Category: Personal

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Caring For Mom’s Garden

If flowers grow in heaven, Lord, then pick a bunch for me. Then place them in my mother’s arms and tell her they’re from me. Tell her that I love and miss her and when she turns to smile, place a kiss upon her cheek and hold her for awhile....

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Do You Want to Go Outside?

Me: Do you want to go outside with me? Rubí: Let me get my camera, it just got batteries put in. Where did that come from? Since when does she want to take pictures? Then my proud heart melted. Does she want to take photos like her Nana does? She...

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Mom’s First Birthday in Heaven

I woke up to a rather grey and dismal morning to find out that there were snow flurries about the state of Maryland, an earthquake in Nepal, causing an avalanche on Mount Everest.   It reminded me, this day of Mom’s birthday, that she told me more than once that...

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Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. 2015

The significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years. In their country, the cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beauty of life. It’s a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short. ~Homaro Cantu Every time I...

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Miranda’s Birthday Party Day

It’s not yet her birthday. It’s easy to remember, Miranda’s birthday is the same as Tax Day, April 15th. But today is her birthday party day. It was decided. The family then watches the Lego Movie.  

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A Different Easter

We knew it was going to be a different kind of Easter. With Mom gone, the center of all holidays, we would have to cope with missing her and making new memories. Even though in some past Easters I have been in Australia, the internet and phone calls didn’t make...

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Kinder with the Kids

Laura and I planned this walk to Kinder Park, and quickly it became a family event. Laura and I walked around the park rather quickly, and soon enough could stop to watch the children at play. So we walked through the farm…

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Buttons, Band-Aids, and What Moms Do

Mom is gone… Now it’s up to me to figure out what to do with her things. I was in her room today, going through her shelves, and found her sewing box. Inside the sewing box, I found an item I had been describing to my daughter for some years...

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Heaven Bound Treasure

Even though we were told it would happen, it happened way too fast. The next day we gathered again. (You can hear the message HERE ) Mom really disliked winter, she loved spring, and the hope in beginnings it represented. It made me so sad at first to think that...

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Mom

We lost our mom today. There is a lot I could say about her death. I won’t. I’d like to concentrate and celebrate her life on earth. There is a lot to say about a woman who loved others with every fiber of her being. She didn’t talk about love,...

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3 Years

It’s not the anniversary we were hoping for. All we can do for now is remember. Three years married is sweet none the less, together or apart. Love you, John. Remember you promised me many more anniversaries to come.

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Cousin George

Been going through a lot of Mom’s papers, photos, and items she has stashed away. Today, we found this gem. “Cousin George” according to the back of the picture. My son, who enjoys doing different things with facial hair, exclaimed upon seeing this, “My hero! That takes commitment!” True. I...

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Canon 7D is for the Birds

And that’s a good thing. I’ve had my eye on the Canon 7D for a long time. It’s been on my wish list for perhaps a year or two. However my Canon 40D was working fine and there was no way to justify the expense of a new camera. Until...

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Scones with Silas and Rubi

My grandchildren are very special to me, living with them, they sometimes feel like my own. I guess that is how mom felt about Enric as we lived with her when he was little for awhile. Perhaps I am very special to them too, as they wanted to give Nana...

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Our Christmas Day 2014

Once again, the holiday air had a difference about it. I think mostly because Mom wasn’t able to handle the whole dinner like in years past. But everyone brought something and contributed.

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Our Christmas 2014

Our Christmas is always on Christmas Eve. This year, from even the preparations for the holidays, it was looking to be different. Mom wasn’t well with her back, I got very sick, and a lot of the family weren’t well. There was a lot of people helping the other. Miquel...

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Thanks [Self] Giving

We had a different Thanksgiving this year. Enric and family were away. Petra was here. Mom wasn’t feeling well enough to travel. Poor Linda and George had to take their usual lovely and warm Thanksgiving and become severely and instantly MOBILE. Here at home, we had to quickly switch gears...

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Laura is 21

It didn’t seem possible. The little girl I rocked and danced to sleep singing Stones and Steve Miller band to, the little girl that did a turn around from my boys and read ME bedtime stories, the sweet precious that asked to see “dot coms” as she climbed up on...

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Petra Visits

Not long recovered from travel, I was back at the airport, thanks to our dear friend Chrissy driving me, this time picking up Petra at Dulles!

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Red Tailed Black Cockatoos

On what seemed to be the windiest day ever since I had been in Perth, flew in a flock of noisy red tailed black cockatoos. They landed in our silver princess tree, practically clinging to the branches with dear life. In spite of the cold and wind, I ran back...

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Tea with the Birds

Even before my interest in cameras, I loved birds. Listening to them, seeing them,  a thrill. The moment I got a camera that had a lens that could practically bring the birds to me, I was hooked. So, it’s really frustrating when they hide from you, or you can hear...

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Margaret River Fudge Factory

So we had already been to Margaret River Chocolate Factory, so this tine, I thought it might be a good idea to try the Fudge Factory. I like fudge, so why not? We got four different kinds. My verdict? Even though they say it has won awards, I didn’t find...

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Good-bye Siesta Park

No one wants to leave a holiday. Our time had come though, and we weren’t going straight home, so, even though we were leaving Siesta Park, we still had a day’s adventures ahead of us.   I have a feeling, we will be back.

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Canal Rocks at Sunset

So we had been to Canal Rocks before, and I loved it, but we hadn’t ever been there at sunset. This time after parking instead of walking to the right, John took my hand to walk over the rocks and find a nice spot to the left. Now I was...

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The Forest, the Witch, and the Hole in the Ground

After our time at Eagle’s Heritage, which had so much more than even the show to enjoy, we took off towards Boranup Forest . It was another thing we had done on our honeymoon, so the idea of returning seemed a good one. Now seeing how it was Halloween weekend....

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Castlerock 2014

Castlerock. We came here with Laura in 2010, and her enthusiasm for climbing over the rocks gave the place an automatic charm for me. It was later the chosen place for our wedding. So since we were staying so close, it was an absolute must on my list of thing...

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Siesta Park, Third Time a Charm

We went to Siesta Park my first visit ever to Australia, we went when we got married, and this was our third time there together. 5:00 A.M. Time to get up as you never know, Siesta Park is situated to often get lovely sunrises.

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Sugarloaf Rock

So we decided on a weekend get-a-way. John got off early from work and we traveled south and west from Perth. It’s a beautiful area with  rolling vineyards sitting against a backdrop of ocean and forest, pristine beaches, small country towns, and natural wonders. One of the first things we...

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Perth Zoo 2014

In what seemed to go too fast, after church we went for a visit to Perth Zoo. It seemed to be closing time before we knew it. This happens every time we go. Can’t really show you everything, but here are a few photos from our day.

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Rainbow Bee Eaters at Lake Gwelup

John and I love watching these remarkable birds. It’s fascinating to watch them perched on a tree, move their heads as they watch for the next insect, and then take off suddenly to grab their snack in the air, come back to the tree limb and hit the insect on...