Day 4-Your parents

 

I have been truly blessed with my parents and an amazing mother in law as well. As I begin to write this post I know it can be pages and pages long but I am not writing a novel here, although I know I could.

My Mother-In-Law ~ Silvia Lombardo
She is a wonderful mother to my husband and an amazing grandmother to Taylor. She wants to teach him Spanish and comes to visit him as often as she can. She was named Grandma Nicky by Gus’ nieces and nephews because her dog is named Nicky and that was the easiest way to differentiate her from the other grandparents. She will always be grandma Nicky to our kids too! I am so glad I can call her and she will be there for our family at the drop of a hat and she loves to spoil Taylor. She is an amazing cook; she makes delicious empanadas, pasta, chicken and so on. She is a wonderful mother, grandmother and friend.  Thank you for loving me as a daughter Silvia, I love you!

My Parents
They have been married for 35 years and together they have 4 children. They were both married once before they married each other and my dad brought 2 wonderful kids, James and Christy along with him. They had 2 together, my brother Ray and then lastly me to complete our family of 6. My mom always said she would have had 12 kids if she could have, I’m thankful that didn’t pan out hahaha! Together they have 10 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. I have learned so much from them, how to be a daughter, friend, wife and mother, how to laugh, forgive and love.  Even though they live over 2 hours away they still come up on the weekends to see the grandkids, I only wish they were closer so I could see them all the time again.  They introduced me to Jesus and instilled a love in me that I strive to grow and pass on to my family. I only hope my marriage is as successful and filled with love as theirs is!

My Mom ~ Sharon Lynn Shafer Martinez
She is truly one of my best friends, you know in the face of a crisis the 1st person that comes to your mind to call? She is it, I call her for everything. She is smart, loving, logical and an amazing listener. I can tell her anything and I do! I think we talk, email, text or FB every day. She is very organized, clean, fun and loves adventures. She is my roller coaster buddy, not scared of anything. We really want to go sky diving together and we have been saying for years now that we want to do the Amazing Race, we would totally win! My favorite story to tell about my mom is the time she took my Uncle’s sand rail over a 50 foot cliff, we were driving behind her and then poof, she was gone. I think the 1st thing outta her mouth after that was - let’s do that again! She was there all night while I was in labor and was the one I could lean on while awaiting the arrival of Taylor. She was supposed to be in the room when he was born but as you may know none of us were “there” for that. She did help light a fire under the midwives butt to get him out when his heart slowed to almost a stop and I am thankful every day that she was there fighting for me and Tay. She moved in with us for a week after he arrived and I cried so hard after she left. Not because I was alone, or because I was a new mother, I cried because I was going to miss her and spending everyday with her. I can’t wait till we have another child and she comes back again. I’m crying now as I write this so that’s about all I can get thru, I love you mom!

My Dad ~ Raymond Martinez Sr.
My dad thinks he is a comedian. He loves to laugh and make people laugh in turn. He is an AMAZING singer and when I was little he sang at several churches around SoCal and I used to sit in the front pew and sing along with him. He still sings in church today and I love to see him when he has a solo performance. I had the pleasure of working with my dad for 2 years, and I loved our lunch dates. I miss being able to walk down the hallway to his office for any reason whatsoever. I can call him for anything and I do! He likes sports, I wouldn’t say a fanatic like my little family but he does like to watch. Since moving to SD they are Chargers and Padres fans and I love going to games with them. Can’t wait for some this season! My dad is deathly afraid of heights- sorry dad had to share – hence why mom and I haven’t gone sky diving yet. We love to watch Sneakers, Hudson Hawk, Murder by Death, and a few other old movies and laugh together. When I hear a certain phrase I tend to break out in song, any song containing that phrase, and I totally got that from him. He is a great cook, whenever we go to SD he makes us yummy food and delights in our pancake breakfasts together. He is a wonderful grandpa and does “Tick-Tock” with all the kiddos. When Tay was born he said to me “I can’t wait to do Tick Tock with him” and it made me cry.  I could have never asked for a better father, I love you Dad!