A few of my favorite things...

I am SO behind on my poor blog...from approximately June of last year I have had such good intentions (and you know which road is paved with THOSE) of posting my favorite pictures and accompanying stories here. I'm happy that Alyssa is a blogging trooper and keeping things going with their little family and Charlie as he gets bigger and cuter every day and that Ashley has now started a blog so we can watch Gracie and Emily grow...But still!

With being "Mimi" to these three sweet babies, I need to get it into gear. Therefore, here are a couple of my favorite things - thanks to Alyssa's posting of this picture. Rob must have taken this one - good job there, Rob!

So, above is our little man, Charlie, age 3-1/2 months with his pretty mommy, Alyssa.

Is he a Keeper or what??!!!

Flashback Friday: Is there an Unkie in the house?

I would like you to meet two guys. A couple of my main men. If I had to choose between them, I could not. That's because they are both super-duper special guys - different in many ways and the same in many others.

In terms of who is who in the photographs, this is Rob here on the right. And that is Jim on the left. (I tried to put them on the same level, since that's how I think of them in my little pea brain, but the software wouldn't let me. Or whatever determines such cypber-stuff that I encounter on my blogspace. Therefore, I placed them in an "artistic" fashion - facing inward. But I digress.)

The reason for a Flashback Friday with this post today is that Rob, here on the right, is my son-in-law. He is also an uncle with three young nieces to his credit: Gracie, 2 years; Emily, 4 months and Carla, also 4 months - and just 5 days older than Emily. And in a few months Rob is going to become a dad.

As for Jim, he is my other son-in-law and the father of Gracie and Emily. And in a few more months, he is going to become an uncle,too. Isn't it neat the way things work out? Yep; I think so too.

Now although I am still fairly new, relatively speaking, (no pun intended there!) to sons-in-law, I am no stranger to uncles. Because when I was a little kid I had the best kind of uncles. Not a bad one in the bunch, and I had plenty of them. Seven of them actually and a lot more if you start counting the "Greats" but we won't here - we'll just stick to the regular uncles for expediency's sake!

But the uncle I knew best and if I was really, really forced to pick (because remember, I had all kinds of super uncles, one even taught me to water ski and another rode me around town on his motorcycle), I would have to say that my Uncle Allen was my favorite because I was closest to him.

Some of the best times that I shared with my Uncle Allen were before I started kindergarten. Some really snowy days I'd get a call from my uncle's wife, my Aunt Ruby - who was also my mother's older sister. She would say, "Gale? Unkie wants to know if you would like to come over for some Rooster Soup." And of course I would be THRILLED because it sure was fun having Rooster Soup with Unkie.

Ok; at this point we probably need a bit of explanation. First of all - I couldn't say "Uncle Allen" when I was a little kid learning to talk. The best I could muster was "Unkie." And it stuck. Forever. And the Rooster Soup? Nope, nothing fancy, just plain old Campbell's Chicken Noodle, which I enjoy to this day because nothing brings back Unkie like that old familiar Chicken Noodle.

As for my unkie, he was not big on show. He was a quiet man. He was tall and lean. Loved to fish and go camping and to our numerous family picnics. He took me with him when he went to catch crawdads in the lake at City Park with my cousin, Alene, their only daughter. He never yelled; never swore (at least that I heard). He worked for the Bessemer Ditch Company, which doesn't sound very glamorous and it wasn't. He wore big old work boots and because I was taking tap dance lessons, he liked to tease me by shuffling his big old clodhoppers on the wooden floor in the dining room - teasing me to pieces about my tapping skills.

Now that I've told you about him, here he is in one of my favorite photos of him. He's where he loved to be - out of doors. The inside of a house just couldn't contain him. And I only had him a few short years - cancer took him when I was just 18. But the 44 years that have passed since then? Those years have not dimmed my memory of him even a little bit.

So I wonder. With these two great sons-in-law, how will THEY stack up in the area of Unkie-dom? Someday will my own granddaughters and grandsons remember the fun and fond times they had with a very special uncle? Something tells me they just might...........

Bye for now :)

Dog Day Afternoons

This is Alyssa waving ¡hola! from her and Rob's hotel suite in Cabo...they are flying home tomorrow night and were just checking in to say "Hi!" Is it me or is Alyssa looking rested and happy?!! Ahhh... ¡muy bien! siestas!!! (My apologies for any misspelling of the Español - I am sorry to say I don't speak el lingüístico, but I am about to get a little online help!)

This is the hotel that has been their "home away from home" for the last week. Maravilloso!!

Alyssa and Rob flew to Cabo on April 25 with two of their BFF couple friends. Oh. That was probably redundant. So my abbreviated computer-speak needs some help, too, apparently...

This little stamp was part of the greeting from Alyssa. So colorful - ¡Tan bueno! Which brings me to the point of this blog, which is PUPPIES GALORE!!

May I start this post by saying that BOTH Buddy (on the left below) and Puddin' (on the right below) were having bad hair days when I decided to drag out my camera and begin blasting away. Yeah, should've brushed them up a bit. But I was loving their little cuddle session on the bed. We are watching Buddy while Alyssa and Rob are on vacation.

I like this photo because Puddin' (a.k.a. 'Mr. P.') has been known to be a little, um...cranky, shall we say? No, he doesn't play well with others. That is probably due to his eye sight problems and the fact that he is now blind - and only 5 years old. BUT. He doesn't let this impediment get him down and he trots along like there is no impairment at all. Until I leave something in his way, such as a vacuum. Or a dog named Buddy.

That's right. Nobody explained to Buddy that Puddin' trots through the house like nothing whatsoever is in his way. Until his dog pal Buddy visits and happens to be standing in Puddin's path. Then comes a major head-on collision. Buddy, being about half of Puddin's size, typically gets spun out to the side when this bulldozer plows into his petite frame. But he brushes himself off, figuratively speaking, and even (sometimes) thinks Puddin' wants to play. Which I will get into later.

So being a fine sunny afternoon, I took the pooches out onto the deck where they could enjoy the sun. Don't ask me where their peculiar positions are coming from. Buddy is sitting there rather frog-like while Puddin' looks like he is ready to launch. Or something.

Here is Mr. P. enjoying some rays.

And Buddy, who has decided he's had enough solar exposure for one day and is headed back inside - if SOMEBODY WOULD OPEN THE $*$@^# DOOR!!

Puddin' enjoys his spot on the couch so he decided to hop on up to cuddle on the blanket. However, nobody told him that Buddy was ALREADY on the couch enjoying the blanket. So, blind dog jumps UP on the couch - and lands square on top of Buddy. This brings about much whirling dervish activity of flying fur and tails and ears and then what amounts to doggie apologies all around, a "Hmmph" sort of look from Puddin' who elects to settle into a new spot on the sofa. He is, after all, trying very hard to be a mannerly host to his guest.

Then, all of a sudden - what is that sound???!! Why - yes, it's the sound of a white Dodge Dakota pick-up truck entering the garage. Could it be? Could it? Could it? Oh, yes-yes-YES!!!

Enter Mr. H. who is greeted by much jumping and lunging and doggie squeaks and squeals - I mean, he must have been gone for EONS, right? This is a homecoming that is so reunion-worthy. (Aren't they all?) Everybody gets some serious ear rubbing. Well, except for Mr. H. of course, but everybody of the canine persuasion who came equipped with large floppy ears perfect for rubbing!

All of this rowdy activity and tail wagging prompts Buddy to attempt a playful game with Puddin'. Well. It was a worthy attempt: Buddy rearing up on his hind legs and darting forward at Puddin' who is doing his best to ignore this young pup. ("I was just walking by, you silly, insolent little scallywag! You are SO immature...) Yes, I do in fact imagine that dogs talk this way.

So Buddy gets "the look" from Puddin' (that's right;, Puddin' can still give "the look" even with his blind eyes) and Buddy thinks better about continuing any further attempts at a playful tussle.

We have enjoyed this week of our "granddog" visiting with us and we'll all miss him tomorrow when we return him back to Rob and Alyssa. One of my favorite memories? Well, it seems the "Budster" has a stubborn little mind all his own.

After turning his nose up at his dinner, I removed Buddy's bowl and put it on the counter. Otherwise, Puddin' would consume his own dinner and Buddy's, too.

I put our dinner on the table. Mr. H. and I were sitting down to our plates when I noticed Buddy sitting on the floor looking up at the counter. Hmm...what IS he doing? Ok, Buddy is sitting there growling at his dinner, which is WAY up on the counter. "What on earth??" I am wondering, and then realize what he's doing. Ok. So he WAS ready to eat now. And did he eat? Yep! Every crumb.

So Alyssa and Rob: We all anxiously await your return and if he could swing it, I know Buddy would say, "¡Vaya rápido! ¡Le he echado de menos!" (¡¡Sí!! Aren't those online "English-Spanish" translator sites just ¡Grande!??)

Flashback Friday: Family Fun

Wading in the cold, cold water in Colorado. My cousin, Alene Woodhouse Starkey is on the right. I'm the little blondie on the left, holding onto my stuffed dog, "Pinkie."

Here we are again in 1969, enjoying a little liquid refreshment at my Uncle Bernard's house in Pueblo, Colorado. Can you say, "PLAID PANTS???" Yep, we were stylin' and if weren't careful, those plaids could knock your eyes out. And check out that super-large console TV in the background..TVs were major furniture back in the day...

Jump ahead - Whoa! 35 years - to 2004! Whew! - That was a BIG jump!! Still got a thing for those cold, blue waters in the Colorado mountains. My cousin stayed true to her "roots," although as you might have noticed, my "roots" migrated from blonde to brunette back to blonde again. Oh, well. Beats what's underneath, I'm sure!!
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Tonight Mr. H. and I are going to dinner with Rob and Alyssa and Rob's parents, Lou and Corinne, at Il Fornaio - a yummy Italian restaurant in downtown San Jose. I feel very lucky to have enlarged our family in September of 2006 to include these wonderful new friends and super son-in-law - who now all seem like family. And how lucky is that!!! So what does all this have to do with this week's flashback? Ok, I'm getting to that!

Family has always been super important to me. I was so fortunate to grow up close - both in proximity and otherwise - to my mother's family - my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, their spouses and children. Closest to me of all was my cousin, Alene, who was (and still is if she's admitting to it these days!) 7 years my senior. She was a very cool older cousin, dragging me around with her to do all sorts of fun things. She was something of a tomboy, as was I, although she had me beat in tree-climbing, catching bugs and crawdads, hanging by her knees on the jungle-gym and other admirable accomplishments.

I'm looking forward to the relationship Ashley and Jim's little ones (Gracie and as I write this, baby-to-be-born-soon-Emily) will have with their cousins someday when Rob and Alyssa expand their little family from their furry baby, Buddy, to babies of the other variety - you know, the kind that eat, throw up and poop, etc. Wait. Come to think of it, Buddy does all that, too. Oh, well, never mind!

So my hope for my daughters and their guys is that someday their little ones will enjoy the special bond of cousins. Since my cousin and I never had a sister, we felt connected in much the same way as I'm sure sisters do...I guess you might call us Sisters of the Heart.