Holy Cow!!

I can't believe I haven't updated my blog since Riley was born! Obviously I've been swept off my feet by that sweet little baby! So much to update y'all on so I will start with my favorite one and then add a little each day until you're all caught up. My Riley is now 5 1/2 months old and is the sunshine of my life! Chris, Jess, Steven and Riley have moved to an apartment in Corona that they share with Jessyka's Nana. I'm so happy now - they are right on my way home so I can stop and see her all the time. But also, I have been very lucky that I get to keep Riley as least 1 weekend a month so I do get my quality time with her too. As you'll be able to tell by the pictures that I'v posted, she has the best of her Daddy's genes! Everytime I look at her, I see her Daddy at that same age! She is a very happy baby - loves her Daddy, thinks her Papa is about the funniest thing she's ever seen, likes it when her big brother makes her laugh and likes to play tummy time with her Mommy. Of course NanaKaki's favorite time with her is right before she falls asleep when she cuddles up in my arms! It's all I can do to keep from just bursting into tears! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last 5 months...

My first Mother's Day as a Gramma - Riley is 4 days old
Nana Kaki is always kissin' those cheeks - Riley at 4 weeks
Again with the cheeks - I can't help it! Riley at 6 weeks
Riley with her Great-Aunt Shirley. Here she is 3 months oldMy favorite time... right before bedtimeHere she is laughing at her Papa... She just melts my heart!!! Napping with Nana
Playing in her new walker - 4 months old Riley and her Daddy!! Look at that face!!!

Riley last weekend trying to figure out what to do after she gets up on all fours!!

I'm a Gramma!!!!!!

Riley Lynn O'Farrell

9lbs 2ozs 20 1/2 inches

May 5, 2009

10:08 am

After a full day of induction, a good nights sleep and 2 hours of hard labor the next morning, Riley came rushing into the world in under 30 minutes. I guess once she decided to make her arrival she was in a hurry!! Chris did awesome through the whole labor - rubbing Jessyka's back and feet and being very encouraging. The delivery happened so fast he didn't have time to realize what was happening! Jessyka is my hero - she delivered that baby naturally, without an epidural and not a single cuss word came out of her mouth!!!!! I got a nice surprise when at the last minute the nurse snuck me into the delivery room so I was present for her arrival as well! It was a very emotional day - not so much because my granddaughter was born (which of course is just mind-blowing) but more about seeing my son become a father. You realize that your job is now done and it is his turn to take what you have taught him and pass it on to his daughter. Wow!!! That's heavy!! Anyway - I have a few pictures that I took with my phone but will post the others from my camera later. The miracle of life is just that....a miracle!!!

At last - pictures of the shower!!

I've been promising pictures from Chris and Jessyka's shower, so here they are. We had a great lunch, they got tonz of stuff for the baby and everyone had a great time. Now we're just waiting for Riley to decide to come out and meet us!!! Waiting...and waiting...and waiting!!!!!

The cake was made by my friend Brittany Suzano. Isn't it adorable?!! It was delicious as well!!

Mommy and Daddy to be...

I love this picture of Jessyka and her mom!

My babies....all grown up!!

Jessyka's Family:

Jess, Chris, Sister Carissa, brother Robert, Dad Ken, niece Lexy

Mom Cynthia

Chris' Family:

Me, Gramma Grace, Jess, Chris, My Mom, my sister Shirley

Amy & Shirley's daughter Shelbey

Willie got a haircut!!

Well - no baby yet so we had nothing to do but clean the house this weekend. All our friends were out at either the Laughlin River Run or at Stagecoach in Indio. The most exciting thing we did all weekend was take Willie to get his first haircut of the summer. We get him shaved during the summer cause it is just too danged hot for him to have all that hair. Then about late September or early October we get his last haircut and let it grow out for winter to help keep him warm. He had so much hair by now he was miserable! He felt so much better afterward! Besides that, we got the house cleaned in preparation for Bill to come home on Saturday. He's been gone a month and I have a list of honey-do's a mile long!!! He'll be busy for awhile! So now... we're back to being on babywatch!!! Anytime you're ready Jessyka!!!!

Before....

After.... So much better!!

More on P.O.T.

I just relooked at my pictures from P.O.T (Primary Officers Training) and was reminded of what a great time I had. I got the opportunity to meet Jim McCaslin, President and COO and Steve Phillips, VP of Quality at Harley Davidson Motor Company. What great guys! They were very open to talking with everyone and answering tons of questions. I just love Steve to pieces - he's very down to earth and truly cares about the rider's concerns and opinions.

Jim McCaslin, WildKat, Steve Phillips

The first night that everyone got there we had a Taco Night at our condo. Edward, Margie and I had been to previous POT trainings so we knew what we were in for. John, Shelley and Alicia were first timers. We tried to tell them that as soon as breakfast was over the first day, it was non-stop until the closing on Saturday afternoon. I saw John after his first class (which was Understanding Risk with the HD lawyer). Very intense class - he came out and quit right there on the spot! - well, he felt like it but he stuck it out. I don't think anyone really knows what is involved in running a chapter of HOG (Harley Owners Group). At the end of the first night, HOG puts on a great dinner party for everyone. We had a very cool surprise this year. Willie G. Davidson (grandson of THE Davidson), his wife Nancy and his daughter Karen made an appearance. They were in town for the Country Music Awards that were taking place over at the MGM and decided to stop by and say hi. What a treat!!!

Edward-Director, Kat-Asst Director, John-Treasurer, Alicia-Secretary

Next blog will have pics of the baby shower...I promise!

Well - You can tell by the date of my last post that I've been a busy, busy girl!! I'll try to give you little snippets of everything that has happened and get ya up to speed. Right after my last post, my Dad fell and factured a bone in his spine. So off to Florida I flew with my sister Shirley following closely behind. Got there expecting the worst but actually it all turned out good. We had a chance to see first hand how Dad was doing and luckily it turned out to be a small fracture in one of the bones right above his tailbone. So the only thing we could really do was dope him up and let him sleep it off!! But - because of all the medication he was on he couldn't give blood to prepare for his knee replacement that was already scheduled for April. I had a cold and was on medication so I couldn't donate on his behalf (;-}) which left my sister to save the day. Of course you'd think they were cutting her arm off!! She milked that one for as long as she could!!

Then I was home for a week and left for Vegas for my Harley Primary Officers Training. Decided to take Amy with me. She hung out by the pool at our condo for two days and explored the strip with Mike and his kids. The rest of us - Edward, Alicia, John, Shelley, Margie and I all went over to the Red Rock Resort and were in leadership training sessions for two days. By Saturday, we were all exhausted so Shelley, Amy and I decided we needed a night out. We went over to the Hofbrauhaus which is a German restaurant that celebrates Octoberfest all year long! It was a blast and the food was great! They even had an Oompa Band with cute guys in leiderhosen (sp?).

By this time, Bill had left for Florida again. This time around he'll be there for a month (returning on May 2) to stay with Dad while he has his knee replacement surgery. He had it on April 16th and everything went very well!! He's in the rehab center now and is responding really good to therapy. Everyone is impressed with his drive to get home. Actually we all know it's cause he wants to get back to Sandra who is his evening home health aide. He just loves her to pieces!! Amy and I have been surviving okay as bachelorettes but I'm ready to have Bill home again - I keep forgetting to make the coffee before I got to bed! Nothing is worse than an empty coffee pot at 4:30 am!!!!!

Well there is lots more but I'll have to catch you up on the rest later. I'll have pics of Chris and Jessyka's shower by then. Love to all.....

Bullhead City initiation

Well - I am officially a part of the Bullhead City community! Amy and I went up with my girlfriend Linda and her granddaughter Brittany for a relaxing weekend away. What a blast!! Got up there late Thursday night, got into my pjs and that's was it! We did go over to Harrah's in Laughlin on Friday morning for breakfast - Amy thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate fountain and the strawberries! On our way out I stuck a $5 bill into a slot machine and walked out with $10.50!! That was the extent of my gambling... It was still exciting. Then it was back home and into the pjs. Then on Saturday, Linda had an urge to go to the Goodwill to get a lamp. I was completely comfortable in my pjs so....off to Goodwill we went! I couldn't believe it - I was actually shopping at the Goodwill in my pjs....and no one even noticed!

I had a little scare when we got home - was going through the morning shows before I left for work trying to decide if I needed to DVR any of them. Lo and behold my Tom Jones was going to be on the View!!! Although I will be seeing him on March 10 and again in Vegas on April 1, I had to record him. Well I got a call telling me that he had gone all gray! Oh no - what was I going to do? Would he still be the same sex-bomb of my dreams? Would the gray hair ruin my fantasies? What was he thinking - how could you mess with perfection?!!! I raced home to watch the show and sure enough.... the toes still curled!!!! He even growled at the end of It's So Unusual and I about lost my mind! Now I can look forward to his next two shows with the same anticipation that I always do....

One last thing for this update... I have to brag about my beautiful niece. Shelbey will be 10 in September and I just love her to pieces!! My sister sent me a picture of her and her Daddy on their way to the Father/Daughter Valentine's Day Dance and I just have to share... Aren't they precious?!

That's all for now - will check in with y'all again in a couple of days.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day. With my hubby still in Florida on Saturday mine was pretty uneventful. Although he did send me some beautiful tulips and chocolates to work earlier in the week. Amy and I did the normal stuff - she had a Valentine from Mom waiting for her when she finally woke up, then we went to breakfast in Old Town Temecula and then went to get our hair cut and colored (as Amy says, my hair was starting to "sparkle"...darn those grays!). Then we just went home and curled up with a blanket and read a book.

Since ours was pretty routine - we'll have to live though the Valentine's Day of Chris and his family. They recieved a "Decorate-your-heart" tin from NanaKaki (that's me...) so Jess sent me some pictures of Chris and Steven decorating their popcorn hearts. Is Steven not the cutest little boy?!!

Sunday Bill came home and Willie about jumped out of the car when he saw his "DAD" standing outside the airport! I think he was convinced that I had done something and stuffed him in a trunk somewhere. Of course he hasn't left his side since he got back!

So all-in-all, it was a good weekend. Looking foward to a weekend in Bullhead City with my friend Linda! Just the girls weekend with us, Amy and her grand-daughter Brittany. I'll tell all the good stuff when we get back! Tootles~

Amy's Winter Formal

It's days like this when you look at your children and wonder just when it was that they grew up! Amy has turned into such a beautiful young lady - Saturday night she left me absolutely speechless!!! Of course I'm a little partial but you look at these pictures and tell me she didn't look stunning!!

We started out the day with a little drama but it was quickly buried in the excitement of the day. Our first stop was to Dena's to get her hair done. Dena always does such a wonderful job on her hair and it was the perfect updo for her dress!

Then we went over to the Benefits counter at Macy's and got her make-up done. They did a great job - I didn't want anything too grown u but she wasnted to look "smokey". She was turning heads all over the place - by the time we left the mall to go home and get dressed, she was on cloud 9!

When we got back to my friend's house, Linda had laid her dress out on the bed with all her bling set out ready for her to get dressed. I think I had as many butterflies in my tummy as she did! Linda and I were both reliving our youth through her! Once she was dressed you would have thought the papparazzi had snuck in the back door with as many pics as we were taking. I have only attached a couple but it's enough to show how stunning she was.

We dropped her off at the dance and she was immediately mobbed by her friends - she had a blast, danced all night and came home with memories that will last her a lifetime.

Busy Week!!

My weekend was packed and hasn't stopped yet! Bill celebrated his 55th birthday on Friday night. We celebrated with 14 of our closest friends on Saturday night having dinner at Black Angus. We had a great time and didn't even get kicked out!!

Then Sunday we had a couple of friends over so that Bill could show off the 50" tv he got as a retirement gift. Nothing like watching football in HDTV!! We had so much food I was still full on Monday!

Speaking of Monday - I had my most vivid blonde moment EVER!!!! Bill flew to Florida on Monday to spend two weeks with my Dad and get in some golfing and testosterone time. He woke up at the crack of dawn and drove into Orange County with me so I could take him to John Wayne airport during my lunch break for his 2:30 flight. Well - by 10:30 he was twidling his thumbs bored out of his mind so we decided I'd take him to the airport early so he could at least get some lunch or something while he was waiting. Well, we got to the car and he looked at his boarding pass.... ONTARIO... his flight was leaving out of ONTARIO!!!! I couldn't believe it! So off he went in my car racing to get to the aiport in time - which he did. Then I called my friend Linda who I knew would relate to my dingyness. I took the train home, her hubby Greg came and got me and took me to her house, then when she got home she drove me all the way to Ontario to get my car. I pulled into my driveway at 10:00 pm just about the time that Bill was texting to let me know he had made it to my Dads. What a day!!

My son Christopher turned 20 on Tuesday! Can't believe where the time goes. He, Jessyka and Steven came up to have lunch with me today. We went to Spires which is a childhood favorite of Chris'. Then I asked if he needed anything...next thing you know we're off to Payless! 6 pairs of shoes and a pack of socks later we were through! Your wallet never closes when you're a Mom (or a Nana!!) - but you do it all with love in your heart and a smile on your face!! In honor of my son's bday, I've included a couple of pictures of him in his younger days.... this is how I will always remember my Bubba.

Welcome!!

My very first blog...I'm so excited. Thanks to my friend Ginny, she assured me that if she could do it anyone could. She was right - I love this!! What a great way to keep everyone up to date on what's going on in the world of my family. Let me give you a quick update and we'll go from there....

In December Bill retired from Verizon after 31 years. He hasn't been home since! He's been spending time with friends working on off-road vehicles, working on his leather stuff, and walking with Willie. He's getting ready to go to Florida for two weeks to spend some time with my Dad.

Chris will be 20 next week and has moved to Long Beach with his girlfriend Jessyka and are expecting their first baby in May. He's working at AirFare in Torrance - they prepare and deliver the food & beverage carts to the flights leaving out of LAX and Long Beach airports. Not his dream job but it serves its purpose for now.

Amy is a sophomore at Tahquitz High School and is a social butterfly just like her mom was. She is very involved with the choir and lives to sing. Emily is a freshman at Vista Murrieta and is involved in the Color Guard. In fact she just got back from competing in Nationals in Indiana. Both girls seem attached to the phones text messaging constantly!!

Me? Same old stuff - still with Ingram, 17 years and counting. I'm Assistant Director for our local HOG chapter this year so I'm spending much more time on my Harley which I love... guess I'll have to break down and get that license sooner than later!! Well - I'm sure I'll have more to report next time. Until then... Tootles...