THE BEST CHRISTMAS!!!

Over the hill and thru the woods off we go to Bo's house!

It was a very quick trip to LA, leaving on Sunday, the 23rd and returning Thursday, the 27th but it was well worth it and so much fun we had!

Bo had changed so much just since Thanksgiving and he's now laughing out loud and playing in his saucer and loved watching Yo Gabba Gabba for a short time - his attention span is very short and he has to be stimulated all of the time - he's not happy being held for very long which is fine!

We had so many great meals; Riyoko is a fabulous chef and we had a wonderful prime rib dinner on Christmas Eve and prime rib sandwiches the next day. For Christmas evening we went to their friends home, Wenyee & Melvin, and again, had another delicious prime rib - yes, I do love beef!  When we walked in, Riyoko's sister, Yoko, jumped out of the bathroom to surprise us all except their parents 'cause they hadn't arrived yet - it was such a surprise 'cause Christmas Eve we were video chatting with Yoko in Japan!  She answered the door when her parents arrived and her mom said, "Who are you?"  It was so great having everyone together at Christmas especially with Bo now being here!

On the 26th, Hiroshi & Osako treated everyone to dinner at a Thai restaurant for dinner in Long Beach and then we went to look at the fabulous Christmas lights which Bo really enjoyed!

We left the next morning and, of course, this grandma cried when we had to leave!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VICKIE!

Happy Birthday to my beloved and beautiful sister, Vickie Choudoir, who would have turned 60 today!

She was taken away much too early from us but she is now in Heaven with her first daughter, Heather, and mom and dad.

I miss you very much especially today and on Sundays when we used to Skype or talk - may you still be watching down on your Green Bay Packers but especially Marissa, Justin, Dylan, John and Megan and, of course, your crazy dog, Marvin!

You are no longer in pain so Rest in Peace!

I Love You!

HAPPY BITHDAY CORY!

Happy 42nd Birthday to our wonderful son, Cory aka Mr. Magoo or Bug-A-Roo - (These last two names were from when he was a baby) and he's still my baby!  Finally, at the age of 41, he and Riyoko had their own baby boy!

Cory is such a wonderful son doing so many fantastic things for Dick & I which are too many to list!  Happy Birthday, again, and so sorry that you have to work on your birthday!

HAPPY AFTER THANKSGIVING!

This Thanksgiving went by so fast with Cory, Riyoko and Bo being here for only 2-1/2 days!

They arrived at 8:30am Thanksgiving morning, with me meeting them at the car and getting Bo out of his car seat and hardly letting go of him until they left Saturday morning at 11:30!

On Thanksgiving, the kid's friends from LA, who were in Thanksgiving for the weekend, arrived for cocktails and dinner - a fantastic time had by all and everyone helped clean up the kitchen which was much appreciated!  Little Bo enjoyed the day in his swing and tasting cranberry relish that Cory let him taste when Riyoko was in the kitchen fixing his bottle so mom doesn't know!  The only time he would cry was when he was overly tired and just wouldn't give in.

Friday was ever so busy with Cory's friend, from school, and his wife stopping by for two hours and Carla stopping by for an hour to see Bo and then the kids were off to the west side to see another friend, from school, and his family.  They arrived back at the house and at 7:30 with more friends from school and their families coming by for cocktails and dinner - I made a big casserole dish of Ziti and Caesars Salad and Cory picked up a couple of pizzas - it was such a fun evening with all of the kids talking about fun and funny stories about old times.  Dick and and I really enjoyed the evening 'cause we have known all of these kids since they were 10 and they used to spend many over nights at our house with me cooking cinnamon french toast in the morning!  Bo had hardly any naps this day and by the evening he was exhausted and being very cranky but I don't blame him 'cause he had been handled by so many people including his grandpa and grandma!  Everyone left about 11:30pm and we all just fell into bed!



On Saturday morning we all went out to breakfast and they left at 11:30am - it took them 6 hours to get back to LA and they can usually make it in 4 hours!

Bo is such a happy baby and smiles all of the time!

 

OUR NEW GRANDSON!!!!!

I am very late in posting this as our new grandson was born on July 12th at 2:33am, weighing 5.2, 19in. long and very healthy!  I call him my little "Peanut" because he is soooooo tiny and absolutely adorable and precious!!!!

His real name is Bo Tanaka Myler and Riyoko's last name is Tanaka so both families are honored!  He has black hair like his mother and the Asian eyes like his mother and the little pug nose like Cory had when he was little and he has a dimple in his right cheek like me and a couple of my sisters!  I just couldn't stop kissing and loving him 'cause I love babies sooo much and wish they would stay that tiny for a while.  The next time that I see him, he will have grown so much 'cause it probably won't be until Christmas when we go down there!

I have included some pictures of my little "Peanut"!

Am I a proud grandma or not!!!!!

FOUR-LEGGED HOUSE GUEST

We now have a new 4-legged house guest staying with us!  Our friend, Jim, had to go to California and could not take his miniature dapple dachshund, Brody, with him so we offered to let him stay with us.  He's only about 1-1/2 years old and one can tell that he is still a baby - he wants to lick us all of the time!  He loves playing with our three and holds his own and they run and play and then they all take a 3-hour nap.  He's been here before so he does know us and when Dick sits in his chair, Brody, is always up there with him and in the evening, when I sit down, he's up with me along with Charlie and Puggles - it's not very comfortable for me.  Oh, well, they are all so cute and funny that one cannot get upset with them!

We may have him for awhile 'cause Jim's 88 year old father fell and injured his hip and Jim doesn't know when he can get but that's okay!

Here are some pictures and when you see Brody next to two of our dogs, you can see how small he is!

HAPPY BELATED FATHERS DAY TO MY SON!

Happy Belated Fathers (to be) Day to our son, Cory, who will be a Father in 6 weeks!

Dick and I absolutely cannot wait for this little "Critter" to arrive and we have no idea what it will be be because they did not want to know but we did!

Cory has been traveling since last October and since he was finished, he stopped in for two days for Fathers Day before heading home to LA and we have thoroughly enjoyed his visit!  He was update our Macs and show his mom many things that she did not know - why can't he live closer?!

We will go to LA the end of July when our new grand baby is born and we are over the moon!

Cory and Riyoko; we love you very much!!!!!!!!

 

THREE NEW BRACELETS!

Last Saturday I took a class from Colleen Mcgraw and learned how to wrap rhinestones on leather and then I made another one at home!  Thank you, Colleen, I really enjoyed this class!

This week Tanya sent me the instructions on how to leather wrap bracelets that can wrap around your wrists several times so I went to GBM and picked up some leather and Sinox Crystals. I cut the leather too short so I ended up with just a single bracelet but next time I will know and Tanya did tell me the correct length of the leather to cut - operator error!!!!!!

I plan to make several of these, not only for myself, for birthdays and Christmas!  Hope they don't go out of style before I get them made and get to be worn!

I'm happy that I have something new to work on since I am so tired of beading around the Hearts!

My Birthday Trip to LA!

As part of my birthday present, Riyoko and Cory gave me a weekend to LA to be with Riyoko, all expenses paid (Cory is in Philly)!  This was a short trip but full of fun and food and more food!

I arrived in LA about 7:30pm Friday evening with Riyoko picking me up and going off to dinner at this great burger place and we had deep-fried pickles (yummy), burgers and Riyoko ordered Duck-Fat fries which I had never heard of but they were delicious - it's potatoes deep-fried in duck fat - it's a heart attack waiting to happen but I only ate a couple!

Got to the house about 10:00 and I had a cocktail and Riyoko showed me the baby's room with all of the stuff that they got from her friends who have already had their children so the kids don't need to buy any of the large items which is super - we are going to buy them silver bars and will continue to on each birthday along with the little things.  Their house isn't that large so they have to be careful as to how much "stuff" they collect!  I also had a chance to play with Crash & Burn since I did miss my puppies!

The next morning we went to brunch and baby shopping and baby shopping looking and I couldn't believe how many new items that are out 'course it was 42 years ago that I was pregnant!

Our last stop was a doggie store called Barks & Bitches which has everything one could ever desire for their dogs.  The girl who owns it, a friend of Riyoko's, also fosters puppies and I had so much fun playing with them all - there was a puppy who looked exactly like Charlie and I would've loved to bring him home but I have enough!  Needless to say, I smelled very doggy when we got back to the house!

Riyoko had a chance to get rested up for dinner with her parents, Osako and Hiroshi!  I also got a tour of her garden and she has planted everything and a veggie called Soral which is a large lettuce-looking leaf with a lemony taste.  I brought some home to put in my salad this evening.

The Tanaka's arrived about 5:00 and we left to look in one more baby store and then off to a true Italian Restaurant for dinner!  Instead of everyone ordering one meal, Riyoko ordered several items which we shared - two pizzas (they were small), a baked fish, deep-fried calamari which is the best I have ever had, Rigatoni with a bolognese sauce, and another pasta dish which I can't remember!  Everything was so delicious and I definitely did not leave hungry.

A wonderful evening had by all and early to bed!  

The next morning we got up and off to brunch, more food, and had our meal outside because it was so nice and then we walked Larchmont Street which has so many quaint stores (including more baby stores) and a fantastic Farmer's Market - wish we had those beautiful veggies here.

Then off to the airport at 1:30 and home by 4:30!

The weather was really damp or humid in the morning and evening and that was so cold for me and my hair felt like cotton candy so I did wear a hat the entire time!

Yes, it was short but so much fun and I was glad to be away from Las Vegas!  Now it's time to diet - I'm not used to eating that much food!

HEARTS ARE MY LIFE!!!!!!!

I believe that beading around dichroic, (or, however it's spelled)  hearts as well as wire-wrapping around them is what I'm enjoying the most!

I bought a beautiful dichroic heart from Jackie, at the last Craft Show, where she and Tanya were displaying their talent and everything was fantastic!

I couldn't wait to get home and start beading around this lovely heart but I did have a couple of items to finish before I started on another project which made me finish the others very quickly!  What was so nice was that I didn't need to go buy or order any crystals because I had them - that's why I tell myself that it was good to stock up on several colors and sizes,  no matter what Dick had to say!

Now, I'm ready to once again open up my Etsy Shop and begin selling,  however,  I want to wear my hearts a few times before I put them on the site - maybe in six months they will go into my store.  My problem is that I keep making items that I want to wear but I can't imagine making pieces of jewelry that I don't like because my "Heart" would not be into it.

The Ruby Heart is what I recently finished and the Pink Heart is what is on my blog prior to this one!