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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Restin In Destin!!!

It has really been a super busy summer but absolutely fun. First, we went to California for my nephew's 25th wedding anniversaly celebration. Then, we went to Utah to check out the condo that John's daughter and family bought in a ski resort. Then we came back to our home airport only for me to check right back in to go to Illinois ( I had packed an extra suitcase which I left in the vehicle in the parking lot while we were in Utah) for my mother's 94th birthday celebration and John went home. I came back home after 4 days, only to pack for Destin, FL. I have been to 5 states in the month of July, nope, actually 6, because the closest airport is in Louisiana so count LA as the 6th. I am glad to be home sweet home now although I will miss all the family fun times. Now, back to Skype and Facetime!

I hope I get to post about my other trips later but let me share the latest one. We drove to Destin, about a 7 hour drive from here. My daughter Rochelle and family drove from the Tampa Bay area for about the same distance. Destin is midway between us so it is a perfect spot for us to meet. We rented a 2 bedroom condo in Sandestin and it was perfect for all of us with a lakeview from both living and master bedroom balconies.



The twins have grown so much since I last saw them in April.



John and Derek set up the umbrellas and cabana but had to take down the cabana cause they said it was obscuring the beach view from behind.

Halle looks so much like my other grandbaby Reese in this position. She is so chubby,  lol! She was almost a lb. lighter than Rea at birth but is now almost 2 lbs. heavier and she is younger.



Of course, grandma would rather babysit than swim and watch the babies while they napped.




Divas in training!

AJ took Halle for a swim after the nap. I cannot believe how much AJ has grown. I am only about a cm. taller than her now and we have the same shoe size.

My daughter Rochelle and her hubby, Derek and 3 daughters.










 The twins loved the water.



Time to pack up and go home. It was very hot and humid! This is Rea with lots of hair.

And this is Halle, still no hair like John. lol!


I am going to miss them so much but I will be very busy catching up on things at home since I was barely here for the whole month. Thanks for stopping by!

Linking with:

Outdoor Wednesday


Watery Wednesday

Honey's Potpourri Friday

Sally's Blue Monday

Mellow Yellow Monday at


Thank you ladies, for hosting!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Happy 94th Birthday, Mama

Happy birthday, mama! I hope you still have a lot of years to spend with us, so stay healthy ok?
I love you very much!

This is my mom when she was 18 years old,. That is when she married my father too, in 1936.


Here she is with all her siblings. Unfortunately, her siblings are all gone. She outlived all of them. She is the second from the right in the front row.

 This was taken when we had a big family reunion in the Philippines when my grandma (my dad's mother) turned 90. My mom is standing right behind my grandma in the center. Can you spot me? I am behind my mom to her left, with bangs. I was 18 then. My father is seated in the second row, first one on the right.


Below is my father. He passed away in 1996. I miss him so much, He had such a good sense of humor and he made us laugh a lot.

Below is a picture taken in Europe when my sisters and I went on a pilgrimage with mama and papa in 1993. This was the last time we were able to travel with my father. They went back to the Philippines right after the pilgrimage because my dad was requested to take care of some family business (he was a lawyer). While there, he had a stroke, became comatose for 3 years until his death. They've been married for 60 years by then. About a few months before his death, my mom also had a stroke. I think it was God's way of preparing her for his death because her short term memory was affected and she forgets anything that just happened, so she did not feel his death that badly.

My mom never really took care of us as babies. We had nannies. The first baby that she really took care of is my son Jed. For that reason, she has been very close to him. When she had a stroke, I took Jed with me to the Philippines and we went straight to the hospital. She could not recognize anybody but when she saw Jed, her eyes just sparked and she had the biggest smile. She recognized him. For that reason, I left him there for 6 months to stay with her and she recovered. Although her health completely recovered, her memory was never the same.

Below is a picture taken on my mom's 86th birthday. I still lived in Florida then. We had a family reunion. My sisters flew to Florida. My 2 brothers already live there too. This was taken in my yard. She used to live permanently with me because I had my nephew who also lived with me then, to help take care of her. Today, she gets rotated among us 5 brothers and sisters in 4 different states.

Christmas of the same year at my FL home.

My mom's 87th birthday with all her children, 3 girls and 2 boys.
Again, my sisters flew to Florida to join us celebrate it.

Christmas of the same year at my house.

For her 90th birthday, we had a real big reunion in Orlando. We registered at Ginny's Reunion Resort and rented condos there to accomodate everyone, all my brothers and sisters and our children and their children attended. Ma has 19 great grandchildren now.

This was taken last year in New Orleans. Ma loves to go on trips, never gets tired even after a long driving. She just enjoys the sceneries and never sleeps in the vehicle. At times after driving for more than 10 hours and as soon as we enter the house, she will ask where we are going next, lol .

She was with me here in MS when she turned 92 and I had a birthday party for her. My friend Debjani's birthday is 2 days before ma's so I threw a joined party for them. Prior to that, she had an accident here. She fell from a truck, trying to get down all by herself while I was in a store picking up a table. She said she had to go to the bathroom. I found her in a pool of blood on the pavement. She cut her head and it would not stop bleeding. I applied pressure on the cut of her head all the way home. We took her to a local hospital and the CT scan showed a hematoma. The ambulance had to transport her to Jackson because we have no neuro surgeon here and the ER doctor thought she might require a brain surgery. My husband sewed the wound up before she was taken. Then, he told me to prepare myself because she might not make it because her head was bleeding profusely and the hospital is 2.5 hours drive away. I have never been so scared in my life. I cried and prayed all the way to the hospital and called all my brothers, sisters and children to pray along with me.

She came home after 3 days, only to collapse again after about 2 weeks because of a very low BP. She was admitted to the hospital and the cardiologist discontinued her BP meds. Now, the only medicine she is taking is a low dose Cholesterol pill and some vitamins and she is looking really good and healthy.

This is one of her latest photos. I took it just a few weeks ago on June 29th, at my nephew (her oldest grandchild) and his wife's 25th wedding anniversary. Doesn't she look good? I hope I inherit her skin. She hardly has any wrinkles. It must have been the facial moisturizers that she would always asked us to send her when she was still in the Philippines.

Today, July 24th, she turns 94 but we celebrated it here in Waukegan, Illinois on the 22nd.
Happy Birthday, mama! I hope you have many, many, many, many more birthdays to come.

This was the invitation that my daughter created for my sister Fe, who hosted it.


Thank you so much for stopping by and reading about my mother. I hope it did not bore you. I did not mean to make it this long but I just have so much to say about her.

I would like to link with
(Thanks for hosting, ladies!)

Bunny Jean's Bunny Hop
Honey's Potpourri Friday at
The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sunday

Saturday, July 21, 2012

SF and Napa, July, 2012

If you follow my blog, you must know we went to California a few weeks ago and I posted about San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate last week.

After walking around those areas, my niece Stephanie drove us along Lombard St. where the crookedest street is located. I cannot count how many times I have gone through there but I always oooh and aaah everytime I see it. Just look at that spectacular view!

 And the houses are stunning!
 And look at the landscaping! How can they have it all? DH said he would not want to live there because cars and tourists are always passing by, lol. I wouldn't mind though, if I am surrounded with that beauty. How about you?
 I love the hydrangeas and the bouganvilles. Such pretty colors!


 We finally reached the bottom and I just had to look back one more time.
 Then my nephew called and wanted us to meet them at the Outlet Mall in Vacaville. On our way there, we passed by Napa Valley and passed by gorgeous view of the wineries.

 But when we saw this winery called Domain Carneros, we had to get down to take pictures and absorb its beauty.
 The view was simply breathtaking! Did I mention that my almost 94 year old (will be on July 24) mother was traveling with us? There she is with one of my sisters.


John is wearing blue so that qualifies for Blue Monday in addition to the blue sky, right?

 This is my youngest brother, Vic and his wife, Che.
 Our chauffeur and niece, Stephanie. You would think she lives in California giving us a tour, but she lives in Chicago.

"Romeo and Juliet" after years of being together, lol!

Aren't these grapes just gorgeous and bountiful?

This was our destination, the Outlet Mall in Vacaville. My nephew and his wife wanted us to meet them here. Look at that full moon!
Here are my 2 sisters and me at Michael Kors. John wanted to take our picture while shopping, lol. I considered buying that MK purse.
But I got this instead. Same size and style but I think this one with alligator skin is more practical and I can use it everyday. Besides, I just bought a Coach purse with snake skin.
Thanks so much for traveling along.
I am linking with with


The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sunday at
Scenic Sunday
Shadow Shot Sunday 2
Jean's Bloomin' Tuesday
Susan's Outdoor Wed.
Thanks ladies, for hosting!

BTW, I would like to add this. The reason we went to California was to attend my nephew and his wife's silver wedding anniversary. My mom and all my brothers and sisters also came. Here I am with my mom and sisters. Doesn't my mom look good? She will be 94 on the 24th of this month. I hope I inherit her skin, hardly any wrinkles at her age.