Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

We had a great 2-day Thanksgiving feast! We were supposed to go to NY, but with my aching back problems, it just wasn't going to be possible -- sorry Vega family :( I'm sure we'll see you soon!!

Here are some pictures from a few days in November. Enjoy!

Mari and Gavin during hot cocoa festival after turkey.



Joli and Mia enjoying hot cocoa like "little ladies" (they called themselves that).
Jorge with his first turkey ever! It was so yummy! He also made beans and rice AND a pumpkin pie! Good job, Jorge!!
More posing with the turkey!
Joli and Jada getting their pictures taken in their matching dresses. This is hilarious because it is a classic Jada look...!
Still annoyed that Mommy is taking their pictures.


Ultrasound in the beginning of November - at about 5 months. Everything looks good!


Funny, funny Jada... we found her like this one day and had to grab the camera!

I Won an Award!

So, I usually post about the cool things everyone in the family is doing, and thought I'd take this one for me!

This past week, my colleague Kristen nominated me for a prestigious award through our professional organization. It's a regional award with potential for national recognition in March 2009. It was a pretty surreal experience as it was completely kept a surprise by everyone in my office (including an elaborate scheme to get me to the ceremony when I was actually planning on going home that evening!).

Kristen organized this whole thing, nominated me, got others to write letters of support and I was given the award in a very surprising ceremony on Tuesday night. The speech was written by my boss, Fr John, and was filled with very humbling quotes from people about the impact I've had on their lives. It was nuts. I actually didn't hear much of the speech because I was too busy wanting to crawl under the table!

Here is a picture of Kristen and me just after I was given the award. It's a recognition award for Educational Equity and Ethnic Diversity.

So very amazing!

Post-Election Fun!

No surprise, we are thrilled about President Elect Obama! Here is a great picture of Joli and her best friends leaving the voting booth! I hope we can take a similar one in 13 (well years when they are 18 and voting for themselves!).



This is the latest giant belly photo also taken around November 4th. Thought we could record this for baby-to-be on this special day! Yes, those are stretch marks... already.




As the news broke on CNN, Jorge was ready for his close up!

We've felt the baby move a little bit, and everything seems to be going well. I have an ultrasound coming up, but likely, we'll still not find out what sex the baby is. Jada is obsessed with Baby; Joli doesn't seem to really care. But, I think Joli has been surrounded by all the cousins and babies that she's like, 'Uh,huh. Big deal. Another thing that'll cry and interrupt my pony-playing."

Some cool kid things:

1. Joli can read. It's crazy.

2. She can name all 50 states -- even I can't do that without really thinking about it.

3. Jada's favorite thing to say these days is "Jammboooo!" which is a warning that she's about to jump on you.

4. Jada says, "If the baby's a boy, I'm going to name it Diego. If it's a girl, I'm going to name it Dora."

5. When we do nighttime prayers and get to the "God Bless Mommy, Daddy...etc" section, Joli goes through the whole family. When it's Jada's turn, she says, "God Bless my armpits. God Bless my feet. God Bless M&Ms. The end."

6. Joli is rocking out her dance moves. She LOVES to dance and make up her own songs these days. She's also finally taking music lessons in school, and I hope she really gets into some sort of instrument at some point!

That's all for now! Have a great day!!

Like Father (and Mother)... Like Daughter

I picked up Joli early from school today so that she could come with me to the voting polls. I made a point to bring Joli to the polls today for so many reasons:

1. Wanted her to know the power of the individual and the importance of voting
2. Wanted her to see the process of our rights
3. Wanted her to know that voting is an expectation!
4. Wanted her to be a part of history -- a moment in time when she can look back and know she was a part of a very big day!
5. Wanted her to know that her Mom (and Dad) care about her future and the future of our country
6. She's been hearing us talk about Obama a whole lot, and we wanted her to see it to the end!

I took this picture in the voting booth of Joli after we colored in the circle for Obama. Hopefully she can look back on this day and know that we were a part of history.

After I came home and uploaded the photo, I saw that Jorge uploaded his, too! Like father, like daughter. Off to go watch the news!!