WHAT A BIRTHDAY!

Yesterday I had a wonderful birthday. I began with Mass. Then I met Ron at Starbuck's. From there I went for a pedicure and manicure. Then Dad and I went to Costco's to pick up his new glasses. When I returned home Ronnie was waiting for me with Ron. He flew down from Portland as a surprise and I was surprised!

After lunch Dad took us all to see the Palm Springs Follies. What a great show! All the actors were 60 years or older and they looked terrific. See me with one of the men. They danced and sang and gave a marvelous show. It was such fun. When that was over Ronnie took us out to dinner. Back at our trailer I opened my gifts and we had some hand picked desserts that were so very yummy. The day was just perfect.

RON'S BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

Last weekend we headed in to Los Angeles for two reasons. First, Dad was invited to ride with Uncle Mike and Aunt Jeanne to Placerville to visit his other siblings. On Thursday we met them at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank. Off Dad went for a wonderful mini vacation. Second reason was so Ron could spend his birthday weekend with his family.

Ron and I then headed to his Mom's. Friday was his birthday and we had a lovely day. We began the day with a walk around the Los Feliz hills. We then stopped at his favorite coffee shop. After that we picked Mother up and went out to brunch in Burbank. From there we accompanied Ron to his number one store, Frye's. He spent over an hour looking at electronics.

Friday evening we went to dinner with Mother, Diane and Jose at the Gaucho Grill. Yummy! Back at Jose's and Diane's there was an amazing Cuban birthday cake that Jose picked out just for Ron. It was such a nice day!

The rest of the weekend we stayed with Mother and enjoyed her company. We did go to the movies to see CHILDREN OF MEN, a rather dark futuristic film. On Sunday I saw DREAMGIRLS. That was a fun movie. And Sunday night we had a great visit with Aunt Cosie, Uncle Bobby and Aunt Anna.

On Tuesday we met again with Mike and Jeanne, picked Dad up and headed out to the desert again. All in all the weekend was good experience for all of us.

FORGOT MY CAMERA OVER CHRISTMAS- Christmas Day

So Christmas day was more about eating and enjoying each other's company. We were blessed to have Aunt Anna and Mark and Mary Alice with us for the day. It was relaxed and perfect. We missed Ron and Amy and Lisa, of course. But each of them had very important places to be.

For those of you who don't follow the other blogs Ron and Amy were in Portland helping provide a great Christmas for Amy's family. Because of Amy's mom's breast cancer Amy carried on many of the traditions for the Pearson family. She did this well, too, I might add.

Lisa was in Hungary having the time of her life. We are all happy for that as we missed her very much. It was a special Christmas for everyone I am sure.

FORGOT MY CAMERA OVER CHRISTMAS--Christmas Eve

Who can believe it? I actually forgot my camera when we went into L.A. for Christmas. So I have to depend on the few pictures I borrowed from Rick and May.

Anyway Ron, Dad and I drove into Los Angeles on the 20th. Patty and Scott came and picked Dad up right away to spend the holidays on the central coast with them. Ron and I immediately set about decorating his mom's house for the Christmas celebration. She had nothing done prior to our arrival because she has basically been living with Ron's sister, Diane and her husband, Jose. However, our traditional Christmas dinner was planned at her home and we needed to get things Christmassy. And we did.

On Friday evening Rick and May arrived from a week in Mexico to spend Christmas with us. All day Christmas Eve Ron, Tessie and I cooked and cooked for the big day. So Christmas Eve dinner was a treat at a Thai restaurant. We felt this honored May in a way and also we all selfishly love Thai food. Ron's cousin, Mary Alice, and Heather's boyfriend, Casey, joined us and we had a lovely time. After dinner we went back to the house to open presents.