Another Gift from Tia Goretty

Tia Goretty promised Ana to buy her a LOL doll. We got it while she was in school.

These girls are getting so spoiled with all their new things!

New Pink Velvet Jacket

Ana got a new velvet jacket at the outlet mall last night from her abuelos. She  loves it. She wore it as soon as she woke up and wore it to school.

Shopping at the Outlets

A visit from my parents couldn't be complete without going shopping to the outlets. The girls love going there.

Pozole Soup

My aunt Goretty made pozole for Sunday's lunch.  It was delicious!

Making Tamales

Continuing with the family tradition, we made tamales with my mom. Girls love helping out. It is definitely a labor intensive process bit we'll worth it.

Carpet all done!

Now that the carpet is all done, the girls have been doing cart wheels upstairs. They love it.

Ice Skating at Riverscape

We went ice skating to Riverscape Metro Park yesterday afternoon. The girls are getting more comfortable and Ana only fell a couple of times. My parents and aunt Goretty were watching us while drinking hot chocolate. We had a great time.

Carpet is Going Down!

All Ready for Carpet

We all worked really hard to paint the walls and install the bathroom tile to get everything ready for the carpet. The girls are really excited and looking forward to their new bedrooms.

Attic Renovation - Paint & Bathroom

It has been a very long week. We got all the priming done and all the painting done. We agreed to let the girls pick the colors for their bedrooms. Emma picked "Magical" purple and Ana picked "In the Pink". Both  are bold colors. We tried to persuade them to pick a lighter shade but it didn't work. Their rooms have been painted and the colors are growing on me.

Today Cameron and I set the floor tile for the upstairs bathroom. It went pretty good with only one setback. There was a bump on the concrete board joint. Cameron tried to level it and we worked around it waiting for the leveling to dry. So far it's been a good experience. I learned how to use a tile cutter and a wet saw. We work good as a team.

Rest of the tile goes down tomorrow and   grouting. I'm  sure the shower subway tile will present challenges but we'll take it one day at a time.

First Thanksgiving with Aurora

Since my parents are in town,  I got extra help with Thanksgiving dinner. My mom made her special stuffing that everyone loved. Kara brought a chocolate pie that was delicious. Aunt Jan is keeping Gramp's tradition alive and brought a tray of shrimp.

What made this Thanksgiving special was meeting cousin Quinn's and Kara's  four month old baby daughter Aurora. She's precious and easy going. Emma and Ana loved holding her and making her smile.

Mamá Nena as a Girl

My aunt just shared with me this old picture that shows my grandma as a child. She's sitting far left with her parents and siblings. We are estimating her to be six years old (1939).

Abuelos are HERE!

First Smoked Brisket

Cameron and Dan smoked their first brisket today. It was on the smoker for six and a half hours and it rested inside a cooler for another hour and a half. The guys did a great job! It was full of flavor and tender.