A Ball Of A Birthday...

Grey actually got to celebrate his birthday with a party on the actual day!

Last year he was sick and his party was cancelled.

Bri used some of thing decorations from last year.  They were perfect.

Instead of cupcakes or cake she had rice-krispie treats...

everyone got a beach ball to take home.

Greyson has some really great friends at school

 Geoff blew up a bunch of the balls for the kids to play with...

cousin Jack was the goalie in the boys made-up game

7 year old boys are pretty cute/funny

a rice kris pie cake was just perfect!

I know everyone had a ball at his party...

I sure did!

Cousin Birthday...

Yesterday was the "cousin birthday".  The final ones in June.

Lauren turned 12.

This girlie is a real "tweener".

She made it through her first year of middle school with straight A's.

Loves clothes, her friends and is a beautiful young lady inside and out.

Greyson turned 7 yesterday.

He had a great year in 1st grade.

Played baseball and was a true sportsman.

He loves to read and play with Legos.

We love talking to him and listening to him laugh.

not only do these two cousins share a birthday but they share a love of surfing

It's funny how these two are a like in so many ways,

that's what makes them so unique and special.

Lauren and Greyson we love you!

Last Day of School...

yesterday was the last day of school for the youngest and oldest grand.

Jack had already been out for a week and was in Minnesota.

He had a great year and is now in 4th grade.

Grey is now a 2nd grader.  He had a great year this last year

and we're so proud of him.

He's gotten so tall and turned into quite the little man.

I got to drive the last Ave. Mastil carpool of the year.

The kids were so excited.

Lauren made it through 6th grade at a new school.

Looks like she got straight A's.

She's become quite the "tweener"

and is really neat.

We're so very proud of these grands...

Let summer begin!

Passed On...

last week Aunty Traci was having a sample sale.  Bri and Emme came over to 

hang out.  Lauren had recently cleaned out her room and had all of her "Pet Shops"

ready to give to Emme.  Aunty Traci got them out and Emme played

with them all morning.

She loves playing with those cute little things.  Lauren had collected and played with

them for a lot of years, so there are a lot of them!

Emme took them home and has played with them everyday since.

It's so nice that she has a cousin that passes such wonderful things on!

Recliner Racing...

Saturday we took Grey to see "How To Train Your Dragon 2".

It was just the 3 of us, Lauren was at a party, Jack was in Minnesota and Emme

was taking on a project at home.

Grey wanted to go to the theater "where they have the food".  Cinepolis in Laguna Niguel.

After we placed our lunch order, Poppa showed Grey how to have

a race in the reclining seats.

"one, two, three go...!"

I don't know which was funnier,

them doing it or Grey laughing hysterically because the leather

seats made a "tooting" sound as they moved.

S

They thought this was so funny.

What can I say?

Doesn't matter the age, boys just think that's a funny sound.

Jack @ 9...

Jack turns 9 on Saturday.

He's in Minnesota with his mom at a Lego gathering called,

"World War Brick".

Jack LOVES Legos and reading.

He was so excited to go on this trip with his mom.

He's been out of school for a week for summer.

The last day of school he got an award for reading over 1million words!

He doesn't look too different from this little cutie, except

his hair isn't while-blond.

Jack our #1 grandson...

Happy Birthday Jackster!

Geoff...

Happy Birthday Geoff!

We could sit for hours and watch you surf...

and did through years of contest...

We're so proud of the man that you've become.

A loving husband,

a daddy to a little princess who adores you,

a hero, mentor and a teacher of many things to your own son,

a really, really good cook,

and a handyman extraordinaire !

No one could ever ask for a better son.

We love you Geoff.

Sportsman Of The Year...

both grandsons played baseball this year and loved it.

Jack has played for a few years now.  This year when I went to his game he was catching

and gave me a heart-attack!  

Greyson played for the first time this year.  He really got into the game

and loved it more than anything.  In his league, the coach pitched to 

the boys, but the boys played in the field.  He was such a good player.

A week before the season ended his parents got a call that

he was going to be awarded a special award.

He was so proud when they called his name for "Sportsman of the Year".

All of the coaches voted for this, so it was a big deal.

His parents explained to him exactly what it meant.  So when he was 

showing me his trophy, he explained what it meant.

love this toothless photo his mom took.

he got a pair of Oakley kids sunglasses that he was pretty proud of too.

Good job Grey, we're so proud of you.

47 Years...

Sunday was not only Father's Day, but also our 47th anniversary.

June 15, 1967 I married this wonderful guy...

After breakfast with all the family we drove down to Newport for an early dinner

at the Crab Cooker (we love that place).

We decided to drive by some places from that time in our marriage.

I met Terry the first time directly across from Blackie's

on the beach

at the Newport Pier.

He asked me about the surf..."has it been like this all day?"

We talked about that for a few minutes before he left in his little '56 red porsche.

I didn't see him again for a few weeks, but once again saw him at the beach...

Our first date was a surf/beach date to Doheny (before the harbor)

We were married 3 months later in San Bernardino and lived for a few

months in West Covina next to that round theater where we saw Don Ho.

We both wanted to move to the beach, so we started looking.

Our first place we lived was 331 Poinsettia...

We lived in a little back house that at the time it was a converted garage.  

Back then the garage doors were still there.  Now they've finished off the whole thing.

a little German lady lived in the front house.  She used to make

home-made sauerkraut that you could smell all over the neighborhood.

our little house was sold and we had found another place, but it wouldn't be ready for a 

few months, so we rented an apt on Coast Hiway (this is where Terry nailed

the Christmas tree to the floor after the kittens tipped it over 3 times).

Our little house with a yard finally was vacant...

128 Poinsettia...

Terry had a yard he could putz in (and he did).

We had a cat and our dog George here.

After Terry had his knee surgery, he sat in this front yard and talked to

the waitresses as they came to work.

We brought Traci home from the hospital to this house and lived here until

she was about 18 months old.

We lived just 2 blocks from the 5 Crowns.  We were talking about how surprised we were 

that this great restaurant is still around and seems busy.

Years pass, ups and downs, good and bad...

I have to say that I love my husband more today than I did on that day 47 years ago.

We only knew each other for 3 months, but we knew.

He's still my boyfriend and my best friend.

He makes me laugh and shake my head.

The last 8 years years I've seen him hurt and madder than ever, but he just keeps going.

I just love this big bear...

Father's Day 2014...

we met everyone (minus Billy) early at SC Cafe for a

little breakfast before they all headed out to other places.

the grands are getting so big, now they have their own table...

the girlies

the boys

two of the best dads around...

love these two

Oh poppa...

we were lucky to get one shot because he was making everyone

goofy!

seeing the grands like this, we realize how big they're getting.

This year Father's Day was the same day as our anniversary, so it was a busy day.

We love our family so much and were glad that we were here for this special day.

Off To See The Grands...

to celebrate 4 birthdays (Geoff, Lauren, Jack and Grey), Father's Day,

 our anniversary (47 years!), drive kids around, visit the Happiest Place on Earth and

to see a dear friend...

Coming Home...

I've taken tons of photos of the North Shore.

I like to take photos coming down "snake road" or Kam Hiway

with the whole North shore laid out before me.  Sometimes it's so 

breathtaking with the ocean, Mt. Ka'ala and the green.

Last night on FB,my friend, Carol Phillips, posted a photo that I just

loved!  She titled it "North Shore Bound".  I just looked at it and 

thought of home.  So many times I've seen the exact same sight, but have never

taken a photo because usually if it looks like that, it's getting late and I just 

want to be home.

(mahalo Carol for such a beautiful photo)

even with the sun setting, the beauty of the North Shore comes out

but most of all it means I'm coming home...

King Kamehameha Day...

King Kamehameha is the only king to have a statue in the 

 National Statuary Hall in the US Capitol.

He his responsible for uniting the Hawai'ian Islands and

creating the Hawai'ian nation.

I've read about him and some of the really good things he's done...

wonder what he would think about what his beloved Hawai'i has become?

I'm sure he'd be amazed at some of it and saddened by others.

Malama Honua...

every night hubby and I check on the progress of Hokulea and Hikianalia.

They've crossed the equator, are more than half way to Tahiti.

It's amazing.

what's even more amazing is that we're able to track them

and they are using satellites and equipment on Hikianalia to

record this voyage.  They are sending back photos and

videos actually from the boats.

Malama Honua means "to care for our Earth".  When they catch fish

it's not only for food, but they are also studying these fish to see what affects

there have been on the deep water life.

Since we've both been on Hokulea, we can appreciate these size of the canoes 

compared to the very HUGE ocean they are crossing only using ancient ways

of navigating.

When we heard Nainoa Thompson speak months ago, he said that

this voyage is for the children of Hawai'i and to teach them....

malama honua