Christmas 2011

This year I think Miss C exceeded all levels of excitement...her little legs shook as she stood....It was hard to keep all those secrets she held....and Miss E didn't know why she was excited, she just was. The night before Christmas Eve both girls helped Grammy wrap presents.

We set the table for 10 for dinner. Kris prepared her legendary prime rib, Sandi made a cranberry-apple pie and Linda made roasted red potatoes. Oh, yum! Miss C is  very helpful. 

Finally, Santa came! C was so worried-it was very hard to get to sleep. Grammy stayed up and tracked Santa via Norad...

I scored pretty good...C now has her own bouncy house!

C and E took a drink break-it was FREEZING outside but they didn't care

After dinner another round of gift giving...The Ielmini family is very generous...

Merry Christmas to All

Annual Event-cookies!

Cookie decorating is an annual event that goes back to Kristin's youth (about 5 or 6), and we all look forward to seeing the next generation and their creative genius. Our very shy Miss E stayed in bed, watching TV and playing on her mom's i pad.....

This 2 1/2 year old is more proficient than some adults I know....I'm one of them!

There were 11 children and their parents invited to decorate 12 giant gingerbread men (thanks, Linda, for finding them), 8 standard gingerbread men, 2 dozen sugar cookies and 4 dozen chocolate cookies....

And after preparing 8lbs. confectioner's sugar, 2 1/2 lbs, butter, vanilla and milk into five colors and 6 pastry bags with various tips we're ready to go!

Moms and kids were concentrating very hard....to keep up their strength pizza was served 

The giant gingerbread men were very popular...each child had one to decorate and there were a few extras...

And here is Kris and Miss E decorating a cookie-it's Kris's first time decorating in years! 

Miss E isn't impressed....

And here's the winner! She has lots of expertise and experience....

Best of all is the day after-football

Both Miss C and Miss E watch football with their mom and play on the i pad or Kindle Fire.....Holy cow! Here's to Christmas!

New Additions

Introducing......Boo and Belle! Boo is the puppy on the left and Miss C is responsible for taking care of her. Belle is on the right and Sandi takes care of her (but Miss C actually helps a lot). Their beloved Buddy had gone to his rest and the house was too quiet. Kris told me they were going to wait a while but she couldn't stand the silence. Both Boo and Belle seem to fit in perfectly-they were at Grammy's house and stayed in their bed most of the time! 

And now, the birthday party!

Aunt Alex went into the fun house with Miss C and Miss E.  It's so nice to have the party at a nearby park. Actually, it's easy, breezy-and the clean up is quick.

 This is the jumping jack house-the company comes and sets everything up and at  a predetermined time comes back and picks it up.

 Miss E was really, really tired and was wlling to sit up on Grammy's lap for a while.

 Momma and Miss C did their own special dance....

And when Miss E got a second wind she was ready to join the kids in the jumping jack house!

Birthday Weekend

The second weekend of October is always directed to Miss C and this was  no different. I hadn't seen her playing soccer this year-I didn't come back 'till the end of September then C had a few bouts of strep throat and missed a few games, so this was a real treat! She's so much better-they hardly ever get confused which direction they're supposed to go! And, Miss C will have a "procedure" to get rid of those pesky tonsils-Hopefully, that will minimize these frequent bouts of strep.

She scored at least one goal today....they don't keep official score at this level but I counted about ten....

 Miss C played the whole game-they were short a few players...

 But of course, their biggest fan was on the sidelines cheering them on.

And, they have a traditional "bridge" all the kids go through....

The next blog will be all about the birthday party-the big 6!!!!!

Viva La Mexico!

This young lady was quite taken by the music.

Jimmy, AKA Fr. Lyons, AKA Padre Santiago was so pleased that so many could attend the celebration. This is Aroura, a good friend for many years. She came from Texas and has known Jimmy since his parents moved to Texas to live-about 30 yrs!

There were 14 priests concelebrating the mass with Jimmy-they came from all over-some were former students of Jimmy's

I'm not sure who the lady is-the picture in the background is the founder of the Oblates and was canonized.

We're waiting for Mass to begin-Jimmy isn't even dressed yet! from L to R:

my second cousin once removed Cassie, my cousin Kathleen and her husband Steve, and my cousin Mary Ellen.

Here's my cousin Tommy at breakfast. We all met at the hotel's  restaurant for their delicious breakfast buffet. 

And here's a better shot of Cassie. It's the first time we met-she & I were roommates at this great hotel named the Bristol. She took a million pictures and plans to send us copies, so I may have to do another blog about Mexico.....

On September 8th my cousin Jimmy celebrated his 50th anniversary of his ordination, so I flew to Mexico City where he's worked for so many of those years. Mexico City is very different when you're treated like kings and queens, and that is just what happened! We came from all parts-Cassie from Southern CA, Steve and Kathleen from Northern  CA, Tommy from Florida, Mary Ellen from Virginia, and me-I flew out of Sea-Tac since I'm still in WA with Teresa. Jimmy's friends planned a special celebration after the Mass-and about 250 attended! It was quite beautiful-lots of good food, plenty of music and dancing. Jimmy's friend went all out to make this special and I'm so glad I could be a part of it. The next day Jimmy arranged for us to go down to the retreat center and just hang out. Naturally we had another feast made by Sara, a good friend of Jimmy's and his gal Friday. Everything we tasted was so good! I had a great time getting to renew friendships with my cousins and meeting a newer member of the family. Everything went too fast! 

Newport, OR

My dear friends moved to Newport, OR about a year ago. They had lived in Camano Island, WA and I missed visiting with them  while I'm in WA, so this weekend was a perfect opportunity to go see their place and visit Newport....Roy and Teresa were busy with their Lions Club annual garage sale.

We took a quick tour of the Bay street Pier and drove over the bridge to Agate Cove lighthouse.

Here's Scott and Debby...They're such fun!

And the three of us with Agate Cove in the background

Those little white dots are seal pups-it was such fun watching them!

Westport

Westport is a small town on the Coast of Washington. Our friends Paul and Denise Roberts are workamping at  lovely park called "American Sunset", and Teresa and I thought it was time for a girlie road trip-so off we went! In this picture we're at Grey's Harbor, soaking up the lovely coastal fog......That's Paul on the far left, Teresa in the center and Denise on the right.

Here's the real star of the Robert's family-Duke! He's adorable and we considered a dognapping......

This is the Wesport Maritime  Museum. It  originally housed the U.S. Coast Guard. Westport had two razor clam canneries, and a thriving timber industry, and commercial fishing. 

Now, it's a sleepy little town that relies on tourism and non-commercial fishing. 

This lens was lent to the museum by the Coast Guard...they actually built the facility to house it! 

Iron Works

Roy is an accomplished artist. He takes ordinary iron/metal and makes the most extraordinary pieces for your lawn or garden. This is his latest effort-a chicken! It has detail you can't appreciate if you don't see it in person! He participates in a few shows-I think the next one is in Packwood, WA on Labor Day weekend.

This is a view of the spring forest.....

Have you ever seen an insulator tree? it sparkles when the sun shines (not too often inWA!!!)

Have you ever seen such lovely flowers?

Look closely-there's a hummingbird in the midst of the garden....

Yes, this is a giant ant-bet you don't want to see this in your house!