2008 in Review

2008 was a year full of memories for us. Of course, the highlight was the arrival of Matthew! We are blessed to be the Riggio 5 and look forward to a fantastic 2009 filled with many new memories! We hope your year was a memorable one.

Pam and Jim at a wedding in Napa - January 2008

Michelle, Pam, and Julie at Pam's Shower on 2/7/08

Welcome baby Matthew Jacob - 2/27/08

A visit to Avila Beach

Nothing tops the friendship between brothers

Jim and the boys at the Zoo to You show

Joshua wins a reading award

A fun trip to the bowling alley

I hear there is a Waterpark in Paso Robles

Happy birthday Joshua (6) and Dominic (3)!

A family trip to Disneyland

Matty takes a ride in Nana's old high chair

My 3 Little Pumpkins

Matty Moose

We are truly blessed!

Marshmallow Matty

Move over Cheerios, there's a new Sheriff in town! Yes, like every kid, Matthew is a sugar magnet. We decided to try a new cereal last week and plopped down a handful of Lucky Charms in front of him. 15 minutes later there was a tray of cereal with no marshmallows....he ate every single one of them! It looks like I might move back to Cheerios and substitute the marshmallows as a special treat every now and then to avoid a certain addiction.

Week in Review

And what a week it was! We were lucky enough to have my mom with us for Christmas this year. She arrived early Christmas Eve morning and spent the day with the boys so that I could work. Traditionally we would have a Christmas Eve dinner at my grandmothers house, and eat light on Christmas day, but with new traditions in the works, we did something different this year. Jim prepared two pork loins (one was stuffed with pesto and the other had a cranberry glaze over the top - both were yummy!) for dinner and we invited our friends, the Gammons, down for Christmas Eve dinner. The boys enjoyed playing with their friends, and the adults enjoyed the extra company. Later in the evening we all put on our new Christmas jammies and we watched the boys open their stockings from Nana. Immediately after, she read the Night Before Christmas and we all climbed into bed to dream about what Santa would bring us.

Christmas morning came early as all three of us (me, Jim and my mom) awoke well before 5am. We opened our stockings and enjoyed a cup of coffee before waking the "riff-raff." They were stoked to find so many gifts under the tree, and I was completely overwhelmed with what Santa brought me this year. I don't say this often, but my husband successfully surprised me, and spoiled me at the same time! The Wii that I had been asking for for months now was no where to be found under the tree so I assumed that I would be disappointed....wrong! Jim had my mom pick one up and bring it over with her gifts so that I wouldn't find it under the tree. Needless to say, as much as he stressed that the "Wii is for mommy," he and the boys all enjoy playing with it.

Jim's birthday arrived the day after Christmas and after a long day at work, we brought in a babysitter and spent the night with some friends. The Mazur's treated us to a very nice dinner at a new restaurant called Level 4 in downtown Paso Robles. We all had a little too much to drink, but it was a special occasion so it was warranted.

On Saturday, Jim took Joshua out to the Drahos ranch for a target shoot. They both had a blast. I am thrilled that Joshua is finally old enough to attend special events with his daddy. The bonding time is good for them. Jim said that Joshua was very helpful and was a delight to have around. I stayed home with Dom and Matty and took a nap...yes, a nap. Once we all woke up we headed to Target to pick up a few after Christmas goodies and to use the gift cards we received for Christmas. I was even more excited during checkout when a $25 target card I bought last week tendered for $50 - WOO HOO! I guess that means I got my new hair dryer for free! We enjoyed dinner at Chili's and hit the sack early.

If it wasn't for Sunday's, I don't think I'd ever get caught up. Today was spent grocery shopping, cleaning up around the house, and finishing laundry. Yes, another exciting day. Dominic accompanied me the the grocery store today so I treated him to Wendy's. What a big help he is! I completed my first "workout" on the Wii this evening since I didn't make it to the gym.

Now back to the laundry so that I can crawl into bed by 11pm. I hope you all had a great weekend. And to Pam, 4 days and counting until Disneyland!!

Twas the night before Christmas.....

Who says Lego's are for kids?

Matthew awakens from a mid-Christmas day nap

Although Jim swears the Wii was for me, Joshua has quickly become addicted!

Matty LOVES his new Little Symphony playset. Thank you Nana!!

Guess Who's 45 today??

...........that would be Jim! Happy birthday to the love of my life! Thank you for 10 years of memories and 3 beautiful children. You deserve a great day! I love you!

Merry Christmas!

What a joy it was to wake up to this sight! All three boys loved what Santa brought them, and Mommy, Daddy, and Nana especially enojoyed playing with Spike the dinosaur (that's him on the left). We are blessed to have a healthy family, three spunky little boys, and a house full of love this holiday season. May you all enjoy time with your families today and a little bit of rest and relaxation from this hectic world that we all live in.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

"Merry Christmas Eve Gift"

This is a photo of Joshua and the last Christmas tree we would see at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I am so thankful that he got to spend at least one Christmas with the most wonderful grandparents anyone could ask for. I'm also thankful that Grandma got to share one Christmas with one of her great-grandchildren.

Every Christmas, I load Steven Curtis Chapman into my CD player, and fast forward to the following song. I remember 7 years ago listening to this song and thinking about how hard it would be to celebrate Christmas without two of the most important people in my life. As the years pass, this song has come to mean so much more in my life. Although the roles are reversed for my Grandparents, I know that Grandpa is the one singing with the angels, and Grandma is biding her time here on earth until they can be together again. Just reading these lyrics brings tears to my eyes as I struggle yet another year to cherish the memories of Christmas past rather than live them. I miss Christmas Eve at my grandparents house with my mom, aunt Pam, Uncle Joseph, and cousins Amy and Brian. My heart yearns to be 12 years old again so that I can relive the past just one more time. Life goes on and so must our traditions and memories. I can assure you that for as long as I am alive, I will cherish the traditions I was raised with and will forever have my grandparents in my heart.

Her house was where the family gathered every Christmas eve

A feast was on the table and gifts were placed beneath the tree

Everything was picture perfect and Grandpa would laugh and say

That woman spends the whole year getting ready for this day

One year the leaves began to fall and her health began to fade

We moved her to a place where they could watch her night and day

But she kept making plans for Christmas from her little room

She told everyone, I'll miss you but I'll be leaving soon

I'm going home for Christmas and I'm going home to stay

I'm going home for Christmas and nothing's gonna keep me away

I'll be with the ones I love to celebrate the Savior's birth

This gift will be worth more to me than anything on earth

I'm going home, home for Christmas

All the leaves outside have fallen to be covered by the snow

The family comes with food and gifts and Grandpa comes alone

There's a sadness in our silence as the Christmas story's read

And with tears, Grandpa reminds us of the words that Grandma said

I'm going home for Christmas and I'm going home to stay

I'm going home for Christmas and nothing's gonna keep me away
I'll be face to face with Jesus as we celebrate His birth

This gift will be worth more to her than anything on earth

'Cause she'll be home

And as we sing 'Joy to the World' I can't help thinking

Of the joy that's shining in her eyes right now

And though our hearts still ache, we know that as we celebrate

She's singing with the herald angels and heaven's glowing on her face

And now she's home for Christmas and now she's home to stay

She's home for Christmas, and nothin' could've kept her away

She'll be face to face with Jesus, as we celebrate His birth

And this gift will be worth more to her than anything on earth

She's home, she's home for Christmas

Today is a very special day for my friend Brandie. It is her 28th Birthday! Brandie - I hope you have a terrific day and that the weather in Tennessee treats you well! I wish I were there to celebrate with you. I love you and miss you more than you know!

Reindeer Cookies

I made these ever so cute reindeer for Dominic's class yesterday. They are much cuter with Nutter Butters, but since there is a no peanut butter policy at our daycare, I had to use vanilla fingers. In case you would like to replicate these, the recipe is as follows:

Package of Nutter Butters
Small twist pretzels (antlers)
Raisins (eyes)
Red Hots (nose)
Vanilla frosting (glue)

Dominic informed me that he and his friends enjoyed their treat very much!!

A 1st Grade Holiday Greeting

Friday was Joshua's 1st grade "performance." As expected, there were about a hundred 6 year olds piled on the stage which made it difficult to video tape or take pictures of our little angel. Johsua did such a great job and made us proud.

Speaking of proud, on Thursday while I was volunteering in Joshua's classroom, I received another surprise. Mrs. Spencer called Joshua over to read to her. I silently watched from a distance as he read the words and discussed what was going on. When he was finished, he looked up at me with nine fingers raised and said, "mommy, I'm a nine!" I stood there in confusion until Mrs. Spencer smiled at me. That's when I realized that my smart little man was reading at a level 9! That's a 5 level increase in less than a month! Way to go Joshua!!

Battle Lost

Just trust me when I say this looks worse in person, and that my leg has been in pain for nearly 24 hours now. Yesterday while dropping the boys off, I got my leg caught on the door of the Camry as I went to shut it. At first I thought I ripped my pants, and was relieved to find no holes. After about 10 minutes I realized that the pain in my leg wasn't going away. This was the end result...yuck!! Needless to say I will be a bit more careful as I shut the door next time.

The Riggio Disco

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Our 3 Little Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Mystery Solved

You'll never guess what Jim found under the seat in my Tahoe yesterday. My missing camera! I am totally stoked to have it back.

Our Weekend Visitors

I can't believe we are only a week away from Christmas!! I've been so busy in the past few days that I realized I haven't updated anyone on our weekend guests!

As an annual tradition, we get together with my two favorite girlfriends and their husbands for a Christmas dinner and gift exchange for the kiddos. In years past, Jim and I have hauled the kids to Bakersfield and participated in the festivities and then returned home in the darkness and fog. This year, I thought we'd take an opportunity to host this blessed event. Unfortunately, Michelle and Jason could not make the trip, but we opted to let the show go on as planned.

On Saturday, my best friends Julie and Gabe and their boys, Zachary (almost 6) and Bradley (1 1/2) made the trek across the county line to celebrate at our house. Having never made a prime rib, I thought we would give it a try. It was FANTASTIC (and well worth the $67)! We also enjoyed a bottle of champagne - although I think most of it ended up in my glass. The boys all enjoyed opening gifts and were very well behaved. This is a feat in itself with 4 of them running around the house.

After dinner, we loaded up the car and headed to the annual Vine Street festival in downtown Paso Robles. We had never been before. WOW!! I would swear that the entire city of Paso was present. We walked up and down several blocks of crowded street and enjoyed the beautiful holiday lights and tunes. There were several "booths" offering free treats and a multitude of activities to partake in, including a snow sledding hill. We enjoyed Starbucks coffee and hot cider. I also saw several familiar faces, and had the opportunity to give my cousin Russ a hug as he cut apples in his garage for "reindeer food." Despite the freezing cold weather, we enjoyed ourselves and will make this another annual tradition.

Dare you ask?

Another night, another ordeal with the Christmas lights. By the end of this holiday season I am going to be an expert electrician. I should have known that when the rain hit tonight, my lights would experience yet another hiccup. The great news is that I was quick to assess the problem. In my jammies (I'm convinced they give me wisdom at this point) I removed the 3-way adapter and replaced it with a waterproof outdoor one. Problem solved! In the process I relocated a few things to the music box on the front of the house to create a bit more flashing to the holiday tunes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the last entry revolving around Christmas lights!

Our Little Look-a-likes

There you have it! Mystery solved....at least at this point in their young lives. Dominic looks more like Jim, Joshua looks more like me, and Matthew looks equally like us. If you ask me, the look-a-like meter changes daily in our household. The great news is that no matter who they resemble, they are all three handsome little men who are destined to break hearts one day.

Matthew

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology - Free family history

Joshua

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Dominic

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology search - Draw family tree

On The Road to Recovery - UPDATED

I am pleased to say that Angie seems to be doing much better today. After a few bad days, she is up and walking around and even ate some of her food this morning. She voluntarily took her medication as well. We will wait for test results today, but I suspect that she had a bit of a stomach bug. Angie - we hope you have several more years with us. We can't imagine life without you Gigi!

Update - Dr. Crowder called this morning to inform us that Angie has Pancreatitis. While this is a disease that flares up routinely, he believes we can keep it under control. Angie will continue on her chicken and rice diet and add 2 doses of Pepcid AC daily. We will continue to optimistic that she has several years left to spend with us.

Yesterday was Dominic's annual Christmas program. Although I captured the program on video, I am not able to upload from that camera quite yet. Instead, here are a few photos from the program. Dominic, of course, was a little ham. He sang so well and pressed to stay out front. The highlight of the evening was Santa Claus! All three boys were excited and enjoyed spending time with their friends. We are counting down the days until Christmas morning!

Dominic and Marcella

No chance at a face shot of all three, but Santa sure did enjoy talking to them

Matthew and Kimrah

Matthew and Kimrah, Dominic and Marcella

JD, Joshua, and Noelle (Joshua's girlfriend)

Matthew takes a snooze before he meets Santa