California Trip

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.