Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Who says a 4 mo old cant open a present?


So, my nephew Rowen just turned 4 months when we were finally all able to get together and celebrate Christmas. It was fun with him, and watching the excitement in his eyes was priceless!

My niece Jasmine had a fun time opening her presents and playing with all her new things as well.


Enjoy the photos of Rowen opening his gifts :) and enjoying what he opened!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Day 4 and 5

So after all the decorating was done, we went and enjoyed a nice dinner with my boss and some others that were from Iowa. I have to say it was a seafood rest and I was not exactly sure, and ordered a steak. But I did taste Octopous, Swordfish and then crab cake........the first two were not bad, however the crab cake sent me over the edge! It was totally yucky!

Since it was New Years Eve Lec and I decided to walk Colorado Blvd ( this is the parade route ) and to our amazement people were literally camping out! I mean air mattresses, grills, fire pits etc... It was insaine. A few of the campers had their baby's there too! People had silly string and marshmellows and were throwing/shooting it at cars as they went by. Ok OK, Yes Lec and I threw a marshmellow!! hehehe


We met this couple who are now from AZ but grew up camping out. So they brought their daughters up this year and were camping. When I say there were people everywhere I literally mean it! I took a pic of one lady who had a shopping cart wrapped in foil and she was cooking hot dogs from it and selling them~!

We walked up and down the streets just chuckeling and laughing. We found out the cover charge to get into a bar was about 50$ how in the world can you afford to party there? We did find a bar that did not have a cover but for 2 drinks it was 18$ I could not believe it~~! We found ourselves back to the hotel somewhat early, as we were beat. We found Nikko one of the bullgdogs that was riding on the Snow boarding float, and shared a "drink with w/ him" before going to bed!

We had to get up early for the parade! This is where my camera died, so stay tuned for actual pic of the parade, Lec is getting them to me. Just know that seeing all the floats that everyone had worked sooo hard on was just bitter sweet! After the parade we went back to the hotel and got changed for the football game. Lec has the pic of that too.
I was actually not very impressed with the stadium at all, it was kinda dumpy and not very nice. They only had one TV screen. I guess I was just trying to compare it to the NE stadium. NE stadium looked bigger to me tho, but I guess the Rose Bowl is. The Game was an experience as well, I jsut wish it would have been NE playing and it would have been more exciting. We were rooting for Oregon as NE former quarterback Scott Frost is one of the coaches for them. They ended up loosing, but non the less it was a fun time. We left at the start of the 4th quarter as we had enough of the game and were hungry and tired. We knew we had a big day the next day.... DISNEY so staytuned for that in the next update!
Enjoy the pic!

Monday, January 11, 2010

DAY 2 and 3

DAY 2 AND 3 were just as fun -jam packed filled as the first day.



The end of day 1 we had a Gala. Where we got to meet a lot of the families, have some great food, and learn how the whole idea of New Life Rises came to be. All 4 One a boys singing group who was popular when I was in college was there to perform as well. They are very connected to Organ Donation and even wrote a song about donation. It is beautiful. All of the proceeds of the song will go back to Donate Life. I did get my pic with one of the lead singers, but it is on my boss's camera, so am waiting for her to get it to me.


The following morning we awoke early to begin the decorating. I quickly learned to appreciate the beauty of roses.

I would never have imagined that every single rose on the float has its own individual water tube!

And that the person that is driving the float is underneath it all and cannot see, he relies on the riders to tell him when to slow down, stop, turn etc...... While decorating we were able to again connect with some of the families. I had the honor of meeting a younger couple who had tried for quite some time to have a child and they did... a beautiful boy named Isaiah, he at 6mo aspirated on his formula and they chose to donate his organs. He was being honored with a floral pictograph. We had 76 pictographs that featured the ones who donated their organs/tissue or eyes. All of these pictures were created from seeds. Yes I said seeds! Being in the area of donation I am in, getting to meet and talk to these families was a real honor and it became emotional.


We were fortunate to be present when the judges came by to "judge" the float. That was an experience in itself! All the riders were in place, waving to the crowds, the music playing in the background etc... it was once again filled with emotions. We won 2 different awards 1) the best theme ( the Theme of the parade was A Cut Above the Rest, and our New Life Rises fit into it perfectly). and 2) the viewers choice award, where on tv as the floats went by you could vote for your favorite one and we won that too. SO exciting!

Enjoy the pictures~!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Day 1



Day one in Cali was rainy and cold. But it was our only free day, so we jumped on a site seeing bus and headed to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica Peir and the beach. On the tour we were able to see things such as: the house where Marilyn Monroe died, the hotel that Pretty Woman was filmed in, the shops that Julia Roberts shopped in, some wonderful houses in Beverly Hills, etc... so enjoy some of the pictures.



I will post Day 2 soon :)

Monday, January 4, 2010

I am back....... and miss the 70 degree weather!

I am back from the Rose Bowl and all the festivities. I miss the weather there!!! When we left CA yesterday the high for that day was suposed to be 78, and today here in CO it is 21. BURRRRR! I will get some pictures up and share with you the most amazing trip soon. Stay tuned!