Words can't even describe - I won't even try. It actually went on for about 5min, but here's a snipet of Mateo jamming to Hey Mickey at the end of the Bring it On movie:

Off we went to NY and PA for our annual trip home for Thanksgiving to celebrate the holidays with family and eat some of Grandma's good food. It was good to see our nieces and nephews once again and Mateo had a chance to play with them all laughing up a storm. It was definitely great to have all the family sitting together again at the T-Giving table (we missed you Charles Jr.!)

Grandma cooked up tons of food, pies, deserts and side dishes - all of it was delicious. I think she started this year making homemade pies 5 days early - that may be a record.  We had traditional Dominican food most every morning, which alone was well worth the trip :) But after a whole week back home - there were a few more notches to use on our belts.

And to top off the fun weekend - we got to celebrate the Baptism of Olivia and Lily on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The girls looked very pretty in their white dresses and through it all - behaved well having the priest bless and baptize them during the ceremony.

We took lots and lots of pictures throughout the whole weekend. All are posted here in the NY section of our gallery.

We took a day trip out to Canton, OH to visit the Football Hall of Fame. Had a great time looking at all the history and memorabilia. Canton was about 2 hours away from Columbus so the trip was not too long and the Hall of Fame itself actually looks pretty small from the outside, but there is tons of stuff to see once you get through the main doors.

Since they were celebrating Veteran's Day at the HoF, we got in free :) The had exhibits for different eras of football and lots of team information so naturally we went over to look at the NY Giants section. Got to see the old great Hall of Famers like Harry Carson, LT, Y.A Tittle, and Phil Simms. They also had the David Tyree's helmet and ball from the famous catch in the Superbowl two years ago when the Giants beat New England.

The rest of the pics from our trip are here in the Columbus section of our photo gallery.

Well last year Mateo's Halloween outfit didn't really fit him to well as they don't really make 1mo old fitting costumes -  this year he said he wanted to be a little baby lion since he runs around the house saying "RAWR" all day long :)

Thank God Mommy found an outfit that also happened to be warm as well since it was in the low 40s for trick-or-treating. We made a few walks around the block and Mateo got to ring the doorbell and get some good treats. We then came back home and handed out candies to all the kids in the neighborhood. We saw plenty of Spidermans, Wolverines, Princesses and one little girl in a Scooby-Doo outfit.

Hopefully next year he'll be able to walk up to the door himself, but overall it was fun to get out and get some good treats.

We found a nice farm not far from the house that had a huge pumpkin patch and other activities - so off we went to get ourselves a nice big one to carve for this coming halloween. There was a big corn playpen, petting zoo, hay maze, hay ride and of course pumpkins you can pick right off the vine.

It rained the day before so it was a little bit muddy but nothing terrible to walk through. There were lots of decent size pumpkins of all different shapes, sizes and colors but what look great on paper to pick your own pumpkins comes to a quick realization that you have to carry that heavy monster back from the patch to the cashier :) So our thoughts of getting a winning state fair 50 pounder was dashed and we settled for a more manageable 20lb pumpkin..lol

Now it is up to Mom to find a better Halloween outfit for Mateo since Dad's little Yoda outfit last year didn't really fit a 1mo old :) I'm still gunning for him to be a Pirate Ninja (c'mon what's better than that?!) - we'll see..

Rest of the pictures here in our Columbus section of the photo gallery.

Wow! What a wonderful gift! Our baby Mateo has turned one year old! We can't believe how fast this year has gone by...  We had a wonderful day celebrating Mateo's first birthday.. although, I'm sure he won't remember : )

  Daddy, mommy and the birthday boy spent the day together, beginning with a trip to the AHA! Childrens Museum in Lancaster, Ohio. Mateo had lots of fun playing with the different discovery stations and walking around the building - yes, I said walking! We then made the one hour trip back home for cake and gifts. Mateo loved his first birthday cake (as you can tell from the pic) and enjoyed the paper and boxes that the gifts were wrapped in! Why is it they always like the box and not the gift?... (note to self for xmas). We had lots of fun, took lots of pictures, ate lots of cake and then it was time for bed.

  This has been a wonderful year with our little gift from God and are looking forward to the next year, and the next... forever.

The rest of the pictures can be found here in our gallery.

I know I know - the quintessential 'awwww' moment. Well I wanted to take my son to the local Haircutters6000 franchise place but Mommy insisted on something just a little more reputable. So she picked her salon :P. Well it actually was a smart choice considering they cut babies hair for free and take before and after photos and video tape it as well. All still for free. Which got me asking "Dam woman, how much are YOUR haircuts?" Needless to say I got the hand and dutifuly reminded that the focus is on Mateo and not on her :)

Mateo did great and was the usual picture/photo ham. The ladies at the salon couldn't resist his chubby cheeks and he stayed somewhat still for his actuall haircut. It was getting a little moppy so he was somewhat overdue. They saved a little lock of hair for mommy and we went home none the less for wear and a little lighter up top. Don't worry Mateo - Dad will take you to BuzzCutters3000 for your next run, at least you get a lollipop there :)

 More pictures here in the rest of the gallery.

After much ado, the end of the summer weekend finally came and it was time for our first annual Gonzalez Brother's camping trip for all the brothers, their wives and children to get together for fun and celebration. Mostly to catch up, mostly for laughs - the idea came together to find a place we all could reach within driving distance and spend a weekend reconnecting our families and cousins galore:) The forecast wasn't great going into the weekend and everyone's plan on getting to the Campsite early went out the window with some families taking 5-7 hours to get there :(

It drizzled a little bit Friday night as we got in just as it turned dark, but everyone helped each other out setting up and after the tents and air mattresses were up - we got into a good game of dominoes before calling it for the night. Saturday was great weather wise and we woke up to a big 'ol camp breakfast of pancakes, eggs, corn beef hash, bacon and the works. Between the talking, playing wiffle ball, football and bike riding - that lasted right into lunch for some kick ass Burgers and HotDogs made by Charlie.

After lunch it was off to the beach for the kids to play around in the sand and one of the bigger kids to beat up a bunch of little teenagers in water football (Charles Jr.). Mateo had a great time messing around the water and playing with the sand - as did Lily with her sand castle. The water was great and it wasn't too crowded so it turned out to be a fun event. 

We relaxed our way to dinner that night with some good 'ol pork&beans, steaks and corn (I think the corn is still boiling lol) and started the fire while we danced to 80's music. That lasted until the Po-Po showed up asking us to quiet down some. What would a camping event be with a bunch of latino families without Law Enforcement showing up?? Needless to say we were also reminded that all state parks in PA are dry parks that don't allow alcohol - I think we'll have to find another place to make our 2nd annual camping trip to :) 

All in all it was a blast and great to see all the families, brothers, sister-in-laws, cousins and babies at one time. We missed lil Olivia this year unfortunately since she was sick but she'll come next year and rock the house down for sure. The rest of the pictures are here in the gallery as usual.

See ya next year! 

Chris, Kelly, Lily, Olivia & Grandma all made the trip from NY over to Ohio for the July 4th weekend and it was a blast to have family in our new place to celebrate independence day. We packed a lot in during the extended weekend, by going to the famous Columbus Zoo, seeing fireworkds, playing in the backyard pool and eating lots of good homemade food that Grandma made.

Mateo was able to finally meet his two cute cousins in Lily and Olivia. He had a blast with both of them and there were lots of laughing and giggling as they played the whole weekend. Olivia and Mateo are only one week apart and both are growing like little rabbits so it was fun to see them face to face.

On saturday we decided to celebrate with a good ol' BBQ and some sparklers/fireworks show. The babies fell asleep for the light show but Lily was having a ball with the sparklers and watching daddy make short order of the small fireworks we were allowed to light in Ohio.

Sunday was the day for the world famous Columbus Zoo. The zoo lived up to the hype and we didn't get to see it all, but what we did see was great. The kids were excited (mostly Lily) and saw everything from Snakes to Gorrillas to Tigers and all. Surprisingly it wasn't too crowded and we'll definitely be making plans to visit again this year and see the rest that we missed. The Aquarium as well was nice and we got to see huge Manatees swimming around as the big attraction.

The next day we had some fun in the blow-up pool we put together for the kids. The water was a wee-bit cold so the little ones were not too excited about jumping in, but Lily was in and out of the pool and slip-n-slide all day under the hot sun. Maybe next time the water could be a lttle warmer so the babies can have a better chance of splashing around. But it made for good photos all the way.

We finished up the short week with a fun trip at the huge park/playground next to the house with the kids (and adults) playing in all kinds of fun contraptions. I wished I had this kind of park when we were kids but the little ones enjoyed themselves for one last day before Chris & Kelly had to leave to head back home.

 Again, thanks to all of the family for making the long drive out to Ohio. We loved having everyone over and can't wait to see you all again for the holidays.

We posted up tons and tons of pictures here in the gallery since its too much to put into this one post.

Off we went on another car trip to see Robert hit the great milestone of High School graduation! It was also the first time Mateo got to see most his cousins, uncles and grandpa so it was an eventful weekend no doubt. The graduation was a small but long affair at almost 4 hours. It was good to see all those kids graduate with most getting Regents diplomas as well.

Just remember Robert, graduation isn't the end, just the begining. Now all that is left is to go out and get a J.O.B.!! Remember the quote from Newton Baker:

The man who graduates today and stops learning tomorrow is uneducated the day after.

The rest of the weekend was spent up at Grandma's to eat some good Dominican food and spend time with all of Mateo's cousins and uncles/aunts. We played baseball, football, kids got on the swings, chased the chickens, Cooper the dog swam in the pond, fed the fish, and all around just good 'ol fun.

Pictures of Robert's Graduation here.. pics from the rest of the trip here.