To My SURPRISE!!

I can't believe I haven't posted in almost 3 months... have I been busy or just no excitement in my life... well busy yes, but excitement?? there is always excitement in my life I can post about.

Yesterday I pull up to the driveway park the Expi and make my way to the house i turn the corner and notice this on my door.

I paused and thought to myself "what NOW????, what did they shut off at the house, the water , the electric, the gas, is it a notice from the HOA, WHAT???? UUURRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

well, as I got closer to the door I started laughing because to my surprise it had nothing to do with what I was thinking. It wasn't a bill collector or a shut off notice, it was was nothing like that.

it was something for me to be happy about, something for me to be thankful for, something for me to gloat in a good way not the bad way.

here is the close up of what it was........

it was.......... Christopher's report card!!!

I opened the door, walk in the house and Christopher's standing in the kitchen with a big smile on his face. he tells me "see mom, I'm doing good in school", I smiled back and said "Thanks Chris and because of that you will get a big reward ........." and before i could say what the reward was he asked " money?" me "NO silly, your going to get a Diploma!" I laughed and just told him we will think of something to get him.

Good for you Chris, very Proud of you, Love your MOM!!!!

Peaches anyone?

On Thursday of last week I gave Tammy a call asking her for suggestions about what to do with 38pounds , yes i said ...38 pounds... of Peaches. She suggested to make Jam. we set a Date to make the Jam on Sunday.

Saturday came along, auggie and I woke up at 6:30 am to go pick up our peaches. when I saw what I was picking up I couldn't believe my eyes. I guess I never really thought about how much 38 pounds was. want to see ......

there's about 4 pound missing out of this Box. Christopher made us a Peach custard Pie Saturday night, we put some in the fridge and this is what i had leftover for our Jam.

Sunday... went to church, came home, had early dinner, turned on BYU T.V. to watch the General Relief Society Broadcast because I had missed it on Saturday at the Stake Center (my mind was on those darn peaches), Tammy called and asked if I was ready to make Jam? Me...NO, not even close. She offered me to go to her house and make the jam at her home. Auggie packed the peaches in the Expi and I headed to her house.

I need to say that I was not Prepared to make the peach Jam. I really went in this thinking "all I need are the Peaches" let me tell you ...after 2 trips to Wal-Mart, 1 to Fry's , and my house, we finally had everything we needed to start the Jam making Process. oh yeah and I almost forgot... a phone call to Tennessee to speak to the Expert Jam making Person, Tammy's Mom!

Here are the pictures of all of us pitching in to make the jam.

Here's Tammy and me all perky ready to make Jam!!!

Tammy's Peeling and I'm Pitting the peaches and cutting them








2 hours later, Day above..... and Night Below



here we are again notice the day light.... yes this took longer than I expected.

Christopher is patiently waiting for us to tell him what to do.

If he only new what was coming....

Here I am cutting peaches.

Thanks Tammy for handing me an apron.

Never thought that it would be messy.

Christopher and Ammon hard at work

Christopher is sanitizing the Jars and Lids

Ammon Smashing the peaches getting them ready for the next process ....Making jam!!!!

Ammon and his Little sneaky smile, what is he up to?

here they are in the second round of Peach Jamming and Jar Sanitizing

This box here.... is what you need to make jam.

This is the Number one Ingredient (next to the peaches of course)

oh and the one thing the Jam Expert told us

"Don't buy the cheap stuff "

This is what it looks like when you first start

here are 4 cups of smashed peaches
waiting to boil

This is what it looks like after we added 1 box of Sure-Jell, 5 1/2 Cups of Sugar, 2 tbsp of Lemon juice, YUMMY!!!

Pouring it into the Jar after 1 minute of boiling it.

This was HOT , and I had to be very careful pouring it in the jar making sure I didn't get any jam on the rim of the jar , or else I would get yelled at by Tammy. oh yeah and don't over fill them.

Don't you just like the way it looks, Yummy!!! ...it looks very golden. Tammy said that was a pretty color for peach Jam.

Here we are "The TWO Peachy Girls" making Peach Jam.

Here's Tammy.... her Job was to clean the top of the jars, place the lids on and direct me to make sure I was doing a good job .

Great Job Tammy!!!!

The Jars filled with Jam getting a boiling water Bath. This helps to seal the jars so I can store all the jam we made for up to a year.

We made 60 jars of Peaches.

THANK YOU TAMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are Pictures of the Rest of the Hee Haw Gang.....

Randy Taking Chocolate Pudding Pie he made to Auggie, and Heather, they are up in the theater Room watching Batman

Randy, Heather and Auggie

Watching Batman in the Clark's Movie Theater

"hey Randy, don't you think your showing off to much Leg?"

Christopher and Ammon Playing a game after putting in some Muscles smashing the Peaches

both of them did a great JOB helping make Jam!!!!!

Here's Baby Jessie and Callie Posing for the camera

We had tons of fun making jam, Thanks Tammy this was a great Experience , can't wait for next year.

If any of you are wondering what I'm going to do with 48 jars of Peach jam....I believe Santa Clause is coming to pick them up and deliver a Jar to your home. Merry Christmas!!!

That's if we don't eat it all!!!

until next time....

Christopher's in High School ....

Christopher had a Swim Meet on Wednesday at Deer Valley, I couldn't make it being that it's pretty far. so I went home after work and waited for him to call me. He called me at around 7pm to let me know that they were heading back to Surprise. I left the house to go pick him up and on my way there I stopped at the mail box to picked up our mail. As I was shuffling through the mail I saw a big envelope from Valley Vista High School with my name on it and it was in regards to Christopher, What now?... Once I arrived at the high school parking lot I opened the letter and low and behold it was Christopher's Report card, at first I hesitated to see what kinds of grades he had, because I didn't want to be disappointed in him failing a class. well as I was reading the report card and the type of grades he had I immediately started apologize to Christoper (even though he wasn't there, because I was doubting him ) so this is where he stands ....

Integrated Science (Honors) "A" Yeah!!!!

Boys PE / Health "A" he should keep this going all year!!!

Algebra 1 (Honors) "B" Not Bad, even though this is his favorite subject

World Cultures "A" Yeah!!!!

Frosh Focus "F" not sure what this is about, I have a call in to the teacher

So that's where Christopher stands in Academics, if not for that "F' I still think he's doing Great and I'm really Proud of Him.

Being that Christopher is in the Swim Team for the high School ...I think that he is putting a big Effort to keep his grades up and turning in his homework because if he fails any class he can't compete and possibly be dropped from swimming.

so now to swimming... on Monday the swim team had a fundraiser at Macayos Restaurant. auggie asked me if we had money to go have dinner and make it a FHE night , I checked our account and all we could spend was $40.00. we headed out to Macayo's, and they sat us 1 table away from the Swim Coach. We saw the Grant's walk in and a few other members from the Swim Team. after we were done with our food the coach came over and introduced herself to us and let us know how great Chris is doing and the effort she See's he puts into swimming, always coming ready to practice and eager to perfect his swimming. she spoke to us for about a good 20 minutes. really nice coach and you can totally see she is doing this for the kids and for them to have this experience.

Wednesday after the swim meet I asked him how he did and he said he did really good he came in 3rd and that he beat a senior. Jokingly i said to him "Christopher don't lie, you can't be that good" he responded and said " mom I've been trying really hard"

well last night he handed me this......Tear,Tear!!

Way to go Chris!!!!!

Just to let you all know... Chris wanted to play Football but I just didn't like that Idea, he tried Cross Country... wasn't for him. I talked him into Swimming (way before the Olympics Started) so Micheal Phelps had nothing to do with him Joining the swim team. I just hope he continues to do good so he can make the team next year!!!

well until next time.

I'm on a Journey to a Life Changing Moment.......

About a month ago I had the pleasure to attend my Cousin Ericka and her Husband Shane's sealing at the San Diego Temple. Her sister Irene took my breath away on just how good she looked. Three weeks later we went to the baptism of my cousin Damian's son, Irene was there (Damian and Irene are Bro. and Sis.) and again I couldn't believe my eyes on just how beautiful and just how good she looked.
well before you all start thinking "is Dennyse trying to come out of the closet and is she's really from Kentucky and not California trying to pick up on her own cousin? "
here's her story as I know it(Irene maybe you can send me your story and I'll post it on my blog, if you don't mind)....about two years ago she weighed almost 200#'s , she decided to join Weight Watchers (W.W.) As the months went by and I could see the weight she was loosing, she would scold us about our eating habits and really get on me for all the Soda she would see me consume, but of course like everyone else Iwould just shun her words away never making comments just brushing them off, because in my eyes I was perfect didn't need to loose weight , I was happy (so i Thought) and Ican eat what ever I want, who is she to tell me what I should be eating. she was telling me that some people would joke with her about loosing the weight now and gaining it all back a year later. well I would say that she might of lost I believe 60# and let me tell you ... she's thin, looks younger and very Healthy. she doesn't have that Anorexia look , she really looks... healthy Thin, she watches what she eats and how much she eats.
well after this last time seeing her , I really started to look at myself and think" Irene and I are the same age and she looks 10 years younger than me, I must be doing something WRONG"

In February Auggie ended up in the hospital , doctors thought he had a minor Stoke, turned out to be Bells Palsy, that's not the shocker the shocker was ... he was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes. I thought "wow... things are going to have to change in the way we eat at home" I called Susan (she is in my ward) and asked her if she can come over to help us on changing our eating habits and bless her heart she did... of course that lasted about a month or so. Irene the W.W. Guru sent me all kinds of info she had, books and pamphlets and I read them but really didn't get it.


Well... last Thursday my Fat Ass was sitting on the couch watching T.V. and a W.W. commercial came on they were having a promo of $13.00 a week, Not in my budget at this time but i still grabbed the phone and called. I grabbed all the info Irene sent me back in February and started reading it and realized "Ican do this". So I went to the meeting (its free won't hurt if i just go and hear what they have to say) they weighed me and I almost fell off the scale couldn't believe my eyes on what I weigh... I'm not going to tell you what it was, but as soon as i get to my half point mark I'll post it and you all will be in shock just as I was.

last night was my weigh in (I have to weigh myself every week) and I lost.....drumm roll please....trrrrrrrrr......... 2 1/2 pounds.... It's not much but I lost some , and I'm on my way to loosing more!!!!! I am so excited beacuse I went in thinking "I Didn't loose CRAP" and"I DID!!!!! YEAH!!!!!! So I went out and bought me a Birthday cake from Albertons -They put Buttercream Frosting on their cakes.....YUMMY!!!!! and I ate it all, it was just the 8inch round, ain't going to hurt none, right?

Just Kidding!!!! I went home and gave auggie and chris the good news!

I will post how much I loose every week.

I have to add one more thing , when I got home last Thursday from the meeting and introduced auggie and Christopher what I was going to do and they both were supportive Christopher said he wanted to do it also. Aggie was like "Yeah... sure". and Yeah Sure he is going to have to mainly because I do most of the cooking so there. I have to say Christopher is my big Supporter he really wants me to succeed and tells me "MOM... you shouldn't be eating that!!!" Thanks Chris!

To all....don't give me heck about this because 2 years from now you're all going to wish you could look like me!!

Until next time!!!

this is the wedding Party ... Can you see my Little Girl she's standing next to the bride.

just another goofy night at the Gonzales

Tonight we had the Missionaries over for dinner, Elder Bramwell and Elder Carver. I didn't know what to make them and I thought "hmm.... I have plenty of corn tortillas, I'll make Tostadas" and I Did ...I fried the tortillas and didn't make the Tortillas Extra Crispy or like my family would call them "BURNT"

I made Beans (out of a can) and I made the meat topping out of Ground beef ,Potatoes and I added something I normaly put in my beans and tonight I decided to add it to my meat ...CHORIZO, and it made the meat taste really good. I didn't make Rice because for some reason it always comes out too soggy or sticky never Fluffy like my sisters Rice (Diana, when you come to visit don't forget to teach me), although I have a few people who like my rice(mainly because she doesn't know how to cook it .hmmm..Christine) but thats all we had tonight were tostadas (darn i should have took a picture... Liz, you would have been proud of me!) I sliced some tomatoes, lettuce and onions(auggie soaked the onions in lemon and salt...mmmm!!) , I had some salsa picosa that my Tia socorro made when she was here visiting. The Tostadas came out like jessica my 5 year old niece would say "deliciouse".


After dinner chris took out the littel bit of Ice cream that we had and we sliced one banana and strawberries from this weeks Co-Op and viola(sp?).....Desert!!!!


After all the great food Auggie had to take out his famouse WIG and we had a laugh with the missionaries trying it on . Elder Carver showed us a really cool lightsaver and i am going to take pictures of it at Joeys birthday party this weekend, he is going to love it!

well time to go to bed, till next time!! enjoy the pictures.......

auggie didn't shave all week.... I think ill call this picture ...stressed!!!

Elder Bramwell(sp?) does he not look like a Strippling warrior?

Elder Carver .... brings out his Baby Face!!!

My Husband the JediNight..... does any one know how to patch up a wall?

YES....I have Joined the Blogger Scene

For about a year now I have been seeing more and more of my friends creating Blogs and finally... I have decided to start one for family (and myself) So... here I GO!!!!!!!!!

Just in case any of you are wondering how I came up with the name for my blog .... here's the Math ... Auggie +Me +Lizette+ Christopher and Benjamin = 5, and I couldn't just leave my baby Koal out of the picture so he's our Plus 1.

I'll start my blog by telling you all were we are in our lives at this moment.

Auggie and I are working for the same company. He's an Area Manager, he manages all the qwest Facilities in Arizona from one end of the state to the other, he also over sees a Nissan Test Facility , and other misc accounts. As for me I am the Regional admin and I LOVE MY JOB. I am kept busy (This makes my days go by fast).

here's Auggie and Me at Wal-Mart , Mom and peter came to visit us for Labor day weekend. and yes i did say Wal-Mart not Target.

Lizette is 20 years old she lives in San Diego with my sister and is going to school at FIDM(Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and she is also taking two classes at San Diego State. she is working a part time job to help pay for her gas and other bills. as I'm writing this I just can't believe I...Me Dennyse ... have a 20 year old...WOW, where have the years gone?

here's Lizette (she's so Beautiful!!) with my niece... her cousin Christinna, aren't they Both Beautiful?

Christopher is 14 and is a Freshman in High School. He has been playing Sports during the summer of 08 and also in 8th grade, he played baseball, Soccer, and basketball. He's on the Swimming team for the High School and he's doing okay, he doesn't wear a Speedo if you are wondering they wear what i think look like biker shorts they call them Jammers (???). He started seminary this year and I must say... I am very proud of him, he sets his own alarm clock every night to wake up at 4:40 am every morning (sorry Lizette, but how I wish you would have done the same), and he loves it. 2 weeks ago he was asked by my cousin Damian to give a talk on Baptism at his son Peter's Baptism and he did a great job, he said something to Peter that he was told in Seminary something very powerful and meaningful at the end of his talk, he said something to the affect of "never be ashamed of being a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints, stand tall and walk proud of who you are" he also quoted a Scripture that I can't remember (when I do remember I'll post it). I am so happy for Chris.

Christopher's 14th Birthday and Jay-Jay trying to blow out the candles.

Benjamin is 13 and living with his mom in San Diego, he spent this summer with us. at first he wasn't very happy being with us crying every day but as the days went by he started getting better. I personally was happy to have him. He spent the days with Chris playing out in the pool and going to Parker's house playing basketball. he got along with Joey (Christine Cavazos son)because they both act so Goofy and both of them like to talk A-LOT! we are looking forward to him coming back next year. i don't have any pictures of Benjamin, I'll post some later.

Koal (Beagle)he turned four this year. He is getting somewhat better about running out the door, maybe because he knows it's an oven outside and possibly die of thirst if we don't find him fast enough. We have been putting him in the swimming pool and he loves it, he hates when we jump in and starts Barking at us. he likes it when i put him on the Blue floaty and push him around the pool.

well until next time ... I think i'm going to like this!!!