CELEBRITY WATCH:

I think I failed to mention in my recent blog that I met a couple more celebrities while shopping with the family at the Westfield, Topanga. Maybe you've seen the show he's on: HEROES. It's number 1 in its slot for Mondays, and really an excellent show that keeps you on the edge of your seat!

So there I was, just getting in line over at the New York Deli to order my dinner. There was a guy with 3 boys standing in front of me - "...oh great" I thought, "... this is going to take forever!". No sooner did I finish my thought when I recognized who it was that was in line ahead of me. The character he plays is named Matt Parkman, an LA police officer with the power of telepathy on the hit show known simply as: HEROES. His real name is Greg Grunberg, and he also starred in the hit show ALIAS, which ended a year ago. I was excited to meet him and tell him how much we enjoy watching his show on Mondays - but I thought I better play it cool. *tee-hee* I opened by congratulating him on his role on HEROES and proceeded with the small talk. No sorry, I wasn't able to extract any plot twists in the upcoming episodes *rats*, but we did relate on a "dad" level with our respective kids. A pretty down-to-earth guy (for being a superhero, anyway). Yeah, I took that picture from my phone... sorry about that Greg. =T

Later that evening we also bumped into Dancing With the Stars contestant, Joey Lawrence! He was bumming a drink off the Starbuck's lady who was giving away samples at the local Target store. Didn't really talk with him - I'm an Emmitt Smith fan!! :-)

LONG WEEKEND RECAP:

So let's get all the way back to the 15th of November... there's still lots more that took place the weekend before the 15th, but I'll start there.

My dad left for home (the Philippines) on the 15th. This marked the end of his 3-month stay with us. I'm happy to say that his health is much better than when he first arrived - but he and I both know he's not 100% yet. He contacted me a couple days later to let me know that he arrived home safely and was getting back into his "routine" (including going to see a movie, and getting his house back in order). Mia was especially sad when she realized her grandpa was leaving. I'm grateful that he was able to spend as much time with Mia and Jacob as he did. He commented to me how much the kids (including grand kids, Kyle and Timmy in the Bay Area) have grown. Yep, they're definitely getting bigger by the second. Dad's stay here was a blessing indeed - especially since my brothers were able to come visit him here and even stay for a few days. Actually (true story), my younger brother Larry had contacted me earlier in the month to let me know that he was coming to visit for a weekend... just a couple days, right? Well, day 2 turned into 3 and finally into day 6!!! Yeah, it seems he found our couch much too comfortable to part with. =T *hahaha*

KING OF THE COUCH - DAY 6

Flash forward to the 22nd - THANKSGIVING!! We really have so much to be thankful for - healthy kids, a close-knit family, and friends who have made our move to southern California such a joy. With blessings abound, we enjoyed a hearty meal of turkey and all the trimmings!!! We were joined by HieRan's youngest sister, LAUSD educator, and babysitter extraordinaire - Yung! The five of us pigged out as I watched my Detroit Lions get trounced once again! =( *sighs - some Thanksgiving traditions are due for a change!*

Well, we could only relax for a little bit because we had planned to meet with my older brother and his family down in Anaheim for a weekend at Disneyland!!!! After careful planning, we took off at 7am Friday morning to check into our hotel and make it to the park as early as possible. Both Jacob and Mia were great the entire weekend! Mia loved that her cousins Kyle and Timmy were with her (talk about our Princess) at the park. We stayed and watched Fantasmic (9:30pm) before calling it a FULL day. Mia was soooo tired that right after her bath, as soon as her head hit the pillow - she was out!!! Jacob was another story... naturally. He took a few naps throughout the day and decided to keep us up a little later than HieRan and I wanted. *thanks kiddo!*

On Saturday we got up around 10am and headed out to California Adventures!! As soon as we we arrived, we caught the Highschool Musical Pep-rally Parade!! It was one of Mia's favorite movies, and she was sitting there in the front singing her little heart out! Next we took in the Aladin show which was a lot funnier than I expected (the Genie had a lot of one-liners that included many current pop-culture references). Unfortunately (for me), Jacob wasn't feeling the whole "dark theatre plus big sound" experience, so much of the time I was holding him in the back of the theatre. =T It turns out he was being bothered by a rather full diaper... nothing a quick change couldn't take care of, right buddy?

We caught up with my brother and his family after lunch with the princesses (at Ariel's Grotto). I have to admit, I was really impressed with the Cali Adventures theme park - especially the wharf area. It reminded HieRan and me of the Bay Area (our old stomping ground). We enjoyed clam chowder bread bowls (it was getting rather chilly after 4pm), churros, and hot cocoa as we walked around the park. It was still early when we decided to leave, so we headed back to Disneyland (via our two day hoppers) to ride It's A Small World one last time for Mia. =)

On Sunday we checked out and met the family for lunch at the ESPN Zone!! *yeah!* Since there were 11 of us, they gave us one of the large booths in the back (with two monitors to watch whatever sporting events we wanted). After lunch we headed up to play some games (and get a much needed work out). We finally left the happiest place on earth (the ESPN Zone, that is) and headed home.... just ONE hour's drive!!! *whoo-hooo!* I have to admit, I like that we don't have a 6-8 hour drive ahead of us to get home (sorry bro - hope you got home safely).

So now we're home, and even though the past couple of weeks just blazed by, I have a feeling the rest of 2006 is going to be a blurrr...

... details are forthcoming. Stay tuned!!! ;)

WEEKEND RECAP:

Wow... what a weekend!

We celebrated my son's 1-year birthday this weekend at nearby PF Chang's... 20 kids and 30 adults! *phew!!* But all the running around started earlier in the week. See, we didn't decide to have a party for Jacob until last week (such bad parents, right?). =T So while fighting off a cold that the birthday-boy himself was kind enough to share with the rest of us, we managed to secure a restaurant, send out a handful of invitations to a few local friends here, then CHANGE the location to another restaurant (mentioned above), RE-send invitations (followed up by phone calls), then prepare the house for some stay-over guests (my brother Paul and his family, my other brother Larry, and BOTH moms from the Bay Area)!!

DeGuzman Family November 2006

My older brother arrived Thursday night, then I went to pick up my kid brother at the airport on Friday afternoon. HieRan's mom arrived on Saturday morning, then I went back to the airport to pick up MY mom later that afternoon (after Mia's soccer game). The event took place on Sunday at noon-30. Before all of us heading out, our ranks were increased by 3 with the arrival of HieRan's sisters and Uncle Alvin (well, my kid's "uncle"... not mine). So we all swarmed PF Chang's (I hope they appreciate all the free advertising I'm doing here... *ahem*), and got the outdoor patio set up for our guests. The service was excellent, by the way. If we ever have to do another event of this magnitude I would gladly have it there again. Everything went off without a hitch - it was great, and the food was way better than I expected.

I think my family members were surprised at how many of our friends came to join us. I have to say that in the past 2 years we've been down here, we have been fortunate to find friends such as these. I found myself telling my family again and again that these are the kinds of friends you only hope to meet when you move to a new city. HieRan and I would even go as far as saying that we would trust them with our own kids - yes, they are THAT special a group to us. I only hope they ate enough at the party! But everyone did seem to enjoy Jacob's 1 year celebration, even the Korean tradition that he performed later that day.

It's my understanding that in the Korean culture, for a child to make it to his (or her) 1st birthday it's a milestone. With infant mortality rates being as high as they were back in the olden days, they make 1st year b-days as big a celebration as a wedding... no lie. As one of the traditions, the 1-year old is placed in front of 3 objects of which he chooses one at a time. The items are symbolic: a pen (for education), money (for wealth), and a spool of thread (for a long life). When it was time for Jacob to choose, (mind you I don't personally subscribe to this belief - so this was more for my wife and her family... still, it was neat to see what he'd pick), and he chose the following:

1st - the pen
2nd - the spool of thread
3rd - the money

So I don't know the exact interpretation here, but if he's going to be smart (first), and have a long-life (second), then he better find a way finance his own lifestyle without mooching off of US!!! (heh - j/k kiddo!) And then he grabbed at his cake (which turned his entire hand blue thanks to the blue icing). Yeah, that was a lot of fun to clean off!! We DID order a personal-size cake for him to tear into... and he totally dug into it!! That's my boy!



After the party we paid the bill, said good-bye (and thank you) to our guests, then headed home. You'd think we could just get home and go right to bed, ya? Ha HA! Ya-RITE!! We invited more of my extended family to our place... my cousins and their families. At our peak, we had... let's see... counting it up in my head here... we had 25 people in our house!!!!

Good thing we had plenty of leftovers from PF Chang's, BABY!!!!

So now the weekend has come and gone - two more houseguests to transport to the airport, then it will be just the 4 of us once again. My mom leaves tomorrow morning, then dad *sadly* heads back home to the Philippines on Wednesday night. He's been here for about 3 months, and his visit STILL seems too short. HieRan, Mia, Jacob, and I look forward to his next visit.... okay dad? =)