626 + 415 makes one gorgeous kid!: where have we been?!

man, talk about a hiatus in blogging. fall came and just took over! back to school, back to work, back to life and the stressful things that accompany it. booooooo!

we were in west covina for a little over two weeks, and we had such a wonderful time!!! gani got to spend a lot of time with his cousins... marley, jill, joie, jackie, johnny and chamina... his titas (who he refers to so rudely by their first names) "mal" and "ah-mi", his ninang chamina, and his "LO-LO!" and "MAAAM!", as he even more rudely refers to lola. gani had a blast swimming, visiting, playing in a yard, running around in the sprinklers, jumping on sofas, enjoying the heat, and just being his natural naked self.

typical snack time mess at lolo and lola's

gani and his ate jill

"MAAM! feed me! my mom's still asleep and it's 11 am!"

"sister" marley and tita mel

b-day celebration with the cousins!
lola accidentally bought "magic" candles

during the last saturday we were in so cal, our friends arlene and rod were married. we know arlene and rod through sf state, but they're both from riverside and long beach. i went through my MA program with both of them, and i was so relieved to find two people from so cal living in sf. rod is a TDB, a fraternity that i was a little sis for in college, and arlene and i used to work together at the agency i'm at now. we've grown really close, and it was so great to be able to witness their union.

mr. and mrs. daus-magbual and their boys

gani was the herb bearer for their beautiful ceremony. we were worried about how he would do. i was sure he'd throw a fit and refuse to go down the aisle. when arlene asked for him to be in the ceremony, gani was only a year old. at one year old, we didn't really couldn't see his personality just yet, and i warned her then that he might not do it. sure enough, right before he was supposed to go down the aisle, gani was pulling hysterically at the neck of his barong, screaming and crying. perci quickly wisked him away, and when the ceremony started, he became this magical angel walking so calmly and adorably down, pillow in hand. apparently all flower girls and bearers around 2 years old were throwing fits and just held it together long enough to make it down the aisle!

yes! he did it!!

lavender for health and sage for protection

we had a wonderful time! trump national golf course will never be the same. the crazy filipinos were off the hook and made it a par-tay! arlene and rod brought fabrics, materials, paper and alcohol from ilocos, and incorporated it all into their filipinana theme. our friend/mentor/ate allyson performed the ceremony, which went perfectly. rod and arlene shared their emotional vows, and then everyone was off to the open bar!