4 years of Jeffrey James

Jeffrey James,

Boy, has time flown. I feel as if it was just yesterday I was in the hospital with you. Now, you’re all grown up at 4. Currently, you are still our SpongeBob, standing at 41inches and weighing 41lbs. According, to Dr. Chang you are ready for kindergarten. Lucky for both of us, Mommy is not. I want you to have one more year under Ms. Vickie and one more year with your sister.

This year has been an eventful one for you. You began gymnastics and loved it. It was here that you were taught patience, and that you like sitting next to pretty girls. You also went to Vegas for your second time and loved the lights and the buffet, especially the fruit.

August we saw you come through as the ring bearer in Josh & Courtney’s wedding. You handled it like a champ, and only requested a bag of fruit snacks. You also asked your first girl to dance and didn’t understand why she didn’t want to dance all night with you.

You enjoyed the holidays once again, and waited patiently for Santa. You loved decorating the tree, seeing the lights, and seeing Santa. Watching you and the sparkle in your eye, truly made the spirit of Christmas come alive.
This Spring you were added a new element in that Mommy started coaching softball again. That meant more trips with Gampy, Grandpa Ponce, and Tia Kristi. You enjoyed having them and the Rochas up to visit quite a bit in February.

You’ve taken a liking to video games, especially the Wii. You have become quite the little player. You excel at Mario & Sonic Winter Olympics. And while Mommy no longer wants to stab her eyes with a fork while playing Super Mario Bros. with you, you enjoy playing, but are still bubble challenged.

You have also stepped it up in terms of rides at Disneyland. No longer is it Dumbo, and the Mery Go Round, oh no… It’s the Haunted Mansion,

Star Tours, and you wanting to try Matterhorn. You have Daddy’s sense of adventure. Good for you, bad for Mommy as I need to hold you back till you’re older.

You have definitely progressed into a boy, no longer a toddler. You have a silly personality

and things have to be very matter of fact with you. There is no gray area with you. We are not quite sure just who’s personality you have, we’d like to think you are a combination of us. I can’t say that you look like one of us particularly, you have your own look.

You and your sister have not been getting along lately, but until recently, you adored her.

You are very protective of her, and do not like her to be by herself. You are her world – both good and bad. She loves you and will do just about anything to be with you or in your presence. She too, is also protective of you. I’m hoping this continues as you get older because you will need one another.
I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for you. Whatever it brings, I’m sure you’ll give us plenty of memories and smiles.

All my love,
Mommy

On the last episode of "On deck"...

Holy cow, I don't even know where to start... It's been a while.

In the madness of finishing school, we celebrated Jeffrey's birthday... twice 7AM and he has his birthday crown on!

Once the day of his actual birthday and his party.

For his 4th, sigh, birthday the whole family -Grandparents (4) & Tia Kristi and soon to be Uncle Bear went to go see Shrek Forever. It was great. He thought it was the coolest thing. The only thing Alexis saw was her eyelids, but my little princess enjoyed her popcorn till she napped. A special shoutout to Gampy for holding an extra 30lbs...( but who's counting, right?)

We came back to Gampy & Grandpa Ponce's house to celebrate officially with cake. I think just about all fo the immediate family was there. (you know... all 3o of us).

With his Tita & Tito. I'm sure his other Great- Grandparents were smiling down from above.

A week later he celebrated with his first ever Lancaster birthday. He loved it. He didn't know what to do or who to play with. He loved having his friends and family there. He truly loves a party and was a pretty good little host if I do so say so. His theme, yes if you know me I HAVE TO HAVE A THEME, was Toy Story. And boy, did he enjoy it.

Luckily I work next to an art teacher who had her kids draw and color the characters. It was pretty cool and he loved it. Almost 3 weeks later, and he still has Woody in his room.

The kids were really amped, after I turned off the jumper, to play games. We played pin the tail on Bullseye, hot Mr. Potato Head, and Musical chairs. Our little neighbor won all the games. I'd love to say there were no tears, but it was fun. The thing that sticks out most in my mind is Nick saying, "YES! I beat my sister!". Poor, Avery, but she took it like a champ. Oh, and I don't think that Kristina will ever be near a pin the tail on anything after her experience.

Then it was time for the pinata. The kids were wanting cake, and the parents wanted refuge from the heat. Luckily all went well with the pinata, and there were no tears.

All in all I think it was a great birthday and he had a great time. Thank you to our family and friends for coming up our way to celebrate Jeffrey's birthday. He enjoyed your presence and we enjoyed your company!

Kristina graduates!

On May 23rd Kristina Marie Ponce walked across the stage at Cal State Fullerton and received her bachelor's degree. It was a proud moment in our family as we saw Kristina work hard and achieve her goal. The many hours of studying, tears, etc came to a finish as she received her degree.

I, personally, could not be more proud of her.

I have seen this young girl who hated school, and did not want to see college through turn into this young woman who was determined to finish what she started. She has worked so hard, and she never gave up.

Congrats Kris! We love you and are so proud of you!

Wordless Wednesday

Easter '10

Easter and Labor Day are usually the days that we host. It's great that our family makes the effort to come out to our neck of the woodsOur Easters usually begin the Saturday morning with the Annual Easter Egg hunt. Last year our little ones made the front page. It was cool, but more importantly they had a lot of fun. Boy, how a year can change things.

Alexis wanted nothing to do with the hunt, or its' surrounding people.

Jeffrey on the other hand was in his silly mood.

Jeff was in 'the zone'. He was ready and willing to hunt the eggs. He was the egg master.

Before you say, "Isn't this for fun?" Well, yes it is. But when you have parents that are competitve as Aaron and I, it's never just for fun : )

Here is Jeffrey with his loot.

I tried taking a picture of the kids together. Eventually, Alexis gave up, and layed down.

She was in a better mood once Gampy and Grandpa come up. Kristina and Bear come up that night too. We dyed eggs and had fun creating eggs.

Finally Easter Sunday came, and so did the Easter bunny. Not sure how good the Easter Bunny thought these kids were, but boy, did they make out!

Jeffrey running to his basket. Crazy haired Lexi.Gampy & Grandpa Ponce having coffee.

Morning, Bear.Even the puppies got in on the action.

Aaron's parents, aka Nana & Grandpa Russell came up to celebrate. The weather was less than cooperative, but we made the best of it.

The Rochas also came up and we were even able to do some confetti eggs and the ever so popular egg toss.

Some of us had help...

Waiting for our partners to toss the eggs

Trying to catch the egg

Putting our best foot forward to not get hit!

It was lots of fun, and very tiring!

Happy 32+ Birthday to Me...

So I am officially 32+. We originally had thoughts to go to Disneyland, but plans change.

Tito got sick in the early morning and gave us a good scare. He eventually was hospitalized and so began the most interesting week the Trujillos had seen.

Tito was admitted and a few days later, so was Tita. Kristina, wanting to get in on the action, decided to take her own ER trip. Three relatives, three beds, two rooms, and one crazy family.

The actually day of my birthday turned out to be okay. We ended up making it to Disneyland.

Lexi met her one hero... Minnie Mouse. She is at a cute age. She enjoys seeing her characters from TV in real life. She was so excited to see Minnie Mouse, but when she got close, she chickened out. She wasn't sure if she wanted to say hi. She was asleep when the parade, but when she woke up and so Donald Duck she almost flew out of her stroller.

We had to leave a little earlier than expected. Jeffrey was not fond of that idea. So exhaustion combined with disappointment led to a horrible meltdown. Jeffrey cried and cried and cried. Alexis decided she had enough of him.

We ended up going to Pat & Oscar's for dinner. It turned out to be a fun time. Thanks for all your wishes and company!

Taco Tuesday - A Ponce Tradition

We are hardly ever down in HB on Tuesday, even if it is summer. We like to send the kids to day care mid-week, so it is very hard to attend something that we once took for granted.

Spring Break offered us this unique opportunity and we took advantage of it. We were able to enjoy all of the Taco Tuesday regulars.

My Daddy aka Grandpa Ponce & Stitchy. No, Stitchy is not at the table, but likes to beg from the couch.

And of course there are the love birds of the group...

I don't know if I'll ever get a wedding cake shot, but I have a taco sharing shot!