Happy Birthday Boys!

This year the boys wanted to have a bowling party for their birthdays. Max turned 5 and Isaac turned 8. They both had a lot of fun planning their party. We had Lyzz Casillas make the cupcake birthday cake for us. She did an awesome job! The kids loved it and we only had a couple left over.

Here is Maxwell trying to navigate which way he is going to "toss" the ball. Thankfully the bumpers were up and the ball bounced side-to-side all the way down.

Every kid at the party received a trophy specific to them. Isaac's was "Most Dangerous Bowler" and Maxwell was "Most Gutter Balls". Isaac was true to form. He first almost took out Tyler when he fell over him with the ball and almost whapped Hollis in the head when he was falling. I am amazed that I don't end up in the hospital more with him.

All the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to the boys. This is the last photo we have of Jeff. I am so happy that he was able to attend their birthday party. It gave the boys great joy in knowing that Daddy made it to their party.

Kidspace Children's Museum

In January, we went to the Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena. This is a fun little museum for the kids to see. Lots of hands-on activities, climbing and running around. This is the entry way to the museum and Max just looks in awe of it. Its a really cool kaleidescope.

The week we went, they had brought in some snow for the kids to play with. Luckily we were able to dig out the gloves and beanies for the kids to play in it and stay warm.

Watch out, Max! Grandma Pinki is going to bean you with a snow ball!

Heaven Has Welcomed Her Home

Tonight Charlotte, Tim and I were blessed to see the passing of our mom. We are so thankful that Mom knew the Lord as her Savior and went from earthly body to heavenly body in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

We know for a fact that she is now out of pain and discomfort and is now present with the Lord. (2 Cronicles 5:8) And that as a believer of Christ she will find rest as she lay in death. (Isaiah 57:2)

She now has her own mansion or more likely a small private cabin that Jesus has prepared for her and I am positive it has a beautiful view of mountains and streams and lots and lots of wild animals to see. (John 14:3)

Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death. (Psalm 68:20) Even though she has left her earthly body behind , she is alive and well in Heaven waiting for us to join her to praise God.

I want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and support during this sad but joyous occasion.

Merry CHRISTmas!

Christmas Carols at Santa Ysabel House

The boys and I went to visit Mom today and not only were we surprised by Michelle and Alex popping in while we were there but we were blessed with Paul the Guitar Man that comes to sing to the residents. The boys got to make requests and we all sang Christmas carols for almost an hour. Mom seemed to enjoy the music and the boys being there. She said that "they will bring in some livelihood" to the house.

Here is a picture of the wonderful staff that has been taking care of Mom. She is actually awake in this photo but as usual she shuts her eyes in most of my photos. Abby is the cook and always has something wonderful smelling on the stove. Vince and Peter do most of the moving of the residents and keeping them comfortable and in clean living conditions. They are the nicest people.

Carmen, on the left, is Mom's roommate and speaks mostly Puerto Rican but every once in a while she'll talk in English. She is real sweet. Edna, on the right, is a little wisp of a woman who loves to walk around the house touching everything.

Max decided to relax and kick back while listening to Paul sing and play guitar. He is so funny at times. What a ham!

Through the Looking Glass

I was headed to Starbucks the other day for a Mom2Mom meeting with the other coordinators. As I got out of the van I caught a glimpse of myself in the window reflection. Wow! The older I get...the more I look like Yvonne, my second oldest sister. I had Hollis take a picture of me and sent it to Yvonne. Her response was "Lucky you! You could look like the other sisters!" Hee hee hee. Now I know where I get my sense of humor. I think its pretty funny how much we are all morphing into each other.

Corona Snow

Can you imagine that? Snow in the Corona area? Well we were hit with 2 days of rain last Sunday and Monday and we woke up to freezing cold weather. Okay, maybe not freezing cold compared to some areas but freezing cold to us. I was taking Isaac to school looking at the beautiful snow to the north...Big Bear, Mount Baldy, Angeles Crest. And then when I turned south I saw all the snow that hit our mountains. Wow! These are the mountains that back up to Anaheim Hills and Tustin. I was totally surprised! Apparently snow was still on the ground from Tom's Farms down into Lake Elsinore. Kind of cool for the kids in our area to see. Some of my friends' houses got snowed on. We're suppose to have more rain tonight and tomorrow. Maybe some of us will have a white Christmas after all.

Sleeping Beauty

Happy Birthday Mom! Mom turned 82 on Sunday. We went to see her after Alex's performance in The Nutcracker. **No, Alex was not the nut. Hee hee.** We decided to take her to the emergency room that night. Nothing like going to the hospital on your birthday! We had forgot to bring her Maxine glasses to cut the glare of the overhead lights so we had to improvise with the baby blanket. Now these blankets are a family favorite. Our Aunt Marjory crochets a nice edging around the square of flannel and sells them at St. Joseph's hospital or gives them as gifts. I received all the lamb patterns that she had for Isaac when he was born. These blankets are perfect for us everywhere. They are just the right size to keep you warm in the car when the a/c is just a tad too cold. And Mom's ER nurse was asking Annette how to get a hold of some for herself.

Anyhow, she was actually talking more at this time while we were waiting for her diagnosis. After we found out about the brain tumor and let her know what was going on, she was able to understand that she was worse off than we had originally thought. So this last week we have been able to go see her as much as possible to keep her company and to just be with her during her last days. It's bittersweet but she has lived an amazingly good life.