JUSTIN & SILVIA McLeod

Isa Baby

2012-01-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

Just a few nights ago my nephew McKay, my niece Naomi and I were playing catch the diaper. Baby Isa was having so much fun watching us throw diapers to each other. She was laughing so hard that just watching her laugh makes us all wanted to laugh too. She is so adorable. She loves the kids so much. Every time they come around she smiles so much, and she even tries to talk to the kids. It's so cute!

Watch the this little video of baby Isa laughing of our game!

Humpback whales are my favorite animal next to Ligers

2011-11-03T03:13:00.000-07:00

Silvia and I saw this Photo in our Local newspaper and so yesterday we went out to the Santa Cruz pier to see if they were still around.
Sure enough as we stood at the end of the pier we could see them 200 to 300 yards away jumping out of the water. It was like they were having a big splash contest. I believe they are chasing fish and as the fish swim straight up and jump out of the water so do the whales.

Right below the pier were about 30 seals floating and resting there heads on each others bellies. Then one came swimming up and jumped out of the water in to the middle of them like someone at a concert stage diving into the crowd.

We feel so blessed

2011-11-03T00:08:00.000-07:00

It is crazy how much you can love your kid. It kind of freaks me out. I'm not use to getting worried about things, but now when she is sleeping I'm like, "Dude she's kind of quiet. Is she still breathing." Then I poker her in the stomach to get a grunt.

On day ten we discovered that she had an inguinal hernia, and on day 12 we found ourselves at Stanford's Children Hospital getting surgery. Talk about being scared. Even though it was considered an minor surgery, there isn't really a minor surgery when its your 12-day-old-child.

I am so thankful for the amazing people at Stanford. We met everyone of the surgical team and the anesthesiologist's team (12 in all). They shook our hands and looked us in our eyes and said. "We are going to take good care of Isa." They helped us to feel like we were important to them and that we mattered to them. That helped take the edge off knowing that Isa was in caring competent hands. Needless to say all went well.

Seeing Isa like this brought tears to Silvia

My mom was a great support to us staying with us the entire day and then staying the night with Silvia and Isa. She just makes you feel like everything will be okay when she is around.

Now she is five weeks old and we can't stop staring at her.

She is hypnotizing with her smiles and here little dimple.

She looks like a little doll in this picture.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T23:40:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Patch! with the family.

This was a cute little place with pony rides and corn mazes, but Isa was not totally down with it

Mamae esta uma gatinha! That's right... that is a little Portuguese! I have been trying to speak only Portuguese to Isa so I repeat a lot of the same things over and over again. But... I am getting better.

That is a good looking pumpkin.

There was a farm theme going on at this Halloween Party. Isa was a sweet pea, Max was Corn and Malia was a cow.

I love Halloween. It's the one day out of the year I get to have a full head of hair.

I love how we made so many friends from our prenatal class. Isa has more friends then she knows what to do with. It's fun to watch all the babies grow up together.

Count Boobula differently won the costume contest.

3 More Days of Loving Help

2011-10-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

We felt so blessed to have Silvia's Mom and Sister stay 3 days longer.

They were suppose to fly out Wednesday Night, but Mexico City's Airport (their layover) was having black outs and closed, postponing their flight till Saturday night.

We are going to miss all that good Brazilian home cooking, and being able to leave Isa with them in the morning to catch up on missed sleep. Thank you for all your help. Love you guys.

On their last day we took baby Isa out for the first time.

We walked downtown Santa Cruz and stopping at Betty's for a bite to eat.

Jaqueline really feel in love with this hamburger joint. I think we eat there at least once a week while they were here.

Here are some cute pics from the week of Isa.

Our Birth Story: ISA MARIA McLEOD

2011-09-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

Miracles happen ever day, and Friday was one of the manymiracles along our pregnant journey. Silvia was 13 days late. Wewanted to have a home birth and Friday the 23^rd was the last day wehad before we were to be induced at the hospital.

It was the first day of Autumn, the Equinox. I went to workon a sunny Friday morning at 8:00. At 11:00 I called home to find out that Silvia had started havingcontractions at 9:00. I was justgoing into meet a new patient and I told her that I would call her rightafter.

3 hours old

40 minutes later. “How are you doing Sil?”
“You need to come home right now. Its happening.” I walked in the reception room and told them the great news. I canceled the rest of my day andrushed home.

22 hours old

Silvia was dilating quickly. By noon she was at 5cm and by 5:55pm she was at a 10cm andready to push. That’s when thingsslowed down, and Silvia had to really dig deep. The baby was head down, but was what is referred to as“sunny-side up,” “face-up” or occiput posterior (OP). The back of our baby’s skull was in the back ofSilvia’s pelvis.

Its estimated that 5 to 12% of babies are face up at delivery and this percentage ishigher in first time mothers. It’s common for the baby’s position to changeduring labor. Unfortunately, forSilvia this did not happen. If thebaby is face down the pushing part of labor will take about 2 hours. With the baby sunny-side up it tookSilvia 4 hours of blood sweat and tears. After seeing her power through that, I have no doubt that she can overcome any challenge, any obstacle, A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G in life! Silvia the Brazilian Warrior Queen gave birth to a 7lb 9oz., 21 inch long beautifulbaby Equinox Princess named Isa Maria McLeod.

As the head came out, I placed my hands under Isa’shead and with Kate our midwife I was able to “catch” Isa. Together we lifted her up and placedher on Silvia stomach and chest. Everything was happening so quickly now, like someone hit the fast-forwardbutton, but for Silvia and baby Isa time stood still as their eyes locked on each other. The baby was calm andrelaxed and knew she was safe with her momma. As they lay there we rushedaround them cleaning Silvia and Isa. After an hour of Siliva holding thebaby and having her breast feed for the first time, I was able to hold my baby girl Isa. As we went skin to skin all I remember is feeling gratitude and a deepraw joy that started in the pit of my stomach, that burned through my chest,and flowed out my eyes.

1 hour old

I am a proud Papa Bear.

What does ISA mean?

We named her Isa Maria McLeod. Its pronounced like Lisa but without the "L." Isa has multiple means. In the Philippines Isa means number one, which is fitting for our number one child.

In German Isa means "Strong-Willed One." This has been evident through out the pregnancy and will serve her well through out her life. To be strong and determined.

In Chamorou (Mariana Islands in the South Pacific) Isa means "Rainbow". She was differently our rainbow after the labor storm.

In Arabic Isa means "Jesus." and in Hebrew Isa means "laughter; salvation of God; the Lord helps me." Like Jesus she will be a light to the world and be "the lords help" by helping be the answers to peoples' prayers. I know she was an answer to ours.

Maria is Silvia's mother's name. Its origin is Latin and means "Star of the Sea" This will be fitting when she be comes a famous surfer of the sea.

A Whale of a Good Time with Silvia's Family

2011-09-22T00:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a little video of us on our Sunday strolling down West Cliff Drive whale watching and what have you.

Rookie Mistake

2011-09-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

Silvia's family flew in from Brazil on September 6th in hopes that they could be part of the birth process. The baby's due date was September 10th, and now its the 20th almost the 21st and still no baby. I feel bad because they are were hoping to spend most of their time with the baby. Instead they fly out the following week on the 28th. If the baby was born tomorrow that would only give them 7 days with the baby. We thought it would be nice to have them here for the birth. It never crossed our minds that she would be 10+ days late. Next time we'll have them fly out two weeks after the due date. Rookie Mistake.

In the mean time we have been relaxing by the pool and taking them on walks around Santa Cruz. On Sunday we walked along West Cliff Drive to Natural Bridges' tide pools. We saw a bunch of whales spouting water and then flipping their tales up in the air as they dove down.

We saw a couple pods of dolphins circling around schools of fish while pelican divebombed all around them from above. And of course we saw the usual suspects: seals and sea otters joining the fun.

We took them to the redwoods and strolled along the giants.

Fortunately Santa Cruz is a beautiful place
to be when waiting.

41 weeks and no Baby Yet.

2011-09-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

The Baby's room is already all we need now is a Baby

Sil is 41 weeks and doing great. She gets a little out of breath coming up the stairs and has the sense like she has to pee every 5 seconds. We have been going to our Acupuncturist to get the ball rolling. I have been doing the same pressure points every night. We have been taking long walks, driving over every pot hole in the road and yadda yadda yadda. We want this to happen naturally, but if nothing happens by Saturday our Midwife is going to have us go to the hospital to get induced.

I'm predicting Wednesday evening and Sil is predicting Tuesday Evening?

39 WEEKS AND BABY'S HEAD IS DOWN

2011-09-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Silvia and I went to Wilder State Park and took the classic Prego Pictures. We figured that we had better do it soon since she is 39 weeks now and could go into labour at any time. I know this post is a long one but its a good one.

At 36 weeks our little girl was what is called Frank Breech where the baby is in the pike position with the bum bum down. At this point in time you want the baby to be head down. With the baby breech you become a candidate for a C-Section. Silvia was sad because she really wanted to try and have a natural vaginal birth. As the baby gets bigger is more unlikely that the baby would be able to turn on it's own. Our midwife (Kate who is amazing) transfered us back to our O.B. to do a external cephalic version where they manually turn the baby.

We went in a birthing center at 6:30am where they monitored the baby's heart rate and placed Silvia on an I.V. to try to increase the fluid in the placenta. At 8:00am our O.B. and two midwives placed their hands on her tummy and proceed to try and turn the baby. I held Silvia's hand as she focused on her breath trying to relax as much as possible.

They tried one way and then the other way, but the baby was not budging. After 15 or 20 minutes they stopped and said that it wasn't going to happen. Silvia having been so positive and visualizing the baby turning down was heart broken. She was trying to hold back her tears, but as she ask Dr. Dorherty if she could try one more time later on the tears started to flow. Seeing how badly she want this Dr. Dorherty agreed to try it at noon. Silvia was left to rest and have more fluids pumped in through an I.V.

At noon everyone came back. Silvia slipped away to the bathroom where she offer a little prayer asking for a little miracle that the baby could go head down. As she came back in the room, one of the Midwifes, Morgan sat down and had a little heart to heart with Silvia. She let her know that as hard as they were pushing the first time the chances were unlikely that the version wouldn't work. She said, "Maybe there is a reason the baby is breech that is how the baby needs to be." Silvia nodded her head.

As everyone gathered around the table Silvia looked at everyone and said, "I know you guys can do this. I'll be fine so do what you need to do." With that six hands were placed on her tummy and they began one way and then another. Its seemed like it wasn't going to work again. Silvia was holding my hand taking deep relaxing breaths with her eyes closed praying and visualizing the baby turning. Then about 5 minutes into it hope was sparked as the baby went further than it had before. They quickly checked the heart rate and the baby was doing fine. They went a little more and then a little more. With each step checking to make sure the baby was okay.

Then the baby flipped and went head down. "I thinks its head down!" someone shouted. "Yeah it's head down," someone shouted back. They grabbed the ultrasound and checked and sure enough the baby was head down. The room erupted with cheers and the next thing I know everyone is giving double high fives across the table like we just scored the winning touchdown in the super-bowl. Silvia started crying again, but this time is was tears of joy. We got our miracle!

Baby Shower

2011-09-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my baby shower pictures from last Month. I want to thank Marina, my sister-in-law for putting it all together. It was decorated so cutely with pink flowers, pink water bottles and pink picture frames everywhere.

Thank you everyone who came, and thank you for all the wonderful baby gifts.

I'm heading into my 39th week. My due date is next Saturday on September 10th. Justin and I are getting very excited to meet our little munchkin.

Memorial Day Sand Surfing

2011-06-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

I know its been a few weeks since Memorial Day, but here is a fun video of us trying to catch seagulls and Sand Surfing.

We started the day down at Carmel Beach Soaking up some sunshine and watching the surf. The surf looked pretty fun, but unfortunately we didn't bring any of our wetsuits or boards. That didn't stop me from trunking it. The aqua blue water looked like tropical waters, but it didn't feel like that once I dove in. I started hyperventilating due to the 56 degree water and after a few duck dives I had an ice-cream headache. That may not sound fun, but it sure makes you feel alive. When I got out after 5 minutes my whole body was numb and tingling. It felt like a dentist shot my entire body with Novocain.Then we started to bury one another putting chips and bread on top of our chests. The Seagulls would circle and land on us. I don't know if where trying to catch them or scare them, but non the least it was fun.
We left shortly after and went to the Fort Ord Sand Dunes to do a little Sand Surfing/Sledding. It was pretty epic. After watching the video I was like 'Man, I should have landing that jump,' but when you're doing it the perspective looks different. I was cleaning sand out of my ears for the next two days.

GHOST RIDING OUR WHIPS

2011-05-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

Epic Ride! Getting crazy on our whips.

We went to Waddell Beach and rode up skyline trail towards Berry Creek falls. Along the way we practiced our ghost riding abilities with a few collisions along the way. We missed the best crash where Ryan was surfing on the handlebars and frame and fell off launching his bike off a small cliff.

Here is Amie (22 weeks) and Silvia (24 weeks) looking cute on their crusiers.
After the ride we stopped by the Swanton Strawberry Farm for some unreal Chocolate covered organic strawberries. Everything you buy is on the honor system so you put the money in the cash box and call it good.

Durbin Day Turns to Durin Year

2011-05-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying I usually hate watching American Idol, but Silvia watches it every season. This year I ended up watching a few episodes and got sucked in. The new judges were a step in the right direction and the talent they had this season was insane. One of the best and our favorite was James Durbin who is from Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, he was voted off last week and didn't make the finally three.
James said on stage last night that he was so emotional when he got voted off because he knew that only the top three get to go home and do a homecoming concert. It wasn't until Friday night right before he went on Leno that he was told that they were going to let him do a homecoming concert at the Beach Boardwalk. Silvia, I, the Erye family and about 30,000 other people crowded the beach to watch Durbin rock it live.

Instead of giving him the key to the city, the mayor a Santa Cruz gave him a surfboard to the city and dedicated for the first time ever, not Durbin Day, or Durbin week, or Durbin month, but Durin year. 2011 is official here in Santa Cruz year of the Durbin

Bonfire at 26th Ave.

2011-05-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a bonfire at 26th Ave. It's always a blast just sitting around a fire and kicking it while all the little kiddos run around. We made some yummy tin foil dinners and banana boats.

It's a baby BRAPANTISHGLISDARISH Girl!

2011-05-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

Soooo in case you didn't already know, we are going to have a baby girl. We are super excited. We have a couple of names picked out, but we aren't sure. We want to see her beautiful face first before we decide on anything.Silvia and I have decided not to tell anyone (including family) the names we are considering because everyone has their own opinions. We don't want to hear, "Ohhhh.... really?...you like that name?" or "ummm yeah I knew a girl with that name in the third grade. She was so mean. I think she ended up in jail." the Name Board is still open for suggestions so if you would like to leave a few names in the comment area we will consider them.We are very excited to meet our little 1/2 Brazilian, 1/8th Japanese, 1/8th Scottish, 1/8th English, 1/16th Danish, 1/16 Irish baby girl.

That makes her a 100% BRAPANTISGLISDARISH. A vary rare bread know to be Beautiful, Intelligent, Thrifty, Proper, Tall, and Lucky.

Bambi on our Back Steps

2011-04-29T00:28:00.000-07:00

This isn't the best picture, but image how stunned we were when we saw little Bambi just chilling on our back stairs. We could walk right up to her and be a foot away with out it moving. Bambi stayed there for at least 5 hours until her mama came to pick her up at 11pm.
We noticed that our entire garden was cleaned out, and thought that she was sick from eating the tomato plant which is toxic. It can causes vomiting and cardiac problems for cats and dogs. After three hours we decide to call the fish and game department to see if they knew what to do. They just asked us if we want them to come over to euthanize the baby deer. I was like, "What?... NO! we are trying to save Bambi." They gave us the number to Natural Wildlife Rescue. We called them around 9:30pm. The call went to the home of a little old lady that explained that mama deer leave the baby deer by themselves while they foliage for food. They usually return around 10:00pm to get their babies. We were to call her back if the mama didn't return, because there is a chance that coyotes could find her. Low and behold Mama deer returned and they lived happily ever after.

Boy? or Girl? What do you think?

2011-04-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

Silvia is now 20 Weeks. We are going in tomorrow to find out if it is a boy or a girl tomorrow. We are petty excited. What do you think it is?

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter

2011-04-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter up in Tahoe. Silvia has been in the snow, but this was her first time seeing snow fall. She was pretty psyched about the snowflakes. She finally realized why Americans fold up paper and cut hole in them to make snowflakes.
It snowed all Three days that we were there, scoring some fresh powder on the slopes. Not to many people are thinking about skiing in April so hardly anyone was there. We were getting fresh tracks all day long. Crazy Good.
Here's the little cousins dying their Easter eggs, and here we are doing a little sledding in front of our cabin. Classic.
Family Easter Pictures after church is always a joy with everyone giving their option on where to do it, where is the best light, and how to arrange everyone (a lot of rolling eyes going on).
Over the weekend I just loved watching the little cousins hang out being buddies. They were so excited when they were looking for their Easter baskets that the Easter Bunny hid through out the cabin. And to my surprise there were baskets for the adults too. How does that Bunny do it?
Baby Elle didn't want to have anything to do with me. Every time I would get close she would cling to Matt or April and start crying.

Skyline to Sea Trail 33 Miles

2011-04-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

We started the hike at Castle Rock State park at 6:30 a.m. and ended at Wadell State Beach at 7:30 p.m. for a total of 33 miles. The picture on the right is at the start of the hike looking out towards the ocean with fog sitting in the pockets of the foothills
Usually people do this in 3 days, but our church's Young Mens Youth Group decided to do it all in one day. About 23 people started the hike and only about 13 finished the journey. It is mainly down hill which sounds nice, but in reality it is pretty hard on your knees. By mile 15 I started to get major posterior lateral left knee pain and by mile 20 both knee where screaming for me to stop. They didn't stop screaming till I was done.The last 10 miles are the most epic having to hopscotch across streams and duck under fallen moss covered redwoods.
The cool thing about this hike is that you can smell the end. We could smell the salty ocean a mile before we came around this corner (middle picture above) where you got your first glimpse of the pacific (bottom left picture).
This is a most do. If you don't want to do the entire 33 miles, start at Waddell beach and walk up to Berry Creek Falls (7 miles mostly flat) This is the most beautiful part of the hike.

Silvia Doing Crossfit

2011-04-07T23:34:00.000-07:00

Silvia has been doing Crossfit consistently for a year now. She has been trying to get me to do it, but I'm not quite ready. On her Birthday I went to her Crossfit gym (off Swift) and watched their work out and after seeing them do the Squat, Clean, and Jerk I know that I'm not ready. Check out Sil do her thing, and remember she is 18 weeks prego

30 Things I Love about Silvia

2011-04-06T22:51:00.000-07:00

Happy 30th Silvia

1. I love that where every she goes she makes friends so easily, whether its the lady from DMV that she meet today while renewing her license or the landlord of my clinic who can't stand me but loves Sil.

2. I love that she loves to shake it whether its to the beat of drums in the middle of strangers on a train in Rio or a dance battle between her and me.

3. I love that she knows the lyrics to more American songs than I do and she has only been in America for 5 years. And we aren't talking just recent songs, she knows the 70's 80's and 90's songs

4. I love her smile. It's big, it's beautiful, and its always there.

5. I love how she gets scared so easily. If I pretend that I'm talking to that ghost guy, Jacob from LOST, she'll start freaking out yelling, "Justin that's not funny! Stop that right NOW!.6. I love that she is so clean and organized. One messy person is enough for one household.

7. I love that she is able to look past all my faults and shortcomings and still love me.

8. I love that she is an awesome cook. When she make Brazilian meals just here rice and beans alone are so insanely good.

9. I love to listen to here talk Portuguese with here friends and family. It sounds like she is singing, laughing, and surprised all at once with either a "Nossa"(no way) or "Mayo"(dude) every 5 seconds without fail. If you don't know any Portuguese and want to have a conversation with a Brazilian just say "Nossa" or "Mayo" every now and then and you could be there for a solid hour.

10. I love that even though she doesn't like surfing, she'll go out and charge Cowells on beach days.

11. I love how she is so dedicate to Crossfit. She has gone 3-4 times a week for the last year.

12. I love how after taking self-defense classes for 2 months at I.M.S., there's a good chance she can choke me out if we wrestle.

13. I love how when we go to the beach she knows everyone on the volleyball courts, and everyone is so excited to see her.

14. I love that last Friday she let me go surfing three times and was excited that I went that many times in one day. That might change when the baby gets here.

15. I love that she loves my family as much as I do and she really makes herself apart of their lives.

16. I love that the first time we meet he gave me the biggest hug and was so excited that I made it to the beach house even though she didn't know me. She just makes people feel welcome, wanted, and loved.

17. I love when she pronounces the California state flowers as "Puppies."

18. I love how competitive she is. She never wants to loose a volleyball game even if its a friendly game at the church.

19. I love how she has such a strong faith.

20. I love how she is willing to sacrifice her own time and energy to help others.

21. I love her laugh and how through her eyes you can see pure joy.

22. I love how she puts me in my place when I'm wrong which is pretty often, but then forgets about it 5 minutes later.

23. I love how she says that she is going to speak to me in Portuguese all day so that I can learn it and then 5 mins. later she forgets and is speaking English to me again.

24. I love how she sings in the shower the latest Black Eyed Peas' song.

25. I love how she makes every kiss count.

26. I love how she continues to grow and learn and push herself, like how she is learning a third language.

27. I love how she gets hooked on the most retarded shows on T.V. like the "Flavor of Love" and "American Idol." But I must say American idol is much better this season with their new judges and James Durbin, Pia and Paul McDonald are pretty amazing. They'll be in the top three for sure.

28. I love how she makes me get hooked on the most retarded shows on T.V. I can't believe the Bachelor this season. What a stiff robot.

29. I love how when we hold hands they just fit.

30. I love how when she hugs me I know I am loved.

Happy Dirty Thirty Silvia, Love Lots, J

Floods, Mudslides, & Rain Oh My.

2011-03-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

We got about 8 and 1/2 inches of rain in Santa Cruz this last week which doesn't sound like a lot. After seeing that video you realize how much that means. Thursday was crazy, flooding Capitola Village. The San Lorenzo river which is usually about two feet deep was 18 feet deep. I drove past it on Thursday, and I have never seen it that high before. Saturday was equally crazy flooding Capitol again. All that flooding that happened in Capitola is where we use to live on River street.

While driving through town it was chaos with mini mudslides everywhere and trees falling down blocking multiple roads, including Hwy 17. At a red light at one intersection that was flooded I opened my truck door to see how high it was and it was just below the bottom of my door. Another inch and it would have been coming into my truck. It looks like the worse is over. Thursday will be sunny and 80 degrees. I'm ready for Summer to be here.

SAY HELLO TO OUR LITTLE PEANUT!

2011-03-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

I'm Pregnant! I just got through my first trimester. I am 14 weeks and 4 days now. Justin and I are so happy that it finally happened. What a great miracle! We have been trying for over two years, and we were trying everything. We started with acupuncture, body basal temperature charting, ovulation tests, better dieting. After a year of this we ran some tests on Justin and we went to our obgyn and started a round of Clomid. Still nothing. After some tests were done it was found that there was some scar tissue blocking the cervix. I did a minor surgery to clear the scar tissue. We went back to the clomid, acupucture, body basal temperature charting, ovulating tests and still no results. It is so hard every month waiting and hoping to see if your pregnant only to be disappointed time and time again.

Since it seemed like nothing was working, I told Justin "That was it. I am done. I just want to relax, breath and not stress about it anymore." So the next day I called my obgyn and told her that I was done with the clomid, and thatI was taking a break from everything. She agreed with me, but she referred Justin and I to a specialist.

So Justin and I went to see our specialist, and our jaws hit the floor when we heard the prices. For 15,000 we would have a 40% chance of getting pregnant. We decided to go for it. We set an appointment two weeks later for Justin.

The night before we went in for Justin's appointment I took a pregnancy test because I was two days late. For the first time it was positive. When I saw that it was positive, I couldn't believe it. My brother in law was just walking by my room and he heard me talking to my self saying "Is this for real? I can't believe it. Noooo could this really be true?"

We ended up still going in for Justin's appointment. As he was getting his blood drawn we found out that his test was going to cost over $1,000. We told the nurse about the home pregnancy test and so they canceled Justin's tests and took my blood, to confirmed that I was pregnant.

Anyways, I was able to get through my first trimester. It was a little tough. I felt sickness hear and there, but only puked once. I was feeling super tired, a little grumpy, and very emotional at times. I also had a hard time with certain foods, and their smells. I just finally started to feel better. Now I am back to my normal routine of working out, eating better and being in a better mood.

We are just so happy with out little peanut now and so excited to meet he/or she in a few months.

Surfing the Tsunami in Santa Cruz

2011-03-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

This is right before the 2nd Surge of the Tsunami at Cowells in Santa Cruz around 8:15. I've never seen the ocean sucked out like that before. It pulsed like that every 10 minutes until 2:00p.m. Usually it comes right to the stairs. I Surfed with my buddy Mark from 6-8a.m. at Little Wind n' Sea. When we pulled up to 26th street, there were 3 sheriff cars in the parking lot. The cops told us that the beaches were closed. I already had my wetsuit on and I was thinking 'I didn't wake up at 5:30 for nothing.' We danced around them and paddled out at rockview. The surf was epic with no one out. We could see one guy at 26th and only 3 guys at Sewers. There were tons of people on the cliffs watching for the surge. We figured we would get out if the water receded. In hind sight that plan would not have worked if it was anything thing like the Tsunami that hit Japan. We would have been sucked out and unable to paddle in. We didn't see any of the fotage of what happened to Japan prior to paddling out, other wise we won't have gone. At least I hope that I won't be that stupid. After seeing what happened to Japan my heart and prayers go out to them.

What these if you want to smile

2011-02-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

These are some of my favorite videos on youtube. I watch them when ever I want to feel good. They are created by Devin Graham and you can check out more of his movies on his website. Enjoy

Justin McLeod Raps about his Saturday

2011-02-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

Song Title: Saturday Trifecta: Surf, Skate, Bike
written by Mac J, not to be confused with his little brother J Mac

Woke up quick way before noon
Just knew I had to go surfing soon.
strapped with our 9 point Oh's
Cruizin West Cliff hangin out the windows
Diego Mike was super psyched
Five guys at the Lane that's crazy insane
5 toes over da nose it feels like Indo
Hate to leave waves so legit, but its time to split

My droid starts buzzin
Its Marky Mark my cuzzin
"Lets hit the Ben Lomond Bowl!"
"Say no more I'm sold."
Padded up up from our nose to toes.
Only ones there over thirty years old
black skinny jeans long-haired teen
be checking out my scene
stink-eyeing my Rollerblade wrist guard
I bust a sick grind to show him who's in charge.

It's getting late and I'm sick of my skate
so I rally with my bike posse at Wilder State
My baby's momma be looking so fine
Times 2 when biking from behind
We find the secret Cove where nobody goes
Where the lil' Boyz go bye bye and NayNay be getting high
The sun starts settin so we start headin
Saturday is a special day
times 2 when playin in da Monterey bay

"Is Silvia Black?"

2011-01-30T16:07:00.000-08:00

Ethan is our 7 year-old nephew who lives right down the way from us here in Santa Cruz. He was watching Opra with with his Mother Marina. Opra was interviewing the first lady, Michelle Obma. Ethan turned to his mom and said, "Sooooo Silvia is black right?"

Ummm no (pause) she is brown." answered Marina trying to make it as simple and as accurate as possible. "Sooo when Silvia and Justin have a baby it will be brown? asked Ethan. "Well.... yeah," replied Marina. Ethan began to laugh saying "So000 Justin will be the only white person in his Family."

Pretty Funny

Surf Trip

2010-12-05T22:46:00.000-08:00

I stole this from my friend's Blog, Ice Cream Barrels by Sam Jones. Its pretty rad

2010 ThanksGiving Santa Cruz

2010-11-27T19:16:00.000-08:00

We had Thanks Giving at our house in Santa Cruz this year.
When we planned on having it at our house I was thinking 'this is going to be great. I'll wake up and do a dawn patrol surf, come back and make some mash potatoes and stuffing, stuff my face and then go out for a evening sessionUnfortunately, the waves disappear right before Thanks Giving and won't be back till next week.We substitute the surfing with some mountain biking, a nice walk along the beach, and a movie (We saw "Unstoppable" which was lame. Total surprise ending. Captain Kirk stops the train and gets back with his X. I thought for sure the train was going to crash and everyone was going to die and his X was going to end up with the police officer and huge house from the settlement the railroad company would have paid out).Here we are walking down the 3 mile trail to the beachWe did the black Friday thing at Urban Outfitters. Marina told us everything with going to be 50% off. It turned out only the lame things that were on clearance were an extra 50% off. So I ended up buying a bunch of crap I don't need. I was just following people and when they went to grab something I would act like I was trying to grab it. I just wanted to get in a tuck-o-war over some skinny jeans.
And what would Thanks Giving be with some games (Liars Dice and Bang), and a little football. (Did you see how Boise State Game. That was an incredible game which ended their 24 game winning streak. I feel so bad for that kicker.)

2010 Halloween Encarnacion & NACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

2010-11-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

I don't like the way those guys just looked at you. HEY! Can't you see this woman is a nun?

Well, my favorite color is light tan. My favorite animal is puppies. I like serving the Lord. Hiking, play volleyball... You gotta be kidding me. Everything you just said, is MY favorite thing to do, every day!
They think I do not know a buttload of crap about the Gospel, but I do!
My life is good! Really good! I get to wake up every morning, at 5AM, and make some soup! It's the best. I love it. I get to lay in a bed, all by myself, all of my life! That's fantastic!

On our way to Trunk or Treat!

The Sunday before we got together with friends and Family for a little carving session

Mckay was going for the Down Syndrome look

DISNEYLAND & CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

2010-10-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago Justin and I went to Disneyland and California Adventure with Justin's best friend Ryan and his wife Amie. It was my first time at Disneyland, and I had so much fun. I don't know if you all know this about me, but I am very afraid of heights and I don't like anything that drops my stomach, for example roller coasters.
So I asked Justin, "How's the rides at Disneyland?" and he said, "It will be fine and easy you are going to like it, but California Adventure will be a little more challenging for you".
Anyways here are the only few pictures we got at Disneyland and California Adventure.

This was our little drop at Splash Mountain. I can't believe I was so scared. Look at the little girl behind Justin. She is fearless.

This was the Tower of Terror. It is an elevator that goes all the way up and drops you all the way down.

Berry Creek Falls Hike at Big Basin

2010-07-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

We love a good hike and the Berry Creek Loop at Big Basin is pretty epic. The highlight of this very popular hike is a 60 foot waterfall found after four miles of pristine redwood forest in a steep-sided canyon.

This time of year you can find the creeks full of California newts.

It's always fun crossing over on giant redwoods

Here we are at the Berry Creek Waterfall with our friends Ryan and Amie.

Help us Pick the Winning PIc

2010-07-01T23:21:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging lately because I recently joined the world of FaceBook, another wonderful way I seem to waste my time.

So anyways, our Photographer Glady sent us our pictures. Here are just some of our favorites. Please let us know which one you like the best. The winner will be our new blog picture.

And for those of you who follow our blog, you may remember an earlier post of Silvia's and my dance off. Well, I just want you to know that Sil and I have been practicing a few new dance moves like the reject, the jerk, and stanky leg and may need some judges to let us know who is the best.

4
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6This is at one of my surf spots, 4 mile. From the parking lot you can't see the ocean. I love running down the trail and hitting this point where you first see the waves and either start sprinting or start walking depending on how good it is.
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10Glady did such a good job of letting us be us and then capturing the moment.

11Look at Sil. She is so Beautiful. Jack Pot!

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13This is on the path down to 4 mile
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15This is at the Light House Point, aka The Lane. The Red Schwinn was my Grandpa Suzuki's bike back in the day. It's a classic cruiser.

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Photo Session with Glady

2010-06-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

We had the world famous Glady from San Francisco come down for a photo shot. It was really fun having her and Chris come down and take pictures of us at some of our favorite corners of Santa Cruz. We figured we should get some pictures of us before Justin looses all his hair. Needless to say we love the pictures. Click here Gladys Jem blog to see our photos by Gladys.

Thank you Glady

Let us know which ones you like.

Memorial Day Boogie Boarding

2010-05-31T18:14:00.000-07:00

My little niece Naomi, who is 22 months, loves the ocean. When I tell her we are going to the Beach she says in her little voice, "Wetsuit." Then when we are at the beach and I'm putting on my wetsuit she'll walk up to me and say in her little voice, "Boogie." Here is a little video of me and her boogieboarding at Capitola jetty.

Tour of CA came Through Santa Cruz

2010-05-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

The Tour of California came our way and we were excited to be at the final stretch of Stage 3 in Santa Cruz. They came by so fast it was insane. If I stuck my arm out I could have caused a 30 person train wreck. We looked for Lance Armstrong, but they all look the same when they are going by at 40 mph

Dawn Patrol at the Lane

2010-04-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

There is not much that can get me out of bed at 5:30 A.M. but surfing Steamer Lane with glassy head high conditions with only 4 guys out is one of them. Here is a little video of me shot by Robyn on her iphone (hence the quality is not that great). I had been doing a lot of shortboarding earlier in the week, so this morning I went out longboarding with my brother-in-law Mike.

Whack the Cracker is the new Craze

2010-04-16T00:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came last weekend to Celebrate our Birthdays. We had so much fun, but the highlight was playing Whack the Cracker. This game involves tying a Saltine Cracker to the back of you pants and running around with a rolled up newspaper or magazine and trying to break the crackers of others. The last one standing wins.

Silvia and I both still have welts from running through the spanking machine. It's pretty funny to watch. You can watch the video down below, but its a little cut off. Click here to watch it on youtube.

Pre-Easter Surf Session with the Family

2010-04-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

We had Easter in Santa Cruz this Year. The day before we went to Cowells for a little surf session. Melissa had an interesting Skiing style on the Surfboard. Silvia was charging and Mackenzie was just getting warmed up for BYU Hawaii next year. Mike had another great wave at the end, but the batteries ran out. I surfed every day that week so I just took one for the team and filmed.

The right side of the Vid is a little cut off to view on youtube click here
To see more video of ours, type in 123mcleodjustin123 in the you tube search.

Dying for Easter

2010-04-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

This year we dyed Easter eggs with some of my old silk ties. Here are some pics of some of our eggs
Here is the link to the instructions if you want to try it out yourself:
www.ourbestbites.com/2008/03/silk-dyed-eggs.html

Check out the Cowells Beach Video

2010-03-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

Beach Day at Cowells

2010-03-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

I love this photo of Naomi sporting her new little wetsuit. The flash went off and kind of blew it out and gave it a cool effect. Anyways. . . I guess summer is here so we made Saturday a beach day with 20 or so friends and family who live here in Santa Cruz.
El Nino has brought a lot of westernly swells that pushed in a lot a sand creating an amazing sand bar/beach at Cowells. It use to only break on a low or negative tide, but now it breaks a day long.It is perfect for the kids to start learning how to surf and boogie board. And it great for the adults who can paddle outside to the waves that seem to peels forever.

Our new niece Elle Suzuki Headrick

2010-03-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

My sister April and her husband Matt Headrick just had a baby girl. She is the cutest little thing. That's a total or 9 nieces and nephews. Sil and I have to jump on this baby train soon before Jeff (my little brother who is 20 and on a mission in the Dominican Repulic) starts have little kids. We are getting smoked by everyone. Maybe we will have to have twins to catch up.

Point Lobos State Park

2010-03-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we took the day off work and went down to Carmel. We walked around Carmel for a little bit and found a cute little restaurant called Carmel Belle that we highly recommend.
After lunch we went to Point Lobos State Park and hiked along the coastal trails checking out the tidepools and sea lions.
Point Lobos name is Derived from the offshore rocks at Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Point of the Sea Wolves, where the sound of the sea lions carries inland, the Reserve has often been called "the crown jewel of the State Park System."

Closing Prayer Disaster

2010-03-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

Ok so last sunday I was asked to say the closing prayer at the church. The first speaker spoke, and I guess I wasn't really paying attention to his talk. After his talk, the congregation started to sing the intermediate hymn, but I thought it was the closing hymn. I got up during the 2nd verse and started to walk towards the pulpit. This drew a lot of attention of a few families who suddenly started looking at me wide eyed like they were trying to send a message via ESP.

When I got up to the pulpit I sat down waiting for the hymn to end. I looked at my friend Iris and she was lipping, "It's not time for a closing prayer?" I didn't quiet get what she was trying to communicate. Bringing my hands together into the prayer position I lipped back, "Yes I'm the one saying the closing prayer." She lipped back very clearly this time "It's not time for you to say a closing prayer." When I realized that she was right I looked at the whole congregation and they were all smiling and giggling. I looked at the bishopric and they were looking at me smiling ear to ear. I whispered to the Bishop if I could just stay up there. He Gave me a nod of approval.

So the second speaker got up, and before he started his talk he looked at me and motioned with his arm towards the pulpit as if to say, 'Do you want to come and say the prayer?" The whole thing was pretty funny. Very embarrassing, but very funny

P.S. By the way that happened to me (Silvia).

BAREFOOT RUNNING Is Good for you Sole. TRY IT!.

2010-02-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

I have bore my Soles 7 times now and love it. I do feel little awkward running past people barefoot. I don't know if it's in my head or not, but some seem to look at me a little cockeyed. But, here in Santa Cruz there are weirdos everywhere. I'm just keeping Santa Cruz weird I guess. It has been fun trying something new. Usually when I start running on a regular basis, I am injured two weeks later due to shin pain, knee pain and/or hip pain. I have no pain now.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

When I tell people that I'm going to run barefoot in my next triathlon they look at me cockeyed and by their facial expression I know their internal dialogue is something like 'that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.' Then they force an awkward smile and ask, "doesn't that hurt?". My answer is, "No, not really it actually feels good." If you run 10 miles the first day then, yes it will hurt.

You are using muscles that you have never used before. As you transition to barefoot running, you should start slowly. Ease into your mileage and listen to you feet. Most runner’s require 3-4 weeks before achieving ~80% of their regular mileage. Over the last three weeks I have worked up to 1.5 miles (yesterday) and everything feels great. I listen to my feet. As soon as they begin to ache (the arches usually), I stop.

I was introduced to barefoot running by my friend Sam Jones who was raving about a book called BORN TO RUN. This New York best seller seeks to dispel the myth that you need an overly supportive, cushioned, orthopedic shoe-boot in order to push the limits of human potential in running and exploring the world joyfully. I Highly recommend this book. I read it in a day and it helped me understand why I kept getting injured.

Barefoot running may not be for everyone (Eric Hanson who is a Pansy). But don't knock it, till you rock it! Let go of the stigma and set your feet free. You'll instantly run softer and your biomechanics will automatically change, by running more on your forefoot instead of heel striking (which cause more stress

and torque on your knees and hips). Besides.....its fun to be a hippie! Try it!

Top to Bottom on my Bottom

2010-01-19T23:32:00.000-08:00

Justin and I went to Tahoe last week to do some skiing. Upon arriving at Sugarbowl, I was stoked to learn that they were giving free lessons which I took full advantage. It was only my second time skiing. Justin is a great teacher, but he always wants to push me past my limits.

After day one and two Justin was so impressed by my new ski skills that on day 3 he decided to ski with me. He took me all around the mountain. I was feeling so confident and having such a good time. But, then Justin seemed to forget that I was on day 3 and took me up to the top of the mountain. When the chairlift went over some cliffs I began to think to myself, "Great! Justin is trying to push me past my limits again. When will he learn what is fun for him is terrifying for me."

When I got off the chair and saw how high I was, I started to freak out. I felt my legs starting to shake and feel like jello. I felt like I was about to go number 2 in my pants.

I tried to think positively in my head "I can do this! I can go down. Everything will be fine." Despite my incantation, I couldn't stop thinking about how steep it was and all the possibilities of breaking my neck.

So Justin went half way down the ski run and signaled me to follow. I felt paralyzed and tried to slide down side ways. After 5 feet I started to beg Justin to let me go down on my bum. He would look at me saying "no! you can do it! Come down side ways." At this point I was so mad at Justin for making me do this that all I wanted to do was punch him in the gut.

Since going down sideways was not working, Justin had wrap my arms around his waste, guiding me down slowly, but that only worked for 30 seconds before we fell on top each other.

After 30 minutes we were only half way down. I got past the steepest and bumpiest part of the hill. The 2nd half of the hill didn't seem as bad which gave me more confidence. I started my incantation again, "I can do this, I am in control." 20 crashes later, I made it all the way down. Even though I hated going through that experience, I was proud that I was able to ski from top to bottom on my third day.

Feliz Natal

2010-01-11T12:21:00.001-08:00

I was at work one day and left to get some lunch. When I came back I saw a piece of paper inside my laptop that read, "Merry Christmas, Love Lots Justin." I kept reading and realized that it was a ticket to Brazil. Justin surprised me with a ticket to Brazil to see my family over Christmas. Yahooooooo!
I was to arrive on Christmas Eve and wanted it to be a surprise for my Mom, but unfortunately, while my sister was picking me up at the airport a friend had called the house asking my mom if I had arrived yet. Here I am with my family and friends; Jorge, Bete, Mom(Maria), me, Rosa, Ana, Camila, Dani, Rosa, Yasmine ... Christmas dinner.

I went out to lunch with olds friends to catch up with new gossip. Love you girls ... Starting to the left is Aline, me Hannah and Mayra. I had an awesome day with them.

There is nothing liking hanging out with friends that you grew up with. They're like your roots, giving you the foundation to grow and be strong. I love them. Starting from the left me, Pri Bahia, Joyce, Vanessa and Camila. I had such a great day.

I love Brazil, but really its because Brazil has the people I love so much. Hope to see you guys soon. Beijos XOXO

I'm in Time out For 31 minutes

2009-12-20T13:17:00.000-08:00

The follow is a dialogue between my Nephew, Mckay who is 3 years old and me.

Justin: That movie was so stupid!
McKay: Hey you said stupid! When I say stupid I have to go to time out.
Justin: Well, I was trying to say stupendous.
McKay: But you said stupid.
Justin: You're right. I shouldn't have said that, do I need to go to time out?
McKay: Yes. I have to go to time out for 3 minutes because I'm 3. Ethan has to go to time out for 5 minutes cause he's 5. How old are you?
Justin: 31
Mckay: So you have to go in time out for 31 minutes.

I ended up going to my room for 31 minutes for time out. Thank Goodness for wireless internet.

This is McKay walking his bike back up our single track in our backyard. There is a mountain bike movie we watched where all the pro bikers walked their bikes' back up the jump course.

Have you ever peed your pants while talking to someone?

2009-11-21T20:26:00.000-08:00

Well, I have. Last week we had a big swell. I did a double surf session on Friday and Saturday. On the Saturday afternoon session I suited up with my buddy Mark and went to indicators (by the Lane) with out checking it. It was all mixed up and so we left to check some other spots. We spent the next 2.5 hours checking spots with our wetsuits on. We finally said we were going to go out at Rio Del Mar no matter what. As we were walking on the beach, I realized that I had forgotten something in my car.

As I was walking back, a lady asked me if I had a cell phone. Her car had died. I was thinking 'Oh man! We have 30 minutes of light left because we have been driving around so much and now I have to help this lady.' I also had to go pee really bad. I had been holding it in for the last hour and half. I needed to jump in the water so I could go to the bathroom. As the lady was talking to AAA, I decided to just go pee in my wetsuit. So as we are standing there talking, I'm peeing in my wetsuit. About a minute later this yellow stream starts slowly dripping out of both of my booties. I shift over and position myself strategically so the yellow stream goes behind me. It was pretty noticeable so I told the lady, "I think there is better reception over here," as I walked her away for the the now yellow puddle. Mark came back because I was taking so long.

"Don't you have jumper cables?" he asked.
"Ummmm oh yeah," I replied. I had to get in my car with pee filled booties and drive over to her car. We set it up and she asked if I would start her car. So obviously she didn't see that I had peed myself and I wasn't about to say, 'No I better not because I'm soaked with pee right.' So I got in and started it right up. As I got out I could see two wet footprints in her car. Nasty!
To make matters worse we both decided that the break was closing out and we wanted to go back to pleasure point. Unfortunately, Mark has peed in his wetsuit too while waiting for me. We put towels on the seats and floor mats and drove another 10 mins back in our pee saturated wetsuits only to get about 20 minutes of day light.

Pinicles National Monument

2009-11-15T21:55:00.001-08:00

This weekend We took some of the young men from church to Pinnacles National Monument to do some rock climbing. We had a super fun time.Here I am tying Mckay in for his first time climbing

My brother-in-law Mike and my two nephews Ethan, McKay tagged along with us on our adventure

There were some fun caves that we explored.

Here is Mike and Ethan climbing. Ethan did pretty good.

Some of the boy found this tarantula. Apparently, the males are out cruising looking for some females, but the females haven't come out yet.

NEW MEXICO & BYU's FIGHT CLUB

2009-11-10T22:36:00.000-08:00

On Nov 6, 2009 in the playoffs #15, Lambert, the unfriendly lion goes Crazy on BYU's Carly Payne. I worked with Carly's Dad in his Chiropractic Office. Talk about a cool family. Carly, way to represent Foothill High, and Pleasanton 1st Ward. Good luck in the conference championship. Go Cougs

Happy Halloween from the Land of OZ

2009-11-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

"Puttum Uuuuup......Puttum Uuuuup"

Picking a costume for Halloween is so hard. You want to be something ordinal and funny, and at the same time doesn't cost a lot of money and time. At first Sil was going to be Micheal Jackson and I was going to be a zombie from Thriller. If your going to do Mike, you got to do it right. We were scared it wasn't going to come out right so we then thought about being Dora the Explorer and her cousin Diego. Then all of a sudden a tornado came through Santa Cruz and we got blown into the Brazilian version of Oz.

And for any possible confusion, I'm the Cowardly Lion. I'm not from "Cats"

Attack of the the Giant Toads in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

2009-09-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

After Montezuma we headed to the Southern most point on the Nicoya Peninsula on the Pacific where the waves are large and in charge. We arrived in the middle of a large southern swell where we were dropping in on 9-16 foot faces.

Rob found us this awesome house nestled in the hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean, It's a 55 acre private reserve with an infinity-edge pool.

At night we would go swimming and while floating on our backs we would stare up at the stars. Sil and I saw the coolest shooting star ever.

The property is a tropical Garden of Eden, with mangoes, grapefruits, papayas, oranges, bananas, star fruit, and pineapples, as well as lush flowering shrubs and trees growing throughout the property. It is surrounded by deep jungle ravines on all sides.

There was a lot of wild life there. At night there was a little too much. Despite the radness of the house during the day at night it turned into a war zone. The house had an open venting system in the ceilings and floor so that air could flow through it. Unfortunately, so could bugs and giant toads. Each night we would come home and find giant toads in the kitchen and living room. As we ushered them out with a broom they would pee all over the tile floor. (See the Video at the end). Then as we would read our books by the light, giant moths the size of humming birds would buzz our heads as they went for the lamps. I let out some serious girly screams. Silvia had a hard time sleeping there. Finding Tiny cockroaches in our bed before we went to sleep didn't help. (All of these are pictures Sil took just out side of the house)We would wake up with the sun rising and the Howler Monkeys doing there hooting and Hollering. Our stay was amazing and extremely entertaining. It was a very memorable three nights all for only 150. That's 75 per couple. Which is only 25 a night. I think we scored. Sil might think otherwise.

This is a short Vid of us chasing Mr. Toad and my funny Bathroom walk.

Montezuma, Costa Rica

2009-09-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

After a long flight, a 3 hour drive, and an hour long ferry ride our friends, Rob and Megan, and Silvia and I made it to Montezuma, Costa Rica. Montezuma is located on the tip of the Nicoya Pennisula. It is a small bohemian beach town full of artists, backpackers, and rastafarians. It was late when we got in so we crashed in our cute bungalow.

The next day we walked 20 minutes south of town to the Montezuma Waterfalls. We couldn't find the trail so we just made our own hopscotching across the rocks following the river till we hit the first waterfall.

The 2nd and 3rd waterfalls are just above the first, but they aren't easy to get to . You have to climb up the side of the mountain holding on to tree roots.

The trails aren't marked so you have to kind of guess on where to go to get there. Silvia was a little sketched out and wanted to turn back so I had to act like I knew where I was going. It wasn't until I almost lead everyone off a cliff that I said "Fine we'll go back." But as we were going back we stumbled on the trail down to the 2nd and 3rd waterfall.

Here is Video of me jumping off the 2nd waterfall. There's nothing like being surrounded by the jungle and jumping off a 50 foot cliff.

Yosemite Bear Attack

2009-08-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

Sil's one wish in going to Yosemite was to see a bear. We pulled into Yosemite Valley at 1:00 A.M. Friday night and Sil had to go to the bathroom super bad. We were walking through Curry Village with our head lamps on when Sil stopped suddenly and let out a yelp. Pointing to the gift shop she whispered, "Look there is bear inside the store."
"Ummmm that is a wood carving of a bear," I replied.
"Ohhhhh I don't have my glasses on. I can't really see."

Saturday we went climbing out in Tuolumne. We top roped at a place called the Western Front and climbed "Green Eggs and Ham" and "March or Dimes"

Here is Christian, Damaris and Enzo Palmer who we tagged along with. I can't believe at eight month prego Damaris went camping for 5 days. She was trying to convience us to let her do one of the rock climbs. (You can see the back side of Halfdome to the left of the Palmers)

On Sunday they had an LDS church services in this cute little church with Sentinal Rock behind it and Yoesmite Falls infront of it. It was a really good service about keeping the Sabath day Holy. One of the speakers, Brother Hill use to live in Pleasanton and coach my city league basketball team when I was 12.After church we broke the Sabbath by jumping off this bridge and swimming in the Mered river. Why does it feel so good to be so bad

Sil Goes Undeafeated at the Harbor

2009-07-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

Sil and her Partner, Delavane took 1st place this weekend down at the Harbor Beach Open Womens Single A. They went undefeated the whole day!!! Here are some pics of this high flying duo.
Watch out! They will smash it in your face. One girl had "Sparling" tattooed across her forehead from a hard spike.
The Champs! Sil plays in another tournament next Saturday at Main Beach's CBVA. Look out Missy May we are coming for ya.

Miracle on 26th St.

2009-07-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

It's a Miracle that Sil and I had F.H.E. and it happened at 26th Ave. My brother Jeff and his girlfriend, Ingin (sp? She is from Norway so I don't know how to spell her name.) were down on Monday so after work we charged over to two-six with the Eyres to watch the sunset, the skimboarders and to roast some marshmellows. Some times I fee like I'm on Perma-Vacation. Jeff just got his mission call to the Dominican Republic. Stoked!There is something about bonfires and bring friends and family closer. Don't you think?

Life's a Beach especially at 3 Mile

2009-07-18T00:38:00.000-07:00

3 Miles north of Santa Cruz is a Beach called 3 Mile. And guess what the beach a mile up the road is called. That's right 4 Mile. Not the most original names, but it makes them easy to find. Even though you are only 3 miles out of town you feel like you are 30 miles out of town. You don't see houses or buildings, there is tons of wild life, and most the time you are the only ones on the beach.
We joined the Eyre family on a little evening walk/bike/climb/explore/tidepool/jump extravaganza.

I showed Ethan how to stick his finger in the sea anemones to make them close up on his finger and suck on it. Then we squeezed the anemones to have the water squirt out like a water gun.

This is like Jump fest of 83' Inspired by Van Halen "Just Jump"

Justin is now Reverend McLeod

2009-07-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

That's right after last Saturday Justin a.k.a. Reverend McLeod preformed his first wedding ceremony for his life long friend Ryan O'donovan and his beautiful wife Amie. Ryan and Justin met when they were about 5 years old playing on their first baseball team (Dodgers), then landed on the same soccer team (Broncos) and then they landed in the same first-grade class (Mrs. Greenbom). They were destined to be friend, but it wasn't clear how good of friends they would be until Justin's first fight.
"I was six. Ryan and I were at the Pleasanton Sports Park at one of my Dad's softball games. We were playing Racketball tag on the playground when these punk-kids started throwing dirt glods at us." I was P.O. and started yelling at them and getting all up in one kids grill. Next thing I now he threw a right hook, catching me square in the eye. I went down for the count crying face down in the sand. Next thing I know Ryan comes in with a flying upper cut sending that kid to the cheap seats. From that day on I knew that Ryan would always be a true and loyal friend no matter how squirrelly things got. I was 0-1 in fights but 1-0 with best friends. I know that he will be a true and loyal mate to Amie for the rest of his life."

Ryan and Justin now live in Santa Cruz, and see each other at least one a week and more if the surf is good. Justin was deeply honored to be asked to officiate Ryan and Amie's wedding. It took place out side in the quiet rolling Soquel hills. It was an intimate setting with close friends and family. After the ceremony we walked over to the tent for delicious sit down dinner followed by a little dancing and some campfire stories.

Amie and Ryan we think the world of you and are so happy to be apart of your world. You two bless the lives of everyone you come in contact with.

Can You Dig This?

2009-05-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

This past saturday I had my first California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) tournament in Santa Cruz. There are 3 ranking levels in CBVA; A ( medium level), AA (intermediate level) and AAA (advanced level). After AAA is Pro.

I played in the AA. It was very competitive. There were a lot of great players that have been playing beach for years. I had a lot of fun with my partner Thira. We didn't get to the finals, but we had a good time and we are can't wait for the next tournament.

So here are some pictures of us at the beach.

The Anatomically Correct Snowman

2009-03-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday weekend so we meet up with the rest of the McLeod Klan in Tahoe for a little spring skiing. It was nothing but blue skies, soft snow and smiles. Some of the biggest smiles came from playing in the snow with our nieces and nephews. Watching their eyes light up and hearing their high pitched screams as they came tobogganing down the hill with Silvia was priceless. And when Ethan, our 5 year nephew gave the snowman a weeny you couldn't help but to chuckle. "So... Ethan what is that?'' I asked pointing to the stick he had just strategically placed "I don't know," he replied shrugging his shoulders.
They thought the snowman looked like Wally so that's what we named our excited little friend.

Weather's forecast: Showers all weekend!

2009-02-09T22:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know how I did it but I did! I made a bridal shower in San Francisco and a baby shower in Santa Cruz on the same day!

Drove up to San Francisco the night before Sarah's bridal shower and met up with some girlfriends.

Sarah and I at her bridal shower.

Here we are at Sarah's bridal shower that started at 10:30 a.m.

Everyone brought a yummy dish.

Here I am at Ana's baby shower that started at 12:00 p.m. Due the long drive I showed up fashionably late.

I gave her a cute cake made out of dippers.

With this tie-die outfit Ana's baby will fit right in here in Santa Cruz.

A Slice of Heaven in our own Backyard

2009-01-31T22:10:00.000-08:00

An hour south of us is Big Sur, a 90 mile stretch of coastline along Highway 1 from Carmel to San Simeon that is so beautiful that I hold it as a sacred place.

Here is a Vid of our adventure showing us playing with horses, sand dune wrestling, and Siliva punching me in the goin.

Every mile or so there is an amazing vista like this.

Here are our good friends Amie and Ryan. They are getting married this summer and Justin is going to perform the wedding ceremony.

There is a nice trail along Pfeiffer river to Pfeiffer Beach

Pfeiffer Beach Arch looks like a door carved out of the Rock.
It looked really cool when a big wave would fill it and come rushing out
Amie and Sil walking along the Beach toward the Cypress Forest

Ryan and Amie heading into the Cypress forest

Someone has a Poopy Hand

2009-01-31T11:01:00.000-08:00

One thing I will definitely not miss is going number 2 in Brazil. I didn't realize that after dropping the kids off at the pool you don't throw your toilet paper in the toilet. Instead you throw it in the trash. Even in the malls and movie theaters they have trash cans inside the stalls, and trust me you don't want to look inside. I made that mistake once. I guess they do this because A.) the toilet paper doesn't really fall apart when it hits the water and B.) I guess the plumbing doesn't provide a strong enough force. I learned this lesson the hard way by clogging up the toilet and making it over flow. Its was pretty nasty and embarrassing when your Mother in-law has to mop up the bathroom. For the rest of the trip I was pretty good at remembering to throw it away, but on the 2nd to last day I forgot. As soon as I let go a silent scream of 'NOOOOOOOOOOOO!' echoed in my mind. My options were to A.) Flush the toilet and cross my fingers or B.) Stick my hand in poopy toilet water. I choose option B. Before putting it in the trash I had to squeeze all the water out. I immediately jumped in the shower, got into the fetal position and cried. After the shower I drank a tall glass of bleach.

10 Things We Love about BRAZIL !!!

2009-01-22T10:32:00.000-08:00

1. My Family - It felt so good after 3 years to be back in my home country and to be with my family. We arrived late on Christmas Eve around midnight. My family and friends were all waiting for us at the Christmas party with lots of good food. We stayed up until 3 eating and talking. We did Secret Santa the Brazilian way where we stand up and give clues about the person and then they guess who we have. Justin and I got my moms friends who we didn't know so that was awkward but fun at the same time.

2. Friends - It was so amazing to see my friends after 3 years so many things have changed. Some got married, some got divorced, some had babies, some got taller, some got skinnier, and some got fatter. Despite the 3 year gap it only took 3 minutes for it to feel like no time had past.

3. The Beaches of Rio de Janeiro - With this being my first time to Brazil I must say that Rio de Janeiro made my jaw drop and I'm not just talking about when I saw all the Buff dudes in Speedos or all the dental floss bikinis. I'm talking about crescent moon shaped beaches with blaring white sand, clear blue water, and solid granite mountains rising thousands of feet in the back drop.

4. Acai - I love Acai. I couldn't get enough of it. After the beach Sil and I would hit up an Acai bar where we could cool down with a bowl of Acai with bananas and strawberries and topped off with Granola all for like 3 bucks. Acai is a brazilian berry original from the Amazon Region that is considered to be one of nature's most complete and healthy foods. Its loaded with antioxidants, it increases your energy, and is said to increase your libido.

5. O Christo Redendor (Christ Redeemer) - We took a train up to the statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I held my breath as I stood under the 120 ft tall, 700 ton Christ. Christ stands on the 2,300 ft high Corcovado mountain overlooking the city.

6. Campos do Jordao - Located in the Mountains 3 hours from Sao Paulo is this cute town known locally as Brazilian Switzerland. The fresh climate makes it a great escape from the hot and humid weather. We rode Horses up a mountain passing by Castles/Mansions' of Brazil's elite (rockstars, moviestars, goverment official, Cardinals) to an incredible view of the valley.

7. The Beaches of Guaruja - I was able to get a little surf at this cute beach which is about an hour and half outside of Sao Paulo. A little get away from the crazy city of 18 million . Unfortunately we went right after New Years and it felt like 18 million people followed us to the beach.

8. The FootVolley Ball - One word "AMAZING." In Rio they would play till 11 or 12 at night. We would sit there for hours mesmerized by their mad skills.

9. The Speedos and G Strings - With the surf culture influence board shorts are getting more popular, but the "Buff, Bronze, and Speedo" club will never died in Rio. Heck, after a few days there I wanted one. Bathing suits for women come in two sizes in Brazil; Tiny Bikini and Tiny Winy Bikini. We were at the beach in Rio with some friends and they started making fun of some American Tourist because their bikinis' covered their butt and breast. Having been Brazilianized for 3 weeks, I was thinking to myself 'Yeah that does look weird.'
10. McDonalds in Brazil - I never eat at McNasty's, but when you start to get home sick for the States there is something comforting about ordering a Big Mac and Fries. By the time you leave that feeling of comfort is replaced with a gross nasty feeling and you ask yourself 'why did I eat that?' It's nice to know it's just as nasty in Brazil as it is in America and that is comforting.

Flight of the Concords Lip Sync Contest

2008-12-20T15:22:00.000-08:00

I just want spread the word that on Jan 18th the 2nd season of Flight of the Conchords begins. In anticipation of the show they are having a lip syncing contest of their song "Hiphopopotams vs. Rhymenoceros." The contest submisions end Jan 25th .

Flight of the Conchords follows the trials and tribulations of a two man, digi-folk band from New Zealand as they try to make a name for themselves in their adopted home of New York City. If you like the word "random", then you might really really really enjoy this bizzare show. Here is a little clip from the stand up folk parody band. Enjoy

So You Think You Can Dance

2008-12-14T15:41:00.000-08:00

You might not want to be our friends after you see this video. That is just a warning. View at you own discretion. If you do watch this, we need you to do two things. First of all please know that we know we are lame and the video was mainly just to make us laugh at ourselves. Secondly, and more importantly we need you to post a comment and vote for who won the DANCE BATTLE: America vs. Brazil 2008
.
After a Christmas party, we had our "Friday Date Night". We decided to watch our newly deliver Netflix movie "Honey." Honey (Jessica Alba), is a "tough, sexy dancer from the inner city," becomes a successful music video choreographer, and ultimately decides to pursue her lifelong dream of opening her own dance studio for inner-city youths falls in love Bla Bla Bla. It's supper predictable. You know how it's going to end after the first five minutes of the movie, but we are lame and any movie or show with dancing in it I like and Silvia loves. We love; So You think you can dance, America Best Dance Crew, Stomp the Yard, Step Up, Step Up 2, How she Moves, Save the Last Dance, Dance with Me, and don't forget Breakin, and Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Anyways after the movie we decided to have a dance off, video taping our ridiculous dance moves. We created a backdrop and got thugged out. It was really funny seeing how we danced. It's like watching the bad outtakes of So You Think You Can Dance.

I Give Thanks for my Family

2008-12-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

It's Monday and I don't want to Bill out to insurances companies right now so I'm going to Blog instead. That is the nice thing about working for yourself. You can totally slack and it's all good. We had a very fun Thanksgiving Day in Santa Cruz with our friends. We played in the annual Ward Spam Football Bowl, played soccer, and surfed. After working up an appetite friends came together at the O'Donovan's home for an smorgasbord of food. I made ginger bread with pumkin butter and Silvia made her amazing twice baked squash bowls.

The next day we meet The Eyre and Vassallo Family at Six Flags Marine World. The excitement was evident with Lexi peeing her pants as soon as we went through the gates. But no pee was going to slow us down. Before we knew it, we were riding Thomas the train, watching dolphins fly through the air, and hearing Mike puke after riding the roller coasters.

While Silvia was riding on the submarine ride with Lexi, Silvia whispered to Lexi "I'm scared" Lexi grabbed Silvia's hand and said, "Don't worry I'll protect you." In the middle of the ride Silvia said, "Lexi I'm scared." Lexi replied in a soft motherly voice, "Siiiiiliva don't forget what I said. . . . I'll protect you."

We spent the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend hanging in P-town with the rest of the Klan. I Love Family. We have so much fun together and those nieces and nephews are so dang funny. It's hard to get back to the normal grind.

80 Degrees! In Mid November!

2008-11-21T20:59:00.001-08:00

Gobble Gobble! It's almost Turkey time and yet it feels like summer. Last weekend it was 80 degrees, and I'm not complaining. Warm Santa Ana winds blew in producing offshore winds keeping the pumping surf glassy and hallow. We came back from Hawaii expecting to throw our hoodies back on, but instead it was another week of boardshorts and slippers.

While Surfing perfect 6-8 foot Scott's Creek I had a close call.

A monster set came through and I was got inside. Unsuccessfully, I tried to duck dive, but the whitewater rooted me up, spun me around, and threw me 15 yards back into another surfer.

His board pierced all the way through my brand new JC epoxy (ultra strong material) board right where my head was. If my board wasn't in front of me, I may have been killed. I paddled in, went to the car, put some duck taped on both sides of my board, and charged back out.

Later That afternoon Sil and I went with our good friends Ryan and Amie (who just got engaged) and played at Manrissa beach and watched an insane sunset. I didn't use a filter or adjust the colors on any of the pics. I know, I know, insano in the braino right?

HAWAII !!!

2008-11-17T13:28:00.001-08:00

We just got back from the North Shore of Oahu visiting my brother Jeff in Laie. Here are some pics of our adventures and a short video of some surfing and what have you. Not a day goes by that I think to myself 'man! why didn't I go to school in Hawaii instead of Utah'. It's a no-brainer right? The more I think about it the more bitter I get. - Justin

Twilight the movie !!!

2008-11-17T13:26:00.000-08:00

This week I am going to watch Twilight the movie. I can not wait !!!!

-Silvia

The Week of Sweets is over

2008-11-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

Halloween is one of my favorite Holidays. Its a day when you can walk around in anything you want or lack of any thing you want and people just smile and write it off and say 'its Halloween.' It's a chance to express your creativity with your pumpkin carving skills and your imagination with your home made costumes.

We started the week off with a Pumpkin Carving contest with my Seminary Class. Judge Jason awarded first place to Leslie and Makena's "Headless Horsemen". Jesse and Jake's "Jack Skeleton" tied Ella and Silvia's Ghost in the "Graveyard Pumpkin". 3rd went to Ally and Jessica. However, on Friday they won 1st in "Who had the most mold growing in their pumpkin contest?" which went great with my Parable of my Pumpkins Lesson.

Trunk or Treat was on Tuesday. Silvia and I dressed up as Little Red Ridding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. With scary music playing and our trunk decorated with cobwebs, and pumpkins I hid in the back of our car (back seat between the trunk was down) and waited for kids to reach for the bowl of candy in the trunk. Right before they touched the candy my Wolf arms would reach out and crab their hand. I toned it down after I made a few kids cry.

Despite the rain on Halloween Sil and I meet our friends Drew and Angela in Downtown Santa Cruz to check out the Festivities. Everyone looked weird, scary, and bizarre there so. . . I guess you could say there wasn't a big difference in it being Halloween and a regular day in downtown Santa Cruz. It was fun dancing in the streets to the drums as the rain came down. A picture of us landed in the the Sentinel, a local newspaper.

With that I'll leave you with our Halloween Video and a quote from the greatest Halloween movie ever. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown: "Hey! I got an invitation to a Halloween Party!"

Lucy Van Pelt: "Is the invitation to Violet's Party

Charlie Brown: "Yes. It's the fist time I've been invited to a party."

Lucy Van Pelt: "Brown, if you got an invitation, it was a mistake. There were two lists, Charlie Brown: one to invite and one not to invite. You must have been put on the wrong list"

-Justin

Here is a video of our Halloween Week of Sweets!

O'Neill Cold Water Classic

2008-10-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was Jam Packed. One off the fun things we did was ride our beach cruisers to the light house on West Cliff to watch the annual O'Neill surf constest. This is like the Surf Super Bowl for Santa Cruz. The entire town comes down to hang out on cliffs and route their favorites on. This year a young local boy, Nat Young won the event. It is the first time in history that some one with braces took first.

I've been tagged !!!

2008-10-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

I’ve been tagged by Aline

8 things …

8 TV shows I like to watch:
The news
Volleyball games (I hope that counts)
The office
The biggest looser
Heroes
Chuck
Oprah (Sometimes when I am home in the afternoon)
Dr. Phill

8 Restaurant I like to eat:
Asian Rose
Betty’s Burger
Canton cuisine
Upper Crust Pizza
Michocan
Algarve (Mexican)
Round Table Pizza
Charlie Hong Kong

8 Things that happened today:
I carved pumpkin with Justin and his seminary students
I had yummy breakfast with Justin
I watched teen wolf (To have an idea of what to be this Halloween)
I went back to work
I talked to my sister on the msn
I had lunch break
I went to the bank
I went back to work and worked really hard

8 Things I am looking forward to:
Playing beach volleyball more often
Halloween
Being pregnant
Christmas and New years with my family in Brazil
Eating some Brazilian food
Going to Hawaii in a week
Watching the new movie TWILIGHT
For my next volleyball game on Wednesday (It’s going to be a tuff game)

8 Things on my wish list:
Win a CBVA tournament (It’s a beach vb tournament)
Have a nice house
Have a new car
Be taller (impossible I know, but I just wish I could)
Get better at beach volleyball
Our business get better and better
Go to Israel with Justin
Win my indoor volleyball tournament

8 PEOPLE I TAGG:
Uzeee, Steph, Gladys, Ana Paula, Damaris, Kristy Roustsong, Stu, and Tommy.

Free Pumpkin Patterns

2008-10-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

Free pumpkin carving patterns abound on the web. If you're looking for something unusual and unique you're sure to find a template that suits your style on This Web site. Check it out. Pumkin Lady

Surf and Turf

2008-10-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

Silvia has been blogging about all the things she has been doing so I thought I would post a few videos of what I have been up to when I have some free time. If there is swell in the water and the tides are right, you can find me in the water usually surfing the east side of Santa Cruz. Since I'm goofy footed, I like to go left (frontside) on waves. Unfortunately, Santa Cruz is the land of Right point breaks. There are very few lefts and the lefts that are here are very fickle. My favorite spot to go when the tide is right is wind and sea. Here is a clip of me dropping into a little nugget.

When there isn't any swell in the water I usually go to the skate park and mess around. Here are two clips of me at the Ben Lomond skate park. We are lucky here in Santa Cruz County. There are three killer parks all within 10 minutes of my house.

Beach Volleyball No Attitude Tournament 2008 !!!

2008-10-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday my beach volleyball partner Thira and I had our first tournament in Santa Cruz. It was awesome !!! The weather was great, sunny and not too windy. We had our family cheering us on. We played very well, making it all the way to the co-ed finals. We made a few too many mistakes in the final game, but thats ok. The most important thing is that we had a lot of fun. It was a great day !!!

Here it's a little video that my cute husband Justin made of us playing at the beach.

Our Begonia festival video !!!

2008-10-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

Cute little niece !!!

2008-09-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to El Dorado Hills (outside of Sacramento) to hang out with Justin's family and see the newest member of our family, Naomi Jane Eyre. She is so small and cute, I could not stop holding her.

We had so much fun seeing all the nieces and nephews. They were so happy and full of energy when they were playing with their uncle Justin.

Mckay loves to Sing. Marina says that he wakes up in the morning and just starts singing in his crib. Here is a clip of him performing for us.

TWILIGHT !!!

2008-09-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

This forbidden love story between a young vampire (EDUARD CULLEN) and a beautiful young women (BELLA SWAN) is full of romance and heart stopping adventures. It has become my favorite book, and I can not put it down. I am so excited for the movie that is coming soon !

Twilight is the first book of the series. Following Twilight is New Moon, then Eclipse (Currently reading), and then BREAKING DAWN.

Check out the movie trailer and the soundtrack below !!!

FUN WEEKEND AGAIN !!!

2008-09-13T23:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend Justin's parents came down. It was fun hanging out with them. They were even able to see me play in my first volleyball tournament in Santa Cruz. It was so nice to have family supporting me. My team did very well, making it to the semifinals, but we were so tired from the previews 8 games that we just fell apart.

On Saturday night Justin and I were able to help out at our church's youth conference. Jennifer Jordan Frogley, a Chirstian Pop singer who has written several songs for EFY, came and performed. She was very entertaining and had a positive message to share. Following the concert we dropped it like it was hot on the dance floor. I think the youth were surprised that Justin and I can still break it down.

Labor Day Weekend !!!

2008-09-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

What can I say about our labor day weekend ... It was AWESOME !!! My best friend Kristy Uzelac, who was also one of my bridesmaid came down from SLC to spend the Labor Day weekend with us.

On friday Justin and I went to pick her up at the airport. I gave her the biggest hug, and from the second she got in the car and we started talking as if no time had past. Oh my gosh! It was so freak'n hot in San Jose and Justin refuses to fix the air conditioner. He says we don't need it because Santa Cruz is always perfect. I was a little embarrassed because we were sweating like pigs.

When we got home we were so hungry that I could have eaten a cow ... haha ... but that is not possible so we made homemade pizza. I love homemade pizza, not as much as I love homemade cow, but homemade pizza is just as good. There's so much flavor and so many options! It was so yummy !!!

After dinner we were talking about our plans for Saturday, and we decided to sign up for a sand castle competition at the Begonia Festival in Capitola. The theme this year was "Creatures from the Sea". Kristy, Amy, Justin and I entered the small group category. The competition is divided in small groups (5 or less), large groups (6 or more) and kids group.

Saturday morning Justin and Amy went down to the beach around 7:45 am to sign us up. Of course Kristy and I were such princess that we wanted to sleep in, so we showed up at 9:00 am.

We were looking around at our competition. They looked like "PROS" using wooden forms to build their structure. With this being our first time building a sand sculpture we were just winging it with some plastic cups, some small buckets, a shovel, a broom and rack.

So after three and half hours of back braking work we created a gigantic Octopus. We were sore for the next three days. It was so fun to be part of the community and create something for others to enjoy. We would over hear people walking by saying, "They must have been doing this for years." To our surprise we took 1st place in the small group category.

The fun continued through the weekend with body surfing, boogie boarding, movies at the beach, The begonia Festival Floats down the river, and good BBQ with friends.

Wyoming trip

2008-08-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

This year I went on my first family reunion in Wyoming with Justin's family and we went to the farm where Justin's Grandma Suzuki grew up, now she lives in Michigan with Grandpa Suzuki. All her children and grandchildren get together once a year at the farm to have an awesome time together and play games, go on a hike, ride bikes, go to the movie and eat very well.

We went on this hike where at the end there was a water fall. It was so beautiful !!! And we decided to keep climbing up all the way to the top. It was an awesome adventure for me because I'm afraid of heights, so to be able to go all the way up and see that beautiful place from the top was the best feeling ever.

Just Married

2007-12-30T15:37:00.000-08:00

Silvia and I were Married and Sealed for at time and eternity in the Oakland temple Saturday morning on December 22, 2007. There was so much love and peace felt as we entered the wedding ceremony room. Our family and loved ones were seated or standing smiling at us as we came in. There were so many emotions felt I was just fighting back the tears that were welling up in my eyes. We felt so blessed to have the wedding ceremony conducted in English and Portuguese. At the beginning of the ceremony the temple president who conducted the wedding asked Silvia and I what was the thing that attracted us most to each other. With an emotionally shaky voice I said that it was Silvia's ability to make everyone around her feel loved and welcomed. Silvia said, "Well, he was cute and I loved his ability to be good at all these sports, except volleyball. I am better than him at volleyball." With that, the room busted with laughter. So here I am wiping away tears and Silvia is here cracking jokes. The feelings were indescribable as we faced one another, her hands in mine, and made promises to each other and to God.

After the wedding ceremony there was a wedding reception held for us at Castlewood Country Club. Driving up to the grounds the palm trees lining the road were wrapped in white Christmas lights. As you walked through the doors you were greeted with a warm fire in the fireplace, Christmas trees and Christmas lights and decoration. People filed in the reception area where they signed in, set down gifts and enjoyed a variety of hord’deurv. People then were lead into the Great Hall for dinner and dancing. The center pieces were either these insane Mansanita trees with hanging candles or a these tall vases filled with red roses, Cally lilies, and Pines. At the front of the room was the head table and then 25 rounded tables surrounding the dance floor.

Following an amazing dinner Silvia and I cut our three tier square cake and feed each other the first bit. While the cake was being passed, speeches and toasts were then given and I must say Silvia’s mother Maria stole the show. She stated that she had three treasures in this life; the Gospel of Jesus Christ and her two daughters, Silvia and Jaqueline. She went on to say that she could now go back to Brazil in peace know that her daughter has found a husband and family that loves her as much as she does. Silvia and I then did the classic first dance and then we opened the floor to everyone to break it down.

There were so many people there. We tried to go around and talk to everyone, but it was not possible. Sorry if we weren’t able to say hi. We want to make a special thanks to my parents, Bruce and Barbara for hosting the wedding and Dad you did an amazing job being the M.C. and singing. We want to thank Silvia’s family for coming all the way from Brazil. And thanks to everyone else who contributed to the wedding with your time, energy and love. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!