Graduation 2011

I had to be in the East valley today and stopped by your house to give you your graduatation money.  I had decided to get the $100.00 in all ones to make it more fun and I put them in a red Chinese take out food container.  You were so excited.  Here are some photos.

I think you are using your money to buy a mobile basketball hoop for out front.

Afterwards you and your brother went swimming.  In the nude of course.  You were wearing the flippers Mr. Bob and I bought you for Christmas and then I judged you and Andrew in a cannonball contest.

Last Basketball Game of the Season

Today was your last Basket Ball game of the season.  I came over to your house to see you before the game.  We played Wii bowling and I won.  You had five strikes in a row, but then got lazy.  I should not have beaten you.  Your parents traded in the XBox and got a new Wii.  You made my Wii character and did a great job without any help.

You scored four baskets and for your efforts you earned a Hershey and Twix bars, which you shared with your brother.   You are really good.  This photo was taken by Andrew.  Somehow you ended up on the floor.

Your mother sent me a copy of your report card showing all your A's.  Guess I have to come up with the $100.00 I promised you.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Yesterday your father brought you and Andrew over to see me.  I guess your mother had worked last night and was sleeping.  I had just arrived from Seattle yesterday (Saturday) and my plan was to have a very small late Easter of sorts because y'all were going to drop me at the airport so I could return to Seattle to be with Mr. Bob for the funeral.

Mr. Bob and I had left Phoenix the Thursday before Easter to see his father, who was in the hospital,  so our regular Easter plans were spoiled.  Mr. Bob's dad died the following Thursday, April 28th.  He was 89, but it was still very sad to watch someone die.

While we were gone you went to a friend's baptism.  Here's a photo of you all dressed up.  You look just like your father.

You also went to your first drive-in movie.

Plus your first crawfish boil.

I had hid 6 eggs, for our Annual Easter Egg Hunt, in the family room and 6 in the living room.  I decided to let you look for yours first.  How funny you were.  You even crawled into one of the shelves near the fireplace.  Eventually, we had to say cold, hot, warm, etc. in order for you to find the last couple of ggs.  After you found every thing, (I even hid a package of Peeps!) you opened up all the eggs.  Some had candy and some had money.  You ended up with $12.00 to add to the $20.00 you already had.

Here are the photos:

After all that, you wanted to play Monoply.  I had you divide up the money and set up the board.  Then we started to play.  You rolled to go first, but Andrew got up set so I let him go "first"  then you, then me, then you and then Andrew.  He was happy with that.  I also reminded him that in the Bible it says "The first shall go last and the last shall go first". 

Then...............you accused him of cheating and started crying.  I could not believe it.  I had watched Andrew roll the dice and it was a good roll.  Unfortunately, he landed on Park Place.   So I let you roll about 20+ times to get the 6 you needed to land on Boardwalk.  I think you finally understood that it's not that easy to roll exactly what you want.  It's just Lady Luck!

Saturday Basketball

All of us went to watch you play basketball today.  I had missed a couple of games because I was in Italy with Uncle Bruce.  Boy have you turned into a basketball star.  You made 5 baskets in the first quarter, sat out until the last quarter and then made another basket.  Wow!! 

Here  are some photos I took.

After the game we went back to your house to play Monoply.  Andrew was pouting because he was last so he quit.  Your mother, me and you played.  You went broke and then I beat your mother.  It was a great game.

St. Patrick's Day and More

On St. Patrick's Day, Mr. Bob and Nana took you, your mother and your brother to a Spring Training Game.  It was the Chicago White Sox against the Denever Rockies.  You father came with us because Andrew had to go to the docotors in the morning and he took the day off.

Here we are at the game.

You in the kids playing field.

You with your parents and Andrew.

We found out that Andrew had to have surgery, to remove a small bone sample on his right swollen foot.  Here you are with him and your dad.

You with your dad, holding your mother's purse.  Waiting for Andrew to come out of Recovery.

After the surgery your dad took you and Andrew for a wheel chair ride!

Doing a Wheelie.

With Nana in the wheel chair.

Needless to say, you spent the weekend with me and Mr. Bob.  I took you to the driving range at CrackerJax and then we played miniature golf.  After all that you won 274 tickets playing games.  On Saturday Mr. Bob went to the gun show.  He didn't buy a gun, but instead came home with a remote controlled helicopter.  He flew it a lot and finally let you fly it.  You were doing pretty good until it had a bad crash.  A screw came out and it wouldn't fly.  Of course, the screw came loose after Mr. Bob crashed repeatedly.  I was watching and knew where it crashed.  We all looked for this very tiny, tiny screw.  And guess what????  You found it!!

Addressing the ball.

Starting your back swing.

A full 360 degree swing.  I think you need a couple more lessons.

Waiting for the group ahead of us.

During the weekend you made cookies for Andrew, made muffins, went bowling where you got a strike and played Monoply with me and Mr. Bob.  Each of us won a game.  Then you played with Mr. Bob and it was a draw.  He made you laugh when he started crying because he went bankrupt.

Visit to Uncle Jeffrey

Went to visit Uncle Jeffrey this past weekend.  We went to Santa Barbara to see the Arlington West display, but they only put the crosses out one Sunday a month.  I was really looking forward to seeing it, but we had lunch and looked for any damage done by the Tsunami, from the 9.0 earthquake in Japan, that hit some parts of California, but there was none here, thank goodness. 

This is the putting green in his back yard. I gave the flag to Donnie, Uncle Jeffrey's house mate,  for Christmas because I knew he was going to put in a putting green.  They have a great backyard and game/music room.   I hope you get to visit them soon.

Mardi Gras Day March 8, 011

Yesterday was Mardi Gras.  I played one of my best rounds of golf at Kokopelli and then went over to your house.

We put together a puzzle I bought for you and your brother.  It was a glow in the dark puzzle of a snow leopard.

We played Xbox and you took photos with my camera. We also played Jr. Monopoly and you won!!!