Hello Again, Part I

Ok, time to catch up. One reason I don't blog as much as I should is that it is not as easy as it should be.  It probably could be a lot easier, but I'm not savvy enough.  For starters, like everyone these days, I take a lot of pictures on my phone and I write blog posts on the computer.  I absolutely dread (and completely avoid) connecting my iPhone to the laptop.  I'm afraid it will sync my phone to Marcos' account and all the sudden thousands of songs I don't want will be hogging all my phone's storage.    This is probably not true, but I really don't want to find out.  The times I have watched Marcos connect my iPhone to the laptop, I can't see any easy way to open a folder with all my pictures, and copy them to a folder of my choice on the laptop hard drive.  Maybe I'm wrong about that too?  Anyway, I end up emailing myself any pictures on my phone that I need for blogging. Then I open my email account on the laptop, download the pictures, and save them on the laptop.  This whole process seems ridiculous in this day and age.  There must be a better transfer option!

Discouraging Blog Factor #2 is the fact that my blog will no longer let me post large picture files.  I didn't have to worry about that the first year or two, but I must have reached some limit.  So all the pictures I take with my good camera and save on the laptop, have to be reduced in size.  The only way I've figured out how to do that is to open the picture in Picassa, where there is an export option that lets you pick a smaller file size.  It's not terrible opening Picassa and locating the pictures I want to shrink, but it is an extra step.    Why can't I do that in Windows photo viewer, or whatever you call the default program that opens pictures?

Moving on now because I have a lot to cover, but if you have any tips, leave me a comment!  First I need to cover our trip to San Diego in November for Robert and Alex's wedding (except as it relates to Christy's birthday, which is covered in the previous post).

San Diego for Robert and Alex's Wedding
First, the Evans' were there, so there was some quality cousin play time.

Davy showed us K-cups make fun toys

 

I clearly didn't take many pictures to prove it, but we stayed at a hotel near Seaport Village.  Before our trip, Dominic insisted on packing his Chargers and Cowboys jerseys so he could wear them on the appropriate game days.  Luckily they were playing on different days.  We saw a lot of the opponents' merchandise in our hotel that day with all the people in town for the Monday night game.  If your care about the Chargers (I'm not sure any of my readers do), you may be glad Dominic represented.

On one of our few outings with a destination other than YiaYia's house, we walked to Seaport Village, rode the carousel and ate lunch - which I mostly don't have any pictures of.

She's a giraffe-lover through and through (see Halloween post) and the Carousel did not disappoint.

 

It was kind of cool to see the Carousel originated at the Texas State Fair.

Saving the best for last, I have a few pictures from wedding day.  The wedding was great! The bride and groom looked perfect, the scenery was pretty and the two receptions were fun with great food.    I never worry much about taking pictures at weddings because, duh, people hire a photographer.  But I got some cute ones of people all dressed up.

The two youngest looking guilty.

Musical cups?

Dominic helped the groom pass all his downtime while the bride took pictures and the best man hurried down from LA.

 

And here's one by the photographer, from a screenshot on my phone. Such a great picture!

Dallas for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was really special this year because it was the first time Carlos, Lykke, and the boys could come.  The four Morales brothers had not been together since my wedding 9+ years before.  It was my mother-in-law's first time being with all four of her grand kids in one setting and the kids had not seen each other in over a year.  Tony and Judi had not see the boys since their first birthday (they are 9 now) and Andy and Michelle were meeting them for the first time.  If that's not enough reasons then just close your browser right now. (jk)

The best part was all the hanging out we did.

Shuffleboard

Christy liked the stuffed dog much more than the real dog.

 

Tio Tony is the fun uncle.  This must have been before Migs arrived - he's great with the kids too!

Michelle has endless energy and never denied the kids a trip outside.

 

Christy gathered lots of berries that trip.

I've said it before, the girl loves making faces. Marcos.

 

Judi thoughtfully got four gingerbread man decorating kits.

Lots of special things happened at the Chayrez house too.  Marcos, Dominic, and Christy met Iris and Elliot for the first time.  I saw Elliot out of the NICU for the first time.  My mom saw all her Texas grandchildren together for the first time.  Lots of special things indeed.

The kids enjoyed Storm, our former cat, for the first time... just kidding.

Meanwhile, back at the Arazoza house, we did a little photo shoot to document the momentous occasion.   Tony and Judi were unavailable at the time, and we were supposed to get group shots later.  I was bummed that never happened.  Here are some of the best of the shots we did get:

And I was going to try get through December in this post, but I think I need a break. Phew! November was a busy and family-filled month.  Watch for Part II and December festivities coming soon.