Sex in the City Girls,PETER MAX on the wall,Jake

Night on the town with Carol,Sharon,Dolores and Polly! Eating dinner at the Atlantis Casino, I had a full comp, we had the works, drinks,appetisers,wine,steak and lobster, dessert...doggie bags!! Guess who Samatha is!!!!!..............................

Polly had me and Dolores do a mural behind her fireplace to match her signed Peter Max picture, so we all got the paint out, Polly did all the background, and Dolores and I designed it, and sketched it, and had it completed in two nights, with a little help from Kendall Jackson!


Went to Sacramento to see the kids, and Aunt Dolores met Jake for the first time, and look at those photos!! Is is growning like a weed or what..and he sure looks like his Dad at that age...gives me chills...




 

Whas Up ????

learning yo blog!!!! Love, Papa Jim

 

Aunt Margie Has been Accepted!

We have good news to report.
Our Mom has been accepted into an Alzheimer's study called, Brain Matters. The study is going on nationwide, and Mom is the only person accepted from the Florida area. She had to pass a battery of tests, both mental and physical, to be considered. They are thrilled that she is in such good shape. (as are all the Balsers!) The study uses a vaccine that helps remove the sticky plaque that has built up in her brain. They have seen some patients actually regain some function! We are not expecting a miracle, only hoping to slow the progression. Mom will be getting the vaccination on August 14. Please say prayers, keep fingers crossed, do a brain dance or anything else you do! We need lots of good vibes going out to Mom!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZ!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU DARLING LIZ!! I AGREE WITH ALL SAID ABOUT YOU, you are the bionic Mom, and beautifil too!!..I wish will all lived in a commune, where we would all have dysfunctional hoidays together, with the kids, the Aunts, the grand babies, the Uncles and all our friends, the Nanas. I think of you often, and alas, ahve to love you long distance!! love, carol

Happppy Birthday LIZ!!!
I love liz because she's famous..........You are my fabulous beautiful, hardworking, crazy and extremely lovable sister and I miss you so much!! You are the cutest mom of two adorable children, and pull it off with such style and fun.

Happy birthday, and You will get something in the mail very soon, I know you'll love it.

Have a happy day,
LOVE EVA, and all your family.....we're all so proud of you....

GET BETTER REALLY SOON AUNT PHYLLIS!!!

I LOVE YOU!! PLEASE DO EVERYTHING THE DOCTOR SAYS TO DO!! I AM SENDING YOU A BIG HUG AND KISS, AND I MISS YOU SO MUCH..LOVE CAROL.

A passion for photography

These are grape leaves but no grapes - go figure. They are very common near the ocean here in Florida. This is like a nature lesson...ha It has pretty red veins in it and the green is very warm. The things you find at the beach on a day when you just want to have fun with your camera! Hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed taking them -  

Beach pipe

Yes, this is an old rusty pipe that I thought had GREAT texture and some push and pull in it that gave it a dynamic look. This was in the parking lot at the beach. What do you think? 

Enjoying the Beach on Sunday!

Even though this is not a photo of people we all know, just thought I would share some "pretty" pix that I took yesterday when I went on a photoshoot just for fun. This is Satellite Beach on the East coast of Florida and it was a GREAT day. I have not done any manipulation (photoshop) to any of these (yet) Learning about my new Nikon D70 SLR camera. And yes it is HOT here too! Plus we have that humidity thing going... 

Eva and Fred's

Eva and Fred's

here are those pictures from before, hopefully they work this time!!




taken by eli himself in intensive care after leaving his cell phone with him! he has no memory of this event
:-p






[Hi it's me..Lois...so...it ain't pretty but we thought we would share....just so you know...he is much better now.....started driving a little today...taking only tylenol for pain......getting out in the sun a bit.....thanks to all of you for all your support and love.........]


love,

Lois, Eli and Hannah

Seu Jorge Concert

Hi everyone!!
So my man went out and got a bunch of front row tickets for a group of us to see seu jorge, a brazilian singer/songwriter who was the black guy with the guitar on The Life Aquatic- Steve Zissou. It was a total blast, they were fantastic, drummers, etc. It was me and Tom, his son and fiance, and some other friends.

Virginia City NEVADA, SATURDAY 6/08/06

This is Justin, his Father Wally, and me enyoying a reunion in Virginia City, where we met 32yrs, ago! We went back to the Cabin in the Sky, where we met each other. I was a cocktail waitress, and he was a new bartender from Nashville, Tn. What a pair, well ,between the Southern acen't and the New England one, it was a riot. It seems like only yesterday. We had a lot of fun times up there, and wonder how we ever made it out alive! Happy we did, as we have Justin and a wonderful grand son, Jacob and a beautiful daughter-in law. It was a fabulous and bittersweet trip down memory lane.


 

HAPPY 4TH IN THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS!!

THIS IS ME,DON,BARBARA (MISS SENIOR NEVADA) AND DODY IN GENOA, NEVADA! We are enjoying "POPS" in the park. Silent auction for ART, etc. brought a picnic basket with wine, chicken and all the stuff for a wonderful celebration in the mountains! STROLLING VIOLINIST'S beautiful inspiring music, truly an ALL American 4th! Meet me there next year, ok!!!


 

Leslie and lightning!!

Leslie has had a computer malfunction, as lightning hit her area,
and "kapoof" it hit her system and it now is in the computer hospital in Key West for repairs!..She actually has had a breakdown of sorts as she is having withdrawel pains from not being able to BLOG!!!! Haha, so she will be back soon with more interesting pix and news soon!!! Thanx!!

THE CONTESSA...aka as Aunt Carol, and Nana

Also I have more pix to publish, but having a time with Picassa..it must be me, I am sure!!!

Oh yes, here is the shuttle shot I promised - if you have xray eyes you can see it behind the clouds - Kind of awesome really to have seen it on TV and the successful launch that took place. WE always hold our breath here that everything turns out ok - If the clouds weren't there, we would have seen a bright star in the daytime, making its way across the sky and the smoke trails when the main engine (or whatever it is) falls off. I am constantly amazed by this whole thing and have seen a number of launches, both in the day and the night (most dramatic) -  

WEll this was FOURTH of JULY at Gloria's - The lady on the left is Kay - she is 92 and so full of energy she put us all to shame! The belly dancer is Jackie - she is a teacher (like a real public school type teacher who is going for her doctorate in English Literature -) and she was teaching us to belly dance! It's great exercise --- the photographer, MOI, took the pictures! (So I am not in any of them. ) The party was on the Fourth, fireworks all around us in Orlando, FL. The lady on the right in the pink is Gloria whose house we were at. It was a blast to say the least! 

Eva and Fred's

hey everyone, here is a picture of eli the day of his surgery in intensive care








love you all

Eva and Fred's

Eva and Fred'sHappy FOURTH of JULY!!!

From DelRio in Florida to all of you all over the USA!
Have fun and don't eat too much - I"m going over to my friend Gloria's house for a BBQ and watching fireworks from Disney -
ALso going to watch for the shuttle launch which we can see from the yard as it goes up. I"ll take photos....

Eli

Just reminding everyone that Eli's surgery is tomorrow.. Monday the 26... It was changed from the 28. It will be from 7:45- 11:00 am. It will take place at Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME. He is having his leaky aortic valve replaced with a mechanical one made of carbon. It is the newest and still being tested for it's use without coumadin, a blood thinner. Our hope is that he will only have to be on coumadin for 5 years and then, when the study is done and the FDA approves it's use without the drug, he can be off it the rest of his life and also never need another valve. Coumadin is a pain in the neck but we will deal. We are confident in our decision and now Eli just wants to get it over with. We have to be there at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow. He will be in intensive care for 24 hours and then in the hospital for 4 to 7 days. So....send him good energy...Love to you all.....Lois, Eli and Hannah

Twinkies at Disney

These are the twinkies - they are growing so fast I can't beleive it! They visited for a few days and we all went to Disney. It was HOT!  

The "girls of the old West" Nana, Polly and Ashton!

On the right is my Grand daughter Ashton! She is 17 and beautiful, just like her Nana! haha,,We spent the day with my girlfriend Polly, who is one of my best friends. She had a local band in the 70's called "So Inclined" it was a rock band and she was the lead singer, both her son Beau and Justin are the same age. We went to Virginia City, which is 30mins out of Reno in the mountains. its an old Gold and Silver mining town and built in the 1800s. Mark Twain actually worked there at the local newspaper called the Territorial Enterprise. Local and others alike dress like the old days and roam around telling stories to the tourists! I would go there inthe 70's when I was in my 20s and sat on many a bar stool! There was a jazz fest last weekend so we made our way up there to listen to the sounds and roam around all the shops. THESE pictures were taken at the "Bucket of Blood" saloon..the city is filled with history, and as you can see Ashton and I ended up in jail, we were bad girls!..Then we road camels! Actually camels were used at one point to haul supplies from Carson City up the mountains, so in June they hold camel races for idiots that are brave enough to climb on one, (no I never did that).
President Grant gave a speech there to entice them to join the union in the civil war, and won them over, and people beleive that because of all the money the city pumped out it won us the war, and built San Francisco, with all the wealth. AT one time it was a thriving metropolis of at least 350,000 people, and still houses a working Opera House, called "Pipers Opera House" and it has been on the travel station and has a resident ghost! So, welcome to the family Ashton, and welcome to the Blog!