five out of six: special projects

I have slowed down a bit when it comes to special projects as my life has gotten busier with a full time job. However, to stay sane and happy I DO have to work on something creative and thus try my hardest to continue one of my passions to create colorful things. I have worked on a few chairs That I will display the pictures of once I am ready and painted a few pieces of furniture that I will also display later in the month.

The newest things that I have dipped my toes into is baking. For some strange reason I have been wanting to learn how to bake and have already made my first cake from scratch and cupcakes from scratch. The cake I made for my coworker Angela on the day of her birthday. I made a chocolate cake with chocolate morsels, raspberry mousse filling and chocolate mousse frosting...I don't know what else to call it. It came out AMAZING! I am not a chocolate person and definitely not a cake person but I happened to create a delicious treat for cake/chocolate lovers, who would've figured! For the cupcakes, I made banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. These were done very healthy, but next time I will most definitely go with a different recipe as I know I can make some better tasting banana bread. Well...we will see what I come up with next? Mexican cupcakes with a little bit of spice and chocolate? I don't know, something crazy like that!

No pics of my cupcakes :(

four out of six: family growth

I have been dying to write this post as this one has been really exciting this year...or the past few years. Our family in the States is really small as all my family resides in Guatemala, but little by little it has started growing with all the amazing additions to the family. At first they were family friends, such as Jaye, Susan and Larry that were added when my siblings and I were younger. They have made our family such a strong family and have brought a different flavor and spices to our family pot. The next additions to our family have come through marriage, such as Lindsey through Herbert and Tony through me. These additions have been so great because they come with families of their own that have become part of our little clan. The family gatherings have become much bigger (and louder) as we all have great personalities and we all

want to talk (pretty funny). The good thing about the family is that we have built a strong support system where we all chip in to help each other.

Now...the latest addition to our family has made everyone gone wild as she is the one that has stolen the spotlight from everyone. Michayla Simone was born on May 1st, 2010 (on her daddy's birthday). She is the first addition to the family that is blood related as she is the daughter of my brother, Herbert. This little angel has brought so much joy to the family and our main goal is to spend as much time possible with her. Both Herbert and Lindsey have become amazing parents in such a short time and will now be the wise ones when it comes to child bearing and raising kids.

I have to say that from the moment I laid eyes on Michayla I fell in love. I have never fell in love so quickly with anyone or anything in the world this quickly before, so it was so strange to feel the tidal wave of emotion take over me in less than a second. Imagine, if I felt this way how did Lindsey and Herbert feel? I guess I will know one day....

The day Michayla was born. It had only been 20 minutes or so. She looked so beautiful.

Proud Parents! 2 weeks after being born, she was so tiny....

So excited to be carrying the little one!

She has such gorgeous eyes.

Meeting Kuma for the first time.

She is already daddy's little princes!