Wimzy

Munoz-Hale Bridal Shower

2011-06-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

Katherine's sister Kandace and her Granny Rita hosted a bridal shower for Katherine and Devin at Granny's lake house in Eastland, Texas on Saturday, June 4th. Rita cooked up a storm of delicious mouth watering Mexican food. The weather could not have been more perfect as we ate dinner outside and enjoyed the scenery around the lake. The Hills brought their Jet Ski so some were able to go out on the lake. It was a great day celebrating the upcoming wedding with family and friends.

Father like Son

If we had a yard like this one there would be no need to go on vacation!

Devin with Kassie and Tucker

Paula and Mark Hale

Kandace, Katherine, and Kassie

Tucker

Kassie and Devin living it up on the water!

Six Flags

2011-06-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

We took Grandpa with us to Six Flags when Harland Clarke had a Friends and Family day!
We had a great time and upgraded to season passes so that we could keep going back!

St. PaTtY's dAy CeLeBraTiOn!

2011-03-21T04:44:00.000-07:00

So in celebration of St. Patricks day and because Jeremy is Black Irish, we prepared an Irish feast fit for any leprechaun. I made Cornbeef and Cabbage for the first time in my life. I also made a pistachio dessert. Amber made Irish Soda Bread. And Amber and Jeremy made some Stuffed Cabbage Rolls together. We had grandpa and grandma over for dinner. I made it a point to have Henry explain to them in Spanish that this was Irish food and why we were eating it, then waited patiently to see their expressions as they tasted it. I was tickled pink as grandpa ate everything and then announced that it was delicious. I am not sure that grandma felt the same way but she ate most of it. Jeremy said that I did a good job on the cornbeef and that it reminded him of his mothers. He thinks we should make it at least once a month. Henry liked it too but of course we were just missing rice. While we were cleaning up I pointed out that there was some rice that was leftover from making the cabbage rolls and Henry was in heaven. He made a plate to eat later in the evening. Henry loves his rice! It was quite fun and a learning experience. I am glad that we did it and that we did it together.

One cRaZy hAt!

2011-03-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

Ok so it was crazy hat day at work as part of another FUN week. I bought this hat near downtown last Saturday when we were out with Devin and Katherine shopping for wedding stuff. It was only 4.25. I took it to work and some friends said I needed to dress it up a bit so we went to our supply closet and added some crazy things. It was really heavy. To win they said that I had to wear it all day but after they judged it I took it off. Still I wore it for about 5 hours! I won a 20.00 gift card to HEB, our local grocery store. Was it worth it, you ask? Absolutely! Outrageously fun!

CHURCH NEWS

2011-03-06T17:25:00.000-08:00

The is a copy of an article by the Church News. Our stake did this great service project and I drug Amber out of her bed to go help out. Little did we know that we would have our pictures taken and I bad one at that. Oh well. It was fun and felt good to be a part of something that will benefit others in our community.

Texas: 'Giving Thanks by Giving Back'

By Michael Harold Paulos
Church News Contributor

Published: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

Photo by Jennifer Boster, Photo by Jennifer Boster

The theme for San Antonio Texas West Stake First Annual Service Fair was 'Giving Thanks by Giving Back.'

Using the holiday theme "Giving Thanks by Giving Back," members of the San Antonio Texas West Stake hosted an interfaith service fair to benefit underprivileged residents of the San Antonio community.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

Members from the Helotes ward posing in front of a banner sent to troops in Afghanistan.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

Volunteers of all ages helped shop for clothing for underprivileged recipients from a nearby elementary school.

Stake leaders provided a venue to hold the Fair and invited wards within the stake to voluntarily conduct service projects related to the theme. Participating wards hosted booths that provided service opportunities at the stake center on Saturday morning, Nov. 20. This included drives to collect clothing, food, school supplies and quilts, the latter of which were donated to the local Ronald McDonald House. Church leaders also invited philanthropic community groups to participate including the San Antonio Food Bank and the Christian Senior Services. The latter organization runs the Meals on Wheels program for homebound seniors.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

Members from the Helotes ward posing in front of a banner sent to troops in Afghanistan.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

Volunteers help sort donations during the clothing drive.

In the weeks leading up to the service fair, stake leaders coordinated efforts with a local elementary school to identify struggling families in the area willing to receive donations. School representatives were very excited about the opportunity and touched by the "compassionate thoughtfulness" of Church members. Teachers and counselors quickly identified 53 children who would most benefit from the donated items.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

Sister Munoz and her daughter Sister Hutchings help with the food drive.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

Volunteers work to organize clothing donations as part of the Service Fair.

Hundreds of volunteer hours were donated by members of the stake in preparation for the service fair. Bishop Mark Gorman of the Parkwood Ward asked auxiliary and priesthood leaders in his ward to coordinate the effort. "I did nothing," Bishop Gorman said with a smile, "It was all the ward council." Home teaching companionships distributed most of the 2,000 door flyers announcing the clothing drive, and the Parkwood youth collected the donations and dropped them off at the fair where the Relief Society sorted by gender and size.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

Children write letters and draw pictures that were sent to the service men and women at Bagram Airfield military hospital in Afghanistan.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

Sister Tuft (left) and Sister Singer (right) help with a box of donations at the Service Fair.

The clothing drive produced hundreds of articles of clothing used to help the families of the elementary school children. More than 60 large boxes of additional clothing were donated to the local University Hospital, battered women's shelter and a homeless shelter. "This clothing drive has exceeded my expectations by one thousand percent," said an emotional Stephani Singer, who serves as the stake service fair director.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

The Bingham family helps tie a quilt that was donated to the local Ronald McDonald House.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

The Parkwood Ward Relief Society organized the sorting during the clothing drive.

Stake volunteers of all ages were given unique checklists for each of the 53 children, and tasked with the assignment to find coats, pants and shoes for each child. When completed, members of the stake personally delivered the donated items to the homes of each family.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

A young girl carries a box during the clothing drive.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

Volunteers were able to help tie a quilt for the local Ronald McDonald House.

The Helotes Ward elected to send packages to injured U.S. military personnel and children at the Bagram Airfield military hospital in Afghanistan. Dianna Tuft, whose husband is a physician currently stationed at Bagram, explained, "We're sending toy bags filled with bouncy balls, coloring books and harmonicas over to these injured Afghan children for them to use as therapy, but also for fun."

Photo by Jennifer Boster

The Patrick family helps sort and organize some of the donated clothing.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

The Varney family helps tie a quilt to be donated to the local Ronald McDonald House.

Two of the most salient items sent to the soldiers were handwritten letters of appreciation and a large handmade banner reading, "The Alamo Remembers You!"

Photo by Jennifer Boster

The Freckleton family pauses for a photo during the Service Fair.

Photo by Jennifer Boster

This banner was signed by children from the Helotes Primary before being sent to troops in Afghanistan.

As a result of the service fair, the stake was not only able to help school children in the community, but was also able to strengthen its relationships with other community groups and neighbors. A joyful Sister Singer remarked, "This is the first San Antonio Texas West Stake Service Fair, and I am already excited about ways we can improve it for next year."

Dicken's on Main November 2010

2010-12-27T10:32:00.000-08:00

It is tradition for us to go to the small town of Boerne, Texas for Dicken's on Main the day after Thanksgiving. It is a festival full of Christmas music, great food, entertainment, shopping, horse drawn carriages, and even some snow (fake of course, it's South Texas after all!). We always have a super time and this year was no exception as we introduced Katherine to our family tradition.

Thanksgiving Day 2010

2010-12-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

Our pie tower shrunk this year with only 6 pies but they
all tasted great!

Joshua Munoz

Jeremy's job was to set the table and he did it with
loads of finesse!

Henry's job was to carve the turkey!

Jose, Tania and their kids

Henry with his parents

Amber and Jeremy

We have so much to be thankful for!

2010-11-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

I thought that I had posted these pictures already. Time goes by too fast and I can't keep up with it all!
Anyway we went to Abilene on October 15, 2010. It was Henry's birthday. Happy Birthday! He is now 48 years young.

McMurry was having their homecoming and Devin was nominated for a Senior favorite. When we first arrived, Devin and his girlfriend Katherine took us out for dinner where they work at Lytle Steakhouse. The medallions are delicious! There food is so yummy, we can't wait to go back. Then after visiting Devin's home we went with to McMurry to take these pictures. Afterwards the school drama department performed the musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". It was very cute and entertaining. After the musical we went outside where they had a bonfire. Each sorority or faternity was in charge of displaying an athentic Indian Teepee which were set up along the perimiter of the bonfire. They were all fabulous but Devin's social groups stood out as the most creative and they won a contest and collected $200.00 for their efforts. He is currently president of the group.

We spent the night at the Hilton and then hung around Abilene the rest of the day before heading back home. It was great being able to see the culture that Devin has been a part of during the past 3 years and meeting a lot of his friends and peers. We had a great time and were thankful that we were able to share in the Homecoming festivities.

Devin looks great in his tux meanwhile we are all
casual and tired from driving all day.

Proud Mama and Papa

Devin and his beautiful, sweet girlfriend Katherine Hale

The Senior nominations for Homecoming court

Happy Birthday Devin!

2010-08-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

Devin celebrates his 23rd birthday with his favorite chocolate cake at midnight!

Home is where the heart is!

2010-08-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

Loaded up our new Kayaks and ready to head for a day at the lake!

After racing to the other side of the lake Devin had to pull
Henry back. I think he bit off more than he could chew.
It is never a good idea to race against Devin. You will never win!

Henry looks way too relaxed!

Henry and Amber enjoying the sun

Having Devin around is the best!

"Gracie" queen of the house and the couch!

Got Muscle?

2010-07-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

Mom is trying to be like Devin!

Little by little P90X is working! (my face is tight and clenched because
I am trying to flex to get the biggest muscle that I can!)

Jeremy's Birthday

2010-07-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

Jeremy celebrated his 35th birthday this year and what better way than to have his favorite
chocolate cake and ice cream!

Jeremy needed some help blowing out his candles

La Cantera

2010-07-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day to be off work and be able to spend time with my kids outside.

Six Flags with Devin and Kayla

2010-07-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

A Day at the Lake

2010-07-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

We went to Boerne Lake with our family. Jose and Tania brought friends from their ward and the Walkers came too. We played in the water and ate sandwiches and watermelon. It was a beautiful perfect day. I managed to get a few good photos before the batteries on my camera died.

Celebrating the 4th

2010-07-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

After church Amber and I spent all afternoon making some last minute table decorations so we could be more festive. Actually I realized we didn't have any 4th of July decorations and wished that I would have bought some. The family came over after church and we barbecued hamburgers and sausages. We ate way too much but had a great time doing it. After dinner we stayed up late playing Sequence and dominos.

It can be very difficult to get Grandpa to SMILE!

Joseph

Edrick, Joshua, Joseph, and Kaylyn

Summer Saturdays at Six Flags

2010-07-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

In Crackaxle Canyon

We bought season passes to Six Flags this year. Harland Clarke had a family and event where they gave us free tickets and we were able to get a great deal to upgrade to season passes. We enjoy going to all the shows and Henry always enjoys a turkey leg!

Amber and her Dad

We always enjoy the shows at Rockville High

Folk Life Festival

2010-07-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

Every year we look forward to the Folk Life Festival in downtown San Antonio and this year was no exception. Henry and I took Grandpa Henry and Amber and Jeremy met us there. We spent the afternoon enjoying the music, the bands, the dancing, the freebies (thank you Mott's for filling our water bottles with some delicious juice), and especially the food. This year they had a Colombian booth which we had to taste test the food. It was delicious. Despite melting in the 90+ temperatures, we had a fabulous time and will be looking forward to next year.

Henry's debit card didn't work here

Grandpa Henry

Amber and Jeremy enjoying the sights and sounds of the festival

Homemade cooking is so sweet!

2010-07-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

Amber cooked us dinner tonight. She made Crunch Oriental Beef Salad and then Cinnamon Rolls for dessert. For the rolls she used the one hour roll recipe that is posted on our family website oatmealrocks.blogpot.com. The salad recipe is posted there also. Everything was so delicious! It was wonderful and Amber worked hard all day fixing everything. Thank you Amber!!

Love Sunday Afternoons

2010-07-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my sister Pauline called and said that I needed to update my blog more often even if I just wrote a couple of sentences or two. I am always waiting to download the pictures from my camera first and that takes time so I will do as she suggests today and just write a comment.

Life is good in the Munoz home. The weather is great and everyone is happy. We have Grandpa Henry, Grandma Alina, Jeremy, and Amber over. We just finished a delicious meal. I made homemade bread sticks, Amber made spaghetti and Henry made a coconut shake for dessert. YUM! Now we are playing dominos as we do every Sunday. Amber is killing us!

Devin's Spring Break

2010-03-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

Devin and Kayla came down from Abilene during Spring Break.
They spent some time on the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio.

My favorite picture!

The Alamo

Devin and Kayla bought season passes to Sea World, San Antonio.

You can never get tired of watching Shamu perform.

Sea World

UTAH

2010-03-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

Amber and Jeremy came from Rexburg, Idaho to attend the wedding reception. Se spent the night at Scott and Sandy's house in Hyrum and then spend a night in a hotel in Logan next to Pauline and Rod. March in Utah is still so cold. It snowed all day on Saturday but it was very beautiful and peaceful, especially in Hyrum.

Amber, Jeremy, and Scott's dog at Scott's house in Hyrum, Utah.

Amber looks so beautiful while she is waiting to head out into the snow.

Amber put on her swimming suit and bundled up as we prepared to walk to the the swimming pool at the hotel in Logan.

I spent a night at the Dillon's. I had fun playing with Kamden.

Logan and Kamden Dillon

Logan is a ham!

Michelle on her way to the gym.

Dallas and Adrianna's Wedding

2010-03-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to fly to Utah to be a part of the sealing of my nephew, Dallas and his new bride, Adrianne in the Logan Temple on March 12, 2010. It was a beautiful ceremony.

They were so happy that neither one of them could stop smiling.

Adrianne's Family

Dallas' Family

Both Families

Adrianne and Dallas with their nieces. Adrianne made all the dresses.

Barb and Pauline.

Scott was our photographer and he did a great job. It was a little chilly outside. Only about 34 degrees.

Cindy and Dan

Blake, Janae, Becky, Emily, and Caleb

Laura Torgersen

Tom and Deanna Togersen

The gorgeous quilt that Pauline made for Dallas and Adrianne displayed at the reception.

Alan and Linda Call

Laura, Cindy, Dan, and Amberlynn

The cake that couldn't be cut!

It was made to resemble a cake but was made out of styrofoam.

Dallas and Adranne ate an orange!

The Giving Tree

2010-03-07T13:53:00.000-08:00

I decided to post this letter that we gave to the kids for Christmas this past year. We gave everyone including ourselves this pillow that I designed and sewed. So far it has been very fun thinking of ideas to give service and what to do on the pillow. It has also kept communication open as we call one another asking about the pillow all month. - Barb

CHRISTMAS 2009

This year we wanted to do something a little different and unique so with a little thought and prayer we came up with the theme, “A Giving Tree Christmas” based on the book, The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein. It has always been one of our favorite stories. Thus everyone is getting a copy!

Someone once said, “Christmas means ‘giving.’ The Father gave His Son and the Son gave His life. Without giving there is no true Christmas, and without sacrifice there is no true worship”.

Christmas means ‘giving,’ and the gift without the giver is bare. Give of yourselves; give of your substance; give of your heart and mind…

Christmas means ‘compassion and love’ and, most of all ‘forgiveness’…How poor indeed would be our lives without the influence of His teachings and His matchless example…”He whose birth we commemorate this season is more than the symbol of a holiday. He is the Son of God…the Redeemer of mankind, the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace”.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Price of Peace.”

This year in the spirit of giving, we would like to give our family a challenge for 2010 to make it a special year of giving the gift of service all year long. We encourage you to reach outside yourselves by serving one another in your homes, in your work place, in your community, serving at every opportunity with the intent of becoming more compassionate, more charitable, and closer to one another, and most importantly more like our Savior.

To help with this endeavor we have created “The traveling tree pillow!” Using the schedule provided, we will add something to the pillow and then mail it to the next person every month. Some ideas include a thought for each day of the month, favorite candies, a treat, a letter, loose change, scriptures, quotes, photos, love notes, coupons, gift certificates, or anything creative to reach out across the miles to serve each other and say “I love you”. Next year we will all be in different cities and some in different states! We don’t want it to be a burden or big expense but do what you can. Along with the pillow is a notebook that you will use to record all your acts of service during the month. The notebook will be mailed with the pillow. At the end of the year the pillows and notebooks will be returned to their rightful owners to keep. Sounds fun? We hope so!!!

We love you!!!

Mom and Dad

Christmas 09

This is a pillow after being covered in 30 Shamrocks. Mom and Dad gave it to Devin. Each Shamrock had a reason why we love him.

Luz Marina Visits from New York

2010-03-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed having Henry's Aunt Luz Marina come to visit on February 27th for about 4 days.

It was fun taking her out and visiting with her. We spent most of our time reminiscing and looking at family photos. We had Jose and his family came over for dinner one night and then we went over to

their home for dinner on another. Luz wanted to look at houses with the possibility of moving her eventually. We would love to have her live new us so we hope she does soon.

Luz loved the River Walk.

She thought it was beautiful.

Jose, Luz, and Tania.

San Antonio Rodeo

2010-03-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

In February, I entered a drawing for Rodeo tickets at work for $5.00 and won! I received 4 tickets for box seats for the San Antonio 2010 Rodeo with a parking pass at the AT & T Center. We took Grandpa to celebrate his birthday and Jose came along also. It was very cold and had been raining all day so we spent most of our time inside as much as possible. The rodeo was great and the box seats were so comfortable and relaxing. They had free snacks and drinks available for us also. We especially enjoyed the bull riding and the kids riding the muttons during the "Mutton Bustin" always cracks me up.

Happy Birthday!!

Grandpa celebrates his

77th birthday this year!

Henry, Jose, and Grandpa enjoying their

snacks in our box seats.

Rampage

2010-01-20T18:39:00.000-08:00

On January 14, I won tickets from work to see the San Antonio Rampage hockey team play against Chicago. I generously gave the tickets to Henry and Derek so they could do some male bonding and have some one on one time. They enjoyed the box seats and the unlimited chip, dip, nuts, and sodas that were served. Chicago won 5-3. Derek is counting down the days. He will be leaving for Chicago soon!
-Barb

2010-01-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

My brother and i went on a roadtrip to pick up amber and jeremy for Christmas! We made a few stops along the way. We had a blast visiting with friends and family, snowboarding, making a campfire and always finding some sort of fun.
-Derek

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

We celebrated New Year's Eve by first having dinner at our house and then after playing Bananagram about a million times we went over to Jose and Tania's house where we danced the night away. One of the brother in laws set off fireworks at midnight. We took lots of pictures. We finally got to bed about 3:00 am. Pretty early for the Munoz family. We had a terrific time!

New Recipe

2009-12-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

I have to share this recipe because it is just so yummy! I just got this recipe from my friend Sherry Knight and made it on Christmas Eve. It was a big hit. It is delicious and tastes just like it does in the restaurant. Try it!

Rudy’s Corn

Butter

½ cup fresh parmesan cheese

2 (16oz) bags frozen whole corn, defrosted

½ tsp salt

8 Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp flour mixed with 3 Tbsp melted butter

1 ½ c heavy ream

Butter a baking dish. Sprinkle 2-3 Tbsp parmesan cheese over bottom of pan. Bring whipping cream to a boil, reduce heat and add corn. Simmer 5 min.

Stir in salt and sugar. Make a paste out of the butter and flour and stir into the corn, cook until thickened. Turn into baking dish. Sprinkle rest of parseman

Cheese and dot with butter. Bake @350 for 30 min. Can refrigerate unbaked corn for up to 3 days or freeze for 1 month.

Christmas Eve Party 09

2009-12-27T21:07:00.000-08:00

We celebrated our annual Munoz family Christmas Eve party at our house this year. We had a very full house with Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, all the nephews and 3 dogs! We had lots of yummy food and desserts. We played Toss Up, Rock Band, danced and listened to music as we waited until midnight to open our presents. After the extended family went home we opened the rest of our gifts and opened our stockings. Our theme was a Giving Tree Christmas which I will post in another entry. Following tradition we all had a bowl of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cereal before finally going to bed around 4:00 am. We had a wonderful Christmas and were so blessed to have all of our family together.

Jeremy and Amberlynn

2009-12-27T20:48:00.000-08:00

Amberlynn and Jeremy were our Christmas present this year. Devin and Derek drove to Idaho to pick them up and bring them home. They arrived here on Christmas Eve just in time to celebrate. Jeremy could only stay for a few days before he had to go back to work so we had to pack in as much movie time, games, food, visiting, and goodies as we could before he left. Amber was able to stay a week longer before she had to go back to school. We loved having them here for Christmas. It was such a blessing!

Family Photo Session

2009-12-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

We had quite the crazy photo session today. Just getting everyone ready in coordinating clothes and out the door was quite an accomplishment in and of itself. We went to the Westin Hotel. The grounds are beautiful. Sharma Jackson from our ward was kind enough to act as our photographer. We just used my little digital camera but they turned out pretty darn cute. The best part was when the boys were trying to help Henry into a tree to get a picture. It took several tries. We could not have asked for better weather. I am so excited that we finally got some family pictures. It will be a long time before we will be together again to take another photo.

new creation

2009-12-26T22:04:00.000-08:00

this is the first blog for the Munoz family. we're just trying to work out things and figure out how it works!