Mike & Jennifer's Engagement

Mike Brown has been JC's boyfriend for about 2 yrs. Last week Mike asked JC to marry him, and after much thought... she said "Yes".

They are planning a February 2007 wedding.




They have created a webiste which you can view and get history and updates on their plans.

http://mikeandjenn.50webs.com/



Donations can be sent to:

www . Here we go again and now I am double broke . com

During our trip, we had a lot of fun in the snow. Mike and Jonas had never seen snow. After the four of them found themselves 4 1/2 miles up a mountain with only a snowboard to get down............. they decided to ride the gondola down and master the bunny slopes! On their way there they found themselves on the side of the road with snow drifts about 6 ft. high. They decided to use their snowboards to slide down the drifts on their stomachs. Mike went first and mastered the technique on his first try!

Check out this first video to see has it's done......





Then Jenn thought she'd give it a try. Finding herself a bit vertically challenged with 6 ft. drifts, she managed to get herself in position. However, she soon found herself in a very cold spot!

Colorado Vacation

Colorado Trip March 2006


In March our family went to Denver, Colorado. We had a great time. We did...


Tubing...

Skiing...

and Snowmobiling.

We had a great time and have a TON of new stories.

We also did a Pepsi commercial while we were there...

You Know You're Puerto Rican If...

We've all seen the list, but it's been a while, so here's a reminder:

You Know You're Puerto Rican If...

• You have been spanked with "chancletas".
• You know your mom is sneaking up on you cause you can hear her "chancletas" flapping on the linoleum floor.
• Your mother yells at the top of her lungs to summon you to dinner and you're in the next room.
• You have ever called linoleum floor a "rug".
• You can get to your house blindfolded by the smell of the "chuletas".
• You say "Vamos pa' encima" instead of "Let's get started".
• You get scared whenever someone mentions "el CUUUCO"!!!
• You remember every Christmas those "aguinaldos" that abuela used to sing for you.
• You have gone to Titi's house and passed through the "bead curtain" in the living room.
• You step into a house that has all those little figurines taking up every inch of space on the TV and under the TV.
• You have a porcelain cat/dog/rooster or elephant in your living room.
• You have a perpetually drunk uncle.
• You know someone in your family named Junior, Mari, Chucho, Papo, Tito or Carmen.
• You know Don Francisco from Sábado Gigante.
• You call rug -carpeta , roof-rufo, parking-palkin, stress-estress, library- libreria (instead of biblioteca), boiler-boila, sucker-soca, or to knock-noquiar.
• You have told your kid not to walk the floor barefoot or they'll catch a cold.
• You need a cup of coffee after every meal.
• Your aunt has more mustache than your father.
• Your cousin’s cousins are delinquents.
• Your uncle owns more gold than that jewelry shop down the street.
• You have sat in a two-passenger car with over seven people in it.
• You put a big Puerto Rican flag on your car come June.
• You have a picture of "Cristo" in your house.
• You think your name begins like this "Ave Maria purísima, Richard"
• You walk around saying "chacho" or "chacha" or "ay, bendito".
• You have said, "no, hombe" instead of "no, hombre" to both sexes.
• You do that funny pointing thing with your nose and if the person doesn't understand you, you use the lips for emphasis.
• You can speak with your face, ex: twitch like a rabbit to ask "what do you want?".
• You used to drive a "cheby" (chevy)!
• You call all sneakers "tennis" shoes and Converse are "los champions".
• All cereal is called "con-flei".
• All brands of diapers are called "pampel" or "pampers".
• You have ever ground plátanos for pasteles during Christmas time.
• Your car has fifteen speakers in it and you fix it every weekend.
• Your dinner consists of a "mixta", rice and beans and some kind of meat.
• You know the difference between Carolina rice and everything else.
• You have ever lived in the Bronx or Brooklyn.
• Your uncle has a wife and a "corteja".
• You have ever put a penny on your forehead to stop a nose bleed.
• Your mother has put a balled up piece of thread on your baby cousin's forehead to stop her hiccups.
• You have at least thirty cousins.
• You know how to drive "estandard" or "estick" shift.
• You can tell the difference between Bustelo and anything else.
• A coqui's sound has driven you crazy.
• And last, but not least, your grandmother thinks Vick's vapor-rub is the miracle cure for everything.

Courtesy of http://www.jibaros.com/ (A great site I highly recommend)

Cash-Strapped Gov't Days From Shutdown in Puerto Rico

If this keeps up we might have to change our location for the reunion.
It doesn't look real good.

The U.S. Caribbean territory is staggering under a nearly $740 million budget shortfall and heading toward a grim scenario Monday, when it will run out of cash to pay salaries and provide public services if local lawmakers don't approve a bailout plan....
Puerto Ricans jammed gas stations and supermarkets amid rumors that truck drivers would go on strike to force the government to resolve the crisis. Callers flooded talk-show phone lines, expressing anxiety about how it would affect them. Union leaders and government workers lashed out at politicians.
More here

Pink Phloyd

I've been part of a Pink Floyd tribute band for the last 7 months.

It's been great fun and something I've always wanted to do (be part of a band). I play acoustic guitar and sing lead vocals.

We practice every week and we've done a few private parties.

Nothing public yet but we have managed to finally to get 4 recordings of our practice sessions that won't embarrass us out on our web site.

They're not pefect. You'll hear all of our mistakes but they're not half bad.

http://www.pinkphloyd.com/

I know it's probably not your type of music but give it a listen. You might like it.

Enjoy

To our fathers

I propose a toast to our "papi's" as they gracefully age.
They did the best they could and we all turned out pretty well.
Add your two cents in the comments.

Sheep, wolves and sheepdogs

This is a great article. It's a little long but it's worth the time to read.

"Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident...then there are the wolves... the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy. Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial ... then there are sheepdogs...[they] live to protect the flock and confront the wolf."

April Poker Night at Dave's

Chick's boys were in town for this one. Intro by Brandon, Lisa's son.

The latest on Gilberto

My dad was recently diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer. I set up a separate blog to post updates on his condition. Feel free to check it out if you are interested.

The blog address is: gilbertosjourney.blogspot.com

Please keep him in your prayers. Thanks.

Happy birthday Chick

We all got together at Olive Garden
Ulyses

It's Official - I'm a Blogger

I have been eagerly attempting to add to our family Blog (Thanks again Junior) and here I go.

This picture was taken last year at a friend's wedding. (I'll post the kids later.) I didn't want to post a more recent picture because I'm wearing a beard and my mom says I need a haircut.

Everyone is doing really well. In June, Marie will be turning 18 and graduating from North Penn High School. She’s driving (her own car) and (to date) has never done anything wrong. Christina and Tommy are still being home-schooled and are also without flaw.

Most of my time is spent volunteering, playing with my kids and looking forward to the next time I get together with my family. (Tonight, I’ll be taking ballroom dance lessons with my wife, Annette.)

NEXT?

Look who came for dinner

A great surprise on Monday. Jinnie and Irving came to visit Mom and Pop's. It was really nice to see them again. It's been at least 5-7 years since I saw her last. Dave, Reen, Kim and I had dinner with them at Mom and Pop's. We talked about our age and things that we did as kids. She has not aged at all, still beautiful as ever.

PA trip 04-01-06

Went to PA this weekend to watch Ryan win a basketball championship.

This is picture of Ryan and girl from his youth group. (She is like a daughter to me.)


12-0 Perfect Season..... 5 years in basketball and he won his first championship.
Eric was the assistant coach.
SO PROUD OF BOTH OF MY BOYS !!!!