My brother sent this video clip. Gotta admit... it's amazing! Enjoy!

Thank you for watching over us...

Over the last 36 hours I have been holding my breathe and praying continuously. As most people know Southern California is notorious for their "fire season", especially when Santa Ana winds pick up. Well, I had a frantic phone conversation with my mom on Monday morning as she was packing up for evacuation from her house... Yes! Her neighborhood was being evacuated because of the fire in the San Diego County. She couldn't think straight... didn't know what she needed to pack. After gathering few important documents and pictures she headed up North towards my sister's house in Temecula. Dad had to stop by post office and was supposed to meet up with her. On her way to my sister's house they closed the freeway... Fallbrook was also in flames! She got off the freeway along with all the other evacuees, and attempted to call my dad... but she couldn't reach him. She was panicking! She didn't know what to do. After some time she was able to reach him and met up with him again. They had to turn around and go up another route. After maneuvering through some back roads they arrived at my sister's house... 4 hour later! At least they had somewhere they could evacuate to. Many San Diego residents were homeless...

Then just before midnight I got another phone call. They were driving away from my sister's house. Hills around her house was now on fire! They didn't even get to grab change of clothes... they just got in the car and drove down the hill. They were fortunate, again, that they had another place to go to... my brother-in-law's office in Temecula. This is where they have been until this evening... They were fortunate enough to have a safe place to stay. There they stayed all day, waiting for some news.

God must've heard all of our prayers. My sister's family was allowed to return back to her home tonight. All the hills around their house have burned down, but their house was not touched! They are okay. My parents have also heard that they can return back to their home. They will leave in the morning. Apparently their house was also spared. Many neighbors in both my sisters' and parents' home have burned down. We are thankful and feel blessed!

Goodbye Coco

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to Coco.

Our kids have wanted to have a dog for many years... and after giving excuses after excuses we finally gave in. We adopted Coco from the shelter in June of 2006 because Lizzy wanted to rescue an unwanted dog, to give him love and care that they deserved. After negotiating a bit (Eddie wanted a "manly" dog, and I wanted a small dog) we compromised on a medium sized dog... Black Border Collie Mix puppy they had at the shelter. I was hesitant to have a dog at all... after all I already had 4 kids to take care of.

Coco, soon after we brought him home

Coco with the five of us... Eddie's behind the camera

We took him to puppy obedience school, took him with us when we traveled to Southern California to visit our family... he was a good dog. He didn't bark, was house broken, went into his crate when it was time for him to go to bed... but over the last couple of months he started showing some aggression towards kids... at first it was just a playful jumping on Rachel (he never jumped on anyone else). He would growl at strangers, but we expected that. Then unthinkable happened. He bit our neighbor girl. It was a light bite, but nevertheless it was a bite. Little by little I think we saw that he was showing more aggression towards children... but we fooled ourselves into thinking we could keep it under control. This past Sunday while our friends were visiting he did it again... he bit a child.

It was the most heart-wrenching thing I had to do... to take him back and surrender him. Until yesterday I did not realize how much Coco had become part of my life. Such mixture of emotion... from feeling guilty for not being a better master, for not training him better... he was always next to me while I cooked, played piano... or sitting by my feet while I watched T.V. or folding laundry. Over time he's become such a part of our family. He was always so happy to be with us. He was only 1-1/2 years old! We had him since he was just few weeks old... I'm so sorry Coco. We Love You and Miss You!

Homecoming 2007
Rio Americano High School

Just this past Saturday night our oldest son Christopher attended his first Homecoming Dance. He finally decided to ask one of his classmate, Alex, the week of the dance... Not only did she say yes, but asked if Susana could come along too. So on Saturday night, Chris had two date for his first High School Dance. All three of them went to Jr. High School together, so they knew they would have a blast.

Alex, Chris & Suzanna in front of Buca di Beppo. There they met up with several other friends for dinner before the dance.

After dinner when I went to pick them up to take them to the dance, Chris managed to offer few more ladies ride. Smooth Chris... hmmm.. I wonder where he gets that from?

Here's Chris with all of the ladies... (from left to right) Allison, Samantha, Alex, Chris, Suzanna and Carman. They are all Rio students except for Suzanna who attends Loretto High School. They danced from 9pm to midnight... he was dropped off by Alex & Suzanna... boy, you should've seen the grin on his face...

Eddie's New Toy ...
'69 VW Transporter Bus

What do men do when they have spare time and money? They buy toys! Most men will buy something fast and flashy, but not my guy. Eddie likes old and classy... old cars, old music, and yes, older woman... So why should I have been surprised at this purchase? Well, he's been looking at old VW's for a while, but I didn't think he'd really do it. I mean, why? His reply..."why not?" So while grabbing a bite to eat at Rubio's last weekend, he saw a guy pull into the parking lot with the "For Sale" sign on this bus. Both Eddie & Chris went out to check it out... talk to the guy... write down the info... they both LOVED it. Eddie plans on fixing it up... retro style... repaint the exterior... interior is all stripped and ready to be worked on. Yes, it runs... slow, but it runs. I will post the "after" photos once it is completed. We have an appointment next week with the VW specialist.

The previous owner had already started working on the car's exterior... you can see that he has smooth out the body... although we are going to have to repaint it. peach/black matte color just isn't doing it for me.

You can see that we need much more work done inside. However, we were told that it's much easier and cheaper to work on it than we first thought! Eddie works with couple of Old VW aficionado! That's one of the reason why Eddie felt comfortable purchasing this project. They both told Eddie that they would help him. Now visualize a retro, L shaped bench... with a removable table... think "diner"!

For now it sit on our driveway... waiting for its EXTREME MAKEOVER. We'll definitely keep you posted!

AMATEUR TRANSPLANTS: Anaesthetists Hymn LIVE

Too Funny! We got a kick out of it, especially about crosswords puzzle and sudoku because Eddie has been known to take the Sunday paper to work... and finish ALL puzzles!

Lunch with OT x 3

Today we had lunch at Lemon Grass Grill... was supposed to be girls lunch, but the boys decided to join us. I guess they felt left out! It was fine... they are fun to be with. I met up with Tayler (& Dave), Lisa (Danny & Ava), and Tina (Ben is deployed). It's just funny... because all three girls are OT's! I had lunch with three OT's!

This is Dave & Tayler... they just moved up to Sacramento at the end of July. They are proud parents of three beautiful children; Allison, Andrew & Ava.

This is Lisa, Danny & Ava (yes, same name as Tayler's daughter). They just moved up in August. Danny is originally from Canada.

This is Tina Goo... her husband, Ben Park, is currently deployed and could not join us. I met her through her sister, Julie Goo. Julie was Eddie's classmate from LLUSM. Tina is also from Canada.

I really enjoy spending time with these girls. They are fun to be with, and makes me feel much younger and alive. Thank you girls! We MUST do it again, SOON!