Chick Fil A Artist

A few years ago during Covid, Melissa and kids were at Chick Fil A and saw a request from Chick Fil A saying if you have an artist in your family, have them draw a picture and send it to us and have a chance to be featured in one of our kid's meal prizes.

Melissa had Violet draw a picture and recently found out Violet was one of many kids selected to have their artwork featured in one of the kid's meals across the country. 

So if you happen to see this picture in a kid's meal from Chick Fil A, grab it...in fact grab a couple...and Violet will be happy to autograph it for you.

Family Portrait Wall

With Goldie turning 1, I can now complete my family portrait wall in my office. 

 

I"ve always had pictures of Michael and Melissa's first birthdays. I then added their high school graduation pictures. I added my high school graduation picture. There's a few cute pics and signs thrown in and my caricature from 1960 something when we went to Disneyland. When Melissa and Jamie got married, I added their wedding picture.

Then the grandkids started coming. It took a year for Goldie to turn 1 and the wall has seemed incomplete without her picture. Is it complete? I'm sure I'll think of something else to add but for now.....ta-da!

The Big 4-0

Even after all the pre-parties and anticipation, Melissa couldn't prevent actually turning 40.

Trish and I volunteered to babysit so Melissa and Jamie could go out to dinner without the kids. That in itself should have been her best gift.

But in the end, her 30's are over and the fiesta 40 has just begun. Happy Birthday Melissa! 

Happy Birthday Shirt

Okay, I caved. I decided to keep my tradition going for 2023 of having a unique thing for each person's birthday. I found this shirt on Amazon which says "It's my Birthday! Sign My Shirt". Instead of having other people sign the shirt, the birthday person signs their own name and I get a picture.

Since Goldie's birthday is the first one of the year, only her name appears on the shirt. When Melissa has her birthday, then her and Goldie's names will be on the shirt. And so on, and so on, until mine and Jamie's birthdays where we'll have all the names and the shirt will look much more unique. And the best part of all is I get to keep the shirt.

Fiesta Forty

Melissa and Jamie both turn 40 within a month of each other. You might have heard this story before but I really do think they were absolutely made for each other. I may have my quirks but when you take their birthday numbers and take out the back slashes you get 1261982 for Jamie and 1261983 for Melissa. (That's 12/6/1982 for Jamie and 1/26/1983 for Melissa.) Their numbers are consecutive. WEIRD!!!

Back to the party - their birthday request was a big birthday bash complete with catering, decorations and music.

Trish and I decided to throw the party but since it couldn't be a surprise party, we decided to keep the details a secret. The idea of throwing a party and getting all the decorations was rather simple. Actually putting it all together was brutal.

There was putting together the balloon arch for photos (a must request from Melissa). Thanks to  Stephanie, Trish and Stacie.

The cake and cake pops. I love the pinatas and sombreros cake pops mixed in with the fiesta balls.

The DJ courtesy of Stephanie and Trish.

And I couldn't have done all my part without the help of Teresa. This is one of the few times where both of us actually sat down. I worked so hard I logged 20,000 steps on my Apple Watch (get to stepping Michele).

Even the guests did a great job of keeping the details secret although some thought the whole thing was a surprise.

Let's don't forget the party favors. Not everyone got a shirt (OMG that would have been a nightmare in itself) but Melissa and Jamie did get a fun remembrance.

Having the party at the fireman's union hall was a blessing in itself. As the party was winding down every fireman in the place started putting up tables and chairs, sweeping and mopping the floor and generally cleaning up. It was a sight to see. Happy Birthday Melissa and Jamie. Next time we're renting a place that does ALL the work!

Goldie Has Her First Birthday

In the blink of an eye a year has past and Goldie is now a one year old.

Melissa may go a bit overboard with decorating and commemorating the big day but in the end we'll all be glad we have the sweet memories.

This was the perfect kid's birthday party. Only close family. When you add in Violet, Lincoln and Hazel....well that's enough kids for me.

Happy Birthday Goldie Celine. Could you slow down just a bit! 

2022 Year In Review

The best thing to happen in 2022 was the birth of Goldie Celine Taylor on January 5th.

It's hard to believe in a few days we'll be celebrating Goldie's 1st birthday.

We've watched her grow and celebrate milestones each and every month - all the firsts, sitting up, crawling, all the fun interactions with her siblings and all the holidays. 

One of her favorite things to do is play out in the garage. This must be a gene passed down from Jamie.

Goldie hasn't started walking yet but she's real close. She's mastered stair climbing but is still a bit hesitant on the way down.

My new house is pretty much completely decorated. After the move in rush right before Christmas last year, I wasn't sure if everything would find a place. But boxes are emptied, window treatments and pictures are hung and new furniture set in place. The only thing that wasn't complete when I moved in was the landscaping in my backyard. This is what my backyard looked like when I moved in.

Now there's a  privacy fence, retaining wall, sod and a wrought iron fence. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm going to do a little landscaping above the retaining wall or if I can talk the HOA in to making it look a bit nicer.

And speaking of landscaping, for all those in the neighborhood that thought their view of the swamp (they call it a lake) was the best, I now have the largest yard with sod and trees all down the east side of my house. There's even talk of the HOA putting in a gazebo. So now who has the best lot in the neighborhood!

For the past couple of years I've had a birthday theme. Why I do this I have no idea. This year's theme was blowing out a birthday candle. Jamie's birthday was special because it was his 40th. Teresa also had an interesting Beddian birthday - being the same age as the last 2 digits of your birth year. I'm skipping any type of theme for 2023. The pressure is getting too much for me to handle.

I was also able to do some traveling. My friends, Debbie and Robin, took what was usually our yearly trip to New Smyrna Beach Florida. This time we were able to take a day and travel an hour up the coast to visit St Augustine.

The Taylor's, Teresa and I also took a trip to Santa Rosa Florida. So many things to do and see and not quite enough time to do it all.

In October I went to visit my friends Frank and Gloria. Besides seeing their beautiful condo on the strip it was a very profitable trip to Vegas. Something not many people can say.

Let's don't forget that disastrous trip to Colorado. The trip itself was great. Courtney was there and we did some paddle boarding, shopping and a lot of eating out.

And then there was the drive home where I dodged several pieces of big rig tire debris and the debris won. Tore up the whole underside of my car. Having a son-in-law as great as Jamie Taylor came in handy when he hitched up his trailer and traveled 800 miles round trip to rescue me from Burlington, Colorado.

I can't end the year without at least mentioning my effort at health and weight loss. I must have lost and gained the same 10 pounds 3 or 4 times this year. I went back to the gym and Michele and I challenged ourselves to walk 52 one mile hikes. I might have fudged a bit on the locations but I did log a little over 2,000,000 steps which more than makes up for the 52 miles of hikes.

I'm not making any New Year's resolutions for 2023. I never stick to them anyway. I'm hoping 2023 brings me a stress free life. Maybe I'll take a yoga class. There I go, already putting pressure on myself. Oh well...........Happy New Year!