Gutierrez 11

It's crazy how time has flown. My cousins came over from the Philippines. We haven't seen each other in 24 years. When my brother and I left, Michael Jackson was popular and still black. New Wave music, parachute pants, Madonna wannabes!! Since then we've grown older, got married and had our own children.

Finally they have the chance to start life here in the US. I can't help but to be excited for them. But there's a sense of sadness, that they will face a lot of hardships having to adapt to a myriad of differences between the two cultures. It was difficult us young tweens back in 1984, but at 40, I would be beyond scared. I admire them. To come to this country as an adult, start over, learn to speak our slang, our work ethic, provide for their children, and drive on California freeways! However, we're resilient and persistent. They will do well, just like all the other immigrants that have made it to this country, hoping and working for a better life.

Summer

It's starting to scorch outside. It's Africa hot, however, Surface-of-the-sun Hot is fast approaching. Kinda get used to it, sad to say. Don't miss the humidity though.

Gone are the days of long trips. With the economy the way it is and gas prices, we had to keep our little vacation simple. We just traveled to a little know resort called Avi. It's in Laughlin about 1 hour away. It's on the Colorado river. It served it's purpose and gave us some much needed relaxation. It was great to just be the 3 of us. Spending 3 days lounging around. Mostly swam, and relaxed by the pool. Watched a movie, ate horrible fattening foods, and rented wave runners. That was the high point of the vacation. Etienne got to drive one, with Jay of course. She managed to get it to 45 mph. Ahhh, there's hope for my girly girl. Kinda brings a tear to my eye.

Free Flow of thoughts

So much has gone on these two years that we've been here. We've been truly blessed with so much. Happy to be closer to my parents. Only 6 hours away from my brother. We all miss our family and friends in PA though. I hope that they know that, and we had our own reasons for starting someplace new. For me it's mostly, just coming full circle. With Jay, I think it's becoming your own person. I'm glad that Etienne has made some good friends out here. We've moved around so much that she has to learn to adapt.

This is our life here. Forgive me for the random timelines of the following postings, but this is us, in a nutshell. Just the highlights of course ;-)