Merry Christmas 2009

Wishing all of our family and friends a very blessed Christmas and New Year filled with joy, peace and good health!
My New Years Resolution is to keep this blog up better.

Welcome to the World Addy

On May 28, 2009 another of God's miracles arrived. Adelynne Rose. Perfect with ten little toes and ten little fingers. Larry and I are thrilled to have another granddaughter to spoil and love. Megan and Josh are doing great and Isabelle is adjusting to being a big sister. Josh was able to stay home from work the first week the baby was born and then I took the second week to help. Changing diapers, feeding, bathing, rocking and keeping up with Isabelle is a full time job and then some. Mothers have the hardest job on the planet. By Friday I was blissfully exhausted.

Count Down to Baby O#2

Surrounded by love, friendship and family Saturday was a celebration for the upcoming "birthday" of Baby O #2. Our newest little girl is due to arrive on June 5th and we all wanted to make sure Megan and Josh have everything they need to bring home little Adelynne Oldenburger. Megan's sister-in-laws, Marsha and Kelly , her sister, Katie and her two dear friends Brooke and Liz coordinated and were hostess to a beautiful shower on Saturday. Though we were going to have the event in my backyard, the weather was way too hot so we stayed cool in the house and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. We even learned some rather weird but true trivia thanks to Brooke. Like the largest baby born was 23 pounds. -Ouch! And the oldest woman to give birth was 66 years old (that just isn't right!) Did you know a baby has no knee caps when it is born?
Lots of diapers and pretty things in pink thrilled Megan and Josh quickly added up that they will have enough diapers to be able to change for at least 80 days after baby is born. That will save them a lot of money.

A True Friend is a Treasure

Sometimes in life God gives us angels to walk alongside us. I have been blessed for over 20 years to have a special friend Peggy who came into my life and the life of my children and husband at the right time in the right place. She will never fully know how special she is to our entire family but we were blessed to have had her for four days in April for a visit. We walked, visited the Biblical Gardens in Auburn, lunch at Aweful Annie's, had dinners with the kids and even learned what scatological was at a play on the Delta King - Sorry Peggy that was a raunchy play.

Is it a cake or is it Katie - Happy 22 Birthday Katie!

What do you get a young lady who needs everything? - Hey why not bake a life size cake of her! Megan came up with this great idea for her sister and it took us about three days to make enough cakes and icing to pull this off. After masses amounts of eggs, cake mix, power sugar, butter and vanilla this cake came to life. I think Katie was quite surprised. Her task after the reveal was to take the entire body home with her. It looked like she was carrying a stretcher with a person on it to her car!
Even though out little girl is a young woman now, we are glad we can still have fun with her. We pray for God's will in her life and hope that He will guide her in making good decisions for the future. Love ya Katie!

Relax, Revitalize and Refresh your spirit at the Ocean

When life seems to be zipping by and it is time to slow down to relax, refresh and revitalize the body , mind and spirit there is nothing more therapeutic than a trip to the ocean. How fortunate we are in California that it is a short drive away from where we live. Larry and I decided to get away for a weekend retreat to Carmel in our new Hyundai Santa Fe. Time alone with no phones, computers or interruptions to read, walk along the ocean, go wine tasting and eat fantastic food was just what we both needed. The drive to Carmel was just as beautiful with rolling green hills and open countryside. We stayed at a beautiful resort called the Carmel Valley Ranch Inn. Secluded in the hills of Carmel Valley we discovered an area of Carmel that we had not visited before. We ate at a wonderful restaurant in the Carmel Valley Village called the Village Fish House that served fresh seafood in an intimate setting and we sampled wine from a number of wineries in the Carmel Valley region.
We walked along the main streets of downtown Carmel taking in all the cute shops and drinking hot chocolate and chai tea lattes then headed to the beach to breath in the amazing salt air. We drove along the coast were there were just the most adorable storybook cottage like homes - most likely worth millions overlooking the ocean. We then drove to Monterrey for a day of walking on the bike/walking trail along the ocean and taking in the Harbor sea lions basking in the sun and playing in the ocean. What a fantastic sight. On the drive home we stopped at the Old San Juan Bautista which means "Saint John the Baptist". This mission was founded in 1797. The historic town is very quaint. After taking in the mission we stopped at the local bakery for cookies and fresh baked pumpkin and raisin bread to take home.
A short but wonderfully relaxing and refreshing weekend.

Getting Older Isn't So Bad

When I count my many blessings of family, friends and the life experiences I have had I realize that getting older isn't so bad. I have had a full week of being treated to dinner at Crush 29 by my dear friends Amy and Gretchen, seeing my niece Colleen from Seattle in San Francisco ,having dinner at Max's, shopping and spending the night in San Francisco and spending the day at the beach with my daughter and granddaughter. Larry bought me beautiful roses and we went to see Australia the movie which was a wonderful movie, celebrating with my work collegues and the weekend has more opportunities to be outside enjoying the sunshine, walking with my great walking friend Janet and spending time with Katie, Megan, Larry, Josh and Isabelle.

I Hope you will Always Dance

Birthdays have a way of making me reflect on the past and appreciate exactly where my life is now. On my birthday I had the wonderful experience of spending the day with my daughter Megan and my grandaughter Isabelle. Watching my first born dance on the beach with her first born was truly magical and beautiful. I hope as I grow old my daughters will always dance on the beach and enjoy life with their children as I have with mine.
Snapfish:Photo:Video