Macy Changes Uncle John's Life

Last night when Macy and Marshall were over here, I got out some old pictures of them to look at. Macy really enjoyed this, and when she came to the picture above, she said, "Mimi, it looks like Uncle John really loves me in this picture." I told her, "Yes, it does...in fact, it was about this time that Uncle John and Aunt Leenie decided to get married and have a little baby of their own!" She smiled a big smile, and said, "SO I CHANGED UNCLE JOHN'S LIFE!!??"

San Fernando Cathedral

I was born in San Antonio, and haved lived here all my life, yet I've never stepped foot in the San Fernando Cathedral. I've heard of it all my life, and I'm embarrassed to say, I really didn't even know where it was. You see, I don't spend a lot of time around the courthouse downtown! It is right there, a stone's throw away from the courthouse, on Main Plaza. My sweet Emmaus Reunion Group planned an outing there yesterday, and little did I know, it would be a day I'd never forget.

We started the day with lunch at Mi Tierra's Restaurant at El Mercado. This is the foyer when you first walk in!

This is the ceiling in the room where we ate. It was covered with icicle lights and silver foil paper doilies. There is a Spanish word for this which I don't know. It was very beautiful.

This cathedral was founded in 1793 when 15 families of 55 people came to San Antonio from the

Canary Islands.

The remains of Crockett, Bowie, and Travis, our Alamo heroes, are buried here.

Here are the "milagros" that people bring to represent prayer requests.

And here are just some of the candles which were in many areas of the cathedral which people light when they pray.

The majesty of this altar just can't be appreciated from this photo. It is a beautiful statue of Jesus surrounded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And yes, that is real gold.

When we finished our tour of the cathedral, the twelve of us received permission to sit in a circle on the side of the sanctuary and visit and pray. We were led by Denise Barker who talked to us about "blessings," how we rarely take the time to realize what a blessing we are to God, and to realize all the blessings in our lives every day. Her words, as always, were beautiful. When Molly Bailey went to Isreal a few months ago, she brought each of us a little box with three bottles: one of holy water, one of holy oil, and one of holy soil. Denise asked us to bring our holy oil that day, so we could all be anointed. Then we went around the circle and each of us put oil on the forehead of the person to our right, and we took turns telling them what a blessing they were to us. It was a very meaningful experience. When we finished, we very softly sang, "Surely the Presence of the Lord is in This Place."

It was a day I won't ever forget. For a link to this song, click here

Surely the Presence of the Lord is in This Place

Marshall and the Chipmunks

One night during the Christmas holidays, it was Marshall's turn to spend the night with us alone. This is always a treat for them and us! I told him after his bath, we'd take him driving around in the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights, which he was very excited about. He put on his Nemo house slippers and yelled, "I'm ready!" and this is what was waiting for us in the hallway! Marshall and his chipmunks! (He had just seen the movie a few days before!)

Macy's Growing Up!

This picture taken of Macy at Christmas shows how fast she's growing up. You can't really see her cute frou-frou skirt that I bought her at the Junior League Ole Marketplace because her hands are sort of holding it down here. I got the black bling-bling t-shirt and sequined scarf in Dallas at Justice For Girls. That's what makes me sad. It's a store for pre-teen girls in sizes 7-14. She's in a 7-8 now (at age 6)! I just wish I could freeze her right at this age!

Ainsley's Funny Surprise!

This video was taken on New Year's Eve when Papa and I were babysitting with Ainsley so her mom and dad could go to a party. She was giggling like crazy at something Larry kept saying and I grabbed my camera and put it on "video." This is the result!

If you didn't see this video before Jan. 7, you missed it. I removed it for the sake of my sweet granddaughter's dignity. :-)

Ainsley's Christmas

John, Colleen, Carolyn, (Colleen's mom), and Ainsley arrived Christmas evening. After watching other grandchildren wait for endless minutes to get their toys out of the packaging, I had Ainsley's gifts assembled and out of the packaging, ready to be played with! She walked in and began talking to her twin baby dolls in their new high chair and cradle. Here she is feeding the baby "yogurt."

Ainsley loves to laugh and once she starts, it doesn't take much to keep her going. Here, she is playing a little game with her mom, which had her pretty tickled.

This was another fun gift from Macy and Marshall...

And even more fun was putting the blue bow on her head and laughing!

Here she is with the baby Jesus from one of my nativity scenes. She liked the story and really wanted to play with all the figures, but after I told her it was "Mimi's toy," she left it all alone. Next year, we will get her the Fisher-Price Nativity Set for children.

We had fun at the park in our neighborhood, and she even inspired me to go down the double slide with her! Look at her face in this photo. She gets really excited on a playground.

Looking at Mommy through a hole.

Going up the stairs to the slide...

Everytime she came down the slide, she stand up, and say, "Again," and she'd go again and again!

This is one of my favorite Christmas pictures of her, wearing her Minnie Mouse scarf, hat and mittens from her great aunt Sandy in California.

When we took her outside, she really didn't want to smile. It was pretty cold, and she didn't have on a coat or shoes...but I thought the lighting would be better.

This is why God made grandmothers. At dinner, she was not happy and didn't want to eat much of anything. Her mom and dad had reached their limits and Mimi was saying something like, "I should have fixed her some macaroni and cheese..." She knew I was sympathetic to her cause and in the middle of a huge temper tantrum, through tears, she looked across the table at me, and said, "I want my Mimi!" Well, that was it. I broke all the rules, and went around to her and took her out of her chair and sat her on my lap. She calmed down and ate a few bits of chicken, had a roll, and some water and milk. I didn't win a popularity contest with Mom and Dad, but it was one of my favorite Christmas memories this year! Ainsley, I promise, next year, I will fix a big bowl of macaroni and cheese for you, so neither you nor I will get into trouble!

Fun under the tree with Daddy.

While her mom and dad were loading up the car on Sunday morning, Papa and I took her down to the pond to feed crackers to the fish. I love this picture of her. The lighting was just right, and you can almost see the gold halo over her head!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Santa was very good to all of us, but the best gifts of all were the grandchildren, who made this a blessing of a holiday!

Christmas with the Gee's

Larry and Ashley had us over Christmas morning for brunch and present un-wrapping. Their tree is always beautiful! Brunch was wonderful with a yummy egg casserole, sausage rolls, fresh fruit, other things, mimosas and coffee.

Sam got some new sunglasses...

A head light...

A Buzz-Lightyear from "Toy Story," and lots and lots of other things.

Hayden was very excited about his Lego City----I think they may need to add a room on the house once it is built! It was so much fun watching the boys unwrap all their gifts.

Sam summed it up when in the middle of unwrapping presents, he looked at everyone and shouted, "THIS IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!"