Natalie & Allison's Visit

We were so happy to have Allison come for a visit again!  She arrived the day after Natalie.  After a quick stop at our apartment to drop her suitcase off, greet Walter, and have some of Natalie's birthday cake - we left for our scheduled tour of Hollywood.

Natalie's first visit to Hollywood Blvd via The Other Side of LA Tour Company.  Our tour guide did a great job of showing us the area.   We can now share some interesting facts about the area with our future company!

When I was in labor with Natalie 20 years ago, a Natalie Wood movie was on the TV.   After she was born we were having a difficult time deciding between naming her Sarah or Natalie.  I'm glad we chose Natalie : )

The last time we visited this theater it was the Kodak Theater.  It's new name is The Dolby Theater.

We ended our night with a birthday celebration at Matsuhisa, a Beverly Hills' sushi restaurant.  What fun having our girls here!

Kramer

Since my last post we have had a lot of fun with family and friends visiting us and I haven't had time to update my blog (no complaints here!).   The last 3 1/2 weeks have been wonderfully full of sweet times and I'm so grateful for them.  I'm looking forward to posting the highlights of each visit, but first I want to share some sad news about our dog, Kramer.  On this past Sunday we received a call from our son, John, informing us that Kramer was rapidly declining.  After hearing all the details and crying a lot of tears,  it was apparent that he needed to be put down.   

Bringing Kramer with us to California was never an option since his health was so poor.   The day we left I cried like a baby when I told Kramer good-bye.  I was afraid that he would feel as if I was abandoning him.  With words that he couldn't understand (because he's a dog and because I was sobbing),  I held him as close as his frail little body would allow and told him why I couldn't take him with me.  It was hard leaving everyone that day, but leaving my faithful companion, Kramer, was very very tough.

John and Tiffany agreed to take care of him when they moved into our house.  Each time we returned to Florida I could see Kramer's attachment to them all, but especially Tiffany.  She became his "mom" while I was away.  I loved seeing Kramer react to her the same way he reacted to me.  I knew he was being well loved and that was so comforting.  Also with each visit I knew I may not see him again which made leaving that much harder.  This above picture was taken in March.

You can read more about Kramer on Allison's blog.  He really was such a special dog and loved me well.  We will all miss him and thankful that he was a part of our lives.

Natalie's Visit!

On June 23rd Natalie arrived for a two week visit!  We were so excited to see her ( as was Walter)!  She hadn't seen Walter in almost six months, but he remembered her and gave her lots of kisses!  And it was so wonderful to have Natalie in our "home!"  Oh, how we miss being less than two hours away from her!