Happy Birthday Dear Amber...

Amber~ who is Gorgeous, Sweet, Considerate, Mild Mannered and Selfless, not to mention an Amazing Sister, Mom, Aunt, Wife, Daughter and Friend. Here's to you on your special day!



We share MANY memories, several of which I will not mention here- partially to protect the innocent, and partially to protect myself... Plus your memory is A LOT more extensive and detailed than mine is anyway!




I'll tell you what I do know though, You are amazing! Truly one of the sweetest people I've ever known. You'd give me, and anyone else who is lucky enough to be loved by you, your left eye if asked for it and you probably wouldn't hesitate.

You've helped me so much with Isaiah- especially when he was younger and you made a lot of things possible for me. I want you to know that is and always has been greatly appreciated.

You were the trustworthy rock that I needed while going through so many things as a teenager. It was you who understood and listened while I struggled and you never once passed judgment on me, my position, or my feelings.



It was you who wrote me the 3 page letter, which I still have, convincing me that it was OK to fall in love with one of my very best friends, when I was so scared I'd ruin our friendship. I now have an incredible husband to show for that bit of encouragement.




Even today you stand strong and ready to take what ever the world throws at you or your family/friends. Being as selfless as you are I wonder when you ever do anything for YOU? I hope today, on your birthday, you will. You deserve it all and I'll be here cheering for you when you get it.

I love you sis, Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the BEST friend a girl could hope for!

Tresa! Tresa! Tresa! I don't even know where to begin- maybe at the beginning? I remember the first time we ever hung out we were 12- good old Classic Fun Center! And you were always my favorite to go to the 49th Street Galleria with! Do you remember the picture booths? We loved those. You were always a blast at the mall, and on the bus to middle school. I miss our Java Hut runs before High School and cooking dinner for you in our Condo. I loved your perm... and bangs in 7th grade (or was it 8th)! : ) I hated the look on your face when you found out I was pregnant, I still remember how disappointed you were in me, as any real friend would've been. (Good thing it all worked out!)



I loved kneeling across from you as you married your husband, and I LOVED having you next to me while I married mine.

You have stayed up late to listen to me cry, helped me move out of horrible situations and into your home, you babysat Isaiah at all hours while I worked through things and always lent your most sound advice and then supported me when I decided against it.

You have inspired me in so many ways I can't even begin to list them but I have become a better person for it.

You have truly been the most amazing friend and I am lucky to have you. I hope you know that there has NEVER been one day where I took your friendship for granted and I love you!
(I only wish I had more incriminating photos scanned into my computer)

Thank you so much for all of your unwavering love and support through the last 14 years and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Sweet Dreams

Every parent can appreciate a good nightmare. Not that you ever WANT your kids to be scared but it's good to be needed once in a while. The older Isaiah gets the more independent he becomes and I can't help but love it when I'm needed. He had a nightmare last night and came to ask if he could sleep on the floor by me. After dragging 2 blankets, 2 pillows and 5 of his favorite stuffed animals to our room, he set up camp. Sysco then decided that that was the place to be (he loves pillows too) so he could protect his boy. When I woke this morning, I just prayed they'd sleep long enough to let me snap this picture. Sweet boy, your getting big too fast!

So Proud!

Now let's be clear ~ I have oodles of nieces and nephews, all of whom I am proud of and all for different things but I need to take a minute to share Mathew with the world!

Mathew was born right about the time I turned 16, which meant I got to parade him around town! We went to the Zoo, we went to the park we swung in the hammock and laughed until we couldn't breathe. He was my special little buddy! Now he is much older and pitching for his baseball team, somehow I missed the fact that he is the pitcher and I was so proud when I approached the field and saw a MANZANARES out on the pitchers mound.

It's possible that I embarrassed him a little (I cheer kind of loud) but he grinned and bared it. (Even let me take a few pictures)Mathew has such a special personality and I LOVE to watch him in action. Anyone who has ever met Mathew knows what a sweetheart he is and I'm so proud to be his aunt! Go Yankees!

We Made it!

Well they always say surviving your first year of marriage is the hardest. I'm not sure if we qualify since we'd been together for 4 1/2 years before we tied the knot but we did get through LOTS during our first year of actual marriage. Isaiah's adoption was finalized, Andrews Grandpa passed away and of course other life events between us came about as well. I am proud to announce that there hasn't been one fight, mostly because Andrew refuses to argue with me (where did I find such a gem?)I'm sure we did have a couple of disagreements over the year but truly- none that come to mind. To wake up next to your soul mate everyday is such an amazing blessing and I couldn't be any happier with my life than I am right now.

So what does one do to celebrate an anniversary? We couldn't decide. Wendover? Lava Hot Springs? Something local? So- we made two bags; one contained directions, the other contained time frames and we just randomly drew our anniversary date out of a bag. One of the funnest dates we've ever had.


We drove East and scoped out a river for future fishing, we drove South and found an amazing campground we are sure to visit with the pop-up trailer later this year, we found another river (private but beautiful) and then drove West, and eventually ended up in Midway. Where we found this super cute resort. The Zermatt Resort. It had a hot tub with a rock wall waterfall, two ponds and a carousel for the kids! We even got a free upgrade to the Mini King Suite since it was our first visit, complete with feather pillows, robes and a kitchenette. I don't think we could have planned a better trip! So here's to many more amazing years together.



"The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way."

I survived!

So thankfully my boss is awesome and let me volunteer to be a chaperon for Isaiah's 1st grade field trip to Discovery Gateway. Isaiah was so happy that I was able to come and proudly introduced me to several of his friends "Everyone! Everyone, this is my mom." I'm sure there will come a time when he is not so proud and vocal about introducing me to everyone in sight but until then- I still have my little bubba!

And you will all be glad to know that this parenting class half of you have been babysitting Isaiah for us for - really paid off today. I told my group, "OK, it's going to be hard for me to keep track of all 3 of you, since there's only one of me you guys try to keep track of me, OK?" And what do you know? Those kids were amazing, I'd stand somewhere I could see them all and they'd go play and every minute or so one or two of them would look for me or come by and see if I was planning on moving stations yet. It was great! They all got to take turns deciding which way we went and we all had fun! And when we left I said "Whew, it's a good day when I leave with the same number of kids I came with, thanks for keeping track of me guys" and of course they laughed all the way to the bus!