New Cuz: Vivienne Helene Garcia

Hola Familia,

Here is a new Cuz for our Familia ! Introducing Vivienne Helene Garcia born Sept 04,2009 at 7lbs 2ozs and 19inches ! Mom and Dad and Big Sister are doing Great ! Her middle name is in Honor of her Grandma Helen !

Welcome to La Familia Cuz Vivienne !

Luv Ya like a Cuz !

Elvira R. Vasquez 1907-2009

Hola Familia~

It is with great sadness I post this ......

My Grandma , some of yours also, and Aunt and Cuz and friend to others , Elvira R. Vasquez passed away the morning of August 23rd 2009 to join Grandpa David ,and the rest of our family who have passed , in a big celebration up in Heaven with Menudo,Mole,Mexican rice and those big ole flour tortillas freshly made ! Probably at Grandma Rosa's house up there with all the men either fishing at the creek or playing dominoes or cards. Grandma Elvira gave us the honor of her presence for 101 years almost making it to 102 just 4 months from now. Thank You to all who made it to the Rosary and/or the funeral service. I know I have tons of good memories and feelings about my time with her and I encourage anyone and everyone who has some to use the comment box under this section to post what you remember. Most of ours are the same but in talking to cousins at the services I heard some that I hadn't before. I would love to read them and just take a walk thru memory lane. Just as a laugh to get it started , I heard thru Cuz Mark that apparently Cuz Sara Farias and I (Andy) had a craving as youngsters for sticks of butter ! When I was around 4 or 5yrs old Grandma Elvira found me under that big dining room table in the house on Krempkau St. just chomping on a stick of butter ! I don't know Sara's full story but she was found chomping on a stick of butter too , must run in the family ! LOL !

Hopefully that gets everybody thinking , whether it was just about Elvira or David or just family memories please share ! That's what keeps this family together and will let the next generations know how much this family values each other. I know I do......

Luv Y'all like Cuz's

Andy & Marjorie

~La Familia~ Port A 2009 !

Hola Familia ~

Well we are back from our 2nd Annual Port A La Familia Trip and we are crispy, crunchy , full of food and beer HAPPY ! It turned out to be another great visit with Family and Friends ! Me & Marjorie want to personally say how AWESOME we think it is when "Little Primos" can get together after not seeing each other for a while and just fall right in to "hanging out" and just plain having fun ! Same goes for the adults too...the feeling of closeness is one of the things I hope the younger family members remember seeing and being around and continue this tradition for many years ! It was AMAZING to get everybody together in front of "Our Building" during the group BBQ and see tables of food like brisket, sausages, fruits side dishes and desserts for all to enjoy ! I sat back at one point and looked at Marjorie and told her to notice that there was like ..100 people ! All gathered around having fun "together" ! Well , this ended up being a GREAT time for any BIG announcements that had to be made and I will list them here for you :

Marjorie & Andy: Marjorie is 3 Months PREGNANT and the "Baby Pepper" is due around Feb. 12th ! We don't know the sex yet till Sept but will definitely keep y'all updated!

Gina & Geoffrey : Geoffrey did a very brave thing during our get together on Saturday , while everyone was all gathered during the BBQ he called attention to himself to profess his Love for Gina and announce to everyone he was asking for her hand in marriage ! He got down on one knee in front of the WHOLE family and proposed to her and as you can guess , SHE ACCEPTED ! Of course this had all the women in tears and the guys going "aw man what are ya doing ?" (just kidding) .... the poor guy couldn't stop shaking afterwards for a while ! We are HAPPY for Y'all !

We also had some Birthday cake for Thelma's Bday and for July Bdays of Cuz Greg and Cuz Nicole ............

Starting Friday when everybody started arriving we had some beach time and had a little Mexican fishing village with all the canopies that people brought....the kids went out and played on the beach or stayed out in the water and some of the big boys did some fishing ! As the rooms became ready we headed back to check in and then the kids took over the pool and swam even MORE ! Of course we all sat around with each other while BBQing and got comfortable ! Rudy came back during this after fishing on a deep sea charter and had caught 2 sharks and 2 red snapper ! They had that filleted and bbq'ed some ! Mmmm Mmm ! Toward the end of the night they did some pier fishing too with no luck !
Saturday was more of the same with some of us up early to get our coffee fix and others sleeping late. Then we headed to the beach to set up the Mexican Village again, this time with Thelma and Angela kicking people off the beach to make room for La Familia ! This time they even made room for a volleyball net ! We all spent most of the day there and then slowly everyone made their way back to the condos. Of course the kids got back and immediately got in the pool AGAIN for the rest of the night and only came out to eat ! This was the night of the all out Family BBQ and feast and announcement time ! This lasted well into the night as you can imagine !

Sunday was more of the same but everybody knew it was the end of the weekend and didn't want to let go...we all slowly got packed , checked out and head out for one last beach togetherness time . We all kind of just relaxed , swam , ate and watched our fishermen catch some small sharks !



We didn't want it to end , we wish it could have lasted longer, but we all know this will happen again and we will make more memories and will continue to keep this family close and strong for many more generations of "Primos" ! I know a lot of you got some great pix and if you would like to share we would love to see them! Here is the > link to the pix Marjorie took. We have also added some pictures of the girls enjoying their Summer visit with us ! Enjoy!

LOVE Y'ALL like Cuz's....

Cuz Andy & Cuz Marjorie

~ Abe & Audra's Wedding ~

Hola Familia ~

I am going to make this entry just about Abe & Audra Hapshie's Wedding !

It was this past Saturday and it was a blast ! The Church (St. William Catholic Church) was in Round Rock and it was beautiful ! Abe and Audra looked very happy and the ceremony was beautiful.... May Y'all have many Happy, Healthy years ahead of you together !

After the church there was a fun reception in Pluggerville that had everybody getting loud, dancing and being the fun family we all are ! One of the highlights for me was the "All Girl" Marichi band that serenaded the Newlyweds and then went around the hall singing to all the tables , they were really good ! Lots of family got together and had a great time , for those that couldn't make it here is a link to some pictures that we took .

Again...Congratulations Abe & Audra and Thank You to all those that attended !

Luv Y'all like Cuz's

Cuz Andy and Cuz Marjorie

~La Familia ~ New Cuz , Wedding showers,Birthdays and Commercials !

Hola Familia ~

Gotta lot to cover so stay with me !

















We have a new Baby Cuz born to Erin and Anthony born June 3rd , Welcome Makayla Reese Tristan ~

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There was a surprise birthday party for our Cuz Laura Farias on Sunday May 31st at Uncle Carlos and Aunt Gloria's...I wont say on here that it was her **th birthday because I don't want her to beat me up, but everyone who attended said it was a good time!
Photos courtesy of TJ Vallejo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was also a wedding shower for the Bride and Groom to be , Abe & Audra! It was at Ft. Sam and had a Hawaiian theme, a great time was had by all and here are some of pics to prove it!









Pictures courtesy of TJ Vallejo

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One of our newest little cuzs is making a good start on the road to Hollywood. Tammy and Eric's little boy Marley is going to be in a commercial in Austin for the birthing center where he was born! Austin Area Birthing Center

He is second one from the left!



Photos from their website.

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Luv Y'all like Cuz's

Cuz Andy & Cuz Marjorie

~ Graduations and Veterans ! ~

Hola Familia ~

I wanted to take this chance to CONGRATULATE all our Young Primos that are moving up a grade , graduating from Elementary to Middle , Middle to High School , Graduating High School or Graduating from College ! Which leads me right into telling everyone about our Prima "Sara Farias" who just graduated from Notre Dame and is being let loose on the World ! We had a few Cuz's , Thelma , Nena and Robert go up to South Bend for her graduation and be a part of her making history because she was part of the Graduation where President Obama gave the Commencement Address ! Again Congratulations Sara and all our Family Graduates !

I hope everyone had a good and safe Memorial Day weekend ! Let us remember to THANK all the Veterans and current and future Familia members in the Armed Forces ! We Love you and appreciate everything you have done for OUR Freedoms !

Our Cuz Robert and his Dad made themselves noticed in San Antonio on Memorial Day by standing on a bridge over Loop410 and waving the American Flag to bring pride back to San Antonio for being a military city. Here is the link to the news story from KENS Tv in SA !

KENSTVvideo

Lots of stuff coming up this summer for this Familia and I will do my best to get it all out ! Thanks for y'alls patience and as always , if I am missing anything or anyone PLEASE let me know !

Luv Y'all like Cuz's....

Cuz Andy & Cuz Marjorie

~La Familia ~ Weddings ~ New Cuz

Hola Familia !

Ok I wanted to make sure and add a few things on here to make them permanent and be able to go back to it at anytime.

Abe and Audra Wedding! June 13th! They have a really good website set up with all the info about them and the wedding . Please visit it and let them know you looked. http://www.momentville.com/AbeandAudra

Just to make it quick for everyone they are registered at and Sears and Target ! These links go straight to the Wedding Registry pages.

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I want to put on here one of our newest Cuz's ....

As written by proud Grandma Lucy Stribling :

Here she is, my newest granddaughter, Lanna Janae Juarez, born to Madelyn April 6, 2009 @ 9:56am, 6lb8oz, 20" long.

Congratulations !!!

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Hope everybody had a Good Cinco de Mayo !

Luv Y'all like Cuz's...

Cuz Andy & Cuz Marjorie

~ Fiesta ~ Baby Showers ~ Carnivals !

Hola Familia ~

I am going to attempt to finish out the Fiesta 09 info and throw in a few extra things !
May Birthdays (that I have)
Tammy Wong Benson ~ May 4th
Brian White ~ May 7th
Sophia Farias ~ May 8th
Sara Farias ~ May 12th
Marjorie de la Pena ~ May 14th
Tina Flores ~ May 15th
Laura Farias ~ May 16th
X Sr. ~ May 17th
Dylan Maldonado ~ May 20th
As always if I am missing any PLEASE let me know !
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Cuz Erin & Anthony Tristan are expecting!

Congratulations and we look forward to meeting the new cuz!

They are registered at Babies R Us, Target and Walmart

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St. Ann's Carnival ~ In Honor of Aunt/Grandma Bitzy

Come on out to St. Ann's for their annual festival and either donate canned goods or help out in the booth in honor of Bitzy! The St. Ann's Festival is this Saturday, May 2nd ~ 1pm - 11pm (Liberty Band Dance 7-11pm with Kids Movie in the gym so parents can dance) and Sunday, May 3rd ~ 10am-5pm. The Country Store will only be open on Saturday.

We are asking for some help from Los Primos. We are in need of non-perishable groceries and/or working the booth. Please contact Cuz Alyssa or Cuz Nanie
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Well we officially closed out Fiesta Week 09 in good ole SA ! The final gathering of Primos was at the Fiesta Flambeau Night Parade ! It was Cuz Marjories first time so she was very excited, we also had Cuz Tom and his girlfriend Lisa and his daughter Stella join us all the way from the east coast ! We had 65 family members show up for the parade and everybody had a great time ! Maybe next year we could make it even bigger !





To see the rest of the pix check them out!!

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Since I am writing this blog I am gonna put something personal to me....I just got back from San Francisco visiting my girls and I got to see my daughter Hannah in some track meet trials to get her into the city finals. I am especially proud because she is running the same events I did when I ran track ! The 4 x 100 relay and the 400 meter dash ! Her relay team got 2nd in their heat and Hannah got 1st in her 400m heat and moved into the finals on friday May 1st ! Unfortunatley I couldnt get the extra time off to stay for the finals but I know she will do GREAT !


Start of her 4 x 100 relay 2nd leg !













Start of her 400 meter.

Rounding the last corner and winning her heat !

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Well, I think thats it for now.....we are counting down the days until the Port A 09 trip in july !


Luv Y'all like Cuz's

Cuz Andy & Cuz Marjorie

~La Familia Fiesta 09 (part 2)

Happy Fiesta 09 Familia....

Ok here are some more Fiesta festivities that include our familia !

First off we have Cuz Rose Vallejo and Cuz Salma who saw Julian Castro (candidate for Mayor of San Antonio) and he asked if he could take a picture with Rose and Salma (Salma went as a SPURS Silver Dancer wearing her SPURS jersey) at the Fiesta Del Perro Loco.

Next we have Tuesday nights invasion of NIOSA 09 by LA FAMILIA ! As is our tradition we had "Primo night" on a Tuesday....usually when we have done this it hasn't been too crowded when we get there, and then it picks up later in the night. Well this year started out shoulder to shoulder crowded !

Of course it wouldn't be Fiesta without Cuz Alyssa and Cuz Nanies hats ! As usual they used their imagination and came up with some good ones , and this year Cuz Marjorie decided to join in and got a "Fiesta Flower Crown" and a "jalapeno" necklace and earrings ! Its her 3rd year and she is finally submersing herself into the Classic Fiesta traditions !

We also had one of our Primos who has been away from Fiesta for a while, Cuz Tom, join us and brought his lovely girlfriend "Lisa" with him to join in on the nights fun ! Every time we saw them they were eating some good NIOSA foods and having a good time ! Lisa was a trooper out there and fits in good with the familia !We Welcome you in and hope Y'all come back more often !

In fact this years Primo Night at NIOSA was so good that even my favorite Cuz X ended up making friends with a really drunk Fiesta Clown that was running around !

Thats not it for the pictures ! Click on this link and it will take you to the Kodak Gallery where we have the rest of the pics !

niosa09PICTURES

And don't think that's all....most of the Primos are headed back the rest of the week for NIOSA and some of the other hundreds of events happening around SA , the next one we are going to that we will be able to blog about is the Night Parade on Saturday 4/25 ! So stayed tuned for more updates and the end of FIESTA 09 and I promise you that you won't be dissapointed with THIS familia !

Luv Y'all like Cuz's

Cuz Andy & Cuz Marjorie

~La Familia Fiesta 09 ~

Happy Fiesta 09 Familia !

I am going to try and blog about all the Fiesta happenings as we go along here so have patience with me and I will try and get it all in !

As an early start we had Easter 09 at Chata & Lupe's in Helotes .... of course as always there was tons of good food and good times ! I nearly killed myself running after Paul Adrian trying to get hime with "cascarones" after he got me about 6 times ! A good time was had by all and it was a good way to get into the upcoming Fiesta spirit !

Of course in a style all their own the "Maldinas" kicked off Fiesta with their 2nd Annual Fiesta de los Maldinas 09 ! This new event has gotten so big in only its second year they had to get a bigger place to have it , next year they may have to rent out where they used to have La Semana and have it there ! HA ! It was a huge success and go the Fiesta week off to a good start for everyone with good food,good drink and of course Good people ! They had their "Grito" contest and dance contest and some Mariachis for Analissa bday !

Next was the "Taste of New Orleans" at Sunken Gardens which is what the "Los Primos" Vollleyball team has worked a beer booth at the past couple of years ! This year we had a welcome addition to our group for this . We had Cuz Fabian and Cuz Erin with us and while Cuz Thelma and Cuz Erin walked around and went to an Art festival we had our way with rookie beer booth operator Cuz Fabian ! Unfortunatley he was assigned to another booth and we werent able to help him with advice on how many "breaks" one should take and he came back to us "very much" in the Fiesta Spirit ! After we were done with our shift we all walked around with our well earned tickets and got "Shrimp on a stick", "funnel cake" , "corn dogs" and of course more beer ! FIESTA !!

Sorry Cuz Fabian I had to do this to ya....as a rookie you have to pay the price , but next year you will be considered a seasoned veteran !

Ok so thats a quick post and there will be more as Fiesta 09 goes on ! If you would like to see the whole set of pictures which include some of us watching the Spurs in Game 1 click on this link > FIESTA

Luv Y'all like Cuz's !

Cuz Andy & Cuz Marjorie

Just born Cuz's and New Cuz's due in April !

Hola Familia ~

Just to give you an update on Cuz Tammy and Eric , our new little Cuz Marley Wong Benson was born March 11th a happy and healthy boy. Mom and Dad and baby are all back home and getting used to each other , Tammy sent me these pics and thought iI would post them here.

We also have another Cuz on the way soon to Madelyn Stribling , she is due in April and as I get any more info I will be sure to pass it along to everybody !

It seems this is going to be a busy year adding new little cuz's to the Familia so stay tuned !

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Just a quick announcement too that "Los Primos" volleyball has officially started last Sunday...they actually canceled the games because the fields were flooded but game time this sunday is set for 545pm at Time Warner Sports Park off of Wetmore Rd. behind the aiport ! Hope to see ya there!

http://www.theparkonline.com/Main_Volleyball.html

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Thats it for now but with FIESTA and the SPURS winning another Championship and Port A trip coming up there will be lots more blogging to come !

Love y'all like Cuz's

Cuz Andy & Cuz Marjorie

March Birthdays

Hola Familia !

March Birthdays are :

Marc Rivera ~ 5th
"Nena" Helen ~ 5th
Chata ~ 6th
Lydia Wong ~ 11th
Bitsy ~ 16th
Gloria Vasquez ~ 17th
Paul Camero ~ 21st
Stephen Hunt ~ 21st
Alissa Medina ~ 26th
Ashley de la Pena ~ 28th

Ok so far this is who I have, again if I am missing anybody please email me !

Luv Y'all Like Cuz's
Cuz Andy & Cuz Marjorie

Tammy Wong Benson's Baby Shower

~ Hola Familia ~

I just wanted to write a quick blog to fill everybody in on Tammy's recent baby shower in SA and let Marjorie get some pictures in !

Big THANKS to Tammy's mom Irene and to Uncle Xavier and Aunt Rachel for taking care of the set up and details for the party at Ft. Sam Houston Golf Club !

Tammy and Eric and "baby" are all doing good and Cuz Tammy is looking good as a new mommy !

There was good turnout from both sides of the family and they received many good gifts needed for the little one and proud parents . There were "finger sandwiches" and some delicious cake. And everybody had a GREAT time . It was good seeing Tammy and Eric and everyone else and I will hopefully be able to break the news of a healthy and happy new Cuz being born as soon as I get the word !

Some of the boys...Xavier , Greg and I headed out to the driving range to knock a few outta the park.......

Luv Y'all like Cuz's

Cuz Andy & Cuz Marjorie