Winchester Mystery House

So yesterday my mom, Brandon and I headed to San Jose for the day. We went to cousin's house where my aunt and uncle met us there. We exchanged gifts and got ready to go to the Winchester Mystery House. My other cousin Ron met us there. We all had a great time, the Mansion tour was interesting but the Behind the Scenes tour wasn't all that interesting. One of the things that was interesting was that there were more windows in the Winchester Mystery House then the Empire State Building and the White House put together. I couldn't believe that. The entire mansion tour we walked 1.5 miles, that was surprising too. I couldn't believe how short the stairs were and how narrow the staircases were. If you haven't been to this historic place before you should go just once. It is a little expensive but worth going just once. Below are some pics from our trip.

Winchester Mystery House

Me, Brandon and Ron waiting for our Mansion Tour

The Winchester Mystery House Mansion

Mrs. Winchester's Bedroom - this is where she died in 1922.

The Orient Room

Rich and Brandon wearing there hard hats outside the water tower

Auntie, Brandon and my mom making wishes at the fountains

Christmas Day 2008

Christmas Day was relaxing. This morning once Brandon got up he opened up his stocking gifts, he got some speakers for his mp3 player, comic book, mp3 case, and Nexon gift card. Early afternoon Jill and Chris came over to hang out. We had some left over pie and snacked on some other left overs from last night. We exchanged gifts with Chris. Then Brandon, Chris and Greg played Guiter Hero on PS3 and American Idol on the Wii. Greg was having a blast. He sang really good. I'm sure he will be buying a microphone in the future to use on the Guiter Hero. ha ha We were going to go to a movie but we couldn't all decide on one and after playing the video games it got later in the day and Jill and Chris and things to do for the rest of the day. Before they left thou, Chris took me for a ride in his new Porshe. It's definetly a fast and cool car. He put the top down in the car and even thou it was pretty cold outside it didn't feel like that at all inside. He turned on the heater so it was nice and toasty, but with the windows up and the air glass protector in the back it keeps most of the air from coming inside. The rest of the day I'm planning on watching tv and Brandon and Greg will probably play video games the rest of the

night.

Brandon with his stocking gifts

Chris nice new porshe

Me and Brandon

Our Family

Christmas Eve 2008

It's been a while since I posted a blog. Last night was Christmas Eve, and we had a great time. There was 8 of us (myself, Greg, Brandon, mom, dad, grandpa, Jill, and Auntie Gail). We had alot of delicious food. My mom bought a 15lb prime rib and I cooked it. It turned out really good, see pics below. Auntie Gail made the green bean casserole which was delicious. Jill helped making the deviled eggs and mashed potatoes. She brought the 2 yummy desserts. After dinner we opened presents and had dessert. Everyone got alot of nice stuff. I was hoping for scarves and jackets. I got my wish and got both. Brandon got me this lovely dolphin necklace, see pics below. Brandon was playing guitar hero for everyone, that was fun. Jill and Brandon went to see Chris play in a concert at 11, I think he got home sometime after midnight. He said the concert was really good. I was exhausted by the time the night was over, but it was fun. Hope everyone had a great Christmas Eve with your families.

Xmas Tree

Our 15lb prime rib

Family Picture

Me showing off my new gifts

My Xmas Gift from Brandon - I love it

Christmas Silk Pie

Apple Cheesecake Pie

Great Papa and Brandon

Thanksgiving 2008

Well our Thankgiving was nice this year. My dad BBQ'd the turkey and my mom made the stuffing, yams and gravy. I made the mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie dessert. Greg made the bean salad. Everything was delicious, and we had alot of left overs as usual. Brandon played Guitar Hero for my parents after dinner, he's getting pretty good. I will say he does love music and has a talent for playing. My mom and I looked through all the ads to figure out where we wanted to go shopping. Jill stopped by and visited for a little while after my parents left. I went to bed around 10pm that night. I set my phone to go off at 3am. At that time I woke up and got ready to go shopping. Since Brandon wanted to go and spend the weekend at my parents house he went with me at 3:30am. We got to my parents house around 4am and my mom was getting ready. Our first stop was at Walmart, but when we got there there were about 300-400 people waiting in line that was wrapped around the building, it was insane. So instead we went to Macy's across the street and we only had to wait in line with 20 or so other people. My mom and I got some really good deals. I got a shirt, 2 pairs of capri's, shirt for Brandon and a blanket for a Xmas gift for only $32.00. After that we went to Gottschalks but didn't get anything and then we made our 2nd attempt to go to Walmart. I was surprised we got a parking space right away and got the things we needed and left. Alot of people were buying TV's so I guess that was the huge deal for the people tha waited in line. After that we went to Circuit City and I got a DVD and my mom bought a CD. By this time it was 9:30am and my mom and I were getting hungry so we went to Marie Calendar's for breakfast. Then we went to Mervyn's. That was our last shopping stop. Jill picked up Brandon and we were going to get L&L to get lunch but they were closed. So we ended up getting chinese food from Raley's and took that over to our grandpa's house. We had lunch and then we helped him with the yard work in the front of his house. The rest of the afternoon I relaxed and took a nap. That night Greg and I got out the Christmas stuff and I put up our tree, ligthts and other decorations. Greg is going to put the lights on the house today. I can't wait. I love Christmas. Ok, well until the next time.....everyone enjoy the rest of there weekend.

Halloween

Well yesterday was Halloween, it was a fun but very long day. I will attach pictures of the pumpkins that Brandon and I carved and me in my vampire princess costume. I had a fun time dressing up, but I was glad to get out of the shoes I was wearing that's for sure. At work we had a potluck / costume contest / best decorative suite contest. Of course we had alot of great food. A bunch of us dressed up, it's always nice to see alot of participation. There were some really great costumes. At night Brandon passed out candy, I got 63 (Mike & Ikes / Hot Tamales) and 150 (dum dums). We only ended up having 31 kids that came. About half of what we had last year, so therefor we had a bunch of candy left over. But the good thing is it's stuff the 3 of us will eat. There were some cute kids that were dressed up but there were a few that didn't have a costume at all. I don't mind giving candy to teenagers and even adults for that matter as long as there dressed up and not just wearing a mask. We had this one boy come that was maybe a year old he was a little devil, so cute. Obviously he was out getting candy for his parents. But that's ok, he was adorable doing it. Enjoy the pics!

Brandon's Scary Pumpkin

My pumpkin - 2 bats

Rachel the vampire princess

Me with Dracula

Back to San Jose

This past weekend Brandon and I went to San Jose. My cousin Rich and his wife Joyce had there 2nd daughter. We went to babysit Emi there oldest daughter for the weekend, since they had to stay in the hospital. The drive wasn't to bad, we made it pretty good timing. First stop was at the hospital to see the new arrival. She is adorable and seems so tiny. That night after the hospital we went to eat japanese food. Good as always, but it was really late. Saturday my aunt had to go to work so Brandon and I watched Emi. She got sick 6 times that day, she had to much to eat the night before that she wasn't able to keep anything down. I was worried that she was coming down with the stomach flu or something but she was perfectly fine otherwise. I was planning on taking her to the big park but we decided to do that on Sunday and instead she went to the park next to the Coty house. See pics below.

My cousin Ron met us at the park and he brought us McDonalds for lunch since the restaurant we were going to go to was packed. Emi had a great time at the park, she loves going down the slide and riding in the swing. After we let her play in the park for about 45 minutes we walked over to the farmer's market across the street. My aunt bought some grapes, strawberries, dry fruit, artichokes and cinnamon bread. Then we walked over to Mervyn's and my aunt got Emi some Dora tennis shoes, she loved them. We took her to play in the park for another 1/2 hour or so and then we decided to go back to my cousin's house since Emi needed her nap. But before we could even get on the freeway she was already asleep. She had so much fun that she wore herself out. That afternoon Rich, Joyce and Naomi came home. Rich and my aunt went to get pizza for dinner. Once Brandon and I had dinner we headed back home, finally got home around 10pm. It was a nice visit but I was definetly tired. I'm looking forward to seeing both of them grow.

Naomi

Emi with her pig ears

Brandon pushing Emi on the tire swing - Coty House Park

Emi coming down the slide

Emi on the swing

Auntie and Emi

100 Workout

Well last Thursday I finally did my 100th workout! I started working out at Curves on January 28th, 2008. I'm surprised that I kept up with going to the gym this long. I hope to see more and more results. I have lost a total of 8.50 inches, 6.40 pounds and almost 4 pounds of body fat. I wish I would have seen more results but at know I need to focus on the inches instead of the pounds. I will keep you posted on the success!!

Back to San Jose

Another trip back to San Jose. I had a great time as always. I love visiting and seeing Emi, she's so adorable. She changes everytime I see her, she's growing to fast. Before I know it her little sister will be here. We just stayed for one night but plan on going back the second weekend in October when the little one will arrive. I'm going to help babysit Emi until the rest of her family come home from the hospital with her sister. Below are a few pictures that I took from the weekend.

Emi trying to get my camera

Emi and Auntie on our walk

Brandon on rollerblades

Brandon and Emi

Trip back to Discovery Kingdom

Well this past Sunday we went back to Discovery Kingdom. We had a reallly good time, the weather was nice and it wasn't to crowded. This time we made it a point to see all of the shows that we missed the last time. There is still one more show that we missed, which was the Jungle Theater but we will definetly catch it the next time we go. We went on a few rides this time, not as many as last time. The one wet ride that we went on we should have went on it during the earlier part of the day. When we finally decided to go on the ride it was to late in the day that we were all pretty cold by the time we went home. The one thing that I want to next time is the "Dolphin Encounter", it's a chance to play, and feed the dolphins. Stay tuned for those photos the next time we go. Were hoping to go once a month until January. Here are a few photos from our trip.

Here's a pic of the 3 of us in front of the dolphin waterfall

Jocko from the movie "50 First Dates"

Shouka doing a flip

Greg and I

Odin the Tiger

Brandon's $8 Dip-n-Dots Ice Cream

Saturday Night Get Together

A few coworkers and there spouses or significant other (Rachel, Greg, Colleen, Bryan, Bev and Chris) got together on Saturday night in Old Sacramento. We all met at Joe's Crab Shack around 6:30pm. It seemed like forever before we got seated but we used our time by people watching. You wouldn't believe the different people that we saw. By the time they called our name it was 8pm. We asked to be sitted outside and that was perfect. The weather was cool and it was nice to watch the boats on the water. When we finally got seated we ordered some drinks and appetizers. Chris and Bev ordered a drink called "Shark Bite". It was cool because they gave you this toy shark that had a tube of red juice that you poured in the drink. They let you keep the toy too. Before the end of the night I had to order on too. We had a great time at dinner, definetly have to go back.



After dinner myself, Greg, Colleen and Bryan walked around Old Sacramento for a little bit then went to "Laugh's Unlimited Comedy Club". This was the first time that I been at this comedy club, the comedians were all pretty good. As for the drinks mine were pretty weak. By the time we left the comedy club it was 12:30am I couldn't believe that it was that late. We went home after we got out of the club. We got home around 1am. Definetly had a great time and hope that we plan more of these nights to hangout.

Berkeley Kite Festival

Well on Sunday we went to the Berkeley Kite Festival at the Berkleley Marina. This was the first time that we went here. I will first say, I have never seen so many kites in one location before. We all had a great time. When we first got there I wasn't sure if we would stay more then 2 hours but we ended up staying 5 1/2 hours. Once Brandon got a kite he was kept busy. Him and Greg would take turns flying the kite so they had fun doing that. Throughout the day they had competitions going on, performances, so I was not bored to say the least. We didn't dress appropriately, we know for next time. It was pretty chilly out there. Next time we know to bundle up. Alot of people brought blankets, lawn chairs, coolers with food and drinks, tents to sit in. So we know for next year of what we can bring. I would definetly like to go back next year. Here are some pics. The last picture is Brandon's kite.