Claire's 2nd Birthday

Claire's birthday was celebrated last Friday. Since she loves Mickey Mouse, we decided to do a Mickey Mouse picnic in the front yard. I like to make everything as easy as possible for myself, so I bought a lot of outdoor toys and got the kiddie pool from my moms for water play. I made mac and cheese, hot dogs, fruit, pretzels and juice for lunch. The kids were really happy with the choice of lunch and most all of the kids went straight to water play. The moms were able to visit.

Thanks to my mom who decorated the cake, it was a huge hit. The sand is made of graham cracker crumbs and the mickey and minnie figurines were given to me by my sister in law( Thanks Adriana!!) The bigger kids chose whether they wanted a brown or blue piece of cake. Claire enjoyed her gifts and everything ended right in time for nap! It was a great success for a friday morning!

Girls Afternoon Out

On Saturday I went with Fernando's mom and sister to his cousins house. All the girls were meeting together and having lunch. It was a fun afternoon and I enjoyed visiting with them. Azure and Claire were able to play with their cousin Natalie which they enjoyed. They can't wait to see her again.

Azure's Field Trip Day

Yesterday, Azure had her first field trip. She didn't leave the school, but did get to go outside. It was safety week and they were learning about fire safety. One of the parents happened to work for the La Verne Fire Dept and so they came and talked to the class.
The Captain saw their stop drop and roll hats and reviewed that.


One of the firefighters dressed up in his gear so the kids could see. Some of the kids cried and were scared.

Azure was a little wide eyed, but she remained calm. Claire hid in her sisters lap, but she didn't cry. The firefighters assured them that it was a regular person and after demonstrating what each piece of gear did, the kids were more relaxed.

Afterward, we took the kids out to see the truck. It was cold and windy outside and a lot of the kids were shivering.

The Captain showed them how the ladder moved up and down on the truck and the how the hose was packed on the truck, all the gears, and then they let the kids walk through the cab of the truck.

About half the kids refused and some started to cry again. But I was able to watch as Azure and even Claire volunteered to go through. I think Uncle Ben would be proud.

I was really happy that the girls were able to be a part of the day. They learned new things and showed Azure's class how brave they were. And they didn't forget to mention that Uncle Ben's fire truck isn't red, it's yellow!

Oh and By the Way

I started a blog for my photography. I finally decided to just take the plunge and make something of myself as much as I can. I'm not to worried about it because if people like what they see and are interested then they will make a point of using me. I put images that I've been taking on the blog for them to see my work. I've had people ask, but I've always uploaded my images to facebook and not everyone has a facebook account.
I also ordered business cards for those who are really interested. I don't think I will be doing weddings any time soon, but I am feeling pretty comfortable with portraits and family pictures, which is what I originally wanted to do. The problem is that I've noticed that a lot of my local friends and peers have been taking up photography as well and it almost feels like a competition. This motivates me to practice and become better, but it does instill a little bit of fear that I will never be good enough. For now, I will keep on snapping pictures and learn from my mistakes.

http://jhpphoto.blogspot.com/

What the New Year Brings

Well so far the New Year has been productive. My brother Tama came home from his mission. It was so exciting to see him walking up the arrival ramp with my mom and dad. The three nieces had matching I love Uncle Tama shirts and it was an emotional moment for me to hug him. After he was released, we went to Islands for his first meal home. The cheddar fries were amazing. I know he loved them.







In February, I started a diet. It's been a long road, but I am determined to lose 20 lbs by summer. I started off by doing a 1200 calorie diet. I did lose three lbs in four days, but I was starving all the time. So I switched over to a high protein, low carb low sugar diet. This diet was great at first and I was really motivated to do it, but now I've begun to lose my drive. I've lost 7lbs in the last four weeks and I feel great. I have more energy and I feel lighter. I haven't really started exercising and that is my next goal to add to the diet. I think if I had been more strict with the diet I would be losing more. But I have cheated a little here and a little there and so the losing process is slow. But I'm 1/3 of the way done and hopefully I can get past my goal of 20 lbs and get all the way to 30. But I am hopeful that incorporating exercise will help a lot.

We have also been working on getting Azure into modeling and acting. We have met with a company that scouted us out at the LA county fair. They seem legitimate and we are excited to see what comes of this experience. Azure is also excited, though I don't think she understands what it really means. I hope it works out for a while. I really would like for her to be able to earn money for college.

Christmas Dresses

Fernando and I had take the girls to the mall where we found some Christmas dresses on sale. So he let them pick out a dress for the upcoming holiday. Claire absolutely insisted on the green dress even though I tried to convince her to take a deep royal blue. Azure picked out a "Cinderella" dress. It was absolutely gorgeous. I loved it even more because the sale made it affordable.
I took an afternoon and set up the equipment to take some pictures of them in their dresses. They loved to pose for the camera and spin and dance with each other. Allie came over later and we had fun getting all three of them to cooperate. It was no easy task, but we were happy that they looked so so cute!

Christmas Eve

I know it's past Christmas, but I wanted to share. I took these pictures on Christmas Eve. The girls were sitting outside looking for Santa's sleigh in the sky. They were so excited for him to come. The sun was nearly set and I went to grab the camera to get a couple pictures of them. Sometimes, when I have a hard day or I find it hard to go on with my life, I look at these pictures and remember my two little girls that believed in someone that night. I think about how their eyes twinkled and they laughed and were so excited. And in those few minutes on the front porch of our house, all was peaceful. Peace and love are the greatest of all gifts. And they were mine that night.
I believe in Santa Claus.