There's a new Princess in the Palace

March 9th we were blessed with the birth of our new grand daughter, Tegan McKenna Bonham.
She was not born in the hospital, but at home, and delivered by the Paramedics!
Miss Tegan, it seems was much too eager to come into the world and greet the family and start the party. ( I told her before she was born that we would have a Birthday Party and sing "Happy Birthday"to her when she arrived, and we did!)
She weighed 6lbs 8oz.

There are no words to express the joy of seeing your grand daughter for the first time.
Little girls have been scarce in our home and now we will have one to have dollies and tea parties and pink frilly things.

Ethan is doing great! Yesterday he came to our house to play and in walking into the livingroom, he spotted a picture of Tegan I had just framed. He said,"That's a picture of my baby sister!"
She has only been with us for two weeks and he recognizes a picture of her already!

She is still a little sleepy, and we are all anxious for her to "wake up and play", but I'm sure that will be happening sometime real soon.

She is a little lump of sugar and she is sure sweet!

Fall is in the Air

As the pumpkins ripen on the vine next door and the air has taken on a crisp feel, I know that Autumn is here. We had a horriably HOT Humid Summer and endured it waiting for the cooler days ahead. Here they are until this weekend when another Santa Ana arrives to dry up the receintly moistened ground from a downpour we received last week.

I must say that the heat of the Summer has thrown the trees that turn our area into our Fall Wonderland into an early display of color.
Every year I am in a quandary over the delinquent turning of color on these trees. They have turned as late as January. I drive down the streets and pretend that this is my Autumn delight, yet it is never in the months of Fall. This year it is and I am pleased!

When I was a young teen I lived back East and loved the color displayed on the different trees. One year we set out for a family day trip up to Shennendoah National Park to drive the senic roads and view the leaves in all their splendor! The colors were so vivid. Greens and rusts and oranges and reds splotched here and there,something that everyone needs to wittness to feel one of the beauties of nature,just thinking of it fills me with a desire to be there now! Perhaps someday soon I will once again view the splendor that God displays back there. I thank God for our mini display, and go to the beach for a walk and thank Him for the beauty of the beach and ocean breeze and the sunsets that He provides, even a small glimpse of a pod of dolphin,a seal or even a whale on her treck to Baja to bear her calf those I count as blessings of the season.

Sunday we are taking off for a trip to Palm Springs and then on to my beautiful Yosemite National Park. It will be interesting to see the Park
with a smaller number of visitors. I love this place. I can also remember a time before my daughter was born that I made a trip with my parents to the park. My sister lived up there and we were visiting her. One morning I walked up to Yosemite Falls alone and enjoyed the georgous fall spilling down to where I was standing at the bridge. What a treat to be in nature and view all its majesty! We have not been able to get reservations for some time and we are looking forward to a wonderful time.

I am nervous because this is our first real trip with the new fifth wheel,
I was thinking of all the other times that we took off with the old trailer we had and didn't have a care in the world. I'm sure as soon as we know what we are doing it will become, "old hat". Say a prayer for us for safety on the road and that we can park this new beautiful home on wheels.
I think of the Lucy and Desi movie, "The Big Trailer", which Lucy talked Desi into buying for their home to save money. They traveled on their Honeymoon , even through Yosemite! Here we come!!

Where Have I Been All My Life?

Wow! It has been over two months since I have posted news.

All I can say is that it has been a long HOT summer. The kind of hot where you just don't want to do anything. Fans blowing through the night to get comfort.Not just one fan but many,and at different angles!

The weather finally broke yesterday, and many people actually said that they were Cold last night. I know that we were! And ya know, all we would have had to do is close the windows!! Why didn't I think of that last night!

We finally bought the 5th wheel of 5th wheels and a new truck to pull it , and we will be stylin' down the road at the end of October when we visit one of my favorite places that God has created, Yosemite! 10 glorious days and hopefully no crowds, and great weather.

One day a week ago we just got plain sick of the carpet in the livingroom and diningroom and pulled it up to display beautiful hard wood floors.
It only took us 4 hours and the room was transformed! We still have to do a light sanding and stain and seal the floor, but for now it is just fine.
That lead to new curtains in the diningroom and possibly new carpet in the hall and bedrooms, unless they also have hard wood. We will have to see,and of course we have to move everything out! UGH!
My nightmare is comming true,(Clean sweep!) Actually it will be a great chance to de- junk 29 years of collecting.
Yep! We have lived in Beverly Cottage 29 years the end of Oct.!
We invited Tom the tile guy over to give us an idea of the amount of tile for the main bathroom.It would be a dream to get it all finished before the new year! I'll let you know.

We have some exciting news!!! Steve and I have decided to become Grandparents once again~!~! Erika and Shane and Ethan are expecting in the end of March. What a great spring we will have!

I have been playing with my photography and enlarging my prints and selling them. I have a deal going at the moment for an Italian restaurant.I am sooo excited!!
If you want to see them just ask! It's my way of returning again and again to a place that has carved a place in my heart.
I helped plan 3 vacations this summer to lovely Italy, and am dying to return.
Maybe one day soon.

Jose' Can You See?

July 4th, the real first celebration of Summer!
Why does it have to be so stinkin' HOT??? It was 90+!

Every year for 5 years we have hosted our church's 4th celebration at our home with a BBQ and a walk over to our local park to lay under the stars and enjoy the fireworks with other fellow citizens.

It's great, because every year we sit with the same people surrounding us that we might not have run into through the past year so we have a chance to visit for a few moments before the extravaganza begins.

This year we must have had 100 people at our home enjoying the yard and the coolish breeze we all sit around and watch the horseshoe tournaments and visit with each other.

This has become our memory, even though it takes a lot of preparation and it is a lot of work to host and keep things moving as far as the food is concerned. I don't think that I would want it any other way!

It is so much fun to see our yard decorated in red white and blue, and to have the flags displayed throughout the yard. It makes me feel proud to be an American!

GOD BLESS ARMEICA!

THEY SAY IT'S MY BIRTHDAY

Today is the anniversary of my birth.

I must say that my parents took great care of me as I grew up to be a young adult and married.

This month we celebrate the completion of the settlement of my parents
estate after 51/2 long years, and I would like to think that they were giving us this gift we have been given as a testiment of the long and hard work they accomplished in their lives.

This gave us a new vehicle for Steve and sometime soon a new recreational vehicle, so that we can tour the continental U.S.

I received a new sewing machine from my Honey for my birthday so that I can sew faster and better than before. I also bought a new digital camera,Yiippee!!
I think that that is quite a celebration!
I am blessed this Birthday.

The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring, Tra-la....

Spring is officially here, and the flowers are in bloom in Carlsbad!
There is such a beautiful show of color as you drive north on the freeway, or stop by the outlet mall.

Last week I went to residental area in Santa Ana, just a few blocks from interstate 5. The name of the area is Flower Park.

Every year they hold a home and garden tour for a small price. There is also an antique and collectables sale along the street.

I had a wonderful day with my friends and could not believe the peacefulness of the area. I felt as if I were in Beverly Hills surrounded by these georgeous homes. These homes were built in the '20s and 30's and people have upgraded and remodeled them. The neighborhood was so peaceful, I could feel it. I wished that I could move there and bask in the peace and loveliness of the neighborhood.
I certainly will plan to go back next year.

Some of you do not know that I belong to a doll club. We are in the final months of completion of this year's project, a replica of a Queen Ann doll. Originally she was carved from wood and put together with pegs.
We make our dolls from cloth and add the period clothing.

One of the biggest challenges for me is to paint the face.

Tomorrow our ladies gather for our meeting and we will able to see each others creations. I am looking forward to this.

Dawn Princess, Hornblower, dinner cruise boat,
and tug boat, size comparison

Pool Side Plenty of room for sun bathing !