My Charming & Sophisticated Children

I am in the process of trying to get a decent picture of my giant offspring for our annual Christmas card. Of course, out of 20 pictures, exactly ZERO were any good. This is one of the better ones. sigh.

Many Thanks Were Given!

Suzette was our Thanksgiving Day slave-she hosted and cooked & cleaned. Pretty cool! I am still giving thanks that it was not at MY house! =0)





The tables were lovely, the kids were lovely...




The VIEW from my brother & sister in law's back yard in Benicia is awesome-you can see water, boats, trains, sky, palm trees..you name it. Beautiful.



Julie had her actual 50th birthday on Turkey Day, which she was SO happy about!! 50 is the NEW 30! Yeah, that's the ticket!

I think we all got enough to eat. Ummmmmm, yeah.

What was THAT? WHO'S THERE?? Did you hear something, Bob? Don't come any closer; I'm warning you...

HAPPY TURKEY DAY EVERYONE!

DISNEYLAND AT LAST.

It is MUCH too long between visits for us, but what can you do? When I hit the Lottery Jackpot, we will go every few months. =0)









We even got to see Michele & her clan- a big bonus..

New "Milestones"-Ryan's Play Date

Yes, I said Ryan's, not Emily's play date. Em has had probably 60 playdates at age 9. Ryan has had two friends over in his life, and he is 11. He is diagnosed as Autistic, but no one has ever found a hole he fits in to, no matter how hard everyone tries! He has been asking to have David (an eighth grader in his class) over for a few weeks. When he kept asking, I guessed he maybe meant it. Sometimes he just says things but does not really want them to become a reality-but this, I could tell, was different. He even managed to get David's phone number, and a few days ago, he picked up the phone and called him. This is a first. Their idea of a get together may be very different from yours and mine, but who cares? He had a friend over. They played DS side by side. They played Wii Sports. They spoke in a strange manner to each other. They had a snack. They even laughed here & there. They seem to get each other in a way I really can't. This has made me feel happy-because I had accepted that Ryan is different from the start, but never knew if he would be lonely as an adult. WE think he is hilarious, adorable, interesting and brilliant, but I often wondered how his manner would fly "out there". I think he's gonna be okay.

SLEEPOVER!!

Well, we struck the Haunted Mansion, and today we set up the PINK PARTY. The cake was made, the living room a lovely shade of pink. Then the waiting began. All day. Waiting. Here is Emily, waiting. Asking me every 20 minutes: "How much longer???" Waiting.


Finally, all the girls got here. LOTS of screaming, hyper hyper hyper. Oy. Everyone had In & Out burgers for dinner. Pinata. Presents. More screaming. And now, DS time. Is it over yet??? Can I go to bed now? Oh, wait-we still have to do cake. I am too old for this. =0)

Cute nephew; cute husband

That's all-no big news since YESTERDAY! =0)

Em's Birthday

I guess every parent just cannot believe that the baby is growing up, and MUCH too quickly. I am so sad to see the baby go, and yet so happy to be with my new friend, Emily. She is....she is impossible to put in to words. After a decade of waiting to have a baby in the first place, we were pretty happy to have Ryan. Understatement. Then, we lost a baby early on in pregnancy. Then came Emily. I could never have imagined her. You'd have to meet her to know what I mean. I saw that little crown-like band of tiny dancing angels around her head the night she was born-and I know now that it wasn't JUST from the pain meds in my IV. =0)

Bye Bye October

Boy, what a Halloween. Ours went on for about a month. Ryan spent countless hours creating a home made, mostly hand drawn Haunted Mansion. This involved almost every room in our house, plus the back yard (the graveyard). I am happy to say it was a success; we had many tours and a total of 31 "foolish mortals" as guests. Ryan was very pleased. Last night he managed to keep on the Jack Skelington costume on just long enough to show a few family memebers, then he was DONE. Emily however, ran around trick or treating with cousin Amber for a long time. Ryan was very diappointed that we had no trick or treaters at our house on Halloween. He is already planning next year's project in his mind: Haunted Mansion Holiday. I hope someday all these creative talents he has will be utilized fully and that he will make millions of dollars so I can get that yacht I've had my eye on