Sorry I have not blogged lately.  I have been busy with writing the part called My Journey and then I posted my daughter singing.  But I am back. So where were we?

Jessica and Zack were planning on getting married and we had people from Maryland and Chicago coming down for the wedding. We had a big party at Jessica and Zack’s house a couple days before the wedding. It was so much fun with the two families getting to know each other and roasting marshmallows in the back yard.  My parents were in town, along with Zack’s grandmother so it was great having grandparents here also.  They had friends from out of state and well we had a lot of people in town and some actually had to get hotels because we didn’t have enough rooms at our houses for all of them. 

The next night we had the rehearsal dinner and finally the morning of the wedding.  Regina was in charge of putting makeup on the bride. We brought all the girls to a beauty shop to have their hair put up the same.

It was crazy and loud and so much fun as the girls all got dressed at my house.  She had six girls standing up and I had fun helping her get into her dress but I really had fun when I took the pictures for the wedding. It was an outdoor wedding and one of Zack’s uncles was a minister so he performed the wedding. It was beautiful.  Listening to them take their vows, taking the pictures I could feel the love.  I was brought back to the time when Jimmy and I got married.  The wedding was beautiful, the reception was fun and now I had four kids married.

March flew by with birthdays for Regina and Adias and before we knew it the time to color eggs were here.  Coloring eggs was fun that year with so many people around the kitchen table.  I had my four kids and three of them married so their spouses were also coloring eggs and of course I let Adias have a girlfriend help us. I watched these kids as they had fun coloring eggs with each other, laughing and just having fun.  Easter came, with church, looking for Easter eggs in the back yard and a cook out.

In May we got to see Betsy walk for her graduation in her cap and gown and we were all so proud of her.  At the same time I was crying inside because she wanted to move back home to be with her parents and she applied for jobs in Decatur Illinois and actually had a job interview. So she left Erik and went home for the interview before he graduated.

It seemed that my grandma Clara fell and hurt her hip and she needed to be watched and no one could go live with her so I begged my aunts to let me have my grandma for a few weeks and I was shocked and so happy they said yes.  My grandma, my kid’s great grandma and Adias great- great grandma came to stay with us for four weeks.  She came with us as we watched Erik walk the isle for his Bachelor’s degree.  Afterwards my heart broke as we helped Erik pack up so he could move back to Illinois to be with his wife. I was down to only three children living here in Arizona with me.

My grandma Clara is a wonderful woman.  I grew up on the farm with her and grandpa in the summers when my parents needed a break from their six kids. I woke up to the smell of fresh baked bread every morning. She has arthritis in her hands now but still knows how to bake even though she can’t knead the dough very well anymore.  She prides herself on her coffee cakes and sugar cookies and she had our kitchen smelling good with her baked goods. She got Jimmy to knead the dough for her and she got Adias to help her place the cookies on the cookie sheets. Her favorite TV shows are Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right. She is a wiz at the game shows and she plays board games all the time and whips us. That woman can stay up all night playing cards.  One of the things she loves to do is ride her three wheel bike and I made sure I had one here for her. Go Granny Go.

So for the month of May 2007 we were blessed with grandma Clara for Erik’s graduation, Mothers day, Jennifer’s baby shower and Kristina got here the last few days so that great- great grandma could see some more of her great- great grandchildren.  I got the pleasure of cutting her hair and styling it for her. Plus grandma had fun with us in the back yard pool.

This was special for Jennifer to have her great grandmother at her baby shower. Yes, Jenny was pregnant after twelve years from her first child that she had in high school. Grandma helped decorate and it looked like she was enjoying the games we played. The house was decorated in pink since Jenny knew she was having another little girl. My house was full with Jenny’s in- laws and friends who came to congratulate her.

Finally it was time for grandma Clara to leave and I know I will probably never get her alone again, but I have wonderful pictures and memories of her with me and my family just a few years ago. Grandma Clara is still alive and turning 101 in a couple of weeks. Bless her heart she is still young, swimming, walking and bike riding. I want to be just like her when I grow up.  Well I am pretty busy on my ambulance today and having trouble getting this blog out, so I am going to quit for today. Remember love is a choice. So choose to love someone today.  Tell someone you love them, give them a hug and make their day.

OK so today my daughter sang at the San Gennaro Feast her in Phoenix and I have down loaded the video she has on YouTube. Just to remind you she also gives baking classes for Italian cookies. Check her facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/SweetItalianophx  Her company is called Sweet Italiano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CcxQB-yuOw

I am back to work after my four days off with my grandkids. I take care of three of them on my four day off of work.  We went to the duck pond and
park on Tuesday, went to the zoo on Wednesday and walked to the post office, bank, McDonalds and back home on Thursday.  Ugh and now I am back at work. Don’t get me wrong I like my job but I love taking care of grandkids.   Well where was I, oh yea.

Jimmy and I ran to the plane while Jenny and Jose stayed back.  The
agent told Jennifer the next time she needs to fly for a cruise to fly the day
before so she won’t miss the ship.   Then they were told they could go stand by for $75. The agent took the money, listed them on the flight, tagged their bags and sent them onto the gate. Jennifer, Jose and Adias waited for their names to be called to board the next plane, but the counter agent failed to list them as a family, since they had two different last names. So when they called Jose to the plane he asked about his wife and daughter and they would not board them. Jose was not leaving his family alone on Christmas, so unlike their bags which made it to New Orleans, they were left behind.

This was a bitter- sweet trip. I enjoyed the kids who made the plane and cried for the ones who didn’t.  We were on the Carnival Cruise Fantasy Ship, and it was beautiful.  The place was dressed up in green and red for Christmas. My kids had never been on anything like this before so just the sight of how big it was, the pool, all the restaurants were just amazing.  We enjoyed the shows that were performed on the ship and have beautiful pictures of everyone all dressed up.  The day when we got on the ferry for the ruins we were very excited.  The Tulum Ruins are wonderful to see and I wanted to show them something from past history.  Sometimes the little ones got antsy but there were enough aunts and uncles to help.

When we got back home on Christmas day, Jimmy and I went out to eat with Jenny and Jose. It seems that when they got back to their house, a water main broke and there house was under water. So maybe it was good they didn’t go. Do I really believe that? 

The New Year came around again with birthdays for the month of January, Jimmy, Jennifer, Jessica and Betsy. We had our little family party and played games afterwards. I don’t know why but I just seem to think it is important to make a big deal out of a birthday.

Well in February, Betsy made us all proud as she graduated nursing school. Her parents flew up to see her graduation, and her mother pinned her. This girl is so smart. I think she only has to read something once and it sticks in her brain forever. Whenever we play games everyone fights to have her on their team. Lol But we were all so proud of her when she graduated.

Adias turned eleven years old and Jenny turned her house pink and red with paper hearts and streamers and balloons all over in the kitchen and living room.  

Well it was planned on March 10 for Zack and Jessica to get married. So I planned a little bridal outing in February. I tried to get us up on a big air balloon and twice we got up at three AM and drove to the airport for the ride but the person in charge said it was too windy. I believe him, but we did see other balloons up and we were very disappointed.  Maybe there was a reason from above telling us not to do this.  So I planned a pink jeep tour in Sedona instead.  All my girls, counting Betsy as one of my girls since she is married to Erik, were there except for Kristina.  If you ever come to Arizona, Sedona is one of the places you want to see. The painted mountains are beautiful.  After out little ride through the mountains we saw some ancient Indian writings on some old ruins in the area. 

Well March rolled around and people were coming into town for Jessica and Zacks wedding. I think I will stop here. Go back to the time you got married. Remember how much you were in love. Love is a choice so go back to that place and be in love with your spouse again.  Make today count and tell him/ her you love them.

Hello again, and I hope this day finds you well.  It is kind of funny here in Phoenix. We have been having cooler weather than up north. Not that I am complaining because I am not, I enjoy wearing a long sleeve shirt, but I have met some people from up North disappointed that it is in the 80’s in their state and cooler here. I just have to smile. We will have our hot time soon enough and it will last a long time so cooler weather, keep coming.   On with my story.

Time seems like it flies by fast when you are older and the holidays just keep sneaking up on you. It was already time to decorate Easter eggs and I had a lot of kids around my table. Erik, Betsy, Jose, Jenny, Adias, Jessica, and Zack, which made me, feel right at home. It is fun to see how my kids with their spouses treat each other with decorative Easter baskets to each other. I could feel the love.  

I know how life changes so fast and I wanted to really enjoy this summer, so we did little family treats.  One weekend we went miniature golfing, one weekend we went bowling, one weekend we played lots of games.  We were doing little things until it was time for me to get Kristina and her two precious children. Then the fun really began once Kristina and her kids walked into the house after our long drive. Their Aunts and Uncles spoiled these two precious children, swimming in the pool, time at the zoo, Chucky Cheese and having barbeques. Kristina was in town also for her birthday so we were able to celebrate her birthday before the long drive back. Finally in October Jimmy and I decided to take a little retreat by ourselves for a couple of days and drove to Sedona, Az where we did a pink jeep tour and just relaxed enjoying each other’s company. 

My dad turned 75 yrs old so my sisters and I went to the Carolina’s for a little birthday celebration. It was great to see my sisters and my parents. It is a shame that I don’t get there very often. Life gets in the way, and they live so far away. I guess these are lame excuses. I think this is what makes me try to keep my kids together and with us. I want my family to be and stay close so I try my hardest to keep it that way.

In November my husband planned a special treat for my birthday that was in August.  We really didn’t celebrate it and he had this surprise for me. So he
drove me towards Casa Grande, Az where we met a man with a Hang Glider. Yep, I went hang gliding for the first time and what a high it was. All the kids came to watch me fly.

I have to say it was pretty cool having all the kids living here, well except Kristina, which I missed. We took turns with the holidays. Thanksgiving this time was at Erik and Betsy’s house and they had a great meal in store for us and we all brough dishes to share. We had a Christmas party at Jessica and Zacks house and our Christmas gift to them was going on a cruise.

This was not an easy thing to do, but I planned a cruise for my whole family to Cozumel Mexico to see the Mayan Ruins of Tulum.  I had to work a lot of over time so we could afford this trip. Trying to get all the kids off of work that week was not easy either. But finally our trip was finalized, the kids were excited and we were going to experience something we have never done before as a family.

The day finally arrived and ten of us were flying out of Phoenix with a connection in Texas and on to New Orleans. Kristina and her husband were driving from Oklahoma.  We arrived at the airport in different cars two hours before our scheduled departure of 6:30 AM. Jimmy, Regina and I checked in outside with the sky cap. We were told that Jenny had to check inside because of her tour with Iraq. I guess since she was out of the country she was to be security checked.  It was now 4:45 AM and no one was at the American counter inside yet, it was still closed.  There was no roped off areas, no line indications, no sigh where domestic and international travelers should line up. So eventually people just started lining up where ever they thought they might get the fastest service when American decided to open.

Finally two ticket agents came out and moved one of the lines so that other travelers could get by.  Fortunately a couple of my children and their spouses found themselves in the correct lines and they got moved up front fast.  We thought about bringing the rest of the group in with them, but the crowd was pretty restless and getting upset if people were cutting in line.  Two more agents came out to help finally. Then quit a bit later a tall thin blond female American employee come out amongst the people  standing in line and pointed telling everyone that the line one of my kids were in was for International flights only. Some of the customers were extremely upset and said that they have been waiting in line for over an hour and they were not going to go to the back of a domestic line. Her only response was “I am only the messenger.”

The line was not moving and my daughter was concerned but I told her to just be patient.  I purchased these tickets over two months ago; they surely would not leave without us.  Finally, all the kids except Jenny her husband Jose and her daughter Adias had their tickets and we were getting anxious; time was of the essence now. The agent called to Jenny and she rushed up to the counter. The American agent looked at her confirmation and told her coldly, “I am sorry but it is 30 minutes before the plane leaves so your luggage can not go aboard the plane.”  I yelled at her that we have been in line since 4:30AM and we had to catch a ship at 4:00PM, it’s a family reunion and all planned.  The lady was stern and said to my daughter, “well you can go but you can’t take your bags with you, they have to stay.”  I asked if her bags could go on another plane and she told me no.  She did say that maybe she can take her bags on another flight and go standby but all the flights were over booked. I argued with her until she finally looked up at me and told me “Now you can’t get on the plane either and in ten minutes the plane will leave without you.”  

My husband grabbed me and off we ran after a tearful good bye to Jenny, to meet the rest of the kids. So because of American Airlines we left behind 2 Iraq veterans and my granddaughter.

Well I have grandkids crying for my attention so I will finish this story tomorrow. Just remember not to take life for granted. 
 


  

Hello again and I hope this finds you well. Today here in Sunny Phoenix we have been having a lot of rain. I actually have to wear long sleeves at work.

Well I have been writing about love being a choice.  I have five children and I
have been watching them grow up.  So far I have three of them married and as they quarrel with their spouce, I remind them to take a step back, breath and try to remember why the fight started in the first place.  It is easy to fall in love. It is easy to not see someone’s fault in the beginning of the romance. But it is not as easy after you are married to accept them with their faults later on. It is not as easy to forgive when you get hurt.  These are choices we make and what makes or breaks a marriage. 

Thanksgiving was over and Kristina and her husband and son had to go back to Oklahoma, but I still had four kids living around by me.  So the fun continued with decorating the Christmas tree and making Christmas cookies. 

Erik and Betsy had moved into their own apartment by the college they were going to and Jessica and Zack bought a house so it was fun going to their
houses to have little Christmas parties.

The New Year came and in February Kristina had her baby girl, little Madilynn Sierra.  I loved going to OKC to see and hold this new grandchild. My family was growing and this was something to be excited about.

In April my own grandmother turned 95 yrs old. A lot of us met her at my cousin’s house in Indiana for a little party to celebrate this wonderful event. 
This woman, my grandma, is amazing to me. She still bakes cookies, and rides a three wheel bike and I guess because of my father in law with his
Alzheimer’s so young and a lot of my patients with so much dementia at a much younger age I am excited at her mobility and mind.

I have such fond memories of growing up on the farm, milking the cows, feeding the chickens and helping with the garden. She has been an inspiration to me all my life.  I want to grow up just like her. My grandpa, God rest his soul, use to let me drive the tractor and play in the hay loft.  Kittens surrounded the barn and of course they had a dog to help gather up the cows. 
 
I remember writing to my grandma when I was a young mother raising five
children. There was no dishwasher, and I made three meals a day with all the vitamins and vegetables that kids were suppose to have. It took so much of my time. Of course I had floors to wash and clothes to wash and baths to give. I would be so worn out by the end of the day. I wrote and told my grandma how busy my days were and she responded telling me that these were the best days of my life and in time I will miss them.  Of course when you are in the middle of your life, busy with no time to breath you don’t see that. In fact you  don't believe that these days will ever end. But once they grew up and I had an empty nest, I reflected on what she told me and she was right. 

Those were the best days of my life and I do miss them.  Maybe that is why I have an open door policy at my house.  I have five bedrooms and whenever it comes the time for a kid to move back home for whatever reason, the door is always open with room for them.  That is why I call the mess and noise from them signs of life. When they are all out of the house it stays clean and quiet. 
But when the grandkids come over for me to babysit or the kids come by
for a meal and the place gets messed up and  it is so noisy that you can’t hear the TV on, it is signs of life. 

Well my grandma has lost grandpa many years ago and will see him some day in heaven, but all five of her children are still alive.  What a blessing to have them and lots of her grandkids and great grandkids at her birthday party.  

Well I think I am going to stop here. Just remember that to make a friend you have to be a friend first. And to keep your love alive you have to be willing to work at it.  A flower does not grow if you stop giving it water.  Be
creative, be understanding, and be compassionate.  The hardest and most rewarding job you will ever have is keeping your love alive. Now go tell someone you love them and give them a romantic kiss.

Good Morning everyone,  and I hope this finds you well. 

A Struggle of the Heart by Marie Fostino

Do you believe in love at first sight? This is a romance novel about life, tragedy and love.

A young woman, Annette, moves to Norman, Oklahoma to attend college when she meets the man of her dreams, Aaron. Her heart breaks in pieces when he regretfully tells her he’ll be leaving soon for boot camp; only letters continue to keep their love lit while being states apart. On April 19th, 1995, a dreadful day in history of Oklahoma, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed, killing over 150 lives. This event created an epiphany in Annette’s life and led her to the decision of changing career paths to help others. Aaron returns home after boot camp only to inform Annette that he will be stationed at Ft. Sill where they get the opportunity to see each other more often and watch their love grow. A couple of months after being stationed at Ft. Sill, he deploys to Afghanistan and the letters stopped shortly after his departure. Heartbroken, Annette puts all of her energy and focus into her newest goal of becoming an EMT. Tim, a classmate of Annette’s, becomes a study buddy, and with great support and encouragement, they each pass paramedic school together. Annette happily accepts Tim’s special proposal, not long before saving the life of a man who had a bruised, bloody and unrecognizable face. While filing the paper work she realizes it is her long lost beloved Aaron. He’s alive. Annette will now have to face the hardest decision of her life.

I thought I would put in  a plug for this book. I am trying to get it noticed.  If anyone has any ideas please let me know. Maybe you can share this with some of your friends who may like what they have read and will consider getting the book. All it  takes is a lot of people at one time to get the book for amazon to get the book noticed. 

Help an unknown author get one of her books noticed so that the world can enjoy a simple yet lovely romance story.  Have a great day. 

OK so this is going to be an author on a journey and I will write it as I do it and you will know if I fail up front or make it.  I mean how does an unknown author get their book out there?  I have twitter, I have face book, I have e-mail addresses. I have given books out for free. I am wondering if I put an ad in the Phoenix paper under the arts & entertainment section, it this will get my book noticed.  I can't wait to see Sunday's paper and check out the ads from other authors, who wrote them, and than decided if I will do the same thing.  Also as a side note, this is expensive.  OUCH, so I have to decide if I think spending over $500 is going to be worth it.  Any ideas?    

It is pretty late to be blogging, but I stayed up my 24 hr shift yesterday and I had promised my sixteen year old granddaughter that we would ride the train to Mill Ave and have a bite to eat. So I came home for a four hour nap and off we went.  We picked up her boyfriend, whom was born here in Phoenix and never been on Mill Ave and we had a fun day.  I watched the two of them talk and laugh, while holding hands reminding me of what it was like when I was young and in love.

Sometimes today, when I do my three mile walks with tunes in my ears, I am brought back to the past, and totally forget how old I really am. Well back to my story.

I guess you can say I am still young at heart, and as long as don’t look into a mirror, I am young again. So we spent Labor Day tubing down the Salt River. It was a fun family outing for whoever was in town at that time. Floating, or kicking our legs trying to reach each other was a fun treat.  This fun also has consequences.  As the small rapids were making our inner tube float fast down parts of the river, we would fight the current and one time when Betsy did this she fell into the water and lost her glasses.  We were all frantic as we searched close to the  shore at the bottom of the river. Once you reached a little farther away there would be a big dip and you can’t see or feel the ground.  

Well believe it or not, we actually found her glasses with a small scratch on them.  We did lose a couple of shirts that were taken off and placed on the inner tubes and eventually fell into the water drowning, never to be seen again.  After the four hour float, with our arms and faces sunburned it was time to get to the car and get some food.

Of course the next thing would be the fact the car keys that were in Jimmy’s pocket fell into the river, sometime during this event never to be seen again either.  No wonder there were a few car lock vans in the driveway of the parking lot at the Salt River Tube place. 

I guess you can say I haven’t grown up yet and still enjoyed carving pumpkins and getting dressed up for Halloween. This year I was working on the ambulance and I still wanted to dress up. So my partner agreed and he got an Elvis wig and I got my Darth Vader hat and cape on and we took our
ambulance into a neighborhood dressed up and passed out candy until we got a call. 

November finally got here and I was excited because my kids were all
coming over for the holiday. We had planned on a trip to Tombstone AZ, at the OK Corral.  You remember the movie with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. We walked through this old ghost town with old fashion saloons and gun fights on the corner streets.  They even had a re-in act of the gun fight at the OK Corral with Wyatt Earp, Firgil Earp, Morgan Earp and Doc Holiday.  We spent a couple of nights here and we went horseback riding except for Kristina and her son, because she was pregnant so those two went on a horse and buggy ride.

The buildings have a lot of history in them. We went into the Bird Cage Theatre which had a lot of old pictures, old pianos, and rooms set up like it was in that day with the old dishes and lamps for light.  

It is not always an easy job to get all my children together for holidays now when they live all so far away.  This is one of the things in life that means the most to me.  As my children are getting older, and having children of their own I am finding it harder to get together.  I understand that they have their own life now, activities with their families and jobs.  I guess it is like cutting
the birthing string, which maybe I haven’t cut all the way. I still like them
around.  

Sometimes it is hard keeping romance around when you are torn between trying to find that time with your husband and being there for your kids. These are the times you have to have patience for each other knowing that you will get together for that time alone again, but family is what life is all about.  

I see too many people in the nursing home that have no family and are all alone. It breaks my heart to see them this way. They didn’t have any children or they have been fighting with their children and now they don’t talk.  Maybe they never got married and now old and lonely.   

Love has many different meanings, but one thing is the same for all of them, we need each other. 
Tell someone you love them today and have a great evening. 
Talk to you soon.

Welcome back to my blog. If you are new, I have been writing about my life and love.  You would have to start with page one to get the whole picture. I guess I am trying to say that love is a choice.  Everything you do in life is a choice.  It may not seem like it at the time, but no one put a gun to your head with the decisions you have made.  Romance is about the flowers and candy and the way your heart beats when he kisses you. But there is a lot more than the physical feeling, it also has an emotional one. It has to do with how much you value that person to make them happy and vice a versa.  It is a never ending job and every day is different. Sometimes the maintenance of keeping your love alive is hard work.   You can’t take each other for granted or think you know what the other person is thinking.  Love should not require demands and we are all worthy of happy endings. It is the possibility of tryiny to give a happy ending to each other.

My life is just a normal life like any average person. I have been so mad I could spit nails and so happy I was jumping around with so much energy.  I
guess I am saying that only you can make the happy ending through the choices you make.  You can’t hold a grudge, and you have to be able to forgive, forget and go on with life and each other.  I have found love and
romance, even in the middle of the growing up years of our children, and in the hectic times we take care of our grandchildren.   And when I go to bed at night and see my husband lying next to me sound asleep, I smile and thank God for him.  

Well on with my story. Jimmy decided to start getting creative now that we have been married for some time and we are getting older. Maybe I am finally rubbing off on him, haha. I mean for the first few years of our marriage I always seemed to have a surprise party for him, sometimes at home or at a parents house or even at a restaurant.  He never seemed to do the same for me but I didn’t care, I just enjoyed surprising him.  If we moved someplace and we didn’t have time to make friends I would send a singing balloon gram, like Miss Piggy to his work or bring a big cake to surprise him and share with the employees.

But for my fifty first birthday, he arranged for me to fly a plane. Who would have believed that? I know I was very surprised as we drove to the airport to meet my instructor who must have been in his thirties.  He told me a little about himself and then we entered the plane where he started to explain all the gadgets to me.   I sat on the left and the instructor sat on the right with Jimmy in the back of this small plane.   What a rush to try and keep the plane leveled and try to remember what some of the gadgets meant. Jimmy was a back seat driver if he noticed that I wasn’t keeping the horizon straight he would tell me making me nervous.  Of course the instructor was in charge of bringing us up and landing us, but he let me be in charge of keeping the plane smooth as we flew.  The sights from up there were beautiful. We flew to Sedona and to see Sedona from the sky was breath taking. There was a narrow landing strip which he took over as we landed. He told us to get some lunch at the airport before we were going to take off back home. To my surprise all my kids were at the airport waiting for me with a cake and balloons.  Now for them to drive to Sedona it is a good hour and a half drive so I really appreciated all they did to make this day special. 

I guess that is what I mean about love. You have to make decisions to make the other half happy and in turn you will be happy.  Well believe it or not I actually have some flying hours if I ever want to go and take flying lessons.  
Well I am really busy today on my ambulance so I am getting off for today. Hope you have a great day and share a smile with someone.

Welcome back to my blog and I hope you are enjoying my story.  At this
present time,  March of 2012 we have a couple of children living with us. 
Jenny and Jose with their two children live here and Regina lives here. I
have to say that it is hard to keep a clean house, a tidy refrigerator and of
course hard to get into the food pantry.  But I keep reminding my husband this is signs of life.  This won’t last forever, they will move out again, especially since the house they put a bid on came through and the house won’t get messed up and our fridge will look empty again. So we have to enjoy the times we can help them out and I do appreciate the signs of life they give me.

Jenny was back just in time for Easter and of course we had our annual color Easter eggs which I think she got into more than usual. I could tell she enjoyed being home with her daughter again and probably sleeping in her own bed.  Hiding Easter eggs and baskets were fun for Jenny this year. Plus the big bonus was I had a house full with Erik and Betsy living here also. Jessica and Zack came into town so the only ones I was missing were Kristina and her family. My kitchen was full of hard boiled eggs, lots of colors to play with and lots of hands turning colors.  It was a wonderful feeling knowing that my daughter wasn’t in danger anymore. 

May shot here pretty fast and Regina looked beautiful for her senior prom. I swear she looked like a bride, and that was definitely not in the near future. Next was Regina graduating high school which was both sad and happy time for me.  It meant that all my children were grown, and I didn’t have any more kids dependent on me. This also meant that Regina was graduating and going on with life like her brother and sisters, all grown up.  She decided that she wanted to go to college in Chicago, so of course we had a road trip. I drove with her to Chicago with a couple of stops on the way, one to  Oklahoma to see Kristina and one to Decatur to see some of our  old friends before arriving to her apartment in Chicago.

Jimmy graduated The Scottsdale Culinary Institute and the kids and I fixed up the kitchen to look like it belonged to him.  It was fun looking for the wall paper and the designer bottles, plates and statues to place everywhere in the kitchen and I loved how the kids worked together on the room.  That was a graduation / Father’s Day gift.  Now it was time for Jimmy to finally find a
job.

It was also time to pick up Kristina for the summer with a short visit to the Petrified Forest on the way home.  

Jenny and Jose decided to get married and their plan was to get married in July in San Diego, California on the beach. So the girls and I went to Rocky Point, Mexico for a day of fun, sort of like a bachelorette party and went Para sailing.  Jenny was the funny one for this event. After being shot at in Iraq, flying on planes back and forth, using an M-14 she was scared to go up on this crank and fly with the parachute in the air. The five girls took turns and Jenny did finally give in.  They all slept in the car on the way home and I just smiled to myself, glad to have this memory always in my mind. I love the fact to have been involved in my children's life and the fun we all had together that day.

Is this part romance? Of course! I remember when I was getting married and my friends had a party for me.  They knew me very well and part of their gift for me was a big Ice cream sundae that we all shared and a case of ketchup because I use to eat ketchup on everything. Of course afterwards we went dancing, my favorite past time before I had children.  It reminded me of when I first met my husband, and what made me fall in love.

Her wedding was not as successful as you would have thought it should have been, especially since she had a wedding planner. 

First, Regina had her appendix taken out the day before her wedding. Two hours after the operation, I took Regina out of the hospital with instructions on how to care for the wound and our caravan of cars were off to California. Driving in construction, with a caravan of six cars, Regina in pain, and Jennifer nervous of the coming event was how we started this adventure.

When we finally got to the hotel, they were booked up, they had over booked and could not let us stay there, even though the wedding planner said it was paid and ready for us. So at the last minute we had to find a different place to stay. Next when the limousines showed up the driver wanted cash up front when Jenny was told to pay with a credit card, so we had to come up with money fast.  This was total chaos, Jenny was almost in tears and I was really upset.  Finally we got this issue settle, and our family road in one limousine and Jose family road in the other one. This was the first time I had ever been in a limousine.  It was so much fun as we yelled out the windows of the limousine that Jenny was getting married, and we each had a glass of champaign on the drive.

Finally we made it to Venice beach.  Regina could not walk through the sand
so we got the security at the beach to come with a jeep and drive her to the
spot.  Red towels were placed on the sand for us to sit on with one bench for the few elders that were there. Jenny was very specific as to who she wanted to be there. She only wanted immediate family, and she paid for the hotels for everyone.  

It was a very pretty service with the ocean rolling in the back ground and little Damien running around excited to see the sand and water. I went back in time to our wedding, and as I listened to their vows, I cried.  It is amazing how something small like that can push the romance button in your head and you are back in time, being young again when love was brand new and not complicated yet.  Dinner was at a restaurant and later after us older ones went to bed the younger ones going out dancing for the evening.

I also thought back to when Adias was born and Jennifer was only in high school. We had all sorts of dreams for her but she has her own will. Having Adias was one of the best things that happened for Jenny because this child made her become responsible.  Oh by the way, the girl on the cover of A Struggle of the Heart is Jennifer in her wedding dress.

The next day we set off to Walt Disney Land as a family, before Jenny and Jose took their honey moon.  I always wanted to take my kids to Walt Disney World in Florida when they were small, so finally my dream came true.  Well almost, my kids were grown and I had a couple of grandkids, but I finally got to Disney Land. We had to have a wheel chair for Regina due to her appendix gone and she was still in pain. It was a fun time and another memory maker for us.

 Well I hope you are enjoying by blog. I hope you are having a great day. 
I want to share with you how my day has been so far.  I took two of my grandchildren on a bike ride to the store.  I have a trailer on the back of my bike which seat belts two children in so that I could take them for rides. I noticed that it was very hard to pedal so I made my way to the gas station for air. Yes, one of the tires on the trailer was flat.  Of course I didn’t do
very well, my bike kept falling down and I couldn’t get the knob loose on the
wheel so that I could fill it with air and the kids wanted out and crying.  One man came to help me, who in turn found another man who had a wrench and by the time my tires were full of air I had three gentlemen helping me.

After thanking them and going on my way I went past a trailer in the Wal-Mart parking lot with a sign, homeless family. I could see stuffed animals by the open door telling me that there has to be at least one child. I tried to ride past but I had to stop by and pass the man some cash. He was very appreciative and ran to his wife with the money.  I guess what I am trying to say is you never know when you are an angel helping someone out. I had three angels helping me and I helped someone. If the world would only pass on the kindness to each other what a wonderful world we would be living in. But I just showed that not our entire world is bad, we do have some angels. Have a great day. 

Well today I thought I would share with you some of the pictures Jenny sent us from Iran. I hope you enjoy them and I will write again tomorrow.