Monthly Archives: December 2017

It’s the Season

Above – Maya & Sparty with Santa (courtesy of Jen).


Below – Earlier this month, Robb and the boys shop a Christmas tree in chilly Walnut Creek (or thereabouts).

Back at the house with tree and train set.


You’ll want to make sure you have plenty of spare time when you view the next couple videos of Sparty’s and Maya’s school holiday programs. The first two are 15 minutes long.

Here’s Sparty’s.


This is Maya’s. In this video she does a dance with 3 other children. When I took that clip, I switched the phone to portrait which, I realized after I merged all the songs together (all other clips were landscape), cut portions of the children’s heads off. Don’t worry, I created a separate video (following this one) that has only that clip in portrait so you can see all of our beautiful granddaughter.


Here’s the short video of Maya’s dance, heads included!


An early Christmas for Kando & Alo last week at Daddy’s house.


On the last day of school before winter break, Alo and Kando hold up glazed sculptures they painted.


Last night’s Christmas Eve celebration was a quiet one. The youngest person there was 21 years old. Although all the little ones were missed, it was nice to sit and chat with everyone.

Both Robb and Ron collect their children at noon today and we’ll celebrate this afternoon with all of them.

I’ll leave you with a picture of the baklava Bruce and I made. Somehow this year we have extra left over, more than usual. It’s a good thing it freezes nicely. We’ll be able to pull it out later in the year when least expected. I bought the cinnamon sticks in Pune when I was there in August (see photo that follows).


Blogged on Amma’s iPhone X with an over abundance of joy, merriment & excitement (more than she can stand) at the anticipation of see all the grandkids together again!

CHEERS!!

Up on the Roof!

Above – Maya had lunch at Hugo’s with Amma & Pappa before helping put up Great Grandma’s outdoor Christmas lights.


Maya was a big help moving ornaments from the garage to the front yard. We had to load them up in the car and drive them around.

Jamie was a big help (& obstacle) too. Here we are on the roof. It’s very cool up there!

Couldn’t resist this one!

View from the roof of Maya helping Pappa on the ladder.


Robb and the kids took a trolley ride while they were here.


My guess is they all shared one Slurpee, and even that could create a urinary emergency!


A stop on the way back to the Bay Area. These two little ones have a lot of energy, probably requiring multiple food and potty breaks.


Home at last, a little wild and hungry!

Actually, Robb and the boys left the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I’m just hanging onto the memories of having them here. We had a lot of fun. The boys are smart, very well behaved and BIG eaters (Robb too. LOL). It’s always a pleasure to have them here.


Here’re some photos from the family photo shoot I scheduled for when all the kids were here.

These are just some of the “gems.” I love these kids!


Oh, I almost forgot to add the photo of the Christmas lights we put up. This was my first rodeo doing this and I think we did a damn good job!


Blogged on Amma’s iPhone X with LOVE & gratitude!

Thanksgiving & More

Above – No, Santa Ana winds did not blow this OB Holiday Tree over. For the second year in a row the OB Town Council managed to find a tree that bends considerably.


Below – Monette’s homemade apple pie. It was a masterpiece and tasted awesome. They get better every year!

Every Thanksgiving needs a pilgrim.

Yoga studio turned playroom.

… and group photo venue.

Notice someone missing in the group photo? Maya was sick so Ron stayed home with her. Don’t worry, they received home delivery Thanksgiving dinner.


Evening moon over the ocean at Ladera Street.


Cousins at Balboa Park.

These two cousins learned that the train isn’t necessarily built for two adults in one seat.


One of these trees was planted in memory of my dad way back in 1977. Since I couldn’t remember which one, we took a group photo at both trees. I tend to believe it was the the tree in the first photo.


It’s hard to believe Christmas is only a couple weeks away. Where did the time go? This weekend will be dedicated to sifting through digital pictures for the family calendar, an annual project that takes me a very long time.


Blogged on Amma’s iPhone X with LOVE!