Canadian Thanksgiving Visit in San Antonio 2017

Thanksgiving was celebrated with my daughter Nadia and family in Texas. My grandchildren E.V. and August are dual citizens allowing them to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with their Canadian Grandmother and the American Thanksgiving with their American relatives. They get to enjoy turkey dinners in October and November each year. Lucky kids.
My daughter arranged for Gary and I to visit the kid's school this year which was a delight. I got to read a Thanksgiving story to my grandson August's class. For E.V.'s classroom visit I left her a book about Thanksgiving to share with her friends and teacher. E.V. had a basketball practice after school and we were allowed to watch.
Here are a few pictures taken highlighting the event.

I love these munchkins with all my heart. Thanksgiving dinner was celebrated with the family and a few friends at a restaurant. Can't wait until the next trip to see them. The trips themselves are getting to be a challenge due to my mobility issues and the pain caused during the travel but well worth the sacrifice once I get there. My daughter Nadia and her husband Matt are doing a wonderful job in raising these two.

Grandma visit to Texas

I got to see my munchkin grandchildren E.V. and August for Easter/Birthday and Fiesta celebrations in San Antonio Texas recently. Being able to visit my daughter and son-in-law is a bonus too. I can't express how much pleasure these visits give me. I would not give them up for the world.
Unfortunately, I had to fly using United and Air Canada. Both airlines have experienced well-deserved poor reviews of late. After many hours spent on the phone making sure my seat assignments and ability issues were addressed I was good to go. Both going and returning and connecting flights went without a hitch. My only problems occur and always do is having to fly out of Toronto, Pearson Airport which has yet to get their act together when dealing with mobility challenged passengers. Hopefully, this will be corrected in my lifetime.

Here is a picture of me with my adorable grandchildren. They make up for all the obstacles I must deal with when traveling.

Fall 2016 Colours in My Backyard in Canada and our trip to New Hampshire

EV & August in the Pumpkin Patch

Bonner Family enjoying the fall weather in New Hampshire.

My daughter Nadia with my grand-kids EV & August

August's Soccer Team

EV's Soccer Team

August in purple soccer shirt in purple chair and EV in red soccer shirt to match red chair.

Grandchildren EV and August with Grandma

Backyard in Whitby, Ontario

Thought I would share some photos of my favourite people taken during my favourite time of the year. I have posted pictures taken of the little house I had built for my grandchildren at the same time of the year every year to reflect the wonderful fall colours we get to enjoy during this time.
We spent our Canadian Thanksgiving with my daughter and her family this year in New Hampshire. They live in a heavily wooded area on the side of a mountain. The fall scenes are what photographers look forward to document annually. The line-up at the border was incredible as many visitors were coming to take in the views of the colour display. It was well worth the wait. We were hosted by my daughter's family in their summer cottage. Every unique restaurant around fed us during our visit. I love lobster and got to enjoy two meals of it during this visit. My grandchildren are always wonderful. You can't get enough visits in with them. They are so loving and welcoming. I do wish we did not have to drive 9 hours to have a visit with them but this is what we must face. While we can, the visits will continue to take place for as often as we can manage. or they will tolerate our presence. Overall we had a great time celebrating Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be grateful for.

EV & August Birthday Party at the San Antonio Zoo 2016

What a wonderful time was had by all to celebrate EV's 7th birthday and August's almost 4th. The party was held at the San Antonio Zoo. The kids got to feed the giraffes which is what they are doing in this picture. The had a dance off with a DJ present. Watching the Rhinos being fed watermelon was fun. Special animals were brought in by the Zoo Keepers for the kids to pet and learn about. Dinner was provided and eaten in the aquarium room with the fish looking on while we dined. Rides on the animal carousel was added to close off the evening. Great fun was had by all.

Out of Touch Grandma

Out of Touch Grandma!
This is not out of choice. My grandchildren and yes there are now two EV and August. They live in San Antonio, Texas and I live in Whitby, Canada. Many miles separate us. I would love to live around the corner so I could see their beautiful happy faces daily. Our choices in life separate families. I am not the only grandparent suffering out there. My daughter Nadia married an American whom when she met when worked in Toronto. His employment took him to San Antonio. He is a NBA player who formally played for the Toronto Raptors but has been playing now for the San Antonio Spurs for the past several years. He hails from New Hampshire so even off season their time off is split between his home state and Toronto, my daughter's birth place.
Matt Bonner's parents live in New Hampshire so his parents have the privilege of seeing their grandchildren when the Bonner family are living in their Mountain Home. Some time is also spent up in Toronto visiting the Canadian friends and family off season. There would be more reason for Matt and family to spend time up here if the Canadians had offered him a place on the Canadian National Basketball team so he could have represented Canada in the last Olympics. It is not like we are overflowing with qualified talented people to help build a team. Every year it is getting better and Canada is producing more talent but this same talent is forced to move to the USA for opporturtunies for their future in sports.
Matt played for some time for the Toronto Raptors but even before he was picked for the team he lived in Toronto and practiced with the team. He spends part of his off season here annually. Matt Bonner married a Canadian and has obtained dual citizenship for his eldest child EV and is in the process of acquiring the same for his youngest. He had a grandfather who was Canadian. Why is the Immigration System in Canada stalling his application? He would be a great asset.
I know I sound selfish and you are right. I would love for them to spend more time up here so I can see all of them more often but I guess this was not meant to be. Canada does not want to open their doors to him. As a result Matt must spend more time in the USA securing his future to ensure the future for his family. After-all most athletes have short careers. Most must think about what to do for the rest of their lives once their playing time has ended. Their career choices are hard on their bodies. Yes the family may survive financially if they are frugal surviving off the earnings Matt made during his NBA career but is it the healthy and wise choice to make to just sit back and do nothing once this part of your life is over? After all he will still be in his thirties albeit his late thirties but as humans we are not meant to remain idle. It is not good for one's mental health. What kind of role model would he be for his children? It is not likely they will follow in his footsteps and even if they did would they make it into the NBA?
Matt's siblings both play basketball and both have played professionally. Both also only earn normal salaries. It is not possible for everyone to be picked for these elite positions. It takes hard work, skill, determination and the right body type. He is after all 6'10" tall which helps. It is not likely either of his children will reach that height. My daughter is only 5'4" tall. Both children will definitely be taller then her but probably not as tall as their Dad.Will they have the same drive and interests as their father? Maybe. Whatever their choices will be for their future, I just hope it does not take them even further away from me. Again I am a Grandmother missing her Grandchildren.

Evangeline-Vesper Lynne Bonner Turns 5 Today

Evangeline-Vesper Lynne Bonner was born June 21st, 2009 in San Antonio Texas. Her mother Nadia Kullo is my daughter who hails from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Nadia married Matthew Bonner who hails from Concord, New Hampshire. At the time of meeting Nadia worked at the Air Canada Centre as a Box Hostess and Event Planner. Matt Bonner played for the Raptors in the NBA.
From there they had to manage a long distance relationship because he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs. He currently plays for them, helping them win the current NBA Championship for 2014.
I spent last year with my grandchildren while my daughter traveled with her husband down to Miami for a game. Last year the San Antonio Spurs lost the championship to the Miami Heat but this year they turned the game around and won by a landslide.
I still remember watching EV waking on her birthday and watching on her Baby Monitor saying to herself that today was her birthday and she was 4 for real. She had so many celebrations up to that point having to fit them in around her father's schedule but realized which day was the real day to celebrate.
EV (Evangeline-Vesper) is a special girl to all who love her and those who meet her. All of us feel our children and grandchildren are the best in the world. This is expected. Unconditional love has to come from those close to us as it is the only love we can truly count on and trust.
This little girl has brought so much sunshine and joy in our lives. She is for the most part always happy, loving everyone, judges no one, accepts the joy in life and has a thirst for knowledge. She is also beautiful and healthy. We are the luckiest people in the world having her in it.
Last year her father's team (Matt Bonner - San Antonio Spurs) did not win the championship. EV was told if they did she and all her family would get to participate in a parade. San Antonio's parades are celebrated using floats on the river down by the River Walk. EV has witnessed many parades in her short life but had yet to be part of one. This year she got her wish and was able to participate in this highlight of her father's career. What a proud moment. With the way everything is documented these days she will have many records to refer to should her memory fault her about this special day.
I do hope my granddaughter has her best birthday celebration ever today.
I know your party is a few days from now but today you are surrounded by the people who truly love your just the way you are.
Love Grandma
p.s. I would love to have been able to be there to celebrate with you today but take comfort I have been promised a day with you on my own. We will go and have tea in a castle when this day comes. It is something I enjoyed sharing with your Mother when she was young and would love to now share with you.

Grammy Pammy WammyThursday, January 28, 2016

Children are rarely born perfect but in their parent's eyes they are. We count the number of toes and fingers they have when born and check them out from head to toe. All imperfections are considered correctable or acceptable making your child unique. After all you have made it this far in life and have now given life to another. Many are not as lucky and must suffer the pain of not being able to have a child at all.
Most imperfections can be corrected with a little patience and love.
My daughter suffered from blocked tear ducts for the first year of life which disappeared by her first birthday following the doctors instructions to the letter. Minor surgery to correct this problem would have resulted if we had not done as we were told. Another issue we faced was having to manage her high fevers for the next few years as a result, or so we were told that the part of her brain which controlled body temperature had yet to develop, but it would in time. It did, but not before she she went through several visits to the hospital to receive help to reduce her fevers from 105 degrees. She went into convulsions, her lips turned blue, became dehydrated etc. before miraculously all of this suddenly went away for good. Next we had to deal with her allergies which you only are introduced to because of a reaction and usually only one at a time. Fun and games we had but the end result was all of this went away and we were left with our perfect children.
This is, we thought they were perfect until they attend school where you are exposed to the so called experts opinion of your delightful offspring. My daughter was considered gifted but hard to handle in her early years at school. She liked to correct her teachers. Her friends sometimes took offense to her making adjustments to their art work so it would look perfect. At a birthday party one year her peers locked her in a room to separate themselves from her need to be right. Well she is now the mother of my grandchildren so she was perfect after-all producing these two absolutely perfectly wonderful, beautiful and loving kids.
My son had to have strabismus (cross-eyed) corrected by surgery but not before he went through the eye patch stage looking like a little pirate and walking into doorways because he was seeing double. Well now he has perfect vision, so it worked. The surgery, however changed him. He lost his appetite and went from being considered 95 % on the growth chart to 5% a year later. He stopped growing for a whole year. Yikes, this scared us but finally he grew and is now normal sized. Just before this we had to deal with his torticollis which means he had a crooked neck. After just over a year of physiotherapy he was normal. This was until this sport crazed kid who was loved by every teacher at his Junior School went to Middle School. This is when he was diagnosed with ADD. I always knew he hated sitting still so tried to keep him active but I was not ready for this. All the Doctor wanted to do was to medicate him which I would not allow. Somehow he made it through to adulthood managing the best he can.
I love my children with all my heart and like most parents do not want to see their imperfections. All of us are imperfect which is what makes us unique.
When my kids would say they were raised in a dysfunctional family, I would ask them to show me a truly fully functional one. There aren't any and any claiming they are must be lying to themselves because they do not exist. We learn mostly through our mistakes. Making a mistake makes us human. Maybe repeating the same mistakes over and over again might classify us as dysfunctional but most of us never allow our mistakes to take over our lives. We identify the mistakes and make corrections so we can move on to the next obstacle waiting to challenge us.
After all this is what makes life so interesting.