i FINALLY have a sister!

Another girl in the Del Toro family!!!

After many years of dating, Heather and Fernando got married on October 10. It was so exciting to be apart of a wedding and not have to be the bride and stress about details! I was so excited to finally have a sister! After marrying Mando I got 4 more brothers.. so I was in need of another girl in the family and I couldn't be happier that it's Heather!

1 Year Anniversary! <3

Last Sunday Mando and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary! We still can't beleive how fast this year flew by. We were pretty proud of ourselves and of what we have accomplished just in this first year. We were fortunate enough to build a new home, furnish our home, I got a new car, Mando's had his company for 2 and a half years now and I'm in the middle of my last semester of school! Our first year has been nothing short of amazing and never a dull moment. I can't wait to see what's in store for this next year!

Huntington Beach

I had a two week break from the time my summer school classes ended until my FINAL fall semester started, so of course we wanted to get out of town! We decided to head to Huntington with Heather and Fernando and we had a BLAST!

Fernando's good friend, Tyler, from high school is stationed in Huntington (LUCKY) for the coast guard, so he came and hung out everyday and showed us good places to eat and whatnot. The boys had a great time together.

The last night we were in Huntington, we found my brother Derek! He had gotten into town that day with some friends so we met up for dinner. Always a good time. I am so happy we got away for a few days and were able to just hang out and spend some time in the sun. I'm sure this is only the beginning of our adventurous trips!

A tearful goodbye to the jeepster...

After many years of my jeep payments, we finally paid it off!! I love my jeep, not only was it the first car I bought on my own, but it has been through many adventures, and has many memories. I can't believe I'm so attached to a car!

But after some consideration, we decided to get me a new car. The jeep was making a couple funny noises and approaching the 100,000 mile mark quickly, so we wanted to dump it before it was worth close to nothing. We looked for cars for about a month just pricing them and checking into what we might want.

The day after I picked up my title for my jeep, we traded it in. :) Nothin slow about us.

I was really sad to hand over my keys-- almost heartbreaking.

Mando was more into looking at different cars than I was, so I kind of just followed around. It was super hot outside and I got bored.. Plus ,I knew no matter what he picked I would love it, so he was in charge. He picked out an '08 VW Passat, and i lOVE it...plus its turbo :)

It's weird driving a car, since I've only had trucks and suvs, but I'm having fun and enjoying my new car. (that's a shadow from the street pole on the car)

Casa de Del Toro

Amy's getting married!

I got a call this past Sunday from Amy, and it was THE phone call. I knew it would be coming in the next couple months, but it was still so exciting to hear that Grant proposed! Amy is completely ecstatic and who wouldn't be? I am so excited for her and can't wait to help her with all the wedding stuff. I couldn't be happier knowing my best friend is in a wonderful and loving relationship and she will now spend the rest of her life with him.

CONGRATS Amy! Love you!

Father's Day

For every holiday we all head to my parents house for a big meal and spend the day together before Mando and I have to leave and spend it with his family as well. But this year, Mando and I decided to have my family come celebrate father's day in our new home.


I woke up at 6:30 to defrost the turkey (my first time making turkey) and got ready for the day. My mom was on the other end of the phone teaching me how to prepare the turkey and all the basics I would need to cook this big turkey meal for the family. Thanks to my mom for coaching me through the day. I made my first turkey meal with mashed potatoes from scratch, gravy and stuffing. Thanks mom!
I was so excited to have my family over, there is never a dull moment between us all. And it was so nice to be able to cook for my dad while we celebrated his awesomeness. I couldn't be more thankful and appreciative for my dad, he is an amazing person and continues to be a wonderful father. I couldn't ask for anything more. This goes for my mom too. They make a great team.

LOVE YOU DAD!! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Zion's Hiking Trip

Mando & I have been wanting to go hiking at Zion's, and we were planning on going the last weekend of May, but Friday night Mikey, Mando's youngest brother, heard us talking about it and wanted to go Saturday morning since he finally had a Saturday off. We planned our trip around midnight Friday night and were suppose to leave at 10am the next morning. We didn't really leave town until noon :) typical.

Once we got to Zion's, we grabbed our sneakers and headed to the bus stop to ride up the mountain. We tried to take a group photo with the self timer, but the bus came right up behind us as we were waiting for the camera, that's why Vinnie isn't in this one, he was probably the smart one.

We had such a great time, although we felt ill prepared when everyone had their cool hiking clothes and we were all in jeans and sneakers.. nevertheless, we had such a good time and we have the pictures to prove it.

So after hiking for a few hours, it began to get dark and the weather was getting pretty cold. We brought all of our camping gear and had the mindset of just pitching our tents and sitting around the fire the rest of the night, BUUTTT once we got back to the truck and drove to the campsite, we were quickly reminded of the holiday weekend and EVERY campsite was FULL. Mikey then told us he went to Pine Valley once and had a great time and he thought it was only 30 mins from where we were. HA. Try an hour and a half. We drove through St. George and finally made it to Pine Valley, all while driving through a rain storm. We get up the mountain and of course, the campground was full. By this time is was about 9:30.. raining hard.. and pretty dang cold outside. (Mando & Mikey didn't even bring sweatshirts, thinking we would be hiking in the heat .. poor lil guys) We finally drive by a turnout on the side of the road, which was huge, and sat in the car waiting to see who would get out first to set up camp. To our luck, it finally stopped raining and we were able to set up camp, and even had time to play with our BB Guns.

We had quite the adventure thanks to Mikey's last minute trip plans, and it was definitely worth all the obstacles we ran into. Although next time, I'm booking a hotel ahead of time :)