Karina Marie

Our granddaughter, Karina Marie, was born on Thursday March 11 at 1:01pm. She was 6lbs 6oz and 19 inches long. She was named after me. Okay, her middle name is named after me. But that counts. She came into the world via a scheduled c-section which makes things really nice for planning.

I was all 'gowned' up to go in with daddy (Michael) to watch the c-section when I got kicked out. Yes, kicked out before I even got into the room. The doctor had said that I could go in but the anesthesiologist didn't want me in there. His reasoning was that he didn't want the chance of 2 people fainting. The doctor tried fighting for me but the anesthesiologist wouldn't budge. Even after finding out that I'd been in a c-section for my first grandchild and in autopsies which means I don't have a weak stomach. The doctor called him an "a-hole". I love this doctor.

Back to Karina. She's beautiful and as you'll tell from the pictures the whole family agrees with me. She doesn't cry much unless she's hungry or getting her diaper changed. "Leave me alone. I was comfortable even with a wet diaper and now you're making me naked and cold."

Erika & Karina came home today, Sunday. They're doing great!

Mommy & Karina bond in the hospital on the first day:

Daddy is proud of Karina:
Papa and his girls:
Great grandma "greatma" cuddles with Karina:
Grandma is very happy and proud and excited and overjoyed etc etc:
Big brother, Anthony, held Karina for long periods of time and fed her a lot:
Big sister, Launa, was scared to hold Karina until the 2nd day. She did a great job:
Uncle Greg pretends not to know how to hold little babies but we all know better:
Time to go home:
First time in her car seat. Goodbye hospital.... Hello world:

Welcome to the family Karina!
We love you!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

I got to go to the pumpkin patch today with Launa's kindergarten class. Starting out was a little difficult. Launa had never ridden on a bus before and was scared to death. She was clinging to Erika's leg crying. There was no room on the bus for parents so we were following in Erika's car. Launa's teacher, Mrs. Colborn, is the best. (btw: she was Anthony's kindergarten teacher too) She simply took Launa's hand, and told her she would sit with her, as she walked her to the bus while Erika & I walked away. I don't know what happened on the bus but now Launa wants to ride the bus home from school every day. Funny girl!

The pumpkin patch was full of kids and fun!

Launa with her class

Launa in the maze

Launa & Mommy

Launa & Grandma

Hayride

Supervisor of the Year

Glenn received the Supervisor of the Year award at Ventura PD. During the awards luncheon he also received an unexpected plaque from CNOA (California Narcotics Officers' Association). We are all so proud of Glenn and, of course, feel it's well deserved.

Glenn & Chief Miller enjoy a laugh

Glenn's loves giving speeches....Ha!

The family was there to support Glenn

Wenona, Glenn, Greg, Launa, Erika, Anthony, Shirley

P B & J

What does a 5yr old do when she thinks you're taking too long to make her lunch? She does it herself. I told Launa I'd be just another 5 minutes but she didn't want to wait. She pulled a chair from the dining room into the kitchen, got out the bread and moved the chair to the next counter. She got the peanut butter from the pantry and had her brother open it, the squeeze bottle strawberry jelly out of the refrigerator and a butter knife from the drawer. (She's used to the routine from helping me so many times) And away she went.

Glenn walked into the kitchen just as Launa was done with the peanut butter. She pushed the chair to the sink and washed the knife before spreading the jelly. Glenn teased her about cleaning the knife even though the peanut butter and jelly will mix once you put the bread together. Launa wasn't fazed. She told papa that the knife has to be clean.

Didn't she do a neat job? And she covered all the corners just like grandma taught her to do.

Father's Day in July

Since Glenn spent Father's Day watching over me in ICU he finally got his special day this past Sunday. After church the kids and grandkids came over. Erika did all the work. She cooked one of Glenn's favorite meals and his favorite chocolate chip cookies.

We sat by the pool while the grandkids and Michael had fun in the water.

Glenn opened his gifts. We ate and ate. Then we had a roaring game of bowling on wii. Can you guess who won? She requested that her 'winning' picture be taken.
Anthony likes to get in all of the pictures.
It was all great family fun!
Of course we had to get the yearly traditional pictures taken with dad/papa.
Happy Father's Day Glenn. We Love You!

Randomness

While I spent the month of June in the hospital I missed out on a couple of important events.

First, Anthony turned 13. He, along with 2 of his friends and some of the adult males in the family had a good time. Erika watched the fun and took pictures then joined in for the rest of the day.

They started out at MB2 which is an indoor electric go-cart track. After having fun racing there they headed out for pizza. Next was bowling and then to end the day was the movie "Night at the Museum 2". Anthony said it was a great day!

Anthony, Zach and Allen

Michael, Allen, Zach, Anthony and Phil

Phil, Uncle Greg and Zach

Second, Launa graduated from preschool.

Mama and Launa the day of graduation

Now that I'm on the mend it's finally starting to feel like summer. I can't get into the water yet but had fun watching Anthony & Launa.

Time spent in the front yard with Launa's new water slide.
The next day was spent in the backyard in the pool.

Launa was a little nervous going into the deeper end but she trusts her brother.

Craft Day!

Not only did I get to spend the day with my best friend Elisa but we had a craft day with some dear friends. Elisa and I drove to Vicki's (Elisa's sister-in-law) house which is near Lancaster/Palmdale. Elisa and I hadn't had a chance to get together in a while so we used the drive to catch up on the latest gossip....er....life happenings. Vicki's best friend, Ellen, was there and also Vicki's daughter Meg. I met a new friend, Linda, who was there for half the day but didn't get a picture of her.

Some of us knitted, some crocheted and some scrapped. We also took time out to go to lunch. Vicki served us big juicy strawberries and the others ate little cheese cakes that were lowfat and I'm told delicious.

Such a fun day! The next craft day will be at my house.
Elisa!
Vicki!
Meg!
Ellen! She really did work on a project and didn't eat the whole time. Ha!
Me!

Springtime!

It's that time of year again. The week before Easter Launa and I replant flowers in the atrium. This year we chose different types of flowers. They're bigger and I'm told will last year round. Let's see what my 'brown thumb' will do this time. For now it looks really pretty and Launa did a great job planting.