Circle of Life

Every May 14th, I prepare for a big sulk.  All my friends and family prepare, too.  They either send me hugs or run and hide.  :)  Seriously, it's the anniversary of my husband's death from cancer in 2005, which was a very traumatic experience for our family.

I have now realized that he or Fate or some higher power has determined that I shall not be allowed to sulk any longer.  That's probably a Good Thing.  Last year on May 14th, my beautiful niece married her Prince Charming.  It was a wonderful wedding.

This year, my second granddaughter, Eliza Judith Carr, came into this world just before dawn on May 14th.  She's perfect and beautiful and a shining tribute to her grandfather's memory.

So now instead of sulking on May 14th, I will be celebrating my granddaughter's birthday.  I'm confident her Grandpa is somewhere giving her a big thumbs-up.  :)

Welcome to the family.

Love,
Grandma Deb

Annabella's First Birthday!

http://debstover.blogspot.com/

She's toddling around the house, talking to Grandma and her "Dada" on the telephone, even if that telephone is a ball or any other pretend item. On those occasions when she does get her hands on her Mom's Blackberry, she has somehow managed to put me on speed dial and knows just how to call me because I always answer. The one time I didn't, she left me a voice mail expressing her displeasure.

My dad drove out from Kansas for her first birthday party, held Saturday May 22nd, 2010 at my house in Palmer Lake. Annabella's parents brought in the goodies, and one of Bella's playmates came for the fun. Family and friends gathered, presents were opened, we gorged ourselves on good food, two yummy cakes, and a cherry pie. Most of all, we let Annabella provide the entertainment. It's amazing how much fun it is to watch a one-year-old explore the world we take for granted every single day.

I swear, every time she looks at my standard poodle, Maggie Mae, she doesn't see a dog. She sees a pony....

Happy birthday, sweet Annabella. Many, many, many more!

Love,
Grandma

Holiday Memories

Please join me today at Fresh Fiction to discuss your favorite holiday memory.

http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=2165

May all your dreams come true.

Happy reading.

~Deb

Bella Update

This kid has beauty, charm, & character. :)

Marty snapped these with his iPhone while Bella was bouncing on my knee today during a visit at her house.

She's starting to teethe and is only 3 1/2 months old!!!

Sweet & Sassy

Nothing sweeter than a sleeping princess all content and perfect.



And Princess Bonnie got to see the Wiggles for the third year in a row last night. She'll never outgrow this, so it's becoming an annual tradition. Now she expects me to make new T-shirts for them every year. I figure the cost of the tickets plus the T-shirts are worth the trade-off of bribing her sister and brother-in-law to take her instead of me. :) I think they had fun. Don't you?



And today I received the galley/page proofs of THE GIFT, just as I was really starting to make progress on my new proposal. Alas, first things first.

Baby, it's cold outside--at least for the end of July. We've had lows in the upper 40s and our high today was 55! Brrrr... Rainy, too. Nice change.

Happy reading, all.

~Deb

The Circle of Life

My birth daughter and I have both noticed the resemblance between her newborn daughter and her late father. However, the older Bella gets, the stronger the resemblance becomes. I scanned a baby photo I have of him and one I took of my granddaughter yesterday and put them side by side. It's true! She definitely looks like her Grandpa!

We will be even more blessed if Annabella also inherits his sense of humor and big heart. :)

Happy reading!

~Deb

Precious Baby Girl

Annabella sweet 16 days old. Grandma isn't a bit biased. :-)

Spring

It's finally, finally, finally spring here at 7,436 feet above sea level. We've had a lot of rain the past week, and a couple of nights when the temperature dipped into the upper 30s, so snow was still a possibility. But we dodged that bullet. This time... I have known it to snow here on the Fourth of July, so the threat is always there, though it's rare, thank goodness.

Summers at high altitude are glorious. In a perfect world, I would have a winter home in Portland or Seattle, because I adore cool, rainy winters, and a summer home right here. It gets quite hot in the Pacific NW, believe it or not. A lot of people believe it rains there all year round, but it's really only during the winter months.

To view some marvelous local photography of the mountains, wildlife, and the changing seasons, click on the slideshow show in the right-hand column. My gentleman friend, Martin Yaslowitz, is a very talented photographer, as you can see.

In fact, this weekend he's taking the first "official" baby portraits of our beautiful Bella. I'll be sure to post those soon. Meanwhile, here's another one taken with my Blackberry.



Happy reading and writing (and gardening!!!!).

~Deb

Baby Bella has Arrived!

I am a grandmother for the first time as of May 22nd, 2009 at 1:03 PM. My daughter, Barbi, gave birth at home. She had a very long, difficult labor, but she was a real trouper. All those years of ballet really paid off, I'm sure.

Please welcome Annabella Debra Carr. She's perfect, of course. :)

I know her Grandpa is watching over her, and that she'll grow up with his gift for mischief. :) I'll see to it.... ;-)

Love,
Proud Granny