MORE CHRISTMAS PHOTOS 2009

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS 2009

Wow, can't believe how fast the time has flown by since my last post. While speaking to Sharon's cousin a few nights ago she reminded me that she has been seeing the same photos and message since October. So here is a quick update and several pictures to bring those of you who are still faithful viewers up to date.

The triplets are doing well. We had a bout or two with colds, but after a few days of stuffed and runny noses, and just plain feeling terrible, all three recovered. It was a little frustrating for mom Christy and dad Steve as one baby would get sick, then as that one got better another one got sick, and so on. But after ten days or so, things were back to normal. Nicklaus has become a real daredevil. Early on he wold stand on his little push car seat and smile as we tried to coax him into sitting on the seat and not standing on it, but usually this was to no avail. Lately he has decided it is fun to climb on the couch and then just step off. Christy and Steve have placed foam matresses in front of the couch to soften his fall, but it is still scary wo watch him do his daredevil stuff. He is so cute, when he smiles at us just before stepping off, a kind of "watch this" look. Madeline and Grace have started showing some signs of sibling rivalry. At times you can see that they are a little jealous of each other. When we hold one of them, the other is right there also wanting to be held. And then there is the competition for that ONE toy. Even though they have mostly three of everything, the other two always want that one toy their sibling is playing with.

I recently installed kitchen cupboard clips to make the cupboards childproof - keep them from being opened by little curious minds. As I was installing them little Gracie was right there helping grandpa and watching everything he was doing, while the other two were really not that interested. After I had installed a couple and tested them to make sure they were working right, I looked back to a completed cupboard while working on another one, only to see Gracie pull to cupboard door forward, then reach in and release the latch, just like I had done while testing the latches. So much for keeping her out of the cupboard. I have been looking for a different type of latch, but so far haven't found anything Gracie proof. Madeline continues to shine in the talking area. She picks up words and sign language faster than the other two, or maybe she is just more willing to show off than the other two, and Nicklaus is just happy go lucky, and as I said a little daredevil. Nicklaus loves to be held, espcially by me, and I must admit is is a ton of pleasure to walk into their house and have him come running to me with his hands up and sahying "up-up".

Christmas was pretty exciting. At first the triplets did not know what to do other than pick up presents and walk them around, but after watching Hannah, Rachel and Breanna rip into presents with shouts of glee, the triplets soon did the same. Still, empty boxes to crawl into were the most fun for the little ones.

Well, am going to stop and upload some pictures. Happy New Year to anyone out there who still checks these blogs.

TIME FOR AN UPDATE

I can't believe how time flies. We have been so busy lately, there just hasn't been time to get a blog update done. It seems that I am apologizing every time for being late, can only promise to try to do better. The triplets are growing so fast. The girls are starting to talk a bit, Madeline is definitely the best at it, although Grace has learned to scold Nicklaus when he climbs on his little cart and stands precariously. When Grace sees him do that she waves her finger at him and say "NO, NO, NO". Wonder where she learned that? Madeline says "mom, dad, grandma and grandpa". She really feels and looks smart when she repeats what we ask her to say. Nicklaus would rather climb on things, throw a ball around, and throw toys out of the enclosure - all boy stuff. So enough text, here are current pictures. Am sure you can tell which ones are the kids in the halloween outfits. The top phot in each sequence is Nicklaus, middle is Madeline and bottom is Grace. Bernd

FAMILY HAPPENINGS JUNE AND JULY 2009

Hannah and Rachel poolside on the Carnival Elation

Hannah, Rachel and Grandpa Bernie at Catalina Island

Hannah and Rachel on Catalina Island dipping their feet into the Pacific

All dressed up for the ship's "Formal Dinner Evening".
Well, I missed getting this out two days ago, but still bettered the time between my last updates. June and July have been pretty busy, espcially July. It seems that July is our "Birthday" month. My mom, Rachel, Breanna, and of course the triplets all celebrate during the month. My mom celebrated her 93rd birthday on the 22nd. It was a nice day, with my brother from Washington State coming in and all three of us brothers getting together again. Rachel wanted her Birthday celebrated at the Medieval Times Dinner Theatre. Mom, Dad, Hannah, Sharon and I, as well as several girlfriends went to see the knights jousting while we ate. Rachel was in heaven as she could scream as loud as she wanted and nobody noticed or cared.

In June Sharon and I went to Vancouver Island with some very good friends from my Sheriff's Dept days, Bob and Anne Cartwright, who also lived in our neighborhood during the 1970's. We all stayed at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, had "High Tea" in the Empress and did the usual tourist things. It was a lot of fun, I even had fun when I lost at miniature golf. At the end of June we had the opportunity to take care of grandaughters Hannah and Rachel for about 2 weeks as their parents went on a medical/Christian missions trip to Honduras. We decided to take the girls on a short 4 day cruise from San Diego to Catalina Island and Ensendada, Mexico. They loved it, as did we. I have attached some photos from the trip. The girls swam all day in the pool/water slide, and never got tired. Evenings were spent dining in teh dining hall and going to the ship's stage shows. When we returned to our cabin there was always excitgement as we anticipated what "towel animal" would greet us.

At the moment, during their summer vacation, we see the girls several days a week. The challenge is to do things with them to keep them from getting bored. Breanna is still playing soccer, and has joined a "club" team. Practice, games and tournaments keep her pretty busy. Speaking of keeping busy, it's getting late so will blog off til next time. Bernie

ONE YEAR LATER

Well, I can't believe it has been two months since my last update. So much has happened. Our lives seem to be getting busier and busier, guess that will keep us from feeling old. Everyone is doing well. The triplets are growing up so fast. Each day brings new surprises. The older grandkids are also growing up so fast. It seem like only yesterday when they were babies, then toddlers, then kids, and now rapidly becoming lilttle ladies. To keep things brief I will dedicate this posting to the trilpets, and then do another posting tomorrow for the older kids, so here goes.

Nicklaus and Grace are walking all over the place, actually running because walking is just to basic for them. Nicklaus started walking backwards a couple of days ago. He thinks he is so smart when he does that. Both he and Grace love to play bump into one another and knock each other down. Then they both laugh, get up and do it all over again. Madeline is standing without holding on, and has taken a step or two, but so far is holding off on walking around. She is actually the tougher of the three, but at the same time the cuddler. She dishes out slugs and loves to pull hair to get her brother and sister to cooperate, but then loves to crawl into mom's or grandma's arms and cuddle. Go figure. Nicklaus continues to be the happy go lucky personality. He loves to laugh and make everyone else laugh with him, and has learned to make all kind of new sounds, mostly imitating a motor sound. Grace is still the scientific one. She studies everything and tries to figure out how things work. For instance, she has watched how we open the gate to their play corral, and tries to open the gate herself. So far she doesn't have the strength to push the unlocking buttons, but she still keeps trying to escape the corral.

July 1 was their first birthday. Since grandma and grandpa were out of town that day, the celebration with cake, candles and song was held on the second. Gracie didn't hesitate to dig right into her cake with both hands, and after getting a taste of the frosting, she began stuffing the cake into her mouth, eyes, ears, and so on. Nicklaus followed after watching his sister, but Madeline being the princess tried to eat the cake with two fingers so as not to get cake on herself. I have attached some Birthday pictures for you, please excuse the redeye. The pictures below are of Mom and Dad with their Biurthday kids, then the three together having cake, then Nicklaus, Madeline and Grace, in that order, having their first taste of cake--Birthday cake of course. So that's it for now. Grandpa Bernie

MY HOW TIME FLIES

Madeline after her bath. Maybe a comb will serve as a teething ring? May 11, 2009

Nicklaus enjoying some cuddling time with mom after a bath on May 11, 2009

Grace, after her bath, with the "Gracie" smile we all know and love, May 11, 2009

Grandpa Bernie and his older grandgirls at his birthday celebration, May 5, 2009

Well, apologies are really in order this time. I can't believe how much time has gone by since my last post, so much has happened, where do I start, what can I remember? Maybe the best way to do this is start with today and work backwords. As Sharon and I reminisced a little this week, we thought back on last year, and all the days spent at UCI Medical Center, keeping Christy company, encouraging her to go on. It was a year ago when we were still praying for her to be able to make it to week 28, the age when the babies would have had a chance of survival. Now we visit Christy, Steve and the babies at home, enjoying the babies as they grow. Little Grace continues to amaze everyone. She has been the first to do just about everything, eat food, crawl, stand, and cut two teeth. We are all waiting for her to take a step, this could happen any day. Nicklaus is so much fun to watch. He gets so excited when he does something, he loves to jump, and also stands without holding on, but only for very short periods because he starts jumping while not holdikng on, and you know the results. Nicklaus still likes to be alone. He plays by himself, although he doesn't mind his sister joining in. Madeline on the other hand has decided that she does not need to crawl. She likes to sit around and play, and even stand while holding on, but crawling or standing without holding on is not for her. She is quite a chatterbox, and once she gets going is hard to stop or compete with. She is defnitely the "princess" and loves, no wants, to be served and helped. For instance, she loves to stand, but won't stand up herself, instead fusses until mom or dad stand her up, then she is happy. All three are doing great. Their doctor is very happy, but they need to put on weight, that means eating more. Of course Grace, the one who needs to gain the most, is the one who is hardest to get to eat, she always has been. Two weeks ago Sharon and I went to Las Vegas with our bowling league, and Christy and Steve and the triplets joined us. It was their first vacation type trip, and quite an eye opening event for Steve and Christy. It became very apparent how much effort is involved in just talking short little weekend trips. Our drive to and from Las Vegas took several hours longer than without babies, as there was an extra stop with feeding, diaper changing, and just getting out of the car seats being necessary. Everywhere we went in Las Vegas made us the immediate focus of attention. People just can't resist babies, but when there are three, well that is even more special. Both Christy and Steve were the proud parents, and the triplets were so well behaved. I guess the lights and sounds in the casinos were great attractions for them. All in all it was a fun, but tiring, weekend. Before we know it their first birthday will be here - WOW.

Mother's Day was celebrated at a local restaurant, the Summit House. As we have become accustomed to, the triplets were the big hit. They were so well behaved, their mom must have been very proud. We were all able to eat our food, quite a feat when you are also having to handle three little high chair babies. When we left our waitress told Christy that we were her favorite Mother's day group. That says something.

Just before we left for our cruise from New Zealand to Australia, we placed my mom into a small Board and Care home where she lives with 5 other ladies and two nurses. We visit several times a week, but nothing makes my mom as excited as having her greatgrandkids, especially the triplets, come and visit her. Mom's face really lights up. All of us also go to Disneyland every now and then, and I think that what my mom looks forward to more than anything is having the grandkids nearby as we walk around the park. Of course the older ones also like to be there with their great grandma, as they get a few dollars from her to spend in the park.

Hannah, Rachel and Breanna continue to do well in school. Rachel read for me the other day, and I was surprised how well she reads. Hannah loves math (like her dad), and Breanna is getting ready to be an eighth grader. Soon she will be in high school. We are so blessed to have all living near us so we can see them often, which we do. We still get together on Mondays for dinner and some socializing, then once or twice during the week we see Hannah and Rachel, as Sharon and Christy pick them up from school and bring them to our houses after school, where they get picked up by their mom. Breanna continues to excel at soccer and is joining a "club" team this next season. She got her first "yellow" card recently in a game. Guess she is finally starting to get agressive. This is not natural for her, but will be a necessity if she wants to continue to play a competitive sport like soccer.

Til later, God Bless everyone.

WOW, HOW TIME FLIES

Hi everyone, I can't believe that it is already March. So much has happened in the past couple of months. Let me see if I can keep this short and sweet. We are all doing well. The babies just got over a cold, always a scare due to their (premies) being vulnerable to a sometimes fatal respiratory virus. Other than an occasional cold, everyone else in the family is doing fine. My mom had a little scare in February, details are below, but she is doing well now. Sharon and I went on a 3 week vacation last month and just returned this past weekend. We flew to Auckland, New Zealand where, after staying a couple of days in order to do some sightseeing, we boarded the Celebrity Millenium cruise ship and began a two week cruise down the eastern side of New Zealand, cruised several fjords (sounds) in South Island, New Zealand, and then crossed over to Australia, where we visited Melbourne and Sydney. We stayed a few extra days in

Sydney to enjoy the city and then flew to Hawaii, where we visited Sharon's aunt in Kuaui. After three days of getting rained on in Hawaii we came home. It was a grand time, we danced a lot, ate a lot and saw a lot, but after three weeks we were both ready to come back home.

Around the first of February my mom, who is 92 and has been living with us, fell and broke her pelvic bone in two places, as well as cracking her head pretty hard. We took her to the emergency and after x-rays and body scans it was determined that she could come home, but had to stay off of her feet until the bones healed. So, it was time to find a Board and Care place for her. Fortunately Sharon found a real nice place, a private home that has been converted, and only has 6 people living in it. There are two caregivers/nurses there 24 hours a day to take care of the ladies. Mom is doing OK even though her dementia has progressed to a point where sometimes she really doesn;t know where she is or what is happening. We hope that she can stay there, as she is close enough for us to visit her often. All the ladies in the home really love it when we bring the babies over. I think they are disappointed when we arrive without them.

When we arrived home we found that the babies had started crawling, and now are quite a challenge to keep track of. If you watch one, then you had better be ready for one of the other two getting out of sight real quick. Grace is the best crawler, moving about pretty quickly. Madeline sits up the best. She sits tall and straight, and really loves to look around. Nicklaus scoots more than he crawls, but he gets around pretty darn good. The other night he managed to crawl under our coffee table, where he bonked his head trying to get back out. He also has decided that whatever his sisters are playing with, he wants it, and takes it, even though he might already have the same toy in his hands. At the moment his sisters aren't putting up much of a fight when he takes their toys away, but I suspect that won't last long. They are progressing so fast that everyday brings some new experiences.

Breanna, Hannah and Rachel are growing up so fast. They love to take care of their baby cousins, especially Rachel, who wants to hold and mother them constantly. It is sure fun to watch the older girls grow up. Breanna has the typical junior high school boy situations. She was disappointed when at the first dance she went to this school year only 5 boys asked her to dance, but then this last dance I think the number was somewere between 15 and 20, and of course that made her feel real good. Hannah is not quite at the boy interest stage, but she does come up with some interesting things to say every now and then. She sometimes acts a little like a tom-boy, but at other times like a real young lady. Rachel is still working on some anger issues every now and then. She is so active and loving, and sometimes doesn't realize that in her effort to show her love she sometimes hurts people, and when they reject her, she feels the emotional pain.

So there you have an update. Sorry it has been so long, will try to do better. Attached is a picture of the triplets taken around the first of March. Gracie is on the left, Nicklaus in the middle and Madeline on the right. Enjoy and God Bless. Bernd

IT'S A NEW YEAR

Breanna and Nicklaus

Hannah and Madeline

Rachel and Grace

Our Baby Dedication at church

Hi everyone. Grandpa Bernie has been so busy creating a Beauty Salon for mommy in our third garage that he hasn't had time to bring you an update on us, so my sister Grace and brother Nicklaus have elected me to bring you the latest news. A lot has happened to us since the last update. On Sunday, December 14, all three of us had a baby dedication at church. Mom and Dad, our grandmas and grandpas, greatgrandma Alma, greatgrandpa Pete, and lots of aunts and uncles and cousins were there to witness the event. Aunt Rene, Aunt Becky, Uncle Andy and Uncle Brian were introduced as our Godparents. We then had a fun party at our house. A few days later we went to visit this old guy in a red suit and had our picture taken with him. He was real nice, I think they called him Santa. I am not sure exactly what that was all about, but mom and Nanny Jenny seemed to think it was a cool thing to do, so I guess we were OK with it too. We noticed that mom and dad had decorated our house with lots of different knick knacks, put a tree with ornaments in the family room, and hung multi-colored lights on the outside of the house for a holiday which I heard them call Christmas. I think we were too young to really understand, but I am looking forward to next year when we will be able to get around the house ourselves to see and play with everything. We enjoyed visiting family and friends, and the joy that was present everywhere we went.

New Years evening we were at Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Bernie's house. Greatgrandpa Pete, Uncle Brian and Aunt Becky, Uncle Steve and Aunt Wendy, and Aunt Deanna, our Nany Jenny and her mom, along with our cousins were there. They all played board games way into the night while we slept. Right around mid-night there was a lot of noise about something, but not enough to waken us. When we woke up mom wished us a Happy New Year, but I didn't notice anything NEW??

The next day daddy watched football, especially the Rose Bowl game. He is a big fan of a team called USC Trojans. He was happy after the game because they won the game. We were on our best behavior during the game so that we wouldn't disturb daddy. I like to watch football games also, so the part of being on good behavior was not a problem for me. Nicklaus and Grace are not as big football fans as I am, but they do watch it a little bit. Speaking of my little sister Grace, she seems to be ahead of Nicklaus and I as far as grabbing things and holding them, and both of them have been eating cereal - Yuck, I don't like cereal. Last week we went to the doctor for a checkup and the doctor said mommy could start feeding us fruits and vegetables. Mommy gave me some yams which I really like, but she tries to fool me by slipping some cereal in. When I taste that yucky cereal I push it back out. Mommy keeps trying to get me to take some, but she can't fool me!! Nicklaus is still the biggest of us three. He likes being alone more than being with us, but we generally get along pretty good. I think he must be feeling a bit outnumbered. Grace is doing her best to catch up to Nicklaus and me in weight, and she is doing pretty good. The doctor said we should be eating more, as she would like to see us a little bit heavier. That sound good to us as we all like to eat.

Well that's about all there is about us. Mom and Dad are doing fine, as are our grandparents. We enjoy seeing them and being held by them. It is obvious that they enjoy holding us as much as we enjoy being held. I asked grandpa Bernie to attach a few pictures so you can see how much we have grown. Til next time, lots of love from Madeline.