Charlie the Dog

Nick's cousins Henry and Katie have a new dog!  We decided to put a gift for Charlie in the box of presents we sent to the family. 

On Christmas morning we got a text message with a picture of Katie and Charlie.  She said he loved our present, a little doggie chew toy that looks a little bit like him!

Santa Sighting!

On Christmas Eve, mom went to the boardwalk. 

There was a Christmas Tree on the boardwalk, and a man sitting on a bench looking at the waves.  It looked like the man was wearing a Santa suit.

It was Santa!

He posed for this picture in front of the tree.

And he posed for this selfie!

And then he ran away, probably to deliver presents!

Christmas Cookies

Every year we still make holiday cookies after we have put up our tree.  Here are some pictures of Nick decorating his cookies.

The LEGO Tree

Nick does some quirky things, and one of them is he likes to put his LEGO big blocks on the branches of our Christmas Tree.  Each year he puts them on and mom takes them off after work. 

This year mom let Nick do all the decorating, and he is happy to have his blocks on the branches.  But then one day mom saw that Nick put the LEGO cover on the top of the tree!  Mom said, "No, no, that is coming down.  You can keep your colorful blocks, we will have to compromise!"

Hello Christmas Tree!

In December, we plan a day on the calendar to go to The Dees Nursery to get our Christmas Tree.  As the day Nick was excited.  He wrote mom this note:

We have been going to The Dees for our tree for many years.  Nick likes to wear his Santa hat as we walk through all the trees looking for our perfect match.

Nick was very happy when we made our choice.  He watched the men cut the bottom and wrap up the tree to put in our car.

Mom suggested we make dinner first and then do the decorating.  Nick could not wait, he used his scissors to cut the string so the branches would open.

We did the lights together and then mom let put on all the decorations.  He had a big smile on his face as he took out his ornaments and decorated the tree.

November Sunset

On Thanksgiving weekend, mom and Nick had a lot of time together and we took walks through Long Beach and on the boardwalk. 

One night we had a beautiful sunset and mom took these nice pictures.

Halloween Dance

This year, there was a beautiful orange moon rising when we took Nick to the Best Pals Halloween Dance at the High School.  Mom tried to get a good picture, Nick was very interested in the color of the moon that night. 

Then we went in for the party.  Nick saw his teacher and Kristin who he has not seen in a long time.  Mom tried to get a picture of Nick and Dante because they have known each other for a long time, but those boys just won't stand still for a picture!

Surfer's Healing

Every year, Nick goes with his school to the Surfer's Healing event in Lido Beach.

This year mom went to meet Nick at the event.  Unfortunately, Nick was scared of the birds and was hiding in a tent.  Lots of people from the school were trying to help Nick get over his fear.  At the end of the afternoon Nick's teachers helped him walk to the dunes and back to the buses.

Mom was disappointed that Nick would not surf because he has enjoyed that in the past.  Mom told Nick he has to work on his fear of birds so he can have fun at the beach again.

Nick loves his Surfer's Healing t-shirt collection.  He has been proudly wearing his new shirt every week since he got it in September.

Silly Summer Selfies

Mom and Nick spend time together shopping, cooking, and going for walks.  Here are some of our summer selfies, taken at home and on one of walks though the West End.

Our Beloved Tree

Our Tree in front of the house stands much higher than our roof.  We can see it from far away when we are in the car.

We planted this tree 18 years ago.  Here are some pictures through the years, including the day that we planted it when it was a tiny stick. 

We planted it with grammy, and she loves to come and visit and see how much the tree has changed!  It is a reminder to us of the passing years and a very happy memory that we like to share.

Chicken Fajitas

On Sundays, mom and Nick make chicken fajitas with ingredients we have in the house.  We have a very simple recipe that we would like to share.

These are some of the things we use that are always in the house.

And here is our recipe. 

Hope you like them too!

The Grandchild Tour (2018)

After Nick's birthday, grammy continued on with her grandchild tour.  These are some of her favorite pictures that she shared from her trip.

These are birthday pictures and some fun pictures of grammy and Nick's cousins and Aunties.

And here are pictures related to beaches, pools, and the lake.

Happy Birthday Nick and Grammy

This summer grammy came back to Long Beach at the end of July.  Grammy says she won't miss a birthday celebration with Nick, she loves to share birthday cake with her grandson.

Grammy spent her birthday in California with Henry and Katie.  Here there are sharing a birthday cake!

When grammy came to Long Beach, we had a tiny cupcake for her.

On Nick's birthday we had a  tiny cake with candles.  Grammy gave Nick colorful balloons as a surprise.

Katie made Nick a special cake for his Saturday night pizza dinner.  Mom said, "what a beautiful plate!" 

Nick has been eating his pizza on this plate every weekend.

Visiting Day at Camp Kehilla

In July mom took a day off from work for visiting day at Camp Kehilla. 

When mom got there Nick was playing with his music group, he was all smiles playing the drums.

Then we had lunch at tables under the trees.  All the kids were eating and the parents were happy to be visiting.

Nick was happy mom came to visit camp.  After lunch mom had to go home in the car because it was Nick's group turn to play in the pool!

Fireworks!

Every year Long Beach has fireworks.  People come from far away to visit our town, enjoy the beach, and then watch the show after the sun goes down.

At sunset we walked down our cross street to the beach.

We found a place to sit on the sand and wait for the sun to go down.

After it got dark we watched the fireworks.  Everyone was cheering and clapping for the beautiful show!

Decorating for July 4th

Every year we put out our patriotic decorations for July 4th.  This year we put out little flags and red, white and blue decorations.  We displayed Nick's United States flag map and flag artwork Nick made at school.

Graduation Day for Henry

In June, Henry graduated from middle school and now he is going to high school.  Grammy and Aunt Nicole went to see the ceremony.  Here are the pictures they shared.

 This is Henry in the last week of school.

This is a picture of Katie on the last day of school.

Aunt Nicole and Ryder drove to visit so they could see the graduation.  Here they are sitting in the audience waiting for the ceremony.

Grammy was very proud to share this picture with Henry and Katie.

Here is a picture of Henry with his family.  We are sad that we could not be there on this special day, but at least we got to see the pictures and celebrate Henry's success!

Getting Ready for Camp Kehilla

Mom and dad told Nick that this summer Nick would do something different.  Nick is not going to summer school in Long Beach, Nick is going to Camp Kehilla.

We went to visit the camp.  Nick looked a little concerned on the visit.

 We rode in a golf cart around the camp and took a tour.  Mom and dad liked the camp, but Nick was still serious.

 Until Nick saw the four pools!  Then Nick was happy!

On June 25th, Nick went on the bus to his new camp.

Happy Birthday Dad

This weekend was dad's birthday.  Nick made a card and sang Happy Birthday with a cupcake.

Adventureland

Last week Nick went on his school field trip to Adventureland.  Nick looks forward to this trip every year, he had it marked on his calendar and was counting down the days.  Nick's teacher sent us pictures, mom said "wow, you look so happy!"

Liza sent mom a text message this week:

Photo Shoot

Nick had a photo shoot this week at school, in preparation for his yearbook picture.  They put a tuxedo on Nick and his teacher took this picture behind the scenes.  Mom said, "wow, you look so handsome!" 

HorseAbility

Last week Nick went on one of his favorite school field trips, to HorseAbility in Old Westbury.  Here are the pictures Nick's teacher shared with us.