Last Day of 2012

My grandson Tom was 20 years old on December 28. Hard to believe he is that old already!! He came down with his parents and they took me with them to Nagame's in Merced to celebrate his birthday. It was Tom's choice of where to go for dinner. His favorite restaurant is also mine. I enjoyed the visit and the dinner.

On Sunday, December 23rd, Kathryn and Jack invited family to a potluck at Castle Vista's clubhouse. It was their annual Christmas potluck for the Richards family. It's always good to see everyone. See more pictures of that day here.

Ernie and Diane invited Aunt Ernestine and I to dinner on Friday the 14th. The above gingerbread house was the centerpiece. Every year they make a gingerbread house from scratch and each time it's different. I took several pictures of it from front to back. You can see them by clicking on the link for the potluck pictures.
On Christmas Day, my sister's granddaughter invited me to join them for dinner. I wanted to take some pictures, but my little camera didn't cooperate for some reason. Too bad. I wanted to get a picture of little Richy with his new guitar. He just turned six years old earlier this month. He is quite a gentleman and a wonderful host at his tender age. My sister and I were quite amused and very surprised at how grown-up he is.
It's been a busy fun Christmas Season.
I hope everyone has a good year ahead of them.

My Company Left

Sandy and Dol flew in for a visit, arriving late Saturday night (June 2nd) and left for Northern California on Sunday June 10. I get to see them once a year, so while they are here I kind of stick to them like glue. They did go to Yosemite one day and hiked up to Nevada Falls. Sandy has a nice post about that on her blog.
Now they are in Chico visiting with Mandy and John.
Maggie and I are settling into our usual routine. Last night I went to Bible Study at the Atwater United Methodist Church. We are studying Adam Hamilton's book, "Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White." It has thoughts on Religion, Morality and Politics. It will be an interesting read with lots of difficult questions or ideas to consider. Of course we won't be told what or who to vote for, but things to think about before we make our decisions. Politics is just a small portion of what is read and discussed. Looking at the chapter titles, I see a lot thought provoking discussions ahead. This book and other Adam Hamilton books are available at www.amazon.com.
The Pastor's next series of sermons on Sundays will kind of follow along with this theme. Join us if you can; Sundays at 10:00 a.m. at the Methodist Church on the corner of Bellevue and Linden Streets.

Lazy Saturday

This morning we went to the Jantz Cafe for breakfast. Rosalie and Claudia joined us there. We went early; 7:30. I forgot to take a picture. In 2008, Rosalie and Claudia went with me to visit Sandy and Dol in the Netherlands. They had a nice short visit together.

We're having a lazy Saturday afternoon. Sandy is sitting on the porch reading a book. It's been a little windy today, not a good day for sitting around the pool.

Dol is dividing his attention between the iPad and a game on TV.
Earlier today they watched a couple of football games from Europe on TV.
Yesterday afternoon they gave Maggie the flea medicine on the back of her neck. She is not happy about that. She is keeping her distance from all of us. Maggie did sleep on my bed last night, so she's not as mad at me as she is with Sandy and Dol.
I guess the medicine is not affecting her as bad as I thought it did last time. She just doesn't like it and lets us know. She'll get over it.
Maggie jumped in front of the computer a while ago to let me know she wanted her canned cat food. But then she went right back outside and under the car. She's mad, but she still gets hungry after all.

Lunch at Josie's in Atwater

Jack, Kathryn, Tom and Margie joined us for lunch today at Josie's in Atwater. There were 7 of us and one of the waiters offered to take our picture.
The food is always delicious there.
Some of the family don't get to see Sandy and Dol very often, so it was nice that the four of them were able to have lunch with us today. Sitting is Sandy, Dol, Jack and Kathryn; standing is Margie, Tom and me (Lorraine).
We had a nice visit.
Tomorrow it's breakfast at the Jantz Cafe.

Today's Picnic Lunch

Today we picked up some KFC and had a picnic in John and Violet's back yard. There were 6 of us, my sisters, Sandy, Dol and I. They have a huge, beautiful back yard and they invite senior citizens to come, bring their picnic lunch, enjoy the very nice surroundings and have fresh fruit from their yard for dessert. They have invited the residents from Grace Home this Thursday.
After eating our lunch, John gives a tour of his backyard on his golf cart. Carolyn and I had the tour before so we stayed behind and took some pictures. Dol let the women ride and he walked along and got the tour and some exercise at the same time.
This is just a part of the many fruit trees in the family orchard. There are peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, citrus, and much more. There are wells around each tree for proper irrigation.
Here they are, back from the grand tour. Sandy is sitting in the front, next to John. You can see the big bicycle decoration in the back ground. To see more of the pictures that I took today click here.

Storm clouds appeared just before we left. The sky was beautiful with the dark clouds and we did get a few sprinkles as we packed up the car. We got home, unloaded the car and then the wind and the rain came. It was a downpour. What great timing we had. Got home just in time.
Sandy has a nice post on her blog about today's outing. See it here.
Her pictures at flickr can be seen here.

Breakfast With the Williams Clan

Tom and Margie invited me to breakfast at the Jantz Cafe this morning. It was a four generation Williams family group. In the above picture is Tom and his mother Kathryn.

In the next picture is Tom and his wife Margie.

In this picture is Margie with their son, Tom. We used to call him Tommy, but we can't do that anymore because there is another little Tommy pictured below.

In this picture is little Tommy sitting on his mother's lap. Jamie is Tom II's wife and on the right is Michelle, daughter of Tom and Margie.
I guess that's as clear as mud. Three generations of Tom Williams. Little Tommy is almost 2.5 years old. Very smart. He knows his colors well and not just the 8 primary colors. He loves his battery operated tractor and also his grandpa's big tractor. They have been visiting in Mariposa, but will be leaving for home on Sunday. They live in Missouri. Have a safe trip. Breakfast was fun. I enjoyed it. Thanks.
Oh, Jack was there too, but he sneaked out before I could take his picture.