Our beloved Buddy

Our sweet Buddy went to heaven today to be with his brother Shadow.  He brought so much joy and happiness to our family and it won't be the same without him.  His furry siblings have looked for him all day and it's so lonely without his sweet face.

He has suffered with hip and leg problems for a while but has been doing very well.  Saturday he began having problems standing, fell down the steps, etc.  Once his pain meds kicked in, he was able to move again.  Sadly, things progressed through the night to where he couldn't stand, had a massive seizure, and we had to carry him to and from the car to the vet's office.  We knew before leaving that he wasn't going to get better and all the kids said their tearful goodbyes.  The vet feels, in addition to his existing issues, he had a stroke or some other neurological issue causing him to lose control of his limbs, etc.

It was heartbreaking saying goodbye to our sweet, gentle, loving Buddy.  He will live forever in our hearts until we meet again.

In memory of Chuck

We still have a few orchids that Mark's dad had at their long-time home in El Cerrito, CA.  The blooms are beautiful and last a long time when cut.  Here are the latest blooms from the yellow one ...

Happy Easter!

We have enjoyed a beautiful day and hope the same for you.  In keeping with tradition, each of the kids enjoyed candy from their childhood baskets while Mark just dove into his See's candy ...

Lake Poway

The guys and I went to Lake Poway yesterday for a picnic and a walk around the lake.  The weather was perfect and it was so peaceful and beautiful.

The Birthday Boy

Because of busy schedules, we weren't able to celebrate Mark's birthday until yesterday.  It was great having the boys here to share it with us.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Twenty-three years ago my lifelong dream came true when I held this little baby in my arms.  Happy Birthday Ryan!

Snow day

Kelleigh and Ryan had not seen snow in person so we took a drive toward Big Bear as snow much snow has fallen.  Apparently most of San Diego had the same idea!  Traffic was quite bad so we took an opportunity and stopped at a turn-out where there was fresh snow and made our own fun.  The kids had a great time building a snowman, enjoying a snowball fight, and - best of all - sliding down the steep hill back to the car!  Was a fun day!

We found a carrot piece at the foot of the hill ...
then Ryan found a hat laying by a tree!

Happy Birthday Connor!

Wishing Connor the happiest birthday - love you!

Childhood memories

As part of their Christmas gifts, I made each of the kids an animal from their baby blankets that had been their favorite(s).

I chose a dog for Ryan's since he loves Buddy and works with dogs and cats each day as a vet tech.  It was difficult finding enough fabric on each of the four to make even this little dog!

Christmas 2016

We were fortunate to celebrate the holidays with Grammy, Crystol, her son Jake, Ryan, his GF Shazy, Kelleigh, Mark and I.  Sadly Connor wasn't able to come home so we will see him at the end of his class in early February.  We enjoyed a great dinner together on Christmas Eve and opened gifts leaving Christmas Day for relaxing.

While Jake was here, Mark took him to visit Gold's Gym in Venice Beach where "fitness started"!  On the 27th, Mark, Jake, Ryan and Shazy went to the Ducks vs. Sharks hockey game at The Pond as another of their Christmas gifts.

Our Marine

I love this picture of Connor and his group of guys as it reminds me of one that I have of my dad when he was in the service.  He looks so handsome!

Happy Birthday Dad

Off to Hawaii

Connor received his orders and will be stationed at Kaneohe Bay, HI and from there he will deploy as needed.  He was the only one in his group to get Hawaii and is very excited as he's more than ready to get settled somewhere.  He gets to come home for a short time probably near Thanksgiving before heading west. We're excited for him!

Visiting the Irvine Spectrum Center

Kelleigh drove up to spend Saturday and part of Sunday with Ryan.  It's so hard to believe my kids are old enough to be driving to visit each other but I couldn't be happier that they enjoy each other's company.  They went to the Irvine Spectrum Center which is a fabulous mall with an incredible amount of stores and a ferris wheel.  Definitely worth seeing if you're in the area!

View from the top

First election

Kelleigh received her first election ballot and information guide.  Quite an election to be her first!

Framed pictures

One of my favorite pix is a collage of the kids' graduation announcements.  I love how each of them reflect where they are at this point in their lives.

I can remember ordering these frames and mats when Ryan was starting elementary school and thinking how long it would be before they were all full.  Little did I know that the years would go by much faster than I could imagine.

Mom's project

Mom's favorite room in her house is her TV room.  Since she didn't use the desk any longer, she gave to a friend and got a new sofa to take it's place and decided it needed painted!  Here's the new look ...

Kelleigh

Kelleigh and Ashlie spent the day at Sea World and this was taken on one of the rides.  Love it!

New car

We were fortunate enough to receive enough from the insurance company (fromm the Prius being totalled) to buy Ryan a 2016 Ford Fiesta Hatchback.  We're crossing our fingers that this was a good choice and will last him for years.

Oops

Ryan's morning started off poorly as a woman's error in judgement caused a head-on collision at 50 mph.  Fortunately they both walked away but neither Prius was salvageable.  He has some deep bruising and cuts and shook up as one would expect.

[Update:  The car was declared totalled so the saga of finding a new one begins.]