Sweet Treats: half-birthdays & birthdays!

This is Lindsay's 18 1/2 birthday cake. Couldn't get her to pose with it though!

This is Karen's "birthday cake"! It is our own new creation called a "Brookie".

It is a chocolate chip cookie baked inside a brownie. Then to make it a sundae, you add a scoop of vanilla ice cream smothered in Nanaw's home made hot fudge sauce! Yummmmmy chocolaty goodness! It's worth turning another year older for this! haha

Cast Away Day! 8-13-09

Before after

Today was the big day...the cast came off! Woohoo! Matt was so excited for today to get here. He has been waiting for 5 weeks to get the cast off his left arm/wrist. Per Dr. Devine, the wrist is not completely healed yet. He should still restrict his activities...no playing in any basketball games until Sept 1st. Then the "world is his oyster". If he should fall before it is completely healed, it will break & it will be a worse break. He is to just do strengthening exercises now. He is stiff now from being casted for 5 weeks. Here are a few pictures from getting his cast taken off today.

8-11-09 Trip to Fresno

The kids & I took a day trip to Fresno & back. It is only about a 3 hour drive each way & we were blest not to have too much traffic or road construction delays! Maddie was a great little traveler for us. The car did great too. The air conditioning is amazing! I think at one point we saw that it was 108 degrees.

We had lunch at Wienerschnitzel, the kids choice! :) It was yummy, of course!

Then we went over to see my grandma, Nanaw. She is 94. She lives in the California Armenian Home in the skilled nursing side. This "home" is so beautifully landscaped. Picnic areas, lots of huge trees, grassy area, flowers & fountains. Really beautiful.

Nanaw did not know that we were coming, so we totally surprised her when we walked in. She was out in the hallway, in her wheelchair, looking quite pretty. She had just had her hair done & she looked very nice. I was quite impressed that she recognized me. Sometimes she has a hard time remembering who each of us are & our names. She was in a wonderful mood & seemed to be pain free. (My folks had been there the day before & had gone with her for a 2nd opinion regarding the ulcerations on her leg. The doctor wants to amputate her leg, because there in no circulation getting to her foot. If they don't operate, her foot will become gangrenous & it will eventually kill her with the infection. She has been in an incredible amount of pain & gets morphine twice a day. When my folks were there, she was in a terrible amount of pain. Was very tough on my folks, especially my mom. So we really didn't know what to expect when we got there to see her. I was really worried about how the kids would be, if when we got there, she was crying in pain. But thank you God, she was doing great!) She has been wanting to die for many years. She is ready to meet Jesus face to face. So for her, there is no decision. She made it a long time ago. She is ready to meet Jesus. So they are just going to try to keep her as comfortable as possible.

It was really good to see her. It was a short visit, but quite possibly, the last one. We don't know how much longer she will be with us. I am really glad we went & the kids went also. Here are a few pictures of our day with Nanaw! She fell in love with Maddie, what a surprise!

After our visit, before we got in the car for the long ride home, we played in the fountain. It was only 108 degrees, so it wasn't too bad & the water felt oh so good to splash on each other. After that we went to pick up sandwiches from one of my favorite places, Full O Bull. They have the best cheese steak sandwiches! yummy. Then it was the 3 hour drive home. I was so ready to go to bed when we got home! Lindsay & Maddie slept for about the last 30 mins or so, so bedtime was sooooo late for Maddie! She just wasn't tired after her nap in the car.

8-5-09 Play day, finally!

Maddie & her buddie Eli, finally get a chance to play together at the park!

You never could tell that Simon, this sweet little baby boy, has spent the last month in the hospital! Thank God, he is finally home & doing well!!

July 27, 2009 Stylin'

Here I am, modeling our brand new car, 2009 Nissan Altima! We traded in our Chevy Tahoe, for a car that will get around twice the gas mileage, had 8 miles on it & costs us about the same! Actually, will probably cost us less because we won't be using as much gas! It has been so fun driving this car. But I must be careful to watch my speed-it just goes sooooo smoothly. Most definitely must use cruise control! Added benefit? Free car washes!

7-25-09 25th wedding anniversary party

Here are a few pictures from our 25th wedding anniversary party. Thank you to the kids, with the help of both sets of our parents, for putting it all together.Maddie couldn't wait for cake, so she got to enjoy 1 of NaiNai's cupcakes!

Lindsay modeling my wedding dress!
Who knows what I was saying!!!

7-23-09 One "Tow-riffic "morning

Look what happens when you taking Matt driving! haha Michael had taken Matt driving the night before over at the high school. When they had finished their lesson and changing drivers, the car would not start again. So the next day Maddie & I went to wait for the tow truck. She enjoyed watching it load the car up. She kept calling the tow truck, Mater, from the movie Cars. (To add to the fun, there was a Coast Guard helicopter hovering over the beach just past the high school. If you know the movie Cars, there is a part towards the end where Mater, the tow truck, flies over in a helicopter!!! You can imagine the excitement for Maddie!!)