Video: Leah's Wedding

In case you missed it...

So, I Had the Date Wrong

I heard wrong, or my sources let me down.... kidding!

LEAH'S WEDDING WILL BE HELD ON SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6 @ 3:30PM

Not on Friday September 5 as I had put before. So, there you go.

Leah's Wedding: Change Your Calendars

Unconfirmed, but it's the word on the street (and who knows how it got on the street, but I think Uncle Vic is telling everyone...... kidding!)

The date for the Event of the Year (I know Uncle Vic will like that one) has been changed:

• Leah's Wedding will now be held on Friday September 5th

If I hear anything more, I'll let y'all know. And I'm sure the father of the bride will too.

January Birthdays

Apologies for being a few days late (Happy Birthday to Leah, Martin and Scoob!).

Here are the January Birthdays (quite a few, in fact... what were y'all doing every October? No holidays, no change of seasons.... )

• Leah Hernandez, January 1

• Martin Hernandez (Sr), January 2
  

• Marisa Arellanes (Scoob!), January 2
  

• Monica Modlin, January 8
  

• Manuel 'Duke' Romero, January 15

• Sonia Aspuria, January 19
  

• Natalie Hernandez, January 22

• Malaya Aspuria, January 29

• Salene Castaneda, January 30
  

• Bill Arellanes, January 31
  

One birthday for every Tuesday in the month, and there are 5 Tuesdays in January-- if y'all planned that, you're good... you're pretty damned good... ;)

Here's the Calendar. Wish 'em well, folks!

The Girls Plan A Getaway

It’s early in the planning stages, but the Aunties and Cousins are planning an All-Female getaway in July 2008.

It goes without saying that trips like these are a good and necessary thing. They build and strengthen ties, allow people to catch up on how life is for everyone else, and the trip can be relaxation away from the usual hubbub of every day life.

Of course, that’s not the primary reason for the trip next summer.

It comes at a time just before Leah’s wedding. And a better time could scarcely be found for the getaway. This gives the Women of our family a chance to get together and share advice, experience, and wisdom learned from one generation to another. The exchange of knowledge will surely be great. It is a special thing for the Aunties and Cousins to do with and for Leah as she becomes a bride and builds the foundations of her own family.

Thus far, either stays at the Chumash Resort near Santa Barbara’s numerous wineries, or somewhere close to the heart of California’s Wine Country in Napa Valley have been tossed around for consideration. Nothing is definite yet.

There is still time. But don’t wait too long or places will be booked by the summer tourists.

In any case, to everyone going: enjoy!

Get On The Bus

This was discussed over Thanksgiving Weekend while the Nor Cal Contingent visited. Namely, some of the Aunties and Uncles were thinking it a good idea to charter a bus to take us Santa Barbarians to Morgan Hill, CA for Leah's wedding.

Well, I did some looking. I didn't do in-depth research. I simply wanted to get an idea for the cost. I emailed 2 companies: US Coachways, and Santa Barbara Airbus. Though it's been over a week, I only have a response from US Coachways.

Here is what they say:

We have available a 56 passenger coach. It comes equipped with high back bucket reclining seats, TV, VCR, AC, AM-FM stereo, rest rooms and some have CD/DVD players. On any overnight stays a private room is required for the driver. The price will be $2390 plus a 15-20% gratuity for the driver. We work on a first come first serve basis. If you decide to book please sign all forms and completely fill out the attached forms and return them to us.

So, that's $2,390 base cost. The 15% gratuity adds $358.50. And let's estimate the room for the driver at $120 for the night. That puts the estimated cost for the bus charter at $2,868.50.

If we have 50 people on the bus, it makes the cost about $60 per person (no discounts for kids and senior citizens).

I'm fairly confident this is what we can expect, with little deviation, if we decide to go with a bus for the trip. There are details we must work out, and we can talk about those things later.

My opinion: this would be fun. We'd all be on the bus, free to move seats, chatting it up the whole way. There's be no wear-and-tear on personal vehicles. This would be like sitting on Monica's deck on any given afternoon. Good times, I say.

Think about it and discuss amongst yourselves. Ask and I can provide you some things to consider.

More Thanksgiving Pics

Leah added a couple of nice pics to the Thanksgiving 2007 photo album.

Take a look if you haven't already!

And download them, or order prints online, if you see pictures you like.

Cheers!

The Day After

Though the moments with our Family are always memorable.....*cough*...... here are some of the good times I remember from the Friday of Thanksgiving Weekend 2007:

• -Natalie’s boyfriend, Jason, was asked about someone playfully hitting him. All he heard was “…she was about to hit you…” to which Jason replied, “Who? Peggy?” I guess he has a warm relationship with his future mother-in-law. But he laughed too, so it must be all good.

• -We were kicking back on Monica’s patio, and there was a few seconds of silence. Bosco turned to Louie and asked, out of nowhere, “Have you ever been stabbed?” Not “How is your job?” or “What’s the last movie you saw?” I guess we all have our own version of ‘small talk’.

• -When Uncle Vic told us he was going to play his ‘Benny and the Jets’ video (where he performs and lip-syncs the Elton John classic on the piano) at Leah’s wedding, someone asked Leah if she was going to keep the mic away from him. Leah said, “He already told me that my wedding is not about me and my fiancé David.” I wonder if, when Leah said about her wedding “Dad, you’re paying” he thought she said, “Dad, you’re playing” and Uncle Vic started working on his performance.

• -7 months after I left UPS, Gramma Connie says she barely found out this weekend. When I told her I had quit, you should have seen what happened. She pulled a comal and a rolling pin out of her purse and started looking left to right, about to throw down some matriarchal whoop-ass with a look that said, “I brought you into this world…”—and you know the rest. Not quite what happened, but that’s pretty close to it. Call her up and tell her things, y’all. She doesn’t like surprises.

Good times, indeed.

Leah's Wedding: The Date is Set

Alright, y'all. Here it is, word from Uncle Vic himself.

Leah's Wedding will be held on Saturday August 30, 2008 in Morgan Hill, California.

As Uncle Vic says, Morgan Hill is 45 minutes closer to Santa Barbara, so the drive will be easier for us. The time allows us to get our planners and calendars out so we can schedule everything WAY ahead of time. Invitations, he said, will be coming soon.

Uncle Vic guarantees we'll all have a good time, even if he has to get on stage and perform 'Reasons' by Earth, Wind & Fire to make sure...... kidding about that last part, but we know it'll be good times.

Mark your Calendars, folks!

San Jose Speaks

Y'all. Here's a few notes from the Nor Cal Contingent of our Fam. Thanks to Leah for the info!

• My little brother CJ is currently living in San Francisco with our uncle and cousins. He seems to like it but plans to come home late November.

• As for myself, David and I are still on the hunt for a ceremony/reception location. I'm looking for a simple ceremony like the SB Courthouse, and a really nice reception like at the Double Tree Resort. That would be ideal but I don't know the expense for that. So I ask you and the family for your help. If anything comes to mind please let me know. We want this to be a special wedding by visually acknowledging our heritage on both sides telling our story. Any suggestions? I found a wedding location near San Jose that will work for us, and my parents' budget. However, if you or the family think of something in SB please let me know ASAP!

• Happy Halloween!! Today my mom, Gina, and her work team dressed up as cowboys in memory of Uncle Bob :). She looked cute with Uncle Bob's black hat and belt. Her team at work were all very supportive during that rough time. At work meetings my mom always talked about Bob in a positive way.

• My dad, Victor, says he looks forward to seeing everyone at Thanksgiving dinner. Also, his van is a tribute to Grandpa Sal and he's having a lot of fun with it.

• I hope all is well with the family. Love and miss you all!

There you go, folks. Good times on all accounts! Nor Cal, we'll see you all for Thanksgiving, if not sooner.

Cheers!

People In Town

Sure Barack Obama was in town this weekend, along with Stevie Wonder, Sidney Poitier, Forest Whitaker, Chris Rock, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry, Cindy Crawford, Jimmy Connors, Linda Evans, Dennis Haysbert... all for a little get-together at Oprah's.

But so were Leah and her fiance David. They were looking for places to hold their wedding, some time in the future. No word on the success of the trip, but Santa Barbara's a fun place to be anyway, right?

Happy Hunting, y'all!

A Bigger Family, Part I

Leah Hernandez is engaged!

She and her fiance, David (click for photo) visited Santa Barbara over the Fourth of July holiday. So far there are no set plans for a wedding, though a small wedding in Santa Barbara or a ceremony on a cruise have been suggested.

Congratulations to Leah and David.


And Uncle Vic and Auntie Gina, how's your wallet these days?

Just kidding.