Christmas 2007 in Florida

We are back and I have so much to share!!! What a Christmas it was- God showed himself this Christmas in a big way to my family.

First let me start from the beginning:

As you all know we moved to NC in May and due to the move we are a bit tight! God choose not to sell our home and this has put some financial stress on our family. We decided in October after my trip to Florida that we really wanted to go to Florida for Christmas and I know what some are thinking why is that such a big deal? Well all families have priorities like vacations,entertainment or repairs. In our family it is spending Christmas with my family. We have been through tough times but we always are together so for us FAMILY is HUGE. Well here is where it all started- How do we go to Florida without charging it and still keeping our budget? If you have been reading my blog I shared how God enlighten me thru some christian talk radio and I used some of the ideas with our family. One that was hard and made lots of memories was playing SURVIVOR- We did not grocery shop for 3 weeks and instead used all the food in house instead - Let me tell you how creative we all got and how we realized that we are not in bad shape. The last 2 days were the hardest because Daddy and the boys needed some hardy food and we were down to nothing!! But we made it !!!!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of them all !!!

Okay we left on Friday at 4:30 pm and I was just so excited to see my sisters and friends!! 9 mths was a long time!! I thought of a great idea to drive at night and let the kids sleep- well what a mistake, they were up all night and crying and fighting and just all over. Our ride was SPECIAL!!!

We arrived at 5:00 am to Tina house - Yes I know that was CRAZY but that is why she is my BF because we are BOTH crazy- Take a look at the pictures of our 5:00 am arrival!!!!

These pictures were taken with Jonathan's new camera and the date was set wrong!!!We had cookies with coffee and we were able to see baby Joey which we the family had never seen him before- He is so cute we love him so much!!!

Then we went to Titi Ediths house where Loren was there but we did not take pictures but they also were sleeping and were all very surprise we stopped by!

Saturday we unpacked and spend the day with Titi Loren and opened her gifts to us !

Buddy's gift to the men Police Officer shirts from Peru

Sunday all day at church. It was so nice to see all my old brother and sisters in Christ.

Don't they look cute !!

Angel in the Teen Department for the first time!

Jonathan and Justin with Micheal at Jr. Church

Monday Tina came over for a couple of hours and then off to the candle light service and right after we went home to read the Christmas story and open Abuelitas gift to the kids !

Abuelita with her 2 baby girls

Tuesday Christmas Day!

Here is Abuelita with a mug of my kids!Every year Edith and Liz exchange mugs and I feel left out but this year they bought me one!Our family tradition , painting ornaments we started this in year 2002 and we just love it!

The Men ate dinner after playing Golf all day!!

Wednesday the 26th was a rest day and we just stayed home and took naps.

Thursday 27th-Our yearly Tea house event with our SPIRITUAL mentor Isela Lopez!

The tea house was beautiful and the tea was great! Thank you Isela

Friday off to spend a day with Tina at the Mall which I have not visit for 9months and our Friendship Christmas Party!!

Tina painted this beautiful painting for me- I love it so much Thank you TinaHere I am with baby Joey - He is too cute and I just love him so much!Auntie Tina made these with Rebecca for our family!We gave each of our friends handmade ornaments for ChristmasAuntie MariaMrs. JeanineCrystal - Auntie Tina's sisterAuntie TinaHere is Ariel with Auntie Maria and Uncle KellyMckenna with Crystal and GregUncle Dan,Auntie Tina, Rebecca and JoeyOur Family at Auntie Tina's HouseJose and I at Tina's and Dan HouseAuntie Tina with Baby Joey

Saturday we just packed and rested for our trip

Sunday we left at 4:30am and here are some pictures of our ride home:

This one is of Cory and Jose helping a lady with a flat tire 2 hours before we arrive home. I explained to the kids how the Lord allows us to be Angels in other peoples lives. Cory pulled over because the truck over heated and shortly after this lady pulls over with a flat she had no cell phone and was all alone!!!

Justin is here with Jake - He decided to tie Jake to his car seat so he could sleep with him and Jake did- Kids are so funny! Yes we even took the dog with us on a 12 hour ride. Not only was he with us but my sister Liz has 2 dogs so it was 3 dogs,6 kids and 4 adults in one house- Yikes!

Sunday the 30th-We arrived at 7:00 pm and we broke the SPECIAL News to our kids- A week before we left a family gave our family gifts from Jesus- They recieved not only amazing gifts but exactly what they wanted!!! Here are the pictures and details of what each child recieved. The family knew our kids had given up Christmas gift to visit family and we scarfice lots - They told us that the Lord burden them to bless our family - Thank you Jesus!!!!

Jasmine got a kitchen with food and cooking supplies-plus some lipgloss! Thank you Jesus! Look at her reaction once she opened her eyes!Jonathan recieved a rock tumbler a huge case to store the rocks and a DIGITAL 7.0 CAMERA!! Take a look at his reaction!!! If you know Jonathan he has wanted a camera for quite a while!Justin recieved 2 gameboy games which he is addicted too-a remote control plane and a StarWars sword ?? Of course some candy! He wanted all these things real bad!Angel recieved a bow and arrow with a target and a camo shirt! He is into all the playing in the woods with camo and weapons - Plus Tio Omi gave him a automatic air soft gun which is a HUGE deal!!! He also recieved a real bike from grandma Carmen (Jose's mom) because Jonathan recieved a PSP from her for Christmas.Here is Jasmine in her room playing with her kitchen that took Daddy and Uncle Cory 2 hours to assemble.

God is so good and faithful- For us to have such a blessed Christmas and it all came from others not Jose. To expect no giftsand recieved them reminds us of the real reason of Christmas. This has increased our families faith. I received baking supplies and with the gifts cards from Jesus I was able to buy some kitchen ware for hosting, so I can open my house to other families and friends. I recieved so much, that to say it was a poor Christmas is a lie.

On the 31st we went to our new friends house The Younges where we had a great time of fellowship and getting to know each other better.

Denise Younge and I before all the guest arrived for the New Years Party!Here we are all playing games even Cory played!Denise and I in the kitchen trying not to eat all the goodies she baked!We Surprised Jose and celebrated his 35th birthday- Take a look at his face!!!

On the 1st of January we went over to my closets NC friends house The Andersons for a New Years Day dinner- We had Ham (which was delicious), black eye peas and cornbread. We had such a great time of fellowship !!

I thank all my family and friends for all the great time and memories they made with our family. The time with my sisters was priceless and to see all my friends and spend time with them was the best gift ever. Thank you to all for all the memories. We are excited to have been able to visit Flordia but NC is our home and the friends we have made her and our new church is more than we can ask for. We love you all and Happy New Year!