1966 Just Me & My Mom

There are not many pictures of my mom and me because she was usually the one behind the camera. I knew this one existed because I remember seeing it I just couldn’t remember where. Well I found it yesterday in a bunch of old pictures she had given me for my scrapbook……..Forget the scrapbook this picture is totally blog worthy…..Looking at this picture it reminds me of how lucky I am to have her as my mom. Growing up we had dinner every night at 5:30, took a bath and we’re in bed by 9:00 pm on school nights. I guess you could say that was normal back then for a family with four plus kids but she also went to school and worked full-time for two years to become a nurse. No matter what the needs of her children may be and no matter how old she gets we all know she will stand by our side no matter what......I love you mom!

Christmas Eve 2009

Here's what Christmas Eve looks likes at my parents house.......Enough said!

A Life Time Ago

1985 & 2007

This house seems like a life time ago. The first picture was taken around 1985 when Joey and Glenn were the proud owners. In 1986 Joey decided to move on to bigger and better things (Hawaii) so I bought his share of this house. While living here Glenn and I got married, Glenn started his cabinet business, we had our boys, I ran a daycare and in 2000 our little house became a rental. As I look back I'm very thankful for the happy memories our little house on Wagner Ave so lovingly gave us.

déjà vu

When I was looking through spring break pictures I came across these. The 2007 picture was taken in AZ while waiting for breakfast and the 2009 was taken in TN while waiting for dinner.....deja vu!!

2004 Noah and His Aunt Margaret

OMG this picture cracks me up every time I see it! Margaret (Glenn's sister) is trying to get Noah to dance but in typical Noah fashion he's a total goofball.......he gets that from Glenn!

July 2006

This is my great niece Charlotte (my niece Meghan's daughter and my sister’s granddaughter). This was a very big day for all of us. Charlotte is the first baby (in our California family) since Aaron was born which was in 1994. So we (my sister-in-law Dana, my niece Sheri and my mom) were all in line to hold her......and she was well worth the wait!

Today

She is scared but she doesn’t complain. She doesn’t ask why me. She just stands tall and says… “You might scare me but you’ll never beat me… I don’t fight like a girl I fight like a woman and I WILL defeat you”. For she is the strongest woman I know and she is true to her word. She WILL win this battle and she will wear her scar like a war hero.

This Flower

Let me first give you a little history on this picture. It was taken by Aaron when he was around 8. He had gotten his first digital camera and was outside one day walking around the house with me taking pictures. I looked at this flower and decided to pass I mean come on it was half dead. He on the other hand saw something I didn’t. He first looked at it for a while, took aim and shot this awesome picture. "I was blown away when I saw it - he on the other hand..." looked at it and said “what’s the big deal it’s just a flower’.

Friday's with Char

Yesterday Char or as I call her Doodle Bug and I spent the day together and I’m finding the older she gets the more fun we have. This little girl knows how to make a fashion statement and will someday be a trend setter. (Just a little trait she inherited from her mother.) We squeezed a lot of things into one day including a little disagreement over taking a nap which I won!…….This house is a no grumpy kid zone and one grumpy teenager (Aaron) is enough for me!

Adrian and His Grandpa

Adrian is my great nephew and my brother Marks grandson. These two are buddies and they pretty much hang out together everyday. Adrian always seems to be roping his grandpa into fixing or building something. I gotta say that little guy is darn good with tools and he even knows the names of a lot of them. They don’t teach ya that stuff in preschool!

Noah

This picture of Noah was taken when he was around 11. I look back and think like so many other parents wow where did the time go? Even now when I do see him which is rare I think when did he grow up and I'm not talking maturity I’m just talking age. I know he still has a lot of growing up to do but he seems to be doing it without Glenn and I.
There is sayings that I think of when I reflect back on the days he was so young…..“Days are long but years are short” and I sometimes think what I would give to have just one of those days back....I miss you Noah.

Aaron 2007

This picture speaks for itself!!! It's just to get you in the mood for summer...that's it! "Come on summer I'm SO over winter"

The Shop

For those of you who read this blog and wonder where I work well wonder no more. I work here at The Cabinet Shop or as we call it The Shop and no I don’t build cabinets I do the bookkeeping. In 2005 we (Jeff & Jodi Bell and Glenn and I) had this building built and moved The Shop from Watsonville to Castroville. So if you just happen to be in our neck of the woods buying deep fried artichokes at The Giant Artichoke or you just need some scrap wood come on by we would love to see you!

Puppy Love

If you’re a puppy lover like me these two will melt your heart. My Uncle Dan and his girlfriend Lori got these two yesterday. One is a gift to Lori from Dan for Valentines Day and the other is a birthday gift from Lori to Dan for his birthday which was yesterday. The puppies are half Corgi and Aussie and they named them Valentine and Augie……They are just too cute for words!

Only Yesterday

Really it was only yesterday that I took this picture. We were all at restaurant called The Fire Station at least I think that’s what is was called. I knew it had something to do with firemen and we were really hoping one of them would wait on us. No such luck! The food was only so, so but I have no doubt that had a real firemen waited on us the food would have tasted oh so much better...I’m just say’in!

One more thing I MUST add about this picture. Girls just to prove I always have your back whenever I post a picture of you I’m willing to post a crapie picture of me….Proof is in the picture!

Easter 1966

My cousins Mike, Debbie and Leona Keith and my brother Mark and I.

Every time I look at this picture it makes me laugh. Mike and his sisters are dressed up in their Easter best. As for Mark and I well what can I say… Marks wearing his Easter shirt in typical Mark fashion unbuttoned with belly hanging out. As for me if my mom even came near me with a dress and God forbid it had buttons anywhere on it I would pitch a fit and start crying. So there you have it….... City slickers and country bumpkins’ going head to head over Easter eggs…let the butt kicking begin!

1990-2010 "Breeze the Burro"

For Noah's second Christmas my dad, his neighbor and best friend Walt and my dear friend Elana all pitched in and created “Breeze the Burro”. Breeze will be 20 years old this Christmas and has brought joy to all the little ones who have ridden her. One day when Noah grows up and has children of his own they will experience the same joy Breeze brought him so many years before. But until then she’s staying put in our living room for all little ones to enjoy!

Spring Break 2008

Our 2008 spring break agenda looked like this:

· Fly into Vegas
· Spend the night in Vegas
· Take the boys to see “O” Cirque Du Soleil
· Rent a car and drive to The Grand Canyon
· Stay the night in a hotel near the Grand Canyon
· Drive to Sedona and do some hiking
· Spend the night in Sedona
· Drive back to Vegas
· Take the boys to see The Beatles “LOVE” Cirque Du Soleil
· Spend the night in Vegas
· Fly home

The best part of spring break according the boys….VEGAS BABY!

It's a Doggie Dog World!

These are our dogs Bo a French Mastiff and Baylee a Golden Retriever. If you're a dog lover like me you have a tendency to treat your dogs like your kids and in return your dogs act like your kids. Take Baylee for instant Noah spent the night at a friends house last night and when I got up this morning she had opened his bedroom door (yep! she knows how to do that) and slept in his bed. We don't ever let our dogs sleep on the beds. Well when I told her to get off the bed she gave me those teenager looks of "WHATEVER". Bo on the other hand is happiest asleep in his bed. He snores, farts and has a face only a mother could love and I do!

Saying Goodbye to Candlestick Park 1999

Brian, Dave, Bob, Glenn and Joey were all at the last Giants game at Candlestick Park. The picture you see here was taken before these five diehard Giants fans knew what was about to wipe the smiles right off their faces. I wasn’t there but from what Glenn has told me it sucked…The Giants lost to the Dodgers, and Joey’s nephew who’s a Dodgers fan with a very big mouth sat right next to him. Wow a Dodger fan with a big mouth that’s a new one (eye roll).
The good news in all of this is if you’re a diehard Giants fan like I am theirs only two months until the Giants opening day…April 9th put it on your calendar!!!

HAPPY B-DAY BFF

Today my BFF Jennifer turns umm, umm, let me think, let me think I can usually do the math in my head but it's just not clicking today for some reason give me a minute it'll come to me...Oh wait I just remembered I don't want her to slap the crap out of me for posting her age so I’m pleading the fifth!
Jennifer and I have been best friends since I was 18. We didn’t go to the same high school but the way we met is classic and here’s the short version of it. The guys that we were dating at the time were best friends. My date who will remain nameless and I were at the movies to see the first (this should give you a clue how old we were) Friday the 13th oh and by the way I hate that movie. Anyway Jennifer and her date who also will remain nameless were sitting about three rows in front of us. Well if you’ve seen the movie you know that right at the end (sorry to give away the ending for those of you who haven't seen it) Jason that crazy dude jumps out of the water and grabs the person in the boat. Right then Jennifer’s date grabs her, she screams and then yells and I mean yells!!! “THAT”S IT YOU”RE NOT GETTING ANY TONIGHT” and that my friendly blog reader is how Jennifer and I became friends the rest as they say is history….....

The One that Got Away!

Every other year or so Glenn heads off to Kake Alaska to visit his brother Dave but mostly it’s to do a lot of fishing. In 2009 he and his friend Mike were doing just that fishing, fishing and more fishing. These six beautiful salmon were their catch for the day until.......

A bear decided why go fishing when it had this lovely smorgasbord right there on the bank. "Wow" thought the bear it's my lucky day! It's so nice of these guys to leave all these fish here for me and I don’t want to be rude and ignore their offer so I’ll just take one. So the six salmon you see in this picture turned into five and Glenn and Mike went straight back to Dave’s house to change their underwear! And that my friendly blog reader is how I'm telling this story! Glenn and Mike well they have a different version!

1988 Ron & Mark

My brother Mark and Ron Jennings have had a friendship that spans over three decades. “Wow” did I just say decades? That’s old people talk! Like most friends they've had their ups and downs but friendships like theirs only happen once in a lifetime. I would say they are BFF’s (best friends forever) but that’s a total girly term that guys NEVER EVER use so I’ll just leave it at they are friends for life.

My Grandpa Keith 1965

When I was eight my grandpa Keith died of Pancreatic cancer. I don’t remember too much about that time in my life but I do remember it was the first time I had ever seen my dad cry. My sister, brothers and older cousins have more memories of my grandpa than I do but the things I do remember about him are fresh in my mind today. He always had lifesavers, root beer candy or Certs in his right shirt pockets and the left pocket held a pack of Camel cigarettes. I remember climbing on his lap and asking him for a piece of candy he would reach in his pocket and hand me the roll. Sometimes after school or in the summertime I would hang out with him and my grandma. I would help with his garden and collect eggs from the chickens. He was a man of few words with a kind heart and a big smile. I never heard him yell or get mad but I have no doubt he did considering he and my grandma had six kid’s (one girl and five boys). To tell you the truth this post started out to be about my Uncle Noah (my Grandpas brother) but as you can see that didn’t happen this time. I’ll save my Uncle Noah for another day because today is for Grandpa Keith.

Happy 58th Anniversary Mom & Dad

Today is my parent’s 58th wedding anniversary. Yep you read that right 58th!! In the years that I’ve been their daughter (notice how I didn’t tell you how many years I’ve been their daughter and no it’s not 58) I’ve seen their ups and downs. They were like most couples working full time and raising their kids the only difference was they seemed to be raising other people’s kids as well. We always had an extra kid at the dinner table and an extra sleeping bag on the floor. Most families take in stray dogs and cats we took in stray kids. Actually that’s an exaggerations of the truth we really only took in two boys Robert my Brother Gary’s best friend and my cousin Mike. I have no doubt they would have taken in more if someone needed a home because that’s the kind of parents they are.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad I Love You!

My Gramma D

This picture is very special to me it’s a picture of my maternal grandmother, Noah and me. This is as close to Noah as my grandmother ever came; she passed away nine days before he was born. She never got to see or hold him and it breaks my heart every time I think about it. This was a very sad and happy time in my life. As I sit her typing this, my emotions are uncontrollable and the tears are flowing. She has been gone over 20 years and I still miss her greatly. If someday I’m half the grandmother she was my grandchildren will be very lucky children!

Rest in Peace Grama I love and miss you.

80's FLASHBACK!

Kim, Jennifer, Laurel, Margaret and I in the 80's!

For those of you who don’t know Margaret is Glenn’s little sister and even though she was way younger she was cool so we let her hang with us! Ya, that’s right we were as cool as you could get back then! Check out the clothes and the hair...Damn I think all that stuff is coming back again and I think that means were getting old....OH CRAP!

Oh wait! let me rephrase that "We're now smarter, wiser, and better at everything!

Happy Monday!

Glenn made the suggestion that I put other pictures besides people on my photo a day. I love people but I have to admit I also love nature and when I haven’t done my photo day homework for the week natures what you get.

Happy Monday Everyone!