HACKED!!!!

Dear Daddy,

I was tired of seeing your old layout... so without your permission, I made an executive decision and changed it :D It's time to drop some of the old, and move onto new and better things! I hope you enjoy rebuilding your blog =) and I hope you like CHANGE! *wink wink!*



Love,
Nikki

Laila Makes Her Grand Entrance

I have had the joy of being at the hospital for the birth of 9 out of my ten grand kids. With my oldest granddaughter it just wasn't possible but God knows if I could have I would have. To me just being there by my kids side is more important than anything else.

So on Monday Nikki was admitted to the hospital at around 6:00 p.m. or so. By 8:00 pm she started feeling the contractions and we knew then that it wouldn't really take that long. We started taking bets, my sister in law, Nikki's mother in law, and my daughter in law said the baby would be here before midnight, I said she would be here between 12:00 and 1:00 am.

Well, guess who won. Of course me, Laila Graciela made her grand entrance to this world at 12:57 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and is pretty as can be. It did not feel like a long wait and for once I did not fall asleep while waiting. Yep, I was pretty awake for this one.


Of course "Jamma" had to be there to give Nikki support but most importantly to deliver Laila to her. My three kids became parents recently and it is their belief that Sylvia had the babies with her before sending them over to us.

So, with thumbs up Nikki said I am ready to have her mom, bring her over. Then Sylvia listened and the contractions started, and then they intensified, and then this smiley face was no more.


Yeap, pretty soon she was doing a 180 and all of a sudden it was like leave me alone don't be asking me to breath and I hate you men. And I think the word epidural, epidural, came out of her mouth quite often. Unfortunately that was not to happen until all the fluids they were giving her were finished.


Finally she got the epidural and in a matter of minutes she once again was a happy camper. Here she is again with her thumbs up gesture. She loves me!


Her husband on the other hand got a thumbs down. Umm I wonder why?


OK, I don't hate you.


And then before you knew it, this was the scene inside the room. Of course after the epidural she did not suffer any more pain. She said it was relatively easy and painless. Lucky Loyiel, he wasn't choked and cussed as I was once upon a time.


It wasn't long till this little princess made her way to my arms. She must have been hungry because she was crying in every picture we took of her during the first hour. It felt so good to have her in my arms, she is my number 10 foe 2010.


This here is the assisting team to the delivering doctor. Jeniffer, Loyiel, and Kika.


And so here we are once again, me congratulating my smiling daughter. She now has the pair, one boy and one girl and I am told that this is it for them. Ummm we'll see if that is true.



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One Saturday Morning

Nikki and Atali.

When el Daddy~O goes missing in action the search parties begin. OK not really but the texts did start coming. Except the daddy was safe and happy as can be, so all is good. In any case I was happy to have a McDonalds breakfast with my daughters, and grand kids, boy I had been wanting one for the longest time and they always told us they just stopped serving them. So this morning Michelle takes off and goes to get them. I must not have been the only one with that idea as shown in this image that she captured.

Holy breakfast line Batman! And there's plenty more behind me!
Nikki and I took off. She was told there was a nail in one of her tires and so we went to a tire shop to get it patched. After that we decided on visiting "mi chica". Yes, how fast time passes, it has been five months but then again if I close my eyes it seems like only yesterday. So chairs off the truck and we camped by her and my dad for a good hour or so.

There we saw this sign and of course Nikki had to take the photo op.

They say that before the babies came to us, and I am talking about Ramon a.k.a. Little Joe and Atali they got to spend some time with Sylvia and that they came to us only when she was good and ready to send them to us. Well, Nikki was kindda like, "Mom, I am ready".

Poor girl, she definitely is ready to bring this baby into the world. So anytime now, my number 10 will be here and we can't wait.



















And of course while there Ducky and I posed for a picture too. Of course we just had too look cool for her.



So, all in all I had a fantastic morning and as I head to Manny's tonight for karaoke I intend to have a fantastic afternoon as well. So, thank you Nikki for hanging with the old man, and just an FYI, no I am not shaving my beard. lol





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Nikki's Baby Shower

So when Nikki said she was having a baby shower, she meant it literally. There must have been over 20 kids there. Michelle and Jeniffer did a great job at putting the party together and in the end fun was had by all. I will not do a big writing on it but I'll let some of these images do the talking.

Enjoy!

Proud parents to be. Loyiel and Nikki. And Laila almost done cooking in that crock pot.
Party goers having fun.
Party organizers Michelle and Jeniffer.
Nikki and the wind joins Michelle and Jeniffer.
Future godmother Crystal and Nikki.
All the way from La Puente California just for this event. My little sister Chely with Nikki.
How many animal cookies are in the jar? My granddaughter Brianna had the closest guess.

I think they'll never get tired of doing this to me. Me... I love it!
Give me an L, give me an A, give me an I, give me another L, give me another A, what does it spell...?
L A I L A

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What a Saturday!

Ah, my FatBoy is so ready to hit the road with his master.
Well, the FatBoy still did not make it to the shop but it's getting closer. Maybe by Monday at the latest it should be on it's way to being road worthy again. Too many cool rides coming up, bike nights are just popping up everywhere and I am so itching to ride.

So this morning as a warm up we drove to Arrowhead Harley Davidson just to window shop and dream a little. It is my hobby to try for size all the bikes I like but in the end I opt that my 94 FatBoy is still a great looking bike.

We got hungry so a quick stop at Hooters for hot wings was required. My oh my, what great looking wings (wink, wink) yep, can't eat just one. Spring training has started so there was a lot of traffic and add to that an Chili Cook off at Arrowhead HD and yes, there was plenty so see. But did I mentioned what great looking wings they had there?

Here's the proper way on how to eat wings, sauce all over the cheeks.
When I returned home my youngest daughter was here and she volunteer for us to go out and do something. But first I had to take a nap. lol Couple of hours and a shower later we were on our way. I chose to go to Target as I needed some things and we just totally made an outing out of it.

Nikki just being... well Nikki.
We came back home and we were on our lap tops listening to music and what not, when I decided I was hungry. Technology being as advance as it is I sent her a Facebook comment asking her if she was hungry, never mind she was only four feet away from me. She quickly replied and in a matter of minutes we were on our way. There's this place that has the best tortas around and if I was not going to have tacos it had to be those tortas. I opted for a torta de milanesa, she opted for the same except while mine was beef hers was chicken. I'm telling you these tortas are to die for. To wash them down they also sell the best aguas frescas I had a fruit punch and Nikki the melon flavor, both ummm ummm good.

So I had my cheese smile and she said it looked creepy. Ummm I just don't see it. lol
After that we said goodbye and were on our way home. What a nice Saturday filled with family and friends time.

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Nikki Graduates

This is the historic Orpheum Theater in Downtown Phoenix.

What started four years ago finally culminated today. Yes my little girl got her Bachelor of Arts, Graphic Design degree from The Art Institute of Phoenix.

A grand Graduation Ceremony was held at the historic Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Phoenix on Thursday September 24, 2009.

The four years Nikki spent at Ai were long and hard. I saw her losing her sanity more than once due to deadlines and cash problems but with the support of her husband and family and her perseverance she finally did it. They celebrated their commencement into the next stage of their training, it is time to start thinking how to make that education pay off big dividends, not to mention loans that will need to start being paid very soon.

The marquee says it all.

I'll be honest, graduations are emotional, and important, but they are boring, I am seriously thinking that my daughter Michelle can offer her party planning services for future graduations. Maybe a little music, key note speaker, music, presentations, music and singing, diploma presentations, surprise celebrity guest, more music, some more singing, and why not let's throw in some dancing too, and since they have a culinary department have them serve hors d'œuvres... just sayin'

*Note to self: Not too bad of an idea! Joe Cool, you are a genius.

I think after they called Nikki's name the second most exciting thing was when some fool --(Whom shall remain nameless... Loyito) blew an air horn in my ear and made me jump from my seat.

The required photo session started promptly after the ceremony, we took pictures with Nikki for about half an hour and then the kids decided to go celebrate with pizza.

I am really proud of my little girl and we are already talking her into not stopping there and go beyond the Bachelors and pursue the next step in her education. Unfortunately it's sort of a never ending game but the future belongs to those that prepare themselves.

In my case with my limited schooling I reached my limit a long time ago, and regardless of how much I know and or how valuable I am the corporate world will not give us a chance to advance. Education is key and the only way to be successful. Trust me I'm in management and I know.

And now, please enjoy the following images from another milestone event in our lives.

Mi chica, our graduate, and I.

Michelle, Nikki, and Juan.

Photo op with the guys.

And then with the gals.

And lastly with her son, whom was more interested in making ugly faces for the camera.

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Celebration Time

My mini coffee bar was stocked and ready. Sweet Mexican bread, and cheese cake as well as a couple of different types of coffee, it was all ummm ummmm good.


Well Michelle and I, but mostly Michelle got the house ready for the fiesta. Since the guys had made plans to go out we felt a simple Cafesito Party would be enough. After all we all like coffee and good company so if you put one and one together it's a winning combination.

After cleaning the kids were sent to nap, while Michelle went to get a hair cut. She picked up the sweet bread, cheese cake, and powder creamer as Nikki requested. I organize a "Cafe con Leche" fiesta and she requests powder creamer, yuck! Ummmm leche!

Loyiel's birthday was last Wednesday, Nikki's was on Thursday, and Frank's was Friday. In addition Loyiel and Nikki's Wedding Anniversary was also on Thursday (Nikki's birthday). The icing on the cake was Nikki's last day of school which was also Thursday. I think Nikki was really celebrating. So they planned to go bar hoping at Westagate on Saturday, and Westgate is a really nice place to do that.


Westgate City Center.

This gathering was supposed to start at 6:00 p.m. and would go on until they left for Westgate but some showed up well after 7:00 and some after 8:oo pm but in our family that is no surprise. The coffee and sweet bread was flowing steadily and the cheese cake too.


Loyiel and Nikki, the birthday couple.


Nikki and birthday boy Frank.


Party people, Michelle, Jeniffer, Nikki, Loyiel, Cindy, and Kika.


Nikki blowing me some kisses and saying I love you Daddy... At least that's what I though she said.

In the end as always we had fun and enjoyed each others company. The weather has been cooperating so we spent most of our night outside in the patio enjoying the cool night air.

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Christmas Tidbits

They brought "Christmas Angels" and "Veteran Stars" to my place of work. I picked a "Veteran Star" and it turns out that all I had to do was buy a pair of large men's boxers. Wow, I guess although a very simple gift it's probably a needed necessity for someone. So to whom it may concern, I hope they fit. A big thanks to my daughter and her husband for going to get them for me late at night since I as usual procrastinated and waited until the last moment.

I knew that after Thanksgiving there were going to be all kinds of goodies to eat at work. I must admit I do try them but I am resisting going for seconds. Man, it's hard when there's so much good stuff coming in daily. There's been, plenty of chocolate, and some very tasty sugar cookies ummmm I really liked those. But to me my all time every year favorite is the caramel popcorn. I just can't get enough of the stuff. So today I got me a handful and walked away, otherwise I would have finished the whole container.

My 5-year old was having a conversation with probably another five year old and apparently this little kid was saying he wasn't happy with his parents. My grandson's reply was simply this and I quote: "You should be happy with the parents you got". Wow, my grandson is not only smart but he is also wise, must have take after a certain grandpa. Yeah, that's the ticket. lol


I'm already a proud grandpa, and then he comes home with a Student of the Month award.

Then my 22-year old daughter was out and about when she text me the following:

I saw something so cute in a store window today. I was gonna get it for you for Christmas but then I realized it was my reflection.

Now tell me that's not cute. I have said it before, I really am a simple man. It doesn't take much to make me happy.

This is how my Christmas season is shaping up. I am no Grinch. Christmas truly is my favorite time of the year. How is your Christmas season going?