While We Wait

Maileen & Peter

There are lots of views regarding social media, smartphones, and the like.  There are also thoughtful debates on the technology & the medical advances we have available to us in our society - and how we use them.  Today, I'm a huge fan - of ALL of it.

Today - our family is in Virginia - but our family can also be found in:

Honduras

Georgia
Illinois

Brussels

California

Washington
Canada

Illinois

North Carolina
New Jersey
Australia

The Philippines

I could go on and on and on.

Today - Maileen had brain surgery in Georgia.  Her husband and children are in Honduras.  Her family and friends are many, and wherever they are - they are supporting her tremendously.

Today - I am thankful that my cousin's husband in Honduras can tell us via Facebook that my cousin in Georgia is done with surgery and doing fine.

Today - I am thankful that I can wake up, check my phone, and read an encouraging message from Maileen asking me to rest well so we can face today with joy and praise.

Today - I am thankful for the ability to text those that I love and to ask them to please pray for my cousin, her surgery, and her recovery.

Today - I am thankful that I can check my laptop for updates from our family.

Today - I am thankful for all the talented doctors & staff who will be with Maileen and use all of their medical knowledge and technological abilities to help her rid her body of this nasty disease.

Maileen is the older sister Sarah & I never knew we needed, but God sure did.

She's the oldest granddaughter of the family, and we all look up to her.

She's an amazing wife, mother, and friend.

Those who know her (personally and even online) can attest to that.

She's loud, and she's joyful.

She's always ready with a smile or a laugh.

She's honest - sometimes brutally.

And, she's in love with Jesus.

Thanks so much for praying for her.

And for all of us.

My Other Mom

I have mentioned before that I'm surrounded by awesome women - it's amazing.

One of these ladies has a birthday today, and we wish we were there to celebrate with her.  Judy is Bill's mom, my other mom, and the girls' NeNe.

She is gorgeous inside and out, and I'm not just saying that.  How does one get more and more beautiful as she gets older?  I don't know, but she does a great job of it.

To say that I'm intimidated by her awesomeness is not even the half of it.  The first time Bill invited me over to their house for dinner, I was a nervous wreck.  I will never forget walking into their living room and seeing her sitting on the couch - beautiful (as always) and as sweet as can be.

I was (and am) a huge fan of hers (and her son - clearly).  She's been nothing but supportive as
Bill & I became friends, dated, got married, and started our family.  She's been involved in our girls' lives from the moment they were born - either by supporting us in the delivery room or watching little ones while we went to the hospital.  The girls love her like crazy and cherish the time
they get to spend with her.

I'm crazy blessed that all of our parents get along - I know that's a rarity these days.  It might even be slightly weird - but it's true.  Not only do they get along, but they really love (and like!) each other.  It makes my heart full when we're all together.

Judy's an incredible cook and as crafty as they come.  Not only that, she has a heart of gold - and the love flows for Tommy/PaPa, her children, and all of her grandchildren.  If we love you, then Judy loves you.  If you've had the pleasure of ever meeting her in person - I know that you've felt welcomed & loved right from the start.

  Happy Birthday - we love you!

Dear Judy,
Thank you for being awesome.
Thank you for loving God and loving us.
Thank you for raising a son who is an amazing friend & husband and a fantastic father to four girls.
Thank you for your generosity.
Thank you for coming to visit us when our schedule doesn't allow us to visit you & PaPa more.
Thank you for cooking and baking for us without complaint - everything is always amazing!
Thank you for loving me all the time.
I know where your son gets his patient heart.
I love you & I hope you have a fantastic birthday - you certainly deserve it.
Love you forever - your brown daughter,
G

*For more on how much I love you: one, two, three, and four.*

Memory Keeper

One of the main reasons I blog is to remember life for me and our family - at the moment.  I so easily forget things from one day to the next, but I want to make sure our girls have something to look back on when they're older.  We take a bazillion and one pictures, but I'm not the best at organizing said pictures & getting them into albums (please don't ask me how many years I am behind). 

I certainly don't want to hold those memories hostage with my intent

to scrapbook so instead, I blog.

When I'm old and (more) forgetful, I want the girls to be able to see that their mom used to be young once.  I want them to see that their mom was very much in love with their father.  I want them to know that their mom just may understand what they're feeling & what they're going through.  I want them to realize that their mom tried her best to love God & other people
the way that He continually loves her.

When it's hard for our girls to remember, I want them to have a place

where they can be reminded of:

how much their dad & I did in fact love them

(albeit sometimes imperfectly, but it was love nonetheless)

the meals their mom cooked from time to time (that they sometimes enjoyed!)

the things they used to say and do

what made us laugh

and what made us cry

the places we went

the people we spent time with

and the memories we made together

One day, they will be all grown up and have lives separate from ours (sigh).  They may even have children of their own (many many many years from now).  When that happens - I hope they, too, will find a way to tuck all of those memories they make into a forever place

to visit from time to time.

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July -

have a great day celebrating our country!

Miss Mommy*

November 2010

December 2012

My mom is amazing.

Proof: here and here.

Not only that, Bill's mom is fantastic as well.

I have awesome mentors.

In addition to savvy advisers, God has surrounded me with other moms to walk with on this journey.  Some have older children, others are in the same boat as me, and still others have recently boarded this roller coaster ride known as motherhood.

Bill is ridiculously good in his role as husband, father, and best friend - however he has no idea what it's like to be a mom.  I don't fault him for that.

However, that void is filled with friends who I can reach out to in a heartbeat who have the right

words, hugs, smiles, tears, prayers,

or a combination of all of the above to help me realize:

I'm not in this alone.

Their reassurance, encouragement, empathy, and love keep me going when I'm sometimes at my wit's end.  They are amazing and beautiful inside and out, and I'm thankful for each and every one.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Miss Mommies*.

You are a gift to your children.

You are a gift to me.

*

Dear Evangeline,

You have recently decided to call me Miss Mommy.  Perhaps you hear the children I take care of call me Miss Grace?  At any rate, it's kind of cute and I'm kind of a fan - unless you make it a permanent thing. Don't do that - it would make me sad.

Love you forever, 

Mom

The Filipina Superwoman

true beauty

My husband has often commented on how awesome my mom is because she can do yard work like a boss.  I'm not talking about cutting the grass and weed-eating, although she is capable of both.  I'm referring to getting roots out of the ground, ripping limbs from the trees, and getting debris off of the roof type of yard work.

Not only can she do her thing outside, but one can probably eat off the my mother's kitchen floor - I'll even go as far as to say that you could probably eat off the floor in her bathrooms.

She doesn't play around when it comes to housework.

Don't even get me started about my mother's cooking.  Don't like Filipino food?  You will after you taste hers.  She also makes a mean steak, spaghetti, and fried egg - all random.  All delicious.  She doesn't bake these days, but I remember when I was a little - her macaroons are to die for.

Want to make me cry?  Just talk about all this stuff.

I've already started and I haven't even gotten to the best part.  I'm pretty fortunate to be surrounded by some amazingly strong people - my mom included.  She:

grew up in a family of 9 children

was raised part of that time by her aunts

fell in love and married a man who took her to another country to live and raise a family

has me and my sister as her daughters

worked hard to help support our family

then stayed home to raise me and my sister

suffered the loss of her parents while thousands of miles away - only physically

reuniting with her family after those losses

attended every one of our parent-teacher conferences - I'm not kidding you guys,

every. single. one.

loves God, loves my dad, loves my sister, and loves me

is the best Lola to our four girls - she might even beat out their daddy as the favorite one

My mom is as sassy as they come - my sister and I get that trait honestly.  Along with that, we've inherited our mom's ridiculous love for family - behind all of the firecracker is a heart of gold.  My mom would do anything for my dad, my sister, me, and our girls - I bet she would do anything for you, too.  You would be blessed if you got to be friends with my mom - she would be an encouragement to you, and she would make you laugh for sure.

model status

off to the U.S. to reunite with her honey

sister time

the lovely parents

loving on Lola

Happy Birthday, Mom - I'm so thankful for you.

Love you forever.

The First Guy I Ever Loved

 

 It's my dad's birthday today!

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times Dad has gotten angry with me -

as far as that kind of out loud, I better close my mouth right now kind of upset with me.

What I remember most about growing up is Dad sitting with me and explaining how he felt,

why I was being disciplined, why my mom was upset

or all of the above.

I love my dad because he loves God, he loves my mom, and he loves me and my sister with a strong, quiet love.  He works hard without complaint and always provides for his family.  He's probably

one of the most patient men I know.  Living with three women for such a long time -

he would have to be.  Clearly.

Along with my dad's calm, loving personality comes a blunt honesty that can sometimes startle you if you're not used to it.  Beware the blemish of your teenage years because Dad might blatantly ask,

What's that on your forehead?

He got this wonderful trait from my grandmother who would always tell me, my sister, and my cousins not to smile as if we were brushing our teeth.  She wanted us all to smile demurely.  It never worked out.

Some of my favorite Dad quotes:

Grace, too much of anything isn't a good thing.

Birds of a feather flock together.  You need to choose your friends wisely.

Grace, sit up.

Ok, so I had a friend (who was a boy) over the house one day.  We may or may not have liked each other (we did), but we were not dating - at all.  We were watching TV on the couch, and I might have been sitting slightly close to said friend - maybe I was leaning in a tad?  My dad walked by, looked me right in my eyeballs and said sternly,

Grace, sit up.

I promptly did.

It's a good piece of advice to follow if you ask me.

What's even more awesome than remembering Dad singing and dancing randomly in the living room or teasing my mom while she washed the dishes - is watching my Dad with our girls.  There's something extremely special about a lolo (Tagalog for grandfather) and his granddaughters.  They love him in a ridiculous way.  Evangeline affectionately calls him Yoyo.

Happy 66th Birthday, Yoyo - we love you so very much.

Reunion Fun

sweet Tito Al and Sarah

My mom grew up with eight brothers and sisters.  My dad is the youngest of six.
You can imagine how large our family gets after that.

My sister, her husband, and three of my cousins (and their families) are in Chicago right now visiting one of my uncles.  Know that there will be lots of loud talking, laughing, picture-taking, and eating.

The Beach

Oh, vacay - we miss you so!

We spent a week at the beach with Bill's sister and her family, PaPa, and NeNe - and it was fantastic.  My mom and sister were able to come for a couple of days at the end of the week, and that was an added treat.  The girls enjoy spending time with their cousins, and they love love LOVE to swim.

It seems that craftiness runs in my both my sisters' blood because Jennifer (my SIL) had crafts for them

Celebrating the Fourth

SUPER THANKFUL FOR

hamburgers  ~  corn on the cob  ~  hot dogs  ~  cornhole

fireworks  ~  ice cream  ~  friends  ~  family

our military  ~  and our country

 The night before the 4th, our family enjoyed a night together at Busch Gardens.  Bill and Espy rode Verbolten, and Isabella rode Le Scoot Log Flume for the first time.  She wasn't a fan of the big

Memorial Day Weekend

We went to the beach Saturday morning, and it was perfect - not too hot, not too cold, and not crowded at all.  The girls had lots of fun burying each other in the sand

and splashing around in the water.

 

This one's always ready to smile for the camera.

 

Evangeline enjoyed running into the ocean and eating sand

over and over and over again.

 

 

We had Lolo, Lola and NeNe over that evening.  Bill used my uncle's marinade for our steaks (SO good).  Espy helped me shuck our corn.  We usually shuck, foil-wrap, and throw them on the grill - one of our summer favorites.  We had a simple salad, and Mom and Dad brought the rolls.  Everything was amazing.

Then, the girls had a fashion show.  Of course.  Don't you have fashion shows after cooking out?

(Fashion Show!  Fashion Show!  Fashion Show at Lunch! 

What show is that from?  Bill and I love it!)

The day before, NeNe took Espy and Gianna shopping.  Not only did she get them a ton of outfits, but she had lots of stuff for the littles, too (Thank you, NeNe!).  They tried to convince Evangeline to participate with them, but she wasn't enthused.  It was imperative to try every single outfit on for all to see.  These are only a fraction of the pictures that were taken.  Please notice and enjoy the deterioration of our hopscotch runway.

The next day we had Daniel, Lindsey, and sweet Miss Abigail over after church.  Enjoying getting to know this family!  We missed having Nathan, Christen and their girls - but we understand not wanting to share germs (thank you!).

On Monday, we headed to our friends' going-away party at one of the local parks.  It's amazing to see how one family can touch so many different lives.  That's all I'll say about that since they haven't moved - yet.

It was a great weekend, and a sweet introduction to this time of year.  The girls and I are excited about filling our memory-makers with some fun summertime adventures.

My Cousin Is A Doctor!

 We don't have a brother, but we might as well have.  Who knew the same boy that tortured us with "the crab" and tickle fights during our family get togethers and vacations would grow up and become

Dr. Joel Esperanza

 

We're so extremely proud of you and the accomplishments you've had thus far.  And yes, we all know you're guapo as well!  We're praying that you'd continue to use the talents that God has given you to

Sunday Funday

I had a great time with these cuties the other day.

It's been so beautiful - I'm thinking spring might be here to stay?  We're hoping so!

After church, I tried out a new recipe - SO good!

As Espy was eating,

Merry Christmas!

Wishing Jesus a very Happy Birthday today!
Thanks so much for loving me in spite of me.

I hope you're enjoying good times with your friends and family - 
in all its fun and sometimes awkward glory.
Please excuse me while I try to earn a bigger jeans size
and play with all of my children's awesome toys and crafts for a few days.

Love,
Bill and Grace

Esperanza  Gianna  Isabella  and  Evangeline

Christmas Eve Shenanigans

We spent a Merry Christmas Eve with my parents and my sister and her husband:
small breakfast for the girls
gift opening with Bill and the girls
brunch (tocino, eggs, rice, and samporado) at my parent's with Evan and Sarah
home to tidy up the house and cook a few things
my parents, Evan and Sarah come over for dinner and gifts
Mom and Sarah bring ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, palabok, and rolls
I have beverages (try this Wassail recipe!), sweet potato casserole and corn casserole
sweet friends drop by
girls' annual Christmas "performance"

family gift exchange

We can't wait to meet Samantha!

 

1 day 'til Christmas!