Jacob and Grandma

Jakey is getting a little more opinionated about clothing choices. He loves wearing his Spiderman pajama shirts. He also loves wearing his cowboy boots and backpack.

He loved having grandma around because she would wear what he wanted and follow him around.

Here they are with their backpacks, sunglasses and hats.

Easter celebration

My first attempt at Hot cross buns. They look alright, but they were heavy as rocks and almost as dense. I think I killed the yeast. Better luck next year.

Jakey is enjoying his Easter eggs. I filled them with some of toys and a few snacks. He didn't seem to notice the recycled toys.

Friends

It's so good to see old friends. A couple of weeks ago, Bonnie and her family were able to come by for a short visit. Jakey is enjoying is time with Hewzon and Cameron.

This is our first time seeing baby Roland. He's not such a baby anymore!

Making sense out of life and death

For some of you, this post may come out of the blue. I just heard yesterday that Meghan, my cousin-to-be died. She lost her fight against breast cancer. She wasn't even 30 and hadn't had a chance to do so many things she wanted to do. I haven't had a lot of time to reflect on her death, but I realize that death is always sad and shocking even if you are expecting it. It's hard to lose anyone, but I think the tragic thing about Meghan's death is how many what ifs there are for her. She and my cousin will never get the chance to be married. Adam will never have children with Meghan, they won't get to experience that part of life together. I know that she is in a better place now. She no longer has to worry about her pain, and losing her body to cancer, but we who are left behind and no longer have her bright spirit with us feel the loss.

A death like this one also makes me thankful for what I have. I don't think about my own experience with cancer that often, which is a good thing. I have been free of cancer for over 10 years. In that time I got married, traveled to many beautiful places, found a career I love, had a wonderful son and have made many dear friends. I treasure each of these moments and I am so thankful to have had the chance to experience all of this.

DeeDee at Disneyland

Thanks to Heidi's connections, we got into Disneyland and California Adventure for free. We actually spent most of the day at California Adventure. Heidi had prepped Jacob by renting Bug's Life for him to watch before we went. He was excited to be able to drive his own Tuck and Roll car. He wanted to do it again. Most of the rides were pretty empty in the morning, so we didn't have to wait too long to get on.

His favorite Disneyland ride was It's a Small World. Too bad we only got to ride that one once. He still makes me sing him the song.

Here we are at the end of the day. Poor Jakey was completely tuckered out.

Mom's 60th

This year was a special year for my mom. She turned 60. Some of her friends put together a surprise party for her and I was able to fly up to make the surprise even bigger. She was totally surprised and didn't have a clue that we were all planning this.

Here are the friends who could make it. Some of her friends go all the way back to her childhood.

One of her friends planning the party even put together these cute favors for everyone. After lunch, we went back to her friend's house and had cake and shared how we each know my mom and why she has been such a special person in our lives. It was really great to hear all of those good things about my mom from a different perspective. I think the gift she found most special was a scrapbook made by my Auntie Nancy filled with pictures from her childhood. Some of them, she had never seen before, so it was a very meaningful gift.

Birthdays

Birthdays aren't such a big deal after 30, but it was a good excuse for me to get all my friends together and make them play the games I wanted to play. We had a great time--at least I did. No, we all had a great time.

Nate's celebration was one year late. Last year, he had it all planned out and got sick the day of his party, so he had to call everyone and cancel it. This year, everything went as planned. We met at our house and went to a Vietnamese restaurant where we ordered the 7 course beef meal. It only cost $13 and there is enough food for 2. How do they do it?

Then we made our way to this crazy tiki bar down the street. The decorations were over the top tacky and the cocktails were mostly syrup, but it was still a fun experience. Here is Nate kissing the famous Bahooka fish who is also 32 years old and survives on carrots.

Jakey and friends

I just downloaded pics from our other camera. They aren't as good quality as our other pics, but it is interesting to see all of this year in retrospect. Here he is with a buddy from N. CA. If only we lived closer, these guys would have a lot to talk about.

Here he is with Hewzon. He's not as old, but he still looks up to him.

This year, his daycare class got to visit my classroom for Halloween. This isn't the best picture of Jakey, but his best friend at daycare is in the background. (Anfony)

Here is another of his good friends. Jasper--they were only born 3 weeks apart. Jakey was supposed to be the younger one, but he just couldn't wait, so he is actually the older one. They are at a Halloween carnival at Jasper's church. It was here that they were in the jumper and it collapsed on them. Fortunately, they didn't freak out and dad went in to save them.