A&W

When Hippies Turn 50!

Andrea — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:56:29 +0000

Our friend Felicia and her daughter, Koiana threw Dred, (Felicia’s husband) a 50th Birthday Bash. There’s 70′s music and guests dress their 70′s best! Dred’s family and friends came to San Antonio for the big event and “roasted” Dred. It was fun for all!

A Barrel of Fun, literally!

Andrea — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:37:17 +0000

So my brother, Joseph Doria calls and invites us out for some bar-b-que on a windy Sunday afternoon. If you’ve ever had his bar-b-que, you know, it’s awesome. So we grab a bottle of wine, some beans & fideo I had already cooked and we head out to the country, as that’s where they live.

Our nephews, Daniel and Joseph Jr., are excited as we arrive. Miguel and the boys find an empty barrel and start rolling down the hill. It was hilarious! They literally played with the barrel for hours.

I guess the wind got the best of Joseph’s fire cuz I have to tell you, the ribs were a little crispy! This just doesn’t happen to Joseph, that’s why I have to make note of it! Good thing Helen, his wife made an awesome custard pie, she saved the day! We enjoyed our Sunday afternoon visit.

Miguel turns 11… it’s a whole weekend celebration!

Andrea — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:49:49 +0000

Early Friday, January 23, Wayne goes to wake Miguel. His eyes are barely focused and Wayne gives him a big birthday hug and hands him his bday card and present. The card makes noise of course, it’s a Monster Truck card! Miguel receives a new baseball glove from Mom & Dad. Time to go to school…

Miguel has a very small 5th grade class at Sunshine Cottage, 11 kids in all. So on Friday, January 23, Miguel’s actual Birthday, we took pizza from Alamo Pizza (yum!) and home-made brownies to his class for lunch. They sing Happy Birthday and get to eat lunch together in the classroom. (Thanks Mrs. Ybarra & Mr. Pfeifer)

After school, the boys in the class to come to the house for a birthday sleepover. Christian, Miguel’s cousin joins us too! It’s an afternoon of shooting hoops, eating snacks, burgers, and hotdogs and of course, playing RockBand! Bubba and Layla are in town for the special occasion. All the adults play RockBand too! What a party! Finally, late in the evening, they are sound asleep. It’s a sight to see, because I remember when they were so little all sprawled out in the den, now they barely fit all in one room! Little boys in big bodies – all sound asleep.

The next morning you can hear them talking and laughing really early. The next thing you know, they are outside in pj’s shooting hoops and playing chase. They come in for breakfast, homemade waffles and fresh fruit, Miguel’s favorite! After breakfast, everyone gets ready to go to Malibu Castle as the girls from class are going to join us for a Malibu Birthday Party. Arcade games, miniature golf, race cars & paddle boats. Whew, what a day!

A New Rockband Star is Born…

Andrea — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:41:07 +0000

OMG, Xavier is only three!

Xavier is Drummer, Miguel on Guitar

In Loving Memory of RoseAnn

Andrea — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:00:04 +0000

Wayne’s sister, RoseAnn was only 27 years old when she passed away. The year was 1994, it was New Year’s Eve. RoseAnn was truly a special woman, very courageous, outgoing and full of personality. RoseAnn had an on-going battle with Lupus which she fought so courageously but lost the battle that year, 1994.

We celebrate RoseAnn’s life in many ways including a Mass in her honor on December 31st. Some of our younger children never had the honor of knowing RoseAnn personally, but they know her in spirit. They have heard all the wonderful stories of growing up with RoseAnn.

So this year we gathered for Mass at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, then met at Jacala Restaurant for dinner (any excuse to eat Mexican food!). So here’s to you RoseAnn as we hold you in our hearts!

Ski Trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico

Andrea — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:53:42 +0000

So right after Christmas, Wayne & I decide to take advantage of his four day weekend and drive to Ruidoso, New Mexico to ski. I love these last minute trips! Well, my sis, Chris & her husband Joe join us as they have never been to Ruidoso either. We find great hotel accommodations, we fuel up and head out on New Years morning, about 8am. I had stopped by our favorite bakery, El Sol, the day before, so with empanada and coffee in hand we head out. Oh, did I mention, our little guy, Miguel is with us, as they say, he will keep us young! The weather is absolutely gorgeous, I mean picture perfect, sunny, cool and brisk. So we made a few stops, although there is really nothing between San Antonio and New Mexico, we arrive in Ruidoso about 4pm. We check in to our hotel and head out to the Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino. Wow, it’s just like a Las Vegas casino, we’re impressed! We are starving, there are two options for dinner at the casino, the buffet for $20plus per person and a looong line or fine dining at Wendell’s Restaurant downstairs overlooking the lake. We choose Wendell’s, good food and drinks but horrible service. Oh well. Chris, Joe and I head to the casino. Miguel and Wayne hang out in the big lobby with fireplace, arcade and lots of people watching. Okay so no one really got rich, so we head back to the hotel.

Friday morning we drive to Ski Apache. Another gorgeous day! Wow, there is snow on the ground, it’s cold but not too cold and the sun is bright. Perfect for skiing. Wayne and Miguel head to the slopes, Joe takes a tour around the lodge and Chris and I play scrabble outside on the patio. It was truly a beautiful, relaxing day. Late afternoon we head back to town and have dinner at Casa Blanca Restaurant, featuring Southwestern-style Mexican food. Yum! Back to the Casino cuz we didn’t learn our lesson last night. Saturday is another ski day for Wayne and Miguel, Chris and Joe tour the shops downtown. Afterwards we head to Tularosa Vineyards for some wine tasting, then to McGinn Family Pistachio Tree Ranch for some very different flavored pistachios, spices, chocolates and wine.

Sunday, we are heading back to San Antonio, Texas but we’ve decided to take a little detour, we visit Carlsbad Caverns. Wow, it’s been about 42 years since Chris and I visited Carlsbad as children. Its’ been about 37 years for Wayne. This is Miguel’s first visit to Carlsbad. We had a great time, so much to see! We have lunch/dinner at the restaurant there and then continue our trip back home. It’s about 11:30pm before we make it home. Truly a four day weekend! On our road trip, we played Scrabble and Phase Ten. Did I mention I beat Chris 3 times and she won once in Scrabble, I think that’s a record.

So if you’re thinking about a quick ski trip, check the snow report, make sure there’s snow on the mountain and head to Ruidoso. Elevation is 11,000+ ft. There are several condos and cabins available in the area as well as other snow sports, like tubing, etc. Fun for all ages.

Ruidoso, NM Ski Trip 2009

Our Family Christmas Celebration

Andrea — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:30:22 +0000

This year was a little different. Angela and Jason spent Christmas in Corpus Christi, Texas with Jason’s parents, so we decided to have our family Christmas celebration on Sunday, December 28th. It was really nice because Anthony & Layla were in town, Angela and Jason were home and Sarah wasn’t working. We started our day having breakfast together then attending Mass at St. Mary’s Church downtown. After Church, we came home and gathered in the living room around the tree and opened presents. Angela and Jason had more gifts than anyone, since they were out of town for Christmas eve and Christmas Day. Anthony asked that Miguel open his gift from his siblings – wow, it’s Rock Band for the Wii!! Miguel is ecstatic, but so is Layla, Sarah and Anthony! Then we gathered together for a wonderful Christmas dinner served on our formal china, which the kids say I never use! We served ginger ale marinated pork loin with caramelized sweet potatoes, homemade macaroni & cheese, salad, & bread. Everyone enjoyed dinner, talking, laughing and reminiscing old times. Now it’s time for Rock Band and Scrabble. We enjoyed our day together and played well into the night. Grandma Anita stopped by and had her Rock Band debut, see Angela’s blog for the video. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Day 2008

Andrea — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:25:07 +0000

Well the first one to wake up is always Miguel. He runs into our bed and asks if he can wake up Bubba and Sarah. He is so excited! We grab our robes & coffee and head to the living room. Look, Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk! We settle in our places and Miguel opens his first gift, then Sarah opens her gift from Santa. We chat about Christmas and memories from years past. This year Angela and Jason spent Christmas in Corpus with Jason’s family. Of course we give them a call to wish them a Merry Christmas — I think we woke them up!

We head to Christmas Mass at St. Mary’s Church downtown. After Mass, we go to Ruby and Mark Montalvo’s home for the Ramirez Christmas celebration. All of Wayne’s siblings and families are there. Ruby and Mark have a slide show playing on the big screen T.V. for all to enjoy. The kids decided to throw the football outside. Then we eat. Ruby and Mark have prepared a wonderful spread of ham, yams, tamales, and sweets. Everyone brings a dish, but I think our favorite is Yvonne’s pretzel salad. Yum! The new toy this year is Rock Band, all the kids (no age limit) get to play. Now it’s time to open gifts. All the children get many gifts, the adults exchange names. This year we used Elfster, an on-line drawing system. It worked very well because you could enter a wish list or you could ask your secret santa an anonymous questions, etc. Opening gifts was fun.

Then we went on to play Taboo out on the deck. The weather was great and we had a great time playing the couple game of Taboo – and oh, did I mention, Wayne & I were the big winners! Christmas was a beautiful day and everyone had a great time!

Christmas Eve Celebration

Andrea — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:50:34 +0000

Traditionally we celebrate Christmas Eve at my sister, DeeDee’s home. The menu is always wonderful Mexican food, tamales, calabacita, fideo, beans, chili con carne, bunuelos, etc, etc… DeeDee goes all out in decorating her home for the occassion.

We eat, visit, eat and chat more. It’s great to see all the family. Typically, the kids get their gifts first and we all sit around and watch the little ones open their gifts. It was fun to watch little Charlie (he is 2) open his presents. One very special gift this year was to Joseph Doria, Jr. His parents had wrapped this huge gift in a big black trash bag and placed it at his feet. His eyes were wide and he was filled with excitement. Everyone watched as Joseph opened his gift…. it was the huge pig he had shot last year, his parents got it mounted for him. I guess you have to be a hunter to appreciate this! Anyway, the expression on Joseph’s face was great! He was so happy and proud. His brother Daniel was proud of his big brother too!

Later, we begin the adult gift exchange. Everyone draws a number. Each gift gets drawn and can be traded twice. It’s fun to see what everyone gets. We usually eat and drink a bit more then folks head out to Christmas Mass.

Joseph Jr. & Joseph w/big hog!

New Baby Goats!

Andrea — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:31:55 +0000

Recently, our friends, Julie & Gil Lozano purchased some property in La Vernia. They have two sons, Andrew & Lee, they go to Sunshine Cottage School with Miguel. Andrew & Miguel are best friends. So Andrew invited Miguel to spend a few days out at the new property in La Vernia during the Christmas break. Well Wayne and I went to pick up Miguel early one Saturday morning. The drive was beautiful. This is out in the country. Julie & Gil have a pond with fish, they have goats and baby goats, they took their dogs, Clyde, Rocky & Sunshine, out there and they have cows. Miguel had a great time with Andrew & Lee, they played football, they chased deer, they fed the baby goats and best of all, they didn’t have any computer games! Miguel really enjoyed his time out in the country!