Living Life...Catch up post

Life happens and sometimes there are not enough time in the day to finish everything on your "To-Do List!" Time to play catch up and update you guys on some of the memories and adventures we had thus far.

The kiddos are growing up so fast and we were running out of room in our old house, so hubby and I decided to sell our home and buy a bigger place last September 2014. The kids are happy to finally have their own space...and so are we! Peace and quite at last lol

This year, Brianna turned 13 and Joseph turned 12! I can't believe there's a teenager in our house! Check out my on air radio shoutout for Brianna on 104.3 MyFM MyFM Shoutout Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get on the radio for Joseph's birthday shoutout...hopefully when he turns 13, I'll get through so that he'll have an on air shoutout as well!

Summer vacation was a blast! We traveled to Riviera Maya and Cancun this year and stayed at El Cid Resort! My kids have always been fond of the water ever since they were little, and so they took advantage of every opportunity they had to be in the water during our trip! They swam in the resort pool, they swam inside an underground river at Xcaret, they swam in the river and lagoons at Xel-Ha, and they even swam with the dolphins! There was so much to see and so much to do, that a week in this beautiful place was not enough!

Riviera Maya: El Cid Resort

This year, we also started a new travel tradition...Tommy Trojan is our official traveling gnome! As you can probably guess from his name, we are big USC fans! Tommy certainly enjoyed himself during our trip and plans on hitch-hiking in our backpack again next year! :) 

Tommy Trojan...our new traveling companion

Last month, hubby's parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary! They renewed their vow and had a grand celebration! It was truly a blessing to be part of their bridal party and witness them renewing their love for each other! I can only pray that hubby and I will be blessed with that many year together!

50th Wedding Anniversary

The year is almost over...3 more months and before we know it, Christmas will be here! Stay tuned for more memories...

Butterflies in my stomach...

Urban Dictionary defines "Butterflies in my Stomach" as "An awesome feeling when someone you care about looks at you, stares at you or complements you; and you don't know what to do in that moment, except feel happy. It can be a physical feeling like a little tickle traveling up your stomach."

It's been 18 years, and to this day, hubby still gives me butterflies in my stomach! We recently took a trip to Key West together for the first time without the bubbas...and what a trip it was! Not only was it beautiful, it was an amazing experience. Being able to spend some time together, watching the beautiful sun set on the ocean cruise, and just enjoy each other's company, made me feel so happy to be able to have that special moment together. Not only did my heart skipped a beat at that moment in time, as he held my hand, but my stomach flipped and flopped, like butterflies were flying around inside me, and it felt as if we were in the beginning stages of our relationship! 

It was truly an unforgettable feeling and experience. I feel so blessed and lucky to have hubby and the kids in my life!

What's Happening?

What's happening with us you asked? A lot! Particularly since it has been well over a three month since I last posted (yikes!)

Summer break has ended and the kids are back to school. Time sure flies...before we know it, it will be time to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Well, let see, a little update...thanks to my hubby, the kids and I took a three week vacation to the Philippines during their summer break, so we can spend some time with my parents, who, after years of hard work, finally retired last December 2010. They decided to spend their retirement years back in the Philippines, and who can blame them...a dollar goes a long way there. Our time there was spent mostly visiting other family members, shopping, and of course, more shopping. My parents also took us to a beautiful water park resort, Villa Alfredo, located in the the Province of Pampanga. My dad is good friend of the owner, so as you can imagine, we were treated like royalty upon our arrival. Despite the rain, the kids still had a blast swimming.


On another exciting note...we just celebrated my Nanay (grandmother) Jessie's 90th Birthday! Our family decided to throw her a surprise party, and boy, was she surprised. She was so touched to see all of us gathered together just for her, that tears of joy flowed from her eyes. It was truly a blessing to be able to spend and celebrate her birthday. Happy 90th Birthday Nanay! We love you very much.

Oh by the way, did I also mention that I am scheduled to have another hand surgery this month? It will probably be a while before I can post again.

So that's the latest on what's happening in a nutshell! It's been a busy summer and we are looking forward to some really exciting things that are coming up through the rest of 2011! Until then, take care and God bless.

Paradise Bound

Well, we did it! We finally took a real family vacation together. Destination...Paradise! For my hubby's 40th birthday, we decided to go to Hawaii. The kids were extremely excited and had so much fun! It was truly a memorable experience for all of us. We each had our favorite moments from all the adventures we had.

Where do I even begin? Let's see, there was definitely lots of swimming involved, snorkeling, boat ride, submarine ride, train ride around the pineapple plantation, and even some adventures with giant teddy bears!
One of our favorite adventures would have to be our visit to the Polynesian Center, where we were able to visit 7 different villages, as well as watch some great hula and fire dancing. The "Ha: Breath of Life" was spectacular.


Joseph said that his favorite was the submarine ride, where we went down 107 feet under the ocean to watch some sea turtles, sting rays, and tropical fish swim. Brianna's favorite was swimming at the beach and snorkeling. She she was able to get up close to see the different sea creatures swimming by. She's a natural sea baby :) There was so many fun activities that we did, and so many memories we made. We had a blast!


The beautiful island of Oahu was truly breathtaking. Every morning we were lucky enough to wake up and see the blue waters of the ocean from our lanai. We even ventured out, and drove around the island, where we found a beautiful beachfront park, with a view of another nearby island called "China Man's Hat." Here's a picture of me and hubby at Kualoa Park, in Laie.

We know this is just one of many travel adventures we will be taking together as a family, so stay tuned for more posts about upcoming future travel adventures. Until then, ALOHA!