Sunday Six Smiles

Hello again dear blog friends.

I am beaming from ear to ear as I look back over the past two weeks.

I have much to be thankful for...

...and much to smile about.

As you know John and I just returned from our cruise on the Carnival Splendor last Sunday.

#1

Everything about the trip made us smile.

The ship was beautiful...

The food was out of this world....

The service on board was outstanding...

Being with friends was wonderful..

The scenery was breathtaking..

Grandma B and Sheryl were right when they guessed that one of the places we went to was Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC, Canada

We had a great time there and in the next port which was Vancouver. I plan to do several posts on our cruise.... but for now suffice it to say that I never stopped smiling the whole time we were cruising.
...

Now you might think that I was sad to end our cruise and come back to the "real" world.

Usually I am... but not this time...

No, no, no....

in fact I was excited as we hurried home from the ship...

...because...

#2

I knew someone precious was waiting there for me.

Look who I found taking a dip in my bathroom sink.

Yep... It was my newest grandson, Calan.

Can you believe it???

Patrick had business in the area the same week we were on our cruise.

Erin and Cal came to CA with daddy.

They spent the first few days with Mindy and Ernie.

#3

Little Cal got to meet the rest of his CA family for the first time.

E.J. and Claire adore their new cousin.

Like the rest of us, they had been praying for a long time that Erin and Patrick could have a baby. They were delighted that our prayers were answered when we got our little Calan.

I don't think Cal got put down the whole time he was here.

Mindy even let the kids stay home from school one day to be with him.
(This was a really big deal since it was Claire's first day to miss school all year)

Of course they had to share him with Grammy once I got home from the cruise.
I love the beautiful bouquet of 18 roses he had sent me for Mother's Day...
..but having him here was far better than getting the flowers..
(and you know how much I love flowers!)

#4

I was also smiling that Sil and Ron could drive up from San Diego area to meet our little Cal.

Cal looks so cute in the cap Silvija knit him and Erin loves the Adoption baby books Sil gave them.
...

#5
Yesterday we were invited to a lovely B-B-Q house warming party given by our friends Ken and Jann who moved to the mountains a few months ago.

It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get up to their mountain lake home.

The scenery is beautiful and the air crisp and clean at 7000 ft.
We enjoyed the visit and good food.
Jann is the breeder from whom we bought our dog Heidi .
It is her sister, Lonna and niece, Chelsea that babysit Heidi for us when we travel.
We feel like they are family.

After the feast the talented group put on a family show for us.
They are so good and entertaining.
We had a great time.

#6
We could have stayed all evening listening to them but we had to leave in time to attend the musical. "Savior of the World" which Claire was in last night.

Claire played the part of Nathan a shepherd boy.

It was a big part for a little 7 year old with lots of lines and 3 solos.
She did a outstanding job.
In fact she brought tears to her Grampy's and Grammy's eyes.
I want to tell you more about it on another post.
...
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you will take time to say hello. I love hearing from you.
I wish you a great week ahead with many blessings coming your way.
Love, Grammy Lura
...

P.S. Tomorrow is my John's birthday. I think it is great that so many of you are off work tomorrow to celebrate his special day...heehee...LOL...

I hope my American friends have a good Memorial day tomorrow...

...and my English friends have a nice Banker's holiday.