My old room (my little brother took it over).
I had a bunk bed in the very back and I got in trouble for coloring all over the wall on the right.

The beast car I grew up with (Toronado)… it no longer works, just parked

With a population of 372, check out our town’s fire truck!
(this was so cool to me!)

The rinky-dink hospital I was born in (10 min away in Greenville):

Here’s a better shot of that hospital (yeah, also very small):

Here’s a shot of our Post Office (this is a big deal in my town):

One of my aunts (she just got married a couple weekends ago):

This horse has way too many memories (and costs only $0.10!!):
(built in music… this is serious stuff here)

While I was home, I found a photo album that had a vast amount of baby pictures.  Picture after picture was all new to me, so I decided to whip out the camera and take dozens of pictures of pictures from the photo album.  Here’s me at 5 months:

A better shot (I was such a huge baby):

Me and mom:

Remember the Toronado (the beast car).. this is me in it:
(notice the 8-track)

Not long after, Idania (sister) was born:

We were inseparable (now she’s 20, in college and has a life of her own):

Some more pictures as a child I randomly picked:

me & grandpa:

Here’s that shot from my last post (now upright!)
(mom made this outfit for me)

Check out this view from the roads around my home:

This is the lake I grew up at (Lake Almanor)… lots of memories:

My grandparent’s house in Crescent Mills (down the hill from home):

The second night, I feasted at my grandparent’s house:
(this was worth the trip!)

This is one of the ladies that helped look after me and my cousins when I grew up… she also ruined me because I could never eat Spanish food anywhere else without comparing it with hers… everywhere I go to eat Mexican, I remember how good it was when I was 6 years old… here’s a great shot of her:

This was weird… my grandfather opened the cooler with a big smile and proudly asked me to grab a beer…

yeah, without hesitation, i definitely choose the pepsi

i also had the opportunity on a different night to bar-b-que for my family… that was such a treat for me!  They all loved it, including Miguel (18), my uncle, who ate 3 (he’s the one shown with the big burger in his hands)!

My dad took me everywhere including Reno (more memories.. 2 hours away):

This was my home Theater (Quincy) about 20 min away… this is where I remember watching E.T. when it first came out (somehow, it was much bigger when I was 6):

On Friday, I was able to take my dad and little brother to the Sacramento ATF:
(my little brother met the Lord for real 5 hours after this shot…
it was as authentic as it can get for an 11 year old)

I definitely have to set this one up.  When I was growing up, I was surrounded with a load of family… more specifically, three ladies who I grew up the closest with: Elizabeth, Heather & Leslie.  We raced, fought, hung out, had fun, relaxed, cheated, beat each other up, then had more fun… everything… we did everything together!  The memories are too many to count!  Here is a picture of all of us back then:

Here’s a shot of Liz & Heather with me:

Liz & I practically hung out everywhere…

So where are they now?

Although they were all out of town, I was able to find out information on all of them
and document everything.  Here’s a picture of Leslie (she was in Orlando during my visit… ironic):

Elizabeth (in college in canada, going for her PHD now) and her mother (my aunt):
(my aunt has definitely won the “my favorite aunt” award… she is amazing)

Heather (about to graduate and go for her masters) flew in and my aunt (shown above) drove
4 hours to Sacramento to visit me again just hours before my plane took off back for Texas.

She is so beautiful (the whole family is!).

A few nights before seeing Heather, I had spent 45 minutes separately with Liz and Heather each on the phone just catching up.  I had instantly fallen in love with both of them, like a big brother, that when I finally met Heather, I couldn’t understand the bond that I instantly had with her.  I had grown up with family, after we moved away 16 years ago, with cousins that no blood-relation at all, that when I finally saw Heather, I couldn’t comprehend that she was a true blood relative (something that has been rare to me these past 13-16 years).  We have all already agreed to not let time go by again, so my aunt (again, shown above) is buying me a plane ticket to come visit all the girls in May. Since Sunday morning when I met Heather, and until now (Tuesday), I can’t get Heather and the girls off my mind!  One of the very few bummers is growing up without them.  I’m so glad that we can pick everything back up, despite the time lapse!  I met Heather and we spent my final hour in Sacramento’s Railroad museum.

After my visit with Heather, it was straight to the airport (I ran time thin with Heather):

The trip was beautiful!  I know it sounds really weird, but I honestly still can’t stop thinking about my cousins and having the opportunity of seeing all the girls in May (I just can’t get that off my mind).  I also really enjoyed seeing my father, little brother and rest of the family.  There was a load of family I didn’t get to see, but it was so special just to be around everyone.  I’m so thankful that I was given this special opportunity to visit them (all credit to my dad for spotting me the ticket and covering my trip).  If you are a die-hard picture viewer (mom), you can view all pictures (that I chose to make public) by clicking on the link below.  Blessings, and if you read this entire post in its full, comment and let me know (its the longest post I’ve ever put together!).

although i posted this in my last post, I’m going to close with it
(yeah, I really like it… left to right: grandfather, me, father)

(click here to view all pictures)