Kris Kringle kidnapped my parents and all I got was this to greet me Christmas morning

Did they go all out, or what???

Aunt Sue went tree crazy (a post on that later this week), but the two Phyl Delgado's went loco and everyone who visited got to enjoy the immersion of Christmas! I LOVE IT!
Talents, Talents, Talents....

Enjoy the tour!

Walkway: Dad took tomato planters and tied them at the top to create whimsical trees, then lined them with lots of twinkle fairy lights and flanked the walkway. I wish my photography was better as this doesn't adequately capture his masterpiece:





The mantel and desk near the tree...




Mercury dressing....



I found this gorgeous Noel banner on a trip to France several years ago. Handcrafted by a husband/wife team of artists in Marseille, FRANCE. Mom really decorated it to make it truly shine!

Feliz Navidad!!

{Christmas Day, 2008!}

Christmas brought an abundance of blessings to our family, and we continue to pray for those suffering.
{Dear family friend, Art, lost his daughter to cancer. She was my age}
{Several uncles and Aunts are in our prayers: Uncle Louis, Uncle Popo, Aunt Esther}

Dad is feeling pretty good and we had a musical-infested holiday, sharing wonderful new music that he found (Chris Botti anyone?). On Christmas eve I cooked and Christmas Day mom took over....we had wonderful feasts and lots of laughs.....

Of the many special gifts (the phone calls from family were the most special of all), Dad and Mom received this treasure from Gregg Ott....It's so beautiful!

We love you all!

Thanksgiving Blessings

Thanksgiving was a very blessed day! We all sat at the table as my Mom gave a heartfelt prayer. The holiday was all the more joyful as Uncle Frank was able to join us.

We had a special treat of having at the dinner table: good friends Gregg and Chrissy Ott. The Otts flew out from Chicago to help us get some items chopped off our ever-growing TO DO list, and spend time with us. My dad is especially close with Gregg, thinking of him as more of a family member or son. Gregg always has the best stories and he had us rolling recalling memories of the time my parents joined them on a NYC trip several years ago!

Dad enjoyed many, many phone calls from family and friends over the weekend and it was a truly blessed Thanksgiving Season. In our blessings, we thanked God for ALL OF YOU in our lives....so freely sharing your generous spirits and prayers which no doubt contributed to us enjoying dad at the dinner table this holiday instead of us eating turkey in a hospital room. Thank you for this gift.

Uncle Vince called as we were sitting down and explained that while they wanted to, he had a prior engagement with a "friend" that kept them from joining us......


We especially missed Aunt Bex's helping hands with the dishes afterwards, but she was apparently busy getting her hair done.


We sat down with dad at the computer and read through all the beautiful, funny and poignant comments everyone has left on this blog. There are no words to properly express how fantastic, loved, appreciated, and humbled it made him feel!!!! It was a truly special moment. { A bounded book is being created as a keepsake.}

While dad has been going in and out of painful moments, he's been feeling relatively good and even had some energy to pull some Christmas ornaments down and later helped me put lights on a small tree I'll be using on my front porch (compliments of the Delgado shed, which means it had my favorite price tag on it: FREE).

We trust everyone had a joyful Thanksgiving weekend. Your are all part of our blessings for which we are continually thankful.

Flying High

As we enter the Thanksgiving season and begin preparations for a wonderful feast, we are especially thankful this season. He sees one of his doctors this afternoon and we're hoping they have a solution to ease the pains that continually pop up.

We are FLYING HIGH that Dad is home and out of the hospital.......

Happy Smiles

(Dad with brother Joey in Utah...year???}

He's in a fair amount of pain from the hernia and has difficulty walking as a result BUT he still managed to laugh his butt off while on the phone with brother Frank and brother Joey last night. Uncle Frank Delgado also has a hernia and he said when it hurts he "just pushes it back in"...!!

Uncle Joe Arias sent me these pics which I think are hysterical and sum up my dad's disposition perfectly.....the first is from one of the famous Arias' Halloween parties.....I'm assuming it's from the 70's...


These photos are from one of the many Puerta Vallarta vacations with the Sotos and Arias' families, both of whom have time shares there. My parents would come back with the most hysterical stories, mainly of how Uncle Vince would negotiate with the waiter or busboy to bring him out "the good stuff". The really good and hot salsa, that is!

A Family of Tailors

Dad tells me this pic is of him and Aunt Josie, during one of his many visits to San Francisco.

The chic suit she is wearing was CREATED BY HER,,,,with no pattern! She asked my dad to help give it a lining so he took the suit back to the army base and created a lining. What you see in the pic is the finished product of their talented hands. My mom tells me Aunt Josie would often make suits by trying them on and pinning in place then sewing where she pinned, then back on again and pining and sewing and so on until she had a perfectly tailored ensemble!

Beloved Aunts

Several years ago around this time, my Godmother and Aunt was in the process of being called home to God; she passed on Nov 26.

I have so many pictures of Aunt Josie but am unable to find most of them, so I'm sharing a few my dad has in his collection of albums....

{Aunt Josie with Uncle Vince, Aunt Bex, Alison and Aaron in  San Francisco}

I stayed with Aunt Josie for a weekend in San Francisco many, many years ago, and she and Harry were so amazing. They were so excited to take me to Raiders football Game....although Aunt Josie refused to let me wear a Bears sweater!

{Aunt Josie and Harry; Raiders Game/Oakland, CA}

On this day, Nov 22, many years ago Aunt Mary was welcomed home by God.

Happy Thanksgiving, Aunt Josie and Aunt Mary. You are missed by so many.

Protection & Memories

Just as my father has protected me all these years, I am feeling protective of him as he heals....

So many have referenced what these images portray:

Dad enjoying one of his many loves:


Dad and Dexter and our beloved Mandy! Dexter was a gift from a boyfriend one Easter. Mandy and I adored that wild duckling which grew into a flying, out-of-control duck!


Oh SUNDANCE! Ice-cream loving Sundance! The best dog ever (sorry, Joey, Peanut loses by a long shot!):

Such Love!

Dad is feeling pretty decent....we're thankful his pain isn't intense right now. He's eating well and getting lots of much-needed rest!

{Uncle Joe D and Uncle Joe A with Janet outside Holy Angels (Gary, IN) on Joe & Sue's Wedding day!!!}

Such heartfelt comments....such funny, laugh-out-loud memories. We are all benefitting from your treasured stories. My dad is going to LOVE them! Thank you for remembering my father and my mother's husband with such beautiful words.

{Cousin Julie, Aunt Sue, Aunt Mary, and Priscilla Martinez... I believe this was at one of the famous Ramos' picnics}

{I'm pretty sure this is Aunt Bex with a very young Aaron!}

{Donnel and me at my parent's house on Tyler/Northgate..year????}

{Lara and Donna Davids; When growing up I thought my two older cousins were the prettiest girls I'd ever seen}

And saving the best for last....................!!!!!

{My first mom and my second mom...such sexy mammas!! I believe from one of the many Delgado/Arias Wisconsin Dells' trips??}

La Familia Delgado

Yesterday and this morning have been good days for Dad. We are thankful for this! He's been fitted with a truss to aleviate the pain caused by the hernia, which will not be corrected by surgery.

My mom has been trying to reach Uncle Frank Delgado so if anyone knows the best time to catch him at home please do let us know!

Inspiring Words

  {Moms' 60th party:Dec 29, 2001}

Dad is home and for that we are all grateful. He is in obvious pain but they did give him a small dosage of pain meds even though it's not the best for his liver. He takes it only when he absolutely feels he has to, which thus far is has been per the recommended dosage. His feet are pretty swollen but he gets to sleep in his own bed. God answers prayers and my mother and I both said tonight we know his being home has EVERYTHING to do with all the prayers you shared with us.

He needs to sleep A LOT so please by all means call him, but understand there's a good chance he's taking a nap when you do!

Thank you also for contributing to what will be a special card book. My mom and I have been taken aback at how beautifully written and heartfelt....such inspiring words for such a wonderful man. I'm slowly going through photos to find ones of everyone who touched his life. If you weren't aware, he was a PASSIONATE AMATEUR PHOTOG throughout my younger years. From my earliest memories as a toddler, he was never without a camera. Needless to say there are boxes and boxes and drawers and files and books of pictures and slides and negatives! I promise to find some of everyone as I know there are tons of the DAVIDS, ARIAS', KLUGA's, MARTINEZ's, RAMOS', DELGADO's, and SOTO's and so many others!!!

Some comments had my mom and me laughing out loud:

Donna: How you remembered the sled story is beyond me. He is going to laugh his heart out just as I did!
Jeff: The Vega comment...well, let's just say. I can't believe that car name rears its ugly head and is still haunting me in my 40's!! hahaha Thanks to you I now also remember where I get my appreciation for fart jokes, fart noises, fart anything...
Gregg: So beautifully written and laughed out loud envisioning you being invited into the tool sanctuary with no place to set a cup of coffee least of all a butt.

{Gregg & Chrissy with Dad & Mom; NYC 2005}

Dobbs: What a perfect recount of what is truly my dad's idea of a perfect morning! Ironically just found this photo 2 days ago...

{Dad, Corey & Delaney}

Julia: This made me laugh...he DOES have the best legs, doesn't he??? We've always thought this but thought we were simply biased!

{Proud owner in his Northgate (Dyer) yard!}

Blessed for a good day!

Pop is feeling pretty decent today! They've given him two dosages of platelets so he's gained enough energy for them to release him! He's coming home this afternoon!

He sounds good and we're thankful to go into the Thanksgiving holiday season with him at our side!!!! He will still be in pain but the doc said "You'll have to pull up your bootstraps and learn to deal with it". Easy for him to say! haha