LA - Baby Shower - Week 34

34 weeks! 6 more weeks to go! Feeling good!

Wow, we had a wonderful time in LA this past weekend. My sister, Maria, hosted a fantastic party for us at The Raymond Restaurant in Pasadena.
It was mainly family from my side and a few college friends with their babies and S.O's. All the Smith family members were there (except for Francesca who had another commitment) and the kids were having fun yet were really well-behaved, even Beto, the youngest. :)

My sister, Carmen and her partner, Lisa. My parents! :)

The Smith family plus some guest stars :Vittoria, Carlos, David, Isabella, Sophia and Katharina. Here's a sweet shot of Maria, Betito and Eddie:

My brother Gonzalo! My brother Felipe with his son, David.

These are my friends from college:

Delia was my best buddy in college. With her is her boyfriend, Randy. To the right is a picture of Randy's son, Jordon, with Delia's son, Carlos.

And here are my friends, Jonathan and Linda with their son David. Jonathan and I were in the same freshman dorm together. To the right is a picture of Diana and her son Joaquin. We danced together in Ballet Folklorico de Stanford. She was one of the premiere dancers! :)

And last, but not least, is Mrs. Limon. She is the mother of the Limon sisters who we grew up with. She's a great friend. :) Leigh Limon, her youngest daughter and our friend, just had her baby boy, Tristan, 1 week earlier. We were really happy Mrs. Limon, aka Jessica, could make it to the party.We sat outside by the garden and the weather was perfect, warm but with a good breeze. The food was great, tea-style finger food that was surprisingly filling. My sister made up a really cool game - she listed out a bunch of ways to say 'baby' in many languages and we had to figure out which matched up. Delia got them all correct:

Italian = bambino
Russian = malish
Korean = ehgi
Spanish = bebe
Vietnamese = cong
Portugese = bebe

My brothers also played some music for us - acoustic versions of the Eagles' "Hotel California" and Kansas' "Dust in the Wind" and some blues. It was fun and folks joined in on the singing.
Wow, and everyone was so generous - we didn't think at first we'd be able to get it all in the car. But Scotty, with his pack-ology degree, found a way to do it. Thank you to everyone for your words of encouragement, your presence there and your generous gifts. We love you!


It was a _wonderful_event and we thank everyone who was able to make it and especially thank my sister Maria for organizing it all. We felt really loved and supported. :) We can't wait for Gemma to meet everyone! :)

Saturday night we spent it hanging out with Delia and her son Carlos and had dinner at a posh Italian restaurant called Mi Piace. Thank goodness we came there early because by the time we left there was a major line inside and outside of the restaurant. The food was super delicious.

We ended the night in a wonderful room at the Westin in Pasadena that Maria and Eddie generously gave us. Thank goodness for hotel points! Scotty and I slept sooooo well. It was heavenly.... ahhhh! :)

The next morning we had a great breakfast at my parents house. Gonzalo joined us for a yummy home-made Mexican breakfast - huevos rancheros con hongos y fruta!!!!

The drive back wasn't as bad as I had originally thought - we stopped literally every hour to let me stretch and go to the bathroom. I did well but at the very end I started to feel my feet swell up. Eeks.

Blitzy was sooooo excited to see us. :) This was the last trip before the baby comes...glad to be home now. :) :)

Here are some other shots I couldn't help but post: