Kayla's First Day of School...

Today was Kayla's first day of school. This moring Aaron, Ashlyn, Mamita Esperaza, Papi Diomo, Stephanie and I took her to school. She was so exited to go to school, meet new friends and learn new things (Definetly a Hoefen trait). Our little princess keeps on inpressing us every day. When she was picked up, she couln't stop talking (a Melgarejo trait) about her day. She had a note from the teacher saying that she was amazing and a great listener on her first day. Other events that have taken place, is that Kayla and Ashlyn (with Daddy) will be taking gymnastics classes on Saturdays. The class was only meant for Kayla, but when Aaron took Ashlyn along she begged Daddy to let her play. Daddy has a soft side for the girls, so now we have two little ones signed up. More to come on the gymnastics. We are both looking forward to an exciting school year.

California Trip

A couple of months ago we wen to visit my sister Carmen, Amanda and Linda in California. They live in Irivine. We had such a great time there. We visited different places and enjoyed the cool California weather. There is so much more to see that we were not able to....definitely an excuse to go back !!! Here are some of the trip pictures.




The Crystal Cathedral is the home base for the International Crystal Cathedral Ministries, including a congregation of over 10,000 members and the internationally televised "Hour of Power."

We headed to different places, and some took a couple of hours to get there. The car trips were fun and long. The girls were really good.

We visited one of the many wineries in the area. "Blackjack" is located in Solvang. Since we had the girls, we were not all able to go inside. Aaron was able to go and do a little tasting. He got a bottle that we later enjoyed on our 7th wedding anniversary. Perfect !!!

Solvang dates back to 1911 when Danish-Americans traversed the plains from Iowa to establish a settlement in California. They purchased 9,000 acres of the former Rancho San Carlos de Jonata and situated their new community adjacent to the historic Old Mission Santa Inés. To preserve and promote Danish culture, the founders constructed a Danish folk school and church; then built Atterdag College, which opened in 1914 and educated through 1970.

We spent a day at the beach. The water was cold, but that did not stop us from going in and having a good time.

We visited one of Carmen's friend's avocado farm. They are also growing lemons and grapefruit. We were able to go around and pick avocados. It was a first for us. We brought back enough avocados to last us weeks. The view from the top of the groves is breathtaking.

Mami and Papi took the easy way up to the top of the hill

This is the area were Benedicta and her husband will be building their house.

Lunch in Old Town, San Diego.

A night at the movies

Santa Monica Pier

Linda's Graduation Party

Ashlyn and Kayla's new friend "Sammy Theodore Melgarejo"

Past Photos

I am in the process of transfering Ada's photos from her camera to a cd. She has an unbelievable amount of pictures saved on the camera. It appears that it has never been emptied. As I am cleaning them up, I am finding some great shots from the past year or so. I thought I would post a couple of my favorites. Sorry, no royalty payments Ada!

Trip to Disney

Ryan posted about their trip to Orlando. I thought I would add a few photos from our day at Disney! We have had some great family visits this year! We look forward to many more. If you haven't been down, get it on the calendar. If you have been down, we look forward to you coming back soon!

Spring brings hot sweaty yard work!

Yesterday, the girls and I spent the day working on landscaping the front of the house. We have now been in the house two years and we couldn't put it off any longer. There is still more to do, but we put a good dent in the work yesterday!

Looking back through posts of when we moved in, I found the one after I had painted the inside of the house. In it, I said that I had not taken any before pictures to compare to the after pictures. I also said that I had learned my lesson and I would make sure I do this when I change the landscaping. Well, I did it again. Here are some after pictures, but again, there are no before pictures.

another semi annual post

So I get worse and worse. Now I have gotten to an all time low... A Mobile Post.... I am now posting from my Blackberry.

For those that don't know, I was recently laid-off for a week of rest and relaxation and then promoted. I am now General
Manager of the Residence Inn Orlando International Drive. It wasn't the most relaxing of weeks, but it all worked our wel

Sorry for the short post, but my thumbs are getting tired as I get used to this thing. Hopefully soon I will figure out how to post photos from the phone. I have to say that the Storm has a great camera for a phone!