notorious "Incline." It was a butt busting intense workout. It didn't help that we were up till 2:30 am the night before partying it up. Up by 5 am to make a tocilog breakfast and hit the steps by 7:ish. Even though I was cursing each step (all 2000 + of them) I can't wait to do it again.

The following pictures were all stolen. Gotta love FB.

Anthony with Rob's Family and Friends

Rob and Anthony
(Wish I would have been able to meet him...next time)

No trespassing sign

Ace and I

The Crew
(Ace, Sedra, Paul, Darrel, Aprille, ME. The 3 guys in the middle are current AF Academy Cadets. We have become their unofficial sponsors)

Me and Sis

Summer Summer Summer Time

2010-06-07T13:01:00.001-07:00

Between Anthony's work and both of us working on our Masters, we have had very little time to enjoy our weekends. However, this past Sunday we spent the morning at our neighborhood pool. It was nice to finally have time away from studying and paper writing to relax and play. The community center in our development has everything. Gym, tennis courts, playgrounds, pool and splash area for the kids.

Ana was a little chilly

JoJo lounging out

Splash Area
(Anthony had more fun playing in the fountains than the girls!)

Ana finally getting warm

Ana feeding Daddy chips

7 Years and Still No Itch

2010-06-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

Anthony and I celebrated our seven year anniversary on memorial day. Pictures from our dinner at Shanihan's is on Anthony's computer so I'll have to upload them later.
Love you babe.

Sex and the Mile High City

2010-06-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

I met up with my besties in Denver to watch Sex and the City 2 on opening night.

Dinner at Cheesecake Factory

Strike a Pose

2010-06-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

It has become a tradition that we have our family portrait taken every year on Mother's Day. This year we had my friend and photographer Sheba do our photo shoot at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. Enjoy.

Next American Idol

2010-05-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

Ana's a singing machine.

Mom, mama, mommy, ma, mother

2010-05-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

We kept it pretty low key this year. Spent the weekend in Aurora. The girls got me flowers, candy, and cards. Then visited mom on Sunday. I love my family!

Happy Birthday Love

2010-05-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Anthony's birthday with friends and family at Fugo De Chao. MMmMM meat overload, but so good

Coffee and Brunch

2010-04-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

Starbucks at Target

Brunch at the Broadmoor Hotel in CO Springs

Seven Falls

2010-04-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

Anthony took a couple days off and we just spent them hanging out as a family. We've been so busy lately with school and work it was really nice to set aside some time to relax and enjoy each others company.

Easter

2010-04-06T14:25:00.001-07:00

Went down to Aurora to spend Easter with my extended family.

Exploring Colorado Springs

2010-04-05T10:41:00.001-07:00

Lola's in town and we've been trying to show her all the amazing places around Colorado Springs. It was my first time to many of these places too. Last week we visited the Zoo (pictures in the previous post), the Cave of the Winds, Air Force Academy, and Garden of the Gods. Phew I'm exhausted! Probably since I'm backing Ana 95% of the time. Good work out though. (Since I have to trek around carrying Ana, all these photos were taken with my compact point and shoot camera).

Cave of the Winds

Air Force Academy

Cadet Chapel

Garden of the Gods

Animals!

2010-04-01T20:23:00.001-07:00

Finally a day that felt like spring. Temperatures were in the 70's and not a rain cloud in sight, so we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. They weren't kidding about the mountain part. I decided ahead of time that we would rent a wagon, but pulling that sucker up all the hills killed my arm and shoulder. All worth it though.

Feeding the giraffes. Well actually Lola and I fed them the girls were terrified!

Ana snacking in the wagon

Carousel

Ice cream

Drove up to the Will Rogers Shrine connected to the zoo