Holiday Traditions!

Today we celebrated our Chavarela Christmas at Abuelita & Grandpa's. Since all except Tia Lisett & Tio Nick are going to be out of town this year, the day was packed with lots of things to do! We started with visiting Aaron and putting up a lil tree for him (Abuelita had left the cherub there 2 weeks before!) Then headed over to the Annual VFW Holiday Party where Santa Claus made a surprise appearance! and then to the house where Alexander & Rebecca made the traditional press-cookies from Abuelita's favorite recipe for the first time!! Both kids caught on very quickly and are destined to be great helpers in the kitchen, especially now that AAA has an honest to goodness chef's jacket with his name engraved! and Rebecca got a (toy) kitchen where they can practice!

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Happy 2nd Birthday Alexander!

Our lil boy is two years old!! We celebrated Alexito's birthday "building" memories with close friends and family. Although Alexander was trying to "demolish" the stomach flu (his birthday was actually the 3rd day of the illness), he had a great time with his cousins, Rebecca and Dylan, and friends, Evan, Cassidy, Cathy, Jared, Natalie, Gabrielle, Drew, and Helena! The twins (Gabby & Natalie) bested everyone at "Pin the Wheel on the Payloader" and "Boulder." Daddy and Mommy were so thrilled that everyone had a fun time at AAA's Construction Party. Daddy worked hard designing the theme for the party, including screening our special shirts! The birthday cake from French's Cupcake Bakery was wonderful and displayed Daddy's payloader! The best gift, however, was that our lil boy finally felt better (after falling asleep for 3.5 hrs before we were able to sing Happy Birthday) and enjoyed the rest of the evening at home with his grandparents and tios and tias, playing with Rebecca at the condo, and opening his many, many presents.

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Ariza Adventure

Today we headed out for an adventure. Mommy and Daddy decided to bet against the rainy weather and enjoy a few hours today at the San Diego Zoo - Alexander's 1st visit! Thankfully, we were able to beat the rain headed south for a couple hours and AAA was able to see orangutans (pictured here), lions, bears, elephants, and even a horse (among other ameenals)!! We got to see just enough before it started sprinkling.

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boo!

Alexander's first real Halloween experience was awesome! Although a little unsure at first, by the end of the evening he was pointing at houses, saying 'house', saying 'treat' to get his trick or treat in and getting upset because mommy wouldn't let him open his candy right away!

click on the candy haul for more pictures!

amazing grace

at night when I put Alexander to bed, I'll sing to him, either lullabies, movie tunes, or church songs. Of all the songs I sing to him, in English and Spanish, the one he's really taken to is the gospel, Amazing Grace. So much so, that he now sings some words of the first verse with me! and even on tune! He just constantly amazes me and I am in awe of him.