Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Here are some pictures taken on Saturday at Steve and Marta's house.




Steve and Marta have a happy family. Marta and Gabriel returned from Spain one week ago after a two week visit with Marta's family. Marta said the weather in Spain was warm and beautiful. When she arrived in Chicago the frigid temperatures were a big change and a shock!







Coco is a fashion conscious dog and also enjoys being warm. Here she is in her new leopard spot fleece coat which I just made for her. Isn't she a good model? On very cold days she has a selection of several fleece coats in various colors that she can wear outdoors.






The most fun for Tony and me is playing with Gabriel. He loves dinosaurs, bugs, Scooby Doo and Spiderman. He had a very good report from his school which mentioned, to his grandfather's pride, that he has an aptitude for mathematics! (Tony is a mathematician.)

Monday, January 28, 2008

Saturday Evening
While visiting Steve, Marta, and Gabriel, we went to a Chinese restaurant. Gabriel performed his monster impression and then sang a song about his favorite character,Scooby Doo. Please enjoy his video!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Hibernating in January

We are having a very cold and snowy January so I've been hibernating---staying home, reading books, knitting, watching TV. Sometimes I meet my friend Dee to take a walk; several times we've had to cancel due to the frigid temperatures. Yesterday morning the temp was 1 degree F, painful to the skin to be outside, so of course we didn't try to walk. For me daily exercise is necessary to feel good, so when it's this cold, Tony and I go to the community college to exercise indoors.
This morning we woke to a few inches of new snow. At this moment I can hear Tony operating the snowblower in the driveway. We will have to see what the day brings because we're hoping to go to Steve and Marta's house this afternoon. (I am anxious to see Gabriel!) Between our house and theirs---a distance of about 120 miles----a section of highway very often has blizzard conditions on days like this. Lake affect snow, the cold winds off Lake Michigan, produces snow and dumps it on Western Michigan. We will carefully monitor the weather channel to decide if we should go.
Next Friday we will take a break from Michigan's weather and go to the beach in Cancun! I love Michigan's winter in spite of the cold but it is very nice to have just a few days in a warm place. We have a favorite hotel that we like to go to with beautiful beaches, wonderful restaurants, and something different to give us a short respite from the winter. And before we know it, spring will be here!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Here are my little friends, sisters Mary Jo and Ann Marie, who came to see me the other day. Aren't they cute? Mary Jo is 3 1/2 and Ann Marie is 5. They are very sweet girls.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Here is Scarlett singing with her mother.



(It's also my first time uploading a video!)

Monday, January 07, 2008

Our Girl Scarlett!
We just spent the weekend with Cathy, Sasha, and Scarlett. Here are a few pictures.


Scarlett loves singing, dancing, and reading books. Now she's working diligently on her Korean language skills. I can hear her sing many songs in both English and Korean. Also she is increasing her vocabulary every day. Sometimes I can hear her speaking Korean to herself, and I wish I could understand her!


One of Scarlett's favorite characters is Dora. Here she is playing with her Dora globe toy that she received at Christmas.












Scarlett loves her mommy and daddy, but she's quite happy spending time with her grandparents as well.













A family picture.








Knitting report: a pair of socks I just finished:

Wednesday, January 02, 2008


Memories of Christmas, 2007
We had a wonderful holiday. Everyone was here: Tom, Kelly, and Matthew from New Jersey, Steve, Marta, and Gabriel from Western Michigan, Cathy, Sasha, and Scarlett from Illinois. We spent our days talking, playing, eating, and enjoying being together. I was so happy to have all my children and grandchildren together.