Spring is here!

Spring time is here in the suite and it has us all hopping around 😊 Even though mommy's allergies are killing her she is still amazingly dedicated to her garden. I don't have any pictures but I will share some in my next post. I do however have a picture of the first bloom on our almond tree. It is from a couple weeks ago and now all of our trees are blooming. Besides the almond tree we have an avocado, apricot, apple, lime, peach, navel orange and the newest pink lemonade tree. This year we should get fruit from all of them.

Spring also means that Easter is almost here. I love Easter dinner with the family but even though we all know that Easter is meant to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior and has nothing to do with eggs and bunnies, I still have to share a picture of Bella with one of her bunnies. Apparently Eric and Sarah are now rabbit breeders and I think they are coming faster than Bell can name them.

And here is a picture of Lexi smiling because she sees papa coming. Actually I think it is just really bright standing in front of the window but I like my theory more 😊

Now this picture has nothing to do with spring time, in fact wrestling is a winter sport but Mia spent the night at Grandma's house last weekend and found this newspaper clipping while going through grandma's albums. It was a proud moment for me and still a record pin time BTW. I've already told the girls how I changed my name to my grandpa's name before they were born so I didn't have to explain that but I did have to explain what a newspaper was.



Know when to fold em'

Bella was hanging out with papa the other day and as all papa's should I taught her how to play poker. Or at least I thought I was teaching her but I think she hustled me. Take a look at the first hand of poker she has ever played in her life. You can't really see the 7 in there but she had a straight and won the hand. Next lesson.....how to keep a poker face ☺

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Another awesome Valentine's Day came and went through the suite and we feasted on steak and lobster. Luckily the girls don't like lobster so daddy got to have an extra tail. I made my usual gift bags for the girls and planned on giving all my sweethearts a pedicure but after a rough day of swimming in storm water for 5 hours they let me off the hook for the pedicures and Mia actually gave me a massage. Hopefully Andrew takes notes on his dad's game because I was able to woo mommy, the girls and Bella for under $40 not counting the steak and lobster. All joking aside I hope all my kids love God, family and all others every day and know that Valentine's day is just a fun day to celebrate that love with a little chocolate.

Love,

Daddy

ooxxooXoXXx

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6CYPXFD7CcM

Hello 2019!

It's been a busy couple months since my last post. We had another great Christmas and I almost made it to midnight this New Years Eve. I was able to take 2 weeks off while the girls were on break and we had a couple fun outings but we also spent a lot of time just laying around the house. I felt a little guilty for not doing more work around the house but I finished a couple projects.


Michelle got her license and is driving to work and school which has been a little scary for daddy but I'm so proud of her and I know she will be more responsible than I was at her age. She got a job at a new grocery store 2 minutes from the house but has to drive through a very busy intersection and past the freeway so it's still a little scary. She started as a cashier and not a stock clerk like most teenagers so I'm super proud and impressed.


Sophie and Mia are both doing excellent in school and in their school activities. Sophia is in ROTC and loving it. It is soooo cute to watch her polish her dress shoes. Not sure if she will make a career of it but she is really enjoying it. Mia and a couple of her friends started a Ballet Folklorico club at her school and they have performed a couple times at the school. She looks beautiful in her dress and I love that she is embracing her heritage.


Andrew and Sarah are both doing good. Andrew continues to make me proud at work and is on track to graduate from RCC soon. He shaved his mustache so he looks a lot younger but I think he will grow it back. I hope he grows a beard so he will look just like his dad :) Sarah is doing great also and is enjoying married life. We just celebrated Lexi's first birthday and Bella is in 1st grade now. Sarah and Eric bought a couple bunnies that they plan to breed and sell and their German shepherds might be having pups too so it looks they will be busy for a while.


Isella and I are also doing great and though we miss the girls being babies we are enjoying the freedom of having kids that can take care of themselves. It's a new year so we are back to eating right and going on walks even though it is freezing at night when we go.


Until next time...

Happy new Family

My Beautiful kids

The suite at Christmas. I scaled back a bit this year but still the most festive house on the block

Daddy cuddling with his new friend. I hope Bella loves him as much as I did.

Lola watching TV with Mia

This is not only the first double rainbow I have ever seen but also the first complete rainbow where you could see both ends touching the ground. I have a nice video of it but my stupid admin was talking through the whole thing.

Who needs Hawaii when I have this right outside my office.

Nope, still not over it. 

Fall Back

I guess I should be used to daylight savings after 41 years but I have a hard time adjusting to the time change and it seems like as soon as I get used to it we have to change it back. But along with Fall comes football, Olive Garden All You Can Eat Pasta Bowl and the holidays right around the corner. I just took down my Halloween decorations but I can't wait to get my Christmas decorations up. The suite will be busy as always this year with tamale making and all the other Family festivities. Until then, here are a few leftover Halloween pictures.

Great Grandma as "Flo"

Isn't she adorable!

Mom as the creepy nun from the movie I am too scared too watch.

Uncle Ken and Erik.

Looks like Uncle Ken needs to spend some more time in the Dojo

Sophie and her boyfriend Elias

Michelle as some kind of Chola doll. She may have just been going out that night???

Not Halloween but my beautiful babies celebrating Sophie's birthday

playing Loteria and drinking wine coolers

(Just kidding that daddies wine cooler)

(I mean mommies wine cooler)

Mommy and daddy

I was hoping to get more background in the picture but my big head blocked out the entire San Fernando valley



Who needs Hawaii....this was the view from my front porch a couple days ago

Yes, my beef with Hawaii continues



Halloween in Hollywood

The Graham Clan hit Universal Studios this past weekend as a late birthday present for Sophia who turned 15 on the 17th. Sophie invited her boyfriend and we had a blast. Elias (Boyfriend) has a Harry Potter wand so we bought her a wand so they could do spells around Harry Potter world. For the price of the wand I was expecting real magic but Sophie and Elias had fun doing the interactive spells around Hogwarts. After Harry Potter we saw a few shows, went on the studio tour and visited Springfield where I took a picture in front of my favorite watering hole Moe's Tavern. I hope you enjoyed your Birthday Sophie, Love you

Just waiting for Homer and Barney to join me

Since Sophie was with her boyfriend Mia went and found herself a boyfriend

Mia with Lucy

Daddy in his Halloween costume at work. I was Mr. T with a twist....Mr. Safe "T"

I am the safety manager at work and everyone loved it. All I had to do was make the shirt with iron on letters, wear some of the girls play jewelry and shave a Mohawk on my head. I supplied my own muscles.

PPE stands for Personal Protective Equipment....I guess you had to be there.

Hawaii Still Sucks!

I guess I should be over it by now but I still have beef with Hawaii. I should be thankful that technology allows us to stay connected by face time, etc. but I want to hug little Zoe and Daric so bad. Dan, Janelle and the kids are doing great and Zoe started at her new school so I'm happy for them. I hope we can go visit soon. Love you guys!

Little Daric cruising in his ride

 Zoe going to school.

It's been a long time since the girls first went to school...this picture made me cry

Shoes...Check!, Backpack...Check!, Soda...Check!

 

Janelle sent this picture the first day they got there and I thought...how nice they went to the beach on the first day only to find out they just walked across the street. I'm not hating

 This park is right across the street from their house.

Looks like a shady neighborhood to me