Sunny Days!

My niece, Sunny, lives in Hawaii...
But when she's in town...BOY do we have fun!
Tonight she came for dinner at my house!

Halloween 2007

At Fuddruckers!

At the Orange County Fair 2008
At the old ballgame!
We've never missed a year seeing Santa together!!

When Sunny is around, every day is a bright, bright Sunshiny Day!!

Abe, I love you

I've got Sunshine...on a cloudy game

Last night at Sunny's first visit to Dodger Stadium!
Sunny and Papa (and her bag of peanuts!)

Some amazing seats, huh?

So we ROOT ROOT ROOT for the Dodgers...
they didn't win, it's a shame!
(In fact, the fat lady pretty much sang--
LOUDLY-- throughout the game!)
We didn't catch a foul ball either...
But, despite all that, we had a really great time
and we truly can't wait to go back!

Sunny with a chance

This is my niece, Sunny, at her very first baseball game a couple of years ago. I'd been teaching her to sing "Take me out to the ballgame" since she was old enough to speak...and, MAN, did we have a BLAST that night. We were in foul territory and came painstakingly close to catching a ball several times during BP and throughout the game!

I was really frustrated that we didn't get one.
Sunny's response? "Juju, why don't you just go BUY a ball?"
Tonight, Sunny will have a chance to catch a ball again!
This time, at Dodger Stadium! We'll be heading up to the Dodgers/Mariners game in a little while! I am so excited for her to ROOT ROOT ROOT for the Dodgers this time!
I decided to go to the market and buy me some peanuts and crackerjack--and licorice and Reese's pieces and cookies--to take with us tonight.
Then I stopped by Sports Chalet and bought Sunny her first Dodgers baseball cap.

I don't care if we ever get back!!
But I'll post pictures when we do.

More family food!

Tonight I met my cousins Robin and Laura, my sister Gina and friends Lori and Ev at PF Changs! WHAT a delicious dinner and SUCH an enjoyable evening!

Robin and Laura are sisters and have two OTHER sisters!

And, of course Gina and I have THREE other sisters!
Oh yeah...banana spring rolls!

Life is deliciously good tonight!

Oh, Jose can you see?*

I had the GREAT pleasure of taking my friend, Jose and his family to their very first baseball game last night! It was "Jeff Mathis free kids jersey night" and...Jose caught a foul ball! And, thanks to the monkey, the Angels found a way to "LIGHT UP THE HALO!"
Jose with Shayla...and the prized foul ball!

Jose, Shayla, Brittany, Cynthia, Aida and Melissa
(They are each wearing "My 1st game" stickers!)

(Not sure which of us was having more fun!)

Oh, and our seats weren't bad either!
It was a PERFECT night at the ballgame.
(Really, aren't they all?)

*My choice as best title ever.

Manny's Back

Just scored tickets to the Dodgers' July 3rd game vs.
the Padres down at Petco Park!
If all goes right, this will be Manny's first game back with the team!
And, who better to share the night with than my good friend and die-hard Padres fan, Ange!
So looking forward to it!

The Oneders*

My nephew, Thatcher, had an interesting school assignment last week. He had to come up with one song that would be the "best title for his life"....
Since he's quite the surfer and loves everything about it, he chose "Surfing USA"...
Today at lunch I mentioned the assignment to a few friends at work...
"What one song would be the best title for your life?" I wonder....
It started off seriously, but within a few minutes we were laughing so hard, milk was shooting out of people's nose, food was being spit out and tears were running down my face. Well, that might be slightly exaggerated...but it was pretty dang funny...
With a little help, I started to write them down:

*I Still Haven't Found what I'm Looking for
*You can't always get what you want
*Dancing Queen
*The Thrill is Gone
*Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
*I'm Too Sexy
*I am Woman Hear me Roar
*Don't worry, Be happy
*Can't buy me love
*They're coming to take me away
*I Will Survive
*Super Freak
*Highway to Hell
*Misunderstood
*I get by with a little help from my friends
*I wanna know what love is
*Comfortably numb
*Like a Virgin
*Miss Independent
*The Bitch is Back
*Easy Lover
*Surfer Girl
*I'm a Barbie Girl
*Material Girl
*Dude Looks like a Lady
*Wild Thing
*Disco Duck
*Happiest Girl in the whole USA
(that was mine...)

What's YOUR'S?

*It's good, right?

It's June 22nd!

Wishing my sister, Gina, a FABULOUS birthday!

My blue heaven!!

Gina and I took in the Dodgers game tonight in Anaheim!
We drank a toast to our Dodger-loving Dad!Kobe Bryant caused quite a stir at the game...
(This shot is for YOU, Shadi!)Talk about a heavenly view! And what a GREAT game!Dodgers win again and take the series!
Heavenly!

HAPPY Father's Day!

This is probably the first Father's Day...ever??...that I won't see my sweet Dad, as he and my mom are up in San Francisco with my two sisters this weekend! Thankfully, though, I get to see him about once a week throughout the rest of the year!

My Dad has an incredible work ethic, an amazing sense of humor and an enviable desire to love and make people happy! He is also the root of my passion for baseball! Having FIVE daughters, I think my Dad was determined to make each of us "well-rounded." Taking us fishing and camping...teaching us how to to check and add oil to our car. We all learned how to mow the lawn and to fix things around the house. He encouraged us to play softball...to run for class office....and to love Vin Scully. Obviously, there were no "boy things" and "girl things" in our family. These were just things we did with our dad. I honestly think my sisters and I are all better people for that.
And, I gotta tell ya, to this day, a day at the ballgame with my dad is still my happiest place on earth. How lucky can a girl get?
Love you Pops!

Blue Angels

Courtney and I had an AMAZING time at the Angels/Dodgers game!! We were of the few in BLUE in a sea of red!

We had our Dodgers shirts, Dodgers peanuts, and even our Dodgers napkins (thanks Sonja!) but, for some reason, the Angels still managed to win. Honestly though, we had SO much fun--and it was such a great game--
we really weren't blue at all.

Double Delight!

Headed to the Dodgers/Angels game in Anaheim tonight...
And Sunday night too!!
Um, yeah, I DO have a good life!

One day a year...

My home is on the same street as the local high school. This causes trouble for about 15 minutes every afternoon (and I have learned to avoid those exact minutes) and for exactly one full day each year: Graduation Day, which was today.
All week there were signs posted up and down our street WARNING residents of traffic delays and parking issues on 6/18. Well, for those of us who have lived here a few years now, we know to either plan to lock ourselves in our homes all day on that day...or to GET OUT and STAY OUT. Today, I chose the latter.
I left the house early this morning and have just returned. And avoided every single bit of it! Not even a traffic cone left!
What did I do all day? Here's a little taste of my very enjoyable day away from home.
I can hardly wait til next year!