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Jasmine Anna Shaw being welcomed into this world.
James and Charlie (Daddy and Mommy) holding Jasmine
Family Portrait Look at that hair!
Jasmine's first hair wash and bath
Finishing the hair wash and just finished the bath
Jamie holding Jasmine Aunt Vicki holding Jasmine
Greetings! I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted, but a lot has been going on. So here goes – pictures to follow.
On March 4th we welcomed Jasmine Anna Shaw into the world. She is the new little daughter of Charlie and James and the new little sister to brothers, J.J. and Isaac. Jamie, Josh and I were at the hospital when Charlie gave birth. Jamie, Laura Sheldon, Charlie’s mom and James were in the room when she gave birth. I got to see her about 5 minutes after she was born, but I got to hear her first cry while outside the room. I took tons of pictures (when don’t I) and can’t wait to make a scrapbook album for Jasmine. I know in my mind what many of the pages will look like-I’m so excited.
I didn’t get to see her on Thursday night and didn’t think I’d get to see her on Friday since I was flying down to Florida. BUT, on Friday I had my doctor’s appointment and CT scan of my sinuses. They did a scope of my sinuses – much different from how they did it 35-40 years ago!!! It was a little uncomfortable, but no pain. Good news is that there was no current infection and no damage from previous infections. When I get another infection I’m supposed to let the doctor know and he’ll have me get a CT scan done right then to see if the problem is actually my sinuses. I was amazed that they got me in for the CT scan while I was trying to schedule it – I thought it’d be a month down the line, so it was a pleasant surprise. So since I got done early with my appointment I was able to go over to the hospital to visit with Charlie, James and Jasmine before they went home. So I got to hold her before my trip to Florida.
I flew out of BWI on a nonstop to Ft. Myers. It was a good flight. Dad and mom picked me up at the airport. It was good seeing them and the weather was great. Jamie had been down visiting them about 2 weeks earlier and introduced them to the game, Skip-Bo. Jamie had told me that I needed to buy them a card shuffler because when they tried to buy one, they couldn’t get one. So on our way home from the airport we stopped at a Walmart and got a card shuffler.
We went to the area in their neighborhood where the little alligators congregate to see if we could see any. There were four of them – sunning themselves on the dry land and hanging out in the water. They were all about 3 ½ to 4 feet long. I got some good close-up pictures of them. I got some shots of one of them where it looks like he’s smiling – probably looking at me thinking, ‘go ahead, come a little closer.’
Mom and dad have a real nice place in Florida. They have a “Florida Room” built on. I love the palm trees that are there. There are several “circles” in their neighborhood and theirs is a real nice and friendly one. We went driving through the community in their 4-seater golf cart. It was cool.
We went to the area where the Manatee are supposed to congregate. They said there were about 100 manatees there that morning, but the only thing we saw were jumping fish. They had a beautiful butterfly garden and I got some nice pictures of the flowers. I took a picture of a lizard on a post and didn’t realize until after I took the picture that there was a second lizard near him. If that second lizard had moved while I was taking the pictures I think I would have pee’d my pants.
We also stopped at the Shell Factory. I remember going there growing up as a child. Brought back many childhood memories. They had a big shark’s jaw and I just had to get my picture taken there.
A really good friend of mine from my junior and high school years is now in Florida. I’ve seen Sherri a few times when she’s come back up this way to visit family. We were going to take her out to dinner on Saturday evening, but she wanted to cook dinner for us at her house. So we went up to Punta Gorta to her home. My dad described her place to me as a modern house on a farm. Sherri has a beautiful home which she has done a lot of work to since the hurricane had gone through there a few years back. She added a screened in area where she has a swimming pool. There’s a barn on the property and lots of land. She has a horse and pig and …. well ….Sherri was always an animal lover and such a warm and loving friend, always willing to help anyone. That followed her throughout her life because now she is involved with an animal rescue program. When dogs, cats, birds, or other animals are injured, deformed or ready to be put to sleep in the pound, these animals are “rescued” and brought to her house. She quarantines them in her barn and then brings them into her garage. Some of these dogs are blind, have heart problems, been abused, just about anything – and Sherri nurses those back to health that she can and cares for the others as best she can. The people she is involved with then try to find homes for these animals. These are in addition to the two big dogs, cats and bird she has on her own. I’d say she had about 12 dogs/cats that she is currently caring for and trying to find homes for. Some never do find homes and have died in her arms. But she feels like at least they know they were loved when they died and not alone at the pound. Having just lost our dong, Buddy, in January I understand that it really takes a special person to do what Sherri does. She’s got so much love to give. We had a nice, enjoyable and relaxing time with Sherri, meeting all of the animals. Each one has its own personality
Well, dinner was great and we ate out on the back screened in area. Her bird was out there and at one point Sherri had to go into the house and I began whistling at the bird. He began whistling back at me. This went on for about 5 minutes. I got it on video and it’s the cutest thing. Sherri said that he’s a talker.
The next day one of the circles in the community was hosting an Ice Cream Social, so we invited Sherri to come down to Mom and dad’s and go to the social with us and she did. Mom and dad’s friends/neighbors, Don and Judy, met us up there and we had a nice time eating our Sundaes and chatting.
I went to church with Dad and mom. They have a huge church – a lot of snow birds attend there during the winter months. The music was fantastic and the preacher was a really good preacher. I enjoyed listening to him. On our way home from church we stopped to see the alligators again and there were four of them there again. We rode the cart up to the circle for the Ice Cream social.
After eating the ice cream we rode up to the butterfly garden. I got lots of pictures of the flowers there. Their garden was much prettier and more vibrant that the one at the Manatee area. In this garden they have flat rocks for the walkway and each “circle” in the community has an area and they have the name of former people in their circle inscribed on the rock in memory of a friend who had passed away. My parents’ circle was the first circle in the community.
We stopped by the alligators on our way back to the house and there were four still there. Someone said they’d seen the mother down the stream a bit, so we got in the cart and rode down to where it was. On the way we saw some larger alligators swimming in the open water and a blue heron. It was beautiful. Then we got down to there the momma alligator was across the water next to the other shoreline. We went on down a little farther and there was another blue heron walking in the water – it was amazing to watch them move their legs when they walk. They just strut their stuff.
On our way to going to watch the sunset at Bonita Springs beach, we drove by my Aunt Sally and Uncle Don’s old house. Aunt Sally passed away on my Dad’s birthday (May 11th) in 2000. The dolphins are still on the outside of their place and the pelican sitting on the wood was at the side of the house.
We drove by some of the BIG houses by the water. They were really large. We got to the beach and went and sat down out on the sand to watch the sun go down. It was a little bit hazy, but it was still beautiful. I’m used to seeing the sunrises from Ocean City and Virginia Beach in the east, this is the first time I saw a sunset on the west coast. Our joke is that mom has seen the sun rise in the west…..
Mom took some pictures of me standing in the Gulf. I LOVE the ocean – watching the waves, but I have found that the waves from the ocean are bigger than the waves from the Gulf. While the sun was going down, I also got some pictures of the moon in the East.
On Monday I got a picture of Dad going into get his radiation treatment and coming out after receiving it. He wasn’t having any side effects and we’re thankful for that. We stopped at the Walmart near the office and bought some flower to put on Aunt Sally’s grave.
Dad drove on McGregor Boulevard where the street is just lined with palm trees. Did I mention that I LOVE palm trees too???? I took a ton of pictures of the palm trees.
We went to Ft. Myers Beach and mom and I walked out onto the pier. There were huge pelicans who were sitting on the pier handrails. They weren’t bothered by anyone. I was able to take a picture up the direction of Fort Myers and also see down to the direction of Naples. There were many para-sailers up in the sky. It was fun watching them. The pelicans would fly around and then dive bomb into the water to get a fish. There were even seagulls there too.
On our way out to dinner we stopped at the cemetery where my Aunt Sally is buried. The flowers mom and dad put down last year were still in the vase so we replaced them with pretty new ones. We put the older ones in the empty vase of another person’s gravesite. Aunt Sally was about 10 years older than me and 11 years younger than my dad. We don’t get to see Uncle Don much anymore. I miss them both.
We stopped by a place called Tin City where they have HUGH boats – the kind you could live on. They were nice. We also saw more pelicans that were just lazing around.
Mom and I went to the outlets Monday night to get some outfits for Jasmine. Found some really cute ones. I was going through Jasmine withdrawals not being able to see or hold her – although I was able to show Dad and mom the pictures of Jasmine.
We played lots of cards and mom was the lucky one all night – she beat both dad and I. She cheated ;)
We ate lunch at Applebee’s on our way to the airport. My flight left about 6 pm on Tuesday. I took lots of pictures out the window of the clouds (we were above them) and of the moon as nighttime was falling. It was gorgeous.
Danny picked me up at the airport when my plane got in - we arrived about 8:30 pm – again another nonstop . It was good to be home, but I miss Mom and Dad too. Next year I’m taking Danny with me to visit them – he will love it.
My sister and her husband (Patty and Frank) celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary on March 6th and Patty celebrated her birthday on March 18th. Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday!!! Danny’s sister-in-law (Mandy) celebrated her birthday on March 17th – Happy Birthday Mandy!!!! Danny’s sister and her husband (Linda and Charlie) celebrated their wedding anniversary on March 4th – Happy Anniversary!!!! My niece Brandi celebrated her birthday on March 24th. Happy Birthday Brandi!!!
Bernice’s mom, Lora, moved here to Maryland and is living with Brandin and Bernice until she can find a job and a place to live. I know Bernice is happy she’s here – it’s nice to have mom to babysit. Lora got saved in church on Sunday and was baptized Sunday night. My back and leg were hurting so I didn’t make it to church to see her baptized – but I’m so happy for her.
Jamie got her hair cut last weekend. She got it cut shorter than usual and with it straightened, it really looks nice. She has been very busy this past month or so as they had her works’ annual gala Thursday night. She works for the Media Research Center and they had their annual DisHonor’s Award gala at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. You can see highlights of the event at http://www.mrc.org/ Sara Bell was in charge of the several-day event and Jamie assisted her again this year in the planning and executing of the event. Danny and I went and had a wonderful time. Joshua went to help Jamie and her co-workers setting up for the event and enjoyed the evening as well. They served Filet Mignon which was excellent. Brit Hume received the William Buckley award and Joe the Plummer and Ed Meese accepted some awards on behalf of the no-show recipients (in jest). Jamie had her picture taken with Joe the Plummer. It was great! Now Jamie can relax a bit.
Jamie and I took Charlie and Jasmine to a baby shower in their honor at her sister-in-law’s (Abby) house on Saturday, March 21st. We had a great time. Afterwards we went shopping and then had a bite to eat before taking them home. Fun shopping again for a baby girl.
Dad continues to do okay from the radiation. Thanks for all your prayers and we appreciate your continued prayers that he will be healed.
Close To My Heart is holding a sale on my CTMH website – http://sullyscrapandstamp.myctmh.com Our retired stamp sets in the Discounted Products section of the website. These stamp sets became available on March 3, 2009, while inventory lasts. The stamp sets are available at 40% off current retail pricing. These are the available stamp sets:
a. Wisdom (B1199)
b. Groovy Celebration (C1232)
c. Love of My Life (C1258)
d. Card Sentiments (D1111)
e. Memories (D1127)
f. Follow Your Dreams (D1152)
g. Steep and Deep (D1175)
h. My One & Only (D1197)
i. Friendship’s Garden (D1202)
j. My Farm (D1219)
There are also other items at discounted prices. Check it out~
Jamie got a phone call last night from a friend of ours from church. She was asking for prayer for a family in our church whose little 18 month old baby girl went home to be with the Lord yesterday. It’s the Billy Franklin family. Billy and his other children were out playing in the snow. Heidi went to wake their little one (Katherine) up from her nap and found her unresponsive. She had been tangled up in one of her crib toys. Heidi did CPR and the paramedics did CPR, but Katherine did not survive. They had to tell their other children (another daughter and two sons) last night about losing the baby. Such a tragic loss. Please keep this family in your prayers.
