In Honor of my Gramps

This past weekend we went to San Francisco to celebrate the life of my Grandfather, Melecio Guillermo. He lived an amazing, long life. We learned even more about our family's history, and were able to spend some quality time with our extended family. After losing our Granny last May, we took comfort in knowing that Gramps was brought home to be with the love of his life once again. Below is just one of the eulogies that were given in honor of Gramps. It was written by my Aunt Tessie, and is so eloquent and captures who he was in the most beautiful way.

I honor you, Dad
Pioneer, survivor
Purple Heart Veteran
I see your leg the color purple
From the shrapnel buried there
One of America the brave
First wave immigrant
Field laborer
Picking artichokes and asparagus
Green of the earth,
Green, the color of heroism
Surviving poverty and prejudice and injustice
I honor you, Dad
Simple, humble
Man of numbers, not words
As I recall ledger entries
Detailing Mel’s Studio Barber Shop
Crew Cut $6
Hot Shave $4
Sympathetic ear, free
No charge
I recall the numbers on school tuition receipts
Clipped neatly together by year
Year after year after year
For 27 years
Morning Star Elementary
Star of the Sea
Presentation High
I honor you, Dad
Obsessive, methodical
As I teach Rennie to store video game cables
And computer power cords
I remember you
Never sweating the details
Unless the details were yours
Like how to wrap a loose cable or wire
Looped evenly upon itself, then just the right amount
Of cord spiraled around the rest,
The end neatly pushed through the loop
To tie it off.
Details
Like how to spoon rice from the rice pot
Starting from one side,
Moving in clockwise fashion around the pot,
Never leaving a grain sitting on the rim,
But if so, carefully wiping it with a napkin
Before the pot closed
So as not to waste a single grain
I honor you, Dad
Meticulous, precise
The only imperfections you tolerated
Were those evidenced by your daughters,
And your family
We could do no wrong in your eyes,
We could only surprise you with the never ending
Messiness of our lives
I honor you, Dad
Unintended futurist, history maker
From you I learned
To conserve, and reuse and repurpose
Before recycling was legislated
Before composting become a middle class, new era movement
And before Al Gore discovered An Inconvenient Truth
As I prepare old bread, cereal and other scraps
To feed the ducks
At Stow Lake with my kids
I realize this practice, now three generations old
Was once your, is now our San Francisco tradition
One not celebrated in the history books,
But captured instead in the history of your life
A century of history, 98 years
Of living,
Of sharing
Of loving
Pioneer, hero, simple man of few words
I honor you, Dad
I honor you, Dad
I honor you, Dad

Below are some of the pictures from our trip:
Riley was not a fan of pigeons! They converged around while we were at Ghirardelli Square having a snack, and Steve and Dad got him worried that they'd poop on his head. This was his protective measure.

Gramps was a WWII Veteran and Purple Heart recipient. At his burial he was recognized by the Honor Guard. A bugler played Taps, and his flag was folded and presented to the family. It was extremely moving and so beautiful.


My dad presented Gramp's flag to the sisters "On behalf of a Grateful Nation."

Cousin Analicia is a dessert chef, and makes amazing cakes. This was at the luncheon following the funeral.

Analicia, Rhyanna, and Veronica, the second round of 20-something cousinettes!

The cousins all went out for dinner and then went to Sea Bowl in Pacifica for late-night bowling.

On Saturday we headed to the Community Healing Garden Festival at Yerba Buena Gardens. It was organized by our cousin Felicia and the Purple Moon Dance Project (http://www.purplemoondance.org). There was dance, music, and art from all different cultures. Below, Riley plays the cowbell along with the Taiko Drummers

We rode the Playland Carousel, which used to be at Playland at the Beach back in the day, but is now enclosed at the Zeum at the Yerba Buena Gardens. Gramps used to take my mom and her sisters to Playland when they were young.


After the festival, we headed over to Grandma Soriano's house for a delicious lunch and visit. Riley got to pick a lemon off "Lola's" lemon tree.


Saturday night was another cousin outing to Pier 23, where a local reggae band, Native Elements was playing. Below are Veronica, Rhyanna, Cassie, Me, Holli and Felicia

I think it's hilarious that Keith and Tony have the exact same expression on their faces...they may have been thinking, "Something herbal is in the air." Well, it was a reggae concert after all!

Broncos, Raiders and some guy named Vicellous

Steve and I got to go to the Broncos home opener against the Raiders today. There's Bronco games, and then there's the day they play the Raiders, which is a whole different kind of thing! We HATE the Raiders! We want to SMUNCH the Raiders! We went with Nate, Jamie, and Jamie's parents Randy and Dawn; and got to sit down on the 12th row near the end zone. It was great! Other than the delay when we nearly got "smunched" by lightning and all had to crowd into the hallways, that is. Of course by the time we all made it under cover, the storm was gone and the game re-started. We should have "smunched" the Raiders, but instead the Broncos decided to keep it interesting by winning in overtime after a really weird last second time out that saved them from losing on a Raiders field goal. What? I don't know, it was weird.
You never know who you'll run into while tailgating. Here's Steve with the Pom Pom dudes.
Superfans Jamie, Nate and Steve.
Let's get ready to rumble!
At halftime there was a dedication to the Armed Forces. The 2nd Brigade Combat Team from Ft. Carson was there (far left). They wore their BDUs, which I thought was great!
Harmony in Motion, the A Capella singing group from Fort Carson performed the National Anthem before the game and "America, the Beautiful" at halftime.
So, sitting near us was this guy, and Steve and I both agreed that he was an actor on some movie that we'd both seen. Finally, we realized it was Twins from the movie "Annapolis." He was the guy who was the main character's roommate, and nearly smunched himself by jumping out the window. He was also in "Hurricane" with Denzel Washington, I later found out. And his name is Vicellous Reon Shannon.
It's so much more fun to win a game...especially when Steve is there!!
Gorgeous stadium!
And that was Sunday! And if you're wondering what "Smunch" means...ask Steve!!

Great American Trailer Fun!

Mama got a hall pass Friday night to go out to see "The Great American Trailer Park Musical" at the Denver Civic Theater. Our office manager Meg's son Patric is one of the stars of the show. He plays Duke, the marker-sniffing, stripper-dating redneck from Oklahoma. So of course we all had to go see! About 30 of us from the Glacier Peak staff headed out to El Noa Noa restaurant for dinner and delicious margaritas before the show. Here are just some of the pictures from the night, but more will be coming, after I bogart them from Charline's blog!!
Here's Charline, Mary, Kristen, Jennifer, Kathleen, Cindy (hiding), Annette and Grant, having some cocktails!
Annette and Grant Dalton, and yours truly.
Proud mama Meg, Shawna, Cheryl and Tammy
Deb, Rhoda, Karlene and Debra
The side of the Civic Theater. It's hard to see the poster on the right of Pippi, the hard-luck stripper who hooks up with Norbert, toll-collecting husband of the agoraphobic Jeannie, while on the run from Duke. Shake it off, y'all!

It was really a side-splitting, rip-roaring, stereotype-filled, over-hyphenating hootenanny of a show! Their run has been extended to November, so if you're up for a laugh, I highly recommend it! On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it 5 Double-Wides! We had an absolute blast! Stay tuned for more pictures, including one of the whole Glacier Peak crew with the cast of the show.

Labor Day Family Vacation

We're a pretty lucky gang...over Labor Day weekend, we all, and I mean ALL, headed up to Farish Recreation Area for the holiday weekend. "The Kingdom of Farish" is an area owned by the Air Force Academy, and is an amazing recreation area with hiking trails, three lakes to fish, and lodging of all kinds, from tent sites to cabins. This was our first annual Soriano/Marsh/Sheahan trip. We rented these great duplexes with all the comforts of home and a conference center with a huge kitchen and eating area. Each night we ate like royalty, then reclined by the campfire. Not exactly roughing it, but it was the best of both worlds! And, we all thought it was pretty neat that all the families were together! Everyone enjoyed hanging out and relaxing together. We've all had a lot going on lately, and it was nice to just get away!
This view of Pikes Peak was what we woke up to every morning. Not bad!
Saturday morning the first order of business was to get geared up for the CU-CSU football game! We went down to Woodland Park to watch it...and the Buffs won! Yeah baby!
Dad and Rick got up early every morning to fish, but dad was the only one who caught anything.
A little football with Bubba!
Our cute little cabin!
Wow, did we eat! On Saturday Mike and Cindy Sheahan joined us, which made it dinner for 12! That is a LOT of Ribs and Corn!!!
Charline is already an adopted member of the Soriano family, but her fate is sealed now! Especially after treating us all to a new concoction of Mango Rum, Iced Tea and Limeade that we have Christened the "Portupino Cocktail," and who can forget those delicious M&M Cakes of Pan on Sunday morning! There ya go....!
After breakfast it was off to the paddle boats! Riley took his safety very seriously!
The newlyweds.
And here's what it looks like after 36 years of marriage...pretty great!!
Owen, Brad and Nicole came up for the day on Sunday. Riley and O check out the rubber worms in O's new fishing set.
Father and son fishing!
We had birthday cake for Brad's birthday. I think Brad enjoyed it!
The barbeque men!
Cheek to cheek with my Riley!
Gran-gran, General and Riley!
Grandma Kathie and her boys!
I love our family!
What a fantastic weekend! The director, Ric Mungo, already has our reservations for next year! With the six duplexes we can sleep 30, so we can't wait to get even more of the family out to stay! It's our new favorite vacation!

First Day of School 2007

Riley's first day of school as an "Early Preschooler" at Bright Horizons was great! He was excited to hang out with some new friends and his new teachers, Miss Michelle and Miss Denise.
A snazzy new back-to-school outfit and baseball lunch box!
First order of business, drawing on the chalk board!
'Bye mom!