Cousins

The two little Cookie Monsters had such a fun time together! They hadn't seen each other for over a year!

Brian, my son-in-law, was in town to inquire about dental work in the area(He graduates from dental school in May). Of course we would be beyond THRILLED to have them nearby, but know that they need to do what is best for their family, so we'll see:) Since Jake is under two years old we had the great idea to bring the little fella along since he flies for FREE! It was a short couple of days, but it was so wonderful to have them here!

Cute cousins:)

The two little guys had fun running around together, playing with Riley(the lab), jumping on the bed and playing on the swing set! They got along so well:) Great grandma and grandpa Sparks even came up for dinner one night too.
Oh, how I HOPE for many, many more days of the cousins playing together! Now, if we could just get the other three munchkins here...The other three big ones too!!! :)
Love you all!!!

Karaline is 5!!!

I can't believe that the first little munchkin is now five years old! I was so happy to finally be present on her birthday, thanks to Delta Airlines!
Karaline is such a big girl now! She took the initiative and made this meat sandwich for herself! She is a loving, fun, imaginative, smart girl! She even read to me when I was there! Karaline has a zest for life and is always on the go! She is lovable, helpful and a great big sister to her sister and brother:) We are so happy that she is our granddaughter and love her very much!

The first night I was in Nebraska I babysat for Summer and Brian so that they could go to a friend's "Nerdy Thirty" birthday party. See the nerdy couple below, ready to party!

The party's over... Whew, back to the Summer and Brian we know and love:)
For Karaline's birthday party she decided she wanted a cat theme...

Isn't she a cute kitten!?! Love that pose! Karaline helped me make this "pin the nose on the cat" game. Summer made cat ear headbands, and I made cat goody bags:)
The party is about to start...just waiting for the guests to arrive. Megan is excited too!
The birthday girl with her special birthday balloon and her new stuffed Valentine kitty.
Opening her gifts surrounded by her friends. Megan looks very interested...perhaps she can play with this toy too?!?
Happy Birthday dear Karaline, Happy Birthday to you!!! Ready to blow out the candles on her cat cake. It sure turned out to be a special birthday party for Karaline! XOXOXO
Megan is dressed up like a little mommy in her hat, holding her cell phone, with a purse on her arm:) She really IS a big girl because now she is officially potty trained!!! It's not always that easy...If playing in the playroom, Megan would have to dart up two flights of stairs to make it to the bathroom in time! She always did:) XOXOXO We love you, Megan!!!
And last, but not least, here's Jake enjoying his smoothie, using his straw as a spoon:) (Brian and Karaline made these smoothies for family night and they were so yummy!) Jake is a little comedian most of the time, making all of us laugh! So cute! We sure love him too! XOXO

I had such a FUN visit!

Good Job, Karaline!

Karaline with her grandpa and grandma(us) :)

Living states away from most of our grandchildren, we miss out on many events in their lives:( I realized today that I forgot to mention a highlight of our most recent trip(last month-post below). We were so happy to be able to see Karaline participate in her first Children's Sacrament Mtg. Program! She had her part completely memorized and spoke so clearly! She did such a GREAT job! We are so proud of her! XOXO!

Aloha!

Our first order of business upon arriving in Hawaii(July 27-Aug. 4) was to meet this adorable little guy! We were finally able to hold, cuddle and kiss little Caleb, our newest grandchild! We sure love him! Lois is the new mommy and she is doing a great job! Look at how peaceful he is sleeping on her lap:) Jesse and Lois are having so much fun with him!
Our next order of business was to have FUN! We did our best to make it happen...Snorkeling at Shark's Cove(and other spots), Dole Plantation, Swimming to Chinaman's Hat, bowling, hiking, eating at Ted's Bakery, Brian BBQing for us, Jake Shimabukuro concert, Waimea Bay(and the guys jumping off the rocks), Waikiki, A birthday bash with garlic shrimp(Thanks to Jesse's friend), Turtle Beach, International Marketplace, playing Scattergories, shaved ice...and topping it off was Caleb's blessing( see 3 posts back), given by Jesse, with Johnny, Brian and Jim (and others) participating!



Da boys at the top of Chinaman's Hat, after we swam over to the island!
Jim at the top
The whole crew(minus me, photographing) with the "Hat" behind us
Bowling at BYUH
Grandma and Auntie admiring Caleb:)
Zeke became locked in the car(in his car seat and the keys on the front seat) at Ted's Bakery, but the Sunset Beach Fire Dept. came to our rescue, with the sirens wailing!!! I still owe them some cookies!
Sisters soaking up the sun at Waimea
The guys jumped off the rocks at Waimea Bay...Here's Johnny!
Summer and Brian left their three kids with Brian's parents. We missed them! Here they are relaxing and getting to know their new nephew:) Look at Caleb's head of hair!
Zeke is the little beach boy:)
The Birthday girl wearing her candy lei
Hiking in the wet rain forest with giant leaf umbrellas
Summer mingling with the giant sea turtles...Hang loose!
This sea turtle popped up to say HELLO:)
We had a birthday luau for Lois(on her bday) and Brian (two weeks early)...some friends came too and one friend made his special garlic shrimp for all of us-YUM!!!
The Root family on the back porch
The beautiful view from our backyard:)

It was WONDERFUL to have the kids together...they hadn't seen each other since Christmas!!!

ALOHA!

Paige and Steven are Married!

My niece, Paige, was married last Friday...to Steven! It was perfect weather, in a beautiful setting! What a cute couple they are, and so happy!

The bride and her maid-of-honor, Michelle..."Sisters, There were never such devoted sisters..." :) So pretty! I'm sure your Momma was watching over you:)

Dad, with his kids...Camille, me, Randy. Missing our Laura!

Zeke, on the dance floor having fun! So cute!

CONGRATULATIONS PAIGE AND STEVEN!!! XOXOXOXOXOXO!!!

Blessing Caleb:)

We are so happy that we were able to be in Hawaii to attend Caleb's blessing on August 2nd! He's an adorable little sweetheart! We were so happy to finally meet him and be able to hug and kiss the little guy in person!

Here's the sweet little family...Lois, Caleb and Jesse:)

It was so wonderful to have all of our children together and 2/5 of the grandchildren...the kids hadn't been together since December! IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY and A WONDERFUL BLESSING!

The rest of our Hawaii photos will be posted soon! :)

Introducing...

Our newest grandchild...
Caleb Raymond Sanchez Sparks

June 19, 2009 12:22 p.m.
8 lb. 9 oz. 22"
Parents: Jesse and Lois Sparks

We are so happy... another sweet little soul to love! Isn't he adorable?!?!
Click here to see Caleb's cookies:)

Cousins, Come Play With Me!

Karaline, Megan, Jake and Caleb...Will you come and play with me? Grandma and grandpa put up a swing set for us!

Special Delivery from Karaline:)

It's hard being a grandma from afar. I miss my distant grandchildren(and children!) so much! Thank goodness for the phone, blogs, email and skype! It makes it a little bit more bearable:) And thank goodness for the United States Postal Service that still delivers good old-fashioned mail!

In order to stay connected across the miles I have sent my grandchildren letters, postcards, cookies and small trinkets in the mail. And now that my oldest grandchild is four years old, I have received a few things in return, from her:) It melts my heart...I love being a grandma.
XOXOXOXOXO

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!!!

Sarah at 2 mo.

Happy 28th birthday honey!!! We love you!!! Mom and Dad XOXOXOXO

Easter

Sarah(with her cute new 'do) and Zeke in their Easter duds:)

After church(which was great!) we had a total of 13 people at our home for Easter dinner... dad, nephew, niece, 3 great nieces, brother, sis.-in-law, daughter, son-in-law, grandson and us:) I was so busy, busy, busy that I didn't take photos of everyone...I had really wanted to get one of my dad with his great-grandson! Oh well, next time. My dad stayed with us for a week and it was great to be able to visit with him one on one. Usually when I see him there are two dozen others around and I don't get much individual time to talk to him, so it was nice:)
Though Zeke had never hunted for Easter eggs before he quickly got into the swing of things and was excited to discover the eggs and add them to his basket...I wish his other little cousins had been here to join him!!!

We had a traditional ham dinner and it was pretty good with everyone bringing a dish to share:) For dessert I made a cream cheese bundt cake with strawberry sauce and whipped cream-It was yummy! I also made some sugary Easter egg cookies:)-See my other blog.
Sarah and Kada helped me do ALL(there were plenty) of the dishes! THANK YOU!!!

I had a very pleasant day and hope everyone else did too!

P.S. I gave all the kids in our Primary(Sunday school) class a bunny bread and they loved them!

Squeegee Luigi

Squeegee Luigi (aka John Root, my son-in-law) surprised me the other day with a phone call, offering to come and wash my windows, since that is what Squeegee Luigi does:) I was happy to comply because my windows were very much in need of a good scrub, or rather squeegee, in this case:) Johnny, er, I mean Luigi, hopped in his truck and showed up on my doorstep lickety-split, ready to work his magic. Before I could say "Squeegee Luigi washes windows," five times fast, he was done! My windows now glisten as the sun shines through! No more toddler fingerprints, doggie noseprints or stickers to be found:) A popsicle is all that Squeegee Luigi would accept as payment, since he's my son-in-law:) THANKS, Johnny!!!
If you "don't do windows," and would like Squeegee Luigi to pay a visit just give him a call:
SQUEEGEE LUIGI
John Root
805-474-9177
Free estimates