California Dreamin'

Although San Antonio is far from being a winter day with temperatures in the upper 90's and feeling like 102 (so says weather.com), I still have California on my mind. My home could use a good airing out with fresh cool night air, but that isn't happening any time soon. We especially miss our family and the fun we had together. Thank heavens for cameras and memories remembered via blogging.



Fernando's brother recently returned from his mission in Portugal. It was fun to have all the family together again after almost 4 years of being apart. (his sister Sulay served a mission as well a few years earlier in Brazil). As mentioned in an earlier blog, our trip started early to make our flight in Austin about 2 hours away from our home. On a billboard, a informative bulletin flashed the time of 4:45 am and the temperature of 87 degrees. When we got on the plane we discovered the 2+ hour flight would land us in temperatures of 67 degrees. We were a bit concerned about our short and short sleeve shirts, but what can you do.

We had about 5 different types of midsize cars to choose from. It wasn't until the 4th 60+year old we saw driving our twin car that we realized what type of option we choose. Oh, well. It offered a lot of head and leg room.

Saturday was spent cooking and cleaning for the hosts of extended family and friends that would be arriving to attend the Non-Homecoming Sacrament meeting of former Elder Daniel Tovar. I was some how entrusted with preparing Beef and Broccoli stir fry as one of the main entrees that would be served the next day. I usually feel pretty ok with cooking, but shifting a recipe from family size to 20+ pounds of meat was a bit daunting. I felt like a Costco employee, up to my elbows in soy sauce marinade. Thanks to Mama Clara's clever thinking, a plastic tote with a lid was used as the holding bin for the meat. Several onions, and cloves of garlic later. . operation Homecoming Luncheon was underway. This event wasn't for the faint in heart, but it fit the Tovar's idea of party perfectly. Someday, Fernando and I hope to build them a larger and fully functional cooking space to make such events a bit more comfortable to undertake.

The Sacrament meeting was amazing. The Spirit was really strong as each sibling bore testimony of God's love and desires for all of His children. Talia was less then impressed and was more interested in joining the noise then keeping the peace. We have always tried to follow Pres. Brigham Young's advice which is: "Noisy children and good intensions should be handled in the same way. They both should be carried out." Unfortunately, climbing over legs to remove the screaming child can sometimes be equally distracting. Once out of the room, I try to make things as uninteresting as possible. This, in my mind, is to convince them that leaving the meeting is far less pleasurable then staying in with coloring options and funny people. I am sure I look very comical every Sunday getting up and leaving only to return a few minutes later and start the whole process over again.

Aside from the excellent meeting and delicious food, the next best thing was getting a tour of Aunt Tirsa's new home. I wish I would have brought the camera. The home was amazing although you wouldn't think so about how modest Tirsa is about it. We were all excited for her new adventure and can't wait to help make it feel more like her own. This is what I had hoped we could help with while we were down there. I just think that it is good to serve with your family instead of just mooching off them for a week.

My wish for service was granted in the form of fire wood maintenance. I readily agreed, imagining that we would work side by side talking about who knows what. I didn't realize what sort of tasks we were about to undertake. I helped as much as I could and even braved a few nasty bugs, but I could only do it while Talia was asleep. We also attempted to declutter some of the back yard to give them a little more room to expand. This required a rental truck from the local Ace Hardware. Aunt Sulay, Mia, Talia, and I decided to pick it up. While the gentleman was filling in the information, I began to ask him about some policy I saw on the back of the computer. I guess he couldn't hear me so he said, "I'm sorry SIR, what did you need to know." I stepped out from behind the computer into his line of sight with a shocked look to match his. He tried to ignore the Sir mess up, but I milked it for all it was worth. I even asked him for any discounts that I would qualify for--Military, Costco Membership, Gender Confusion.

After two days of hard labor, the wood job was halted for better things like bowling. Fernando's parents were in it for the kids' sake, but came out of the bowling adventure wanting more. On our last day, we headed to the Kern River as per tradition. Last time we were there, I was pregnant (unbeknownst to me at the time) and ended up losing my wedding band to the river. This time was spent walking Talia back and forth from the water's edge and accepting swimming challenges from Fernando. The Kern is used as a white water rafting river and can pack a serious current. The bank we always set up camp at has a little inlet that becomes like a mini lake near the rushing waters. Fernando got some genius idea to swim across the river to the opposite bank and back. Sulay and Fernando were the first to try. Once they came back unscathed, I thought I would give it a go. The cold, swift water made the challenge all that more exciting. Probably not the most responsible thing for us parents to do.

Our final night was filled with camp fire and s'mores. What a perfect way to end a great vacation with the Tovars. It passed too quickly, but that's how it goes. We were off to Camarillo to visit my sister and her family for a day. Fernando then left with his family to Sacramento for his cousin's wedding. Because of his departure and the timing of our return flight, we spent Father's day and our wedding anniversary in different states. Good thing, love knows no bounds and we can celebrate another day.



*the Mama's and the Papa's song was what the Title of the post and beginning lines were inspired by.