Familia De Manard: August 2010

Well Here I am blogging for the first time. I really don't need another thing to occupy more of my time but just like Facebook I manage to get sucked in! As if I need anything else to become addicted to. Ohh well. I look at it this way, its a great way to write down all of my experiences and thoughts so that I can share our life with our family and close friends. I know that as time goes on I will look back and be grateful to have all the pictures and blogs as Familia de Manard experiences life.

I can not believe we are already half way through 2010! Feels like yesterday we were ringing in the New Years in Spain and now summer is about to end. We definitely have been busy this year so here is a quick recap of our year so far:

January: *We Spend New Years with family in Spain. *Kristie and Aaron visit us in Houston and we Celebrate January Birthdays. * We take aTrip to Breckenridge, CO with friends to go skiing. *Our Goldendoodle pup "Mia" turns 1 years old.

Barcelona, Spain

Rhonda, Spain

Happy New Years! From Marbella, Spain

My handsome husband at the meat market in Barcelona

Happy Birthday!

Kristie and Aaron Visit

Breckenridge, CO Ski Trip '10

Sweet Mia...no longer a puppy

February: *Josh and I trained for the MS-150 and that pretty much consumed our weekends, so February was very uneventful. Our weekends consisted of getting up at 5am on Saturdays and going on a ride anywhere from 30 to 60miles. So, the rest of the weekend was spent recuperating.

March: *Training for the MS-150 continued. *The Crudups came to visit us (best friend from high school & husband) and they deliver exciting news that they will be expecting their first baby in October!!! Yay!! *We visit Tulsa and get to see the Black Eyed Peas in concert. LOVED IT!!! While we are there Crazy Oklahoma weather dumps a few inches of snow and Mia finally gets to play in the snow!

Drinking the famous margarita at our favorite
mexican restaurant in Tulsa

My cutie pie sister: pre Blacked Eyed Peas Concert

The concert was Amazing!!

Mia loves the snow!

April: *We go camping for Emily's Birthday. *The MS-150 is finally here and Josh and I complete over 150miles on bike from Houston to Austin to help raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. I am not sure how I did it or how I ever convinced myself that I was capable but in the end it turned out to be a success and my husband is to Thank for that!

Happy Birthday Emily!

We made it!

May: *We spent a weekend in New Orleans for Jazz Fest. *Summer officially begins and we name it "LSoF". Also known as the "Last Summer of Fun". Just a joke that we started with for our friends meaning it will be the last summer before babies begin to appear. *My sister visits us in Houston and we spend Memorial day weekend at the Cooper's River House.

Jazz Fest '10 (New Orleans)

Hanging out with my Amigos in the French quarter

At the Cooper's River House

Floating the River

June: *We celebrate Clark and Amie's Birthday. *Josh an I go to Vail, Colorado for Josh's work and and we manage to stop through Denver to spend some time with the Millers. While we are there we ride around on cruiser bikes. We have so much fun we end up buying some for ourselves. *We celebrate Father's Day *Then Mami and Papi Portillo visit us in Houston.

Happy Birthday to Mr. Kongs and Miss Watkins

The Ladies

Vail, CO

My First time to ride a 4 wheeler

Josh and his Buddy Mr. Miller

Cruising around Denver

The Millers & The Manards

Happy Fathers Day!!

Mi Familia

This is how Mom really keeps Dad in check

July: * The 4th of July celebration takes place yet again at the Cooper's River House. The Cooper's are are so gracious for having all of us crazy kids over all the time. * After much contemplation I finally take the plunge and buy myself a DSLR Camera! I need to take a class soon to learn how to use it but it sure takes gorgeous pictures. * Josh and I take over Houston with our new cruiser bikes. *We go on another visit to Tulsa to celebrate Papi Portillo's Birthday and while we are there we have some fun in the sun with Josh's Family.

Happy 4th of July!

Mia infront of the new Cruiser Bikes

Happy Birthday

Sisters

The Manard Family

Mother and Son

August: *Grandmother comes to visit and I learn how to make Pupusas. Yum yum! * We have the gang from the El Salvador '09 Trip over to eat Pupusas and to watch the grand premier of the ES video. Josh did an amazing job editing all the crazy footage from our trip. There is a Preview of the video below. While we have all our friends together we surprise Josh with an early birthday cake. * Family in Houston get together for some margaritas and yummy mexican food at El Tiempo. *The radiant momma to be comes to visit and we get some shopping completed for Miss Claire Elizabeth.* We celebrate my incredible Husband's Birthday and surprise him early in the morning with a delicious cupcake and birthday gift.