Finesse and I just returned from a much needed Mother/Daughter month long Journey. The time away was just what we needed to rekindle our friendship.  We are a great Mother/Daughter Team once again. Here are a few pictures from our trip to Texas. I got a few shades darker, Finesse turned 19 while there, and had lots of good times and made lots of memories!

This next Collage is of us with My Glama Girls...They both started wearing eyeglasses, while we were down there. Poor Babies, but they are still Adorable!

This next collage is of pictures that I took with my Droid phone on one of our many walks. I didn't get a chance to edit these images

This next collage was also taken with my Droid phone...so not the best pics. But I had to capture my Castroville Country Dream Home. It has a beautiful wrap around porch, 2 bdm., 2 ba., only 1,300 sq. ft home but it sits on an acre with about 30 pecan trees, and is river front property...I want it!

This is my Hometown...Castroville, it is an Alsation town. I miss it, I went to the movies as a kid in that theatre .50 a movie

Candid shots of Kasidy playing in the river. We stayed at my Cousin Bill's home, he lives right on the river. Danyel found a perfect heart-shaped rock...she was so proud of it! 

Staying here was unbelievably peaceful...we'd get up take our coffee down to the river and talk, think, feed the ducks, pray and meditate on life.

This next collage is of my Sister Laura (LuLu) and her husband Steve and my Brother Robert (Bobby) and his wife Rina and myself on our last night there. Lulu had me over for a Farewell Dinner. It was a lot of Fun. I left the next morning Friday at 6am and got home Saturday night at 10pm.

This next Collage is of our Welcome Home...Aww Adam really missed us. He even used my arts and crafts stuff and my glue gun to make this welcome home sign, Whata Guy! He had Orchid plants for each of us, and huge Godiva Chocolate bar for each of us, Dark Chocolate for Finesse (her favorite), milk chocolate for me (my favorite) and a dozen pink roses for me! He said I can never leave again : )

The Chernoff Family were such a joy to work with...They were a fun group! Thank you for allowing me to photograph your Beautiful Family, you all looked so nice for your portraits ; )

So yesterday...I texted my sister Damiana, whom I had not spoken to in over 4 years, and she texted back and said that my timing could not have been better...So we proceeded to bond and talk about what was going on in our lives, and I invited her to come to my home and spend the night so we could catch up.

She had never been to my home so we met at the mall, we made it home had some pizza and wine and just caught up...it was so nice! To talk to someone who was cut from the same cloth...someone who grew up in the same dysfunctional home and who can empathize with all of my thoughts, struggles and fears. We have so much in common...I always felt like I didn't belong in my family, like I had been adopted into this family, which is weird...cuz my family always joked with me and told me that I was adopted or that I was found on the doorstep...they knew I was very sensitive, and they always tried to hurt me, and it worked they did. I was always made to feel like the black sheep of the family.

Well, my sister Damiana and I are so similiar...nonjudgemental and sensitive to others feelings as well as to our own. We talked and laughed and cried and told old stories...some funny, some sad. I am so glad to get to know my sister and friend.

There are 10 of us kids in my family, however, I felt as tho I grew up in a 2 kid family, because only my sister Sylvia who is 2 years older than me was in the house when I was growing up, cuz the other 8 children were grown and married. So I never got a chance to really know them. And Damiana is one of those siblings that I never got a chance to get to know...I always admired her beauty, and wanted to look just like her when I grew up...I would stand there at her dressing table as she fixed her hair and put her make up on and would just stare at her with Awww...wishing that I would grow up to be that beautiful someday.

So I am so glad to have her back in my life, she only lives an hour and a half away, in Stanwood, Wa. So we have plans to keep this friendship going, and to help each other out through our difficult times that we are both struggling with, as well as our difficult past that we have still got to learn to let go of.

So we stayed up talking late into the night, and then woke up and had coffee together, and shared more of our similiar interests. We then got dressed and went to the bank...She bought my mustang and I bought my dream car, a Gold 1997 Jaguar last night, so we went and took care of the monies and titles and everything. It was as tho I traded my poor mans dream car (the mustang) for my Real Dream Car ( the Gold Jag). So we went and took care of all of that, and then we went to lunch, and she came home and test drove her new Red 1998 Ford Mustang. She loves it! Then we said goodbye and made plans to see each other very soon.

Satan is so sneaky...if he can't get US to faulter, he will see to it that we get attacked from the outside in.  So although, the Fit hit the Shan on Thursday...we were determined to not let Satan beat us down, we made it to the meeting on Sunday, and then afterwards we went to Red Lobster and brought Roselie with us and we celebrated the closing of our house as well as celebrating the priveledge of being a united family of sheep in Jehovah's Loving Organization. Although at first we dont always understand why things happen the way that they do...we do later, it all comes to light. Well, already after prayerful meditation...I can see WHY my family is going through this, Jehovah sees to it that things get taken care of...and this is one way that he saw to it that a wrong be righted, even if it hurt our family in the process...Jehovah knew he would give US the strength to power through this, too. And we are, it is not easy, but we are. We are a united family, we will stick together! I did not struggle in raising my kids all alone for so many years to let anyone divide us...I cannot and will not allow that to happen, and with Jehovah's help we will make it.

So we went out and celebrated anyway...everything will work itself out. Here is what I ate on Sunday at Red Lobster...it was delicious!

Well, the Purse Party was a total success! Everyone had a great time, there were about 24 of us...It was alot of fun. Lots of us got gorgeous handbags. I had my eye on two handbags...but didn't want to pay for two, and surprisingly because enough people bought handbags I got a big enough discount that one of my handbags was FREE, WooHoo! Plus, just for hosting I had a choice of a pair of sunglasses or  a Coach wristlet purse, so I chose the wristlet.

My sister Pauline and her husband and a couple of her friends were able to make it from Gig Harbor. Also my niece Teri and her husband and son made it from Gig harbor, Teri and her family spent the night. So this morning we had our coffee and visited and then got dressed and we took them to The Bakery in Black Diamond for breakfast, and then walked the food off by taking a tour of the Black Diamond Museaum and jail and caboose, it was alot of fun.

                                                    FEBRUARY 15, 2009

So we have been Leasing with Option to buy for about a year...and now we are finally there! We should close the first week of March...WooHoo!

Life has been pretty crazy...so much has happened to our family in the past 2 years, I am surprised that I have survived (and without medication: ) Believe me there were plenty of times that I needed it! With Jehovah's help we made it...not quite done going through things, but Jehovah has given us the strength to continue so that is what we will do.

I have the girls this month...and this month has been a struggle, they came back from Texas very angry (atleast Danyel has) she just has an angry undertone to all that she says...especially when she speaks to her little sister. I dont know if that is because that is how she is spoken to in Texas...or if she is just ticked off inside for all the garbage that is going on in her little life. But with all the stuff going on right now literally in my home, she is a bit hard to deal with...I am trying extremely hard and doing alot of praying to be extra patient with her. What I meant by all the stuff going on literally in my home is that...My son Daniel moved back home, so we cleared out our rec. room which has it's own bathroom and closet (actually it's the coat closet) and that is where he is staying, it is kinda like a studio apt. And so now all the stuff that was in there is in my family room...the pool table, hockey table, furniture that was in there is in with the family room furniture. The place looks crazy like a swap meat or something...stuff everywhere. So that is kinda how I am feeling inside as well, a bit chaotic...so Danyel has tried my patience a bit on this visit, but I am trying extremely hard to be patient with her, because I know she is going through so much inside, as we all are.

On top of all of that I am in the middle of painting the interior of my home so I have furniture pulled out from the walls and in the middle of the rooms. I have this thing about Pink...I just LOVE IT! So I had to get it out of my system...my formal living and dining rooms are both "Powder Pink" just 2/3 of the wall and the bottom third of the wall will have wainscoting. My kitchen is Powder Pink as well...it should look nice once we have our Stainless Steel appliances and Black granite countertops, and I am doing some creative stuff with Corrugated metal in my breakfast nook...that gives it kinda an industrial look, looks awesome with the pink, and de-feminizes it for Adam's sake. The adjoining Family room is "Cinnamon Spice" looks like chocolate brown....looks good with the pink in the kitchen and breakfast nook...except that it makes me and Finesse both hungry for chocolate, probably wasn't a smart choice for paint color in a room that is so close to the kitchen. I can just see it now the walls making us crave chocolate, and us just going to the fridge for something, anything to satisfy our craving...Hello pounds and fat!  I guess, next I should pray for will power : )

So the girls are napping right now, we just got back from the playground...I am gonna go give the kitchen a second coat and then be done with that. When Adam gets home he can help me take the pool table and hockey table apart and store it until Daniel moves out. We have got to get them out of the middle of the family room, we have Theatre night tomorrow evening...gotta reduce some of the chaos before then.

Well, that is about all for now...TTYS (talk to yall soon)

The Chaos in my Family Room  (The Red curtain, is actually a tablecloth to give Daniel privacy in his room) That is a cutout into the Rec. room, but it looks kinda Yucky with the table cloth hanging there, not sure how else to give him privacy tho. 

Tuesday the 14th...I had the pleasure of meeting Paul and Lisa Bradford and their handsome little son Miles, during a Family Portrait Session in their Lovely home. I am still in the middle of editing the images, however, I wanted to show a sneak peek. Paul and Lisa...Thank you so much for inviting me into your home to capture these precious moments.

Monday I sent out Red Velvet Theatre Newsletters to all the Friends...letting them know that we were resuming with our usual Saturday Theatre Movie Night. We were going to be Featuring Star Trek...and within acouple of days, people had reserved all 15 seats. We had a wonderful time last night! Very nice to be able to put all the other stresses of life aside for a few hours and socialize with our Friends. We had Pizza, Popcorn, Soft Drinks, and Candy to munch on during the movie. However, At the last minute we had 4 cancelations but we still had 11 people over...it was Awesome! Look forward to having the friends over again next Saturday! To see our website go to http://www.RedVelvetTheatre.com it will give you a little history of how we started movie night.

I was so busy with legal issues having to do with with my glama girls and with Russ's healh issues, he now has a permanent picc line for IV's...that he will be getting every Friday at the Hospital, so I will drive them both to Enumclaw for this weekly. I will post an image of the week Tomorrow.

So the Court hearing for Temporary Custody of the girls will be on Monday...tomorrow the 23rd. It has been a very intense time for our family. Last week Kasandra's attorney called our attorney and asked Suellen if there was any way possible to settle this out of court. So the two attorneys put their heads together and came up with this deal: Kasandra would be named "Primary Custodial Parent"(her attorney wanted that), That each parent would have the girls every other month-for a whole month, and that Daniel would pay all airfare ( her attorney wanted that), and that Daniel would continue to pay for Kasandra's car in lieu of child support.

We countered with: Daniel named "Primary Custodial Parent" (since this is the Girls Residential State, that they still have jurisdiction in), and we don't mind Daniel having the girls every other month for a whole month, however, since Kasandra is the one that caused all this mess and uprooted the girls out of state...we dont feel Daniel should be responsible for all the airfare, so we are asking for "Shared Airfare", and Daniel is fine with paying for her car payments in lieu of Child support.

All of this would be in affect until the Final Hearing In September of 2010. The attorneys wanted our thoughts on all of this, before presenting it to Kasandra. We still haven't heard back from anyone since Thursday. And the hearing is to take place tomorrow already. We'll see what happens!

We need those girls here...Kasandra has taken those girls to a place that she herself has so vividly and grossly described as unhealthy physically and emotionally for the girls. She has shared things about her family members that make me fearful for my girls to be around them, for fear of what could be done to them. When Daniel and I flew to Texas to see the girls they kept telling me "Ama don't leave me here in Texas...I want to live in my yellow house in Covington" How sad is that, she kept telling me how her mom is always screaming at her and hitting and pinching her? The girls want to come home so Badly!

Kasandra and her family and friends all claimed that Daniel lied in his declaration of how filthy Kasandra and her family are...they submitted pics. of their home. I say... "It is very easy to tidy up and then take pics. to prove to the Judge/Court how tidy they are" but I found pics in Kasandra's MySpace account in her "We're in TX now" album, that show just how filthy of a home they are presently living in, when they aren't trying to prove to the judge/court that Daniel is lying, this is what her mothers house looks like and this is what Kasandra's home always looked like when she lived up here. In spite of Daniel repeatedly asking her to do better at keeping house for their girls, she never did, so Daniel would go to work all day and then come home and clean house too.  Attached below is a picture of the Filth she has my grandchildren living in, they don't even have a proper, clean place to sleep at night. We need to get these girls out of this filth, they always have runny noses, coughs, and red watery eyes, I am convinced because of the Unsanitary Conditions that they live in. We submitted these images to the court.

"The images below is their environment in Tx...How could a mother allow their child to crawl around in this? Kasidy is crawling around on a Plywood floor, with the possibility of slivers, ugh! And the vacuums back there are obviously not being used...just being stored in that filthy hallway. And look at where they are sleeping, doesn't look to safe to me, things could fall on them and it is just plain filthy." MY POOR GLAMA GIRLS!

Cool Tree in Muckleshoot, Wa.

I thought it would be a nice idea...to start an "Image of the Week" here on my blog. I will begin with the image below...Let me know what you think...I would love to hear your thoughts.

Mt. Rainier ~ taken in August of 2009