Poblete Family Blog

Back to 2009 Blogs 2008 Year in Review 2008...What a year! High summer gas prices, housing foreclosures nationwide, $700 billion bailout, plummeting stock market. Other 2008 milestone events...Summer Olympics in Beijing, Barack Obama wins presidential election, and after a weak start in the season, the San Diego Chargers come up on top winning the AFC West Division and are heading to the NFL Playoffs! GO CHARGERS!!! On the family side, 2008 brought us alot of happiness and celebrations during this past year. We started the year off with our family's New Years Gathering in Las Vegas with family and friends. We celebrated more family events such as Carole's Suprise B-Day Party, Mother's Day, Nico's 16th B-Day, Kiana's Pajama/Sleepover B-Day Party, July 4th, Nevaeh's 3rd B-Day, and Turkey Thanksgiving Day. But the parties didn't stop there as we continued to get together with family and friends, especially out of town guests who visited throughout the year. The kids hosted 2 America's Best Dance Crew Parties (Season 1 and Season 2), family visits during Spring Break and throughout the year, Pre-Wedding Celebrations with Jomie and her Bridesmaids and Vernon and his Groomsmen, San Diego Chargers Opener BBQ Party, and more BBQ'ing get togethers which seem to happen every other weekend or so. As always, we did try our best to take time off from our busy work, school and church schedules to enjoy family outings throughout the year. We went to quite a few shows and concerts such as Society of Seven featuring Lani Misalucha and Martin Nievera, Fergie in Concert, Earth, Wind and Fire Concert, Carrot Top, Barry Manilow, Danny Ganes, and Nathan Burton Comedy Magic Show. We also got away and played in the snow in Mt. Charleston, vacationed in the San Francisco Bay area, visited Sea World, and made many trips now and then to Southern California. There was so much to be thankful for this year such as stability during these hard economic times, good health and most of all...economic stimulous checks (just kidding). But the most grateful event that we are most thankful for this year was Papa Rollie's full recovery from his triple bypass and aorta valve replacement surgery and the chance to celebrate his 70th Birthday with family and friends. As we look forward to the year 2009, no one knows what is actually in store for us all. The only thing we can do is continue to take the time to make every moment count and continue making happy memories to remember. To all our family and friends, thanks for the all good times this past year and we look forward to making more happy memories in the upcoming year! Posted on December 31, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Something unusual happened today in Las Vegas. It actually snowed here and the whole Las Vegas Valley turned into a "Winter Wonderland". Snow flakes started falling around 12:00 noon and within a few hours everything outside was covered in snow. By the time the kids got out of school the snow was about 3 inches deep. Fortunately for Ron, he was able to go home early around the same time as the City of Henderson let all their employees go home for the day. The drive home in the snow was an experience to say the least, as the car would slip and slide at times especially when coming to a stop. Even Carole had problems getting the van into the garage after picking up the kids at school as the tires would spin in the snow while driving up the driveway. Everyone got home safe and sound and spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside. Nevaeh was so excited as it was her first time to experience playing in the snow. The unfortunate part of all this is that our big California Pepper Trees (1 in the front yard and 2 in the backyard) took a beating as the snow was a bit heavy and large branches broke off and fell from the trees. We'll have to call a tree service to come out once the snow melts to trim the rest of the trees and haul away the large branches. The weather forecast calls for snow to continue falling throughout the night. Carole decided to call in sick at work so that she would not have to drive in the snow and icy roads. Ron and the kids continue to watch the local news to see if County schools will announce if kids will have to go to school tomorrow and if City Offices will close for the day due to the weather. Check out the photos of our "Snow Day" here in Las Vegas. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!! Also, check out our Snowball Fight video. Happy Holidays! Posted on December 17, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Happy (Deep Fried) Turkey Day! For this year's Thanksgiving holiday, we took out our fryer and deep fried a turkey again. Our first deep fried turkey from last year's Thanksgiving was pretty good. Our second one we deep fried during our family's New Years Party this year was an experiment gone bad...nonetheless still tasty but terrible presentation-wise. However this third one was the charm. Super moist, tender, juicy and delicious! Our Thanksgiving activities consisted of eating, story telling, eating, making ice cream sundaes, eating, watching a video (Hancock starring Will Smith), eating, napping, eating, watching football, and also eating. Our old friends Ely and Khit Dabu and their kids joined our family for our Thanksgiving luncheon. (Carole and Khit go way back from high school and Ron and Carole hung out with this couple during their pre-married with children days.) Check out the photos from our Thanksgiving Feast and from our family to yours..."Have a Happy Thanksgiving!" May you eat more than we did (so we won't feel as bad)....Gobble Gobble :) Posted on November 27, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Las Vegas Entertainment One things we love most about Las Vegas is the variety of entertainment this city has to offer. Many people from all over travel here and spend lots of money to watch shows, concerts, and events that happen here. For us locals, what if I told you that you can watch alot of these shows and events for free? Free you say?...Yes for free! We've taken this opportunity to do so ourselves and have watched so many shows and concerts this past year at no cost. Unfortunately I can not explain how to do so on this blog but if you are really interested, email me and I'll let you know how :) Yesterday we took advantage of watching another show and took the kids to see "Nathan Burton's Comedy Magic Show" at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. (No relation to Lance Burton but still as good of a show and worth watching.) Those who have watched the television shows "America's Got Talent and "The Entertainer" on E television may have already seen his magical illusions. The show was great and funny, especially when Nico was picked from the audience to participate in one of his magic acts! For being a good sport, Nico received a free copy of Nathan Burton's DVD and got to hug one of the showgirls up on stage. We all got to meet the magician himself after the show, took a photo with him and got his autograph. For out of town visitors and locals unlike, this show was very entertaining and fun and worth checking out. Check out the fun we had. Posted on November 22, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Sounds of Liberty...Small but Mighty! For those who have watched Nico grow up through out the years and those who know him too well know that one of his passions, if not the number one passion in life is playing the drums. As captain of the percussion line for Liberty High School's marching band, he and his fellow band members worked very hard this year and earned Superior Ratings and 1st Place awards for Class A bands here in the Las Vegas Valley. Because their band this year was smaller in size, their motto was "Small but Mighty" as they won many awards and outscored bands that were two to three times larger. Last night we attended their marching band's awards banquet. Their accomplishments for this year's marching band season includes: 1st Place for Class A and Outstanding General Effects Award at the Silverado Showdown; 3rd Place Class A at the Summerlin Spectacular; 2nd Place for Class A and Outstanding Music Award at the Boulder City Invitational; Excellent Rating Award at the 2008 Half-Time Show Review; and 1st Place for Class A, Superior Rating, Outstanding Music, Outstanding Visual, and Outstanding General Effects Awards at the Las Vegas Invitational. Their band was in the top ten going into the finals and earned 10th place overall at the end of the competition. Congratulations to the entire "Sounds of Liberty" band and staff for a successful season. Check out the photos of the band in action during the 2008 Halftime Show Review at UNLV's Sam Boyd Stadium. Posted on November 15, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Nevaeh turns 3 Years Old Nevaeh turned 3 years old this past Sunday. Since we were still in San Diego for the weekend, Mama Pearlie decided to throw her a little birthday party before we headed back home to Las Vegas. A few friends and family came by and celebrated with us. Time sure does fly. It seems like just yesterday when she was born. Now at 3 years old, Nevaeh's able to have a small conversation, knows a few colors and some letters of the alphabet and can count up to 20...skipping a few numbers at times. You'll also hear her singing songs she's heard on the radio or from her brother's or sister's iPods. Cute you say? Yes, for the most part. However she will have her moments as we deal with her "terrible three" stage. (She totally missed "terrible two".) Pretty typical stage we parents deal with as kids grow up. I guess we just wish they all stayed small, cute and adorable. Well, whatever the case may be, she'll always be "heaven". (Well..."heaven" spelled backwards.) Check out the photos from Nevaeh's 3rd Birthday Party. And, if you'd like to really go back in time, feel free to check out her Birth Announcement webpage to see the photos from when she was welcomed to the world. Posted on November 5, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Rollie's 70th Birthday Luau For weeks now Richelle, Ron, Carole and the grandkids have been planning and preparing for Papa Rollie's big "70th Birthday" celebration and decided to throw him a Luau. Mama Pearlie kind of stayed out of the planning and preparation and left it up to the kids to plan and coordinate. Although we would have wanted to invite everyone we knew, that would have required us to rent out Qualcomm Stadium. Instead, due to our limited budget and the limited seating capacity of the room, we ended up holding it at Tom Ham's Lighthouse Restaurant on Harbor Island with about 100 of our closest friends and relatives. His birthday finally came this past Saturday. Papa Rollie and Mama Pearlie headed to church that morning to attend a church activity while the "Birthday Celebration Team" woke up and gathered all the palm trees, pineapples and the rest of the luau party favors and headed to the venue to set up. All was finished on time for the receiving of our guests. Kiana, Tina, and Bina (dubbed the Las Vegas Showgirls since they came all the way from Vegas) greeted everyone at the door with a flower lei. Nico, Lisa, and Patrick worked the reception area taking photos of everyone with the birthday celebrant and signing of the guestbook. Richelle and Carole entertained and seated the guests while Ron ran around taking photos. Allan, our Master of Ceremonies for the day introduced the "Birthday Boy" who was escorted in the room by the grandkids. The welcoming was a bit overwelming as Papa Rollie could not hold back his tears of joy. After a prayer the buffet lunch was served. The menu consisted of a big salad bar with different salads and fruits. Main dishes were chicken alfredo pasta, mahi-mahi, fresh vegetables, rice pilaf and a carving station that served iron flat steak with all the fixings. After Papa Rollie's thank you speech, the desert table with various cakes and sweets was open for everyone to enjoy. The entertainment was provided by Kiana and our two friends Tina and Bina who performed different hula and tahitian dances. (The three also perform for a Hawaiian Dance Troop in Las Vegas.) Part of the entertainment was also provided by some of our guests who "involuntary" performed their hula renditions. Towards the end of the party, a video montage was shown of photos with family and friends from throughout the years and a group photo was taken with everyone after the end of the video. Thank you to all who attended and to those who also helped make this celebration special. All the photos, video clips, etc... can all be found on "Rollie's 70th Birthday Luau" webpage. Happy 70th Birthday!!! Posted on November 4, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Hanging out in Coronado One of our favorite places we never get tired of visiting is Coronado, California, a city in San Diego County located on the other side of San Diego Bay. Coronado Island (as locals refer it to) offers great views of downtown San Diego and the San Diego Bay from the Old Ferry Landing Marketplace, miles of pristine beaches, and historic landmarks like the Hotel Del Coronado. For years we would frequently go to Coronado to hang out at the beach, go biking riding or rollerblading up and down the Silver Strand, or sit along the San Diego Bay at night sipping coffee while enjoying the lights of the San Diego downtown skyline. This past weekend we were back in San Diego for Papa Rollie's 70th Birthday Party. Tina and Bina also came along with us on our trip since they were asked to join Kiana and perform at the big birthday luau celebration we had planned for that weekend. We spent last Friday afternoon hanging out and sightseeing in Coronado. We sure do miss the beach and the beautiful scenery! Posted on November 3, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure! Now that the summer heat is gone and we now have cooler autumn temperatures here in Las Vegas, we finally took the time to clean out the garage and decided to have a Garage Sale. As we woke up this past Saturday morning to start setting up, we opened the garage door at 7AM only to find 3 cars that pulled up right away as we were moving our stuff into the driveway. From 7AM - 9AM, we had a steady flow of people who stopped by, and at times were blocking the street as they double parked in front of our house. We made out pretty successfully as most of the items we put out were sold and we made $300. Even the Arceo and Balosbalos families who joined us made out as the too made $200 and $100 for their items they had for sale. Kiana also made out as she set up her little table selling home baked (and even store bought) chocolate chip cookies and coffee. She made a total of $21.35. With all our earnings from the Garage Sale, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. We decided to go to "Yolie's Brazilian Steakhouse" which offered an "All You Can Eat" $35 per person dinner that served different types of meat that came directly to your table on big skewers. The types of meats consist of turkey wrapped in bacon, young spring chicken, homemade sausage, tri-tip of beef, top sirlion of beef, tenderlion of pork, and leg of baby lamp...and did I mention it was "All You Can Eat"? Needless to say we walked out of there very stuffed and satisfied. Check out the photos from our successful Garage Sale and our satisfying dinner. Posted on September 29, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Kalbi BBQ Short Ribs OK, for those who were asking about our Kalbi Short Ribs marinade recipe, here it is: 1 Cups Water 2 Cup Soy Sauce 5 Tbsp Sugar 1 Tsp Ginger, chopped 1 Tbsp Garlic, chopped 1 Cup Green Onions, chopped 1/2 Cup Round Onion, chopped 1 Tsp Sesame Oil 1 Tsp Sesame Seeds 1/8 Tsp Red Chili Pepper Flakes Cooking Instructions: Combine marinade ingredients, bring to boil, lower heat, simmer 45 min. Let cool, marinate meat a few hrs., preferably overnight. (Sauce can be used for beef, pork and chicken.) Grill or broil to desired doneness, 6-8 min. per side for medium - rare. Check out the photos from this past Sunday's BBQ with the Simon Family who were visiting from San Diego. The Cui's also came over to catch up on the good ol' days as well as the Caligagan's who were related to Mylene. We had a great lunch, watch some football, went sightseeing and reminisced about the past while listening to old 80's music. Posted on September 23, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe San Diego Super Chargers! It's the start of a new NFL Football Season and as tradition goes at the Poblete household for the past few years, the "San Diego Chargers" flag is raised in front of the house on the morning of game day every Sunday. Although we are 332 miles away from Las Vegas to San Diego, everyone knows in this neighborhood that Chargers Fans dwell at this house. In fact, some neighbors had followed suit and began raising flags in front of their homes down the street. (Steeler fans on one end and 49er fans at the other end.) Pre-game rituals on Sundays usually consist of suiting up in our Chargers jerseys and preparing lunch or BBQing in time for kick off. After kickoff we're usually glued to the television screen for the next 3 hours except for restroom breaks or to get more food during commercials. This past Sunday we opened the season with a little BBQ Get Together with a few friends (from here in Vegas as well as visitors from San Diego) to watch the San Diego Chargers play the Carolina Panthers. At the 2-minute warning towards the end of the game it looked like a win as the Chargers were leading 24-19. Unfortunately the Panthers tight end caught a touchdown pass in the last two seconds of the game to give Carolina a 25-24 victory. "That Really Sucked!!!" Posted on September 8, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Nico joins the Cycling Club It's been years since those days when Ron used to take Nico and Kiana on bike rides, pulling them both in a baby carrier attached to the back of his bike. Now the kids are old enough to ride on their own. This past weekend Nico went on his first bike ride with the Las Vegas/Henderson "Cycling Club" on the Historic Railroad Trail. We started our ride at 6AM at the beginning of the trail at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Boulder City, NV. The trail follows an actual railroad bed that was built in the 1930's. The railroad hauled materials and equipment used in the construction of Hoover Dam. The trail goes through five tunnels that lead to Hoover Dam. The last train trip was in 1961 and the tracks were dismantled shortly there after. We crossed over the Hoover Dam to the Arizona side and turned back towards the trail back to Lake Mead. The bike ride was approximately 10 miles total. Nico did quite well considering it was his first long bike ride that morning but felt the effects of it later when all he wanted to do was take a nap all afternoon. Check out the photos from Nico's first bike ride with the Cycling Club. Posted on August 25, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe America's Best Dance Crew Party II The kids hosted another "America's Best Dance Crew" Party at the house to watch the season finale of Season Two. For those who don't know what this latest craze is all about, it's a popular television show on MTV where hip hop dance crews from all over the United States compete for the title of being "America's Best Dance Crew". At last night's final episode, Las Vegas' own "Super Cr3w" squared off against "SoReal Cru" from Houston, Texas. America voted and the winner of the $100,000 prize and the title to become "America's Best Dance Crew" went to..."SUPER CR3W"!!! Check out the photos from last night's "ABDC Party II" - Season Two at the Poblete Residence. Also, check out the other photos from the kid's first "ABDC Party I" - Season One back in March where San Diego's own "Jabbawockeez" won the title. Posted on August 22, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Carole's New Favorite Restaurant While down in San Diego last weekend, the family went out to dinner with our friends Junior, Daisy and their boys. For the past couple weeks everyone kept telling us, "you've got to check out this new place called Crab Hut". So off we went to this restaurant at 4646 Convoy Street, Suite 106A, San Diego, CA 92111 (Yeah, that's the address for those who want to find this place via GPS). If you love seafood prepared Lousianna style, this is the place to go! As you walk in, the room is all decked out with fishing nets, buoys and paddles. You sit at the table covered with butcher paper (which by the way will actually be your plate) and there are no utensils. At this establishment you'll be grubbing with your hands but don't worry, there's lots of paper towels readily handy. We ordered Crispy Fried Calamari for appetizers and for the main course, several pounds of King Crab Legs, Shrimp and Corn on the Cob which was boiled in their Cajun Sensation, Lemon Pepper and Garlic Butter flavors and spiced "Mild" to "Knock Out Hot" depending how you order it. The food came served in giant plastic bags steaming hot and very tasty. (For those who are alergic to seafood (like Nico), they also have other menu items like fried chicken wings and fries.) You can also get side orders like bread, rice and soup and they also give you lots of lime, vineger and salt and pepper to dip your seafood in. Their menu also consist of other seafood like Crawfish, Clams, Mussels and Blue and Dungeness Crabs (served whole). Eating here can get pretty messy. This is definately Carole's new favorite place to eat. (Probably because she felt at home eating with her hands...Must be a "filipino thing"?) Check out the photos from our night out at the Crab Hut. We're definately going back! Anyone want to join us? Posted on August 19, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Summer Nights at Sea World One of our family's fondest memories and the one thing we miss about San Diego is going to Sea World. We've had annual passes to Sea World (as well as the San Diego Zoo) every since our eldest "Nico" was one years old (16 years ago). And while pregant with our first daughter "Kiana", we'd go to Sea World so Carole could walk around and get her exercise. As the kids grew up we'd occasionally head to Sea World at any given moment, especially during Summer Nights to catch a show, eat funnel cake and watch the fireworks go off at night. Unfortunately for our second daughter "Nevaeh", we had moved to Las Vegas after she was born and she hasn't had the chance to visit Shamu the Killer Whale or see the dolphins and seal lions up close until now. And just like her older brother and sister did growing up, she loved it and enjoyed every show. Check out the photos from her first visit to Sea World recently. Since we bought our "Fun Passes" for 2008, this definately won't be her last visit for this year. Posted on August 8, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Get Well Soon Papa Rollie On Wednesday afteroon, July 30th Rollie (or "Papa Rollie" as he is called by the kids) came home from Church after preparing the chapel for the mid-week service. He arrived home to have dinner with Mom and prepare to perform as Head Deacon for the 5:30PM Worship Service when all of a sudden he was complaining that his chest was heavy and was having difficulty breathing. Mom quickly called 911 and he was rushed to Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center. After the doctors checked him, they found that he had 3 clogged arteries and his aorta valve was damaged. They scheduled him for triple bypass and an aorta valve replacement surgery which lasted over 6 hours. Thank God the operation was a success and he's recovery well. We'd like to thank everyone for their overwelming support and prayers. A webpage has been set up for the latest news on "Papa Rollie's" recovery. Feel free to to check it out and send him a "Get Well Soon" greeting at: http://www.poblete.com/getwellsoon. Posted on August 4, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Nevaeh's First Flight This past week we took a family vacation to the San Francisco Bay area. This was also Nevaeh's first flight on a commercial airline and she actually did very well! Seat belted in her very own car seat and window seat, she enjoyed seeing the other planes on the runway and flying through the clouds. After flying over an hour and a half she fell asleep and totally missed the experience of landing at the San Francisco International Airport. It was great to see the sights of San Francisco again and we got the chance to visit some famous landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard St, Coit Tower and Fisherman's Wharf. We also got the chance to see family in Sacramento, South San Francisco and Daly City. Only complaint about Daly City (where we stayed) was that the clouds come through there in the afternoon from the ocean and is typically cold and overcast (Definately not Las Vegas weather). The joke is that those are not clouds but actually steam from all the rice cookers cooking for dinner time because of all the filipinos that live there. :) Click here or on the photos to see all the pictures from our San Francisco Vacation. Posted on July 31, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe San Diego Padres Fan for Life One of our family past times during the summer was to head out to Petco Park in downtown San Diego to watch the San Diego Padres baseball team. Despite what place they were in the standings the hometown fans would continue to support their team with hopes to take 1st place in the division and hopefully make it to the World Series. Unfortunately this season is looking pretty grim for our "last place" Padres. But cheer up Padres Fans, there's always next year! Just be lucky you still have a Major League Baseball team to root for. The only thing we have close to that here in Las Vegas are the "Las Vegas 51's", the Los Angeles Dodger minor league team (Boo! Dodgers!!!). Well we sure miss those summer nights at Petco Park and hopefully we'll head out to a game this year before the season ends. In the meantime, let it be known that the Poblete's are "San Diego Padres Fans" for life. We've got our "Poblete Family Brick at Petco Park" to prove it :) Go Padres!!! Posted on July 20, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe Life is like riding a bicycle... As quoted by Albert Einstein..."Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." It's been a few weeks now since Ron and a group of guys in Las Vegas and Henderson started bike riding on a regular basis. Being that temperatures in Las Vegas get over 100 degrees in the summer time, this group sets out for their early Saturday morning bike rides at 5AM to beat the heat from the sun. Check out all the information and photos on their Cycling Club website at: http://www.poblete.com/cyclingclub. Posted on July 13, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe What's a Blog? So what exactly is a blog you may ask? The term "blog" is short for web log or weblog which is a web site or page with regular entries or logs of commentary in reverse-chronological order. A blog can be a place to share news and announcements, as a personal diary, or links to web site you want to remember or share. Hence, welcome to the "Poblete Family Blog" page. Our very own place where you can read about our family news, announcements, travel stories and activities. Come back and visit here from time to time to see and hear the latest and greatest. Posted on July 1, 2008 | Read Comments | Post Comment | Subscribe