Tag Archive for family

Quietly Celebrating an Anniversary

There are many anniversary’s and birthdays that we all celebrate throughout our lifetime. The month of August – actually the 14th of August to be exact marks a wonderful day in my family’s history.  The 14th of August, 2014 is the 10th, 10th (!!) anniversary of our son Zachary’s last day of chemotherapy in the treatment of his leukemia.  It is simply incredibly to me that 10 years have gone by since our last ride home from the clinic with Zachary.  Wow!  Time really does fly.

This celebration is one of those that I have been thinking about for a while, just because of the significance of my son, The Survivor.  My son’s very humble about this subject.  He does not really like a lot of hoopla over this anniversary date, this is more of a mom “thing”. And recently I talked to Zach about this date, and he said, “wow that’s right! I do remember.” (or something to that effect). I asked him if it was ok if I write about it, and said, “sure Mom”.

I wrote about Zach’s journey with leukemia a couple of years ago.  You can read about it here if you’d like to.  He was in chemotherapy for three years, which ended August 14, 2004.  This is one of those subjects in our family history I simply felt compelled to write about.  I felt compelled to share our story.

Zach’s last day of chemo was a great celebration it seems like it was just yesterday.  Travel Man arranged for a limo ride for Zach’s drive home from the clinic that day.  The limo was supposed to be the standard “stretch” variety, but what showed up at the clinic doorstep was a Hummer Limo.  Travel Man had explained to the owner of the limo company what we were doing, and the owner surprised even us with this awesome limo ride.  Zach and his siblings, and cousins had a fantastic ride home, through the In-n-Out drive thru, and had a blast.  Just the memory we parents were looking to provide for this guy.    He had been through an awful lot in three years and the limo ride was a great memory to the end of that time.

Zach’s 10th birthday newly diagnosed with leukemia

067-Scan-012

Zach’s 23rd birthday – 10 year’s chemo free, and what a handsome guy!

IMG_0024

Fast forward to 2014- Zach is newly married.  He and his wife Brookelynne got married last August.  They will be celebrating their first anniversary in a week or so. Zach works with developmentally disabled adults, and is an amazing caregiver.  He’s healthy, energetic, philosophic about life, and a survivor.  Cheers to you Zachary!!  We raise a glass to you today and celebrate the fine, young man who you are.

This post linked to the GRAND Social

Have you Met The Super Six?

This is the Super Six.

Scan-004

They have been together for a lifetime.  Let me introduce you to my four kids, and their cousins ( my brother’s son and daughter).  Starting from the left,  Naomi is the oldest, and I’m pretty sure at this point in her life she’ll remain the shortest of the bunch.  Next is Jim, my brother’s son, he’s the tallest one in the crowd these days,  and then Hilary, Mary (my brother’s daughter), Bryan and Zachary.

The layout style of this picture became a tradition with this bunch many, many moons ago. We would shoot this group shot from oldest to youngest, and then from tallest to shortest.  My grandma (great-grandma to the Super Six) lives out-of-state, and would always ask to see a picture of the kids together.  She wanted  to see how tall each of them were in relation to one another.  So that started the tradition of the Super Six photos. And I’m fairly certain my Grandma coined the phrase “Super Six” for this gang.

Over the years we have taken quite a few Super Six pictures. I just love, love, love a walk down memory lane like this.  When Tom’s son, Ryan, was living with us the group expanded to the Super Seven.

Scan-001Scan-003

Super Six_Montana 001Scan

IMG_52021-DSC01193

As you can see in the pictures below, when Evan got old enough he honed in on the photo line, and made sure he got himself included.  These pictures should be called “The Super Six” plus one, since Evan is the next generation!

IMG_13151-DSC01194

This bunch has been fortunate enough to live near each other growing up, pretty much until everyone started working full-time or took off for college.  There were lots of Friday night sleepovers, chances to do fun things together, family beach parties, cheering each other on at school events, or at a sports game.  Just all round having cousin fun as often as they could.  I think my brother and I subconsciously made a point to get the kids together as often as  we could.

Now that they are all a little older it’s not easy to get this picture, but we are still doing it. These shots were taken at Zach’s wedding this past August.   I may be partial, but I can feel a lot of love and happiness coming from these pictures.

DSCN0704

DSCN0706-001

This group of amazing young adults have been through a lot of life stuff together. Graduations, milestone birthdays, 4th of July celebrations, Halloween’s,  family reunions, weddings, divorces, cancer in the family, and the loss of their Grandpa.  They have experienced all of the ups and downs of life.  They are positively surviving the roller-coaster ride together, and have come through it all with smiles on their faces.

My one hope for this great group is that they stay in touch and support one another for eternity.  (That’s my Mom voice shining through.)  My quest with this bunch is to continue capturing the Super Six line up for many years to come.

This post linked to the GRAND Social

Isn’t it About Time I Wished You All a Happy New Year?

Happy New Year, dear friends.  2014 is already in full swing, and I am just now getting back to my writing.  I’m hoping you all had a wonderful holiday season filled with family and love.  January got off to a bit of a wonky start because of…The Flu.  Ugh.  I’m actually the one who got sick first, on New Year’s Eve of all days.  I was battling the flu beast for a good week or so.  Luckily for me Travel Man was home to take care of me. January 3rd was probably one of the hardest goodbyes that Travel Man and I have had in a long, long time.  He did not want to go, and I didn’t want him to go either.  But, boo-hooing aside I got over the flu, and then almost everyone else in my family had a visit from the flu beast in the past two weeks. That brings us to the point we are at now.  It’s the last week of January, and nearly Superbowl Sunday.

My how time flies.   And this time is was not necessarily while we were having fun.  You would think here in sunny, Southern California we could avoid the dreaded winter cold and flu.  But the reality is we don’t.  The flu that just rocketed through the family (I have coined it the “lightning flu”) is probably the worst we’ve had in over five years.

As of this writing everyone who has gotten the flu, is over it.  Hopefully I haven’t jinxed those of you in the family who haven’t had “it” yet!  The past few days the weather’s been great, doors and windows have been opened, and all the germs have been ordered to leave the building!!

We had such a great holiday season with all of the kids and grandkids here at the Party House.  It’s always so enjoyable when we can get  everyone gathered together  for a little while to celebrate.

family xmas 2013

Christmas Day 2013
Photo courtesy of J.Weise.

Look at all of those smiles, what a great looking bunch.  Hopefully your 2014 has gotten off to an amazing start.  We’re looking forward to lots of birthday celebrations together, an engagement, some mini vacations, and baseball.

This Family Had a Moment – One Year Ago.

IMG_0011

In honor of Miss Madison’s first birthday over the weekend, I wanted to share my story of how our family learned of her arrival here on planet earth.

Have you ever been together with your family and experienced some news together, collectively?  One of those moments when you all look at each other, and you know in your heart of hearts that you are experiencing a moment together, that you will all remember, and talk about for years to come.

My family had this experience just a little over a year ago now.  We were having dinner together on a Saturday night, actually it was an early Thanksgiving dinner for us.  My sister and her husband had planned to be with us for dinner on this particular night.  Unfortunately their plans had changed and they could not join us on this special occasion.

The other event taking place on this particular day was that my oldest daughter had gone into the hospital early on this Saturday morning to have her labor induced.  Remember awhile ago when I shared with all of you that Evan would be a big brother soon?   Well, this was the day.  Evan spent the night with us on Friday night, and his parents checked into the hospital early the next morning.

All day long we’re checking in with my son-in-law at the hospital getting updates on how Naomi was doing.  I’m sure we pestered him a little too much, but he graciously kept us informed all day long.

In the early afternoon the family members started to arrive, and we were preparing dinner, and getting the table set.  Our family loves to gather around my kitchen counter for all of the snacks and noshing.  It’s always a fun-filled time of eating and conversation.  Lots and lots and lots of conversation.  All in all I think we ended up with 12 of us or so at the dinner table that night.  And in between all of the conversing and eating we are still getting updates on my daughters progress from her husband, Brad.  At one point during dinnertime Brad had sent me a text that the baby would be delivered at 8:00pm.  So, we’re all thinking great!  The baby will be here tonight, and then Naomi will be a lot more comfortable.  She was quite uncomfortable during the last week of her pregnancy, and her mother needed to know that she was just a little bit more comfortable.  It’s a Mom thing.

So after our great turkey dinner we’re sitting around the table – some us drinking coffee, some having wine, some getting ready for pie.  And if I remember correctly this is how our moment happened.  I was on the house phone with my sister in Montana, who could not be with us.  We were giving her an update on Naomi.  My brother’s girlfriend, Elaine, looked at the clock and said, “Hey it’s 8 o’clock, I wonder if the baby’s arrived yet?”  My brother was looking at something on my cell phone, and we got a photo message from “Brad Dad”. It was a picture of the nursery scale with the babies weight, 9lbs. 15oz.  No words with the picture, just that cute little picture.  In that moment we all looked at each other, and I say to my brother, “Is the baby really here?  Text him back and find out!!”  We get the confirmation that it is indeed the babies’ weight, and she has arrived!  the moment we have all been anxiously awaiting.  The entire household is just elated, collectively, all in that same cherished moment.  Miss Madison Kay has arrived.  Woops, hollers, and woots reverberate through the house.  I’m still on the phone sharing this joyful moment with my sister.  My Dad is on the phone with my grandparents, Madison’s great-great-grandparents, and we are all sharing this moment.  From California to Montana to Illinois a poignant family moment.

And I remember Evan.  He was so cute.  He went running through the house cheering for his Mom and Dad.  He was an excited big brother.  As I am typing this right now I can picture this entire moment in my head.  This moment hung in the air for just a bit.  It reminded me of watching a feather float around in the sky.  Watching everyone, and seeing everyone’s reactions.  And my Mom, she had her own precious moment.  She was sitting at the table soaking everything in, and the emotions just overwhelmed her and she started to cry.  Travel Man came and got me and said, “You need to go and sit with your Mom.”  I sat with my Mom, we had a mother – daughter moment.  The day could not have ended more splendidly.

Madison meets her Great-Grandparents

Madison meets her Great-Grandparents

There are always moments in your life that become part of  your personal history, or your family’s history.  But nothing compares to having a family moment, surrounded by almost the entire family.  Savor these precious moments, cherish them, and keep them close to your heart.

This post has been linked to the GRAND Social linky

A Lovely Backyard Wedding

 IMG_0026What does it take to throw a backyard wedding?  First and foremost is a big backyard, which we have. Check that one-off of the list.  Then the bride and groom have to be willing to pitch in and get the backyard ready for a wedding.  Check, we have that.  Then we limit the guests to no more than 70 people.  How do we know this is a good number you ask? We’ve had lots of parties and lots of people in our backyard, and this is the number that works and is controllable.

The remaining major supplies to get our backyard ready for a wedding went like this-  Over 20 strings of white lights, 350 ft. of speaker wire for the PA system and the music,  around 20 poles for the lights to be strung up on (this was for the Mama Mia effect!), an amazing misting system (put together by our favorite uncle), a newly painted deck for dancing the night away on, rented tables, chairs, and table clothes, lovely centerpieces crafted by the bride, lots of big bags of ice, and lots of helpers to get it all set up on time.  Plus we were really hopeful the weather would cooperate, which it did.

IMG_0020

2013-08-25 15.12.47 IMG_0012

2013-08-25 15.12.39Our youngest son got married in our backyard towards the end of August, and due to the nature of our “stressful” summer there were a lot of plans that just ended up being put together at the last-minute.  This was a 5pm wedding, and my son’s vision was to have the backyard lit up with white lights for a truly memorable evening, once the sun went down, and I think we pulled it off.  We had around 65 guests (that’s my closest guesstimate), in our backyard.  A party this size has not happened since the ladies of ZTA (Kappa Theta chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha) graced our backyard, as we were the host of their annual Bid Day  (there were around 70 giggly, gaggling girls in attendance that day!).

The weather was not too hot, which we were all thankful for. The temps stayed somewhere in the 90’s, and cooled off quickly after the sun went down.   The California summer heat swooped in the weekend after the wedding.  I think it was around 105, the Saturday after!

The wedding ceremony was performed flawlessly, everyone looked so wonderful, and then it was time to party.  We had an amazing caterer who brought in Mexican food, some of which was cooked on the grill right before our very eyes.  This was a great set-up and the food was spectacular.  Drinks were kept simple; just soda, beer and wine.  A cake was brought in by a friend of the bride (it was delicious!).

IMG_0028

And then it was time for the dancing.  My most memorable moments from the dancing were watching my baby boy (he won’t like that I called him that) dance with his Grandma, and seeing the daughters dancing with their dads.  Of course,  the first dance by the bride and groom was memorable too.  Such a cute couple.  My favorite dance of the night was our deck filled with party-goers dancing to “The Macarena”!!  That was fun!

533722_299602836849121_2001168518_n1238240_299602883515783_648531461_n2013-08-25 15.12.56

This was definitely a ceremony/party to remember.  One for the ages so to speak.  I loved the toasts that were given from the heart.  I loved the fact that almost all of our family got to be here with us to celebrate this special occasion.  I loved the fact that all of my kids were so helpful on “The Day”, and made everything fall into place for their baby brother. And our backyard wedding would not have been complete without this amazing ring-bearer.  He carried the rings in his pants pocket, and was so grown-up and handsome when it came time to pass the rings to the groom.  He made his Grandma’s proud.

IMG_0030

Congratulations to Brookelynne and Zachary.  May all of your dreams come true.

14148_301855763290495_708671988_nPicture credits for this post go to: Erica B., Elaine Z., Naomi D., Hilary J., and Mary W. – Thanks Ladies!!

  • Subscribe to Blog via Email

    Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 1,175 other subscribers

Skip to toolbar