Alma 1941-2008 may she rest in peace

Meeting Alma in February 2004

Alma and Matthew meeting October 2006, he had been home just over 3 months from Russia

Her last Christmas, just 1 week ago.

Almost everyone that knows me knows that I was adopted at 3 months old. This is one reason why we were so open to adopting a child of our own. In February 2004 I was fortunate enough to meet my "Birth Mother" in Washington State. I visited 4 times although I'm sad to say not since October 2006. Alma suffered a heart attack Christmas night and although she appeared to be getting better as it was termed a "slight" heart attack she passed away at 3:30am on Sunday December 28, 2008. A very sad time for myself, my sister Barbara and two brothers Dave and Chief (who was flown home immediately from the war in Iraq). I was so glad to know her for the short time I did and that she got to meet her grandson Matthew. Here are a couple of pictures to remember her by. The last picture was taken Christmas Day. She will be missed by many.

Reindeer Romp at the LA Zoo 2008

I won 4 tickets to the Zoo so yesterday I took Matthew, Chase and Alithea. We had lots of fun (other than the constant walking uphill part). We saw probably 95% of all animals, saw Santa and his reindeer, posed for pictures, made reindeer antlers and played at the playground for a really LONG time.

Winter Festival at PreSchool

This past Friday, Matthew's preschool had their Winter Festival potluck/party for the kids and parents. The kids got to show off their class rooms and projects they've worked on the past month and they also got to do crafts and decorate cookies to take home. Matthew decorated his cookie, ate 1/2 and then decorated some more. Not one to waste time...lol

San Diego over Thanksgiving weekend

We drove to San Diego friday after Thanksgiving and had some good cheap fun. Went to Las Americas premium outlet mall which literally sits on the US/Mexico border. They had lots of stuff for kids to play on and shops for Mommy to browse. On Sunday we visited downtown to see the Navy ships and the USS Midway, promised Matthew we would tour the Midway next time as he thinks it's HIS ship.

Happy 4th Birthday Matthew!

We moved Matthew's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese to the following Sunday 11/23/08 and all went well...almost. On the way to the party we stopped at the bakery to pick up his elaborate Pirate cake. The bakery lost the slip and didn't make it! Not even an apology, will never ever use them again. We had to buy 2 cakes from Chuck E Cheese to fill in for about 30 people but it all worked out. It seems kids don't really care what's ON the cake, they just want to eat it and lots of it! Here are some pictures of Matthew enjoying his day with family and friends.