Felicia and Tyler's wedding in Oklahoma 2008

I can't seem to post these in order so I'll explain: This is after the ceremony. The bride and groom have just walked away.

Now it's Ian's turn to parade away! He is walking after my cousin Gloriana who is Felicia's big sister.

Felicia and Tyler after their civil ceremony. The Spanish Branch President married them and he was more nervous than the bride and groom. He forgot to seat the audience after the ceremony began!

Ian delivering the rings. He was very careful but decided to stick around....he was right smack in the middle when it was time to kiss the bride!

Ian and I attended my cousin Felicia's wedding in Oklahoma a year ago. He was the official ring bearer but was a bit disappointed when he discovered he wasn't getting to be a "reindeer" instead. Nevertheless, he delivered and behaved like a perfect little gentleman. After he walked up to the stage, he kept practicing kneeling with his little pillow and the rings and everyone was trying not to laugh.

This is my brother Andrew and his puppy Blade (it could be Knife or Dagger, I forget. I know it's a deadly weapon of some sort!).
Photos taken in Oklahoma last year for my cousin Felicia's wedding. Andrew drove in from Fort Bragg with his dog and I have offered to babysit him during Andrew's deployment to Afghanistan. It's been a year now since these pics and I'm sure he is now huge!!

It's time for a puppy

We have been considering for months, if not longer, to get a dog. 3 out of 4 kids in the Carranza household have voted in favor and Catherine, bless her heart, insists on another cat.
We have visited Pet Stores, met several adoptable pets, scoured online adds, classifieds and researched different breeders.
We were "lucky" one day to take care of a stray chocolate brown lab who was wandering our neighborhood on a rainy day. He had a bandaged foot but was pretty dirty so I debated on bringing him inside the house. I set up a makeshift bed in our backyard under our deck stairs but the dog followed me up the stairs to our very small deck. This is a Chihuahua sized deck, not a Labrador sized deck, so I decided to wipe his feet and Sofia and I brought him in and drew him a warm bath. Mind you, this is not a small lab...and in the end, we had to enlist Fernando in helping to lift him into the tub. He loved it after the initial shock! (The dog) and He hated doing the dirty work (Fernando) but he was squeaky clean and Sofia gladly blow dried him.
We reported him lost to the Humane Society and the local animal shelter and were prepared to wait a day or two until his owner(s) appeared, all the while hoping that they wouldn't!
We fed him, played with him and after I picked up the girls from school and had just crossed the railroad tracks entering our neighborhood, I spotted a suspicious "have you seen me" poster. I almost missed it and decided to back-up the car and take a second look, and lo and behold, it was Riley who had a bandaged foot and had been missing overnight!
Oh well, we enjoyed him enough to want one for ourselves and Riley's mom and dad were very happy to have him back once we notified them.
So now we are on the hunt and have considered everything from a mutt to a purebred.
Originally I did not want a puppy as I dreaded the potty training, but have found it difficult to find an adult dog that fits our needs and that gets along with "active" kids, so I have decided to go for the puppy. I have found that many are crate trained and potty trained before they come to you anyway.
One of my requirements is short hair. I'm still finding "Riley" hair in the oddest places of my house! So low shedding is always a plus. I also prefer a white or mostly white dog so I can spot any stray fleas! (My eyes aren't what they used to be)
As much as I love large breeds (I once had a beautiful brindle Great Dane named Helga), our house is just not big enough and I'm not a fan of tiny dogs. I just cannot handle their temperament and neither can Catherine (she's scared to death of them!). Therefore, we are going for the medium size dog and we have a few breeds that we would really enjoy, but will possibly go for either an English bulldog or a bull terrier. The English bulldog seems to be friendlier overall and remains my top pick, besides, I love their stocky build and squished-in faces!
So, hopefully, I will soon be writing about our new family member and our great adventures.

Yes on Prop 8

In light of the recent uproar surrounding the Proposition 8 Campaign here in Southern California, I felt it necessary to finally write my feelings about it here on my blog, in addition to the comments I have made on others' blogs.

As worried as I am about this proposition passing, I'm probably more saddened by the way people on either side of the debate are treating each other. I hear daily stories of harassment, defacement of property, and stealing of propaganda signs. Just today, my husband and adult daughter volunteered to hold signs up in favor of Prop 8 and had to endure the anger of a few passing drivers. One actually almost had a fender bender because he wanted to make sure the sign holders saw his middle finger!

Today I received an email with some photos of a family who after having had their yard sign stolen, decided to place a banner on the front of their second story home, only to have two people park their SUV in front of their home and decorate it with hate speech, including "haters",and "bigots live here" and an arrow pointing towards this family's house.

Unfortunately, the hate works both ways and there are many who take advantage of this campaign to promote their own hateful agendas towards the gay and lesbian community.

I wish we could all agree to disagree and respect each other's points of view and respect our freedom of speech and of expression.

I wish others would not abuse their freedom of speech and of expression to promote hate and anger. I know how passionate and heated a debate can be, but where is our self-control and self-restraint? How much better are we if we insult and degrade the opposition?

I wish the citizens of this State remember that we belong to a Country established by good, God fearing men who acted only in the best interest of the people, setting an example to many other countries.

I hope that after all is said and done, and after the results reflect the will of the majority, they will be respected by the minority. This is, after all, the United States of America, home of freedom and democracy.

I pray that God will be with us throughout this trial and that this trial will bring out the best of us and not the worst.

I count my blessings

1. I love my family
2. My husband cooks regularly
3. I have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life
4. I can and do vote
5. I live in a free country where I enjoy freedom of speech and of religion
6. I have a great relationship with my mother and father
7. I have a great relationship with my brother and sisters and am very proud of their accomplishments
8. My brother is a green beret and is proudly serving his country
9. I live in sunny Southern California and the weather is amazing
10. I live only 1/2 hour from the surf and only an hour from the slopes
11. I live on a hill and love it because I love hills and mountains
12. I have food in my pantry
13. I have a house
14. My husband has a job
15. We have an earthquake emergency kit for all of our family members
16. I can see with both my eyes (my vision is 20/20 with my contacts in!)
17. I am almost 40 and can still kick-butt!
18. I love music and sing along always
19. My son shares his love of music with me
20. My daughters share their love of dance, TaeKwonDo and art with me too
21. My kids are funny and make me laugh
22. I have visited some very cool cities around the world: London, Vienna, Prague, Quito, etc..
23. I can still fit into my 1983 cheer leading uniform (although it doesn't look as good on me anymore!)
24. I can speak two languages: English and Spanish (I wish I could say three, but three years of French I took in school never paid off!)
25. I was born in an exotic country: Costa Rica
26. Our house has been out of harms way during the fires
27. I can drive a stick-shift
28. I can take warm showers and do so at least once daily (I love feeling squeaky clean!)
29. Even if it's unaffordable, I have air conditioning at home and use it when I'm very hot
30. I love my feet and think they are cute (I don't care what anyone else says!)
31. I'm not a picky eater
32. I'm not afraid of turning 40
33. My daughter Sofia says she will take care of me when I am old and decrepit(I'm sure she will change my diapers in my old age too!)

Important Update!

So much has been going on in my life, that I haven't made time to write. But I felt it necessary to include a little update after my last entry before I write anything new.
Sofia has yet to pierce her tongue (I'm still holding my breath!) and my computer tech abilities have certainly improved....well they haven't caved. But as life would have it, I have plenty of other new things to upset me or fret over. Will proposition 8 pass? Will my girls keep up with their piano practice enough to apease their piano teacher? Will gas prices ever be afordable again and will our house ever appreciate again? Heck, will my strep throat ever go away? (This explains my new found time for writing!)

I have to remind myself that I am not the only person on the planet with problems and I'm sure there are plenty of others out there who can put my problems to shame, so my next entry will be a list of all the wonderful things I enjoy and am blessed with! So read on....