Alaska 2010

Brenda (Ely's mother in law) and I had been planning this trip to Alaska since November last year. This trip met my expectations. I think I will try again next year. And no, I did not see Sarah Palin. The Carnival Spirit, during the summer, leaves from Seattle on every Tuesday. The stops are: The Tracy Arm Fjord, Skagway, Juneau (the Capital of Alaska), Ketchikan and the last port before heading back to Seattle (the following Tuesday) is Victoria, BC, Canada.

I have more pictures posted on Facebook...

Las Vegas hotel owner Steve Wynn splitting headquarters to Asia

David Bellavia... my kind of guy...

Please read David Bellavia's Blog... Especially the following article:

http://davidbellavia.com/2010/our-mission-is-finally-accomplished-anyone-care/

Aurora is 3 years old!

Aurora turned 3 yesterday. Grandma Linda brought a little cake and she practiced at blowing the candles several times. She'll have her birthday party with friends and family on January 31.
Happy Birthday Aurora. God bless you

Ava Marie Masden - January 15th 2010

Mommy & Daddy, Big and Little Sister, Small Feet.
Today was a wonderful day. Aurora is officially a BIG sister. Her little sister Ava was born at 1:05 pm. 6 lb 7 oz and 18" long. She and her mommy are well. Thank you God for little miracles.

Chair Rails for the Masden Girls

Aurora's and Ava's rooms are almost ready. They both got new paint, chair rails and beddings to match. Hopefully the Masdens will finish all this work before the baby (Ava) comes in the next couple of weeks.

El Alma Llanera (Venezuelan Folk Hymn)

Ava's Baby Shower

Ana had lots of family girls (Jenny was not able to come) at her home to celebrate Ava's Baby Shower. We ate good food: pabellon venezolano - shreaded beef, platanos, white rice and black beans (one of Ana's favorite foods). With a nice ice-cream cake. We also played some games and the winners were: Tiffany, grandma Millie, Linda, and Mila.

Mila's Birthday at the Scotts

Mila, Carla and I went to visit the Scotts. They just had arrived from the hospital with Mariana. Since it was Mila's Birthday we had a nice italian cream cake to celebrate.

Let It Snow In Houston - 12/03/2009

Because of the strange weather we had today I decided to take the advise of the boss and left the office early (around 2:00 PM). These are the pictures I took right on the parking lot as I was leaving...

Masden's Xmas Tree

Aurora and her mami went to pick a pine tree to call it their Christmas Tree! Aurora said "this one mami". And Ana agreed. When they got home they worked together decorating it. How pretty their Christmas Tree...!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Our family in Houston will be gathering to celebrate Thanksgiving Day on Saturday this year. We hope and pray that all of you, family and friends, have a Happy Thanksgiving. God bless you and God bless America.

A Paradise in the Venezuelan Caribbean

Would this be the samllest island inthe world? I found this picture when I was searching for more information on Los Roques. This group of islands are located at about 85 miles north of Caracas very close to "La Orchila".
There was a time when I really wanted to go there. I could even include this place in my "Bucket List".
If you want to learn more about "Los Roques" there is a good website: http://www.los-roques.com/index.htm
The reason I started looking for more information on Los Roques this morning was that I saw some of the pictures that my nephew Pedro Rodriguez posted on his FB.
Take a look, the sand is white and the water transparent.

Piece of Texas History

I received these beautiful pecan nuts from Dane Hine. He told me that the property where these pecan nuts came from was originally owned by George McKinstry who was often visited by his good friend Steven F. Austin. SFA is considered the Father of Texas. He came to Texas in 1825 with 300 families (The term The Old Three Hundred is used to described them) and settled what is today Brazoria County.
Steven F. Austin died of pneumonia, in this property on West Columbia on December 27, 1836.

North Houston Tea Party - Nov. 2nd, 2009

Just at the 31 second mark of this video, you can see me near the center of the screen. Could you tell?

The Battleship "NEW YORK"

The USS New York (LPD21) is a stealth ship that was built by utilizing 7 1/2 tons of scrap steel collected from the World Trade Center site. The ship's motto is "Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget!" God Bless America!

Follow the news from today:

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/uss-new-york-comes-home-to-harbor-1.1561686

The Cow Family

The Cow Family went Trick-R-Treating last night. And I run out of candy in less than one hour. Barbie seemed to be the most popular among little girls... The weather was perfect...

The Masdens are Getting Ready for Halloween

Ana, Mike and Aurora are celebrating Halloween at their coldesac. They were working hard when I came home (I was with the Scotts, Mila and Carla celebrating Ted's birthday) on finishing their Jack-O-Lanterns. Aurora is pretty excited. She knows that the whole family is wearing "cow" costumes, even the dogs, tomorrow to go Trick or Treating.

Here is a picture showing Mike's, Ana's, Rora's and Ava's Jack-O-Lanterns.

Happy Birthday Ted @ Chimichurri's

We celebrated Ted's birthday one day earlier at Chimichurri's. According to Jenny this is their favorite restaurant. Mine too :-).

Sunset over Miramar Lake

I happened to be driving back home and the sun setting over Miramar Lake was just breathtaking that I wanted to share it with you all.