Tuesday, April 24, 2012

A Birthday & A Grandson

This is the beautiful bouquet sent to me for my 85th birthday by my two terrific Dallas nieces.

My birthday turned out to be a very special day indeed. Even though I was (and am) still sick, I got so many wonderful telephone calls from all of my children, and even some of my grandchildren. I talked so much that I ended up coughing lots more yesterday, but it was oh so worth it. I didn't feel very hungry last night but Dick really wanted to bring me a special birthday dinner, so I let him. He went to the Outback and brought the most delicious prime rib dinner I have had in many years. It was so thick and it just melted in my mouth. Honestly, I hardly had to chew at all. Of course it had all the "fixings" plus a bloomin' onion. We have enough for another dinner just like it tonight. He even bought me a birthday cake. All in all, I couldn't have asked for much more. I do want to thank all of you for sending so many wonderful, e-mails, cards and good wishes. But enough about my birthday. Tonights post is to be all about one of my grandchildren. You do have to know that I am doing these grandchildren posts in no particular order. Eventually, I will get through them all. Tonight's post therefore, is about Sean Noyes, my only son's youngest child. (This, of course, doesn't take into consideration that last July he added three extra ones of Stacy's, his wonderful new bride.) I'll do them all together at the end, because I want you all to know about them too. (I just figured out in my mind that will take 12 more posts so about this time next year you should know about all of my grandchildren.)

Sean Noyes was born May 17, 1997. He is the youngest of my natural grandchildren. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see as much of Sean as I would have liked when he was a small child because his mother didn't like me very much. As it turned out, she didn't like my son too much either, because after they had been married for seven years, she told Rich that he didn't make her feel pretty anymore so she wanted a divorce. He had adopted her four year old, Cameron, when they got married and they had another child, Blaine, who is four years older than Sean. I really loved these three kids so much, so it wasn't only tough for Rich but it was hard for me too, when they spent most of their time with their mother, even though they had joint custody. Rich had them every other weekend, so I did try to see them once in a while. The amazing thing though, is that all three of them left their mom and step father and came to live with their dad. Sean was only 14 when he went to live with his dad in Lake Tahoe. Blaine had left to be with Rich a couple of years earlier. Cameron left as soon as he graduated High School and lived with his dad off and on until just a couple of years ago. I can tell you though, that Rich was the happiest person ever, when he had both Blaine and Sean with him in Lake Tahoe, after all those years of paying child support for three children.

It is so neat now that they are all together and Sean is so very helpful with the three young ones. It is a joy to us to see how very happy the whole family is.

But more about Sean. He is such a bright intelligent boy who has managed to get straight A's. He and I have such a great relationship and he is about the only one of my grandchildren that phones me on a regular basis, somtimes two or three times a week. He is also a great Scrabble player. Whenever we are together, you can find three of us, his dad, Sean and me hunched over a Scrabble board. I am sad though, that he doesn't get to spend much time with us. I only see them about twice a year, when we visit them in Tahoe, or they spend a night or two with their dad when he comes to see us, which isn't very often. As I said before though, we do talk on the phone, so in that way I can keep up with all of his happenings.

Sean is getting to be quite a good golfer. That is one of the main things he likes to do when the weather is right. He also loves to ski and does a lot of that when the snow is good.(It wasn't so great this year, which hurt the economy up there quite a bit.) The beach there is also a great attraction. That lake is probably the most beautiful lake I have ever seen.

We are planning to go up there around the end of September so we are really looking forward to that! I wish I had pictures of him when he was a little boy because he was such a darling little kid, but I don't seem to be able to find any. Surely we took pictures then, but for some reason I just can't find them so these will have to do.


I have no idea how old he is here, but he is pretty young.
As you can see, he is a great USC fan, as we all are in this family.
I can't imagine what I was writing, but evidently he thought it was interesting.
This is one of my favorite pictures of him. He was letting his bangs grow. They later got so long I couldn't figure out how he could see through them.
This is the family at home , including the three younger ones. He has a nice haircut and you can actually see his forehead.
I really need Dick to help me with the pictures and he is almost ready to go to his meetings, so think I will bring this to a close. Until next Tuesday, my good wishes go out to you all.

12 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday Darlene! I hoped it would be wonderful and from the sound of it..it was great! That meal sounds delish and what a sweet hubby you have! Sean sounds like a super good kid and a wonderful Grandkiddo! It's really nice that he calls you and takes the time to catch up and keep you informed on what's happening in his life. Have a good rest of the week! And again...Happy Birthday! Love ya!

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  2. Happy Belated Birthday Darlene!

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  3. I'm so glad you had a good birthday - I knew Dick would come through for you. What a great dinner! Your grandson sounds like a keeper. It's so great that he enjoys talking to you and calls you. Have a good birthday week - I'm a firm believer in birthdays lasting all week, or even all month for that matter! You're a special lady.

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  4. Belated Happy 85th birthday wishes. I enjoy popping in here and reading about what you and Dick and your family are up to. Sean is a wonderful grandson, so handsome too!

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  5. I'm glad you enjoyed that prime rib, Mom. And today you sound so much better that it made me happy.

    =)

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  6. Hi there sweet friend. I'm sorry that I'm late catching up with you to wish you
    HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY. How thoughtful of Dick to buy you such a nice dinner and the bouquet is just lovely.
    When I get behind in reading blogs it hard to catchup up and I miss a few. Sorry about that. I seem to start reading my blogs from the top of the list and can't get to the bottom sometimes.

    Your grand son Sean seem like a delightful young man and it so nice of him to call you so often. He sounds like he a joy to have around and he's so talented and good looking too. It's good that you have a great relationship and that he has so many great interests.

    Have a great weekend.
    Hugs, Julia

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  7. I am so praying for you to get better soon. I am very happy that you had an enjoyable birthday even though you were not feeling well. You have an awesome husband; I do know that. Thanks for sharing your grandson with us. I loved the pictures. He has a favorite name of Sean. My oldest son's name is Sean. I enjoy reading about your family. I hope by next Tuesday you will be up and about. Hugs and love to you!

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  8. Honey I wanted so much to send you something for your Birthday. I need your address.
    I am so happy you had a wonderful special Birthday. Your dinner out has now made me very hungry. hahaha
    I love Outback and wish we had one here in our little town.
    Dick is such a good hubby so be sure and give him a hug for making your day special.
    I loved reading about your Sean. He sounds like a awesome young man and loves his grandma very much.
    Honey please take care of yourself. I hate that you still are not 100 percent. Just know I think of you often and always look forward to visiting you.
    Have a wonderful weekend
    Love
    Maggie

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  9. Sean looks so much like Jeremy! To me, they have the same eyes. Do you think so too?
    What a devoted grandson to call you so often.
    I was so happy to hear you had a wonderful birthday after all. What a sweet and devoted husband you have, but then you know that.
    So are you continuing to get better? I sure hope so.

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  10. Belated congratulations! Nice to hear that you were treated as the occasion demanded :-)

    What is life without family? Nothing much. You seem to have one big happy one - as it should be.

    Now, take good care of yourself!

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  11. Happy birthday. I love the Outback! That prime rib sounds fabulous. Sean sounds like a wonderful young man.

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  12. A very belated happy birthday, Darlene, but none the less sincere for that! You're the same age as my Dad, which is sort of strange because you're so young at heart that I feel as if you're my age or younger!
    Your grandson seems to have grown into a fine young man. I had to laugh at the word 'bangs'. We call it a fringe here. When we did a house exchange in Canada and my son needed a haircut we went to a lady down the street who had a salon in her house. My son's hair was really in his eyes and she asked straight away if he needed his bangs cut. He looked at her as if she was crazy! He had never heard the term before.

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