It was a first for me this weekend. I attended my first full-blown Mexican wedding this weekend. It was different than the weddings I have been to in the past. First off, the entire ceremony was in Spanish. Secondly, we attended the reception and after three hours of hoping they would cut the cake, they hadn’t done so. So we left the reception cakeless and feeling like we had spent the day in Mexico.

Oh, before I continue, you might be wondering why I spent my Saturday at a Mexican wedding. My co-worker, Mariana, was getting hitched. I had to support Mariana and represent the office, since nobody else was coming from work.

The ceremony was nice. It was a Catholic ceremony and I hadn’t attended a Catholic ceremony since I was a wee lad. The priest was Caucasian but spoke Spanish. His Spanish was a bit slower so Lis was able to understand the entire ceremony. It went well, the only thing I noticed was that there were about 30 kids in attendance and 20 of them were running wild. Made the ceremony a bit chaotic at times.

The reception was good. Great food. Shredded beef with rice and beans plus nice, warm, corn tortillas. Yummy! There was a bunch of food and three times people came around asking us for "Mas". I wanted more, but my tummy wouldn’t allow it, and I would later thank my tummy for saying no to more.

We hung around for a few hours after eating. Lukas played and played and played and Lis and I waited and waited and waited for cake. After three hours of waiting and watching Lukas tire we decided to leave cakeless. Meanwhile the rest of the family and friends were still eating. I told you they had a lot of food!

It was an interesting experience and I’m glad we were able to attend. I think it made her feel good that someone from work came and didn’t give her an excuse on why they didn’t come.

Sunday Lis, Lukas and I babysat our friend’s son Hudson. Hudson, is Lukas’ best bud, a 2-year-old trapped in a 4-year-olds body. Seriously, the kid is a beast. He’s a future lineman or power forward, no doubt. Anyway, Graham and Sarah were headed to their home country (Canada) and needed someone to watch after Hudson. We like the kid, he likes us, so we figured we were a good match.

Poor Graham and Sarah, the kid didn’t even miss them, asking only once, "Where’s Mommy going?" and then following it up with, "This is going to be fun guys!"

We had some lunch, rode our bikes to the park (me towing the two animals in the trailer) and let them run themselves ragged. Stupid us we didn’t put them down for a nap so by the end of the evening, which we ended by having a barbecue at my folk’s house, they were going wild.

Hudson and Lukas are the exact opposites when it comes to sleepy time. Lukas gets extremely whiny, where if he bumps his head he’s going to ball. Hudson goes wacky (maybe its because he was with us) running wild around the yard. After we finished eating them Lis said, "I’m outta here" and left. I had yet to eat so I hung around and finished my food before heading home with Erik.

At the end of the night we were all exhausted. We told Sarah that it’d be a good test for us to see if we wanted to have another kid. I think we could handle it. Like I said the only mistake we made was not letting them nap. It was a dumb mistake too considering Lukas walked up the stairs and put himself to bed before walking back downstairs 10 minutes later to eat lunch.

Hudson was a good boy. He and Lukas play well together, then argue over sharing toys, then push each other before starting the circle all over again. They make each other laugh and copy each other and when one wanders off the other has to follow or try to find the other. They get along really well and it was a blessing that we met them.

Lis met Sarah while taking swim lessons for the kids. We had friends that we had hung out with but they moved quite the distance away. Then Lis and Lukas met Sarah and Hudson, who also were in need of friends to hang out with. It’s awesome that we all get along with each other.

Random Thoughts

My parent’s bought us a barbecue for a house-warming gift. Thanks Ma and Pa! That’s awesome! We had wanted to get one when everything finalized for the house, and I guess they had discussed it too, so they jumped in and got us one before I bought myself one. That’s okay it’s on loan at their house for another month.

Yes, we bought a home. Our first home! We’re excited and I’ll write about this later.

The allergy season is upon us and its killing my family! Yikes! Lukas must have literally sneezed almost 100 times yesterday – no joke! Poor kid woke up this morning and around his eyes were red and puffy. He sneezed 13 times on the way to the park and too many to count once he hit the freshly cut grass at the park. Lis meanwhile has the same problems. She’s always had bad allergies but ever since she’s been done with chemo it’s been horrible. We’re taking Lukas to the doc soon.

Finally my brother ran into a rather popular dude. Like worldly popular! Like this dude is known by one name. And this guy is the lead singer of some mega-band and also does some serious charitable work and is a big time humanitarian, stuff that has won him Time magazine’s Person of the Year (along with Bill and Melinda Gates). He’s also been nominated for three Noble Peace Prizes and is big on the color red. Finally, and most importantly, this dude is Lisy’s second most favorite person coming far behind Lukas and right above me! Do you know who I’m talking about? If not, check out the photo and try to figure it out. If you don’t know, then you don’t care.

 Psst...he goes by the name of Bono. 

Tonight another Idol wannabe will be eliminated leaving the final five standing. Who will go home tonight? I’ll get to that soon.

Last night’s show featured inspirational songs. And all of the performances were pretty inspiring. I thought every did a fantastic job, except maybe the person I think will be eliminated tonight. I’ll get to that soon.

The show was labeled "Idol Gives Back" because American Idol, with help of the voters, were donating money to help fight poverty in Africa and here in the States. For every vote up to 50 million the NewsCorp. will donate 10-cents per vote. Idol also increased the voting time to four hours instead of two, which allowed Lis and I to vote, since I had to work late last night.

Seventeen-year-old Jordin Sparks once again shined on stage. She sang "You’ll Never Walk Alone" a ballad that neither Lis nor I were familiar with. She was fantastic and I’m quickly becoming a fan of Ms. Sparks. Simon mentioned that since it was an older song, he could see her making it a hit someday. I’d say that day is coming to come soon. Even if she doesn’t win the competition – which I believe she will – she’s got a career in the music industry.

Sparks closest competition and the current favorite, Melinda Doolittle, did a superb job on Faith Hill’s "There Will Come a Day". I preferred Faith’s version but that doesn’t mean Doolittle was bad. She was great and really made it her song.

Phil Stacey is quickly becoming a contender. I thought he was dead weeks ago but he’s revised himself and has now become a mainstay in the upper echelon of my Power Rankings.

I thought Chris Richardson did a fine job of Eric Clapton’s "Change the World" and Blake Lewis was good singing "Imagine" by John Lennon. Blake’s rendition was a bit slow but it’s a simple song and he performed it well. Anyone of these two guys could surprise us by leaving early tonight. Blake was in the final three last week and Chris was in the final three weeks before.

And that brings us to Ms. LaKisha Jones. Her big voice sang Fantasia’s "I Believe" and I’m sorry I’m no longer a believer. The talk about her is where she has gone wrong. I don’t think she has gone wrong, I just think we’re all tired of her. Every performance is the same. Big and loud voice, belting out the lyrics, but she never slows down or spices things up a bit. I’m afraid she’s headed home and I don’t believe that’s a bad thing.

Tuesday marks the not-so-great one-year anniversary of my Uncle Jeff’s death. One year! Time flies.

I still remember the day in great detail. The confusing phone call from my Mom, bolting out the door from work and walking into my Uncle’s apartment and seeing my family in tears.

I remember Erik and I picking Randy up at the airport then staying up real late hanging out and telling stories about him.

I remember the entire family coming up and attending the family and everyone being together for the first time in decades. I remember the stories that my parents, Uncle and their cousin shared about UJ. And I remember giving a eulogy, helping with the Order of Service and then being a pallbearer alongside my Uncle, Grandpa and brothers.

I can’t believe it’s been just a year. It seems like he’s been on an extended vacation and really the reality of his death doesn’t sink in until we go to the cemetery.

Sunday we did just that, making the drive to the cemetery to pay our respects. Mom bought balloons and markers so that we can write a message to UJ and then let the balloons fly up so he can read them.

We got the idea from our Aunt Sandy who does that for our late cousin. It’s a neat idea and it was fun to write UJ’s phrase "How do you feel about that?" on the balloon and send it his way.

Neat and fun, two words I use way too much in my blog writing.

After our trip to visit UJ we made our usual pitstop at Mickey D’s and let Lukas run around on the play equipment then we took a drive towards Snoqualmie Falls and went and played on some old trains (see photos).

That evening we had a barbecue at my parent’s house, which was actually Josh’s idea.

After three years of working in the insurance industry I finally passed my agent’s exam. What a great sense of relief!

I had taken the test back in 2004 when I first started working in the business. I took the class, barely studied then expected myself to pass it. Actually I didn’t expect myself to pass it, which was the problem. I failed twice and never took it again, not sure if I wanted to remain in the industry.

Three years later I decided to go back to school and retake the test. I also decided to study a little more.

I spent most of Saturday and Sunday studying then studied a bit Tuesday night. I would’ve liked to have studied more but having two jobs gets in the way.

So this morning I took the tests and to my surprise I passed them both. I was going to officially become an insurance agent. Not the coolest thing in the world, but it was one of five goals that I had set for myself at the beginning of the year. My body got weak in relief. I was so happy I wanted to do a little dance in the Promissor’s office. Instead I sat trying to hide the grin that wanted to cover my face, waiting to get my fingerprinted for the State.

I don’t know where I go from here. I can sign my own applications and hopefully it will make a pay increase. There’s always that chance I can have my own agency. Whoohoo!

Here are some other things going on with us:

Relay for Life

Things are starting to come together for the ACS Relay for Life. We’ve got a Casino Night planned, we’re doing a garage sale, we’re getting prize donations and I need to get my butt into gear for tent/campsite decorations and the speed pitch. I’m looking forward to the event and hope that the field will be dry by the time June rolls around.

Forgotten Anniversary

Okay, so we didn’t forget, but I did forget to blog about it. I guess that’s a good thing – in a way. April 7 was the two-year anniversary of Lis being diagnosed with leukemia. April 9 was the two-year anniversary of her beginning intense chemotherapy treatment. They are not two things that you want to commemorate but it was a life-changing date.

Two years later Lis is doing great. Her hair is almost as long as it was before she was diagnosed. Her counts are great and she doesn’t have to visit the oncologist on a regular basis. We were told that we could have another kid if we decided to. She is doing great and if you looked at her you couldn’t tell that two years ago today she was laying in a hospital bed closer to death than life.

American Idol: Final 7

That’s it for all the serious stuff. Now to my American Idol – final seven review.

Last night was the country edition, which featured Martina McBride. I dusted off the three Martina CDs I own and downloaded them onto my iTunes player.

Anyway, I don’t have much in the way of commentating about the show, other than saying I think Simon reads my blog. He told Melinda to put away the "acting surprise every time someone gives a compliment to you" deal that I mentioned a few weeks back and mentioned something to LaKisha that I once mentioned but sadly can’t remember. Oh well. Here are my American Idol Power Rankings:

Wow eight days later and I’m finally back to blogging. I apologize, I’ve been away from a computer for the past four days and really haven’t had a chance to update my blog as I’ve been hanging out in insurance school classes. Yep, that’s as exciting as it sounds. Like watching paint dry. Actually it’s not that bad, the instructor was amusing and made class a bit more entertaining.

So throughout the past four days I’ve managed to write a blog entry. Some of the stuff that I wrote may be outdated so I’ll have to give updates on those as I write.

American Idol

First off here are my American Idol rankings – pre-results show:

Blake was great and is quickly becoming my favorite to win the whole thing. The ladies love him, I find him entertaining and he’s from Bothell, Wash, the place Lukas was conceived. Oops, should I mention that? This week he became the first male to top my Power Rankings. I know you’re all keeping track.

Sanjaya wasn’t the worse of the week. He actually did alright and now I find myself jumping on the Sanjaya bandwagon! What, what!

My vote to get eliminated is Haley. It’s either her or Phil, though Chris Richardson wasn’t that impressive. UPDATE: I did pretty good eh? Haley was eliminated and Phil and Chris were in the bottom three! Oh yah!

Easter

Our Easter was good. We had breakfast at church and had a nice ceremony. I was a little afraid going into the service because last year’s service was like a 2-hour snooze-fest. This year it was good. Good music, good sermon … good.

Afterwards we went to my parent’s house and had a barbecue. Erik came over, along with our friends Sarah, Graham and their boy Hudson. My parents were a no-show since they had a dog show. All together now… "A dog show on Easter!?!?" Yes, a dog show on Easter. Doesn’t make sense does it? Which makes me ask the question, what has happened to Easter? Why isn’t it celebrated as much as Christmas?

My Pastor actually brought up something that his wife noticed while at the supermarket. The lady in front of her in line asked the store clerk if they’d be closed on Easter. She said that no they only close on Christmas. They don’t close on Easter because it’s just a religious holiday. Excuse me? When did Christmas become a non-religious holiday? Just because we don’t give gifts (though most us do on a smaller scale) on Easter does that make Christmas less-religious? Argh!

I do have to admit that I let Easter sneak up on me and that I don’t get all excited for it like I wish I did. I mean in a way, for those of us that are Christians, it is somewhat a more important day than Christ’s birth. I mean Easter was when he rose from the dead, three days after dying for our sins. But hey, it’s just a religious holiday.

I think part of it is that Easter is often moved around on the calendar. You don’t have a set day on when Easter is going to be. Also, we don’t get days off for Easter.

Anyway, just wanted to give my opinion on why Easter is somewhat forgotten and not made into a big deal.

Back to our Easter. Graham, Erik and I hid the Easter Eggs around my parent’s yard and then had Hudson and Lukas go hunting for them. Hudson cleaned up while Lukas took the non-chalant way of hunting for the eggs. Lukas didn’t grasp the concept of filling his basket with eggs as quickly as Hudson did, in fact he found an egg on his own then called for Hudson so that Lukas can give it to him. Kinda cute, especially since Lukas has problems sharing and Hudson is very good with sharing – for a 2-year-old. And yes, if you see the photos, Hudson is a 2-year-old though he’s the size of a 4-year-old. Maybe we should check his birth certificate though.

Graham cooked up some mammoth burgers and we all hung out on the patio until it began to rain.

Oh yah, Saturday we watched Graham participate in an Easter Parade. He dressed up as a bunny and skateboarded around with this work handing out candy. It was very cool.

Monday we celebrated my Dad’s 48^th birthday. Yes, he’s young and looks younger. I won’t say anymore because my Mom reads my blog and has already begun crying. She hates that my Dad looks young.

Tuesday we went to an Explosion game with Josh. It was okay. Not as fast-paced as I thought it would be. I guess I might be covering them some this year.

Wednesday Boston’s Dice-K faced Seattle’s Felix Hernandez. I Tivo’d it, which I’m glad I did as Felix was nearly unhittable. He gave up one hit while pitching a complete-game shutout. You best represent! He’s given up no runs in 17 innings pitched this season. Oh yah, and he’s the ripe age of 21. Watching a performance like this really gets me pumped for baseball.

Thanks to everyone who has donated to the Force. We’re doing a great job with online donations and haven’t even had a fundraiser yet. So thanks for everyone that has contributed to the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. If you haven’t donated and want to then please click here.

I apologize for not updating you all on my American Idol Power Rankings last week. I worked quite a bit between the two jobs and didn’t get a chance to get caught up on my AI until right before the Results show last Wednesday.

There’s not much to report. Last week Chris Sligh was sent packing. I liked him, but he didn’t have a strong voice and his humor was getting kind of stale. I guess he wasn’t too disappointed that he was no longer on the show either.

Sanjaya meanwhile surprised everyone with a mohawk. The dude once again sucked on stage but left everyone one remembering him with his hairstyle.

This week not much has changed. It was Tony Bennett night, which meant the 80-year-old crooner was the one giving everyone props.

What I’ve noticed is that after a few weeks you can really start to see the difference in each singer. I once though LaKisha might be the one to beat, but every week she comes in with the same voice and same style. I used to look forward to see what she would do, now I’m bored.

Melinda Doolittle is still by far the one to beat. The only complaint I have with her is that I’m getting tired of seeing her act all flattered every time someone tells her that she has an incredible voice. She knows this already. Every week someone tells her this, is it that big of a surprise? Do you really need to scrunch your head deeper into your shoulders and act surprised, whispering "thank you, thank you." Argh, it’s getting to where I hope she doesn’t win – just cause.

I think its going to come down to Melinda and Blake, with Jordin and LaKisha in the top four. Sanjaya, he’ll be No. 5 because Chris Richardson is too easy to forget and Haley or Phil will be going home in the next two weeks.

Tonight it’s Mr. Phil’s turn to go home. He may have saved some voters saying that he was picturing his wife during his entire performance. Still he doesn’t excite me when I watch him on stage. His voice is good but he’s boring.

Anyway, here is my Power Rankings for the Top 9:

I used to look forward to April. Springtime was here which meant the trees were in bloom, the grass began to grow, and more importantly, the end of the NCAA tournament and the beginning of a new baseball season.

Ahh…baseball. Why am I not all giddy that it’s Opening Day? Why am I not getting excited that the Mariners open the season at home today? Why am I not treating this like a National Holiday? Why did I vow to always take my son to Opening Day but just a year later I’m sitting at work while people are making their way towards Safeco Field? Why did I not prepare for my fantasy baseball draft? What’s wrong with me? What have I become?

Maybe I’m just too consumed in work. Maybe it’s because I have a family and we’re thinking about buying a home. I don’t know, but it bugs me that I have to force myself to get excited for baseball.

No, now I fret when I see April appearing on the calendar. Not because I’m no longer excited about Opening Day (what’s with me?!?) but because the past two Aprils we’ve had two very dramatic life-changing things happen to our family – cancer and death.

It was two years ago (April 7, 2005) that Lis was diagnosed with leukemia. It was the most life-changing experience I had or have ever had. I still remember the day. Hearing the news over the phone that we need to rush straight to the hospital because it may be cancerous. Sitting in the emergency room forever wondering why we were here. Lis being told to change into a hospital gown and get into bed and still not knowing what was going on. And finally, the doctor asking Randy and my Dad to leave the room so he can tell us the news that Lis had cancer and would need to start intensive chemotherapy treatment right away. If she were to not seek treatment she’d have 3 to 6 months to live. I had never dealt with cancer before.

That month and year changed my life forever, and a year later we celebrated her one-year anniversary of Lis in remission. But then something even more tragic happened.

On April 24, 2006 my family got the news that my Uncle Jeff had passed away. UJ had been driving a semi-truck towards Canada when he had a heart attack while waiting to cross the US/Canada border. He was 45 and our favorite uncle.

Again I got a phone call at work. And again I answered with a quick, "WHAT!?!" before bolting out the office door. I picked up Lis, Lukas and Erik and we headed straight to my uncle’s house where we met up with my Mom, Dad, Grandparents and aunt. UJ was dead. I had never dealt with death before.

Again, it changed my life forever. My brothers and I were pallbearers, gave a eulogy and I wrote up the Order of Service for his funeral. We had a huge party with our family members and we got to visit with people we hadn’t seen in forever. We told stories and heard stories about UJ and his wild days. It was fun getting together and remembering UJ.

And now it’s April 2007. We’re all a little cautious this month. Nothing can be worse than death, and heck, cancer is very close to the top of the all-time worst things that can happen to a person, so what do we expect this year? Hopefully nothing.

Anyway, sorry for the drama. I’m just hoping that things turn around for us this April. Maybe a new home for us, someone wins the lottery, and both the Mariners and Padres get off to hot starts.

In other news…our amazing run through the post-season ended on Sunday. We took a 9-point lead into halftime and played flawless defense. We didn’t give up an offensive rebound, we contested every shot, we looked nothing like the team that was down 21-1 against this same team three weeks ago. Then they pressured us. We couldn’t get open shots, we made silly mistakes and our lead vanished along with our 3-game winning streak. It was a disappointing end to a fun season. I had a lot of fun with this group of guys and hope to continue next season. We’ve finally got it together and should be a team to beat next season.

Lis and I are glad that we have made friends with Graham and Sarah. We all get along well, the kids absolutely love each other, and it gives us someone, other than my parents, to hang out with. Every Sunday we’ve been spending time with them (Josh came along this time), and we’ve really enjoyed it. The guys hang out and chat, the gals hang out and chat and the boys chase each other around the house or play with toys together. It’s so nice, and healthy, having this type of relationship. Maybe the best Christmas gift I ever gave Lis. If I didn’t get the pool gift for she and Lis, they would’ve never met Sarah and Hudson.

Josh has a lady friend. I’m so excited. That’s all I will say about that as he probably doesn’t want me to blab about it to everyone.