A Family Tribute

Anyone who knows me knows that my family is really important to me and that my family has a lot of members! My mom's family is really close knit and we are all a larger part of each others' lives. The whole family lives in between Pasadena and Temecula with most of the family being in the San Dimas area. Out of the 12 cousins, 7 went to the same middle school and 6 to the same high school! I love my family and time I can spend with them.

With as large as our family is, we have some family members who have passed away and we miss very much. Thirteen years ago, my grandfather, Jose Valloza, Sr. passed away. I was thirteen years old and had never lost anyone before. I took his death extremely hard and still miss him everyday. Just hearing his name can bring tears to my eyes. He had such a sweet spirit and loved just being with his family. When I was a baby, my grandmother would babysit me when my Mom was at work. One week, she went to Mexico and so Grandpa stepped in! My mom and my grandma always tell me that everyday my Mom would come home and all I was wearing was a diaper and a tshirt with stains from everything I had eaten that day! I love knowing that as little as I was then, I had a week that it was just him and I. I remember playing in my grandparent's front yard with my cousins and hearing the ice cream truck. As soon as we heard that sound, we would all run to my grandpa because we knew he was ready with dollar bills so we could get ice cream. I always felt so much love from my grandfather and am so grateful for the years our family had with him.

Every year, my family gets together in October, near the anniversary of my grandfather's death to go to Catholic mass together that we have dedicated to him. In 2004, a week after we were together for mass, my Uncle Jose unexpectedly passed away. My uncle was such a great man and always looked out for all of his family members. He wanted us to all be safe and happy. When I was getting ready to move into the dorms at CSULB, Jose told me that he wanted to put a tracking device on my car and a camera in my room and link both to a website so that the whole family could know what I was doing! It was his way of trying to protect me and make sure that as the first one in the family to live in the dorms, I would be safe and taken care of. I have this great picture of him with my dad each holding their little chihuahua! It is my favorite picture of him! I miss my uncle so much and wish he was here, especially to meet his first grandchild, Jackson.

Scrapbooking has allowed me to do something that I can remember the both of them and keep pictures of them close to me. A family friend took a picture that had both my grandpa and uncle and photoshopped it so that it was just the two of them. I took that picture and had it on my graduation cap at my graduation from CSULB. I needed to have them near me on that day and know that they were a part of that special moment. I also took that picture and added it to my scrapbook. It is simply them in the picture.

In November of 2005, the whole family flew to New York for a memorial for my uncle Jose. He worked for AudioFox and they invited everyone in our family to this service. They have a rose garden with the names of employees who have passed on a plaques. It was such a great experience for all of us. Everyone at the company had such a great things to say about my uncle. I created this page to remember that day and the way my uncle is remembered.

We created such awesome memories on our trip to New York! There were so many of us that we had to take a charter bus around the city!

After such difficult seasons for the Valloza family, we thought that we were heading into a very happy year when 2010 started...2 engagements and a baby on the way! On April 10, 2010, my cousin Vanessa's 2 year old boy, Anthony passed away. To know that we had lost the youngest member of our family, hurt in such an awful way. As I grieved Anthony, I needed a way to remmeber his short life and to remember the brightest moments of his life. I knew that I needed to scrapbook pictures of Anthony to show his siblings, his parents and others that needed to know who Anthony was. He was such a funny, chubby little guy. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with him, but loved him so much.

When the picture below was taken, Anthony had gone with his mom to his brother Andrew's school the day of school pictures. Anthony decided that he wanted his picture taken, and got in line with the other kids! He just decided that he was old enough to have a school picture. It shows off his personality so much! He was such a funny, happy baby who loved his mom so much and his siblings! His big brother and him were never far from each other and he loved his older sisters! Those four kids are so adorable together and I couldn't resist dedicating a page to the four of them! We will always miss Anthony and miss seeing him grow up. He will always be in our hearts and memories.

I love my family and will always miss those who have gone before us. I am confident that they are sitting besides the Lord in heaven, watching over us and smiling. The three of them get to be together. My uncle and grandpa got to meet Anthony which brings a smile to my face.