Easter 2012

I spent Easter with my daughter and her family.  We had a nice ham dinner (I'm not a fan of ham, but it was actually really good) and then we all went outside for an Easter egg hunt.  It was a pretty warm day out, and so beautiful.  One of the adults hid the eggs and we let the little ones search for them first, and when they were done the adults found the rest of them.  My youngest granddaughter was funny because she kept going up to her uncle and saying she wanted more eggs, and she would reach into his sack and take his.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see my other kids or my grandson for Easter, but I will get to see them all very soon. Yay!  We did do face time on my phone so I could see and talk to my son, grandson and daughter-in-law.  My grandson is two years old and he gave me some kisses and a big hug by wrapping his arms around the ipad (lol).  He also counted for me, sang the alphabet song, and danced to a couple of songs.  He takes after me...loves to dance!  It's so cute how he says, "I love you, Nana"...always adds Nana at the end.

Here are my granddaughters in their Easter dresses.

So cute...she's sharing her sucker with her sister.

The little one has so much hair and it's always covering her face.  She had a barret in but took it out.

There's her face!

Counting their eggs...

Oh where, oh where did the little eggs go...

Somebody is tired.  I think she had a little too much candy.

The girls were actually pretty darn good at finding the eggs.

Here's my daughter with her daughters!

And here I am with my granddaughters.

 

I hope everyone had a happy Easter!

My Friend Came To Visit Me in Phoenix

One of my friends made her first trip ever to Phoenix, and I did my best to show her a good time.  We spent five days together...hiking, shopping, working out at the gym, yoga class, strolling through an art walk, checking out a local brewery, eating at different restaurants, getting a pedicure, and lots of girl talk.  In other words, we wore ourselves out, but had fun in the process. 

I took her to my favorite zumba class last Saturday and then we went for a two hour hike on a south mountain trail in Awahtukee.  Both were firsts for her.  She had never hiked up a mountain before or taken a zumba class, but she did great and loved the zumba dancing.  I've just recently started hiking with a group I joined and I love it so much. I'm hiking different mountain trails every week, so I took her to one of the trails I have done before.

 

On Tuesday another friend of mine joined us and we hiked up the Cholla trail on Camelback mountain.  Her fear of heights got to her, and we headed back down before reaching the summit.  It was ok though because we treated ourselves to pedicures and did a little shopping afterwards.

Later that night we capped off the evening at one of the nations best pizza reataurants...Pizzaria Bianca.  She liked it so much she bought a pizza to go, and the next day she carried it on the plane with her to bring home.

I had a wonderful time with my dear friend, and I was so happy she came to see me.  She had a great time too and we are both looking forward to a return visit.

Another Trip to California

I made another trip to California to visit my son and his family.  I took this picture of the salf flats as we were landing.  From up in the sky they look so colorful and like a beautiful work of art.

The main reason for going to California was to babysit my grandson while my son went to work, since my daughter-in-law was heading out to Colorado to ice climb.  Yeah, sounds scary doesn't it?  We all got to spend some time together before she left.  I'm happy to say, she made it home safe and sound.

My friend from high school stopped by with her husband and son and we went to the Fish Restaurant by the wharf in Sausalito.  Here's me with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson.

   Here's the rest of the gang while we were waiting for our food.

My grandson is such a happy little boy.  He's very inquisitive, knows his alphabet and numbers, loves puzzles, books, and Super Y (which I knew nothing about before, but sure do now!).  He sleeps in a twin sized bed now and still loves to be read to every night.   

 I love this little guy so much.  He was so cute at the airport when he broke away from my son's arms and ran to me as soon as he saw me coming through the gate.  He was calling out to me...nana...nana!  It melted my heart.

Special Times With Mom

We went to Chicago to visit my mom, and of course, my daughter, last week.  My daughter had to fly out a couple of days after I arrived.  She won an award at work for a free trip to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.  The rest of my time was spent driving to the suburbs to see mom, and the only other thing we did the whole week was see the movie, War Horse.  What an awesome movie! We will do more things in Chicago next time around, but this time our focus was mom since it is her birthday week.  In fact, today is her birthday.  Happy Birthday, Mom!

A Loving Tribute To My Mom


In my mom's hands, I see all of the hard work that ...she has done for me. I see the caring they've provided for my benefit down through the years. In my mom's eyes, I sense a gentle understanding of my ways, and also a longing to sometimes help me see some better ways of living. In my mom's arms, I've found comfort from the world so many times, from fears, hurts, and everything that troubles me. I know that if anything happens to bother me now, those arms are always open just for me. In my mom's face, I see the hopes for me that are plainly written there; often, a sense of pride is revealed, too. But in my mom's heart is the greatest gift of all, for that is where so much love is kept for me. ~ Barbara J. Hall

I love my mom so very much.  Here's some pictures of our visit...

Yellow Sky Painting With Trees and Snow

I painted another picture!  I used acrylics on a 16 x 20 inch canvas, and it took about 5 hours to paint.  I really want to start painting more often, but sometimes I don't get around to doing what I want, even with the best intentions.  We'll see how it goes.  My mom enjoyed painting too, so I guess it runs in the family.  I used a painter's sponge on the background, and I love the way it turned out.  

Here's some pictures of my painting from start to finish.