Aren't Grandkids Great?!

What Grandma wouldn't melt when being greeted with this cute smile by her two year old grandson?  Jasper was holding a plastic snake, so I knew right away that the gift I brought him was going to be a hit.

So, what fun things did we do while I was in New Mexico??  Hmm, there were so many . . .

WE "PLAYED BUGS":  Jasper's Uncle Christopher loved playing with plastic bugs when he was little.  Although I was taught that "bugs" should be called  "insects", I like the word "bugs" better. Christopher had a collection of many kinds of bugs and other creepy crawling things, including grasshoppers, praying mantises, snakes, beetles, frogs, scorpions and even a ladybug or two.  Since Christopher just turned 17 and long ago outgrew this fun bug collection, we decided it would be a perfect gift.  Jasper was in bug heaven!

 

Jasper played with the bugs most every day I was there. The first morning, I devised a hide and seek bug game on the spur of the moment and he then asked me to "play bugs" with him every morning thereafter. He kept asking me the name of every bug, and I only knew about 50%, so we got a bunch of books from the library. I told Jasper he was my bug, because he is "cute as a bug", and asked him what kind of bug he wanted to be, and he decided on a "grasshopper bug". Since his special bugs needed a new home, I bought a large plastic Ziploc see through container and labeled it colorfully with "Jasper's Bugs" so he keep track of them and put them to bed at night without losing anyone.

Ever the good little brother, Jasper was more than happy to share his new collection with his big sister.  Maya loved playing with him too, so I named her "ladybug".

This seemed appropriate, especially as one of her favorite books she was reading when I arrived in NM was about the ladybug girl!  And I read it to them at least six more times before returning it to the library!   : )

WE WALKED TO THE NEARBY PARK AND PLAYED:  Brittany and John are blessed with a park right behind their house.  Literally.  You just walk down a dirt easement and voila, there it is!  It couldn't be much closer or more convenient.  It was fun to watch the kids run and jump, pick up sticks and rocks and just be the happy and exuberant kids they are!  Oh, and Grandma Nita enjoyed the beautiful weather with sunny skies and birds everywhere!

 And, what kid doesn't love playing on a big swingset or play structure in the park? 

 

 

WE COOKED - AND WE ATE -AND THEN WE COOKED SOME MORE:
As is important with any family gathering, there must be plenty of food.  I taught Maya how to make my world famous chocolate drop cookies.   

And any good cook knows that tasting is the best part!

  

Both Maya and Jasper helped me many nights as I made dinner.  One or both of them was usually on the counter next to me.   They helped me measure, stir and pour.  It made the cooking experience much more fun for us all.

  

 Jasper always loved to eat, and he ate the dinner we cooked with gusto!

But I think he may have eaten too much!

WE SHOPPED UNTIL WE ABOUT DROPPED:
As they live in the tiny town of White Rock, NM, which features one or two stop lights in the entire town of 6,000 people, shopping in the big city of Santa Fe about 45 minutes away is a big deal.  So after picking me up at the airport, we all headed to one of our favorite spots, Target, where Maya and Jasper worked together to push the shopping cart down the very long aisles to find their favorite section.

What is their favorite department?  Toys, of course!  We had a blast as we explored every aisle a minimum of three times.

  

And they really loved looking at all the games (a good gift idea!):

Funny true story . . . As we stopped in the little girl clothes department, Jasper picked up this cute yellow dress for Maya for Easter. After telling him thanks, but not this time, we put it back, only to have him grab it back two or three more times! He really loved this dress for his big sister!



"Hmm, I think size 5 is just about right!"


WE READ BOOKS LIKE CRAZY! Nothing could've made me any happier than seeing how much they both LOVE to read.  We read books many times during the day, then again before bed.  And John reads to them and plays with them constantly.  They sit still and listen intently and love their reading time.

This was my favorite book!   Lizards for Lunch! 

WE HAD ONE-ON-ONE DATES:  I took Jasper to the library's exercise/singing time followed by reading time.  We got to do many fun things, like singing head-shoulders-knees and toes, jumping, following the leader in a circle, making music with instruments and much more.  Boy, did we get up and down off that very hard wooden floor many, many times!

Jasper is the cutie pie in the middle sitting alone temporarily
 since Grandma Nita had to capture this picture moment!

  

Jasper knew all the answers during story time. 

I was so proud of him!

 My special time with Maya was taking her to her weekly ballet class.  She looked like a doll!

Always the camera enthusiast, while also being equipped with a new Canon camera, I took at least 100 pictures of Maya as she danced. It was fun to be able to capture both the front and back as well as her profile in the mirror while she practiced.

Maya was very patient after class as I kept trying to capture the perfect picture, but the truth of the matter is that with Maya as the subject, they were all absolutely adorable! (not that I'm prejudiced or anything)!

Doesn't she look like she knows something we don't? 
Either that or she is up to something!

"Okay, Grandma, I have smiled and posed so many times
I think I am going cross-eyed!"



"This is the last one? Great!"

 WE BRAIDED MAYA'S HAIR: I haven't been able to play with a little girl's hair since Brittany was young and had long hair.  I really loved braiding Maya's hair, which is long and thick, just like her Mom's.  I was able to get it even more kinky with ten braids by the end of my stay!

 The end result . . .  Isn't her hair long and very beautiful?

WE HAD FUN IN OUR NEW JAMMIES:

I brought Jasper jammies with tractors all over them, just like his Uncle Cory loved as Jasper's age!

 

And Maya's had to be pink and girly!

We played very hard and were all tired when it was time to go to bed (especially Grandma Nita!)

One thing I know for sure, is that I am very

that I got to go visit all three of my sweet grandbabies in New Mexico!

One more blog coming of our outdoor fun . . . 

30, Glorious 30

I couldnt' go to bed on this special night without publishing this post.  I barely made it since it is now almost midnight . . .

So, why is my blog post entitled, "30, Glorious 30"?  Well, it isn't because I just turned 30, although I don't feel that much older.  And, of course, I don't look a day over 30, right?  : )

It's because today is the 30th anniversary of my baptism.  What a glorious day this is for me to remember and celebrate each year.  I was baptized at the age of 21 on November 1, 1980, in Vista, CA into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I've been reflecting excitedly about this special upcoming anniversary for the past few months.  And I went to October General Conference in Salt Lake City as a celebration and commemoration of my upcoming anniversary.  More about this in an upcoming post.

As a young woman of 21, I knew that the church was true and was eager to be baptized.  But even though I thought I was so old and mature at the time, I realize now that I was so very young in many ways.  Thankfully, I had the faith, courage and strength to make one of the most important and pivotal decisions of my life amidst some opposition.  I can't imagine my life these past 30 years without the gospel.

I will forever be grateful to Sharyn and Essie for being such great member missionaries and showing me the way to the waters of baptism.  They were very patient and taught me well. (I think I might have been a tad stubborn at first?).

Here's a picture Christopher took of me after church yesterday.  I"m wearing the outfit from Brittany and John's wedding six years ago that hasn't fit me until recently.  Yeah! It was the first Stake Conference I had attended in my new stake after moving to Riverside earlier this year.  I was honored yet a little trepidatious to have been asked to give the closing prayer but it went off without a hitch.   Silly that an old member of 30 years like me would get nervous, right?   : )

I don't want to duplicate memories I've already shared in this blog.  So if you would like more fun info on my baptism, please look back to my detailed blog posting from my 29th anniversary on 11/1/09 which contains lots of pictures, my baptism journal entry, baptism program, testimony and more. 

One more fun memory of my special day  . . .  After picking Christopher up from school and taking him to new his new job, I stopped at the beautiful nearby Riverwalk area that I love so much to relax and enjoy the magificent day. 

The weather was perfect.  It was warm with blue skies and a slight wind and simply glorious.  After sitting a few minutes with my faithful puppy Champ by my side and reading, I laid down on the gently sloping grass and basked in the glory of the warm sun on my face while listening to the wind rustling the poplar leaves. 

I often stop here for a few minutes during my walks to sit and watch the ducks and other birds.  But I've never allowed myself the decadent indulgence of driving here and just relaxing. 

Today was a wonderful time to pamper myself  in a peaceful place while contemplating my 30 year anniversary as a Latter-day Saint and the many blessings for which I am SO very thankful.

Bike Voyage (like Bon Voyage)

Champ and I had the most excellent adventure last Friday, 4/16/2010, one of the happiest and most enjoyable days I've had in ages.  What did we do?

Well, I had been looking online for months to find the perfect basket to attach to my bike's handlebars, so Champ could bike ride with me, because I most certainly wouldn't go for a ride without him.  It would just be wrong plus lonely and not nearly as fun!!  All the baskets online indicated that Champ's 16+ pound girth (ha) was too heavy for a front basket, which was important so we could share the adventure together and "talk" as we rode.  Instead it showed that I needed to have him ride in a basket behind me or pull him in a covered little stroller (the type that jogging or biking Mom's use)  Well, that wouldn't do. 

After seeing a family at my Riverwalk area with a bike basket, I went to the local cyclery shop they referred me to and found the perfect super-de-duper basket.  What made it perfect?  It was much deeper,  so he couldn't jump out as readily, a little wider, and had extra metal supports that extended down to the front of the bike frame, so it would be safer and would support a lot more weight than his mere 16 pounds.  It was important to purchase and have extra goodies mounted, like a front headlight in case I'm out in the dark, lights in the back and an adorable little horn, plus I already had a really neat spedometer/odometer that indicates speed, distance and time of day.

It was a bright, sunny day when we had our first excellent adventure, which of course, started with a picture at the cycling shop where it all started as we loaded the bike into my van for the first time.

I had decided that our maiden trip, or our "bike voyage" (as opposed to "bon-voyage"), had to be in the first park I discovered when we moved to Corona 11 years ago.  The Yorba Linda Regional Park was only about 20 minutes away and has many lakes, trees and birds, as well as paved and unpaved biking trails.  So off we went.

On the way, I explained to Champ about our upcoming biking adventure and he listened intently.

He was quite anxious to try out the basket that he had liked so much at the bike shop.By the time we arrived at the park, he was ready for his first bike ride up high in his very special basket.

We rode and we rode around the beautiful park with the many lakes and saw such beautiful birds and trees. In this picture, there are three Snowy Egrets in flight (very exciting to catch with my camera), an Egyptian Goose in the forefront, and many Mallard Ducks at the back. The lakes are so spectacular and there are countless varieties of ducks, egrets, geese and birds.

It was warm and sunny and so peaceful and quiet at the park. After biking for only a few miles (as per my handy dandy odometer gadget), but felt like a very long time to my very sore rear-end bones, we stopped for a rest. I had seen a bright blue beautiful bird flying about and wanted a picture.

These are pictures of a Western Bluebird.  They are so amazing to watch in flight because they are so fast and so blue that it is dazzling to behold.

Champ was very happy to stop for a few minutes so he could roll around on the grass and scratch his itchy back! This is one of his favorite pasttimes in the many parks we visit. And I was in heaven to rest my aching bones a minute and take pictures of the beautiful birds and trees.

Along the way, we also saw a Snowy Egret, characterized by black beak and yellow feet, in full mating plumage. The picture earlier of three Snowy Egrets in flight was interesting because they were fighting in the air, another sign that it was mating season (to the best of my knowledge. I'm not an expert but I love birds and photgraph them a lot).

Here's a picture of an Egyptian Goose. I've visited most of the local parks numerous times and have only seen them a few times. They are quite spectacular and look quite different than most ducks and geese.

We also saw many Wood Ducks. The male is on the left and the less colorful female on the right.

One part of the bike trail has a little bit of a hill.  I was able to ride up it the first time, albeit with a lot of effort, but the second time I had to stop midway up.  Well, I was bummed because I wanted to make it to the top, but then I looked to my left and beheld the most exciting view.  A Great Blue Heron was fishing in the lily pads in a secluded part of the park.  I was then very thankful that I couldn't make it up the hill! 

Here's a closeup of this amazing Great Blue Heron. I had talked to an older couple that lives close to the park and walks there everyday and discovered this Great Blue Heron has a large nest atop a pine tree. I was able to see one of its chicks which was so amazing since it was 75 feet up in the air or so. I love my camera with the zoom lens! : )

I love trees also.  Here's the sunlight showing through a sycamore tree, one of my favorite trees:

Here's another Snowy Egret steathily waiting for a fish to swim by.  You would be amazed to see how fast they are when they grab it!

This picture was so fun because I was able to capture the Snowy Egret (right middle of pic) with the Egyptian Goose in the forefront.

As I rode along, the wind was blowing cotton through the air from this Cottonwood tree:

Here's the cotton along the ground.

At one point, I stopped to talk to some wonderful elderly women.  Champ was so pooped from his long ride that he took a little nap.  It's hard work being a puppy, you know!  Thankfully he is very comfortable in his special basket. See his cute smushed nose up against the front of the basket!

We had a great time at the park.  Here's the view looking out to one of the lakes.  The park itself is over 1 mile long and has 3-4 lakes with birds of every variety in and around it!  Heaven! 

While I had taken my book and thought we might stop and sit in the grass and read, we had too much fun riding,

taking pictues and enjoying the birds, lakes and trees.  In this picture, you can see my headlight on the left, with the odometer gadget mounted on the handlebars, then a reflector light and the little d-ling, d-ling horn.  Of course my cell phone and book are in the basket and luckily there's room for it all and Champ!

Alas, it was time for our journey to end. We were only there about three hours, but the time fly by, and we had such a blast. Here's a picture of Champ after the day's fun as I was ready to take him out of the basket to go home.  He was a very happy camper!

I took hundreds of pictures and only showed some of the amazing birds and views.  More to come in future posts!

We both had a great time and can't wait to go back again!   Come visit us and you can go, too!