The rest of the family...

Picture of Dayton above when he was just over a year old.

Well... we have introduced you to most of the family, but we have forgotten one. She doesn't have a name yet (Jerome said it will come to him once she's fired up), but it's the family hot rod.
Ever since Jerome was a kid, he's had a weakness, a love, OK, let's face it, an infatuation really... for a 1957 Chevy Bel Air.

A few years back, Jerome had his dream come true. We were able to acquire a 57 Chev. For the first year, the car just sat in the garage while he researched what he wanted to do with it. Then for his 30th birthday we threw him a surprise birthday party. Most gave him cash to help start the project. Well that certainly got the car... rolling!!

Jerome spent hours tearing the car apart and working on it. He tore off the body and put it on a rotisserie. While Jerome was spending hours on the body work, we got a custom frame and had a custom exhaust installed on it. Jerome was doing most of the work to help with the cost. It eventually had to go into the shop for the final body work and paint. I love the paint job!

As for the engine, I can't tell you much except that it's a big block. I like big blocks, there's a story behind that one too... Long time ago Jerome loved big blocks and always wanted one. I kept saying, no small blocks are OK. Well, we were at the Good Guys Car Show and I heard a very nice big block fire up... that was it... I wanted a big block. Since then Jerome was thinking he wanted a small block, but nope... I wanted that sound and really wanted the big block, so Jerome worked on making sure that happened. I know putting a big block in that car hasn't been easy, so thank you Jerome! I also know that we have a very pretty radiator (and due to the big block) needed to be pushed forward and it has 2 fans. I also know we have a serpentine belt system in the front of the engine. I believe we also have posse rear-end. I can't tell you what the engine is or how much horsepower at this time... I'll have to get back to you on that information.

Here she is...

Happy Birthday Mony...

Well... her birthday is actually the 1st of January, but I thought I would blog it today. Mony is my mom, she gets the name of Mony from Dayton. He just started calling her that. We think it's because my dad called her Honey and it came out Mony for him (If I spell it with an E it looks like Money, so I think it's Mony).

Anyway... growing up we used to ring in the New Year with a birthday! Happy New Year... Happy Birthday Mom! As us kids got older and we wanted to be out on New Year's, my mom decided to celebrate her birthday on May 1st, but she continues to get phone calls at mid-night to wish her a happy birthday (we have to keep up with tradition you know).

I looked for some pictures and I couldn't find any of just my mom by herself, but then it dawned on me... that's my mom... she's always about her family, her husband, her kids, and her grand-kids... family is everything to my mom... maybe that's where I get that from ;o)

Mony... my mom...

I love you!

My Mom and Dad Christmas 2007 (notice the picture they are holding is their last name MALO)
Mony and Buddy with Dayton

Here's Mony, Buddy (middle) and their children, Dana and Shai on the left and Kim and Todd on the right.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEROME!!!

The day after Christmas, we celebrate Jerome's Birthday and it was a wonderful day! I took the family out to breakfast.

OK, so here is a funny Dayton story. He knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes. Luckily, there was a kids meal that has all that! When they brought it out, it had 2 sausages and no bacon. We let the gal know and she brought out a piece of bacon. Dayton was upset that he didn't have 2 pieces of bacon. We explained to him that they messed up his order and he was lucky to have 2 pieces of sausages. So the next time the waitress came out he said... "excuse me, you messed up my order". Luckily we know the gal very well and she has 3 children of her own, the last being 6 months younger than Dayton completely understood and laughed with us. Funny guy.

We then went to Home Depot and Lowe's looking for new projects for Jerome. Is that right, to look for new projects on your birthday? If you know Jerome, you know he needs projects, so this was just fine!

After running around a bit and looking for new projects, we drove to Southcenter to go to Famous Dave's for Jerome's birthday dinner. Famous Dave's is a BBQ place and it's Jerome's favorite place to eat. We were suppose to meet Katrina, Michael, Samuel, and Micah, but they got stuck in all the snow they had up there. We still got to meet up with Jerome's parents Candy and Lloyd and WOW it was as good as ever!

Of course Jerome got some funds for his car project (that has to be one of my next posts)... but Lloyd was so funny! On Christmas Eve we made sugar cookies for Santa... when I started to make them, I realized that we didn't have cookie cutters. Here it was on Christmas Eve and we were on the hunt for cookie cutters. What we found wasn't the best... it was 8 shapes on one flat plastic thing and the dough got stuck on everything, it was fun, but we realized that we needed better cookie cutters. We got in that discussion on Christmas and Katrina had some antique cookie cutters from Grandma Darling (Candy's mom Grandma Ruth) and she gave us those so we can make cookies for years to come. Thank you Katrina!!! Well, Jerome was also talking about Grandma Darling's flour sifter, he thought that would be excellent for making cookies. So, Lloyd had an idea for Jerome and they got him a flour sifter (dishwasher safe... thank you!) and sugar cookie recipes!! It was so thoughtful!!! Thank you!

After a wonderful dinner, we stopped by Home Depot in Southcenter and found an inflatable... Thomas the Train Christmas yard art for 50% (or more) off... anyway it was a great deal, so Dayton will have an inflatable Thomas the Train for Christmas next year.

After Home Depot, we went home and snuggled up to watch a movie... Journey to the Center of the Earth... good movie... good time... AWESOME company!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY JEROME... WE LOVE YOU!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Jesus!! I will tell you quite a bit about our Christmas Day, but let's take a moment for the real reason of Christmas. Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Dayton was so excited for Santa, he watched out the window all night and woke up at 5:30. I heard over the intercom that he was awake, but we thought he would go back to sleep. Then Amara woke up and was hungry, so I got up and fed her. Just as she was finishing the bottle, I heard Dayton calling out... "Mommy". Oh that sound that can melt my heart. I brought Amara into Dayton's bedroom... "Did Santa come? I heard his reindeer." We went downstairs and Dayton was so excited. We took a moment to wish Jesus a Happy Birthday and then Dayton got to open his presents from Santa and from us. Dayton opened a present from Amara and Amara got a present from Dayton. It was a very sweet family Christmas morning. Amara was getting grumpy so I rocked her to sleep and then we got ready for the drive to Lake Stevens!
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We drove up to Katrina's to celebrate Christmas with the family. WOW the drive was amazing. As Jerome drove up (I don't do snow well) it was beautiful, it was snowing and all the trees were white, it was amazing to have all this snow on Christmas! We had a wonderful morning of laughter and family time. Samuel played some beautiful Christmas music on the piano. Samuel has been teaching Micah how to play the piano, so Micah got to show us his skills as well! Then Dayton found the drums. It was cute and he did a great job, but it was loud! :o) Katrina made a beautiful brunch (thank you, it was delicious). After brunch, we opened presents. After presents, the music started up again as Grandma, Katrina, and I were all dancing... and then Michael came in... he was home! To see the excitement on Katrina's face as we were all dancing and she squealed and ran to him with a very big hug. It was so wonderful to have the entire family there!! He was able to eat and we all shared Birthday cake and stories. Unfortunately, it was getting close to the time where we had to go.
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On our way to Federal Way, we got to talk to Jerome's dad in Texas. We missed Mary and Savannah because they were on their way to Mary's family in Florida. We sent them a text and wished them a Merry Christmas.
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We then went to my parent's house in Federal Way to celebrate Christmas with more family! Luckily we didn't miss dinner, we arrived right when they were sitting for dinner! Dayton fell asleep on the way down so he wasn't very hungry and just wanted to play with his cousins Mason and Keaton. Dayton was pretty upset that they weren't there that day. My parents dropped their plates to come over and hang out with the kids. We all got to eat a very tasty family traditional ham dinner. We usually go and find our ornaments on the tree, but we just celebrated Kim's and Jerome's birthday the Friday before so we already knew where our namesake ornaments were. But I did notice that our picture was on the tree! Let me quickly tell you the story of the picture. Every year my mom puts a Polaroid picture on the tree. This Polaroid is about 20 years old. It was probably one of the last Christmas's we celebrated at the old house. We had just gotten up, Todd did not have a shirt, Dana was smiling funny, I had braces, and Kim was actually pretty normal. It's a funny picture. Last week at the birthday party after we found our ornaments, we got in a rousing discussion of the picture, so we decided to re-create this awesome photo. There was a lot of laughter as we all got into position, Todd took off his shirt, Dana did her funny smile, I roused my hair so I could have morning hair again and Kim, well, she looked normal again! It was a great photo and now my mom has both on her tree! Another family tradition! After we opened presents, I played a rousing game of Pictionary with Kim, Dana, Todd, Meaghan, and Nate. I love Pictionary, that's a game we always played growing up. Good memories there too! Jerome and Dayton got to watch Rudolph and Frosty. Amara was being passed around... If someone held her still for 5 minutes, she was out, but if you tried to lay her down so she can sleep, she was wide awake... she didn't want to miss the festivities.
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Pictures at our house in the morning

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Pictures at Katrina's

Jerome and Shai (I love you!)

Amara all smiles

Dayton playing the drums with Micah on the left and Samuel playing the piano on the right

Grandma and Amara

Grandpa Buddy and Dayton

All the cousins Dayton Amara Micah and Samuel

Aunt Katrina and Dayton

Uncle Michael and Amara

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Pictures at Mony and Buddy's (Shai's parents, Dayton calls my parent's Mony and Buddy)

Buddy and Amara

Most of the family from left to right: Nate (married to Shai's sister Dana), Nicole (daughter of Nate and Dana), Kim (Shai's sister), Dana (Shai's sister), Jerome (you should know who that is), Erika (daughter of Nate and Dana), Meaghan (dating Todd, Shai's brother), and Todd (Shai's brother)... there will be a test later!!! ;o)

Nate, Mony, and Kim

Todd, Dana, and Erika

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We got home around 9:30 and the kids were both pretty tired.

It was a wonderful day of family and I just love that!

Merry Christmas... Happy Birthday Jesus

Merry Christmas Eve

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!

Jerome had to work today, but he got off at noon. Dayton, Amara, and I got to get a few chores done and waited for Daddy to get home. Once Jerome got home, we went out and ran a few errands. We went to Linen and Things for their going out of business sale. WOW, we got 4 tablecloths for less than $2.00 each. We also got 6 packages of 4 cloth napkins, again... for less than $2.00 each!!! What a find!!! We were so excited! Then we hit Target to get some cookie cutters. Jerome and I had some, but we never used them and when we moved, we got rid of them. Well... now we decided to make sugar cookies for Santa and we didn't have any cookie cutters!! After Target, we went home to make cookies!!!

Here's Dayton all excited to make sugar cookies with Daddy!


Amara was happy watching the festivities!!

Shai's Gift

So with the snow Jerome has been driving me around. On our way home on my last day of work Jerome asked me if I had our mail key on me. I did so Jerome asked me to get the mail. In our mailbox I saw a red envelope addressed to me from Pasado's. If you don't know anything about Pasado's Safe Haven, let me fill you in. They are a a no-kill animal rescue and rehabilitation of dogs, cats, and farm animals. They are named after the donkey Pasado that was killed by three teenage boys in Bellevue back in 1992. The state did not have any laws for this, so the boys were fined $50. That's it for killing and torturing an animal. Pasado's Safe Haven lobbied for the passage of the Pasado Bill which made animal cruelty a felony in Washington State. We took a tour of Pasado's and absolutely fell in love with them. No animal lives in a cage or a kennel, they let their animals go indoors or outdoors as they choose. We really believe in what they are doing.

http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/

So... now, back to the picture above and the red envelope. The red envelope contained a card with "Pumpkin's" picture and story. I will tell you about Pumpkin's story in a minute, but this card represented a gift from Jerome. Jerome went online and picked out an animal to make a donation to in my name! This was the best gift ever!

Here is Pumpkin's story. Pumpkin is a cat that was found crawling in a gutter, extremely thin, filthy, dehydrated, missing an eye, and covered in fleas. His jaw had been broken and healed itself badly and it appeared that he had been shot with a pellet gun. Pasado's rushed him to the vet with the hopes that they could save him. Pasado's was able to save him and he now lives in the People Barn with the Pasado's staff and enjoys having his chin scratched and his ears kissed and loves eating the staff's lunches! Pumpkin is doing wonderful and is shown love and trust all because of Pasado's.

Thank you Jerome, I love this gift... Thank you!

I can't wait to meet Pumpkin!!

Day at home

Jerome took my car into work today and I have a very understanding boss that let me work from home. Dayton was a big help with his little sister! I had the chance to take some quick pictures while I made them lunch.
They are just so wonderful together, how could I pass up this photo opportunity?!?!

Here's Dayton hanging out in the chair.

Amara was smiling quite a bit for me today, it was awesome!

SNOW DAY

I had posted 2 pictures 3 hours ago and we had about 6 1/2 inches of snow & it hasn't stopped. We went out and meastured again and we are now at 8 1/2 inches of snow.

Well, the snow keeps falling!!! We've spent all day indoors staying warm and hanging out as a family! We slept in, I made breakfast and lunch. I was working on getting technical stuff on the blog, as you can see, I still need some work. Dayton and Jerome played cars. Dayton, Jerome and I played go-fish and then Jerome busted out the Atari. Yes, you heard correctly... Atari!!! We played Pac Man and Jerome played Mrs. Pac Man, Pit Fall, Frogger, Defender, and Astroids. Boy that brought up some memories! A friend of ours, Dan, gave us an old Atari game a while ago and it was so fun to get that out and play.

WINTER WONDERLAND!

What an amazing week! Lots of snow and ice, but tonight, WOW, it's beautiful! Jerome and I went Christmas shopping and we got home just in time before the snow started. After dinner Jerome had a great idea about going for a walk... Above is a picture of Jerome, Dayton, Amber, and Amara... she's there with the red hat in front of Jerome!

YES... it was snowing that much!!

Dayton at the park going down the snowy slide!!

Dayton making a snow angel!

Amara telling Daddy that she really enjoyed the walk!

New to blogging!!

Well hello there everyone... WE HAVE ARRIVED!!!

I'm not sure how this works or what this will look like, but here we go! My sister-in-law Katrina has been blogging for two years now and I just LOVE it! I love being able to go online and see what the family has been up to. I love to see their pictures and read their posts of what is going on in their lives.

I've been emailing quite a few pictures out lately and finally decided... we needed to start a blog too. Hope you enjoy!