Photo from August Scrapping Escape, the theme was Mermaids, so we hoped in the fountain for our photos shoot. This at the La Jolla Marriott, which is a fabulous place! We just love it here!

Christy and I took a cooking class at Sur La Tab while in La Jolla, we walked down to the ocean, it was a beautiful day!

me and tree by the sea

Christy

These Pelicans were playing with this stick and kept toss it around and grabbing it from each other, was amazing to watch.

Steak, Salad, and fresh handmade Pasta, it was so good!

Playing catch up!

Ok Let's see if I can get this going again....I am only going to have my blog and my instagram. I will not do a stamp blog or facebook...that way I can focus on my blog, which I dearly miss...

Having a blog is like a diary and I can print out each year and have it documented in a book form.
It will be my legacy in case anything should happen to me. I wish I had scrapbooks and written memories from my mom and grandma to look back on but I don't. So I will have my blog for my kids and grandkids, it has my recipes, my adventures, and my life lessons for them!

I won't try to remember everything since January, but I know I had scrapbooking trips and some trips to Arizona and plenty of pool time this summer.

Welcome to 2019

Here we go, I miss my blog, and I am ready to start posting again.
I have lots to share as I am stepping up my cooking game with challenges and classes and more!
I also have my crocheting to share. One of the things on my bucket list I need to get done is learning to knit, so I am hoping that will happen this year.

My Christmas was quiet and I came down with a cold, so it was quiet boring.

Here are some highlights of the past 2 months I have been missing:

My sister at expo

Me at expo

We finished our fence

I made Christmas cookies

I had dinner with Michael Symon

I am getting lots of updates on my grandson and he is getting so big and handsome!

I will see you soon, I just finished January's bake challenge with Sally's baking addiction, stay tuned for more!

Where is the time going??

Oh man, I have missed my blog....  I have been playing on instagram @CreativecatJackie if you want to follow along...but I need to get back to this blog!

It has been over a month, let's see where did I leave off....

After Palm Springs, my sister and I headed to Arizona to meet Little Levi!

Oh he was so cute, we held him and rocked him, we visited with his mommy, Becky....we just relaxed, I cooked some meals and Travis came home we played trivia on his phone....next time we gotta bring some games and get unplugged!

I am hoping to get out there for the holidays, I wish I could drive but I get anxiety and then I get lost and then I freak out even more, I am afraid I will kill myself or someone else by going the wrong way on the freeway or something like that, So I have to fly everywhere....

I am glad to be getting updates on the phone, Becky texts us a lot, Levi is getting some personality now and he is already such a little character like his daddy was!

I try to send a grandma loves you box to him each month, but I sure wish I could see him more, I was so happy when Ethan was little and I watched him, we had so much fun all day! Cartoons, playing outside, waiting for the Ice Cream man and then waiting for Grandpa to come home!

14 years between grand kids is a long time, the years are flying by!

One Happy Grandma!!!

Yep, Okie Tacos were made!

Grandma has coffee breath! hahaha

Dad and his little beard puller!

Look at that little footie!!

I fell in love with this guy! Benji...He is massive! The picture is deceiving, this is one huge cat!!

They have 7 cats and 3 dogs and a turtle and a tortoise!

Love this guy too, Scrappy! He is a lovable old man!!!

I will get some more fun things up soon, we got our fence being completed then some landscaping and house painting to get done! See you soon with more from my little home in the desert!

Palm Springs Vacation!

I was able to take a little vacation, it was a scrapbook retreat with www.scrappinescapes.com but I added on 2 extra days to relax and destress. We are working on the house and that fires up a lot of anxiety, so it was best to just get out of the way and let everyone do what they needed to do without me worrying about every little thing...I get that from my grandma.

The retreat was at the very beautiful Hyatt Regency resort in Indian Wells. I just love this place! The grounds are lovely, the food is amazing. I love the room with a drop down living room with large desk for stamping, scrapbooking or painting at.

I took full advantage of my time by going poolside, and getting a mani-pedi. I got in some much needed sleep. By Friday I was ready for company, Christy showed up and we started scrapbooking with the SE group, there were about 60 of us. We had a great time!

Sunday found me back home and ready to tackle more DIY home projects.

Hope everyone is enjoying their last days of summer, I know I sure am!

Mr. Hyatt The turtle that lives in the big pond.

Christy and our yummy veggie bowl we had for breakfast.

Me and one of the ponds.

Got home to a new roof, Nice!

Welcome little Levi!!

I have been on the go this month, my sister came to town for a weekend, we started remodeling our front yard, a scrapbooking retreat in San Diego.......AND I became a Grandma again!!!

Meet little Levi, my son and his wife had their baby on August 26th, He weighed 6lbs 14 oz. He was 3 1/2 weeks early....he was supposed to be here Sept 21, but I am sure Rebecca is happy to not be pregnant in the Arizona heat any longer!!!

I was flying home from SD when it happened, we were hoping for anytime after September 10th, but the little booger got here early....So I can't get to see him until Sept 21, the perils of living in 2 different states! UGH!!! with my trips and the remodel, I have one week to get the roof done, the block wall completed and lawn updated before I am off again for a week long scrapbook retreat, I wish I could postpone and go see Levi, but that is a lot of $$$ to lose, and Levi will be sleeping his first month or two, I'm sure he won't mind if Grandma is late, since he was early, booger booger booger!!!

He is so adorable:

Here are some August happenings:

Before

during, still need iron work....

Sister bingo

cooking class

September is around the corner and I will have more fun things planned, stay tuned for more adventures of my life in the desert!

Summer happenings....

We took a little vacation to Arizona, wow, it was hot there!

We had 2 baseball games at Arizona diamond backs stadium, they really need to build that stadium here and get LAS VEGAS A BASEBALL TEAM!
It is a fabulous stadium, they can open the roof or close it, so when it is blazing hot in the summer the roof is closed and it is a wonderful place to see a ballgame in air conditioned comfort!

We also got to go to Rebecca and Travis baby shower, we started the day going to the 4d ultrasound with lots of friends and family there to see little Levi before he arrives in the real world, he was a little grouchy and did not want to smile for us, little booger already! We did get a little picture but I wanna wait to show you him in real life!! UGH, this grandma can't wait, only 1 1/2 months to go!!!
 After that we headed to the baby shower, it was a fun time had by all, fun games and good food and pool time with some adult beverages!

We headed home but not before having a Sunday breakfast at this great cafe we found, the food was so delicious! Try out "The Breakfast Club" if you end up in downtown Phoenix....fabulous!

Other than that we have been staying home and relaxing in the pool a lot.
Summer nights we have the telescope out to see the moon and stars, pictures down below....

I hope everyone is having a great summer, I am going to start back up posting some great recipes I have been finding and trying, got some good ones, so stay tuned!

Masterchef had a cheese souffle challenge, so here is mine, nailed it!

Playing in my craft room with watercolors

I will be sharing this recipe for firecracker chicken, it was so good!!

The moon through the telescope

Jupiter and it's moons

Levi's first baseball t-shirt, many many more to follow!!

The Breakfast club sandwich, it has a little horseradish sauce on it too!
I Love Love Love that sandwich!

The 3 bellies!

Lots of goodies for Levi, let's see if we can spoil him rotten!!! Hee-Hee!!

Breakfast before going home, I miss you all already! Well, the big guy in red I get to take home with me!!

Frozen margarita at the ball park, we had a great little vacation!