Thankful for Family

The last few weeks have been filled with family events, and I am thankful to have family nearby with whom we can celebrate!  Besides birthday celebrations and Sunday evening dinners with our children and grandchildren, we also are blessed to enjoy extended family times around the holidays.  Here are some miscellaneous snapshots of Cailyn and Landon in recent weeks!

Here Grandpa is helping Cailyn dress the old cabbage patch dolls...undressing is the most fun, but Cailyn is pretty adept at the shoes and socks already!

Landon is a charmer, and has "graduated" from his doc-band!  He's cut two little teeth on the bottom in the past month, and must hold the record for the "fastest crawler" in the 9-month age category!

Mimi bought Landon a "first hat" since the doc-band, and Cailyn is trying to help Landon with the correct hat placement.  Cailyn LOVES hats, and hopefully Landon will like them too!

Cailyn in her purple leggings and pink boots....stylin'!!  She loves playing with the "gel" stickers on the windows...and Landon is loving the swing time now!!

Vince cooked a delicious turkey on the grill for our Thanksgiving dinner this year...

                                     We are thankful for God's many blessings, but the blessing of

a loving family is the most precious of all!

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS @ THE ZOO!!

Our family enjoyed a wonderful opportunity to go to the Phoenix Zoo together!  Mike and Corissa had visitor passes for all of us with their zoo membership, and the predicted rain for Nov. 12th held off, so we were able to celebrate our November birthdays with a picnic lunch near the giraffe exhibit at the Zoo.  It had been years since Vince and I were at the zoo, so there were many new additions, including the new koi pond near the entrance. It was beautiful! Plus, we enjoyed the new orangutan and komodo dragon exhibits.

We especially liked observing Cailyn "in action" as she watched the animals and helped lead the way.  Landon was a good sport and was content in the stroller most of the time.

Alan's birthday is Nov. 8, Mike's is the 12th, and mine is the 16th!  Every year, we usually share a celebration together...

After our picnic lunch, we wandered over to see the sleepy lions and the baboons.  I don't think this guy really wanted his photo taken!!

In this photo, it looks like Landon's sunglasses are a bit troublesome for him...he is so good natured about the doc-band, but hasn't quite become accustomed to the sunglasses yet!

We had a wonderful time together and we appreciate so much the opportunity to go to the zoo as a family! Thankyou Mike & Corissa!!
Landon fell asleep towards the end of our visit, and Cailyn said a special goodbye to one of her zoo friends, "until we meet again"!

Grandchildren's visit

Last weekend, we were lucky enough to have Cailyn AND Landon stay over at our house for 24 hours!! We had lots of fun, and were busy every minute!  Here Grandpa's watching the activities while I was fixing lunch.  Landon loves all things that are round or that make noise!  Cailyn is borrowing my sudoku book, pretending to write...or maybe she's solving my puzzle??!

There was plenty of time for playdough after lunch, and again, before supper.  Cailyn brought along her "signing time" DVD collection, so we enjoyed a couple of those with her during their stay.  Grandpa and Mimi are way behind on learning the "signs"!  We better catch up!

Cuddle time with Grandpa is always fun, especially when he makes those funny sounds and faces!  The weather was beautiful so swinging, sandplay, and chalkboard drawing were all FUN.  Cailyn was good at sharing the swing with her brother, and also likes to push Landon in the swing!

Mimi found new jammies to keep at her house, so they were worn for bedtime on Saturday!  Landon gets a one-hour break in the evenings from his doc-band, so Grandpa and Mimi washed his hair in the kitchen sink before dressing him for bedtime.  He was ready for bed at 7:00...and Mimi and Grandpa were almost ready by that time too! ;-) 

Grandpa made us waffles for breakfast! Both children eat very well. Cailyn enjoyed sandplay again on Sunday morning, followed by a bath.  We were so happy to be able to help Mike & Corissa so they could enjoy a weekend away!  The smiles on Landon's and Cailyn's faces when mommy and daddy walked through our door on Sunday morning were priceless! 

A Remarkable Milestone...

October 28, 2011 marks the 60th wedding anniversary for my parents, Marvin and JoAnn Janne!  I feel very blessed  to be able to be near them and celebrate this remarkable milestone event in their lives!  My sister and I are planning a family reunion and celebration next March to honor our parents in a special way!  Mom and Dad, thank you for setting the example of what marriage truly is! We cherish each and every day that we can be together. Mom and Dad, I love you with all of my heart! HAPPY 60TH ANNIVERSARY!!

A Pleasant Evening, and then..."a bump in the night!"

On Sunday, October 23, we enjoyed a pleasant dinner with Mike, Corissa and their children.  The weather has been cooling off in the evenings, so we all went for a walk after dinner to enjoy the weather and see some Halloween decorations in our neighborhood.

When we arrived back home, we enjoyed some home-made apple crisp and gave Mike and Corissa their anniversary gift "early"!  They will celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary on October 28!  Amazing how time flies! 

Grandpa had a fun time entertaining Landon!  We will "entertain" both children this weekend so Mike & Corissa can "escape" for an anniversary celebration!  We wish you much happiness for your special day and many more happy years together!  We love you!!!

At 12:30 a.m. on Monday morning, I awoke from a sound sleep to what I thought was a ringing doorbell....Naaah, it couldn't be!!  Then, I thought I heard someone knocking, so I jumped out of bed, and realized my cats were all scurrying away from the noise too.  The knocking became louder and louder!!  I looked out the peephole of the front door, without glasses, and I couldn't see anything but a hand!  Whoa...I ran to get Vince, who was still soundly sleeping!  (He used to be the "light sleeper", but guess those days are gone now!)  Anyway, after waking Vince, and retrieving my eyeglasses, I went back to the front door...realizing it was a policeman who had been knocking and waiting!  I cautiously opened the door, and the officer immediately apologized for the "late hour"--I'm sure I looked fairly bleary-eyed!  He then proceeded to ask me, "Is this your scarecrow?" as he pointed at my fall decoration by the front door.  I said "yes" and he then explained that my "scarecrow had been borrowed" by some young boys, and they admitted to the police when apprehended that they had taken it from our front porch.  The police officer said he was able to stop the pranksters from smashing too many pumpkins, however, he was obligated to ask me if I wanted to "press charges" for the theft. In all seriousness, I looked over at Mr. Scarecrow and replied, "since there doesn't seem to be any physical harm or damage to him, I would not need to press charges."  The officer thanked me and went on his way...and Mr. Scarecrow continued to smile!  He probably had loved his little "joy ride"!!

OCTOBER BREAK!!

One week in October is designated "October Break" in our school district.  It's timed to start soon after the end of the first quarter...by then, everyone NEEDS a break! ;-)  I spent some time at home catching up on a few projects:  fun things like paperwork at my desk, cleaning out a closet, running some errands and reading.  The highlight for me, however, was my "escape" to Strawberry, AZ to stay with my folks at their little house in the woods for a couple of days/nights.  The weather was beautiful!!  I helped with a few small chores, but enjoyed their company immensely. I also enjoyed sleeping through the night without cats waking me, and daily naps in the afternoon.  Woo-Hoo!!

One morning, Mom and I went "into town" (Pine, AZ) and shopped at a couple of stores; our favorite is always "Moose Mountain"!  If you've never been, it's a great store filled with unique gifts and collectibles.  One night we ordered pizza from "Mama Joe's" in Strawberry...really yummy pizza!  It's around the bend from the Strawberry Lodge as you head to Pine!

The apple trees are loaded with fruit this year, and on my last day, we did pick a bucket full.  Some are small but surprisingly sweet! 

 They even had a few beautiful pears on their pear tree...

Mom and Dad, thanks for being wonderful hosts!  I appreciate all the delicious food, and reminiscing with you was especially meaningful!  Until next time, I better get going on that apple cobbler I promised to make for Vince!

FALL & FAMILY...

Fall is in the air in Arizona...mornings and evenings are cool and makes me want to get outdoors and enjoy the weather!  I'm sure it must be the same for people who live cooped up all winter inside away from the COLD...but here we escape to the indoors because of the HEAT!

We hosted a family brunch for Vince's brothers and families yesterday...it was a wonderful chance to see everyone again...as too much time had passed since we were all together.  Unfortunately, Martin, Kim and Troy were unable to join us due to Troy's baseball tournament in Peoria.  We pressed on, however, and enjoyed four hours together!  Above are cousins, left to right, Alissa, Michael, Austin, Josh and Josh's wife Beth.

Here, right to left, are my daughter-in-law Corissa, niece Natalie, and Giana who is Austin's girlfriend, all "cousins" in their hearts!



My son-in-law, Alan, was keeping his eyes on the little ones--Cailyn and Landon are bundles of energy, for sure!  Note the "gel stickers" all over Cailyn's doll, Bella--she was pretending that those were barretts in her hair! ;-)

After eating, we enjoyed relaxing on our patio...catching up on the family news!  Later, Art and Vince went to the pond and "netted" some mosquito fish from our pond to share with Art & Dianne for their backyard pond.  We have plenty of fishies to share!

Landon and Cailyn took good naps in the afternoon.  Here's 8-month old Landon wearing his Ohio State-wrapped doc-band, along with his ASU football jersey!!  He's crawling all over now, and pulling up too!  There's no stopping this little guy!