Couple Family Hellos...

Hi Dom,
Its your cousin Rochelle the only girl in the cousins that didn't like dress up or makeup but liked hanging out with someone who liked star wars and bugs and other scary stuff. I remember when we were driving to Nana's and instead of dreading getting kisses and pinches I was excited because I didn't have to hang out with the girls I got to hang out with a cousin who always had cooler toys then me because he was a boy and I wasn't. I know my favorite was to go to uncle Don's and aunt Jane's house and go into your room and see your new mask that you created and play with your toys and remember that one
time my birthday landed on Easter and you made me the jello cake at the new house I remember we all had a piece and I remember we were all there happy and you were smiling that big smile because everyone liked your cake. I am hoping WHEN you pull out of this you and Uncle Don ,Aunt Jane Amy and
Mattie will come down to Bakersfield and we can have dinner like Megan mentioned at Nana's there are a few new additions to the family There is Tony(Dido's grandson)and Ethan(mine) Scott and Anthony (Megan) Pat and Elena and Jordan(Kimberly),that all of you need to meet. Dom I don't care if we haven’t talked for awhile I will always think of you as my cousin and I will always love you like you were a brother( Hello I have two girly sisters.) Hang in there you have so many people praying and thinking of you.
And geez you are a Ambriz I know we don't back down FROM anything that gets in our way!

P.S. 4TH of July we were talking about you and everyone and I had to swear to Kimberly and Megan I would not write about what they remembered but I will tell you a little bit, remember when I was tricked into drinking a warm glass of homemade apple Juice ;) that you served me (sorry Uncle
Don and Aunt Jane) I have always had a different sense of humor from my sisters. I thought that might make you laugh. Love you and may the force be with you :) ( sorry had to say it)

Love Rochelle

From Megan Ambriz:
Ugh … I know that I have had more than my say on this blog, but I have known these people my whole life and just one or two postings will not due. I must first start with my Uncle Don and Aunt Jane. What great people they are, eh? I can still see a vivid picture of Earth Worm Studios in my mind. I can remember walking up to the dark brown building and opening the front door that always greeted everyone with the ring of a bell. I can remember Aunt Jane’s desk to the left of the entrance and a counter to the right. Behind the counter was a wall with several different examples of frames for customers to choose from. I can also recall the smell of coffee … Uncle Don always had a pot-a-brewin (by the way, now I know who I inherited the coffee addiction from). Oh yes, and who can forget Vincent, the nicest person anyone would ever meet, always working in the back. Or the huge pencil, paint brush, etc. that Uncle Don had on display on top of a file cabinet … or the bathroom with all of the faces of famous people on the wall. I can remember it all: the smell, the friendly greetings, and the visually appealing surroundings. What a place for a kid to grow up.

Another thing that I can remember is stopping by Uncle Don and Aunt Jane’s house when Dom was trying to gain weight to play football. I remember standing in the kitchen with Aunt Jane, my favorite place to be when I went over, and Dom barging in with his friends looking for some more food to eat. Aunt Jane did what any good mother would do; she offered to make him homemade macaroni and cheese. I will never forget that day because this was the day that Aunt Jane taught me how to make a roux (by the way Aunt Jane, I am still making macaroni and cheese, but for my son … thank you).

This brings me to the whole purpose of this blog. Dom and Amy have been so fortunate to have such great people as parents and I just wanted everyone else to see what I saw growing up … the coolest parents ever!!!!!!!!!!!

My Big Cousin Part two
Over the past several days I have been sitting and thinking about my big cousin and the accomplishments that he has made over his short lifetime. Wow … someone that young and so talented! I remember going over to Uncle Don and Aunt Jane’s house many times and looking at the latest Halloween masks that Dom created. I remember thinking to myself, “he made that?” I can also recall a time when Dom had a body that he was constructing in the back yard. Anyone that didn’t know Dom and his fantastic talents would probably think that it was weird for a teenager to have such a fascination with gruesome and gory objects, but we all knew better. What we also knew is that Dom had an artistic talent to be reckoned with. We knew that all of the practice that he was getting at home would come in handy some day, which it did when he began working for Mattel. I can only hope that my son, who has also inherited the artistic Ambriz gene, grows up to aspire to such greatness and perseverance as my big cousin Dom.
Dom … no matter what happens, you will always live in our heats, thoughts, and through the art that you have created and left behind.
Love,
Megan Ambriz