Celebrating Mom's 88th birthday

Hopped in the car, picked up Uncle Bob and off to Santa Barbara we went to celebrate my mom's birthday with her.  We always have a good time visiting mom but this day was extra special.

Time flies by so fast.  I'm so happy to celebrate Mom's 88th birthday.  Woo hoo!

As an added bonus Lorie and Leesa joined us for lunch which made things feel even more celebratory.

Good food, loving friends and family.  What more could a girl want?

One Year Ago TODAY

One year ago today we brought little Izzy in to our lives and we haven't regretted it for a moment.  He's so awesome and a wonderful addition to our family.

We went from little kitty (8 weeks old) to this big man who grew to be as big as Smokie.  It's been a year of joy and smiles and love.

Orbs flying around us while playing with Izzy:

Orbs in stairwell:

RANDOM LIFE STUFF

Sent Vince to buy some stamps and he came home with some cute ones:

Our morning ritual:

There's always something interesting happening outside:

Started an art project and got a chuckle out of this:  MMMNNNNOO   Y?

Izzy in his natural habitat - a box

Whatever we do, we do together...

O.K. Orsen.  Might be time for a diet...

It's finally cooled off enough to bake.  Made banana bread last week and this apple cake today.  It's a new recipe, hope its as good as it looks and smells.

Enjoying our favorite food with Marabina Jaimes - Mexican feast at Don Cuco.  Yummmmm. 

28 is great!

 Another year married to this guy, 28 to be exact - Sweet!

The real present is this guy...

Do we know each other or what?

Me and the boys

 

My constant companion

 What 'cha doing mom?  Can I help?

No place like "Home"

After being trapped in the house for 10 days trying to stay cool from this blistering heat...it was cool enough to enjoy breakfast outside.

I'm always waiting for it to cool down in September.  I think it's our hottest month and I'm ready to be cool and comfy.

Smokie and Izzy beauty shots

 I buy shoes so Smokie has a box to play in.  He's so happy!

Smokie is the best pillow:

Izzy's Self-Portrait.  Yep, he took this photo by his self.

I feel so lucky that these two love each other so much.

Breakfast at Vivienne

 We branched out and met Billy at The Avalon Hotel (Vivienne) in Beverly Hills for a lovely breakfast club.  We sat by the pool and enjoyed watching the raindrops hit the pool for a moment before the sun came out.  It was good to get out of our hood and of course, we stopped at Cake Monkey on the way home and bought many goodies.

Izzy is 1!

 Celebrating our little Izzy boy.  He's one year old today (Aug. 9, 2025)

Love this boy so much.  Well, both of them really :) 

Uncle Bob's 85th birthday pool party

Had a fun day with the family celebrating Uncle Bob's 85th!  His good friend Phil and his daughter Lorie joined us too.  So happy to celebrate with them all:

Tommy, Michelle, Kathy, Phil, Uncle Bob, Lorie, Me, Kristen, Bobby, Vince and Jayden.

I've known Phil as long as I can remember.  That's why I think of him as "Uncle Phil"  I started having flashbacks to when I was around 5 years old and Phil and My Uncle Bob coming to visit us.  These two are trouble makers :) ha!  You should hear the stories that they tell from being stationed in Hong Kong when they were in the marines.  Total '60's Rat Pack stuff.   They were telling stories, giggling like little girls because they knew it was wrong.  "Penicillin is your friend" came up more than once :)

Phil's lovely daughter Lorie also joined us.

Kristen and Jayden cooling off:

Second cousins Beau and Savannah:

I missed them jumping off of the roof but we caught this video:

I didn't get to join them but I wanted to put these pics up of my Uncle Bob visiting my mom in Lompoc.  Thanks Kristen for driving up there.  It meant the world to my mom and I know Uncle Bob was happy too.  

SAG Conservatory Workshop - August 2, 2025

 I taught a different kind of workshop this weekend (instead of acting) -  a voiceover demo prep class.  Had around 50 people getting ready to prep their demo.  I enjoyed helping them.