Happy Monday!

Good morning! I have photos to share! But this is not what I did this weekend. This is from last weekend. (Hey, I'm slow, but I get there eventually!) My brother, sister-in-law, sons and I went down to the Bay Area for an important mission. Carmen was not with us- she was at SacAnime winning the art contest! I will try to get her to scan in her winning entry another time. It is darling!

And here is what we were doing in Hayward: We were having our own Ancestor's Day! My mother's birthday was August 30th. We were there on what would have been her 70th birthday. Her niche has had nothing but her ashes in it since 2002. We decided to do a bit of decoratin'! We took a "more is more" approach which is how Mom was about everything! I'm sure we'll be back to do something a little more refined, but really, this is Mom's style right here! Colorful and exuberant and full! The yellow card with the large Y/tree is a card I made for her back in 1991. She kept it on her bedside until her death. It reads: "Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret love outlives them all." by Oliver Wendell Holmes. You moms out there know it's true. Nobody loves our children the way we do and nobody has ever loved me the way my mom did. I know she is thrilled about her babies being together on her birthday and celebrating together. My grandparents and great grandparents are also at the same cemetery, so everyone got attention. What can I say? It was a really cool way to spend a day!


Anyway....when Jon and Deb and the boys and I were done, we went to Val's Burgers for lunch. This place is a Hayward landmark- it's been in the same location, offering the same menu for 50 years! It's so cool! And delicious!

Here are Deb, Jonathan and Max chowing down. The shakes are killer! They even give you the metal canister the shake is made in! It fills the glass three times! Yes- I know, not exactly healthy, but when it comes to diners, this is nirvana!

Look at this awesome root beer float Max got! A giant scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of a pint glass of root beer, topped off with whipped cream and a cherry. Mmmmmmmm.

He did a pretty good job with it! He said his grilled cheese sandwich melted in his mouth!

Here's Eric with the Mama Burger- a half pound of artery clogging hamburger- but oh so yummy! He even got creative with it and topped it with a raw onion slice, grilled onions and an onion ring- a born chef, I tell ya!

Me? A classic tuna melt and a chocolate malted, thank you very much! So good!

In shop news, someone new has arrived! Meet Beth March! Do you remember her from Little Women? Sweet shy and gentle Beth was one of my favorite characters in the book. I'm so happy with how she turned out, but my photos are atrocious! I will take more and hopefully they will be better!

That's all the news that's fit to share for today. Have a beautiful day, my friends!