Christmas with the Family!

Ed and I decided that we would do Christmas at our home since we have not been with the family for the last 5 years. We cooked Spanish food, (pork, rice & beans, platinos, yuca) and then mom cooked Italian (stuffed shells with meatballs). We had enough food to feed the neighborhood. It was delicious!! The desserts were even better!!

Here is Matthew posing with his "BLING BLING" that he got in the "White Elephant" that we did. It's like a grab bag, with loads of fun.

Vincenza and Matthew checking out to see what Grandma got in the grab bag. She got the "Bling Bling" which Matthew snatched from her. He loved that!

Ed and Dave enjoying coffee and dessert.

Overall it was a great Christmas. It was a blessing to be with the family again for the holidays. This will be the first New Years in (I can't even remember how many years) that we are doing nothing... and I love it. We have been entertaining since the beginning of December and although I love to entertain, I am happy the holidays are over in 2 days. I am exhausted. I am looking forward to a quiet evening with my husband and kids.

Happy New Year to You!!

Christmas Morning 2007

Our first Christmas in NJ. The kids had us up at 7:00am. Rule is nobody wakes up mom & dad until 7:00. Here is Matthew getting ready to open up gifts.

Yes, Santa brought me a "Spiderman Skateboard"....Just what I wanted!!

Yes, this is Matthew posing in his new "bath robe". When he put it on it said, "Now I feel like a rich person Mom". I guess he's been watching to much TV!! He loves it so much that he even sleeps in it.

Matthew posing with his new warmup suit. He thinks he's a gangster!

Yes, and Daddy finally got his power drill screwdriver from Santa. His broke while living in Michigan and he desperately needed a new one. Now he can do all my wall hangings without hurting his wrist. (NO EXCUSES NOW HONEY)!!

The Torres' had a great Christmas here in NJ. The kids got what they asked for (for the most part). Bri got her cell phone, and Peter got a new one. Mom even got an ipod shuffle and didn't even ask for one. How cool is that. It's also hot pink with the matching earphones. Now I can workout at the gym in style. (This is what my kids told me). I was perfectly happy with the old walkman. Now I am up to date I guess.

We are happy the holidays are almost over and are looking forward to 2008!

I Finally did it!

I did it! After 3 years of letting my hair grow, I needed a new look. Well, here it is. My cousin Eileen was up for Christmas vacation from Virginia and we decided to cut it all off. She said I was looking too old with my long hair. (Yes, she is a licensed beautician) she use to cut my hair all the time before she moved to Virginia 8 years ago. Boy, I miss you Eileen. Now she is only 6 hours away, so maybe I can go and visit every couple of weeks!!! Thanks for the new look!! I love it.

Here is Eileen with her son Jarrett and new boyfriend Gil. What a great time we had. Lots of desserts and food. Thanks for the cannoli's from Little Italy, they were awesome!

Peter decided he needed to work out his arms, so he bench pressed Vincenza about 20 times over his head. She just loved this workout with Peter. She weighs a good 30-35 lbs.

Matthew and Jarret after a hard day of playing Halo and army men outside.

Happy Birthday!

Today my niece Vincenza turned 3 years old! Here she is with her big cousin Brianna. She just loves my Bri. This is the first birthday party we have shared with her. It was great to be with the family. We even played "Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader"? If you have never played it, try it. It's a blast.

Vincenza waiting to blow out her candles!

My sister Lorraine (who is pregnant again) hoping and praying for a boy, her husband Dave and Cenza!!
The "Princess" opening up her gifts.

Snow Day!

So, Thursday was our first "snow day" of the season. It was pretty to look at. Not much snow, just lots of ice. Because of the ice, they had a 2 hour delay on Friday morning.

This is a view from our deck in the back yard!!

My cutie pie Matthew being a rock star with my "Snowman" shovel decoration!

He was really into it. He loves the guitar and hopes to play one day like his big brother Peter. He has asked Santa for a guitar. We will see.....look for the pictures to come!

Sad News!

Today we got a phone call from my sister that our nephew and his wife Gisella lost their baby. They just found out Sunday and told the family the great news. They are strong in their faith and believe without a shadow of a doubt that God will bless them again with another baby. She was about 5 weeks pregnant.

We don't know why these things happen, but they do. Please keep them in your prayers as you read this. I know they would appreciate it.

Another one!!

Sunday morning at 7:30am we got a call from my nephew Andrew. His wife Gisella is expecting their first baby in August. That will mean we have 3 births next year in my family.

Andrew & Chris are brothers and both their wives are due. Mandy is due in May (Chris' wife) and Gisella is due in August, a week after my sister Lorraine is due. So I will be a great aunt 2x's, plus an aunt again to Lorraine's baby. I am so excited! I get to spoil them and then send them home.

This is one of the greatest benefits of being home next to the family again. I am looking forward to next year and 3 beautiful healthy babies!!

Great News!

Today, I got the call I have been waiting to hear for awhile from my baby sister. She is PREGNANT with her second child. Her daughter Vincenza will be 3 in 2 weeks. She is something else. We are hoping it is a boy, but we will take whatever God gives us as long as it is healthy.

I am also going to be a "Great Aunt" in May. My nephew Chris and his wife are expecting their first baby. She is hoping and praying for a girl and wants a girl desperately.

It will be nice to be closer to the family with all the new babies coming. I can't wait. An aunt and a great aunt all in one year!! YIPPEE!!

Our First Christmas!

Here is our first Christmas at Faith Chapel in NJ. Ed and I wanted it to be very special this year, so we went out and got a real tree for the sanctuary. I think this is almost as big as Rockerfeller Center's in NY!! We actually had to decorate it with a ladder. Thanks Chuck & Maritza for helping with that. You are awesome! Thank you to everyone who came out on Thursday night and Saturday to help with the decorating. The church looks so beautiful!

My 3 munchkins!! Peter, Bri and Matthew. I did want this for a Christmas card to send out, but I don't think it will work since Bri had her eyes closed. I guess I need to take another one. But all the same, I think it's a good picture of them smiling anyway! Thanks Peter, I know how much you hate pictures. Great smile on this one! I love you all so much!!

Bri and Mom hanging out at the tree. Maybe next week we can get a nice family picture!!
Our First Christmas, with our first "real" tree at Faith Chapel!!

Today was our first snowfall of the season. I think we got about 2 inches and it was enough to scare some people to drive to church. It sure looked pretty though. The kid are already praying that there is no school tomorrow. That's ok, I will just put them to work in the house and they can help me finish all the decorations.

My friend Melanie told me the other day in an e-mail, "you only get one first". This is so true. As my family and I celebrate this Christmas season with our new church family, I pray that we will have many lasting memories of our "firsts" here as we have memories of our dear friends in Michigan also. We miss you dearly. Merry Christmas!

A visit!!

Aunt Barbara & Uncle Teddy came from Florida last week to visit my parents in PA. They came over for a visit on Monday with my mom & dad and we had a wonderful time with some delicious rice and beans. This is my dad with his sister (my Aunt Barbara)

And here are the 2 love birds!! It has probably been about 5-6 years since we have seen them. It was great to catch up on family news. Sorry you missed the little bit of snow we had here over the weekend. Hope to see you in the spring.

Happy Anniversary!

Today Ed and I celebrate 17 years of marriage! WOW, I cannot believe it is that long. I feel like I have known him forever!!

I am so blessed to have a great supporter, wonderful dad and godly husband to share my days with.

Honey I love you with all my heart and look forward to many more years together with you.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving dinner with family & friends. We got to go to PA to be with my family and we only had to travel 1 hour. It was wonderful. Brianna and I spent the night to get up nice and early to head out and go Christmas shopping at 6:00 in the morning. This is something the girls of the family have been doing since I lived in PA 6 years ago. My mom & sister continued it over the 5 years that I lived in Michigan. So this year was no exception!

We had a bit of a late start (7:00AM) and my sister Lorraine wanted to get to BJ's to buy a 42" Flat screen TV. While she was over there I headed over to Target which was right across the parking lot. Needless to say it was a MAD HOUSE!! I was on a mission to get the Kodak easyshare 8 megapixel camera (which takes videos also) for $89.00. As I walked into the store and saw tons of people waiting on lines, I thought to myself, is this really worth the wait?? I will tell you, I waited on the "electronics" line for 1 hour to get my CAMERA! And I got it!! Thank God. I would have been pretty upset if I got to the register and they were all out.

Then we were off to Walmart for their big sales over there! The hot item in board games for this year is "Are you smarter than a 5th grader"? Our family loves to play board games when we get together. So we were on another mission in Walmart. Unfortunately, we got there to late and they were all sold out of the game. Which by the way was only $10. We hope to get it by Christmas. My sister Lorraine was the big shopper for the day!!! After we were all done we topped off our morning with a delicious breakfast at Perkins. This is the highlight of the morning!! My sister LuAnn goes just for the breakfast.

It was a great day with my mom, sisters and daughter. The men get mad every year because they want to go for breakfast, but this is "LADIES ONLY" and we will continue it as long as we can. It is something we look forward to every year.

I am so thankful for my husband, my 3 beautiful children who I simply adore with all my heart, and for my family who God has brought me closer to. I am thankful to God for all He has done for us as a family. He continues to amaze me every day.

Tea Anyone?

Believe it or not, this hot air balloon was right over our house a few days ago. If you look close, you can see the side of my house on the right. It was so close that we were talking to the people in the balloon. Ed invited them in for "tea".

Here is another shot of them going over our trees and trying to land at the Elks club which is down the road from our home.

It was a beautiful sight over our home. The kids were so excited and wanted it to land in our backyard. Our neighbor tells us that a few years back one actually landed in our front yard! I will let you know when it does it again!!!

And here are my boys on the "John Deere" that Peter just loves to ride around the house. He actually will pick up the leaves as long as he can ride the mower. Matt was just going along for a ride and some fun in the back with all the leaves.

More of the Happy Day!

Peter & Jason right before the ceremony. Peter was an usher also. SO CUTE!!!

Daddy & Brianna dancing to a slow song for fathers and daughters. Ed was getting alittle teary eyed I think on this one.

Mom & Peter dancing slow to a mom & son dance. My Peter actually came across the dance floor and asked me to dance. This was precious for a mom!!!

Matthew after a hard day's work of being the ring bearer and break dancing all night. He was still smiling at 11:30 pm. Bless his heart. He did a great job.

Me and my honey stealing another slow song during the night. My feet were killing me by the time I got home. It was well worth it.

The Big Day!

Mom, Brianna and Matt ready for the wedding. Bri and I went to get our hair done with Ms. Shelly. She did an awesome job.




The happy couple cutting the wedding cake. They are just so cute together!


Me and my honey enjoying a nice dance together on the dance floor. We danced the whole night away. What an awesome wedding and a great time we had.

Me and the girls. Dor, Terri and Jenna having a great time. I miss you already!!

Me and the "Princess" capturing the moment. What a beautiful bride you made Shelly! I love you guys. Can't wait to see you when you come to NJ in March for FLAME class.

We are so blessed to have shared in Jason & Shelly's wedding day. You both are so special to us.

Our trip to Michigan!

Hello all,

We just got back from our trip to Michigan for Jason & Shelly's wedding. It was awesome! We got to see lots of old friends who we miss dearly. Jason & Shelly's wedding was very memorable and special. We are so proud of them. I will have lots of pictures to share with you shortly...

Talk to you soon.

Marriage Conference

Yesterday, Ed and I had the opportunity to go to a Marriage Conference at Bethany Wesleyan Church, in Cherryville, PA. We took 6 other couples with us and had a great time. Dr. Holdren and his wife Marlene was the guest speakers. Dr. Holdren prayed over Ed when he got ordained 3 years ago in Michigan. It was great to see him again.



The sessions were followed by a delicious dinner and a Christian comedian, Tim Hawkins. Ed and I saw Tim in January down in Florida at a pastor/spouse gathering. He was funny then and even more hilarious yesterday. Good clean fun!!! We laughed so hard that our cheeks hurt today.



What a great time we had. We also got to see some old friends from the Penn Jersey district who we haven't seen in about 5 years living in Michigan. We look forward to next years conference.

Happy Halloween

Brianna and Matthew ready to go "Trick or Treating". Since this was our first halloween we didn't know a good place to go and get candy. So Linda Sutton invited us to her neighborhood and we had a ball with all the kids. Peter didn't want to go this year, I guess he is getting to old to go anymore. Bri's friend Emily came also, we had a great night and got lots of candy. We missed going with Ms. Rita from Michigan!!!

Rain, Rain go Away!!

Last week it rained so hard on Friday and Saturday that the creek behind the church was so high up that they had to close the road. Ed thought it would be fun to get our boots on and take a hike through it. This is Peter having some fun in the water. It was freezing!

Here is another picture of the water rushing down, we have never seen it like this before.

My Peter looking really mean. He really is not mean at all. Just hates his picture taken!

Believe it or not, this is pictures of our septic system in our backyard. It was put in before we moved in and every time it rains the alarm goes off, so now they are digging them up to see what is happening. It has been quite a nightmare when it rains. Ed had to run out every hour Saturday night to shut the alarm. We are hoping and praying that this problem will soon be fixed. Right now my backyard is a mess, I just pray it doesn't rain till they can fill the holes back in. My dog will have a ball out there in the mud!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!!!

Today Ed celebrated his 48th birthday and since it was on "Youth" night, they made sure they celebrated with him. They wrapped him in duct tape after singing happy birthday. Tonight was also "Deal or No Deal" vs "Fear Factor". He is "Howie Mandell", I like him better with hair!!

Here was some of the "cuisine" the kids had to eat if they made "No Deal"! Cow tongue, fish eggs, pig snout, heart of the beast, and authentic dung!! Nobody threw up, but was very close to it. This was some pretty gross stuff. The kids loved it though. We had a total of 33, 23 being teens....PRAISE THE LORD!!! The kids are loving it and so is Ed!!

Peter was the last contestant and got pretty far until he had to eat the "pig snout" he just couldn't do it anymore to go on. He quit and when his box was checked, he gave up winning $100.00. Maybe next time Peter!

The youth group gave Ed a Dan Marino (he loves the Dolphins football team) plaque for his birthday along with a bunch of other Miami Dolphins stuff. Dorothy & Josie even made him a Miami Dolphins birthday cake. Thanks girls!

This is Rich! He was the big winner for the night going home with $100.00. Peter invited him and it was his first time at "youth group". He says he will be coming again!!! He got to eat all the cusine and never got sick!! Way to go Rich!!

Overall it was a great night for "Pulse Youth" and for Ed. They even wrapped his car with seran wrap, just like they did in Michigan. It must be a teenager thing!!