Cindy & Kayla - 2005

Birthdays

Football!

Tony's and Sara's Baptism
Sunday, September 4th

School Starts

Vacation in SD

Summer Storms

It's been stormy all week, and the forecast says it's going to go on for a few more days. Monday, we had a long dirt and sand storm that knocked out the power while we were waiting to get a bite to eat at Carrows! :)
It rained so hard on Tuesday, that the street in front of our flooded.
That's besides the 60 mph wind gusts that knocked down trees and telephone poles.

After the storm sunset...

More pictures at Cindy's Nature Pics

IVC basketball camp
Aug. 1st to 4th

Kayla will be attending basketball camp all week at IVC. LOL, 7 am to 3 pm each day. :) She didn't want to go at first, but hey, she gets a free t-shirt and basketball, plus I get a report card showing where her abilities on the court.

A Gerry day in SD with the Tarts
Saturday, July 30th

Kayla and I headed up to SD to spend the day watching some Gerry  movies (some obscure ones I can't find to buy and/or watch like "Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Stat" - it was hilarious!!), eating pizza, and having fun just hanging out. :)

Baby Shower for Sara
Saturday, July 23rd

We joined

Though Ben's been bragging about the benefits of Netflix for years, I finally joined so that I could watch two of Gerry's movies that I couldn't find anyplace else. :) ("The Jury" and "Shooters" if you're wondering.)

It's a pretty good deal. You can pay between $9.99 to $19.99 a month depending if you want to have 1, 2, or 3 movies at once. They've got tons of titles in all categories: the usual hits in Action, Comedy, Drama, and Science Fiction, plus old classics, foreign, independents, and family films. They even have all the TV series collections.

How does it work? 1) First you sign up at Netflix.com ; 2) Create your Queue by Adding the movies you'd like to see; 3) Netflix sends you your first 1-3 movies in the mail; 4) Watch the movie!; 5) Stuff the DVD back in the provided envelope, seal it, and drop it in the mail. 6) Netflix sends you the next movie in your Queue. Yes, it's that easy! :)

I'm sticking to Netflix though because it'll help me from buying every DVD I think I want. Now, I can watch the movies I'm interested in and hold off on buying the ones that I really, really want to own.

Here's a random sample of what's currently in my queue:

PAL Softball team
July

One day, one of Kayla's friends invited her to watch her team play softball against Jefferson. We went to watch and Kayla wound up joining the team. She practiced with them the whole of July, playing catcher mostly. She can sure hit the ball! :) They had games on the June 29th, and July 7th, 14th, and 22nd, but after two losses and two wins (thru forfeits), she never really got to play a full game. She did a really good job being a catcher (after practicing without proper equipment), not really being afraid of getting hit by the ball.

"Dear Frankie" out on DVD
July 5th

 "Dear Frankie" finally came out on DVD today!! I've been waiting for this movie for the past few months. Even if it didn't have my beloved Gerry in it, I would still like this movie.
What's it about? A single mom and her young, deaf son who move around a lot with their grandmother, moving from town to town in Scotland. The only contact that little Frankie has with his sea-faring father is thru the letters they write to each other. Well, one day, Frankie's father's ship is due to land in the new town Frankie just moved to. What joy...right? We come to find out that it has been Frankie's mother who has been responding to the letters all along. So, now she must decide to either tell her son the truth...or hire a stranger to play dad for a day. This movie is definitely NOT Hollywood (no cute endings all tied up in a bow), but it does explore the relationships between father and son, mother and son, and between friends. I think it also speaks of the special bond between single mothers and their children. You must watch it!!

PAL Basketball Tournament at Coronado HS
Saturday, June 25th

So, besides playing basketball each weekend with the Calexico Rec Dept, Kayla also joined a PAL (Police Athletic League) team. She's been practicing 3 to 4 times a week. She still hasn't learned the art of moving away from the ball or being aggressive on offense, but the girl is quick and can beat most of the girls up and down the court. The rest will come in time. :)

PAL had their last tournament of the year in San Diego on Coronado Island. We all drove up to watch (Nana, Sylvia, Robert, and me) and were even joined by my brother Ernie and cousin Patty for a game. Kayla's team went 0-3, but played well. The first game went to double overtime and they only lost by one point! I videotaped the games and will post a clip later.

6th Grade Promotion Ceremony
Thursday, June 9th

The graduation ceremony was held at De Anza's gym. I filmed it (and it's actually been playing daily on one of our local educational channels).

Knott's Berry Farm
6th Grade Field Trip
Saturday, June 4th

We spent Saturday at Knott's Berry Farm. I was surprised that Kayla got on so many of the bigger roller coasters with her friends. She even got on that new one, the Silver Bullet, 3 TIMES!!!

Band Concert
Thursday, June 2nd

Annual band concert at Willie Moreno Jr. High. The 6th grade band played 3 songs: La Bamba, ???, and Mambo #5.

Disney Magic
"Where the Magic of the Princesses Comes Alive"
Wednesday, May 25th and Thursday, May 26th, 2005

Kayla's 6th grade class is performing a musical at Dool this week. They did a great job opening night.
I'll post more photos and will be working on the video this weekend.

The princesses and the prince	The cast	the beautiful Jasmine
I've been playing around with Photoshop lately. Here are some Disney photo collages from the play.

Welcome Baby Sara!
Saturday May 21st

Elexa and Gilbert Meza (and big brother Tony) have welcomed a new member to the extended Leyvas/Zamudio/Meza/Chase families. Baby Sara was born on Saturday, May 21st in San Diego. Mother and baby are doing fine. :)

My 32nd Birthday
May 14th

Kayla at Church

Sunday, May 22nd - Kay's an acolyte now at our church. Here she is lighting some candles.

Sunday, May 8th - Kay participated in "Youth Service Sunday." She read the Call to Worship.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Thursday, April 14, 2005

My sister, Sylvia and I drove up to Burbank to watch a taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and to support our favorite actor, Gerard Butler.
(Read all about this story at the Leno story.)

Kayla's story: I got to talk to Gerry on the phone. It was really cool.
(Read all about Kayla's phone call.)

Basketball Camp
Feb to May 2005

Well, folks - it's finally happened...Kayla has become interested in playing basketball. Halleluiah!
I've been waiting for years for her to fall in love with the sport as I did. How did it happen? She and her friends started playing every day during recess and she realized...that she liked it! She'll even go outside and shoot hoops for an hour or two after school.
She started going to basketball camp each weekend at the Calexico Rec. since February (and will continue all spring).

You can even watch a short video clip of her ball handling skills in the Multimedia Page.

Palm Springs CUE
March 10th to 12th

CUE (Computer Using Educators) holds an annual conference each spring in southern California. It's a pretty good conference, with lots of workshops, hands-on sessions, and a huge exhibitors hall of vendors selling the newest technological wares. This year, I actually got to do a presentation with my boss, plus be in charge of a local junior high school group of students showing off their projects.

View from my room (More pictures at Cindy's Nature Pics

My BorderLink booth Student Showcase

Imperial Valley Mall opened today
Wednesday March 9th

Our isolated, little desert community finally has what it's been waiting for: a real, honest-2-goodness mall.

Visit the official web site at http://www.imperialvalleymall.com/mall/imperial/imperial2.nsf/main?openform

Imperial Valley Mid-Winter Fair
Sunday, March 6th

Kayla, my mom, two sisters, and I spent Sunday afternoon at the fair this past weekend. We did the usual thing: ate corndogs, Kay got on the rides with a friend, visited the photo and craft displays. I, on the other hand, had to work for a few hours at the ICOE booth. Oh joy!

New to the fair is a very moving display from the September 11th attacks. There were two pieces from one of the beams of the World Trade Center towers.

Now, for anyone who saw Gerard Butler on Leno's Tonight Show this month, here's a story for you:
I was visiting the Science Center at the fair (where they have various displays for the kids to have fun with). Well, guess what they had there that I just HAD to try out? Yup, you've got it.... the wacky wire game! I had to play it...but didn't think of having someone take my picture.

"Dear Frankie" mini-convention in LA
March 5th

Kayla, Sylvia and I drove up to LA this past weekend to join some female fans and watch the latest movie by "Phantom of the Opera" star, Gerard Butler. His newest movie is amazing, called "Dear Frankie" which is on limited release in LA and NY this weekend.

We drove up on Saturday, visited the Fashion Institute of Design to look at the Oscar-nominated costumes of the past year. We headed to the Arclight Theater on Sunset to watch the movie, then headed over to Tom O'Shanters restaurant for some dinner.

You can watch a coming attractions trailer for this "sweet" movie or visit the official website for more details.

"Jarhead" movie shoot in El Centro
February 24th

Kayla and I got to be extras in the new Jamie Foxx movie that has been shooting down in the valley for the past few months. The casting call came back in November, when we saw the notice during the Cattle Call parade. We went, got our "head shots" and filled out the little info sheet. A couple of months later, they called me and said they wanted Kayla for a parade scene they would be filming. Then there was all this paperwork for us to fill out.

But in all, we had a lot of fun that day. Kayla ditched school and I ditched work. We were "on set" from 7:30 am to about 5:00 pm. Our part consisted of walking up and down, and up and down, for over 6 hours, on Main Street. We made some friends, but did not get Jamie's autograph. :( We were bummed, since he was very approachable to the kids, but the timing was never right. Oh well! I don't have any pictures since we were told cameras were not allowed.....but I guess the dozens of valley people who just showed up to watch didn't get that memo. There are pictures out there, I just don't have any of them. :)

91-ers get together
February 17, 2005

Some of my old, classmates from high school started getting together every few months for dinner and talking. Here we are at Susie's house

Tony's Birthday Party
January 15, 2005

Birthday Party
January 24, 2005