A wonderful moment from a grandparents life

Bethany , our eldest daughters second child is of many characters check out Rachels blog . She is 6. On Mondays I take the children to Kindy, School and childcare and pick them up at the end of the day. Last Monday they all stayed for dinner which was great. Later as we crawled into bed we found a note from Bethany. It said"Papa rules Nana rocks keep smiling" with a picture of herself. It brought tears to both our eyes . The fact that she felt that way and the fact that she put it on our bed was wonderful. Kids don't always say how they are feeling about their relationship with us as grandparents. We are just there for them. I called her next morning to say thankyou for the note, saying that it made us feel special. She came back with "you are special Nana". Thanks Bethany.

The Cure

Wow! Rachel and I headed to the Cure concert last night wondering if we would know a lot of their material. She had been trying to catch up with his later cds. I hadn't done such research. From the moment they opened at 7.45 they played non stop except for two encores until 11.00 pm. It was visually one of the most exciting concerts I have been to. The lighting effects were stunning. A huge stage in our biggest venue was apt for the show they put on. The floor space was covered with a mass of bodies dancing and screaming to every song. By the end of the night they had covered all the oldies and a lot of new tracks. The music and guitar work was incredible if not ear splitting at times. Robert Smith still looked the same. Still wearing black. They have been around 30 years and haven't toured for 7 years to Australia. He didn't say much. One of his utterances was that we were f....ing miles away. He doesn't like flying. The money spent for Rachels birthday was well worth it . The crowd was an interesting mix. Not as much black as I remembered from his first concert many years ago. Back then he was the goths domain. Someone was actually wearing pink. I just sat there thinking how much Adam would have enjoyed it. If you can catch them in Europe somewhere do it. A big thankyou for Rachel for letting me come. It was the best.

Rachels'Surprise

Our eldest daughter turned 33 on Wed !st.August. On the Monday two days before her birthday I organized for them to come to our home for dinner for her birthday. That night I had to drop something off to her place when I walked in a very excited Ryan (8 years old) pulled me aside and told me he had organized a surprise party for his mum. He had already started ringing people and had a list of who he wanted to come. After asking him a few pertinent questions like where was he going to have it, what food, what time and what about a cake . . think he realised that a little more planning had to occur. He was sooo excited. We had quite a lot on the next few days with catering and working. He said he had called Andrea (his best friends mum) and she said perhaps he had better let me know what he was planning. First he thought I could have it at my house we could have an icecream cake and it would be after school. Well it started off very simple. I want to be 8 again. He said he was going to go shopping with his mum for food .

Because I was working until 3 that day we decided to have it at their house, I don't know what money he was going to use or how it was going to remain secret.We decided to enlist the help of Nicole for some food. I ordered a cake no time to make one and cooked some bits. Rachels' friends bought some food with them as well. I decided to have it at my place then so I could do stuff so it was a surprise. Rachel cottoned on something was going on. She thought it was at their house so she tidied up. After school they went home to get her presents telling her they had to go to my house for something. They raced inside making everyone hide in the dining room to shout surprise. We waited and waited and she didn't come inside. I went out to get her she was laughing. She made the appropriate sounds and faces to show it was a suprise much to the delight of the kids. It was a great party and we are so proud of Ryan for thinking up the idea and wanting his mum to celebrate her day with a surprise. It was all his idea. At 8 and doing that, imagine how he is going to propose to his girlfriend in years to come. He is a very thoughtful lad and I am proud to have him as my grandson. They shopped for presents as well with their dad. I think it was one of Rachels best birthdays. She is so lucky to have those kids. I also appreciate my workmates as they shoved me out of the door at work so I could race home to get there before everyone else . Happy Birthday Rachel and next time maybe a few extra days notice would be good. It was funny to have more kids than adults at an adults party. That would not have been Ryans ulterior motive I don't think. photos to follow

Over a month gone since last time.

Lots have been happening but not for publication. The 2 weeks half of our family were away in the snow flew so quickly. I had all these plans but work got in the way. Talking about work.. great excitement the brothers that own the bakery where I work are expanding in to Gawler . Our food is so popular that there is a need to bring it to the people who can't or won't walk or drive the 5 mins to Gawler South were we are now. So they will own two outlets as well as delivering their stock to towns all over the state. We are having big changes to staffing ,uniforms etc. We are as thrilled for the boys as they are. Their business is 40 years old this year so it is very successful, particularly since they took over from their Dad a few years ago. I will be working more hours. Our front of shop manager dropped a bombshell on us at our staff meeting last week. She is 37 and told us she never wanted kids... guess what... they are pregnant and having twins. Apparently they have been trying for 5 years not even their family knew. Great excitement for them and for us. Jackie and Robert are two beautiful people and will make great parents. Good luck to them. I work at a family owned business and love it. I feel very blessed to work at a place that doesn't have a work agreement ...yet. They are flexible and so are the staff that work for them. We are very loyal. How do you think I have managed to have 5 months off for travelling over the last year? Lots of stuff still happening with my Dad and Mum hopefully that will be resolved soon. I am worried about Mums wellbeing as much as Dads health. We will keep plodding on there. Some good days sometimes with him. We have been catching up with the kids and grand kids a lot lately which is a huge bonus living in the same town. We have caught up with our nephew Paul as well since being back from his prolonged working holiday to N.Z. He is a very interesting lad with a very bright future ahead of him once he decides what he wants to do . Ah to be 23 again with the world at your feet. Of course he has the travel bug well and truly. He is working at Telstra with his sister Lee and Nick at the same workplace. Missing Adam and Eva a lot again ....it is a year tomorrow since they left Australia. That has flown.