I Got Tagged by Kim*****

Here goes what happened in my life...

20 Years ago:
1. I was 33 years old with a husband and 3 small boys.
2. We were living in Spring Valley, Ca. on Le Chusa Street. In a rental house which was very nice, but not in the safest neighborhood for the boys.
3. Geoff was 13, Scott 10 and Stuart was 5 years old.
4. Steve and I bought 3 acres up in Julian, Ca. So our boys could grow up in the country.
5. Stuart started kindergarten so I started my career at a school district. Since Stuart cried everyday I dropped him off.

10 Years ago:
1. We have lived in Julian for 9 years.
2. I have been a 2nd grade aide at Julian Elementary for 9 years.
3. We have taken Geoff and Scott to Utah to live. Geoff to college and Scott to ???? Stuart is in high school.
4. Steve and I are enjoying having 1 child at home.

5 Years ago:
1. We are loving the life with no children at home. We can do what we want. But we really miss our boys. Stuart is at NAU.
2. I am a cancer survivor of 3 years.
3. Our first grandchild was born. A beautiful little girl.
4. We have fought a fire that just about destroyed our beautiful little town of Julian. We had to evacuate so we went to to Scott's and stayed for a few days and then to Borrego Springs to wait for the okay to go home.
5. I am still a 2nd grade aide and loving it.

3 years ago:
1. We have left Julian to move closer to the boys and babies. We now have 2 grandbabies.
2. We sold our home in Julian and bought a brand new home in Lake Montezuma, Az.
3. I am a Health Aide in a middle school and Steve teaches Tech.
4. We used our timeshare and go to Oregon and Victoria for a summer vacation.

1 year ago:
1. I am now the Librarian at our school district. I have been waiting for this chance to come along.
2. We now have 4 grandbabies. Kylie, Peyton, Ashley and baby Cooper.
3. We go back to Oregon with our timeshare. We have started to plan our trip of a lifetime to Australia for next summer.
4. Stuart tells us he is a gay man. Which we accept. Cuz we kinda thought so.
5. Steve and I went to Pinetop for our 35th wedding anniversary.

This Year:
1. I have worked and figured out the library.
2. Steve and I went on our dream trip to Australia for 20 days.
3. Went to San Diego to see Steve's mom. Visit with my mom every other weekend at an alzheimers center.
4.Geoff is a divorced man, with his ex moving to Kansas with the kids and a new life. (SAD)
5. Scott and Kim are good with their babies in Daybreak, Utah. Stuart in Phoenix.
6. Kylie starts kindergarten and is so smart.

Yesterday:
1. Carpooled to school with Steve. It's Friday.
2. I read the same story 8 times today to 8 different classes.
3. 25 people from the middle school piled into vans and went to a Diamondback game in Phoenix. 4. Talked to Stuart on the phone about him coming up this weekend.
5. Steve told me about the tickets he bought for my birthday to go see Chorus Line next weekend.

Today:
1. Here I am behind this keyboard writing this blog.
2. I will go food shopping for the week to Basha's.
3. Clean this house.
4. Enjoy the day with my man.
5. Just got a call from Geoff and Peyton scored 3 goals in his first game of soccer. 2 for his team and 1 for the other team. He likes to share.

Tomorrow:
1. We will wait for Stuart to get here. He is bringing Amanda. (family relative)
2. Our friend Cindi with join us for dinner.
3. I will sit and enjoy the day, and maybe talk to the babies.

Next Year:
1. I will be healthier due to my blood diet.
2. We will spend a week in Oceanside, Ca. with all of our family at our timeshare.
3. I will await the birth of my 5th grandchild. ( keep my fingers crossed).
4. Get my backyard done.

Happy 75th Birthday Mom

This past weekend was my mom's 75th birthday. She is in a center in Phoenix for Alzhiemer's. It is hard to see mom like this, because she use to be so full of life.

But we had a nice day that she seemed to enjoy, and she enjoyed her birthday cake and ice cream. Her cake had beautiful red rose's. She loves roses and red is a favorite color. She had almost the whole family there. There was 15 of us there so she was busy watching all. She also had her great grandson son RyRy (Lynne's grandbaby).

When I saw her I told her happy birthday and did she know who I was. She said "no she didn't know". But when I told her I was her daughter Gail, she said "I love you". So our job is to love her and to make her comfortable.

Peyton and Ashley

These are our other cuties. We did not get to see them this summer since they have moved to Kansas with their mother. But with her help we hope to talk to the often. Peyton is 4 who loves to rough house with anyone who is willing. He is as sturdy and as solid as a rock. But he loves it when I call him "sweets". Ashley is still a petite little girl who loves to change her clothes. Don't get me on her shoes. She loves them. She gets upset when you try to help her put anything on. Her favorite saying is "I do it myself".

Cooper

So .... Cooper is an image of his daddy. Except he has his momma's big brown eyes. He has a sweet disposition and very quick to smile. The cutest thing he did while we were there is his wave. He would look at you and wave and then look away. Then only to look right back at you to wave again. He would do this several times and then just smile at you and giggle. He loves to ride his bike when he is outside or just run. He is very much a boy who loves to play tough. When his daddy comes in from work, Scott will whistle which sends Cooper running for him and yelling Dada.

Kylie

Our visit to see the kids after our trip from Australia was wonderful. Kylie is starting kindergarten. We don't know where the time went. It just is not true that she can be that old. After dinner one night we all decided to take a walk to the school. She was so excited to see her classroom. Well we were pretty sure it was her classroom. She would tell me later that it was.

So her first day was a success, her teacher was so impressed with her reading ability that he put her in the higher reading group. You go girl.. Nana and Papa are so proud of you.

Australia, July 2008

Australia..... We finally did it. Our trip of a life time. We had more fun then we expected to have.



When we left LAX, we were on a plane with 90 nuns and several priests. We did not know that the pope was going to be in Sydney for World Youth Day. So we felt safe. We were packed into the plane like sardines for 14 hours.


In Cairns we did visit The Great Barrier Reef. The water was so beautiful, so many different shades of blues and greens. Then off to a trip on the Kuranda Train with a Skyrail ride through the Rain Forest. Steve learned to throw a spear and a boomerang from the Aboriginals. That tour also included a buffet lunch that was wonderful.


In Golden Beach we had a first car rental where Steve drove on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road. Every time he tried to use his blinkers he had the windshield wipers going. We did a pineapple plantation tour which was tasty. We were in Golden Beach for 3 days.


Our next stop was Sydney. Our condo was right downtown so we did not need a car. The trips were a city tour and the a harbor cruise with a seafood buffet. On the cruise we saw the Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. Pictures don't do justice to how beautiful that was. When we got off the ship we were in Manley Harbor. We discovered that the Wildlife Zoo and the Aquarium were there so we decided to spend a day there. The next day we were on another bus (a smaller one) going to the Blue Mountians. Which is sort of like our Grand Canyons. It was a great ride to see the countryside and all the small towns. The mountians were majestic and sort of like our Grand Canyon but with more trees. Day three we were back down at the harbor to the zoo and the aquarium. We saw all the animals of Australia and the most vivid blue butterflies ever.


Our fourth stop had us landing in Melborne where we picked up another car for Steve to chance his skills again. We were off to Ballarat where the condo was once a boy's boarding school in the 1800's. It is a grand place with so much history. We were on our own, so we planned what we did. One of the first things was to drive the Great Ocean Road. 184 miles of coastline. One of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. We stopped everywhere we could. It was beautiful. Seeing the countryside reminded us of Tino and his love of ranching. We just kept saying he would love it. The next day we went to Sovereign Hill. One of the orginal gold mining towns of Australia. We had our first meat pie. Steak and mushroom. Yummmm. We decided to take the train into Melborne to find Scott's honey that he wanted. Melborne in the 2nd largest city in Australia and I swear all of the people were in the downtown area that day. it was so crowed. Found the honey (not what Scott wanted) and got back to Ballarat. We found that Ballarat also had a small zoo so we went there also. We were so happy that we did. When we walked through the doors we were feeding kangaroo. What a sight it was neat.


And before we knew it our 20 days were up and it was time to go home. When we got to the airport we were bumped up to business class. OH MY GOSH.... We had recliners and linen and glassware. We even got sleepwear to change into.