Scary or Cute?

The plan was hatched between the ‘director’ above and the birthday dinosaur to scare all of us with JJ’s ‘scary’ transformation into a green dinosaur.

She was on the lookout and knew we were all in danger.

He appeared!! Cute or scary?

Fast and roaring!

 

After we were all sufficiently scared the dinosaur opened his presents.

Last but not least, his big boy fishing pole!

Finishing off the party with photos of his guests.

Don’t miss the dinosaur feet.

 

The party was a success of dinosaur proportions and we left for home to prepare for another birthday celebration in the evening. The cute 4 year old dinosaur had a nap and was ready for an evening of fun at Baba and Gramps’.

We love you JJ and pray that you will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God keep you and protect you all the days of your life.

So they don’t get lost over time here are the other posts from JJ’s 4th birthday party.

Dino Food and Fun

Were You Invited, T-Rex?

Four-ociously JJ

 

Dino Food and Fun

At JJ’s 4th birthday party after the T-Rex (AKA Uncle Scott) made his entrance it was time for lunch and before we start Gramps offers up a prayer of blessing for JJ to our heavenly Father.

I didn’t take photos of all the food. We had drumsticks, meatballs, little smokies, raw veggies and fresh fruit.

After lunch we played an outdoor game before we had cake.

We had a green team and orange team and we had to fill the little dinosaurs with water and try to fill a cup up to the line by squeezing the water out of the dinosaur.

Games over it was time for cake!

So many good sports with the dinosaur theme!

Sistersaurus and her Four-ocious brother made some plans to scare and entertain us before it was time for presents.

That post is coming next since this one is already photo intense.

 

The party continues on Monday and beyond!

Happy Friday and I hope you all have a good weekend.

Were You Invited, T-Rex?

There we were just hanging out at JJ’s Dinosaur party when Aunt Rhonda exclaimed dramatically that we all needed to go outside and see what was happening! We were all shocked to see T-Rex coming up the driveway.

Amber the dog went into full protection mode barking at this creature she was confused about.

Of course we all realized that this was Great Uncle Scott in costume. He gets the prize for this huge fun surprise at JJ’s Dinosaur party. Aunt Rhonda dropped him off down the driveway for him to get in costume to surprise all of us.

Uncle Scott gets on his knee to show JJ and Addy that it is him in costume. Time to re-create a little Jurassic Park action.

So much excitement and now we head inside to have our lunch and more dinosaur fun.

After the great effort on the part of Uncle Scott and Aunt Rhonda for this surprise at the party I think it deserves it’s own post. More party fun to come with some ‘scary’ action from a cute little dinosaur. This will definitely be a party to remember.

Easter Day, Here and There…

Easter 2023 our western crew wasn’t able to be with our eastern crew. We will be all together next this coming weekend, Lord willing. Glad photos were taken of these two in their Easter finery that they wore to church.

We had a sermon centered on Jesus and 3 characteristics of a Risen Savior; He is calling your name, He can calm your fears, He can conquer your doubt. The Bible is a living book about a living Savior. It was good to be in the house of the Lord.

This crew a few hundred miles away had their finery on, too.

After church there was some Easter basket fun with baskets that are not of the traditional kind.

Granny was so creative using these cute umbrellas with the current themes for our Grands, Unicorns and Dinosaurs, filled with lots of fun goodies!

Finally it was time to get our rain gear on and go outside for the Easter Egg Hunt!

We didn’t get the sunshine we had last year for this Easter Sunday and we had a very rainy Easter Monday. We should be full swing into our season of mud here. We only have a couple small snow piles left in our yard. This coming weekend will be a very busy one for us as we will celebrate our grandson’s 4th birthday…with a dinosaur theme.

Easter Monday

Recovering from a glorious Easter day.

We had a little rain just in time for the Easter Egg hunt. That didn’t deter the Grands at all.

When I get my photos together I’ll share more. Didn’t take one photo of the Easter Brunch we had at church. It went well and we had good help so that was a huge relief. We had close to 200 come through for the brunch. For the service we had a full sanctuary and overflow in the gym.

Hope you all have a good week!

I Choose Joy Hodgepodge

Wednesday Hodgepodge is back this week. Thank you Joyce From This Side of the Pond for the questions!

1. Did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in some way? If so tell us how. Are you a fan of corned beef? Cabbage? The color green? Yes, yes, and yes. 

This year St. Patrick’s day landed on the Friday that our kids drove over from the Westside to celebrate birthdays over the weekend. All of us, except for Andrew, gathered Friday evening for a Corned Beef and Cabbage meal. Our weekend was packed solid with celebrations. Addy’s party on Saturday afternoon and a belated celebration for me Saturday evening.

2. March 22nd is National Goof Off Day…will you celebrate? Your favorite way to goof off? Last time you had a whole day to spend ‘goofing off’? 

My favorite way to goof off is to do nothing and stay in my jammies and robe for most of the morning. Wednesdays is not usually a goof off day for me. Wednesday morning I join some other gals at church for prayer meeting at 9am. After prayer I usually stop at Wal-Mart or Super 1 to pick up any needed groceries since I’m in town already. On this particular Wednesday we are having 2 other couples over for cards at 5 so I’ll be making some kind of a dessert for us to share during our card evening. Hand and Foot is what we play (Canasta?).

3. Something on your to-do list that has been there more than a month? Will this be the month you finally cross it off? 

Usually in late Fall the planters should be cleared of old growth and prepared for winter. We had early snow that covered our planters and Dear had a stroke on November 5th so any outside work got put on the back burner. Before March is over I hope to be able to clear out all the soggy and dead growth to give way to the Spring growth. On Monday and Tuesday of this week the weather was right to get a start on this task. My back can only take so much each day. I have 4 of the 7 planters done. Dear was able to gather many of the fallen branches from our evergreens and chop them down to size for the burn pile. So thankful that we are still physically able to accomplish some of these tasks.

4. In your opinion, what emotion is the most beneficial? Which one is the least useful? 

I think many emotions can be both beneficial and detrimental depending on the degree they are felt and acted upon. Example: There is healthy fear and a debilitating fear.  There is a place for sadness and grief but not despair.

Since we are asked to choose. I’ll choose JOY! Joy lifts up and it is encouraging to be around a joyful person. For my least useful choice I’ll go with anger even though there is a place for anger we are apt to go overboard if we let this emotion take over.

5. What was your favorite thing to do as a kid? Elaborate. 

Read! I can still remember what a joy it was to be able to hold a book in my primary years and read it. Dick and Jane most likely. Then that joy grew. My siblings and I would walk to the library and check out our quota of books to bring home to read. I remember scanning the shelves of books to choose the right ones. In later elementary years a bookmobile would come to our school and I enjoyed that chance to choose books to read, too.

It was 1.7 miles one way from our home in Pico Rivera to the Montebello Library that sat on the grounds of Montebello City park. That library is now a Senior Center. We walked out of our neighborhood (Montebello Gardens) to Whittier Blvd, across the Rio Hondo River bridge and straight on to the library.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Our sweet granddaughter who turned six on the first day of Spring, Monday.

Her party was on Saturday. We are so thankful to God that we get to have a granddaughter and grandson to love and watch grow. Posts of the Magical Unicorn Party Here, Here and Here.

We had a wonderful packed weekend. Our Westside kids drove home on Sunday.

Cake, Presents and Party Games!

This money roll from Granny Great and Jim was sooo much fun!

It was so sweet that she tried to read each card before diving into the gift.

Our card read, “Baba and Gramps thank God that He made you and that we get to love you forever!”

Auntie Lolo and Uncle Josh bought the birthday dress, amazing sequenced unicorn jacket and shoes for Addy which was her birthday outfit.

We played a game where we had to hold a plate on top of our heads and attempt to draw a unicorn or a rainbow without taking the plate off of our heads. Addy was the judge and she looked at each drawing carefully and chose the unicorn winner and the rainbow winner…

The winners!

Outside for unicorn ring toss!

Brother preferred riding his jeep.

This party was over and we went home where our kids had planned another meal for dinner and cake for my belated birthday celebration. The fun was constant from our Friday St. Patrick’s day meal through Sunday breakfast before our ‘Westside’ kids drove home. That will be another post.

Addy is Six!

Addy had a wonderful family birthday party on Saturday a couple days before her actual birthdate. We gathered at noon and enjoyed good food, a couple of games, birthday cake and presents. This is the people post. Tomorrow will be the present, cake and candle post.

We love you dear Addy and are so thankful we get to celebrate you in person.

The Lord bless you and keep you;
 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

Putting together the balloon arch. Thank you Aunticorns!

Aunticorn: Like a Normal Aunt, But More Awesome.

Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo.

Addy’s Mommy created this amazing Unicorn Cake. If you haven’t guessed already, Unicorns were the theme for this party.

Granny and Granny Great

4 generations on the top and Uncle Scott and Aunt Rhonda on the bottom.

Gramps and Baba

Charcuterie, rainbow veggies, and rainbow fruit.

The birthday girl, food, company, and weather was magical, just like unicorns. More birthday fun tomorrow.

Our Sweet Spring Gift

Six years ago on the first day of Spring our very first grandchild was born. Happy Sixth birthday to our one and only granddaughter, Addy May! Baba and Gramps love you so much. A very full birthday fun post is coming soon. We thank our God that He created you and we get to love you! We love you, we love you, we love you!

Happy First day of Spring everyone. We had wonderful Spring weather from Friday through Sunday which was a wonderful change. Much of our snow has melted. We had a full weekend of celebrations, too. Hope Spring arrives nicely in your corner of the Northern Hemisphere!

Looking Back Seventy Two Years…

Some thoughts and collages looking back on my Seventy Second Birthday.

Lived in proximity to the Pacific Ocean for 72 years anywhere from a couple miles away to now over 400 miles away. I’m a West Coast Girl.

A city girl for 67 years.

A born again believer in Jesus Christ for 60 years.

Sadie Sadie married lady for 48 years.

A most thankful mom for 44 years.

A grateful grandmother for 6 years.

A country gal for 4-1/2 years.

Thanking the LORD for His steadfast love to me and my family. The best eternal gift I have received is my redemption with so many added blessings through the years some in the form of trials. Many sweet earthly gifts, too. Pressing on and looking to my future hope.

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever, Amen.” Jude 1:24

We had a lot of rain on Monday and today we might get some sunshine breaking through. That will be nice for our day in Spokane for shopping and eating at a new spot to us.