Christmas Lights

This year I decided to take the boys back to Rancho Cucamonga to Thoroughbred neighborhood to see the lights. (Last years light at Sleepy Hollow in Torrance definitely paled in comparison). We had a great time looking at overboard-ly decorated houses. Kids enjoyed eating churros and oversized cookies. See for yourself

His grandpa's grandson

My Dad has been an avid fan of Miami Heat since the days of Alonzo Mourning. Andre recently got into liking certain professional basketball and football teams. When we went to SeaWorld last time I played a basketball game (had to make a three-point shot) and won the boys a little basketball. The choices of the teams were Lakers, Clippers, Thunder and Heat. Without hesitation Andre picked Miami Heat ball. So there you go Dad, rejoice as you have a partner in crime to cheer for your Heat! :)

(In case anyone is interested Andre's favorite football team is the Broncos - he is siding with me on this one :)

School Pictures - El Rincon Elementary

 Andre - 2nd Grade - Mrs. Love

Harper - Kindergarten - Ms. Lammers

SeaWorld again

Luckily Jeff wasn't able to take Monday off and so the kids and I could enjoy our Veteran's day since we all had it off. Having just returned from my trip to Tecate I drove right back with the kiddos to SeaWorld.

 Being silly

 RipTide ride

 The boys really wanted to feed the sea lions and seals. Right after this picture was taken a seagull swooped down and grabbed the fish out of Harper's hand.

 Cotton candy beards

 This shot we specifically took for Ira knowing how much she loves flamingoes. Even Harper who had his nose pinched the whole time because of the smell (this kid has a really sensitive smell!) sucked it up and smiled for the picture.

 Andre touching the sea cucumber at the tide pools.

Ready for Christmas :)

Smiles for Tecate

I was lucky enough to be selected out of my cohort to travel to Tecate, Mexico to volunteer with an organization Smiles for Tecate (see link here: http://www.smilesinternationalfoundation.org). They provide surgeries to cleft palate patients at no cost to the families since they cannot themselves afford it. There were four of us (UCLA students) going - myself, Alex and Juan (second year MECNs) and Christine (APN student. We left at 2:30 pm from UCLA campus and due to lovely So Cal traffic we didn't cross the border until 9:30 pm (we did make a stop and picked up food at Phil's BBQ). 

We shared a room in a hotel in Tecate and had to leave early next morning to go to the clinic.

On our way to the clinic

We did stop at a bakery to get some pastries to get ready for the day.

UCLA crew: Juan, me, Kelly, Christine and Alex

Nurse Alice with one of the patients in pre-op.

We were able to get a lot of OR experience. It is amazing to see how little they have there and appreciate so much more of what we have in the US. The patients were so grateful and the experienced staff was very willing to offer up their knowledge and expertise. I have definitely learned a lot. Out of 7 surgeries that we performed that day I was able to observe most of them, help OR nurses with providing supplies for the surgery, monitor post-op children and chart their vitals. It was an amazing experience and I definitely want to do it again.