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...

Starting a New Tradition For the Holidays, and Trip to Jerome, Haynes, and Sedona, AZ

This year was a new beginning to a Thanksgiving tradition, since our former holiday traditions have become a thing of the past. With my grandparents and my dad long gone, my mom in a nursing home, and the distance of my sisters, holidays are not the same as they once were.  That's the thing about life, things change, traditions change, and we start new ones. It's not supposed to be a sad thing, but a happy, new beginning. The past holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas will forever be etched in my memory, but now, going forward, I am starting a new tradition. We have decided that every other year we will get together at my house for either Christmas or Thanksgiving. Since this was the year for Thanksgiving, we celebrated Christmas too. My kids will be with their significant other's families for Christmas this year. Next year our family will be together for Christmas instead of Thanksgiving. I think we got it all worked out where everyone knows the schedule and can plan accordingly. 

There's so much going on right now and my mind is usually in a state of worry about my mom's health.  So it was so nice having all of my kids come here for the holiday and we could spend some good quality time together.  It offered me a nice distraction, and we had a really fun time. They always make me laugh!  I love being with all of them.  I didn't get to be with my mom, but I plan to see her just as soon as I can get back to Chicago.

My son and his family flew in from San Francisco and my youngest daughter and her boyfriend flew in from Chicago.  My oldest daughter lives here in Phoenix, near me. My house isn't that big so we had to divide the family between my house and my daughter's house for sleeping arrangements. It's ok though, because we spent most of our waking hours together.  I had all of my kids and grandkids here, and I went to bed at night, peacefully, knowing they were all safe and sound. All moms know that feeling!  Even though my kids are grown, we moms still worry about them.

I usually have my Christmas tree up early so it wasn't that big of a deal putting it up when I did.  It did feel kind of strange getting all of my Christmas shopping done so early.  I was listening to Christmas music and wrapping presents when other people were just starting their Christmas lists. I don't know what it's going to feel like when Christmas is actually here, because right now I feel like it's over, except when I go to the stores and am reminded that Christmas is still coming.  It's everywhere.  I love this time of year.

When my youngest daughter and her boyfriend arrived last Wednesday, we headed out for a mountain hike shortly after returning from the airport.  By the time we got to the mountain, we stopped for a jump shot picture, which is something my daughter and I always do.  She can jump higher than I can, but I say it's because she's so much younger, AND, she is more athletic than me with all those years of dance, cheerleading, and other sports.   Anyway, it's a fun thing for us to do.

Here's my daughter and her boyfriend...

After our pictures, we set out on the mountain trail.  The rocks were really loose and I warned everyone to be careful.  So what do I do?  I guess I wasn't careful enough, because I ended up slipping on the rocks and I fell and landed on a hard rock that jabbed me in the upper part of my leg.  Thankfully, I didn't get hurt badly and was able to walk ok.  Shortly after that we turned around and headed back to the house.  Soon after, a bruise appeared, and my leg was sore.  But about 5 days later, after all the kids left, that's when it started to bother me.  I got some Arnicare from the drugstore and I applied heat to the bruise (which was the worst bruise I have ever seen).  Both of those things helped because it felt so much better and looked so much better within just two days.  Anyway, enough of that.

Later that day I picked up my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson from the airport.  I just saw them earlier in the month, but of course it was so sweet to see them again.  I fixed lasagne and baked spaghetti and french bread for supper that night, and all the kids and their spouses and my grandkids were at my house.  The grandkids played really well together.  They are 3, almost 2, and just turned 2 years old.

This was taken at my daughter's house...

We had Thanksgiving dinner at my daughter's house the next morning.  She has a bigger dining room table than me so we agreed to have it there this year, and we both shared the preparation of the food.  I baked the turkey at my house, so I got the most important job!  I think it turned out really good.

Here's a picture of my kids on Thanksgiving.

The day after Thanksgiving we packed the family in two cars and drove to Jerome, Arizona, which is an historical ghost town.  It is considered the most vertical city in America.  The views from the vistas were beautiful.  You could see Sedona and the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff from the town.
This is Jerome...

 

We left Jerome and drove a short distance to the town of Haynes, Arizona, which is an old mining town, and a completely deserted ghost town.  A mine was constructed to mine for copper but gold was found instead.  It was interesting walking through the town and going inside the old buildings, and seeing all the old cars and trucks and equipment.

After walking around Haynes, we drove about 20 miles to Sedona. I've been there before but my younger two have not been there.  It is such a beautiful place and it would be such a neat place to live.  Not only the beauty, but the energy some people feel from the vortexes is what draws spectators to the area. This first picture is the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which was built in 1956...the same year that I was born.

 A couple of pictures of me and my kids. 

 Here's a picture of our whole gang.

 The beautiful Sedona sunset. 

When we got home after our trip we went to my daughter's house and ate some left-over food.

The next day we prepared a big breakfast at my house.  My daughter and her husband made pumpkin, walnut pancakes and my daughter-in-law made an egg and hashbrown casserole.  I made some bacon and cinnamon rolls and we had some fresh fruit and juice.  After breakfast we turned on some Christmas music and opened our presents.  I just loved the kids' expressions and obvious signs of happiness and excitement when they opened their gifts.  That is what makes Christmas so special.  Seeing that. 

Here's my grandkids again.  My daughter curled the girls' hair for a photo shoot later on...

 I love this picture of them...

Here's the rest of the family...

 After our Christmas, the kids took naps and then we went to Scorpion Gulch at South Mountain for a photo shoot.  My daughter is an aspiring photographer and she wanted to take pictures of the family.  We really appreciated it, and she got some awesome shots.  Here's some of them...

I took this one.

 Later that night we hung out at the house and ordered pizza.  My son and my daughter's boyfriend put some cool apps on my iphone and showed me some of the features of my new phone that I didn't  know about.  My daughter's boyfriend made a Lady Gaga CD for me (I love her songs) and next time I go to Chicago he is going to download her songs to my ipod.  We talked about a family vacation next year, and decided a Disney cruise next fall/winter would be a great thing for the young ones and the adults.  We've got some planning to do!  That will be a blast, and more than anything, it will be a great memory for all of us.