My Time

Lacie Grace

Isn't this a georgous babe ?  Meet Lacie Grace - my newest Great-Niece.   A big contratulations to Tera & Aaron on their 3rd beauty.

I thought this might be a fitting time to go and get a current count of my nieces & nephews.  Goodness knows there's a lot of them. 

Drumroll please.................... current count........

21 nieces & nephews

18 GREAT nieces & nephews

Yes people - that equals 39. 

OH - and BTW - Aunt Lori ROCKS.  

Just sayin........

Remembering

Well I'm on a roll here in the reminiscing arena.  This photo is my Aunt Pat with my cousin Tina, back around 1968 or 1969.  This photo is old and cracked and faded, but it's still a favorite of mine.  Love how it shows Aunt Pat trying to get baby Tina to look at the camera - love that interaction.  And love that it was probably my Uncle Gary behind the camera.  Been remembering him a lot lately too.

Happy Fathers Day

Missing my Dad very much this father's day.  This photo was taken around 1990, and I did this page many years ago after he passed away.  My style has changed but I still love looking at it to remember him.  You can almost make out the pen in his pocket (or a pen-sized screwdriver) - one signature thing I always remember about my daddy.

The tag reads -

Of all the treasures life may bring, your family means the most.

And whether near or far apart, that love will hold you close. 

I love you Dad.

Our little gymnast

This is my great-niece Hannah.  She is a fabulous gymnast - though I have yet to see for myself - the photos do offer some proof!

I am in awe.  Love you Hannah - you are fabulous.

Remember you can click on the photos to see bigger.

 

The gymnast die cut in the first page is from scrapyourtrip.com

The gymnast die in the second layout is from the Slice - Think Pink cartridge.

Another one...

This is another great-nephew, Kaiden.  Kaiden just turned 2, and also just got a new little sister not too long ago.  He's the big brother now !

Isn't he a cutie ?

These pages were from a Scenic Route class I took a couple years ago. I always love when I remember to pull those pages out & use them.

Hello Beautiful

Meet Layla McKenzie, my newest great-niece.  Congratulations Chelsa.  BTW - can you say her name without thinking of the song ?  I can't.

I love the flower on this page.  It's 2 plain Prima flowers, each sprayed with glimmer mist to match the page.  Then the center is the new Prima flower centers.  Love love.

Family time

 Last weekend was a study in contrasts in Val & Lori land.  I was in Indiana to attend my Uncle Gary's memorial.  Sad occasion and he will be terribly missed.  Val was in Michigan attending a dear friend's wedding.

Even though I was in town for a sad reason, I always enjoy seeing my family.  LOTS of family.  I am always pulled in so many different directions and can't spend the time I would like with any of them - just too many people and not enough time.  Makes it hard. 

This photo is 7 of us siblings.  Lisa, Terry, Marvin, Lori, Christi, Steve, Peggy. Missing Ginny, Wanda, Diana, and our littlest sister Tammy.  It's a rare moment I have so many siblings in one spot.  Someday would love to have a photo of all of us - that would be a rare treasure for sure.

Two of my siblings, Terry and Peggy, are struggling with Ataxia.  It was adult-onset in both of them and it is affecting them so quickly.  Anybody out there have any knowledge of Ataxia I would love to hear from you.

I also got this treasure while there -- this photo always hung on my mothers wall -- found it in my sister Peggy's bedroom hiding in a corner.  Just took a photo of it - hoping to digitally touchup the torn areas and restore some of the color.  Anybody recognize anyone in the photo ??

Had much drama getting home - I don't like the travel part of travel.  And I am always so anxious to get home that any little delay is huge.  

But both Val & I made it home safely from our seperate and very different weekends.  

Now -on to the next adventure......... 

Eyes closed tight - but I can't hide

I’ve tried several methods over the past few weeks to avoid reality.  Most recently – closing my eyes really tight and hope the situation passes by without seeing me.  But it’s not working.

Most of you know I lost both my parents to Small Cell Carcinoma in June 1998.

In May this year, my Uncle Gary was diagnosed with the same cancer, and it was already stage IV.  He is a distance away – most of my family lives in Indiana.  But even from afar, it feels too familiar.

Same telephone updates.

Same feeling of wanting to help but being too far away.

Same sense of the family coming closer together with this common bond.

Same remembering things I wanted to do or say.

Same feeling of hopelessness.

 

I have been saying, since his diagnosis, that I really needed to visit and spend some time with him.  Seems it’s just easier to ignore the situation and pretend it’s not true.  But no matter how much I pretend, there is no turning back this illness.

I admire my Uncle Gary for many things.  He was our family photographer – always had a camera close by when we were growing up. (probably why there aren’t tons of photos with him in it). And we shared an interest in our family history.  He has shared so many family tidbits and copies of very old family documents and photos that I will always treasure.  And he will always be in the memories connected with them.

 

I love you Gary, and I hate that you have to suffer through this illness.  I know you lived your life with gusto and am grateful for that.

 

 

Another one !

 Meet my newest great-nephew, Kayden Skyler Mays.  I haven't met Kayden in person yet but he sure looks like an inquisitive little fella.    

Congratulations to Jeremy and Tiffany - he's georgous.

 

 

Disney California Adventure

Tuesday I spent the day at Disney California Adventure with my cousin Mike and his family.  Cute kids -- it was fun seeing them have so much fun !!  And I had actually never been to California Adventure so it was all good.

So here's a few photos from the day --

Boy was I exhausted, it was a very long day -- piled onto several very long days -- so I'm very sleep deprived at the moment. 

 The bug eye glasses are from "It's Tough to be a Bug" show -- which I might add did make me jump.  Very cute show.

These kids also had a blast running through the water play areas.  Believe me we had some very soaked kids, and more than one set of blue lips.   Swim suits would have been a good idea for the kids if we'd known about the water play areas.  Next time !

Very fun day !  Now - recovery.  :-)