Shopping Trip to SanFrancisco

Kelli, Alli, Brennah and I spent a night in the city and did some school shopping in Union Square. What a blast!

This is the view of the city from the 21st floor of the St. Francis in Union Square.

Alli and Bren in the dressing room at Macy's.

Hmmmmmm....
What kind of cheesecake do I want for dessert?



















They left their heart in San Francisco!

JULY

SUMMER FUN!

Sue Kelly's homemade snickerdoodles. YUM!

Picking cherries at John and Sue's house

Abby: our 2 1/2 year old swimmer!

Happy 4th of July!

The flag flying proudly at the Periwinkle house in Carmel...a lovely sight!

Periwinkle-blue adirondack chairs...scrumptious!

June 6--Carmel

24 Hours in Carmel...

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REST

SAND


SEA



FLOWERS


LOVE

Merced Children's Choir

Brennah's first concert was magnificent!

What a Show!

We had a spectacular lightning show last night. Ted captured some of it on his camera, which was not an easy task! However, photographing our grand-ones has probably helped to increase his rapid response time!


Lightening facts:

--A lightning flash is no more than one inch wide.
--The temperature of a lightning flash is 15,000 to 60,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hotter than the surface of the sun (9,000 degrees Fahrenheit).
--A stroke of lightning moves about 62,000 miles per second--one-third the speed of light.
--A single lightning flash carries an electric current as high as 300,000 amperes. For comparison, electrical wiring in a house carries 20 or 30 amperes.
--The Guinness Book of World Records lists Roy Sullivan of Virginia as the human being struck by lightning the most times: seven. This is one record you don't want to beat!

Meals on Wheels!

Kelli fixes dinner for us on Thursday.
Yep! It's about the best thing ever!
Last Thursday we went to their house for dinner. It was fabulous and included after-dinner entertainment by the "Flying Fergie Band." (That's the Wii Rock Band) Alli plays drums, Brennah is the vocalist, Corbin plays guitar, and Macy plays a guitar that is unplugged. (Of course she doesn't realize that she's not plugged in so she strums her little heart out!)
Tonight our dinner was delivered to us in a picnic basket. Soft tacos with all the fixin's and chocolate cake--Yum!
Thursday could be my new favorite day of the week!

APRIL 15th...HOORAY!

Tax Season is over and it's time to celebrate!

The boys had their day at the Oakland A's ballgame:

The girls had pedicures and a date with Hannah Montana:

Happy Spring!

"Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer." ~Geoffrey B. Charlesworth

A Poem

Grown Children

by Sharon Olds

...And now our daughter

is asleep on the couch, not six pounds

thirteen ounces, but about my size,

her great, complex, delicate face

relaxed. And our son, last night, looking closely

at his sweetheart as they whispered for a moment, what a tender
listening look he had. We raised them

daily, I mean hourly--every minute

we were theirs, no hour went by we were not

raising them--carrying them, bearing them, lifting them

up, for the pleasure, and so they could see,

out, away from us.

This poem fell into my lap today.

I loved the words.

They touched my heart and my soul.

And...I cried.

I love my babies.

And...

I love the incredibly wonderful grown-up people

my babies have become!

They Leave Traces Behind...

How do you know if grandkids have been visiting in your home?

You find dolls wrapped up in your dishtowels in baskets meant for books.

There is bubblegum scented bath mousse and an assortment of squirty toys in your tub.

You may find rubber balls or other unusual items in the pantry.

The swimsuit hanging on the door is way too tiny to be yours!

You find amusing "love notes" on the white-board in the garage.

Does it get any better than this?

Girl Power!

Ahhhh.....

a lovely day in early March.

Girls only!

A little dip in the spa,

and then a little snack poolside...

Sweet!

What's in Your Pocket?

We've always called Macy our "Pocket Baby."
She's a tiny little gal --the perfect size to put in your pocket and keep close to your heart!

Dreamy...

What more can I say?

What's a Porcupine Cake?

A Porcupine Cake is a chocolate bundt cake with 55 candles poking out of it! I can't remember the last time I had the same number of candles on my cake as my age... My friends ignored all fire and safety regulations and surprised me with a flaming Porcupine Cake. (It took a mighty big breath to blow those candles out!)

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"A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip."

~Author Unknown

Happy Valentine's Day!

Check out these sweet Valentines!

This is my mom and dad walking together down Market Sreet in San Francisco in April of 1947. I love the expression on their faces...wish I knew what their conversation was about!

Happy Birthday Brennah Claire!

I'd like to think that I helped "usher Brennah into this world...Well, at least I was there cheering Kelli and Brian on! It was a blessing to meet Brennah when she was less than one-minute old and I fell instantly in love! The world is certainly a sweeter place because of Brennah Claire!

What's Your Favorite Day of the Week?

"Perko Day" is our favorite day of the week. Once a week I pick my grand-ones up from school and we go to Perko's for "clown sundaes." We have a favorite booth in the corner where we settle in and talk about the day's events while enjoying the ice cream sundaes. Today Brennah said, "All day today I kept saying, "I can make it through the day because it's Perko Day!" (3rd grade days can be trying I suppose!) We all got the giggles when I made them promise that even when they're in high school and have their own driver's licenses, they will still let their little ol' granny pick them up for a Perko Day!

The funniest question that our kids ask...

The funniest question our kids ask us is, "What do you want for your birthday?" Check this picture out. We have everything we could ever want or imagine!

We had a fun day in Fresno celebrating two birthdays. Ted and Brian's birthdays are just a day apart. Happy Birthday guys!

A beautiful day in Applegate Park

Our family enjoyed a wonderful day together at Applegate Park and Zoo.

It seems as if the animals at the little zoo were enjoying the sunny afternoon as much as we were. They were all awake, soaking up the warmth of sun, and actually seemed happy to see all of us! The monkeys were quite the show-offs and very successful at getting our "grand-ones" to laugh outloud!

The three youngest girlies: Kinsley, Macy and Abby.

Alli and Brennah were the playground aides for the day!

And then there's the wild guy, Corbin!

Printing your 2008 Blog...

So I'm thinking about printing my blog from last year...
It would be a nice little diary from 2008. I found a website that will print your blog and bind it in book format. I'm still thinking about it. Here's the site I looked at:
http://serv.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html


Once I decide, then I will resume blogging for 2009. Hmmmmm...

Christmas...part 2

Our 2nd Christmas celebration included all of us--1 dozen! I was holding baby Kinsley on my lap and watching the other 5 grand-ones playing together and I knew right then that I was most blessed!