In case anyone is still checking my old blog, I have switched to a new address, making it easier to edit and post pictures from my IPad.   Address is:

http://www.seijasgypsyspirit.wordpress.com/

Family Scenes and travels ... Aliana's first 7 months

Sarah, Aliana and I head to Vancouver for little one's first trip away from home. We want to introduce her to my good friends Mickey and Gordon in Surrey and then on to Kelowna and Vernon to visit with the aunties and families.

Well, this post was started in September, 2011 and it is currently March 10, 2012, and that is as far as I got recording the last seven months!! The travel grew to include Cabo in Mexico, La Quinta, Snowbird, Utah, Toronto ..... oh my, so much flying for a little wee one!! It is a vast understatement to say I have been busy living, traveling and enjoying this new status in life of a grandma .... the travels have for the most part, been with Aliana along. September was a great combination flight and road trip to Vancouver, enjoying the West coast, a visit with Mickey and Gordon, and my sisters and their families in the Okanagan, Aliana being a trooper traveler right from the start. Since then , we have logged many airmiles; Cabo San Lucas with both the Senior and Junior Overmanns, La Quinta in California on two separate occasions, with the whole family in tow; Christmas there was a special time with all of us together. Aliana and Sarah squeezed in a quick business trip to Toronto in there somewhere. A breastfed baby travels with mom everywhere!! If that wasn't enough, they just returned from a week long ski/boarding vacation in Snowbird, Utah, where Aliana enjoyed her first views of a ski hill high in the mountains! Whew ....... I am exhausted just typing that down!! Sarah is a most awesome mom .... she amazes daily. Tim has managed some travelling with us, but is still plugging away at those last few subjects to finish up with that business degree ..... a bit of a slowpoke! I am known for a particular comment, "what was the big hurry to get to this adult status anyway?" and Tim has perhaps taken me to task on my words :)

Brian and I are just enthralled with our new roles as grandparents. Aliana Eeva has opened a whole new level of love, not just for us, but for our whole little family. She is a most amazing child, full of good cheer and warm social skills, very much a communicator. I gush, but cannot help myself :) Being a part of the miracle of life, on this second tier, is just the most extraordinary experience .... every development has me absorbed.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, Sarah, my sister Marg, sister-in-law Linda, and friend Mickey managed a surprise 60th birthday party for me in La Quinta .... three months early, so the surprise was a most definite success! Brad, Bruce and Rob cooked a delicious prime rib dinner .... making the surprise even better!! Great evening .... not crazy about that big 6 oh!! but am getting used to the elder status .... still have a month or so before the actual date!

So in interest of keeping current, enjoy my pictorial review of the past several months. Perhaps at some point, when the writing bug hits, I shall attempt to write about this most exquisite time in my life. For the present time, words somehow seem inadequate. (I seem to have erased all my pictures from Vancouver and Kelowna ... need some serious computer help from the younger generation to find them!!

Aliana Eeva Overmann makes her debut .....

Cutie pie!













Snuggling with Great Auntie Marg














Auntie Lisa comes for a visit














Daddy snuggling his little Aliana on day one at hospital ...



















The ladies ... two grandmas excited to meet Aliana Eeva.














Three Generations ...




































Uncle Timmy holds his little niece :)


















Grandma and Grandpa with our little one!














First Family photo of the Overmann trio

July 19, 2011 at 2:34 p.m. little Aliana Eeva Overmann, all 7.5 pounds and 21 inches of her, was born! What a delightful little bundle she has turned into! ..... from the beginning, we have all been excited for her grand entrance back to earth :)!! ......... changing status for all of us overnight .... Sarah and Rob into parents, a family of three (oops four with Dexter!) now, me, a grandma, Brian gramps and Tim an uncle ....... new adventures begin for us all

Random Ramblings of a Roaming Rebel .....

It has become increasingly obvious these past two months, that this gypsy spirit's adjustment to the mainstream is not exactly running smoothly. If I ever felt part of a mainstream life, I think it is most certainly apparent that I no longer do. There appears to be a hurried kind of pace here that I never quite noticed to the degree I do now. Kind of an organized busyness .... If you stop and ask anyone "how are you" ..... a common response would be "keeping busy" ..... as if that is something to aspire to. Strange. Retirement age has everything to do with it. I want to breathe in more serenity, less hurry, worry ... take time to savor rather than gulp.

Shortly after my arrival home, I tried to organize a summer celebratory picnic and hike in the mountains with extended family. Silly me, I thought everyone would love the idea!! Summer makes a rather fleeting appearance in this part of the world and I thought to make hay while that summer sun was shining ...... after three failed attempts at dates, I realized it was not going to fly. One family member emailed saying they had one afternoon available in July and a 4:30 pm slot in August!!! Dear God, I thought this was a joke, a typo, but sadly, it was not. ...... Sigh, double sigh ..... Lives are full of schedules ...... summers are booked and paid for, long before the season gets underway :) ..... children shuffled from one camp to another, all summer long ........ I find myself in a nostalgic space ..... Sigh....... what has happened to the spontaneous, lazy, hazy days of my childhood summers? ... of a time when dreams take flight in quiet moments of "being" ..... a time when people would arrange a picnic on a whim ......... Some days I feel like I have been dropped into an alternate universe, one that makes little sense to me .... perhaps it never did, but in all fairness, I suppose I too, over the decades, was once caught up in the busyness and the preoccupations of the average Canadian .......... surely though, during those busy years of raising a family, I left time for the unexpected, the spontaneity?? I was a bit of goof ball as I recall, and would more often than not, literally rush through the work to allow for time to play with the kids ..... arm twisting was rarely necessary :)

The saying is that one has a chance for a happy childhood three times in a lifetime. My first was filled with work from the time I can remember ...... We had a large family and Mother assigned jobs to all her six girls, starting from age 6 or 7 .... It is perhaps why I did not assign many chores except the most basic of ones to Sarah and Tim as young children. I wonder if they will remember as they go about their lives, raising their own children, the many times I would pack the car to head to the mountains, a park, to the river, to splash around in Riley Park's pools, to Kelowna, Invermere, Sylvan Lake or wherever, if we had even a spare hour or day :) ........ of course I also worked hard but ahh, time out with my children seemed to be such a priority, always ...... holding down a part time job for some of the years, mixed in with raising kids who were involved in all manner of team sports, hiking, golf, lots of free frolic with friends, took a lot of organizing to fit it all in ..... great for Sarah and Tim and also allowed me to enjoy a second childhood from a different perspective ..... what fun it was! ..... the third opportunity lies as grandparents and I can hardly wait .... the play minus the serious responsibility ..... cool!!

As I reflect, my year away was filled with so many warm human connections ...... warmth sometimes from complete strangers, be it from folks at an orphanage, a school, a hike in the back country of Vietnam, the vast empty wilderness of Mongolia, where I was met with the happy smiles of it's many nomadic herdsmen, days on the Ghan train through central Australia, the colorful vibrancy of India, sharing meals and life stories with people from all over the globe, the wonderful island ambiance and warmth of Rarotonga's Maori people, where families would often drop whatever plans they had to enjoy a good visit, or invite me into their midst to share a meal, a friendly chat, a church service together ... full of heart, full of goodness. Old fashioned community life ..... my kind of pace, my kind of universe :)

The imminent arrival of our first grandchild fills me with awe!! .... Sarah and Rob radiate that special kind of love, only parents expecting a child can radiate. It warms the heart and soul and circles us with love. In just a few short weeks, Brian and I will become grandparents and Tim, an uncle :) Life, Jiva ..... Ever Beautiful!

With all my heart, I will try and live up to my mantra, made up of little philosophical tidbits:

SEE FOR YOURSELF. Go Places. Seek out the good. Tread lightly. Worry less. Take chances. Face your fears. Do what you love. Give Back. LOVE. Make a Difference. Laugh a lot. Breathe Deeply. Know peace. ENJOY THE JOURNEY. LIVE WHILE YOU LIVE!

Sarah turns 29!!

Sweet 29! June 25, 2011













Auntie Marg and Maureen from Vancouver













Tim and his girlfriend Ali :) .... a lovely young lady.












Sarah & Rob's home for birthday party ..... not a sign of Rob .... he was busy in the kitchen!





























Sarah holding Amy's little Cooper!
























How wonderful it is to spend a few days with Sarah in the mountains! We did that most quintessential Webb thing, and "spaad" for her birthday! We even managed a mini mountain hike into the mix ..... but being over eight months pregnant, we didn't venture far from the bushes on the trail :) .... Sarah is most certainly very pregnant now .... excitement quotient is high .... we will soon enough be welcoming our little granddaughter into the fold (wow .... unbelievable!). We arrived back in Calgary in the late afternoon to a whirling dervish of a Rob, prepping both the house and food for Sarah's birthday party .... amazing son-in-law he is turning out to be ....... how lucky we all are, but especially Sarah! Enjoy my humble attempts to catch the birthday spirit ......

A brief hiatus from hiatus ....

Respite from my gypsy life did not last long .... two weeks and here I am, on the road again ..... flying to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico for Tim's best friend Scott's wedding ..... the plane is full of Genoway relatives ..... I believe their whole clan is coming!!

Arrived to too much sun, resulting in too much sun burn, (memory lapse about sun block!) followed by too much rain, a blessing for the sunburn, but making the bride (Kristie) just a tad jittery, for wedding day June 8th!! .... no need to have worried, as the rest of the week was beautiful ..... the wedding day, perfect .....

Earlier on our first Saturday after arrival, loyal hockey fans that we Canadians are, we gathered the troops, hired some vans and headed into the small town of Puerto Morelos, a ten minute drive from the resort to cheer on our Canucks (okay, some of the younger generation is loathe to do so, but the we elders were right into cheering on our Canadian team!!) A few of our group had ventured out earlier in the day to scout out where we could watch the game on a big screen and voila, they found a rather authentic little bar in town, a large screen was put up (okay, a white sheet on a concrete wall but what the heck, it sufficed admirably!!), a projector set up, and a few dozen chairs ... we were in business! Great evening .... we amused the Mexicans no end, as we stood and sang our national anthem in tune with that cool long haired operatic dude from Vancouver. Scott's sister Krista's boyfriend John (from Vancouver) provided those little white towels for everyone (loyal fan who had brought forty of them with him to the wedding!!) ..... that amused the Mexicans even further as we waved them in circles, hollered, hooted and cheered at every opportunity :) So, we are back there again Monday night .... normally the bar is closed then, but he is opening up just for our group .... could be something to do with the fact we cleaned him out of food and beer on last game night :)

Oh yes, the resort is lovely, the bride beautiful, the groom can't stop grinning and the rest of us are having a hoot enjoying the ambiance ..... pictures to follow! Many marvelous Mexican moments ......