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!

Halloween Pictures

Here is our semi-annual posting. I wish I was kidding but it appears I'm not. The girls had a great time trick-or-treating... here are some of our pictures.

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July with the family. We headed to Celebration for a picnic and activities that the town put together. Check-out Ashlyn coloring!!!



Uncle Brety called to wish Ashlyn a Happy Birthday!!!



Daddy's girls...



Viva .... Los Estados Unidos de America !!!



At night we watched a great fireworks show. Ashlyn and Kayla loved them.

Ashlyn's First Birthday

Ashlyn spent her birthday with some of her friends from the neighborhood.



Here is Ashlyn showing her new birthday dress "Thanks Grandma"




Ashlyn loved her cake and had seconds!!!



After a long day of dancing, eating and playing, the birthday girl took a few minutes to rest !!!

Morning Doo

Here is Ashlyn showing off her morning doo.

Kristina's Birthday

Kayla and her new BFF Kristina spend the day together. We met up with Kristina and her parents at Downtown Disney for lunch. After a great time at Rain Forest Cafe, we headed over for a train and a carousel ride. After that we caught up with the fairy godmothers from "Bibidi Bobidi Boo Boutique" that sprinkled fairy dust which as they say "makes all your dreams come true". We had a great time with Kristina and her parents. After that we headed over to get Kayla her tap shoes. Kayla is taking ballet / tap this summer. Did we mention that this too happened the same weekend as Jose's wedding and Kayla's recital ... Yeah busy weekend..but a memorable one!!!

Kayla's Recital

Kayla had her first ballet recital a couple of weeks ago. Since she attends two different classes she performed twice during the recital. Aaron and I volunteered to take care of the girls during one of the sessions. They were a lot of fun. We were able to capture a couple of pictures in the dressing room. They did a great job and the night was a success. Unfortunately, we are not able to post any videos at this time. We are waiting to get the ones that we ordered. As soon as we get them we will be posting them so that you can see Kaylita in action!!!

Jose and Alexandra's Wedding

We attended Jose and Alexandra's wedding a couple of weeks ago. We are so happy for them both. They make a great couple. Their wedding took place the same weekend as Kayla's recital. We flew to Atlanta on Friday morning, attended the wedding the same day and flew back to Orlando on Saturday morning. Then, we drove about an hour to Kayla's rehersal. It was a short visit but it was great to see many great friends

Bath Time

Sorry we haven't been keeping you updated much. It has been a couple of pretty busy weeks for us. Here are the girls enjoying bath time. Ashlyn loves the water and Kayla likes having her baby sister with her.

Ashlyn's New Development...

Ashlyn has learned to stand. Once in a while she lets go and stands on her own. She's getting it. I also see an outlet that needs to be covered. Oops. Nice of us to post proof!!!

It's "A NEW CAR!!!"

OK, so the gas price was starting to take a toll. With work and school, I put a lot of miles on the road. I finally started to run numbers and track mileage about a month and a half ago. What I found was a bit shocking. Our truck was getting 15 miles per gallon. The Jeep is getting 18 miles per gallon. In the truck, I am on target to hit around 26,000 miles for the year. When I ran the numbers, gas was $3.75 per gallon. That brings us to $6,500 in gas for the truck alone. When I included the Jeep, we were just under $11,000 for the year. To top it off, the truck is at 60,000 miles and the tires were so bald that they were starting to blister. One of the benefits to having a truck with an upgraded wheel package is the ability to buy tires at a price of $2,000 a set!!!

After spreadsheeting out gas prices and mileage, I found that I would save quite a bit of money by trading in the truck even if I had to make payments on a new car. To make a long story shorter, we traded in the truck for a 2008 Honda Civic at 30 MPG.

I tried to find a photo of the truck in our files, but this was the best I could do. I think you get the point. It was big!!!

Kayla's New Pool

Kayla was very excited to pick out her new pool. This is the only thing better than bath time to her.

Ashlyn wanted NOTHING to do with the new pool. It doesn't appear that she is quite as big a fan of the water as Kayla is. She much prefers sitting in the shade and playing.

50 Years!!!

Elisa's parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Tuesday!!! It was a great day. It started with a surprise midnight serenade. Her Dad has been in Mexico with family for the past couple weeks. He flew back to Orlando unannounced and waited at Silvia's house until midnight when he drove over and entered to the sounds of the Wedding Waltz.

The whole family met for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Timpano (the mussels are fabulous). We then headed to a sitting for family portraits. Everybody then came to our house for a surprise party for both of them.

I had to share this picture from that night. These are two of the closest sisters you will ever see!

Congratulations Brian and Stephanie!

We had the pleasure of attending two big religious occasions in the past

few weeks. Brian has been working hard over the past several months

leading up to his Confirmation. Here he is with the Bishop.

Stephanie also hit a big milestone. She received First Communion just a week

after Brian's Confirmation. She looked beautiful!

Grades are in...

My first semester back in school has drawn to a close and the results are in....

Statistics "A"
American Government "A"
Computing for Business "A"

I start my summer courses on May 13th. I will be taking two classes; Accounting: Cost Management, and International Business. After the summer, I will have a total of 9 courses left for the requirements of a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting.

Ashlyn's Starring Role.....

I know... Two posts in the same month... It just didn't seem right to post a video of Kayla and not one of Ashlyn. Here is a great flick of Ashlyn's unique style of crawling. She is getting faster and faster, but she never gets away from the "Ashlyn Scoot!!!"

Rate this video by leaving a comment on this post. If there is an overwhelming response, we may be forced to keep up with the posts and give you more photos and videos!!!!

Pictures just can't get you quite a close as a video can.

Here's Kayla on picture day...

A BUSY Weekend!!!!!

OK... Again we will be doing a massive post all in one day. As always, sorry for the infrequent postings. We have been extremely busy over the past few months. To add to it, we have also misplaced the charger for our camera. Therefore, we also have had very limited pictures over the past few months. Here is a look at this past weekend....

Our first stop was Picture Day at Kayla's Ballet School. Here she is with her friend Christina. Their annual recital will be the first weekend in June. We will be sure to post video clips after the event. Make sure you check back....

Ashlyn really gets into "Everything Kayla." If her big sister likes it, Ashlyn loves it. She is well liked at Kayla's school. Everybody "Coos" over her.

We spent a day in Celebration, FL for the annual Speed Show and Pie Festival. Yes, that covers a very diverse span. If you can believe it, Kayla entered a Pie Eating Competition. She did great!!! Even more importantly, the pictures are great!!!

There were over 300 cars being shown in the downtown area. The show focuses on Performance Cars. The majority of the cars are Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pantera, etc... There were also a few celebrity cars. Here is a picture of the Delorean from Back to the Future. The cars from the original Night Rider and Gone in 60 Seconds (Deloris) were also there.

We ended the day in Winter Park. Brian spent the day at a Catholic Retreat and we joined up with the family for Mass after the completion. As I'm sure you can tell, it was another beautiful day in Central Florida.

Here is an update on the girls...

I know it's been a while since we've giving news about the girls. Kayla is beautiful as always. She is still taking ballet lessons twice a week. She's also started taking swiming lessons on the weekends. Ashlyn has started to crawl and has two very sharp teeth. Ashlyn and Kayla get along so well. They can spend hours playing with each other and having fun.

Brian's First Communion

The first Sunday of April, Brian received first communion. The following Sunday he went on a retreat and the Sunday after that he will confirmed. Stephanie will follow with her first communion. We had a great day with the Family. Here is a picture of Brian with Father Gregory, the priest of our parish.