A Silent White Christmas

We had a very quiet Christmas this year. Besides hosting a couple of homestay students on Christmas Eve and Day, we just ate and ate and ate, and I didn't even have to cook! On Christmas Eve, my mom hosted. While on Christmas Day, Erika and Dan hosted in Tsawwassen. To top off the much-needed relaxing time spent with Ray and K & T, we had a white Christmas which was great until we had to drive!

From our family to yours, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Here's our Japanese homestay students:

Here's Ray and I chowing down my mom's homecooked meal:

Here's four generations of the Cruz clan:

Here we are in Tsawwassen:

This was the view from our house after the snow storm:

Here's our house on Christmas Day. It snowed during Christmas Eve. Check out our snow bank. It was twice Karch's height!

Until next year!

Happy Birthday to all the December Birthday Celebrants!

Julia, Matthew, Tita Christie, Nathalie, Mike, and Leslie, we hope you all enjoyed your birthdays!

xoxo RJKT

Let the Christmas celebrations begin...

Since I have self-diagnosed myself with cabin fever (it's snowing yet again here!), I might as well reminisce on the times this month when we were able to actuallty go out and celebrate good times with wonderful friends. Here are some pictures from this holiday season's festive get-togethers:

Here we are at High Tea with the Unicorns (my high school friends; we were Sweet Valley High inspired, so we decided to call ourselves that in high school!)

We had Christmas dinner at a Mexican Restaurant; here's Senorito Karchy.

Here's T waiting for our annual Christmas dinner with Jeff, Mon, Lor, and Mike. (You guys should all be proud-Ray and I prepared a turkey dinner right after my last day of work. But remind me not to do that again!):

Here we are with Jeff, Mon, Lor, and Mike:

Here we are at the Motovaselans:

The Dadas:

The Mamas:

And our get-together at the Rivases (Here I am with the hostess, Charina, and Tre, our friend Sandra's adorable son.):

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

Snowed In

At last, Christmas vacation has officially started, and we're snowed in. This means that it's time to catch up on blogging, reading (The Time Traveler's Wife) , and maybe even folding laundry and wrapping gifts!

So here are some pictures and videos of our week in the snow:

Here's Karch making a snow angel:

Here's my mom had to take a snow day this week because of the snow:

Tessa is scared of the snow since it kept landing on her eyelashes:

Meanwhile, her big brother, K, loves the snow:

Here's the only thing the kids and I can do: walk to my mom's place:

And today, we have blizzard-like conditions (at least it feels like it), so while K was out with Ray shoveling and playing,

T was staying in and dancing to the music!

Thank goodness, Ray starts work late. At least, he might be able to drive me around tomorrow, so we can do some last minute shopping and so we can get out of the house.

4th picture--3D glasses required

Okay, I'm not really sure if I understand this correctly. I was tagged by my cousin, Hoolie, to put the 4th picture in my 4th picture folder in my computer, so here it is my extremely out of the blue blog picture--A very blurry picture of my mom and Karch during Tessa's baptism. Once again, I don't know many people that blog. So, I'm afraid I won't be tagging anyone.

K & T Go to the Dentist

Karch and Tessa (just as support for her brother) went to the dentist with me while I had my appointment this week. It is sad to say that Karch has cavities and will now need to see a Pediatric Dentist to get an x-ray of what's going on in that mouth of his and do restorative work. I just made an appointment for the Pediatric Dentist right before Christmas. Poor Karchy...

Prelude to Christmas

Ray got his dream Christmas tree from his family home this past week, and we decided to put it up right on/after Erika's birthday (according to Bueno tradition). And now we decided to have our own tradition to have K & T put up the star on top of the tree.

Here they are in action:

A Flashback from 2006: Here's K and I putting up the star. I would have posted a picture of us putting up the star last year, but I guess we were too busy with K & T and Ray's many jobs!

While the parents are away, the kids will play...

My mom kindly took the K & T for the day (which is a first, so we're all proud of her!), so Ray and I could go Thanksgiving shopping across the border on our own. It has been so long since Ray and I were able to shop on our own that it was a wonderful treat for us, but not so good for our pockets. It is crazy how much we can spend without the kids rushing us to just get our shopping done! Oh well, it was our first shopping date in a long while, so I guess it was all worth it. 24 days til' Christmas, and we're almost done shopping!


K & T relaxing in the morning:



My mom's makeshift gate:



Tessa making a mess eating spaghetti:

Lolo Ed's Visit

This past week, Lolo Ed (Ray's Dad) came to Vancouver for a visit. Not only did he get to spend time with the kids, celebrate Erika's birthday, and meet Dan's parents, but he also witnessed Tessa walking!

K & T had great fun with their Lolo. We hope to see him again in New Year's!

Belated happy birthday, Lolo Joju!

Happy Birthday, Tita Rika!

Happy Birthday to the Tita that K loves to always hang out with! He always wants to go to Rika's house, as he usually says. Enjoy your special day, Tita Rika!

Belated Happy Birthday, Tito Mike!

Okay, I've been neglecting my blog again and did not get to do my usual birthday greeting to Tito Mike who just celebrated his birthday this week.

So, happy birthday to my favourite uncle in NJ whose like a second dad to me.

Belated happy birthday, Tito Mike!

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we must remember...

We must remember. If we do not, the sacrifice of those one hundred thousand Canadian lives will be meaningless. They died for us, for their homes and families and friends, for a collection of traditions they cherished and a future they believed in; they died for Canada. The meaning of their sacrifice rests with our collective national consciousness; our future is their monument.

-Heather Robertson, A Terrible Beauty, The Art of Canada at War. Toronto, Lorimer, 1977.

Karchy goes to Madagascar

Karchy saw his first ever movie in the movie theatres today! While Ray and I watched a movie and while Tessa stayed with my mom, Tita Rika and Tito Dan went with Karch to watch Madagascar 2! I didn't bring a camera to the theatres, but, according to reports, Karch was mesmerized by the big screen and big sounds. He symphatised with the lion and got sad when he got hurt! And when we met afterwards, he was all smiles! I'm so excited. Now that I know he can sit through an animated movie, I can take him more often and we can share some quality time at the theatres.

Obama Wins!

I find it really strange that I am more interested in American politics than I am in Canadian politics. But when American politics is all over the media, then of course I am bound to have an opinion about America's election today. I am so excited to see what Obama's presidency will bring to America, to us Canadians, and to the world.

Here is a snippet from one of Obama's speeches; here is his American story:

"I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts - that out of many, we are truly one."

-Remarks of America's newly elected President Barack Obama from his speech, "A More Perfect Union," in Philadelphia, PA on March 18, 2008.


Congratulations to all you Americans who voted for change! As a Canadian, I hope that this change will bring an evolved and united America.

Yay, Obama!

Trick or Treating in the mall and in the 80s

The weather was not cooperating this Halloween, so Ray and I took K & T to the mall for some trick or treating. Surprisingly, our neighbourhood mall was awesome at keeping the kiddies in order.

The next day, we went to Jack's birthday and we partied like it was in the 80s. It was great fun for everyone. As you can see, the Bueno clan were good sports and dressed as an 80s family. Ray even wore his Guess bomber jacket from the 80s. Ray and Karch dressed the same as 80s sports stars. Tessa was Punky Brewster with her mismatched outfit and funky sneakers. I also dressed up... as an 80s mom. All the Filipino moms (as in Jack's grandmas and grandaunts) at the party said I looked just like them in the 80s. I guess, that should be a compliment since that meant I mastered the 80s look (Thanks to Value Village and my mom's jean leggings circa 1989); I'm not really sure. What do you think?