Back... Again, anyways!
It's been a long couple of weeks around this house again.
Thank you all for your prayers and your good wishes. My Abuelita passed away on Thursday, April 17, so I hopped on the next plane and arrived on Friday for the funeral. Mass was said at this beautiful church:
It's called Iglesia del Carmen, and it was built between 1802 and 1807 by a famous Mexican architect, Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras. This is in Celaya, Guanajuato, where my grandparents lived when they returned to Mexico from Chicago in 1973.
These are my maternal grandparents, Luis and Teresa. Grandpa Luis (I used to call him Grandpa Duck. Can't remember why I started calling him that!) passed away 8 days before Connor was born, so I was not able to go say good bye. He was an extraordinary man. Brian reminds me of my grandpa very, very much. Same silly sense of humor, same kindness of heart.
Most of my dad's sisters went to be with mom (six of the nine sisters are shown in this picture, the rest are cousins, my dad and my sister to his left). It was a great thing to be able to see them all, since it's been years since I saw a couple of them. My parents families are large. My dad had 14 siblings, and the first three or four of his brothers / sisters had 10 or 12 kids of their own. The rest of the siblings had less kids, but not necessarily very few: most 3 to 5.
My mom had 7 siblings, and countless uncles, cousins and so on. We were very close to all of her extended family as well, so I really have lots, lots, LOTS of dear ones all over (we are very spread out, too!). It was a real blessing to see so many of them. This is a picture of my grandparents children and spouses, and their children. just a few, of course, as many couldn't go from the USA, including my family.
I came back that monday, just after Brian left for his two weeks in Ohio and southern Illinois. So I have been really busy trying to juggle the kids and the job and just daily life... I'm pretty sure you know what I mean! Brian finally came back on Thursday night, so I finally have a few minutes to update my dear bloggeroo. I hope you all have been well, and I will be doing rounds to try to keep up with everybody! I love visiting blogs, I've been missing them terribly!
PS.- Before I go, just want to let you know, the scrapbook store where I teach, ScrapAddict, is having an AWESOME SALE!!! They have a 30% off everything (except clearance items), check their online store! All new products from CHA are arriving everyday, go check it out!
Now, this pic is for my good friend Kim. Coco does have a helmet, but for some reason she thinks this is a lot more dangerous than riding her bike. Since we grew up without wearing a helmet, we always forget about it!
One of those rare, rare occassions in which I can catch Cesar without her hands on his face (right after I took this, he took his shirt up and covered his face with it).
Finally, Connor just out of the blue picked up the helmet... Pink looks good on him, actually! Love that little boy!
Thank you all for your prayers and your good wishes. My Abuelita passed away on Thursday, April 17, so I hopped on the next plane and arrived on Friday for the funeral. Mass was said at this beautiful church:
It's called Iglesia del Carmen, and it was built between 1802 and 1807 by a famous Mexican architect, Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras. This is in Celaya, Guanajuato, where my grandparents lived when they returned to Mexico from Chicago in 1973.
These are my maternal grandparents, Luis and Teresa. Grandpa Luis (I used to call him Grandpa Duck. Can't remember why I started calling him that!) passed away 8 days before Connor was born, so I was not able to go say good bye. He was an extraordinary man. Brian reminds me of my grandpa very, very much. Same silly sense of humor, same kindness of heart.
Most of my dad's sisters went to be with mom (six of the nine sisters are shown in this picture, the rest are cousins, my dad and my sister to his left). It was a great thing to be able to see them all, since it's been years since I saw a couple of them. My parents families are large. My dad had 14 siblings, and the first three or four of his brothers / sisters had 10 or 12 kids of their own. The rest of the siblings had less kids, but not necessarily very few: most 3 to 5.
My mom had 7 siblings, and countless uncles, cousins and so on. We were very close to all of her extended family as well, so I really have lots, lots, LOTS of dear ones all over (we are very spread out, too!). It was a real blessing to see so many of them. This is a picture of my grandparents children and spouses, and their children. just a few, of course, as many couldn't go from the USA, including my family.
I came back that monday, just after Brian left for his two weeks in Ohio and southern Illinois. So I have been really busy trying to juggle the kids and the job and just daily life... I'm pretty sure you know what I mean! Brian finally came back on Thursday night, so I finally have a few minutes to update my dear bloggeroo. I hope you all have been well, and I will be doing rounds to try to keep up with everybody! I love visiting blogs, I've been missing them terribly!
PS.- Before I go, just want to let you know, the scrapbook store where I teach, ScrapAddict, is having an AWESOME SALE!!! They have a 30% off everything (except clearance items), check their online store! All new products from CHA are arriving everyday, go check it out!
Now, this pic is for my good friend Kim. Coco does have a helmet, but for some reason she thinks this is a lot more dangerous than riding her bike. Since we grew up without wearing a helmet, we always forget about it!
One of those rare, rare occassions in which I can catch Cesar without her hands on his face (right after I took this, he took his shirt up and covered his face with it).
Finally, Connor just out of the blue picked up the helmet... Pink looks good on him, actually! Love that little boy!
Comments
Ah cómo me gusta esa iglesia del Carmen... además me trae muchos recuerdos celayenses (inserte suspiro aquí)... ajajajaja pero bueno, qué bonita foto de mi familia! me tienes que decir qué marca es tu cámara, pa cuando me compre una (o no me la digas y me regalas una ora pal 26)
Nos vemos, Paulita, muchos saludos y mucho cariño por allá :)
Visítame, te dediqué una entrada el 21 de abril :)
I was blown away by the size of your family....wow! it must be awesome have so many relatives actively involved in your lives. No shortage of love to go around...I envy you. All our family are spread over the globe as one by one they leave South Africa. With things getting so bad here we will be hot on their heals because we also believe family is everything.
Cesar is so funny covering up his face...it speaks of things to come with Max too I suppose. Connor is a real character isn't he....doing things his own way....I vividly remember the pic of him with your bra LOL!
I am very glad you found some time in your rather hectic sounding schedule to blog. Your comments on my blog are like a breath of fresh air...& I love catching up with your busy life.
Be happy today & know you are being thought of :o)
KJ
My prayers are for you and your gramma.
Hugs to you and your wonderful family.
I too have a very large family....my mom is the youngest of 13 and I have around 60 1st cousins. We have a family reunion every year in August. They have been having them since my mom was 3 years old...isn't that crazy!! and now we are just so many generations that go every year to the event. talk to you soon....nina
i'm sorry to hear of your loss. may she rest in peace! and what a gorgeous church. big hugs to you.
{i will post pics of my mini when i get some more pages done;0)} thanks for emailing me the link for the sale...i'm so over my budget for this month, though.;0)