ANOTHER DOUBLE CELEBRATION!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Jennifer & Joe. November 8 marks their 7th wedding anniversary, and the first one to be celebrated in Florida where they now reside. We hope your day is filled with reminiscing about and making new happy memories together! We miss you and love!!
Our son-in-law Alan will celebrate his birthday on November 8...we hope all his math students are well-behaved and anxious to learn on Monday!! That may be a bit of a stretch, but certainly something "to wish for" on your birthday! Have a great day, Alan!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

We celebrated Halloween a day early so that our immediate family (minus Jen & Joe) could gather together for a chili supper, cornbread, and see Cailyn in her costume...and she delighted us by coming to the door and softly saying "trick or treat"
Mike and Corissa said it was "challenging" to get her dressed, but the results were worth waiting for! What a darling "ladybug" she is!! AND even her dolly had a costume to match...
Cailyn opened her bag of goodies from Mimi and Grandpa, and out of all the little gifts in the bag, she was most happy with the silly straws! I think she thought they were drumsticks or something! She had fun "dancing" in her ladybug costume!

After supper, Aunt Alissa made caramel appples for everyone,
and Uncle Alan carved a pumpkin
Everyone admired the jack-o-lantern-in-process
AND the trick-or-treaters will enjoy this happy pumpkin when they come to our door this evening~
Hope you all enjoy a Happy Halloween too!

October 28, a Day to Celebrate...TWICE!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to TWO special couples in my life. My parents are celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary today. We celebrated with them last Sunday with a trip to downtown Phoenix on the light-rail. Our destination was the Spaghetti Factory and we had a delicious lunch there,
and enjoyed our train trip too!
Our son Michael and his wife Corissa are celebrating their 4th wedding anniversary.
They celebrated last weekend going on a "date" while Alissa and Alan took care of Cailyn!
Many more happy years together to both couples!!

October Break

Before October is over, thought I would blog about my activities during my October break from work. It was a busy week, but a much-needed change of activity and scenery! I rented a few movies to watch, did some reading,
decorated for Halloween,went shopping, including Costco. Mike and Cailyn joined us there one evening
I had the opportunity to watch granddaughter Cailyn on Monday, Thursday and Friday. She is one busy girl now! Being 20 months old means Cailyn has lots of energy which results in one tired Grandma at the end of the day! ;-) At home
I also did some paper-shredding, rather mundane, but I listened to an audio book while in the process.
I played dolls with Cailyn...

At home I did some on-line shopping
and some yardwork. I went on a walk with Cailyn; our destination was the McDonald's two blocks from her house! They have a great indoor toddler play area!

She and I like the yogurt parfaits! We got to enjoy Elmo's alphabet song on their computer, but only for a few minutes.
I practiced my latin choir music, one of the many special songs for the dedication of St. Mary Magdalene's new church building on October 29.
I joined the church choir last spring and really enjoy serving in this ministry. Have I mentioned that Cailyn's favorite puppet is a kitty, and her "boo-boo bear" is always nearby!
She loves dressing up, and likes playing blocks with her Grandpa! He came over to play after work one day. The weather was still warm, but early on my last playday with Cailyn, we went out on their patio right after breakfast, still in her pajamas, to play with bubbles. I had been told how much she likes the bubbles, and there was a special wand that makes tiny little bubbles, and Grandma had a big time with that!
While Grandma was busy making bubbles to entertain Cailyn, she surprised me by being more fascinated and entertained with moving dirt from one flower pot to another
What was supposed to be a nice, clean fun activity turned into quite a dirty, muddy mess, since Grandma then had to clean the dirt out of the water table, and Cailyn of course wanted to help with the water!
She and I were both wet and muddy by the time we went in the house! It's a great memory and I am so grateful that I had the week off, and an opportunity to spend some extra time with Cailyn!

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

While we were waiting to become grandparents for the first time, I did alot of dreaming about what our grandchild might be like and how it would feel to be a grandmother. Learning from my sister, my parents, my aunts and uncles, my cousins and friends...the unanimous consensus is that "grandparenting" is one of the BEST things to be experienced in life, (and some would say even better than parenting!)

Our biggest quandry at the time was "what will I want to be called by our grandchild?" So Vince and I went through the usual possibilities: Grandma, Nana, Grandpa, Papa, Grammy, Gramps (that choice was nixed by Vince right away). We finally settled on Grandma and Grandpa after Cailyn Grace arrived!

Who would have thought that after a year, the name Grandma doesn't seem to be working anymore. That's because Cailyn has decided to call me "Mimi"! MIMI!! We ALL thought it was so cute, the first few times she referred to me by that name...thinking it would be a phase. But it seems that MIMI is here to stay...and actually, I've come to love it! Of course, this child could probably call me almost anything, and I would love it! ;-) Right now, Vince is still Grandpa, but of course, that might change next month. If it does, I'll post an update!

Where I spend my time...

We are almost through the first quarter of the school year already, so thought I would blog about where I work. I'm starting my fourth year at Skyline High School in the east Mesa area. I have never missed working in the attendance office at Dobson High School one minute! That's because I now work 10 minutes from home and I work in a beautiful school library. We have about 18,000 books, a computer lab, plus 30 student computers in the main library. We have a magazine room, and a video/DVD room which teachers can access. We have lounge chairs for a reading nook, and a teacher's computer/work area also. This is where my desk is, right by the circulation desk.I enjoy creating monthly displays for "This Month in History" If you are wondering what the "mustard" means: August 7 is National Mustard Day!Everyone needs to know that bit of trivia, right? I also change and display books in this glass cabinet near the front door. The magazine room is visible through the glass windows above the cabinet. This picture shows the "back to school" theme, but now I have the Hispanic Heritage Celebration housed there. We also receive monthly creative arts displays from our District about different countries and cultures. Here is a sample one from last month.This display is about Afghanistan. I don't have a picture of our great lounge/kitchen area housed between the library and the audio/visual department. My co-worker Colleen helps me half of her workday in the library; the other half is spent in the copy center in A.V. I am so thankful to have a job, and to work in such a pleasant environment with great teachers, staff and students.

Sadness and Joy

The last four weeks have been difficult for our family, with joyful moments sprinkled in between. My husband's mother, Rose, passed away on August 10. She was a woman faced with many physical ailments but always maintained her independence with determination and a positive spirit. Her faith in God and love of family was inspiring and she will be missed by her family.



We were thankful that our oldest daughter could fly home from Florida for her Nana's services. Jennifer stayed with us for 6 days, and it was great to have her home for a short visit. Vince and I were privileged to help the priest at St. Daniel's plan the funeral mass, and we appreciate all the kind thoughts, cards, prayers and food brought over by so many friends and family members. Mom was under Hospice of the Valley's care for a year, and we cannot say enough good things about that organization. They were like "angels on earth."



Another joyful moment was on the day after the funeral(August 14) when our 18-month old granddaughter Cailyn came to our house wearing a cute little T-shirt announcing that she will be a "big sister" next February! We are very happy for Mike and Corissa, (and for us too!)



In mid-August our daughter Alissa was featured in the Go-Gilbert Magazine with a 2-page spread about her GGRS Concepts business! The story and photos are great, and of course, we think she's beautiful too!!



God will always help us through difficult times. He has sprinkled our sadness with joy! And we are thankful!