Unexpected turn of events

We were in S. California for quick business meeting and to spend some time with family. But on the day we were leaving, I walked out to the car and saw this:
GASP. Am I really seeing what I'm seeing?
Um. Yea. In the middle of the night, some teenagers (according to a witness) decided to do a quick smash and grab.SIGH.
Well, it happens. Even in nice neighborhoods. Sure, it's a pain in the ass dealing with filing a criminal report, calling insurance, getting the window fixed, and replacing what was stolen. But honestly, we count our blessings whenever we don't meet our assailants. This was the 3rd time one of our cars had gotten broken into. Hopefully 3rd time is a charm and we've paid our dues.

On another note!
Enjoyed a relaxing walk with my SIL along the beach at Crystal Cove the day before the drama.

Now we're home, safe and sound. Spending the rest of the weekend as quietly and drama free as possible.
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Sunflowers

Andie got me thinking of sunflowers the other day and I couldn't help remembering the sunflowers my mom grew for a few years. For some reason she stopped growing them when I was around 7 or 8. But they were so big and gorgeous. In the fall, she would dry out the seeds and bake them with salt.
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We're "This Many"

When Danielle came to visit a few weeks ago with her daughter, she would tell everyone that she was "this many" and hold up 3 fingers. So, on the way to my birthday lunch, the 4 of us: me, Danielle, Jimmy and TG, were in the car together and I told everyone to hold up all of their fingers and that was "how many" I was. TG thought that was so funny, that was A LOT of fingers to be!
We had a great time in S. California celebrating Danielle's 40th. The weather cooperated and cooled off nicely after the sun set. She had a fun band, the most delicious birthday cake, and I saw a couple of friends from high school that I haven't seen since TG's baby shower.

On another note, I went to the foot doctor the morning we left. He took an xray that showed something suspicious between the 3rd and 4th metatarsal, and after getting a CATscan, it turns out that I have torn several ligaments and have very bad sprain. I have to wear a removable cast for the next few weeks. But now my foot hurts more than it did, in places that never hurt before. Which doesn't make me want to wear it. And since it's removable, it's easy to talk myself into taking it off. But everyone around me makes sure that I wear it. I suck at self-discipline. It all comes back to my lack of fortitude.

Despite hobbling around S. California for 2 days, we had a good time. We spent Saturday morning and afternoon with Lauree, Jimmy's sister, her husband Jim, and Eric, Jimmy's brother.
On the way home, we had dinner in Solvang.Solvang is a cute little town that was settled by a group of Danish educators in 1911. It was the first time Jimmy and I had gone to Solvang together. All the shops and bakeries were closed, but we found a little restaurant, and dined on Danish meatballs, sausage and red cabbage outside on their patio. I have to admit the atmosphere was far superior over the food, but it was great being in a part of California that we hadn't seen together.

Today, Sunday, we are relaxing at home. We intended on going to the hideaway, but with this gimpy leg of mine, I'm far to lazy to make another trip away from homebase. Not to mention that 2 1/2 more hours in the car, after 7 hours yesterday, doesn't sound very appealing. So the remaining of my Sunday will be spent either clicking a remote or clicking a mouse.

Home sweet home!
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Rounding off the celebrations

Saturday was the final installment of my birthday celebrations. It was a combined birthday party with Jimmy, since he turns 40 in less than 2 weeks. All in all, I think I had 6 different events celebrating my notorious 40th.

The first was in May when my cousin from Seattle came for a week to visit with her family. They're shy, otherwise I'd post pic.

The day before my birthday, I went to fondue with Danielle and her sweet little girl. bad photographer (that'd be me) should have moved those water glasses.

The day of my birthday, we went to Benihana.

A week-long combined celebration at the hideaway with family and friends.

A mini GTG (get-together) at the Old Spaghetti Factory with the Yuens and Brewers because they couldn't make it to...

A dinner party for both of us at our favorite Mexican restaurant with the Bowens, Chanceys, Phin, Madmax, the Parentals and my youngest SIL.

That's a whole lotta cake and/or ice cream consumed, not to mention great food!

But the birthday celebrations aren't quite over yet. For me, yes. But Danielle and Jimmy's birthdays are the 13th and 14th. We are going to Southern California this weekend to celebrate Danielle's. Then we'll celebrate Jimmy's with the parentals on his actual day.

Hurray! More cake and/or ice cream! Must keep moving more than consuming though.

Not a bad way to start off a new decade, is it?
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The Girls

The girls came up with Steve (my BIL) and family for the week of Camp Retz. They were a lot of fun, helped out with the boys, and were very adventurous, too!
Day one on the tubes, Elton can't stop grinning.

Within a few minutes, she standing on the moving floatie...almost like surfing!

Her big sister, EllyMae takes her turn.

And of course, she's standing within a few minutes, too.

Back on shore, the adventurous girls do a bit of cliff jumping.

I have to admit, I was biting my nails from afar. But Steve was in the water spotting for them, making sure they were jumping into water that was deep enough.

All 5 kids and Steve in his boat.

Elton was able to kneeboard on her first try, too, just like my oldest nephew.

The two sisters striking a pose, just before they tried to knock each other off the floatie.

And ending the day with smores on the deck, all 5 kids on a sugar high, just before bedtime.

Jimmy called them "Elton" and "EllyMae" all week, which is perfect since I don't like using kids real names on my blog.
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Big Brother

At seven years old, big brother R shows his little brothers what water sports is all about.
Not only could he stand on the moving floatie...

he tried knee boarding for the first time and...

not surprisingly, succeeded on his first try!

The rest of the week, he rode the high-speed tubes with the girls.

They wanted to go as fast as they could. It was Jimmy's goal to try to knock them off, taking sharp corners and going up to 30mph in the boat.

We had one day on the 'slow' lake. No tubing permitted and speed limits enforced.

But cliff jumping is allowed. Just watch out for your little brother below!

A day on the slow lake gave big brother R some time on the canoe with Uncle Jimmy.

And night time smore makings seemed to be Big Brother's forté. After 3 years at Camp Retz and 1 full year of Cub Scouts, Big Brother R knew exactly how he liked his smore: burnt to a crisp.

He's showing off his prized smore with the girls and his younger brother. A great way to end the day.
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The Middle Child

Middle J, at 5 years old, is oh so much braver than he was last year. It's so amazing to watch these boys grow up from year to year.
Last year, he would walk into the water up to his knees, but upon his own will, that was the furthest he would go. This year, he was constantly in the water and up to silly little antics that a middle child would be up to.

This year, we couldn't keep him out of the water.

He even did a bit of cliff jumping. You go Middle J!!

Middle J is my photography protégé. He's telling "Elton" to move closer to me so he could take a quick snapshot.

Even though he loved being in the water, still, one of his favorite things was being in the canoe with Uncle Jimmy.

A supah cute snapshot with his friend "EllyMae". Yup, his mouth is full of oreos, just like his little brother.

Middle J, with his older brother R, watch for their baby brother in the canoe with the girls.

Middle J is a little better at keeping the food in his mouth during smores night. Just a bit of chocolate under his nose.

This is our proudest moment with Middle J. He actually got on the floatie being pulled by the boats for the first time this year. Brave Middle J, yes he is! Can't wait to see what he'll be up to next year!

And he's becoming a helpful spotter for his Uncle Jimmy, too. He plays a very important role, making sure that Jimmy knows when the person falls off so they can pick them up. He has the orange flag in hand, ready to put it up if the person falls.

Middle J and Uncle Jimmy, the dynamic duo.
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The Youngest Nephew

Little D is the youngest of the nephews, but at 3 years old, he strives to keep up with his big brothers.
For the first few hours, he was content throwing rocks into the water.

And eating oreos. Similar to last year.

But soon, he was swimming in the lake with his daddy, happy as a fish.

By lake day #2, he was diving in: his version of cliff jumping.

Here's little D taking a swimming break with his friend "Elton".

A quick snapshot with his mommy and daddy.

Riding in the canoe, feeling the water, with his friends "Elton" and her sister "EllyMae" (Jimmy's nicknames for the girls).

Time for smores! Little D didn't like marshmallows, but loved graham crackers. As you can see.

Little D relaxing on the big floatie with his Uncle Jimmy.

This little boy can strike a pose, don't you think?

I can't resist one last photo of a his precious cheese-face!
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Camp Retz: Year 3

Hurray! We have fast internet connection at the hideaway!! One of the best bday presents to someone who is totally addicted to the internets. But quite happily, i have not had 15 minutes to be able to enjoy it. The family came on Monday, the same day the internets arrived and each day has been so full that by 9 or 10pm, I flop into bed exhausted, then when I wake up, we're off and running right away. Extremely fulfilling.
Here I am sitting with the nephews. Does it look like we're just chatting, enjoying the view? Oh how I wish. Not 30 seconds before, I twisted my foot and fell. I think I actually screamed. Both of them came over and sat next to me to make sure that I was ok. They both looked at my ankle, made sure I wasn't bleeding, checked out my scrapes on my foot and elbow, and just, once again, poured out the love. So now you get another reason why I love my nieces and nephews so much. Look at 'em...sitting next to me, giving me comfort. I'm so glad Jimmy caught this moment w/ the camera. Great kids. And, if I don't say so myself, I picked a mighty nice place to twist my foot, don't you think? Look at that view! The foot is feeling better, much icing, much elevating, much resting, much compressing. I may not be able to tube or jump off any cliffs for the rest of the week, but I won't have to sit alone at home. I have to capture as many moments with the nephews as I can.
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I love being an Auntie!!!!

My nieces and nephews bring me some of my greatest memories and joys. I love them so much it can bring tears to my eyes. I just had to share the sentiments from one of the cards I received today:

Aunt,
role model,
family connection,
and good friend
all combined in one amazing woman.

Everything an aunt should be-
no question about it-
you are.

~~

See why my heart is just bursting over with love?
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Yo, Pop. I miss ya.

I never called my dad Pop. It was always Dad or Daddy or more often Daaaaaaaaad. Anyhoo, with Father's Day on Sunday, I thought I'd do this little tribute to the man who raised me, spoiled me, loved me unconditionally, and taught me patience. He had an abundance of it.

My dad was born in 1904 and lived a mostly healthy 87 years. He came to America when he was 20 years old in the hopes to start a new life, work hard and find the American Dream. He landed in San Francisco first, traveled along the west coast, finding jobs in Seattle, Alaska, Los Angeles and finally in a remote Southern California desert town. Somewhere in between, he became a United States Citizen and served in WWII.

When he began his life in the desert, he worked at a then-famous (built in the 40s) desert resort/inn, catering to many Hollywood types like Clark Gable, Gene Autry, boxer Joe Luis, Phyllis Diller, Gregory Peck, as well as Roy Rogers and Dale Evans who loved the community so much they built their home there.


I have no idea where this photo was taken. For some reason, I have it in my head that it's Seattle. But I'm probably wrong. I'm guessing it was taken in the early 50s.

Again, I don't know where this photo was taken either, but those houses in the background scream Los Angeles to me. Cool car back there, too. Wonder who it belonged to?

At the resort. The pool was kept heated during the winter months. Something very unique back then.

Working at the inn.

Another one at the resort.

Hitting golf balls into the empty desert. Perhaps near his house? At a friends?

Fast forward...oh, 10-15-20? years:
In the mid-to-late 60s, my mom worked as a nanny for the man who owned the desert resort.
Man meets woman (1966), they get married (1967) and a child is born (1968).
He has his first child at the age of 64: me! He's dressed in his work clothes for the inn.

Me again, 1968.

A typical Sunday. Must be 1969.

Sometimes it snows in the desert.

A party where we got all dressed up, Christmas 1970. Possibly at the resort.

Well, when you grow up Catholic, it's expected to get your holy communion when your around 7.

Sometime in the 80s, my dad is honored as one of the very first pioneering Filipinos in the High Desert. Go Dad! PS: Thanks for going there and meeting mom.

At my high school graduation party at the 'resort' which at this time turned into a hokey throwback to the 50s. Too bad. But they still had pretty good food. Pay no attention to the girl with the big glasses and big hair.
edit: Jimmy reminded me that I had contacts and short hair by graduation so this pic was actually taken in 1982 when I was in the 10th grade. By 11th grade I had chopped off that crazy big hair.

Both of my parents walking me down the isle.


Happy Father's Day to all fathers, past and present and all men who have the hearts of father's.
Peace out.
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What A Week!

Last week was very eventful!! My cousin and her family came to visit as an early celebration for my and Jimmy's birthday. I am so grateful that they were able to do this trip! It was her son's first visit to California and while we had a great time, there were a few bumps along the way, but not enough to dampen our spirits. Here are a few of the highlights (I'll spare you the lowlights).

Berkeley
We spent a half day in Berkeley, shopping for UC Berkeley sweatshirts, lunching on hoagies and walking around Berkeley's beautiful Rose Garden.

San Francisco
Walked around Pier 39 in San Francisco and talked to the sea lions. Do you know the difference between sea lions and seals? Sea lions have visible ear flaps.

Watched the sun set behind the Golden Gate Bridge.

Carmel and Monterey
After a wonderful lunch in Carmel, saw lots of sea life at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

We also played a good bit of Rock Band, saw the Sex and the City movie (loved it, it's fun and sarcastic and had a few moving moments, too) and ate good food. And not only did they come to visit for a whole week for our bdays, I also got an amazing new designer purse, too!
Thanks again V! I'm so glad you guys came to visit. xoxo
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Graduation

The Claremont Colleges
Alma mater to 3 of our immediate family: Jimmy, Eretz and for the Class of 2008 our niece Bretz. Who happens to be Eretz's daughter.
And employer to 2 more: Sretz and Mretz.

I think they should dedicate a building after us. Or a sports facility.
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Rejoice

Capping the end of a fun Christmas filled with omg oh so many smiles. Been reviewing the photos the past couple of hours and there are some great ones. The best photos are of our more shy family members so I can't post them but they were some of the biggest smiles of the day. Priceless moments.

Jimmy and I headed out late Monday morning. After lunch, I found Jimmy with the nieces sitting on the driveway...sorting thru this pile of junk for over 20 minutes making odd little creations.

That afternoon we headed up one of the Bay Area's tallest peaks. The view up there was amazing. And yes, the temperature was pretty mild. In the 50s. Good weather for a hike.

This side of the family loves to adventure. They are Active. And they like to climb. Here's the dad but the girls, especially the oldest, was right behind him climbing up those steep peaks. In fact, if you make the picture bigger, you can see her down the peak a bit from her dad. We headed home and were very thankful for my MIL's amazing Christmas Eve Dinner. I kid you not people. Her food is amazing. Imagine Paula Deen but probably better. This was no month to be on weight watchers, lemme tell ya.

Christmas morning we had an early and hearty breakfast. But we couldn't keep the nieces waiting any longer. They had been waiting so patiently. There were lots of surprises. And many many hugs and kisses to go with them. Here's an interesting photo jimmy took of me after I just opened some fun books, hopefully guaranteeing that my 2008 will continue to be as creative as the past several years.

And after watching my niece learn how to use her new Heelys...I wanna try it too!!! Don't you? You know you do...you've seen those kids at the store. They practically run you down but before cursing them, you really think 'That'd actually be pretty cool to do. I wonder if they make them in adult sizes.'
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My first Christmas

Obviously I don't remember this, but here I am with my dad oh so many years ago. We lived in the Mojave Desert in Southern California and although the morning sun is shining on us, it must have been a cold day, as all winter days in the desert were. I would have been about 5 months in this photo.
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World Famous Bushman of San Francisco

On our 3rd and final installment of Thanksgiving 2007, a handful of us ventured into the city.

In San Francisco, there are a lot of street performers, especially at Fisherman's Wharf. I remember the Bushman ever since we first moved to the Bay Area and a quick lookup in wikipedia says he's been a street performer since the 80's.

Hoping that my nephews would react predictably, I ran ahead to scope out a spot to take some rapid action shots.
The Bushman is in the forground and they are walking along the sidewalk on the far right, making their approach. My brother-in-law is in the red jacket.

As they get a little closer, Ry notices the shrub, but doesn't really think anything of it. You can already see in Jimmy's face (sunglasses, behind the boys) that he knows what's gonna happen.

The Bushman shakes the branches for a split second, which catch their attention...till he surprises them with a little growl and...
They both jump back into the safety of Daddy and Uncle Jimmy.

I think that deserves a closeup, don't you?Good to know that they have a healthy fear of the unknown. :)

Older brother Ry has completely hidden behind Dad and little J ready to run the other direction. Of course, dad and Uncle Jimmy find it quite hilarious. (So does Aunt Madeline, trying not to laugh too hard so her photos won't be blurry).
In the end, the boys had a good laugh and left with smiles and giggles.

Here's a link from Youtube that someone else captured of the Bushman on another day.
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Thank goodness for child labor

Anyone else have this Thanksgiving tradition? Put the kids to work washing and waxing all the cars that have driven to the feast destination.
What better way to build up their appetites?
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A moment to breathe

Today was the first day in 2 weeks that I had a moment to slow down. And it was nice. Aside from the busy holidays, there is nothing else on my plate till March. But knowing me and how my life tends to flow, some adventure will come up that I will not be able to resist.

The trip to Pismo was good. It was a weekend more of reflection and remembrances rather than a playful weekend, but it was good to be there with and for my dearest friend.
Saturday morning we took a short walk on the beach.Enjoying the warmth of the sun. Reflecting on friendships. Looking for sand dollars to bring back to her beautiful daughter.

Later in the early afternoon, we went to the Monarch Butterfly Grove with some of Danielle's other friends.Every year, thousands of Monarch butterflies flock to the California coast between October and March. The trees were filled with these beautiful butterflies.
It was a peaceful place, watching the butterflies flutter around, sometimes resting on eucalyptus branches, fanning their wings in the warm sun.

We watched the sunset from the hotel.All of nature's little details were on our side.

We left very early the following morning which gave me some time with Danielle's daughter to dance with the Wiggles and have a tea party with her Little Einstein dolls before they had to take me to the airport. Spent the next few days in Vegas with the parentals loading trucks and driving for hundreds of miles.

In just a few days, we'll celebrate Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. Usually we travel south for the feast but this year we're staying local and all the other brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews and one cousin are coming this direction. We'll be a loud and crazy bunch.

Anybody have to-do ideas for the day after Thanksgiving that doesn't include fighting for parking spaces?
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Halloween in Seattle

It's much colder in Seattle than in California, lemme tell ya. But that's not news to anyone. I'm glad I decided to take my winter jacket. And by winter jacket, I mean California Winter Jacket: ie: I was still really cold. But freezing my butt off was totally worth it because I got to spend Halloween with my cousin and her son and experience his first Halloween as a toddler. It was flippin' awesome. He was so adorable in his turtle costume and even won 2nd prize for best costume at his daddy's work. Here's a little collage of my quick visit:
The first 2 pics are at a beach by Puget Sound. There are tidepools here, but it was high tide so we enjoyed the scenery and walked along the shore a bit. The next 3 are at a Monastery along the shores of Lake Washington. Fall in Washington is an awesome experience! My cousin said it had already peaked a couple weeks before but it was more impressive than anything I've ever experienced. (Interesting how my hair matches the orange trees, isn't it?) The next 3 are my cute little nephew Turtle out trick or treating! So sweet. And the last photo is flying back home and a view of downtown San Jose where it was a warm 74 degrees when I arrived.
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Boyhood haiku

He's always climbing
Only stopping for a snack
Dirt mixed with Oreos

submitted to One Deep Breath Haiku Challenge
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Now that's just silly

Here are a couple of scrapbook pages I worked on last week:
The family at the cabin this summer.

These pics are of the nephews when we were at Disneyland last fall.
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The youngest

The youngest of three,
Left behind while the two swim.
Has fun on his own.
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From a 4 Year Old's Viewpoint

I have to share a few of my favorite photos that my nephew took.
This is the very first photo he took. Pretty good, huh? That's his little brother, his mom and his proud Aunt Madeline.

His big brother making goofy faces. Silly smiles seemed to be a theme that week.

This photo cracks me up. Because his mom and I were laying on the granite rocks on the other side of this boat and couldn't see them at all. But we heard a young woman say to my nephew "Hey little boy! Take our picture!" so he did! And this was the result. Little did they know his aunt would publish it on the internet for anyone to see. lol.

The next day, he started getting creative with the camera and did a couple of self-portraits. This was his second attempt. The first one he wasn't smiling, so I think when he reviewed the photo, he realized that he should smile first. Cracks me up! He also took some photos of his shadow. Which I've been known to do also.

This photo is mostly for Phin's benefit. We've been taking photos of our feet for as long as we've been snapping photos of each other. It's kind of like verification that we've been there if we've stepped on that ground. And again, without any coaxing from me, little nephew took these feet self-portraits on his own.

There were a few with heads chopped off or were blurry. But every single photo was worth looking at just to see what he saw and what he decided to capture.
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Summertime in the mountains

Had an amazing 8 days with the family at our hideaway. Here's the goofy bunch of characters on our deck.

We were at the lake every day except one. 6 of the 11 of us decided to camp overnight at the lake so they were too tuckered to go back the next day.
Jimmy and Ginger, his sister, are in the canoe towing her girls around the point where I'm standing. This was our first lake day, before Jimmy's brother's family joined us.

Jimmy's boating the kids around the lake. In tow, on the frequent flyer is...
my 9 year old niece and her Uncle Steve, my BIL. Tubing seemed to be 'the' activity of the week.
Ginger and her 11 year old daughter, were next on the tube.

Here's my little protégé, hee! I let my 4 year old nephew borrow my little camera in the waterproof case and he took over 300 photos! It's awesome seeing the photos they take from their perspective. He even took a few self-portraits.

Awesome kids. Great family time. Love 'em all!

Camp Retz

We're getting ready for out next adventure: Camp Retz. Last year was the start of the tradition when Jimmy's brother and his family joined us for about a week at the hideaway.

Here's the splash my BIL left after jumping off the granite boulder. The water is pretty cold because the 5600 foot elevation lake is filled from snowmelt. But last year was a very hot summer and the cold water was refreshing.

There were 3 boys, age 5, 3 and 16 months, and their pooch kept close track of each of them. At one point, Jimmy took the 3 year old out in the canoe and the dog went into the lake and tried to swim after them since the dog didn't trust Jimmy.

This year Jimmy's sister and her family are also coming. Hopefully, the parentals, another sister, Jimmy's cousin, and another secret guest will join us for at least a day, too.

I hope you all have a great week. I will probably be MIA till nearly August. I'll have my computer, but as I've mentioned before, we only have dial-up there. And I suspect I'll be exhausted every night after spending the days with 5 nieces and nephews under the age of 11, and their parents, that I'll barely have enough energy to crawl into bed much less wait for dial-up.

Cheers!
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Rural Alaska

We may have stayed too long in Alaska. Not only do we need to see our dentist, but aparently I've lost my ability to blog. I hope to regain blogging ability soon so I can share more photos of our adventures.

This photo is just a glimpse the newlywed's sense of humor - these hillbilly teeth were one of the party favors.

Another thing

I really need to smack myself. I suppose I'll give myself a break because all of this sudden reflection can't happen all at once, when I'm trying to get ready for a big trip and the 4th of July. (have I told you that I'm not a great multi-tasker? Although I can chew gum and walk at the same time).

uh. what was my point here?

Oh yea. How could it have slipped my mind that my mom was the same age in these photos as I am now? That's just so crazy to me. Her 38 is so vastly different than my 38. Not just because she was getting married and I've been married for a long time already, but e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.! I know though, that's probably the case for almost all mothers and daughters.

What was your mother doing when she was your current age?
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Today would have been their 40th Wedding Anniversary

I'm a little bit ashamed. I've been so single minded lately that I didn't even realize till moments ago that 40 years ago, my parents got married in a tiny desert town in southern California. I never asked how they met before they were both gone, but I think I have a pretty good idea. My mom's cousin was married to a man who worked with my dad at the Apple Valley Inn. I suspect she played the little matchmaker, introduced