Either tonight or tomorrow. I’m at the hospital waiting for my nephew to be born 🙂

Usually summers are not a big deal to me. I used to be stuck in a stuffy office working 8-5, and thanks to the overwhelming Sacramento traffic wouldn’t make it home til close to 6. Just because summer was starting didn’t mean things in our life were going to change. Jayden still would go to preschool, Gino still worked graveyard… I still only saw my family like 3 hours/day.

For the past 2 summers (this is my 3rd!!!) I have the privilege of knowing what summers are all about. I get to go on play dates at the park, do fun activities with my kids and LOVE the blessings that are included in being able to do this.

Summers also = probably less computer time. Which is FINE BY ME! I love blogging, I love Facebook (well, it’s on my phone, so I won’t be neglecting Facebook) and I love surfing the net, but I’m trying to not have Jayden’s summer memories be of his mom hiding behind her computer. I want him to remember swimming, laughing, ice cream, lemonade stands & SUMMER! I want him to play outside and get dirty, eat worms, squish bugs…. okay, maybe I’m taking it too far – Jayden wouldn’t touch any of those activites with a 10 foot pole – and I love him for it!

Happy Summer – I hope everyone including us can make some great summer memories.

What an amazing thing to watch our first African-American President be sworn in. I am actually really happy that Obama is our president. It’s exciting! We need a change, and I think that Obama just might be able to give us the change that our country needs. When we were down in California we went to see Gino’s mom and she was talking about all the job cuts that are happening and how California is in a huge mess. I think that at that moment our economic crisis actually hit me. While we’re fine and it hasn’t necessarily hit our home, it doesn’t mean that it can’t. That scares me.

I hope that we see a change and I hope that the people out there that are struggling because of our disasterous crisis, that they find jobs and that they are able to provide for their family. All I can do is pray for everyone. There’s a guy that stands at Gino’s work early in the morning with a sign saying NEED WORK and it has his phone number. When Gino told me about this I thought… how sad. He probably is at his last resort and has no other clue of what to do for his family. So, he gets up in the cold and stands there hoping someone will help him. That is scary. This nation scares me. I hope that it gets better, and I think we’re all grasping on to the words that Obama has told us praying that change does happen.

I made a birth announcement/Christmas card for my friends today. I absolutely LOVE it and had to share it on my blog.

and the fire we don’t have would be delightful……

It has definitely has not felt like Christmas around here, but we finally got snow today. We got Ella a snowsuit and Gino and Jayden have theirs from last year – so expect great pictures.

Ella’s been watching the snow fall through the window and puts her hand up to her chest and says, “Cold” I have no idea how this girl knows that snow is cold, but she does.

I can’t wait until she wakes up from her nap so we can bundle her up and she can go out and play ~ if enough has stuck.

Now it really feels like Christmas in the Garibay home. We even baked Chocolate Chip cookies today ~ well, my attempt. I suck at baking and my cookies are always muffiny. I do EXACTLY what the directions say and they still don’t turn out perfect. Oh well…. they’re still kinda good.

I felt like change was needed. I’ve had the same blog design for a year now so a gave my blog a makeover tonight. I’ll probably be changing the header picture once we get our family pictures done, but that one will do 🙂

I need to learn how to make buttons on the top that people can click on. I see them all over the place and want them on my blog. So, if you know how to do this let me know!!

I have a new passion. It’s capturing those moments in life that I find absolutely perfect. I realized I had this passion while sitting in the waiting lounge at Olive Garden one day. There was a family that was sitting on a couch across from me and laughing and I wanted to capture that moment for them. I wished so badly that I had a camera at that moment.

I welcome you to journey this journey with me. I love comments on my other blog and the same applies here, so comment away 🙂

The fist hymn of the baptism has finally been decided. A fellow reader gave me a suggestion of I Stand All Amazed and that was the PERFECT song! It’s actually a song that I listen to a lot in my car. It’s beautiful…. Here are the words:

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died

Chorus:
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me
Oh, it is wonderful
Wonderful to me

I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine
That he should extend his great love unto such as I
Sufficient to own, to redeem and to justify

(Repeat chorus)

I think of his hands, pierced and bleeding to pay my debt
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me
Secure in the promise of life in his victory
Thus ransomed from death I will live to my Savior’s praise
And sing of his goodness and mercy through endless days

Thank you, Victoria!!

It’s 8:00pm and my kids are running wild around the house….. there’s something majorly wrong with that. Most people w/kids my kids’ age have them in bed between 7 & 8 – this is something I really need to work on.

Tomorrow is Jayden’s first “real” birthday party. I say first “real” birthday party, because he’s never had a birthday party where lots of kids come and you know….. all that fun stuff. So, we have about 9 kids coming tomorrow and he’s REALLY excited. I am a little stressed out about it…. we’re still going to church and I’ll only have a few hours to get things together. I know it will all be good, but with my fun anxiety problem it has me a little stressed. My biggest stress is that we show up at the park and the picnic table area is already taken – THAT WOULD SUCK!

I’ve decided I’ll do a post of Ella’s birthday pics and Jayden’s birthday pics – I’m a slacker and it’s been over a month since Ella’s birthday party and I still haven’t shown pictures of it. She looked SO CUTE!

This is really hard. It’s the little things that get under my skin and drive me crazy. For instance, sleeping on my couch. Why does he keep sleeping on my couch when there’s a bedroom upstairs with a bed that he can sleep on??? I actually woke him up in the middle of the night and made him get off my couch. I know, I’m horribly mean.

Another irritating thing ~ the ghetto talk, the pants hanging off his butt, him just sitting in my living room. What’s wrong with me?!?!?! Everything about this boy is irritating me. I don’t do well with other people living with me. This kindof is a reason why I moved from Sacramento and here I am having to take care of this grown adult all because he’s irresponsible and thought he could hustle his way through life in Sacramento.

That makes me mad.

It’s not fair to my little family here that’s trying to have a structured, happy home.

I’m leaving for a few days and I’m so upset. I’m leaving him here, all alone for 5 days ~ that’s WAY too long. What if eats on my couch and spills something? What if he lets some strange girl in my house while I’m gone? I’m stressing about things I SHOULDN’T have to stress about.

Why is it that I have to be the responsible one and pick up the pieces? It’s not fair…. I’m tired of the cussing, the rolling of the eyes when I talk about my religion……I’m just tired and I don’t know how long I can handle having another person living in my home.

~~ I’m sorry for the rant, but I needed to get this all out ~~