Remembering...

It is official that we have celebrated 44 years of marriage! An incredible journey, a roller coaster ride and a blessing from God.  We have kept afloat in the "river" that is our life and we have enjoyed most of the ride. The proof is in this sample of pictures which we have scrounged up in order to remember some high points. We certainly have been "making memories", as they say, and now is the perfect time to look back and enjoy.

Ironman Competition in Hawaii

Olympics in Sydney.

Touring Sydney, Australia.

Celebrating being at home.

Fun in New Mexico

A birthday surprise trip to Florida.

Hawaii!

A night out on the town.

Athen, Greece

Dancing the night away.

Christmas in San Antonio.

Wedding Cake in 1968.

Here's to the future and to many many more years together!

Starting school...

Our precious little five-year-old will be going to school!

This milestone has come so quickly that we wonder if we dare turn around for fear of missing the next five years!

Our kind, caring, sensitive, fun-loving, curious, eager, sweet boy.

We wonder what will become of him?

Will he thrive and grow? 

Will he stay a kind and gentle boy who loves his baby sister?

Will he be strong in the world out there?     How will he turn out?    Will he manage to survive?

His is no longer that little baby that we could corral in our arms;

or that little guy who would sit on the floor and try to make us laugh.

Our precious little five-year-old is going off to KINDERGARTEN!

This is harder for us than when each of our own children first got on the bus and went off to school...

"Oh LORD, we pray for this child of yours that you would hold him in the palm of your hand and

keep him safe. Protect him from the world and show him the path he is to take.
Guide him along his way. We are thankful to know that You love him even more than we do.   Amen"

Baby Xavi...

Somewhere in southern California on a rare and beautiful day, little Xavi Matteo was born.

The sky and the ocean met in one fluid shade of blue and a mild sea breeze could be felt along the shore, gently tugging at the palms. The water lapped the beach ...

When she felt another gentle tug and a tightness in her tummy, she knew... and then the water. The time had come!

...the ever present surfers were oblivious to the drama unfolding only a few short blocks away...
and the sun began to settle for the night. The shades were drawn in the little cottage, the preparations made complete. Their focus never waivered as they labored toward their dream. He was to be born into the water - gentle, warm, comforting...

The words came gradually. Short texts.
He was born sometime after midnight.

Eight and a half pounds! (Wake up, Grampa! He's here!)

Name is Xavi. What?

Xavi Matteo. Oh, Ok.

How do you pronounce it? "Chavi" Oh, ok.

(Wake up, Grampa! He has a name!)

How are they?

O.K.

Ok, good.

She's nursing. Ok, good.

(Hey Grampa!, He's nursing!)

s-e-n-d p-i-c-t-u-r-e! (please!)

Here he is, all brand spanking new! and beautiful! (Wake up, Grampa! Here is his picture!)

Soon there were more pictures and a wonderful visit in person. Up close and personal! He is bonding with his Mommy and Daddy. He is eating and sleeping and cooing. (and making lots of diaper changes necessary.)

My favorite thing to do is to unwrap and look at all the brand spanking new baby parts...

...chins and arms and elbows and hands. Hands! Just look at those hands!

Those hands work so well to hug Mommy!

And his Baby feet! are so sweet! (Hey Grampa! Just look at those feet!)

Button nose and dark hair and eyes... and just look at those fuzzy cheeks!

He only has eyes for Momma... and a bit of a smile too!

Dear sweet Momma! "I love you!"

Trusting sweetly and napping peacefully, knowing that he is loved and cared for.

Natually his very first outing would take him to the beach... a favorite family affair...

Another day. Another sunset. Welcome, Baby Xavi! You are so very loved!

Grandchildren time...

We enjoyed a wonderful weekend with some of our family. Happily it included our three grandchildren! We went to the zoo, picked out pumpkins at the farm, pet many different animals, had a campfire at night and enjoyed lots of hugs and kisses.
Gabriella and Elodie tried out their new halloween jammies...

Even though it was cool, we went to meet the pony neighbors. We fed apples to the ponies, and Elodie decided that she needed an apple too. Here we are trying to stay warm.

The zoo day was perfect! Warm and sunny. The animals enjoyed the beautiful day too. Elodie sure loves animals. She knows all their names and even the sound each makes.Grandpa got a kick out it too!

Mother's Day again...

Some things bear repeating.... Happy Mother's Day
"Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world." --Kate Douglas Wiggin

"A boy's best friend is his mother." --Joseph Stefano

"Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete. " --Marcy DeMaree

"Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while.....but our hearts forever." --Author Unknown

"Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children." -- Alex Haley

"Grandmother - a wonderful mother with lots of practice." --Author Unknown
"Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process." --John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us when adversity takes the place of prosperity when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." --Washington Irving

"A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them." --Victor Hugo "Over the years I have learned that motherhood is much like an austere religious order, the joining of which obligates one to relinquish all claims to personal possessions." --Nancy Stahl

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother."

-- Lin Yutang

"The phrase 'working mother' is redundant." --Jane Sellman

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." --Theodore Hesburgh
"To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power." --Maya Angelou
"Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret hope outlives them all." --Oliver Wendell Holmes (1775-1817)

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. that's his." --Oscar Wilde

Happy Mother's Day to the beautiful mothers (and grandmothers) in my family!