Congratulations Amanda

California bound. Congratulations to Amanda on her high school graduation. We are SSSSOOOOO proud of you Amanda!!!!!!!!!!

Our Baby!!!!!!!

I'm putting this in because I beleive you all deserve a current picture of our baby. She's doing great. She has moved up to the three year old class at her school. Yes, I know she's onlytwo and a half, but she's a Hoefen/Melgarejo mix!!!!!!!!! Yes, she is beautiful AND smart. We're so proud of her. Kayla is such a good girl.

Kitchen - After

Kitchen - Before

Sorry, It's been a while!!!!!!!!

I figure I'm staying on top of this site as long as I post every few months. Unfortunately, there isn't always much to say. But of course, the purpose of this blog is to keep you up to date on Kayla, not me!!!!! She had an exciting month. She had visits from three out of four of her grandparents. Elisa's mom spent a week with us in early April and Grandma and Grandpa Hoefen came at the end of the month!!!!!! She can't stop asking "Where's Grandma?" "Where's Grandpa?" "Where's Mama?"

Congratulations!!!

This post is about a month late. Sylvia and Adrian got married on February 17th. We made the trip down to Orlando for the event. Congratulations. You both deserve it!!!!!!!!!!!

A Day at the Lake...

It seems fitting that my last post showed snow in Georgia. One month later, here we are at the lake. It has been beautiful, mid 70's and sunny. We spent the day at Lake Lanier with Julian, Cynthia, and the "cousins" Alexa on the left and Nayeli on the right.

In Georgia???????????/

We woke up this morning to a layer of snow on the ground. This is the second time it has snowed this year, but the first time there was any accumulation on the ground. It's been a very mild winter, but these days are nice to see once in a while. It's been a long time since moving from New York.

2006 Marriott Extended Stay General Managers Conference

I was in San Diego from January 13 to January 18. It was the annual Marriott General Managers Conference. Specifically, it is for the General Managers of both Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites by Marriott. There are currently 500 Residence Inns and over 100 TownePlace Suites. It was a great conference. We couldn't have had better weather in California. It was in the high 50's to low 60's and sunny everyday. My hotel won a national award for our commitment and celebrations to True North Week (a week of festivities in support of Extended Stay sales).

Animas Traders move over

I found the source. This tienda had an amazing collection of Mexican artifacts that made Animas Traders look like a vending machine.

OUCH!!!!!!!

If you thought we have it bad when we have to go to the dentist, take a look at this. I don't think thier equipment was quite as effective. Ryan, is this the practice you want to work for??? The town doctor doubled as dentist!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like a great line of work for you.

Old Town, San Diego!!!!!!!

Old Town is an area north of where I stayed. It is a historic village with a dominant Mexican culture. 75% of the original buildings have been turned into businesses while 25% remain as small museums showcasing their original uses (city hall, dentist, school house, etc...). It's a must see and a short Trolley ride from the Gas Lamp District.

Packing for San Diego

Kayla wanted to go to San Diego so bad that she was willing to get packed in the luggage. Sorry Kayla, you're getting too big for this....

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to Bret and Shannon. Engagement Celebration!!!! Good thing it's you that's last Bret. We've only had six years to think about what we can do to you at the Bachelor party!!!!! I feel bad for you.

Movie night

We were lucky to catch Jeff in town!!!! We spent the evening of Dec. 28th with Jeff, Danielle, Bret and Shannon. It was a great night of Beer and Wings at Jaramiah's. Then it was back to Bret and Shannon's for movie night.

Movie: The Island
Rating: Too long, too late. It wouldn't be fair to tell.

I give the company two thumbs up!!! All but Bret made it through the night. Bret made it through about 25% of the movie before disappearing and never coming back.

Grandma, I'm COLD!!!!!!

We had a great visit in Rochester, NY. We visited the family and had some great snow time. Fortunately, it only snowed one day while we were there. Kayla, Grandma, and I built an artist masterpiece that is uniquely named "Pumpkin." I'm not sure if it ended up being more snow or mud?!?!

Blessed with a visit!!!

We received a last minute call. The Melgarejo side of the family stopped on their way back to Florida from a trip to New Jersey and New York. What time of the year could be better than the Christmas Season!!!!!!!!!!!! This could be the best New Year of them all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas at the Hoefen's

Four generations of the most important women in my life. We spent six days in Rochester, NY with our family. The final day was spent with my grandmother for an INCREDIBLE meal. Thanks Grandma. The apex of the trip was losing all of our hard earned money to Ryan. Ry, Kayla's hungry, give me my money back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cuatro generaciones de las mujeres mas importantes de mi vida. Pasamos 6 dias en Rochester, NY con nuestra family. El ultimo dia que pasamos aya fue con mi abuelita, con una merienda INCREIBLE. Gracias Abuelita. El proposito de este viaje fue perder todo nuestro dinero con Ryan en un juego de poker. Ryan, Kayla tiene hambre, devuelvenos el dinero, por favor!!!!!!!!!

The Ornament Tradition!!!

A tradition started in 2000. As all young couples do, our first tree was filled with the cheapest ornaments we could find. Each year Elisa and I choose one special ornament to replace the cheap ones. Unboxing the ornaments and decorating the tree becomes more and more exciting every year. This year's ornament was a treasure found at a quaint little Home Decor shop close to our house.

La Tradicion de Ornamento
Esta tradicion comenso en el ano 2000. Como toda pareja casada joven, nuestro primer arbol de navidad fue decorado don ornamentos de muy bajo precio. Cada ano Elisa y yo escojemos un ornamento muy especial para remplasar los antiguos. Como pueden ver en la foto este es el que escojimos este ano. Sacar los ornamentos cada ano para decorar el arbol es mas especial. Este ano este ornamento fue un pequeno tesoro que encontramos en una tiendita de decoraciones cerca a la casa donde vivimos.

Looks like Santa came to the Hoefen house this year. She was on the "NICE" list!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Se ve que Santa llego a la casa de los Hoefen este ano. Kayla estaba en la lista de ninas buenas!!!