Here I am with my student Harris, who is leaving tomorrow for Japan after completing nearly 5 years of work here. Doesn't he look very young? Believe it or not, he is a family man with 4 children. We have worked together on Business English and conversation skills during these 5 years. During one of our first lessons, I used the word "enthusiastic" because it describes him perfectly; describing his approach to work and study. It has been a pleasure to teach Harris and I wish him well in his new life at home in Japan.

We had a lovely day today with Kelly and Matthew at the lake. Tom worked today in the city so he left last night; Kelly, Matthew, Tony and I spent today at the lake. Kelly works on line from home so I helped with Matthew while she tried to work. I discovered that Matthew loves to be outdoors; we walked down to the lake a few times and enjoyed the view plus checked out Grandpa's raking.

Late afternoon we all headed out to a nearby town for dinner; here you can see us all at the restaurant. After some good food and conversation, Kelly and Matthew continued on to the city and we returned to the lake house.

Tomorrow morning we will head out early for the long drive home. It was a wonderful few days away from the routines of our lives spent with our youngest grandchild.

Sunday at the Lake House

We've been enjoying a wonderful weekend in New York at Tom and Kelly's lake house. Saturday was very warm and beautiful so we were busy with outdoor activities. We did some painting, raking, and other small tasks around the house.

Sunday morning we went to a beautiful and friendly little church near here. Matthew was all dressed up in his carseat ready to go.












Here are Tom, Kelly, and Matthew at the end of the service when we were ready to leave. The church has beautiful stained glass windows which you can see in the background.

Matthew was so good and fell asleep at the end. There is a rocking chair in the very back of the church where a grandmother can sit and rock a sleepy baby, and he even stayed asleep when he transferred to his father's arms!




Matthew enjoys spending time on the floor, crawling, and playing with toys. When we arrived here Friday evening, he was curious and very cautious about us, but now he readily smiles and puts his arms up to me for picking up.


Here he is climbing on his father. At 11 months he will soon take his first steps. We could see he was practicing standing and almost letting go with both hands. He's very curious about many things, especially likes getting into the box where his toys and various items are stored.







It is spring in the Northern Hemisphere of the world. Here is a beautiful picture of cherry blossoms in Japan.

The Lake House

The view this morning from the deck of Tom and Kelly's lake house in the Poconos Mountains of New York is peaceful and clear. We are planning a full day, mostly playing with Matthew who is 11 months old. Yesterday we left home at 8:15 AM, driving almost 12 hours, arriving here in Eldred, New York, (about 2 hours outside New York City) by 8 PM. The day was beautiful for driving, warm and sunny, so we took turns, traveling highway 80 across Ohio and Pennsylvania. The reward was seeing Matthew who is polishing his skills of crawling, pulling himself up to a standing position, and preparing soon to walk. Such a joy to be his grandmother! (I am claiming his blond wavy hair for myself!)

The Dancer

Gabriel's dancing style has unique and spirited moves!

Playing at the Dairy Queen

One day during spring break was cloudy and cold, too cold and blustery to be outside very long. The Dairy Queen near Gabriel's house has an indoor play area, so that's where we went. Seats just outside the play area are conveniently placed for a grandmother to sit, drink coffee, knit, and take a video!

Spring Break

Last week was spring break in Michigan and I had a wonderful week.

First I saw my old friend Karen who lives in Connecticut but was visiting her mother in Michigan. We were roommates at the university many years ago. She is one of my oldest friends; when we see each other, our conversations pick up right where they left off. (Incidentally the dates on all these pictures are incorrect! I think my camera reset itself.)
















Next I went on to Steve and Marta's house to spend spring break with Gabriel whose Montessori School was closed for the week. While his parents went to their offices we had so much fun with many activities like going to the library, going to the children's museum, playing in the park, watching movies, and playing with toys.
Here are Gabriel and Marta on a sunny day enjoying crocuses that were growing in the yard.









Gabriel is a busy little boy. He loves dinosaurs, cars and trucks, Diego, chocolate chip cookie making, playing in the park.























One of the best things about being a grandmother is spending time together and especially baking cookies!

One special day Marta, Gabriel, and I went to see Steve's office where this picture was taken. He has a very nice office at a very impressive company. Here he is at his desk on a Friday afternoon, almost ready to go home.

Spring!

Every spring I watch for the crocus to come up. This year spring is very late. Patches of snow are still on the ground. On the east side of my house I could see crocus blooming this morning and it makes me very happy. We've had a very cold and snowy winter and finally maybe spring is on its way. This morning my friend Dee and I took a long walk in the country, walking fast for 70 minutes. It felt so good to be outdoors and enjoying the sunshine. We began our walk with caps and mittens but soon became warm.

Here is my student Mitsuko and her beautiful daughter Momoko who came to say goodbye because they were moving to Houston. We will miss them.





Here is my new little friend Sakiho enjoying her lunch. Isn't she cute?


I am very excited because tomorrow I'll be traveling. First I will see my old friend Karen, who was my roommate in college many years ago, now living in Connecticut but visiting in Michigan for a few days. Next I will go on to Steve and Marta's house. This is spring break week for many Michigan schools; I will enjoy time with Gabriel while his parents are at work. Then at the end of the week, we will go on to Chicago to see Scarlett and her parents. I'm hoping for mild weather so we can spend some time outdoors at the park with each grandchild.

Recently two of my students and their families returned to Japan after living in our community for several years. Before leaving they came to say goodbye to me. Above please see Yoshie who has many interests including golf and knitting. Below is Chika and her sweet daughter Ami, who also likes golf and has wonderful skills with crafts. We were sad to see them leave and we will miss them.

The Cookie Helper

Children are very enthusiastic about helping with chocolate chip cookie making. Gabriel looks forward to "making cookies with Grandma", and grandma enjoys it too! Gabriel's father Steve always enjoyed baking. Steve could time the baking of the cookies in the oven so they were just the right blend of crispiness and softness. Now a new generation is making cookies!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter with Steve, Marta, and Gabriel. I love to spend time with Gabriel. We play dinosaurs, build castles, race cars, and watch movies. In the picture on the left, we are enjoying breakfast together.

Easter dinner was so delicious. Here you can see Marta and Tony checking the ham.

















I like this picture of Grandfather and Grandson together.





Marta took this picture of Tony, Steve, our friend Gustavo, and me at the dinner table. Please notice the beautiful table arrangement created by Marta.






We enjoyed Gabriel's Easter egg hunt. Please check out Marta's blog to see a video of him in action!

Cookie Helpers

Here are my little friends Ann Marie and Mary Jo having a lesson in cookie baking. They had washed their hands with soap and water just before this video was taken, and immediately after the video, hands were washed again. Children always enjoy the sweet taste of cookie dough!

Tony's older brother Mont passed away last week in California. Mont loved the outdoors and loved fishing. Many years ago we had a family vacation in California where Mont introduced us all to California fishing. Our children were young so this was a wonderful experience for everyone. After the fish were caught, Mont and Tony cooked them over a campfire. This is a very nice memory.

Travels

Tom, Kelly, and Matthew just returned from visiting Kelly's sister Laurie and her family who are stationed with the U.S. Navy for the next few years in Italy. Matthew received a lot of kind attention from people who were surprised with his blond cuteness!













Matthew really enjoyed spending time with his three big boy cousins.

Memories

Here I am as a newlywed in the summer of 1965 at a dinner with my new husband's family in Manila. (I can't believe I wore that short skirt!) Having never been on a plane before, I traveled with Tony to meet his family on the other side of the world in the Philippines. How risky to marry someone whose family you hadn't yet met, who was a different race, religion, nationality, and with 12 years difference in age. As I look back, I'm surprised that I was able to do this; and yet here we are, almost 43 years later, still doing well after all these years!

This week I've been thinking of those early days, meeting Tony's family, experiencing a new culture, figuring things out. Tony's parents are the older couple in the picture; and now we are the older couple! The others are Tony's brothers and their wives.

How quickly the years have passed! Tony's parents and his brother Mars have been gone for several years. Last week we learned that our sister-in-law Angeline fourth from the left in the above picture passed away in Los Angeles after many years of illness. She was a kind and gentle lady who will be missed. We're also very concerned about Tony's older brother Mont, near San Francisco who is dealing with a very critical health situation. We wish the best for him. And lastly, Tony himself was in the hospital two weeks ago with stomach issues, but thankfully is now fine again. In fact he is very fine, eating well, talking about the garden if spring ever comes, working on a lot of stuff around the house!

So we keep our memories of days gone by and look ahead to the wonderful futures of our children and grandchildren whom we love so much.

Sunday

On the way back from Chicago we stopped at Steve and Marta's house. Monday was a holiday so Gabriel didn't have school. We spent the day with him while his parents went to work, returning to our house later in the afternoon.

Marta prepared an excellent dinner.







Gabriel can dance the Crazy Frog!

Here are some weekend pictures from our visit to Cathy and Sasha's house. We had so much fun with Scarlett!





















We love to go to the Mitsuwa, the Japanese market in Chicago. Here are Cathy, Scarlett and Sasha enjoying ramen and udon.




Scarlett loves listening to stories in both English and Korean. Sasha is teaching her the Korean language which she is learning very quickly. Here you can see her enjoying a story read and sung
to her by her father in Korean.

Tom's Birthday

On a cold and snowy February 9th 41 years ago, just after a blizzard that kept everyone inside for several days,Tom was born at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing. In those days new mothers stayed in the hospital with their babies a full week. It was a very exciting time for us with our perfect new baby. The years have flown by and now Tom is a new father himself with a lovely wife, Kelly, and their almost 9 month old son, Matthew.

On Tom's first day of kindergarten he wore a brown and yellow football jersey with his new jeans and was so excited to go to school. The years passed and at his high school graduation, he wore a t shirt and jeans under his cap and gown, anticipating leaving for the university. After finishing his MBA at Michigan, Tom worked and traveled all over the world: London, Australia, Chicago, Minneapolis, India and other places too numerous to mention. Finally a couple of years ago he settled down, marrying Kelly on a beautiful March day in Orlando. We are so proud of him and all that he has done in his life.

Here's Tom holding Matthew on the day he was born.






















At Christmastime Matthew posed next to a picture of his grandfather, Tony, a fat and healthy baby in 1931. Tony's mother submitted this picture to the newspaper in Manila and he was named the "Magnolia Milk Baby of Manila". (Magnolia was a dairy products brand at that time.)



Tom happened to be born on my cousin Carole's birthday. Happy Birthday, Carole!

Tom at the New York Giants Parade(He has the brightly colored jacket!)

A Few Days in the Sun

Last Friday we left Detroit in the middle of a blizzard. Heavy snow started sometime during the night and caused many cancellations. We decided to spend Thursday night at a hotel near the airport because it would have been extremely difficult to drive to the airport Friday morning. Please see the picture of our plane through the airport window. Snow plows were at work on the runway and all the planes were deiced before taking off. I was concerned that we'd be delayed but everything went off on schedule.

It is mind boggling to go from an early February snowstorm in Detroit to a beach front resort in Cancun in just a few hours! In Detroit it was painfully cold to be outside for only a minute; Cancun was pleasantly warm in the morning and evening and hot in the midday sun. Our hotel, the Riu Caribe, was beautiful with white sand beaches, delicious restaurants, and a laid back atmosphere. Then last night we arrived back in Detroit to another snowstorm! But now I feel refreshed and ready to deal with a little more winter after a few days in the sun.

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.)

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!

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!

Look Who's Cute! (Matthew at 7 Months)

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.

Here is Scarlett singing with her mother.



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