Monday, July 21, 2008

Grandbabies are the Best!

No, that's not really a basketball, it's my first grandbaby!!!

One of the perks of growing old is getting to be a grandparent. And I get double perks since I married John and inherited his three terrific kids and fabulous grandkids. So, here's my bragging page on the best grandbabies in the world:

Our oldest grandchild is Raven (Rachel and Matt's 10 year old daughter). Raven just happens to be the sister now of our youngest grandchild, Romana, who was born on June 16, 2008! Here they are together in Warner Robins, Georgia. Raven is an accomplished Tae Kwon Do warrior and has won several awards as seen here. So her future boyfriends had better be careful!













Our next oldest grandchild (the oldest of John's grandbabies) is Nathan, who is 9 years old and belongs to Jason and Denise. Nathan has loved cars since he was a baby, but he also likes to dance and is active in his Cub Scouts. Nathan's little brother, Tyson, is 4 years old this year and is a car nut too. They must have every kind of toy car that you can think of!


Tyson loves to be with his cousin, Spencer, and together they are almost too much energy to contain in one house! Tyson never stops from sunup until sundown. Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mariner got to babysit them this year for a weekend, and was it ever fun and entertaining. Fortunately, their parents came back in the nick of time before we did any permanent damage!




Morgan is the next oldest grandchild, and she is 8 years old this year and soon to be baptized! Morgan and her brother, Kade, belong to Chris and Tammy. Morgan has been dancing with her Mom as her dance teacher since she was two years old.

Kade is 5 years old and loves every kind of sport there is. And he's a natural athlete like his Dad. Since they have a pool in their back yard, both Morgan and Kade are quite the swimmers!






Jackson is next in line of the grandkids at 6 years old and starting school this year. He and his brothers, Spencer and Payton, belong to Beth and Troy. Jackson loves cars too and sports, but he really loves his computer games! And he's very skilled for his age. I expect he'll be developing his own games by the time he's in high school. Spencer is 4 years old and loves everything his brother does including Teddy Grahams! And Payton, who will turn two this year, is into everything - literally!

And last but certainly not least is Hazel (Zuzu) who was born in December 2007 after first looking just like the basketball above. Hazel is Linda's first grandbaby, and she belongs to Emily and Greg. Hazel lives in Gilbert, but we manage to see her often enough that she doesn't cry when she sees us again. She was blessed when she turned six months old, and we were relieved that she fit into the white dress still! But it was worth the wait because her Dad gave her a beautiful blessing.









More updates on the grandbabies later!






Sunday, July 20, 2008

July 2008 Happenings

The biggest event in July was John's 55th Birthday! It started with a fun all adult dinner out on the town at El Paso Restaurant in Surprise with all of John's kids and brother-in-law. We celebrated Jason's, Rob's and John's birthdays in July with stuffing our faces and then opening presents from everyone.

John brought all his treasures home and then on the 16th he got to do several "firsts' to start off his 55th year as an official senior citizen. He began the day with a scenic glider ride in Peoria where he glided 3000 ft down to the ground (with a little help)!



Next we headed to the Cardinals (University of Phoenix) Stadium in Glendale for the public tour. It was quite interesting to see what the locker rooms, press room, and the VIP box seats all looked like with a bird's eye view of the field. It is quite an impressive building that we may never be able to afford to see a real game in!




The last first of the day was an authentic Japanese meal at the Ah-So Restaurant in Glendale prepared (or shall I say performed) by our very own Japanese chef at our table. He caught egg shells in his chef's hat and created an onion ring volcano spitting out fire along with creating a delicious meal right before our very eyes.

To top off the week, we cashed in our SpaFinder certificates and got a Unity Massage together on Friday at the fancy Day Spa in the Renaissance Hotel near the Glendale Stadium. Now THAT was a first for both of us!!! Wow!