Happy Memorial Day

Our Third Year Anniversary

Kim and I are in Key Biscayne, Florida celebrating our 3 year anniversary.

It's been an amazing three years

Jessica Anders Cardona

On Friday, May 19, our daughter Jess, graduated from East Ridge High School.

(East Ridge, undefeated football team 3 consecutive years)

Alot of you probably don't know much about Jess. Jessica Anders Cardona is 18 years old, born April 17, 1988. When Kim and I got married she wanted to change her name legally to Cardona. (Made me proud.) Since that time, she has developed a great relationship with Eric and Ryan. Along with our entire family. She has a great love for the Lord.

Jess, captain of the girls lacrosse team, graduated in the top 6% of her class (Magna Cum Laude). In a class of 565, she ranked 33. She will be attending the University of South Florida where she will be majoring in medicine.

Titi Marta II

I have this picture on my dresser at home, so I get to see these two ladies every day. My memories of Titi Marta are many and all very precious. The times she visited us in Lansdale as well as the times I visited her in Puerto Rico are filled with laughter, kindness and generosity.
At her funeral I was amazed at how many people told me stories of her charity (love). Most of them started with the phrase, “She never wanted anyone to know, but she one gave me this gift.” She made us all (her nephews & nieces) feel like we were each her “favorite”, and we honestly were “each her favorite”.
I personally have taken upon myself the “passing of the baton” to continue her legacy of encouraging other people; and on a good day, make people laugh to the point of incontinence.

Live Your Life So the Preacher Won’t Have To Lie At Your Funeral (Source Unknown)

Titi Marta

Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her. Her passing away came much too quickly. Outside of my loving mother, I’ve never felt the kind of unconditional love that she gave me. Part of that, I’m sure, is that the fact that her mother was Mama Con.

Lately I’ve been desperately trying to recall my memories of her and the times we spent together. My aging mind sometimes refuses to cooperate. My earliest recollections are of her taking me down to Market Street in Philly and teaching me how to play pinball. Many years later after my first date with a very special girl, I would take her to the dumpy Mart (remember that place) and play a few games of pinball. I would later marry her. To this day, every time I play I remember Titi.

Right after she married Paul they came to live in Lansdale. They were in apartments on Main Street right down the street from us. It was great. I would sometimes spend the night. The next morning we would walk back along Main Street. This was probably around 1968. I was 11 or 12. Titi Marta was beautiful. In fact, I would say she was stunning. Hot rods would go down the street shouting at her and I would get all bent out of shape and start yelling back at them. She would just laugh.

After she moved to PR I didn’t see her as much as I would have liked. I’ve got a few memories from PR but not enough. When she moved to Atlanta my kids got a chance to meet and love this gracious woman. There will never be another Titi Marta.

I miss her more than I can say.

The Evolution of Dance

This is just too funny not to see.
It can also be called the History of Chicky Cardona

She did it!

It took 8 years, a marriage and a baby but Lisa finally graduated from The University of Central Florida with a specialist degree in School Psychology. She's been interning for the past year at a nearby county and has secured a position with them. We're all very proud of her.

Guess who came to dinner!

Check out who came to dinner at the Cardona house! Watch for our debut this summer in a series of commercials on HGTV, HSN and the Food Channel.




Okay.....so if you don't know who it is.... it's Leann Rimes, the country singer!

Here's the story:

A few weeks ago we received a call from her publicist asking if they could use our backyard for a commercial shoot. We said Sure!!! They showed up a few weeks later. About 6am, 30 cars, trailers and RV's showed up to set up. Unbelievable! Leann Rimes pulled in her personal bus about 9am. The commercials will run from May through August on the channels listed above.

So if you see Leann getting a massage on a deck, or having a picnic on the water's edge with a canoe in the background, that's our backyard!! (and our neighbor's yard). Here are a couple of pictures we took.

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?