Riley's 5th Birthday

Last weekend we drove down to San Angelo with mom and grandma to celebrate Riley's 5th birthday. Friday night we had a celebratory dinner at Texas Roadhouse where Riley got put on a saddle and roped to "Happy Birthday".

Saturday was the big party! Drew and Shelly got everything together down at their awesome cabin, complete with kiddie pool, a pool table, air hockey, fajitas and of course b-day cake. Riley had some of his buddies from school, neighbors and some cousins come out to the house for the party. These blow-up pools these days are a lot fancier than the ones we had as kids. ;) The kids had a blast, and the adults had a little fun too! ;) Then Sunday we had to go home! =( I miss those kiddos so much and have so much fun every time I get to see them!

We head to Italy this Thursday. I'm sure i'll have lot's of pictures to share upon our return! Can't wait!

Mother's Day & Gene's Birthday

We had a very busy weekend last weekend with both Mother's Day and Gene's birthday to celebrate on Sunday! We decided to split the day and celebrate our wonderful moms in the morning and celebrate Gene in the afternoon.

Mother's day was so much fun! Mom and grandma came in and celebrated with Steve's mom and the rest of the family. We all went to brunch at Cantina Laredo and then went to Steph's for cake, gifts and lot's of conversation (mostly about our upcoming trip to Italy). We love our moms dearly and thank God for giving us such wonderful women to look up to, admire and aspire to be like. Thanks moms, you all are the BEST!

Sunday afternoon we turned the focus to our brother-in-law Gene (Geno for the Italian purposes). We went to dinner at Saltgrass and went back to their place for more cake and gifts! ha

All in all, it was a fun filled weekend of celebration!

Baseball with our Lil Bro

Last Friday night we took our little brother Jonathan with Big Brothers Big Sisters to the Frisco Rough Riders game. We had an evening packed with hot dogs, sodas, cotton candy and fun. We all had a good time and got some souvenirs to remember the fun.

Rainy Weekend

It was a rainy weekend which was perfect for staying in the house and relaxing! We did manage to get out to do some Mother's Day/birthday shopping. May has a lot of birthdays in our family and then w/ Mother's Day on top of that, it feels like Christmas around our house! I am glad to say we finished our shopping, so that's good.

Saturday night we went to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (cute) with mom and dad Mota, Steph and Gene which was fun!

Sunday we did some catching up on housework. We spent a lot of time with the dogs who are super entertaining! They have become pretty good friends. I have to say, Buddy really puts up with a lot with his little sister. She's not afraid of him AT ALL! =) See video below for a short sample of our constant entertainment.

Visiting Momma

My mom had surgery, so we went to take care of her as she recovered at home. I am glad to say she is doing well! =) She lives on the Brazos River, so it's always nice to get away, relax and enjoy the beautiful view. We got to spend some time with Shelly, Riley and Kaylin too so that's always fun.

Riley and Uncle Steve enjoyed sitting on the rock in moms backyard overlooking the cliff above the Brazos. While Kaylin loved playing with lil Izzy.

We watched a couple of great movies that I highly recommend 1) Facing the Giants 2) Fireproof. Both are Christian based movies but have great messages!

Buddy and Izzy have decided to be friends which is great news to the Mota household. =) Izzy is a typical lil sister that drives her big brother crazy at times, but for the most part he's pretty good with her. We're proud of our lil kiddos. ;)

Introducing Izzy!

We could not go very long without our precious Tiggy. We were constantly saddened by the quietness of the house as we got home and loneliness of her not being with us in every step we made. So, in an effort to bring a little life and joy back into our home we bought a new puppy!

This new mini pomeranian is named Izzy a Spanish name meaning God is my oath. She is the sweetest little bundle of joy. She looks a lot like Tiggy did as a pup and has a lot of the same mannerisms. We are enjoying getting to know little Izzy and look forward to the many good times we will all share.

Welcome to the family Izzy!
Love,
Mom, Dad and Buddy

Easter 2009

It was a pretty rough weekend with the loss of Tiggy Friday, but we still managed to dry up the tears for some fun with the family on Easter Sunday.

We colored eggs on Saturday night. Then, woke up and went to church Easter morning, which always has a wonderful way of making you feel better. =) We came home and made eachother Easter cards which was so much fun!

Later we headed over to the Mota's for some delicious food, a game of life size chess, a couple of other fun games, Easter baskets and of course confetti eggs! You would think we were still kids, but we all get so excited to get eachother with those silly eggs. We came home and Stephen and I had Easter egg hunts with eachother which was also so fun!

We missed seeing all of my family, but all in all we had a wonderful Easter!

We Miss You Tiggy!

Our loyal companion and best friend Tiggy passed away last Friday afternoon. Stephen got home and let her outside to go potty and play for a little bit like we usually do. She ran around for a few minutes and then started acting a little strange. She just went and sat under a tree. Stephen noticed that she was acting a little funny and called her. Buddy ran to him, but Stephen looked up from Buddy he noticed lil Tiggy laying on her side under that tree. Her little body was limp. Stephen carried her inside with her little heart barely beating and called me. I got to tell her I loved her and I thought she was the best puppy in the world. Shortly after, little Tiggy's heart just stopped. With that last beat, our hearts shattered!

Tiggy was such a special dog that brought so much love and joy to our life in everything we did. We have had such a void in our hearts without her. We never realized just how much time we spent with her until she was gone. She did everything with us and we miss her more than ever!

Tiggy not only brought love and joy to our life, but also to so many others that knew her. I truly felt like we had lost a family member as we had to call so many people to let them know. She had family from college when she was at OCU with me, family all around Texas, a great brother, a wonderful daddy and many many friends from all over. She will never be forgotten and will truly be missed!

Until we can meet at the Rainbow Bridge (see below), she will live in our hearts forever.

Rainbow Bridge
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Super Busy Lately

I have been such a slacker lately at updating the blog! Let's just say things have been super busy with us. Not so much fun and exciting stuff, but work has definitely been taking up some extra time lately. Stephen is still with North Dallas Bank and doing great! I am still with Publicis, but have made some changes internally. My account that I've been working on the last two years decided to take advertising in house (the economy is affecting everyone these days) and I have been moved on to the Glaxo Smith Kline account (GSK-pharmaceuticals). This is a great opportunity that I am excited to explore. Just say a little prayer that the transition is smooth. =) This transition and helping out on 3 new business pitches has kept me very busy, but definitely thankful that I have a job and for the paycheck!

We have managed to get in some good times in the past couple of weeks that I'll update you all on...

We have planned a big family trip to Italy! Stephen and I initially planned it and then thought everyone might want to join us in this once in a lifetime adventure, so we invited both of our families to join us. We are going to have a fabulous trip at the end of May with Steve's parents, my mom and her friend and Steph and Gene. It will be blast and we are really looking forward to a nice break, good eating and good times with the family!

We also celebrated Mom Mota's birthday March 25th. We all got together and celebrated with a delicious Italian dinner and cake and gifts back at Steph's house. Mom Mota got a lot of good stuff to prepare her for the big trip. =)

We also got a chance to meet up with some good friends last Friday night at a benefit for a guy with Ewing Sarcoma. One of my co-workers performed to raise money and we went to watch them. Good times for a good cause and great entertainment. =)

We are looking forward to a fun Easter weekend!