Hooray for Friends!

People that listen and love you for all that you are...how great is that!

Well, in this case - it is stuffed animals...but they are very good listeners.


With Heather - my best friend from childhood. We are very excited because she's got a baby in her belly!


Lunch and ladies - it is a good combination. Guru Karam, Sat Nam Kaur, Me, Satvinder, Sirgun (with Kuan Yin looking over us!)

Hugs

Showing some love:

Jayden and Satvinder


Billy (my nephew) and his pretty girlfriend, Sadie (her eyes aren't really red.)


Zach and Satvinder - We're going to miss you, Zach!

Thank You for Clarifying

It's good to know where you are welcome:

Happy Birthday, Mimi!

Here are some pictures from Mimi's Birthday Party:

The Birthday Girl with some grandchildren and one great grandchild. Plus Shrek ears.


Enjoying the backyard at Bill and Carmen's house.


Zach getting dunked


Me and The Pinky - both wearing pink


Funny picture of my dad - Grrrr!


Billy, Jayden & Morgan

Passion, Music, and Joni

I just went to a really fantastic show by Will Taylor & Strings Attached and some amazing female vocalists. They were doing the music of Joni Mitchell, who holds a very special place in my heart. This show had me in tears.

It was a musical treat, a delight, and if you live in Austin...go to their website now and find out when you can go see them. See Will Taylor & Strings Attached, see the lovely vocalists that performed with them tonight - just go and enjoy these very talented people who clearly love music. Below, I've listed the websites for my favorites from tonight's show (though they were all really great):

Will Taylor & Strings Attached

Molly Venter - Vocals

Libby Kirkpatrick - Vocals

Thanks to my dear friend, Guru Karam, for treating me to this show and sharing the experience with me.

Magnified

You Must See This

Thanks to Zach for introducing me to the Potter Puppet Pals. I actually only like one of their performances - but that one performance, alone, is worthy of a post. Check it out:

The Mysterious Ticking Noise

Ron's part has been stuck in my head for the past 12 hours. It might get you too. Watch out!

In the Midst of Rain

No Schliterbahn this trip but we've managed to find some things to do, even with the rain.

Las Manitas, at the request of my brother, Gary. It was good.


Zach and trees


Austin Children's Museum - They have fake cow milking...among other things.


Zilker Park


We've ended up in Sharper Image a few times to use the massage chairs and to play with R2D2. Hooray for robots!

Sunny Sunday

Some pictures from Sunday:

Zach, ready with his water gun.


Me getting blasted by Bill. That happened a lot.


Satvinder likes to pretend that Sharon is her Mommy. I've always thought Sharon was an awesome mother too.


Those who are not with us physically, are still with us in other ways. Here, everyone is checking out Jessi's European Vacation pics.


Satvinder continues to find new ways to entertain us.

Yee Haw!

We Gots Harry Potter


Borat lives on in Satvinder - Here she is doing her Borat "High Five!" to Sharon and Zach in the back seat.


Taking pictures of taking pictures of the Capitol

Family Time

Family is really important to me. My fondest childhood memories are of the times our family was all together - when everyone lived in Austin and, to me, it felt like we were living in a party. Now, with everyone spread out to CA, AZ, TX, and NY, it is a rare and special occasion for several of us to be in the same place at once. Right now we have a nice sampling visiting - though we are missing the complete bunch.

Here's some pics from yesterday:

My brother, Bill, with Satvinder - encouraging independent swimming with some gentle nudges and floating ducks.


My brother, Mike, my Mom, and sister-in-law, Sharon. I wish I could explain the yellow pouch around Mike's neck - because it is funny. But it would take too long so...I'll just snicker to myself.


Me and Zach...and some pears


The girls clearly weren't hyper enough so Uncle Bill gave them mouth-fulls of whipped cream. WHEEEEEE!


My dad and Zach


Playing games - good family fun


Meghen and Kelly - these girls are obviously well practiced at smiling for cameras.

Doing Stuff

Pictures from today: We fed some ducks, climbed around, did stuff...

Zach and Satvinder



Zach at the duck pond




Zach imitating a duck



The Pinky sitting on a cow head

Zach's Here!

Cousin Zach has arrived from NY and we're so happy to see him. Zach's a big brother so he tolerates the hyper-activity of little girls well. Satvinder really enjoys him - as my brother, Gary, put it: They are both "cerebral."

More pictures to come. This one is just up so that there is proof that Zach made it to Texas and is smiling (or maybe more like smirking.)

Let's Smile

Children have the natural and profound ability to open hearts. Imagine what the world would be like if we all regarded each other with the innocence and sweetness of children. (I'm ignoring the rascally side of the munchkins, for the moment.)

Recently Satvinder has given me the reminders I need with the following statement, "I love you. Let's smile."

And she always knows exactly the right time to remind me!

Attuned to the Force

Satvinder and I are in Austin now for a little visit. But here's a picture from before we left Phoenix. In case you can't quite tell, it is a picture of Mangala Sadhu Sangeet doing Gatka with his lightsabers!

Completion

Today was a full day. We completed another teacher training course here in Phoenix - a great group of new yoga teachers, who worked hard over the last 7 months of training - and had the graduation today. It is always bittersweet to see the end of a course. It is beautiful to see the transformation people go through and to know they will change the lives of others by the teaching they will do. And then there is also a sentimental feeling, to know this particular group will not be together in this way again. From my perspective, there is a lot of work and planning that goes into closing out a course and hosting a graduation - and after I finished up my work today, I just wanted to get in some water. So we gathered up some friends and headed to the pool.

The Girls: Elia, Satvinder, & Aletha



At the Pool - Satvinder is starting to like the water better, as long as it is shallow.



Harimandir and Satvinder



Me and The Pinky.

Sweetheart's Outing

Satvinder takes good care of Sweetheart, her blow up giraffe.

Here, Satvinder and Sweetheart are ready for Sweetheart's first outing.



Buckle up, Sweetheart!



Welcome to the exciting world of Checker Auto on a Friday night! WHEEEEE!

Big People

Here are some pictures from today, before Gurdwara.

I like this one because, at this angle, it looks like Mangala Sadhu Sangeet is a giant. And Satvinder is just silly.



One time Satvinder said, in a very proud voice, about her papa, "He's big and he knows how to open things!"