Christmas Cards

Every year, the time comes when I need to dig deep into my creative side and come up with a novel new christmas card idea. Photography is my hobby and so there is no doubt that it will be a photo card....but oh what to do!?!

This year, David and I were not only engaged, but also married and so it seemed suited that we would use a wedding photo. BUT......nothing is ever that easy in my world. I thought

since our thank you cards were wedding photos, a christmas card would be redundant. So, I racked my brain to come up with something else.

Finally!...an idea. This past season, my fabulous husband discovered that he shares my love of the AMC show Mad Men. If you haven't seen it, it is a sitcom drama set in the 1960's centered around the lives of advertising executives on Madison Avenue in New York City. So, in honor of our shared Mad Men passion, we themed our picture on a 1960's family photo (complete with a Jack and Coke and Cigarette...look for 'em).

The kids are so tolerant of my "slightly-over-the-top" creative flair (between you and I...I think they love it). Everyone got dressed up, we did hair and make up, and set out to make an authentic looking photo. So...here you go.....what do you think?

Thanksgiving

CSUF Football

A Fabulous Football Game with Family!

We had a wonderful time at the last Fresno State home game of the season. Paul, Christina, Fred, Erica, Art and Chris all joined us for what turned out to be a real nail-biter.

We had dinner and drinks at the Doghouse grill Pre-Game and a fabulous dinner at T.G.I. Friday's right after.

I am so very glad that the Santoses joined the Borgeses for this outing. We seriously need to do A LOT more of that!!!!!

Locura

Cousin Dave is now performing in a new band named Locura. We attended their first dance at the Riverdale Hall November 15th. It was a good showing of family and friends and we enjoyed the music. The kids had a wonderful time and Sarah danced up a storm. She is definately her father's daughter. She has his musicality and love of all things musical. She is turning into a great little dancer. Now if we could just get Anthony to strut his stuff. :)

Salsa Queen and the Big 3-0!

So, dear Michelle turned 30 years old this November and we were honored to share in her joy. We had a wonderful time eating delicious authentic Mexican Food, pounding out a Pinata, learning Bachata, teaching a little Portuguese Dancing, and dancing some good ol' Salsa.

Congratulations to Miss Michelle. And thank you for including us in your special day. You are a cherished friend indeed!

Hope

So, a new chapter is begining at Casa Portuguesa. We are now laying the groundwork to add to our family. The doctor's visits have begun and events scheduled. It is in His hands now.

YANKEES WIN

27 Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Homecoming.....Let's go cats!!!

I was attacked by a panther. He stepped on my face!!!! LOL

Here Kitty Kitty

I want you all to meet Kathryn Stevens.

She is a most cherished part of my existence. To call her a friend would never suffice. To call her a blessing would come closer. For seven years, I have been lucky enough to share life's moments with her. She has shared in my highs and supported my lows, and now I am enjoying the most phenomenal time in both of our lives knowing that not even distance makes a true friendship fade. I am proud to know her....I truly am.

Early American Contemporary Asian Art Deco

The Stevens home is one that every person should experience. It is a beaultiful place. It is impecibly decorated. There is no adequate way to describe the combination of furniture and fabrics and flowers. It fits no category and yet is more beautiful than one style alone could ever be.

To call Kathryn a "green thumb" would be a serious understatement. Kitty can literally WILL a plant to, not only life, but extraordinary beauty. It is not enough to be able to simply grow flowers...no...a true genius can combine these beautiful creations together in magnificant arrangements that not only compliment one another, but compliment their surroundings and match the furnishings on which they are so beautifully perched.

As happy as I am with my photographic prowess.....the pictures will never quite do justice to the place we call Fantasyland. The fluffy beds, the soft blankies, the fabulous extravagant food, the lavish surroundings..... Thank you Stevenes for taking us in for such a wonderful weekend.

Zachary Taylor Stevens

Is the best way to assure greatness in your child to give them a presidential name?

I believe it may be. So it is no wonder that Z is such an amazing kid!

He has many talents: great sense of humor, poses for the camera and fashion sense.

He loves Tio David, like all highly intelligent babies do.

He has excellent problem solving skills (like solving that pesky teething pain)...

He is always down for a good time...

And in a pinch...he can see past the end of his nose (check out the crossed eyes...gotta love this kid)!!!

Bonafide Soccer Mom

Woah! So.....lesson learned....mommying is hard! However, that said, David and I are the two busiest people I know. We do manage to schedule ourselves right into the ground. But honestly... we wouldn't have it any other way.

So, currently, Anthony and Sarah are in soccer and of course they practice on the same day at 2 different schools at only slightly different times. We are therefore like taxies and maniacs trying to do homework, feed the kids and get to practices on time. It is quite the little dance we pull off.

All of this is of course balanced with the trains David has to schedule around and all the Corcoran High School events we will also be attending. It looks to be exciting times around the Casa Portuguesa!

New Job.....Panther Pride!

So, this year I have a new job, in a new place, with a new name!!! Wow....so much new stuff. I have given up the School Psych gig for the year and gone to the dark side to be a Counselor. But, don't get too down yet....lol....what I do is more School Admin stuff than counselor stuff.

My new official title is College of the Sequoias Counselor. I am paid for jointly by COS and Corcoran Unified. For Corcoran I do mostly adminstrative stuff (fascilitate Special Ed Department, teacher observations, School Supervision Duties, Management Team responsibilities. For COS.....well....no one seems to know the answer to that question. As far as I can tell, I am coordinating COS stuff at CHS. So, if ANYONE has ANY question or need in regards to COS...I am your guy. (: That's all I know for now.

So far, I LOVE the new job. My co-workers are AWESOME. Already made great friends that I am thoroughly enjoying. The staff are a fun group. I miss my Chieftains....but my Panthers are some really cool cats (wow...I finally get to say that and it makes sense!)

Honeymoon Hijinks and Highlights

Universal City Walk (Monday, July 27, 2009)

Universal Studios (Tuesday, July 28, 2009)

Disneyland (Wednesday, July 29, 2009)
Disney's California Adventures (Thursday, July 30, 2009)

Knott's Berry Farm (Friday, July 31, 2009)

Saturday we headed for home. Met mom and Dad at "Chalet" for delicious Basque food. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a Basque meal with the rentals....that was wonderful. They also allowed us to borrow the boat to finish off the summer in style. We picked it up that day and headed to Hanfordtown. What a marvelous, marvelous, marvelous honeymoon. Truly and totally PERFECT!!!!!

Nosso Casamento

It's Monkey Day!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Love. It's # 35 .

It has been a great birthday weekend so far. Now out to dinner tonight!

Father's Day

Father's Day is a time to celebrate the Daddies we love around our house. We are appreciative for Daddy Borges and all that he does for us. I love his sense of humor and his infectous laugh. We love Daddy Cazzell for being downright amazing! We love his BBQ and funny stories. We all love time with him in Bakersfield.

And then....... WE LOVE DADDY DAVID!!!! David is such a wonderful Dad. He works incredibly hard for all of us. The kids are so lucky to have a fun, energetic, cool Dad like David. He coaches for them, plays lots of sports with them, cooks us all amazing meals, spends homework time with us, helps keep the house ship-shape and keeps us all laughing every moment of every day. He is everything a dad should be and every story book dad all rolled into one. We are blessed indeed! I personally can't wait to bless him with more children to Daddy someday.

Happy Birthday Big Brother

Today is my brother's birthday!

The big 3-5! Don't worry brother-man....David is only 2 weeks behind you!

Hope you celebrate in style. I love you and I miss you!......Missy

Lemoore Festa

June 6th and 7th marked the Lemoore Festa. Larry joined us for the festivities. We have taught him to dance...now we just need to get him a partner.

Speaking of partners....I am madly in love with mine...and clearly, he feels the same way about me. :)

Land of the Giants

June 7th we took a day drive through Sequoia National Park. Beginning in Hanford we travelled to the end of Hwy 198 in Lodgepole and then Picked up the 180 and headed around to Grant's Grove and home by way of Reedley. It was a wonderful day together. We had a magnificent time! The greatest joys in life truly come in the simplest form.

The weather tried to cooperate with us. It was a beautiful 80-something degree day when left Hanford. We put the top down on "Sugar" and headed for the mountains. Plenty of people were enjoying Lake Kaweah (a place we need to go back to play in) and Three Rivers was equally busy. As we gained elevation, the temperature began to drop. But the heater served us well and we continued, top-down, on our excursion. Just inside the park, we came to a full stop around a blind turn to find that a mob of people had parked their cars to photograph a bear cub grazing in the grass beside the roadway. We took our picture from the car as we drove past as we seemed to be the only people concerned with where the mama bear might be and when she might decide to make an appearance.

We drove into the clouds at the highest elevation over Lodgepole. It was an eerie change from the beautiful, sunny day we started with. But, by the time we reached Grant's Grove, it was cool but beautiful once again. The event of the day came as we stopped to take our last picture on the decent back towards Fresno. There was a beautiful overlook where we watched birds soar overhead and photographed ourselves with the valley below. As we approached the car to head for home, a strange "hissing" caught our ears just in time for us to notice the air from the driver's side front tire quickly draining away. David was forced to change his first flat tire (very sexy if you ask me) and we made it safely back to home.

All in all it was a wonderful trip. A silly old flat tire didn't dampen our spirits at all and we have great memories to boot.

Wedding Progress

So, we are well on our way to the wedding date with just 45 days left to go! Thought I'd update everyone on the progress just for fun.
At this point we have the wedding venue, reception hall, photographer (thank you Bobby), Music (much love Acoreano!!!!), food (compliments of Francis), a dress, a tux, suit for Antonio, rings, a cake, a topper, toasting glasses, shoes, jewelry, hair accessories, an officiant, and the bridal party all settled (you are all wonderful!). We are well on our way to an official wedding. Time to get a license, some decorations, flowers and a few loose ends tied up.

The invitations are out (made by hand one-by-one...whew) and we even have a few RSVPs back already (two official yeses and one regret). People have been very responsive to the invitations. They seem to be a hit. I am very glad because they were a LOT of work (but I just love them)!!!

On a closing note.....we are so very excited to see everyone in just a few short weeks. Thank you to everyone for all the love and support you have given us over this past year. We are so very blessed.

All I Want Is You

David (luckiest man alive) won tickets for us to see Staind with Hoobastank. We went to the concert on a beautiful summer evening. Although the crowd was "interesting" we had a great time indeed.

Larry's Birthday

So, our butler turned 31 this year and we decided to give him a birthday weekend celebration. We packed up and headed to Fresno for some Hooter's wings and Friday's "Purple Drink."

We got pictures as far as Friday's 'til we dropped the camera and couldn't document anymore of our adventurous night. But I will say we had a great time with the Borgeses and it was another late night indeed.

The next day we headed back to Hanford, where we were joined again by the Borgeses for some birthday cake for Randito. Hope you had a great time and Happy Birthday!!!