Winner Wonderland!

Winner Wonderland!

Winner Wonderland

Long, long ago — back in 1992, to be precise — Jim and I and our three daughters recorded on a behomoth camcorder a Christmas program for Jim’s dad and stepmom, the girls’ long-distance grandparents. The special show recorded in our living room featured several songs, most of them lip-synced, by Brianna, Megan, and Andrea individually as well as as a group, plus a finale in which Jim and I appeared.

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Message from Mom

Message from Mom

Message from Mom

Despite my penchant for getting rid of things when Jim and I moved to a smaller home last summer, I must admit to a semi-hoarder habit of holding on to things when it comes to my iPhone. Though I delete email from my phone regularly since it all comes through on my computer too, I do have on my phone old text messages and voicemails. Many from a year ago and more.

Today I’m especially appreciative of my semi-hoarder status when it comes to such things.

Today marks one year since my …

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Grand fun: A Bearizona visit with Arizona boys

Grand fun: A Bearizona visit with Arizona boys

Hard to believe it’s been nearly a month since Jim and I visited our grandsons (and daughter and son-in-law) in Arizona.

Hard to believe, too, that I’ve not shared the stories of all we did (other than make bracelets) during that visit. But with Benjamin’s milestones to mark soon after our return — such as his first haircut and his first birthday — details on our desert visit to see Brayden, Camden, and Declan were put on the back burner.

With temps hovering just below freezing and a snowy scene outside my windows as I write this, today seems an especially ideal day to recap one particularly grand fun-in-the-sun outing we had our grandsons at the outset of autumn. That being the day we spent at Bearizona Drive-Thru Wildlife Park, located about an hour south of the Grand Canyon.

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Firsts for Benjamin: A haircut and a happy birthday

Firsts for Benjamin: A haircut and a happy birthday

My youngest grandson, Benjamin, is bound and determined to mature and move on at lightning speed, seemingly so much sooner than the grandsons that came before him.

To wit: The kid marked two major milestones in the past week or so. Those being his first haircut and his first birthday. How can that be? Seems he was just born.

Alas, as I’m in no position to press pause on the growing boy’s progress, I merrily go along with his maturing. And take photos, of course. Lots of photos.

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Summer's end: Mark it with a B

Summer's end: Mark it with a B

As Labor Day weekend signified the end of summer for most folks — despite there being, technically, three more weeks of the sun-filled season — I must say my summer didn’t close with much of a bang. It did, though, end with a few other B words of note. A few of my favorite B words, in fact.

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