Ambo's Girls

Laughter

2011-09-24T20:42:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Emily wanted me to go swimming with her. She said she would teach me how to swim underwater. I can swim fine. I do triathlons. I just cannot swim underwater. My body just won't sink. Anyway, I went along with her just to spend time with her. It was so funny! I was so pathetic. And she is a little mermaid. She has this funny underwater swim she calls the 'otter swim'. She swims underwater on her back and crawling. At one time she had me hold on to her arm like you would a 3-legged race so she could show me how to use my arms. I laughed so hard. I haven't laughed like that since Jim was around. She made me quit looking like a blow fish when I went under. It was so funny how she would react when I just didn't get it. Anyway, yeah!!!, I learned to swim on the bottom of the pool. It is so much fun! We went again today. I love my little girl.

Gardening 7/11/2011

2011-08-23T22:11:00.000-06:00

I love to garden, love to grow things. I find it very relaxing and fascinating. I love the way growing things displays God's power and tender touch. This year I planted oregano, thyme, basil, tomatoes (only 2 plants), okra and artichokes. The okra was overpowered by the tomatoes. I planted one heirloom and one roma. We had so many tomatoes and they were very yummy. I also planted cucumbers. I harvested a couple of artichokes but decided they are too much work so I let the rest turn into flowers - beautiful purple flowers. Anyway, here are some pictures.

Legoland 6/29/2011

2011-08-23T22:03:00.000-06:00

Emily's friend Jessica and her family visited relatives here in California so we met them at Legoland and spent the day. Emily adores Jessica who babysat her sometimes. Jessica is a senior now and such a beautiful soul. We love her and her family. Her and Emily really click.

Here Emily is standing by a Lego replica of a woman with a baby carriage.

Emily and Jessica copying the display.

Lego owls on a branch. Emily is all about owls.

Legoland has a wonderful display of Starwars!

Emily Tin Man Triathlon 6/26/2011

2011-08-08T21:34:00.000-06:00

My little girl decided she wanted to do a triathlon so we found one just right for her. It was a quarter mile run, a mile bike and a 50 yard swim. She did it like a pro. I was shocked. All the kids were jumbled up at the start and they took off way too fast. So did she. But she hung in and then got on the bike, so serious. It was not a very organized tri so kids and parents were everywhere. When she got off the bike she was running to the pool putting her cap and goggles on at the same time. She did so well in the pool. When I went to meet her at the finish, she was overjoyed and saying she wanted to do this again. My girl!

Here she is before the race.

Finishing the bike ride.

Coming out of the pool area.

All done! She was so excited getting a medal.

Hotel Del Coronado and Race 6/19/2011

2011-08-08T21:24:00.000-06:00

I love to do things in the summer while Emily is out of school. One of the outings we did was to stay in the Hotel del Coronado for a night. I scheduled it so I could do a 8.2 mile hard packed sand run along the beach. It was so much fun and Greg and Emily were waiting and cheering for me at the end. We then checked into the hotel. It was beautiful. The room, the hotel, the grounds, it was all good. It was a great experience. We got to do smores on the beach at night. It was fun. Well worth it! Maybe this will become an annual thing.

This was me finishing the race. I was tired. We got to run on a naval base that was closed to the public.

My Greg loves to travel and he loves architecture.

Emily and I making silly faces.

A view of the hotel.

Mmm... smores!

Having lunch on the beach! The good life.

My sweet Emily.

Jax is 1 year old 6/18/2011

2011-08-08T20:58:00.001-06:00

Our precious Baby Jax. We call him 'Giant Baby' because when Emily, Kru and I are playing with trains or blocks on the floor. He comes and either sits on everything or plows thru the middle of everything so we always say 'Watch out, here comes giant baby'. Such a precious little boy, he is the spitting image of his mommy. He also has her personality. He is very quite but he doesn't miss a thing. He is walking as of 10 months and loves to climb stairs. He was born on Tony's (his Dad, my son) birthday. What a nice present. The boys really have everything so I bought a huge birthday bag and filled it up with every kind of ball imaginable. Jax loves to play with balls. He got such a thrill out of taking them all out of the bag. So did I. They had a really nice party at Tony and Rikki's house for him. He had his own little cake. This boy loves to eat so we thought he would just dive into his cake but he didn't. After he figured out it was ok to have all that good stuff he got a little more excited about it. I am so blessed to have my precious grandsons and a great daughter-in-law that takes very good care of them and lets me love on them as much as I want.

He got a time-out chair for his birthday.

Here he is opening gifts.

Sweet little dumpling!

Tony and the boys!

Huntington Beach Trip - 6/22/2011

2011-07-15T22:56:00.000-06:00

What a great trip. It took some coordination but we were able to ride our bikes to Huntington Beach (32 miles) and spend the day there with family and friends. Tony, Rikki and the Boys, John and Kate Arnold family and Emily and I all spent the day at the beach. John, Kate and I rode our bikes and met the rest at the beach. We stopped at Starbucks after the ride, as is our tradition (when we can). The kids all had a great time. Our cars were packed with bikes and beach gear. Jax, my one year old grandson was a hoot. He had so much fun playing in the sand. He got so tired he actually stood up and bent over and stuck his head in the sand. Cute, cute baby. Emily got to play with Grace and her cousin in the water. They had a huge piece of seaweed they all held onto and would all dive in the water when the ways came. They also boogie-boarded. We cooked out while we were there also. Great fellowship, great day.

EOY Pool Party - Emily's Class 5/25/2011

2011-07-15T22:43:00.000-06:00

Emily's class had a pool party at one of her classmates home. They had so much fun. Fourth grade was really great for her. Her teacher was unbelievable! Here are some pictures:

Memorial Day Camp Trip - AZ 5/31/2011

2011-07-14T22:58:00.001-06:00

It is always a great time to camp with Dave and Barb Minich and all their friends. Emily and I drove to Arizona and camped on the 'rim'. Kathy taught Emily a new game. It was quite fun. Below is a picture of her and Dave playing. We ate really well, play lots of games, sing to music, played Frisbee golf, and chatted. The kids usually get together and watch movies at the end of the night.

Cactus to Clouds Hike 5/21/2011

2011-07-14T22:32:00.001-06:00

This is the first time I have done a really big hike. Lots of work but lots of fun. There was 8 of us and we started at about 5:30 in the morning. It took us 10 hours to go 13 miles. When we got to the tram, four of us stayed while the other 4 went to the summit which was another 6 miles up. It was covered with snow. By the time the others got back it had been dark for about two hours and very cold. We were getting worried about them as the last tram down was at 9:00pm. They made it about 2 minutes till. Once we got down and to our car, someone had broken the window to our van and took several things. Luckily, I had left me purse in my car. Anyway, I had a great time with some great friends.

Emily Field Trip to Rileys Farm

2011-06-09T12:52:00.001-06:00

To study Gold Rush Days, her class went on a field trip to Riley's Farm where they have a 'Gold Rush' area. They can dig and/or mine for gold and trade it in for cash (play money) or they can work to earn money. Gold prices went up and down depending upon the demand. It was really a lot of fun. Here are a few pics.

Emily getting ready to sell her gold.

She decided to earn some money the old fashioned way. She negotiated $20 up front to sweep the floor.

Christmas 2010 Big Bear Trip

2011-06-09T12:25:00.000-06:00

I ran across pictures from our trip to Big Bear the day after Christmas. A friend of mine was gracious to let me and mine stay in her cabin. We had a great time. It is always wonderful to spend time with family.

Packing for 2 babies for a one night stay - priceless!

Flower Fields of Carlsbad

2011-05-15T20:13:00.000-06:00

Today we visited the Flower Fields of Carlsbad. It was the last day to tour the fields and it was misting rain but we went anyway. I love flowers, love to grow them, see them, smell them, love to put them in vases. Flowers display God's power and beauty as much as anything I can think of. They are so delicate, grown from dirt and sunshine, and yet so perfect in every detail. It just blows me away. We also enjoyed some strawberry shortcake while we were there. The rain quit and the sun came out. Afterwards we drove down Pacific Coast Highway past Leucadia to Encinitas and ate at a favorite place of mine - Moseys. We then stopped at Moonlight Beach. Emily played on the playground while Greg walked around on the beach and took pictures. We then continued up the coast to Oceanside and walked out on the Pier. Emily saw two kids in her class while we were there. It is a small world no matter where you go. On the way home, we stopped by Super Smoothies. All their smoothies are named for super heroes or villains - another of my favorite places. It was a good day to spend with my kids.

Lots of different types of flowers.

Us.

At the Flower Fields.

My sweet girl.

Some of the flowers. We also went into a Sweet Pea Maze.

Greg at Moonlight Beach.

I love orange roses.

Cute playground.

A new type of poinsettias due to come out next year.

The dew on the roses.

Wild Animal Park 4/24/2011

2011-05-15T19:44:00.002-06:00

We went to the Wild Animal Park with a friend of mine, Aida, and her three boys. We left early and stayed all day. We had such a great time. Aida and I really enjoyed all the foliage. We took the tour around the park to see the giraffes, zebras, elephants and a bunch of different kinds of goatish animals. Emily was ecstatic because she got to see an owl. She is all about owls these days. The kids really enjoyed feeding the birds.

What a fun bunch!

I have a thing for this flower - bird of paradise. They just amaze me.

These birds are so brilliantly colored. Kids had a blast feeding them.

This was the butterfly garden.

Dressing up as butterflies.

On the bus tour. There were a lot of giraffes.

Kids inside a gourde.

The birds took a liking to Nathaniel.

Sequoia National Park

2011-04-21T21:52:00.000-06:00

Tony and his family along with Greg, Emily and I visited the Sequoia National Park for a couple of days. It was absolutely breath taking and we all had a great, great time. We stayed at the Buckeye Tree Lodge just outside the entrance - definitely recommended. All God's creation in full bloom. I went through Bakersfield to get there which is the most north I have travel since I have moved here. The drive up to Sequoia had lots of mountains, farmland, orange trees, wineries and lakes. We went past Pyramid Lake which lined the road for quite some time. There is a Pyramid cut out in the rocks. We met a couple from Germany taking a two month vacation in the United States in a rental RV. Tony and Rikki did the cooking. Kru, Emily and I enjoyed a water gun fight. Jax enjoyed the stairs. Greg enjoyed having his own room at the cabin and taking lots of pictures. It was a nice trip.

Beach Day

2011-04-03T23:39:00.000-06:00

After church, Emily and I joined Nina (running friend) at the beach. Emily played in the water and drew pictures in the sand while we chatted. Weather was nice. Another beautiful day God has given.

San Diego Wild Animal Park

2011-04-03T23:33:00.000-06:00

Rikki, her Mom, myself, Emily, Kru and Jax went to the Wild Animal Park this Saturday. The weather was perfect. The kids had a great time and Emily is ready to go back and explore some more. We got there a little late so we didn't get to see everything. I liked the lush foliage everywhere.

A Visit from Bob

2011-03-22T23:09:00.000-06:00

It has been a while since I updated this blog. Time just gets away so instead of catching up, I will just start again with our visit from Bob, Jim's brother. We hadn't seen Bob in at least a year. He flew in after visiting with siblings in Arizona and skiing at Telluride. Emily was so excited to see him and really enjoyed his visit. She told him he looked like her Dad. I was taking care of the grandsons the first two days he was here. We took the boys to the park and Bob flew a kite with them. He was so good with them. He took Emily to the movies while I had my ladies over for Bible Study. Saturday, we drove to Mission Viejo and saw the house the family lived in when they lived in California. We took the Ortega Highway - beautiful scenery but much too curvy for me. Sunday we went to Seaworld for the day. It was a really good visit. Tony took him to breakfast at a local airport. Bob likes anything to do with planes.

Grandsons

2010-09-19T22:47:00.004-06:00

It is official. I am babysitting two wonderful grandsons every Thursday and Friday. Kru will be 2 on October the 25th and Jax was born June 18th of this year (on his Daddy's birthday) making him almost 3 months old. I have babysat them for 2 weeks so far. Kru looks mostly like his Dad, is very active, very smart and articulate. He doesn't forget a thing, very strong willed, very precious. He is not one to sit and watch TV or play with a particular toy for very long. He loves going to the park, riding a skateboard, playing basketball, riding Emily's Razor scooter. Jax is a little more laid back, or at least it seems so. He likes to be talked to. He is a chunky little thing with cute cheeks, beautiful blue eyes and a slightly darker complexion than Kru. He looks mostly like his Mommy. He likes to have something over him, like a blankie or something. He loves to look around. He smiles and laughs and holds himself very well for his age. He has the softest skin imagineable. It is a real joy to babysit them and I don't do anything on those two days but watch them. We go to the park about 9:30 to 11:00, then we have a picnic lunch at the park. They both fall asleep on the way home and take about a hour and one half nap. We then do various things. I am very thankful that I have a son and daughter-in-law that trust me to take care of these precious boys. I look forward to watching them grow up. God has been so very good to me.
This is Jax enjoying the swing. Are those some cute cheeks or what?

What can I say? This baby is just so adorable. Yummy!

Kru found himself a little friend. He took her hand and led her all over the play ground. She tried to take him down the big slide but he prevailed and pulled her towards the monkey bars.

Here I am trying out the carrier. It is complicated.

Kru playing in the sand.

Love the rolls.

Santa Barbara Train Trip

2010-08-01T09:11:00.006-06:00

Emily wanted to ride on a train so we decided to take a trip to Santa Barbara. Everyone has told me how beautiful it is and I was not disappointed. Absolutely stunning! I reserved Amtrak tickets but we had to take the Metrolink to get to Amtrak. We missed the first train, drove to the next station, missed it too. So we waited knowing we missed our Amtrak but it all worked out. Amtrak was great, beautiful ride up the coast. Emily enjoyed the cafe and making some new friends. Our hotel was great - across from the beach. We rented some sort of pedal car - a really good workout - doubtful if we do that again. We went to Stern's Wharf and went to the Sea Museum, went shopping (I could have really enjoyed that but Emily is not much into shopping), went swimming in the pool. The next day we went downtown and saw several historical sites and visited an art museum. We caught the train for home about 3pm. It was a great trip.
This is the view out of the Amtrak window.

Emily playing puppets in the Sea Museum.

Santa Barbara Beach

Our hotel room

This was the hotel we stayed in.

We pedaled this along the bike path for 3 to 4 miles.

This is the bike path along the beach.

Campland 2010

2010-07-15T22:08:00.002-06:00

We just got back from 4 days of Campland on the Bay in San Diego. Emily and I had a great time with brother-in-law Dave and his wife Barb and lots of friends. Emily and I rented a Kayak. I didn't realize what a great arm workout it would be. We also rode bikes, scooters and Emily sang in a talent show. She was very proud of her medal and free ice cream coupon. I went ocean swimming with a girlfriend and enjoyed the beach and a few glasses of wine. I love riding Emily's beach cruiser. I turned on my air conditioner for the first time today. It was very warm when we got home. I did not take a single picture. Hopefully, I can scavenge some soon. I always enjoy Dave, Barb, family and friends.

Murrieta Birthday Bash

2010-06-27T09:33:00.003-06:00

We live in a town of about 101,500 people. They had a birthday bash this weekend with lots of blow up and carnival rides. There were bands and food and lots of families set up in tents to enjoy the day. At night they did a big fireworks display. We had a great time. My favorite was the annual 'hose the kids down' event put on by the firefighters. It was so cute. It is amazing how much kids love the water. Emily and the new friend she made was right on the front row. Luckily she had wore her bathing suit under her clothes because she got drenched between that and the water rides. She slept great last night.

Venice Beach

2010-06-16T23:39:00.004-06:00

Today we went to Venice Beach - Greg, Emily and myself. It is a beautiful beach with a lot of sandy shoreline. We also went to Muscle Beach - it was ok. It is part of Venice Beach. There are vendors up and down the road next to the beach. A lot of unique people selling their goods - a lot of talent. Not sure who was the most unique - the vendors or some of the people walking up and down the road. Driving home was not fun - traffic - eeek!

15 Mile Trail Run - Big Bear California

2010-06-16T08:44:00.009-06:00

Sunday, several members of my running group, myself and a friend of mine from Arizona did the Holcomb Valley Trail Run. Suzy, and others did the 33 mile run. I don't think I could do that. She is great at it and came in 1st in her age group. And yes (I don't know why), there were several people running the 33 miler, in fact, it was sold out. Anyway, it was a great trail but I have been injured and didn't run 10 days before the race. I quit running, hoping to get some healing in. I am still injured and plan on going to the doctor. I say this because I figure that is why I fell down six times during the race. It doesn't explain why I made the wrong turn and did an extra 2 miles. So I get to enter 17 miles in my log book. Here are some pictures from the race. It was a lot of fun just not my day.

Camping at Carlsbad State Beach.

2010-05-28T22:09:00.007-06:00

Emily and I went camping with Matt and Nina at the Ocean this Wednesday and Thursday. Of course, we had a most wonderful time. We got there Wednesday evening and had a great dinner with chicken and corn cooked on the grill. Thursday, Nina and I ran 5 miles then we all went to Starbucks for breakfast. Then Matt and I went on a 25 mile bike ride while Nina watched Emily. Emily says that Matt and Nina are her best buddies now. Then we played at the beach all day. There was hardly anyone there. I guess going before the holiday weekend is a good thing! Later we went to a restaurant for dinner. Emily had her favorite - a pinacolada (non-alcohol). In the evening we danced at the campfire to Nina's Ipod music. No wonder she is such a fast runner. Emily was exhausted by the time she went to bed.
This morning, Nina and I got on our wetsuits to practice swimming in the ocean. We started about 7am. It was cold, cold, cold and the waves knocked you down they were so strong. I swallowed a lot of saltwater. Yuk! Emily and Matt cheered us on from the shore. I must say that I will need a lot more practice before doing an Ocean tri. Afterwards, we spent some time on the beach before packing up and coming home.
On the way home we stopped at this 'hole in the wall' restaurant that always has a long line of people waiting. It is in the middle of nowhere at a 'park and ride' and is called Nessy Burger. When we drove up there were a lot of people sitting on their tailgates eating huge hamburgers - hilarious. We all had one. They were very good. Anyway, we had an absolutely wonderful time.

Lois Minich Memorial Gathering at Franciscan Renewal Center

2010-05-28T19:34:00.008-06:00

Jim's Mother, Lois, went to her home in heaven on May 10th of this year. A gathering was held for her on Sunday, May 16th. It was held at the Franciscan Renewal Center where Lois attended events with The Daughters of Eve. It was very nice and something that Lois would have enjoyed.

I thought alot of Lois. She was a very special women. Some of my favorite things about her...

She was a great grandma. She always sent Emily (and all the other grand children) a card on every occasion filled with trinkets, book marks and a balloon. Emily loved getting her balloon.

She loved to play bridge and was really, really good at it.

She read Emily a book anytime she asked her.

She always thought of me - always treated me like family. Sometimes she would call just to chat.

I liked the way she said - "Jimmy, where are you?" when she left a message on the telephone.

She loved watching Penn State play ball. She like her tv.

She loved having us for dinner and enjoyed our company.

I liked the way her and Ed held hands! I liked how proud she was of her children.

Here are a few pictures of the gathering:

This was taken in August of 2009. Ed passed away in November. Lois followed him in May.

This is the Labyrinth we walked.

Family.

James and Jake made this in the center of the Labyrinth. It says R.I.P. G&G. Lois used to always sign her cards - G&G for Grandma and Grandpa. After Ed died, she signed them '-G'.

Blueberry Picking

2010-05-28T19:14:00.003-06:00

We went to the Temecula Berry Farm and picked a lot of blueberries. Kru and Emily had a blast. So did we. Tony took pictures. Next we will be going to a U-pick cherry farm. Yummy!

Beach Run Bike Run

2010-05-28T18:53:00.005-06:00

I am so far behind posting activities. May 13th, my friend, Nina and I decided to go to Oceanside beach for a workout and rest day. We got there about 9:30, parked and ran 5 miles. Afterwards we rode our bikes a total of 28 miles. We rode at the Camp Pendleton Military Base and then to downtown Carlsbad where we ate at a Mexican restaurant. We biked back to Oceanside and ran another mile then spent the rest of our time on the beach. Great fun!
They were conducting training exercises and posing for us with the hover craft.

Great restaurant. We were starving by the time we got to Carlsbad for lunch and very relaxed when we got back on our bikes. In fact, I fell over at a stop light - very embarrassing.
This is the Carlsbad beach.

Emily Gets A New Bike

2010-05-09T22:58:00.001-06:00

I bought Emily a beach cruiser and she loves it. I like it to. We went for a ride with Tony, Rikki, Kru and Debbie (Rikki's mother).

Oceanside Beach

2010-05-09T22:38:00.004-06:00

One of my running friends - Nina, Emily, and myself went to Oceanside Beach - exactly 45 minutes from my house. We stayed several hours. It was perfect weather. Emily loves the water and the beach. We got way too much sun. Next time, more sunscreen. I am behind on my posts - again. I have got to get better about updating this blog.

Nina and Emily on the pier.

Emily and I.

Women's Retreat

2010-04-18T22:45:00.003-06:00

I went on a women's retreat with my church - Calvary Murrieta. They have a conference center at Twin Peaks. It was very uplifting. I laughed and I cried. I met lots of wonderful Christian women and made some new friends. The food, facility, everything was top notch. My running friend Susy went with me. We got in an 8-miler of killer hills and a 5-miler around Gregory Lake. The theme was about time and every day they would do some hilarious skits about time. Then we would break out into different sessions. It was fun.
Hilarious!

My friend Susy.

Gregory Lake that we ran around.

I do not know who these people are but I thought it was a great moment to catch on camera.

Me.

Emily's First Performance

2010-03-27T23:29:00.003-06:00

Emily has been taking a performance class called 'Sunshine Generation'. They had their first performance at a retirement center. She really likes doing this sort of thing. It is a real joy watching her grow and change.

My Garden Project

2010-03-27T23:20:00.002-06:00

Today I pretty much completed my garden project. I still may fence around it but for the most part I am done. I can't wait to have fresh vegetables. I have always enjoyed gardening and am glad that I took the time to build one this year. We planted strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, 3 colors of bell peppers and basil. Now if I could just get rid of my gopher that has made his home in my back yard.

Arizona Trip

2010-03-27T23:09:00.004-06:00

We visited Jim's mother, Lois at Carla's house last week and also went camping with Dave and Barb. Emily loves to play with her cousin Lindsey and I always enjoy visiting Chris and Carla. It was also great to see Lois. I miss living close to her. We all went to see the Avatar - in 3D. Great movie. I did a 10K race - the Nun run. Yup, Nuns running in full attire. We then drove to the middle of nowhere to go camping with Dave and Barb. They are always so much fun. They had about 10 campers just out in the middle of the desert. It was absolutely a perfect place, little patches of cacti, the lake and surrounded by mountains. We sang old songs by the campfire. On Sunday, we had our own church service while the played guitar and a drum that Dave had made. It was just fun! Emily had a blast and made some new friends.

We visited Jim's mother, Lois at Carla's house last week and also went camping with Dave and Barb. Emily loves to play with her cousin Lindsey and I always enjoy visiting Chris and Carla. It was also great to see Lois. I miss living close to her. We all went to see the Avatar - in 3D. Great movie. I did a 10K race - the Nun run. Yup, Nuns running in full attire. We then drove to the middle of nowhere to go camping with Dave and Barb. They are always so much fun. They had about 10 campers just out in the middle of the desert. It was absolutely a perfect place, little patches of cacti, the lake and surrounded by mountains. We sang old songs by the campfire. On Sunday, we had our own church service while the played guitar and a drum that Dave had made. It was just fun! Emily had a blast and made some new friends.

Mountain High Ski Trip

2010-03-13T09:44:00.003-06:00

Emily and I did a one day trip to Mountain High. It took us a little over an hour to get there. Started skiing at 8:00, finished when they closed the lifts at 4:00. Home before dark. How cool is that? Emily stayed in ski school all day. She loves snowboarding. She worked on her toe edge and s-turns. She had the heal edge down. She has been trying to talk me into snowboarding and I keep telling her no way. But after watching the snowboarders all day, I thought about how much easier it was for me to wake board on the water than water skiing so next time...Emily says she will help me.

My First Trail Race

2010-03-09T16:45:00.003-06:00

Here are a couple of pictures of my first trail race. I ran two of them because you got a really cool shirt if you ran two. This was the first one and it was pouring rain most of the time, very foggy and cold, but so much fun. It was so hard, I just knew I had won an award - not even close. I think it was 11 miles.

Here are a couple of pictures of my first trail race. I ran two of them because you got a really cool shirt if you ran two. This was the first one and it was pouring rain most of the time, very foggy and cold, but so much fun. It was so hard, I just knew I had won an award - not even close. I think it was 11 miles.

The Joy of Running

2010-02-23T12:27:00.004-06:00

There are those times when you feel you can run forever. Today I promised myself I would quit running after 6 miles and walk because my lower body still feels like it has been beat up with a baseball bat after this weekend's trail race. I have a tendency to overdo things so I have to make these limits for myself. I am running in the area that I live, going up, up hills and taking turns I had not taken before and still running up. Actually, there are very few areas around here that are not hilly. I look at the spectacular country side, the mountains, the landscape, the rolling hills of beautiful trees and homes and I just feel so close to God. I feel like his spirit has lifted me up into his arms and is carrying me as I run. He must have big things for me because he has so truly blessed me. What a beautiful world he created for us. It just absolutely takes my breath away. I am so in awe of the loving, kind, glorious, gracious God that so loves us and gives us eternal life. Anyway, today was a great run. It is wonderful to have those moments. Here are a few pictures of the trail run and my pretty girl that went to church camp this weekend.

Big Bear - Snow Summit Ski Trip

2010-01-08T21:14:00.004-06:00

Emily and I spent 2 ski days at Big Bear. It is one hour and 40 minutes from the house but the windy roads were very scary. I really wanted to look at the beautiful scenery as I was driving but did not dare unless we pulled over. We pulled over several times to let cars go around us because I was driving so slow (not my cup of tea). The weather was perfect and the cabin we rented was on Big Bear Lake. We walked 3/4 of a mile to dinner on the first night and then around the lake. Thursday we both took lessons - me skiing and Emily boarding. At first Emily struggled but by the end of the second lesson, she was happy and wanting to go another day. Friday she took a 2 hour private lesson and now she's an expert beginner as she calls herself and insists on me learning to snowboard the next time we go. Her Daddy would be so proud to see her snowboarding and having so much fun with it. I liked the fact that my toes weren't cold and I didn't even need a jacket. We had a really great time.

This is a picture we took on the way up the mountain.

This is from on top of one of the lifts with Big Bear Lake in the background.

Emily on the ski lift.

My camera was on a weird setting.

This is Emily and her instructor - CC.

Catching on to time as it flys by.

2010-01-06T21:33:00.002-06:00

OK, it seems these days that time just flys by so quickly. It seems every night I ask myself the same questions - Wow, where did the day go? What did I do today? So yesterday, I wrote down everything I did. It was actually pretty cool because when I retired for the evening, I could actually look back and relive the moments. Here is my day:
Got up and turned off the alarm, did the teeth brushing thing and then downstairs to get my coffee. Next Bible Study, a favorite time of mine. Next I finish 6 bows and get a package ready to ship 30 bows to Black and Pink and one web sale acknowledged, packaged and labeled. By now Emily is up and ready for breakfast. After saying 'no' to ice cream and making myself a second cup of coffee (my one vice), I make Emily breakfast. I then check email and Facebook while Emily watches TV and eats breakfast. Next Emily and I walk to the park behind the house. We play jump rope and super hero for about 30 minutes. After getting home we put together a super hero suit - She is Zebora. You guessed it - Zebra leggings and a black shirt with a Big felt Z on the top and a cape that she made entirely herself with the exception of the Big Z on the back. Next I remove the bedding from 2 beds and wash. While that is washing, we get ourselves presentable and go to the Post Office to get a money order and get it sent in the mail. I forgot my 2 packages at home so that will be another trip later. Next to Sam's for gas and groceries and a stop at McDonald's for Emily some lunch(I think she only eats there for the toy). We then stop at a sporting goods store to get Emily some mittens for skiing. When we get home, I fix myself lunch. Now to take down the Christmas tree and Thomas train and pack up for next year. Change clothes to dryer and put in another load. Emily bikes while I get in 3 miles running. Showered quickly. Baked some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Folded a load of clothes, put in another load to wash. Called Lois to check on her. Next I cleaned the entire house up and down. It needed it after the holidays. Rearranged my rugs and showed Jessica the dog her new doggy bed we bought at Sam's earlier. She liked it. Back to the post office to drop off packages I forgot earlier. It is now getting dark at 5:15. I have a bike ride in the morning so I get my bike gear ready and air up my tires. Fixed dinner for us then finished laundry and made beds. Getting tired. Put Emily to bed at 8:30 at which time she reminded me we needed to clean the fish tank. Ugh. Did that, got Emily settled in and went downstairs and sat down with a cup of chai tea hoping to watch some TV. Too tired, checked email and Facebook, went to bed at 9:30. I missed a few things but all in all, I would say I stay too busy. After reviewing this, I feel like I am spinning. I hope I learn something from this.

Running with Mike Sheehy - Cures Rock!

2010-01-03T13:34:00.003-06:00

This morning our group met and ran the beginning of an ultramarathon. Mike Sheehy is with Team-in-Training running an ultramarathon every day (17 days) from San Diego to Phoenix, AZ and will end up with a marathon at the PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon in Phoenix. Here is his website if you would like to participate - http://curesrocktour.com/. It was a lot of fun and for a great cause - the battle of blood cancers.

Our running group: http://www.meetup.com/murrieta-runners/photos/795711/12481593/

New Shelves

2009-12-28T22:09:00.002-06:00

My son Greg built some shelves for me during Christmas vacation. They turned out exactly how I wanted them. They will soon be filled with books and pictures.

BEFORE (This is before we put flooring, etc.)

AFTER

A Day With Kru

2009-12-28T21:50:00.004-06:00

I got the privilege of watching my grandson the whole day Sunday. He and Emily helped me wash his Mommy's car. He loves the water. Afterwards we had a spaghetti dinner then worked on the inside of the car. He and Emily played in the back until he fell asleep sitting on Emily's lap. She told me if she were a little older, she would be a great Mommy.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T19:26:00.004-06:00

It was a great blessing to have all three of my sons and Emily as well as Rikki, her mom and brother here for Christmas. We had dinner then opened gifts. Everyone was pleased and thankful. This was Kru's first Christmas to actually unwrap presents. He had a blast. We went to Sea World the day before. Notice Tony riding with Kru on a pink pig. Our city has a traveling Santa that stopped in our neighborhood. Emily sat in Santa's lap and told him what she wanted without any prodding this year.

Our Trip to PennyPickles Museum

2009-12-08T00:52:00.004-06:00

Emily and I love to go to the PennyPickles Museum in Temecula (the next town over). We have been there three times and still find it fasinating. This time we also walked around town and looked at other shops and had dinner. We have a pretty good time together.

June's Visit

2009-12-08T00:33:00.003-06:00

My sister came for a visit last month. She is such a sweet soul. I had to leave while she was here and go to my father-in-laws funeral so I didn't get to spend as much time with her as I would have liked. She came on Thursday and left on Tuesday. My sister, like myself, works way too much but she is happier that way. While she was here she planted trees for me in the backyard, put up wire mesh to keep Emily's escape artist dog in, painted my spare bedroom (it is no longer neon pink), planted greenery at my entrance, power washed and scraped my deck outside my bedroom and painted it and put up security pins in my sliding glass doors. She is just simply amazing. I told her she had a place to stay anytime. Thank you June.
Here are some after pics:

Dress-up Night

2009-11-24T00:23:00.003-06:00

Emily wanted to us to dress up and go out to eat. We had bunches of fun.

Ed Minich

2009-11-24T00:13:00.003-06:00

My father-in-law Ed Minich passed away Thursday, November 12th. He was a most wonderful man and Emily and I will miss him very much. Here is a tribute video his son Dave put together.

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of him and Emily

Oh and by the way....

2009-11-11T01:42:00.002-06:00

I am going to be Grandma again. Yeah! Rikki (the best daughter-in-law I could ever hope for) is 5 weeks along.

Catalina Cruise

2009-11-11T01:14:00.002-06:00

Emily and I went on a 4 day cruise with Tony, Rikki, Kru and Debbie (Rikki's mom) Oct. 26th to the 30th. We went on a Carnival ship stopping at Catalina and Ensenada, Mexico. The cruise ship, entertainment, food, work out facility, everything was great. I liked Catalina, not impressed with Ensenada although Emily really enjoyed getting to ride up front with the buggy driver as we took a small tour on a horse and wagon. Emily loves cruising. She made a few friends on the ship and went with them for the 'Princess Party' which consisted of a spa day.

In Catalina, I stumbled across a fantasic Art Gallery that featured an artist by the name of Ruth Mayer . I love the way she catches light. One of my favorites is 'Walk on Water'. It depicts Jesus walking on the water but looking from under the water up.

It is nice not cooking or cleaning and just relaxing but it is even nicer to come back home. I love home. Here are some of my favorite pictures of the trip:

Kru's First Birthday Party

2009-10-26T13:03:00.005-06:00

We had a great Halloween/Birthday party for Kru's first birthday! Tony, Rikki, and her mom, Deb, decorated the house and made all kinds of fun things to snack on. Lots of friends and family. Kru had a great time but was really exhausted at the end. Enjoy the pics!

Catching Up

2009-10-03T23:43:00.002-06:00

Last weekend we went to the beach and stayed with Jim's sister Carla and family. We had a great time. Chris and Carla are such great hosts. Emily and Lindsay play so well together. We rode the roller coaster and Emily got a henna tattoo. She got to surf and was so proud of herself. She got to stay an extra day with them (without me). They brought her home and had lunch with us before heading back to Arizona.

Emily had another basketball game tonight. She is starting to get the hang of things and getting a little more confident. Today I worked on painting my fence. Lowe's suggested spray paint so after 5 cans and my hands cramping, I think I will take a different approach. I did find out today that it is illegal to sell spray paint to any one under 18. You also have to register you pet and you can't have more than three.

On another note, my neighbor edged my yard for me today. I have not been able to find my weed eater battery and not ready to buy a new one yet. So Emily made a really cute thank you card and I baked them a dozen cookies to thank them.

The weather has been wonderful!

Here is a few pictures from the beach. I always like it when I can get a great sunset. My brother-in-law Bob enjoys them.

Kitchen Granite Completed

2009-09-25T22:19:00.006-06:00

This is my kitchen after the granite was installed. It made the kitchen look so much bigger and brighter. I really, really like it. Now I just need to figure out what to put in that empty wall space on the right side of the sink. I think something is wrong with my camera as there is a strange light marking across it.

Time Flys....

2009-09-16T22:24:00.006-06:00

I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I last posted anything. Sunday before last, I had several family members for Sunday dinner. It was very nice.

Emily has been playing basketball. She signed up with the YMCA and ended up on an all boy team. At first, I didn't think she was going to play but she is doing OK now and actually enjoys it. I can see a lot of progress with Emily. I think home schooling is helping a lot. She is so smart and she likes the one on one time she gets with me.

My grandson is just so cool. I just don't think I could love him anymore. It is so wonderful to see him with his Mommy and Daddy.

I have been taking off from running because of an injury. I am sure ready to get back to it. Maybe next week. Enjoy the pictures.

This is the view from my bedroom balcony. I love the mountains. As you can see my fence is in dire need of painting. On the list.

Kru, Tony, Rikki, their dogs, Debbie

Tony, Rikki and Kru in Emily's favorite tree.

Emily playing basketball.

My brother Dave and his son.

My brother Ben and his grand daughter. She is the light in his world.

Home school/Bow Room/Computer Room Done!

2009-08-28T20:59:00.006-06:00

Finally, after 2 days of unpacking and organizing our room is done. It looks very nice and neat but as you can see in the pictures, it will be very functional. I can make my bows and close it off when I am done. I have a cabinet with all my office stuff and Emily's craft stuff and school stuff organized. Then the computer portion has 3 computers w/Point of Sale drawer and receipt printer, a regular printer, a credit card machine, 2 monitors, an electric pencil sharpener, a scanner and my laptop. On top of the desk, I have her library books, my Bible study books, misc. labels/magazines and all here school text books. We start home schooling on Tuesday, Sept. 1st so my organization might change. Emily is really looking forward to it. We have big plans. Pray for us - I am sure we will both need an extra dose of patience.

Salt Creek Beach

2009-08-25T16:01:00.003-06:00

Sunday we tried out a new church. It was Calvary Church... Anyway, Emily loved it. She wants to go back. That is a good thing. On Monday, (I should have been doing bows) we went to Salt Creek Beach. We spent about 4 1/2 hours there. It is so hard for me to do nothing. Kids had a great time. Today, we went swimming and then errands. We joined the local library and Emily checked out 10 books about bats. Tomorrow we must go to the DMV.

After Pics of Kitchen and Downstairs Bath

2009-08-21T11:19:00.002-06:00

Here is the kitchen after appliances and paint. I still intend on changing out the counter tops.

Here is the downstairs bath after repairing, cleaning, installing a mirror and shower head and replacing the light fixture. Still picture hanging and sprucing up to do but it looks much better.

Settling In

2009-08-21T11:15:00.004-06:00

The YMCA pool is great. It is an outdoor heated open year-round salt water pool. Very nice. They have several programs but a couple of them were different - underwater hockey and water polo. I watched Rikki's cousins play water polo - what a work out and very competitive.
We have gone twice and Emily had a great time making crafts and swimming.

Here are a couple pics taken off the Y's web page.

We are here!

2009-08-18T07:59:00.002-06:00

We arrived on Saturday after spending a few sleep hours at Carla's. Carla had Salmon and a pina colada for Emily. She spoils her. :-) The trip was uneventful. No problems whatsoever. Lots of gasoline and diesel. Tony did a great job driving the truck. I drove the car and a U-haul trailer - too much stuff. When we arrived, help was here so we immediately started unloading. The house looks really good. The flooring guys did a great job. My brother Dan repaired the sheet rock between the wood stairs and the wall. He and Dave (his twin) also cut and installed a mirror in the bathroom. My brother Ben, my mom, Tony and Rikki, Kru and Rikki's Mom also helped.

Spent Sunday just getting the necessities unpacked. Monday was spent setting up Postal service, returning rentals, visiting the YMCA and other errands. The prices here seem to be the same but there are lots of 'fees' - $50 to get a mailbox key. I bought some bottled water on sale for $3.49 only to pay $1.50 in CRV charges. I bought a small TV and paid $16.00 in CRV charges. I believe those are recycle charges paid in advance.

The girl at the Y did give me some useful information. She told me about a local farmers market to buy all your fruit, best places to shop for groceries and meats, etc.

Today we are going swimming at the YMCA. Emily thought the child watch looked interesting. It is a small Y and they only have 8 kids at a time and do lots of crafts. I will send out pictures soon - I hope.

Life Group Send-Off

2009-08-06T06:24:00.005-06:00

Last night our Life Group got together at the apartment pool. It was, as always, great fun. I am so going to miss everyone. I have been so fortunate to have had such a great church family. Thank you Lord! Here are a few pictures.

Running Group Reunion

2009-08-02T12:58:00.003-06:00

Last night I got together with my running group that I spent miles and miles with. We went to Macaroni Grill. Since I am moving to California, I wanted to see everyone again. It had been awhile - my life had taken a different path after I married Jim and so I didn't stay in contact with them - just busy with life, I guess. They all looked the same. My, what fun we had together. We once did a trip to Alaska and did a 110 mile relay (running), saw the most beautiful scenery ever and had so much fun. We have done so many races and events together. I am truely blessed to have been a part of these wonderful lives. Thank you, Lord!

Silver Dollar City

2009-07-31T17:03:00.002-06:00

Emily and I took a friend and her three children to Silver Dollar City on Monday and spent the night. We had a great time. The kids rode rides until they were worn out and then went swimming.

Pictures of my Dad

2009-07-26T06:39:00.004-06:00

It is always interesting to look at pictures with a five year time span.

This picture was taken in 2001 during a trip to NYC.

This picture was taken in 2006 when Jim and I stopped by on our way back from California and Arizona.

Back from the Beach

2009-07-16T22:10:00.003-06:00

We just got home from Campland on the Bay with Dave and Barb and a bunch of others. After painting for 5 days, we were ready to take a break. I am really sore from wake boarding but it was so much fun. Emily had a great time. We spent most of the day at Mission Beach today then headed back to Lake Elsinore.
One more day and we are headed back home. The wood floors are done with the exception of stairs and upstairs landing, most of the painting is done, the plumber repaired the sprinkler system, installed a new hot water heater and a garbage disposal. Tomorrow carpet comes and I will begin cleaning.
I did visit my realtor's church on Saturday evening. The preaching was quite good. They have a website so I shall check that out. I met a few neighbors. The one next door actually home schooled her children and Christian based so I am excited about that.
On another note, please pray for my father-in-law. The doctors found some sort of tumor on the side of his head and they are operating on Wednesday. I just ask that God guide the surgeon's hands and that whatever it is can be removed and everything be fine. Thanks.

California - Before Pics of House

2009-07-10T23:46:00.003-06:00

Here are some before pics of the house. This is the entry way. We removed all the carpet so the floors are bare. This is the kitchen. Very red. No appliances.
This is the outside. We already removed the vines crawling up the right side of the house.

We stopped by the Big Texan Steak House on the way out. We did not have the 72oz steak. Cool picture.
This picture is looking into the master bedroom. The one fixture in the house.
Looking down at the formal living.
Family room.

Dallas Weekend Trip

2009-06-15T21:05:00.004-06:00

Wow, what a weekend. Thursday we drove to Dallas, picked up Carla from the airport then off to dress rehearsal and dinner for Kevin and Nikki Minich's wedding. Emily and Lindsey were the flower girls. Friday, Carla and I took the girls to the American Girl store - such a treat. It was just too cute seeing all the little girls with their dolls.

Next, the girls had manicures and pedicures.

All dressed and on time for the wedding which was absolutely beautiful. Kevin was so handsome and Nikki so beautiful. They will make a wonderful team. The flower girls did great.

Saturday, Carla watch Emily while I did a 34 mile bike ride. Later, Christy and her girls, as well as Bob, Ed and Lois met us for lunch and swimming. It was just a great weekend. Back to reality though - today, my work computer hard drive died. My back up is probably 6 months old. It is not going to be fun. I will call my accountant tomorrow.

Catching Up

2009-06-10T21:19:00.002-06:00

It has been a while since I have updated the blog. We have been busy. We went to Silver Dollar City - always a great time. Emily is an inch away from being able to ride the big roller coaster. Tony, Rikki and Kru visited us this past weekend. They came in for a wedding. It was so nice playing with Kru. We went to Ed and Lois's for dinner the first night they got here. It was fun watching G G&G (Great Grandma and Grandpa) enjoy him. Kru was fasinated with Ed.

My house is getting close. We are waiting on the appraisal. There is a lot of work to be done on it so it will be awhile before it is a done deal.

We go this weekend to Dallas for Kevin and Nikki's wedding (Chris and Elayne's middle son). Emily is going to be a flower girl along with her cousin Lindsay. She is very excited.

On Saturday, I am going to do a bike ride in McKinney, TX - The Collin Classic. I have been trying to stay active in biking, swimming and running for my next triathlon - no goals yet. I did the Tulsa Tough bike ride a couple of weeks ago. It was a 50K. McKinney will be about the same. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Kru is Crawling

2009-05-21T19:41:00.003-06:00

I went to California this past week looking for a house. Emily stayed in Arizona with her Aunt Carla and was not ready to leave. She had such a great time playing with Lindsey and visiting the Nutes. I also got to spend the night with them. Getting to know them better has truely been a blessing to us. While I was at California, Kru was real close to crawling. Tony sent me the following video yesterday. Kru is hearing the word 'no' a lot more now.

OKC Memorial

2009-05-10T06:47:00.004-06:00

I have been contemplating (praying and researching) home schooling for Emily this coming year so we went to a home school convention in OKC. While we were there, we met a friend of mine, Diana, and went to the OKC Memorial. This was Emily's first time and she had so many questions, read all the plaques and took lots of pictures. The designers did a really great job capturing the spirit of that moment in time.

Emily took this picture of the one chair for each person.

My dear friend Diana - we used to do a lot of biking and running together.

Emily and I in front of the wall.

Hallelujah

2009-04-24T08:29:00.002-06:00

Hallelujah: to express praise or joy. Yup, that is what I feel. Last night my sweet daughter gave her heart to Jesus. She has been thinking about it quite a while and went to the class last summer at church but just wasn't ready. Last night, she took her Bible out on the balcony to read before bedtime and came in and said "Mommy, I want to give my heart to Jesus and be baptized." She wanted to listen to her favorite Christian song, read the Bible about the Crucifiction and Resurrection and then she said she would be ready. I left her to herself. She called me in about 45 minutes later and we prayed and she asked Jesus for forgiveness and asked to be saved and promised her heart. Awww! She said she wanted to be babtized this Sunday. I asked her if she remembered that was the anniversary of her Daddy's death. She thought for a minute or two and said that was ok - she wanted to be babtized. So this Sunday, I will be Babtizing her at our church. We will get to celebrate her new life on the same day as Jim began his new life. Pictures to follow.

Just Checking In

2009-04-22T20:51:00.005-06:00

It's been a while since I updated this blog. April has been busy. I went to California to look at houses, almost bought one but they found termites. I am going to look one more time with a trip planned in May. While I was in California, I stayed with my Grandson. Awww..he is just too cute. I have updated pictures. Emily stayed with my friend Joni who was her kindergarten teacher. She got a new pet while she was there - a hermit crab. We now have 3 pets - a dog, a fish and a crab. I am not a pet person but.. Emily had a blast and came back so happy to see me and feeling so special to get to stay with Joni. Joni is one of our angels that God has put in our lives.

Easter was busy for hairbows so my little fingers were working night and day. On the 19th, I did the Claremore Triathlon - first time in probably 12 years. It was fun training for it as I have had a couple friends to train with. We even took swim lessons. I really think they helped my swim. Anyway, the triathlon was fun and I think I may do some more in the future. That's it for now.

Funky Picture but look at those leg muscles. :-)

More Angels!

XOXO

My sweet little grandson. Yummy!

Is it really spring?

2009-03-28T13:53:00.005-06:00

Bob called and asked if we wanted to play. He and Jim would always play in the snow when we got a good one. So he and Emily built a snowman and a fort. I think they met a friend along the way. It has been snowing all day. We have 5 to 6 inches at the moment and it is still coming down pretty strong. I-40 West is closed. Anyway, it is absolutely beautiful snow. I don't like cold but I do love the snow.

Here is Bob and Emily in the completed fort with snowman.

Emily is done playing in the snow. Soaking wet with ice in her hair, she is ready for a nice, long bath.

A Trip to the Omniplex

2009-03-28T13:46:00.002-06:00

We were planning to go to Silver Dollar City but the weather showed a 90% chance of rain so we decided to go to Oklahoma City to the Omniplex for our last spring break fun event. We went the previous weekend to Chris and Elaynes - always a blast. Emily was not ready to leave. You can see Elayne's blog for more details on that.

The Omniplex was absolutely wonderful. I don't have pics yet because I forgot my camera and purchased a portable that needs to be developed - so more later.

Living on the Streets

2009-03-04T22:40:00.004-06:00

We sold our house and are now official apartment dwellers. It all happened so fast. Emily says we don't have a home anymore - that we are living on the streets. We will certainly miss our home of the last 10 years but it was definately time to move on. We have all those memories in our hearts and they will never leave. The yard was too big for me to keep up with and we really need something where Emily and I are on the same floor. We have been in the apartment a week and Emily has slept in her bed every night. She has not slept in her own bed since Jim got sick. I am, however, glad that this apartment living is only short term. We miss our home.

I feel so blessed with having such a wonderful church family and great friends. I had so much help during my move. I know I could not have done it without them. Moving from 2600 sq. feet to 1050 sq. feet has been challenging. I have a lot of stuff in storage. I got rid of a lot of stuff also. I hope to continue getting rid of things. I'm also on the third floor so I am really feeling blessed with so much help.

Here are a few updated pictures of my grandson. What a cutie! Can't wait to see him again.

California Trip

2009-01-27T20:38:00.007-06:00

Emily and I went to California to visit Tony, Rikki, and Kru. While we were out there I saw my twin brothers - Dave and Dan and my Mom. I also got to visit with Greg who is staying with my brother. The weather was unbelievable -80s durning the day and 50s at night.
About my grandson, oh my gosh! He is just too darn cute. He is now 3 months old. He is giggling and cooing. He is beginning to sleep all night. When he is hungry, he wants it right now. He is a very good baby, very adaptable to going places. What a joy it is to hold and play with him. It just melts my heart when he smiles at me. He has this favorite toy that is a cow dressed up as a farmer. He just looks at it and smiles.
Anyway I have been contemplating moving to California and looked at houses while I was there. I don't know that I would move there - it is certainly a different lifestyle. It would be a very big step for me and I am not so sure I want to. It would be nice to be there for Tony and Rikki to help with Kru when they needed me. But anyway, there are a lot of houses for sale and the prices are really reasonable.
I got to run with Tony for 4 miles and Rikki for 2. It is always nice to get to run with them. Rikki and I have our favorite little pastry shop we like to go to. She is a great daughter-in-law.
We had a great time visiting but were really happy to be home.

Sweet little Kru having a bath. 'Tis one of his favorite things.
Emily and I took pictures of each other at the lake.
Tony at work. I blanked out some things for privacy purposes.
My brother Dan.
My brother Dave. He had Leukemia (CLL) at about the same time Jim did. A different kind but still pretty rough on him. He ended up having a bone marrow transplant.
Love the clouds.

Disney Christmas Cruise

2009-01-01T21:54:00.003-06:00

Emily and I went on the Disney Cruise again this year. This time we did the 4 day cruise to Nassau. It was absolutely wonderful. Disney does such a great job. We watched some good movies, made a gingerbread house, swam, watched a hypnotist, ate wonderful meals and even went to a towel folding seminar. It was bunches of fun. We went to Paradise Island to Atlantis. Several famous people have homes on that island. It was quite a site - very lavish and lots to do. Great aquariums and sea life. Beautiful art work. The beach was nice. It was a very fun trip. I left my cell phone in the seat back pocket of the plane on the way to Florida. That was a bummer. I really like my cell phone. Anyway, I survived and hopefully Southwest will find it. We have a ton of pictures but here are a few.
Here is Emily posing in front of a real live gingerbread house.

This is the beginnings of making our own gingerbread house. We did this last year also. Tons of fun to do it together.

When we got to Disney's Castaway Cay Island we went bike riding and played on the beach.

You can see Atlantis in the background. We are on a ferry going across. A local guy that 'works for tips' gave us a great history of the area on the way over.

As you can see, Emily loves Pikachu. She got a big stuffed one for Christmas.

Sitting on Santa's lap. A 10 year old girl sitting at our dinner table tried to convince Emily there was no Santa. Emily asked her if she got presents at Christmas and the girl said no and that she celebrated Hanuka and didn't believe in Santa. Emily told her "See, Santa doesn't give presents to those who do not believe in him. I get presents from him". Anyway, I thought it entertaining.

This time we got a 2 room cabin with a porthole - well worth the upgrade. Here you can see Emily's orcas napping as we pull into the port at Nassau.

We stayed in a great hotel before we left the port. Emily enjoyed the pool.

Lifegroup Christmas Party

2008-12-15T12:28:00.006-06:00

Our church Lifegroup has been together for several years now. In fact, the twins were just born when we started our group. The party was at our house this year. We did heavy appetisers and a white elephant exchange where everyone brought something they wanted to 'give' from their home.

Here is Blake with the twins watching the gifts unfold.

Emily had this cool set of blocks for a brief moment but later got something much better - a lava lamp.
It is Alea's turn and she is trying decide...hmm...

They are all thinking - that is worse then what I brought. :-)

Turns out the puppy bed was pretty comfy for this guy.

Merry Christmas!

Girl Time

2008-12-07T08:07:00.006-06:00

Every now and them, Emily and I like to turn on some music and dance - just she and I. Not sure how she thought of it but she was trying to make a homemade strobe light. I remembered Jim having one so I got it out and we had a blast. I was thinking what a silly sight - Emily and I dancing to Christian Rock and a strobe light. But we had fun!

Thanksgiving with My Kids

2008-11-27T12:53:00.000-06:00

Here I am in Grandmahood. Awe - I now understand what a joy it is. I had all three boys, my sweet little girl, my daughter-in-law and my precious grandson in for Thanksgiving. Cody and I cooked a feast. We watched movies, took pictures, hung Christmas lights and went running. The boys also did some chores for me - what good boys. Just an absolutely great holiday. Thank you God for all your blessings!

The picture says it all. What a good boy he is.

It's never a get together without the boys comparing their 'guns'. Cody has them all beat this year.

My Kids!

What a great mommy!

Da Kids!

The Crew and Kru :-).

A Visit from Tony, Rikki and Kru

2008-11-23T15:45:00.000-06:00

I must tell you, it is like traveling back in time looking at this beautiful baby boy - my grandchild. Again, it feels like such a miracle - God's creation. He looks so much like Tony around his forehead and eyes. The lower part of his face looks like Rikki. It is just the coolest feeling. He is very aware, smiles and is very strong. Emily fell for him as soon as she saw him and was so glad to get to hold him. Normally her baby dolls are all girls - well, Jennifer (her latest doll) has become Max. It is cute to see her baby talk to Kru.

It is such a joy seeing Tony and Rikki as parents. I watched Tony give him a bath. Wow! Tony and Rikki are such a great couple. I am so pleased that they found each other - best friends - and now a family. If all goes well, on Wednesday, Cody will be cooking Thanksgiving and all three of my boys and Emily will be here for Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to having them all here very much. Hopefully, I will be sending out family pictures on my Christmas Cards.

Trick or Treat

2008-11-16T07:34:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know, it is the middle of November and I am just now getting around to posting. We went with a friend and her daughter trick-or-treating - probably one of my most enjoyable Halloweens. The weather was perfect. We walked while trick-or-treating to the Rejoice Trunk-Or-Treat. There was so much candy. I had never been to a trunk-or-treat. What a great idea!

This is Emily's friend Jessica. Jessica helps me about 4 days a week for an hour and a half. Emily absolutely adores her. Jessica was dressed up a Katora from The Avatar - a show they both love.

Emily and Olivia ready to trick-or-treat! Olivia got lots of great comments on her hair. It was too cute.

Of course, we always have to buy a costume for Emily's dog Jessica. She is very hard to catch on camera.

The end of the night. I love taking pics of Em when she is sleeping. Here she is with Lindsey the Orca, her Manatee from Sea World and a host of other special friends.

God's Many Gifts

2008-10-27T11:29:00.001-06:00

Kru Patrick Grisso

2008-10-25T06:34:00.000-06:00

Weighing in at a hefty 9 lbs. 11 oz. and 20" long and arriving at 1:26 Pacific Time is long awaited Kru Patrick Grisso. Mom and Dad are exhausted but doing well. Here are a few cell phone pictures. More to come. He is just so cute.

Still No Baby

2008-10-24T08:01:00.000-06:00

The hostpital finally took Rikki in for induction at 10:00 last night. I checked at 5:30, she is still snoozing. My plane leaves at 2:35 today so I may not get to see my grandson before I leave. :-(

Thursday - Baby Day

2008-10-23T14:58:00.000-06:00

Well, the little guy is being stubborn so tonight she is being induced at 6:00pm Pacific time. I would like to see him before I leave for Dallas. Pray that all goes well.

Happy 8th Birthday Emily!

2008-10-20T20:17:00.000-06:00

My sweet little girl is 8 years old today. She has celebrated with her classmates by bringing cookies to class, she celebrated with a party at Incredible Pizza with Rikki's extended family, and today she went to Sea World - just she and I. We had a great time. And at this moment, she is with Tony and Rikki and their pet boxer Winny at PetsMart. Apparently Winny and Emily share the same birthday.

She has been such a blessing to me. She has so much of her Daddy in her. We have grown very close, not that we weren't close before but now we have this really close bond that is hard to describe. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Oh, and we still have no baby.

A Busy Saturday - Still No Baby

2008-10-18T22:28:00.000-06:00

Today we went to the apple orchard. The kids made their own gallon of apple cider from picking the apples, washing and extracting the juice to packaging it in a gallon jug. It was a lot of fun watching them. Of course, there was fresh apple pie. Yummy. Emily got to do some knife throwing. I think she made 1 of 7 hits. We then went to John's Incredible Pizza and celebrated Emily's birthday. She has had such a great time playing with the kids. She got some new Pokemon stuff. Rikki's cousin Sawyer (10) is staying the night at Tony and Rikki's. Her and Emily are now playing Pokemon. We got a lot of great pictures. Tomorrow I am running the local Race for the Cure. Running for Diane, Elayne and Robin. Love you girls!! We thought Rikki would have had the baby by now and Tony could take off work to run with me but not so. Kru insists upon taking his time. Pictures to come....

Where's that Baby?

2008-10-17T11:58:00.000-06:00

We are in California awaiting the arrival of my grandbaby boy. Today is the due date. Rikki spent most of the day in the hospital yesterday because her blood pressure was high. We were hoping they would induce her especially since she was already checked in and all but no such luck. Emily and I are staying across the street with a neighbor that volunteered his extra room to us in lieu of staying at a hotel. A little odd feeling but I am sure we will get used to it. We both slept great. Got up and went running then walked 2 miles with Rikki, her St. Bernard - Gus, her Boxer - Winny and Emily. They live in such a beautiful area near Lake Elsinore. The dogs enjoyed playing in the water and of course, Emily enjoyed playing with them.

Rikki, Emily and I walked a totall of 4 miles - still no baby. Rikki's cousins age 8 and 10 came over. We took them to a Pumpkin patch thing with rides and blow up toys. They had a blast.

Branson Trip

2008-10-17T11:57:00.000-06:00

We took Taylor, Emily's friend to Silver Dollar City with us. Those girls had a blast.

This is one of my favorite decorations they had. It was huge. The girls loved all the pumpkins. SDC (Silver Dollar City) knows how to decorate.

This was a demonstration on how to milk a cow. The girls were captivated as well as I. Great demo - they told us all the specifics on taking care of the cows and their milk.

The Teacup ride - not something I would ever do. The girls loved it.

Emily couldn't go on the big roller coaster because she was one inch short but Taylor did. I do believed she was relieved although she acted very disappointed. Taylor loves riding the rides. Emily is not big on rides but rode several because Taylor wanted her to. I think she actually enjoyed the ones she went on.

This is the girls on a swing inside Grandfather's mansion. This is Emily's very favorite exhibit in the park. She will go through this one about 5 times before moving on.

The swing ride - Emily enjoys this one. Taylor likes them all.

The splash area and the 5 story ball place is a big hit especially when they are told to try to keep dry.

I thought this would be a fun picture.

The three of us.

Sunday Afternoon

2008-08-10T14:35:00.000-06:00

If you have ever seen me try to take pictures of Emily, you would know it is like nailing jello to a wall. But today, after church, I took her to the park and took a few pics.

Sunflower Field

2008-07-27T20:58:00.000-06:00

Emily and I visited a sunflower field and took pictures.

Summer '08 Vacation

2008-07-17T22:32:00.000-06:00

What a vacation! My son, Cody, Emily and I drove Jim's truck to Tony in Lake Elsinore, California. We stopped at Grand Canyon on the way. Next we drove to Campland on the Bay and stayed a couple days with Dave and Barb. Nice family vacation spot - Lots to do, right on the bay, lots of activities. Dave and Barb are just super fun to be around. Emily made a friend while she was there and found 2 other girls that liked Pokemon. Her and Jake entered the sand castle building contest with a live crab to live there. I got to wakeboard with really big wakes.

Tony and Rikki joined us for the last day. We then went to my brother's house, visited and went to dinner. Next stop, back to Tony and Rikki's. Rikki is 6 1/2 months pregnant and absolutely beautiful. My grand baby - yeah!! We went to her baby shower. The beach theme was a hit. She talked her brother into doing a hula dance with her and my nephew Chris and his wife, Heidi, came with their little girl.

Next we went to San Juan where Jim's sister Carla and her family stay during the summer. Wow, what a place. We rode in a sea plane to the island. Had a great time. Emily absolutely adores their daughter Lindsey. I got to do a six mile run that was just wonderful. San Juan is beautiful - very peaceful and restful. We picked cherries and made a pie that night. We played spades. That was fun. Emily put up with me taking pictures of her at the Lavender farm. We also got to watch some guys harvesting some of the crop. Our last day was spent on the boat and a couple of islands. Carla and Chris are quite the hosts and very enjoyable to be around.

Jim would have loved the whole trip. Everywhere we went, I could just picture what Jim would do or say. It was really hard to only choose a few pictures, we took a lot of really nice ones. Enjoy!

Emily's First Camp Trip

2008-07-17T22:23:00.000-06:00

Emily goes on her first camping trip with our church. She was so excited getting to ride the bus and stay two days away from home. Her friends Olivia and Alea were there as well as Olivia's mother. Here are a few pics.

Dallas Trip

2008-06-16T21:35:00.001-06:00

Last weekend we went to Dallas to visit Chris and Elaine Minich. We had a bunch of fun. We did the Plano Race for the Cure 5K on Saturday. It is always so moving to do that race. It is very inspiring. It was fun running with Chris and Elaine. I think we chatted the whole time. My favorite part was probably watching the survivors line up according to how many years they have survived cancer. Just awesome to see the strength and bonding that these women share having gone through such a horrible ordeal. One person had survived 35 years. Wow. After we got home, Elaine and I went on a very enjoyable 3 mile walk.

Sunday, we went to the lake. Emily just comes alive in the water. She wasn't shy at all getting on the tube or kneeboard. I think she has really misses going to the lake. Matt rode the tube with her for a long time and they had some pretty high air. Jim would have been proud. The boys, Chris, Elaine and Nikki all went above and beyond showing us a great time. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures. More pictures can be seen on Chris and Elayne's Blog

Pond vs Pool

2008-06-04T20:43:00.000-06:00

My sister visited last weekend. She cleaned out my pond and we decided to give away the fish and make it a little pool for Emily. Emily was thrilled My sister is a hoot. You always know exactly where you stand with her. She is very giving and caring. I am so fortunate to have her and am forever indebted to her. Anyway, here is a pic of her as she pulled in the driveway. You got to love her!

June is de-weeding my garden.

Our New Pool

Today Emily had her very own pool party with best friend Taylor and her brother Jackson.

Silver Dollar City

2008-06-04T17:01:00.000-06:00

We made our second trip to Silver Dollar City on May 24th, 2008. Had a blast. This time we bought season tickets. Emily only rode 2 rides. She really enjoys the Kids Ball City area, Grandfather's mansion, the Tree House and the Pottery Area. We spent the whole day and had a blast. She also liked playing in the water area and, of course, got soaking wet. She likes to be pushed in the stroller. We went to a fantastic restaurant. I highly recommend it. It is called Lamberts and it is in Ozark, MO. Home of the throwing rolls. Food and entertainment were great and so was the price. Anyway, thought I'd share some pictures.

Ambo's Girls hit the Lake for the first time!

2008-05-21T21:23:00.001-06:00

Today we took the Jetski's to the lake by ourselves for the first time. I have a lot to learn. You see, I want to keep the jetski thing going, Jim loved his jetskis and so does Emily. In fact, I plan on getting good on the stand up - just for Jim. He would have loved that. But first things first, I decided to start with the Ultra 150 (we have an Ultra 150 and a stand up). I got it out of the shop a couple weeks ago. Two days ago, I decided it was time to learn how to do this on my own. I wish I had paid more attention to all of this when Jim was alive. He just took such good care of me/us. Anyway, I decided I would first start the Jetski, so I put a charger on it. That in itself was an accomplishment, since I have never done that. After a few hours of charging and a couple tries at starting and discovering the choke, I was able to start it in the back yard. Cool. Step 2 - now I will hook it up to the truck hitch by myself. Thirty minutes later and much sweat, the task was done. I don't know where the roll up thingy is so I just had to pick up the trailer to sit it on the hitch. Good thing I have a strong back. Next, I pulled it out of the back yard and backed it into the garage. Done.

Today, when Emily got out of school, I backed the truck up and heaved the trailer on the hitch. It went on the first time. WOW! I then figured that I need to hook up brakes, etc. and pulled it out of the garage. Done. Emily and I drive to Oolagah, 15 minutes to the ramp. We stopped at the store first to get gas, I am assuming it needed gas. When we pulled up, I told Emily, I don't think I know where the gas tank is. She said she thought she remembered it being under the top. Sure enough, I found how to open it and there it was - a gas tank and and oil tank. I am assuming we want premium gas at a whopping $3.84 a gallon. Oh my gosh! I opened the oil tank but no oil stick to check it so once again, I am assuming it is full. It only took about 5 gallons of gas so we could have bypassed this step. Oh well, I now can ask someone how to check the oil.

We get to the lake and a truck pulls in behind us with 2 jetskis on the back. I am somewhat relieved because I have someone to ask for help if needed. I have been fighting the boat cover but finally resolved to the fact that you must have to put it in the water, get it off the trailer, then remove it. However, when I was side by side with the other jetski owners, I decided to ask. I just didn't remember Jim having to leave the cover on to get gas, back the trailer down, etc. Sure enough, the guy came right over and showed me how it came off. That helps! We now have our life jackets on, the jetski unsecured from its rope stays (or whatever they are called) and backing the down boat. The other guy has his girl friend or wife guiding him. It took them about 15 minutes to back it down. One thing I do know is how to back up a boat. I stood there thinking about the specifics of how I would manage backing the boat, keeping Emily safe and reparking the truck. I remembered seeing the jetski tie down in the front flip up where the gas tank was so we decided we would back it off the trailer, drive it to the ramp, tie it up and then take care of the truck and trailer. Everything worked out pretty good. After figuring out a couple of missed steps, we started the jetski and parked it, put the truck/trailer up and headed out to sea. We were both yelling 'woohoo'. However, after clearing the buoys, the ski would not go over 9 miles per hour. Something was wrong. Despite Emily wanting me to keep going and to go on the other side of the lake, I decided to play it safe. Good thing, as I was going back to get the ski to drive it on the trailer, the other couple seemed to be having problems too. I told them I couldn't get any power. The guy said they were taking on water and remembered that they didn't put in the drain plugs. I asked, 'There are drain plugs?'. Sure enough, when I pulled the boat up, there was water running out of the jetski through the drain plugs. I think I will make a check list. Anyway, I still feel like it was a success although I still need to call the mechanic to be sure I did not hurt anything and ask how to check the oil. We plan on going back Memorial Day.

Emily Plays Soccer

2008-04-15T21:42:00.000-06:00

Emily has been playing soccer this season and has a couple more games. She has really enjoyed the coach, the team and the playing. Her best friend, Taylor, is on the same team so I am sure that helps. Enjoy the slide show.

Silver Dollar City

2008-04-10T09:13:00.000-06:00

I have been meaning to get this started so that I can share memories etc. with family and friends. I am just starting with the most recent event. We went to Silver Dollar City for the first time on March 21st, 2008 and had a great time. We spent two days and still didn't see everything. It is a really nice family place to go with plenty of activities.

Emily had a great time. She especially liked Grandfather's Mansion and the kids play area. There were balls shooting everywhere. It was too cold for the water rides so we'll have to enjoy those next time. She made a wax hand and enjoyed showing it to her friends. She went on stage to help the magician and was not shy at all. We both enjoyed the pottery making area and watched for several minutes while the potter made vases, etc.

I enjoyed the county setting, wonderful food places, all the arts and crafts and, of course, watching Emily. I rode one ride that was an absolute blast. It was like a big swing and had the bungy jump feeling.

We got our pictures painted as cartoons. There was a basket shop and a log cabin that was really interesting. I am looking forward to going again this year.