HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY...

to my beautiful son Zach.

I couldn't be more proud of you or thrilled for the life you have built for yourself.

You fill my heart with joy everyday.

I love you so very much,

and hope all your dreams and wishes come true.

A NEW EXPERIENCE

For my son's 28th birthday this last year,

 Zach wanted us to go to an Escape Room.

(Zach middle left)

I'd never heard of one before, 

but I guess they are the latest trend with a group of pals.

It's all about being locked in a number of rooms that are full of clues about how to solve a mystery,

and you try to beat the clock to solve it.

We had an hour and 8 people working hard to discover and find all the clues 

 out before time ran out.

One of the best players we had was my ex husband Inars.

He was as sharp as a tack.

We were very close to making the timeline,

and missed the last clue by only a couple of seconds.

There is always the next time.

I would do this again.

But wear a good pair of shoes.  

You do most of it in darkened rooms with flashlights,

and there is a bit of stepping on each others toes.

CELEBRATING MY SON

HAPPY 27TH ZACH!!

What a fun time we had for my son's 27th birthday this year.

He wanted to do the wine and paint thing with all of us.

So we found one close to our home in Anaheim Hills called "Painting your Way".

With wine by our side,

and 2 hours of painting instruction,

we all completed a piece.

Instructor Maria was wonderful and very patient 

as we all got our ocean going on.

I was super surprised by how comfortable my husband Jim was with the whole process,

even holding his brush like you'd see artists doing in the movies  LOL

He was sitting across from me so I had no idea how he was faring.

I was next to my ex who was able to keep up with the instructor

while the rest of us were a little farther behind.

So here are the finished pieces,

and even though the subject matter was exactly the same,

the results were all so very different.

This first one belongs to me.

I was actually pretty surprised in myself

since I haven't painted an entire piece in acrylic since my college years 40 years ago.

This next one was done by my daughter Danielle.

She really didn't enjoy the process until the very end when it came all together.

Her daddy has it hanging proudly in his home  :)

I like how she brought in the little white dots at the end,

it feels like buds getting ready to bloom,

or perhaps tiny pussywillows in the foregrund.

This next one belongs to my ex, 

Inars.

This was his very first time to paint a picture in his entire life.

I was really excited to see how well he did.

And this next one was made by my son's best friend,

 Sean,

who joined us that day.

Sean is known for not following instructions and bulking the system a bit.

So it was fun to see the liberties he took with the subject.

This one was my son Zach's piece.

I think this was the third time he's done this process,

and he was so happy we could all join him on this 4th go-round.

But it was this one,

done by my husband Jim,

that I was the most impressed with.

This was also Jim's first time to ever paint a picture,

and it feels very impressionistic to me.

It's loose and flows so well,

yet feels very balanced.

I think that of all of us,

Jim was the most relaxed as he went though this process,

and it is really reflected in his style.

At the time I was photographing all of the finished pieces,

Zach's girlfriend Nicole was still painting away 

so I didn't get to take a pix of hers until everybody did the group pose.

But if you look closely on the left

you can see that Nicole's piece felt really dimensional.

She curved the foreground which makes it felt close, 

and the ocean very far away.

She also put the most value ranges into her ocean

which is another reason her piece has so much depth.

Jim left early to hold our restaurant reservation 

so he didn't make the group shout.

We had the most scrumptious dinner at the Medici Cafe in Anaheim Hills,

and then dessert and presents at Inars house.

Happy 27th Zach,

and many more.

You are so loved and we are so very proud of the young man you've become.

Happy 26th to My Beautiful Son

We recently celebrated my son Zach's 26th birthday with both our families at my son's new place in the Valley, 

and then onto his girlfriend's parents who hosted a dinner in his honor.

You are surrounded by love my son because you bring so much joy into all our lives.

An excerpt from one of my favorite baby books I used to read to you:

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be.

I can't read that book to this day without a tissue.

I love you Zach,

know that Aunt Elena and Nana are with you always and watching over you

xoxoxoxo

SURPRISE!!!!

Nicole, Zach's sweetheart of a girlfriend, managed to thoroughly surprise my son Zach for his 25th birthday at my Ex, Inars' home in Yorba Linda a couple weeks ago.

Zach had absolutely no idea that Nicole planned this whole thing with Inars.  Jim and I were instrumental in the deception of getting him to the party on time and unawares.  Nicole spent weeks pulling all his boyhood friends together and prepping for the occasion.  One of them actually came all the way down from Sacramento to join us. 

There was lots of great food, and yes, I''m afraid, drinking too, but responsibly, right  :)

Zach blew out the candles on his deliciously, healthy carrot cupcakes that Nicole's mom, Mary made.

And luckily we had Boogie Agrums there for clean up duty atop the bar-b-que when no one was looking  LOL

A Happy 23rd Birthday to My Son Zach

I know this is a bit tardy Zach (like by 2 months!), sorry, but I just did the math and I realized you are 23 years old.  That's so crazy!!!  It's going so fast.  For some reason I thought you were just turning 22.  I guess that's what happens when you are such a right brainer like me, those numbers get foggy.  Wow, that would make me...too old!! 

But I want to tell you how very proud I am to be your Mamma, you have always been such a good, sweet, and smart boy, you never gave me an ounce of trouble (unlike your sister LOL, only kidding Danielle), and you have matured into the most wonderful young man, sincere, responsible, educated, a hard worker, a world traveler and on your way up the ladder at Dole Foods. Buy Dole!!! 

 I'm so glad we could all be together this year to celebrate your birthday.  

I love you big time, all the way around the world!!!! 

Happy Thanksgiving to All

From our family to yours, we want to wish you a very Happy Holiday.  I'll be taking a blogging break for the next week, but I'll be back on November 28th.  See you then!