Back to Black-Saturday 9

On your mark, Get set,
Black Friday!

1) Black is this week's signature color because Friday, November 29, was "Black Friday," when retailers cut their prices and consumers flock to the stores. Did you score any "Black Friday" bargains?
I don't do BLACK FRIDAY or Brown Thursday, can't stand that stores opened Thanksgiving day. Get your Store coupon! I have/will order on line again this year.

Blogging from A to Z in April Challenge.

I am having a great time in Santa Barbara with my grandsons. The weather has been wonderful, Mr BC has been reporting snow.  Unfortunately it is a sad time for them as they have now lost both of the Serbian grandparents, Лука will miss his Baba and Deda, .  Son in Law is flying back from Belgrade and he will be back home tonight.  Then Лука and he will fly back in a week, as SIL is going to be a visiting professor at a Belgrade university.  Лука will have his first experience in pre-school while they are visiting.  It's ok, he speaks very good Serbian,  I am very excited for him to have his first school experience.  DD1 and baby Caшa will be joining them in 3 weeks as he finishes his classes. Both boys will be quite the travelers as they grow up as SIL still has some family and property in Serbia.

Sweet Valentine

I opened this Sweet Valentine in my e-mail this morning.  I am in Santa Barbara and we are staying in the Cabrillo Inn overlooking the ocean. We are visiting Лука and Caшa, it is a little crowded at their house with Baba visiting from Serbia, not enough bathrooms, so SIL offered to put us up here.

It is older and comfortable with a good continental breakfast and they were able to get a 3 day winter deal.  I would stay again.  I am off to the beach later this morning, then we will go see the boys.

How Christmas has Changed for Us

2009

One thing that changed this Christmas, Лука has become aware of Santa Claus! His first Christmas he was only 10 months old, and enjoyed the lights, and ripping opening packages, but wasn't aware of the reason for the season.

2010

Last year was a blast, he enjoyed everything about Christmas, as you can see from the pictures.

This year the big difference is that he is no longer a baby, he knows that he is going to get presents and that he has to be good. We are going to Skype on Christmas Eve and watch him open our presents, then he is going to fly on Christmas Day to Serbia and see his Baba and Deda for their Christmas on January 7. This is his third trip to Belgrade, he is a well traveled young gentleman. They will fly back to California and await the birth of his new brother in February.


I am going to stay with his mother while they are gone. So this year, the real celebration will be around his and his brother birthdays in February. Grandpa will be there for that occasion. Big Celebrations in 2012!

Leaving Santa Barbara until January

We are enjoying our visit to Santa Barbara with Лука and his folks.  I can't believe it is our last visit for a while. However,  thank the stars for Skype. This is a bittersweet visit as the only down side to Missouri is leaving some of our Kids behind. The upside to this, at least until we sell our house is that we still will be making the trip every couple of months .

I am flying back right after Christmas as Лука and his dad are going to Belgrade for Serbian Christmas with his Baba and Deda.  He will be gone til Jan 11, so I will stay with DD1 since she is "Heavy with Child." I will visit back and forth working on the CA house and Santa Barbara, with Лука, until she delivers in Feb.

Saturday in Santa Barbara

I arrived Friday night to a welcome greeting from Лука and Mr Bankerchick, and they both had a wonderful week together.  DD1 and SIL are well and had a good visit with Mr BC too. Mr. Bankerchick left Saturday morning to get back to his dogs and DD2, for a well deserved rest. I am now on the second shift.  I can't wait to hear how much weight he lost as he looked thinner.  DD1 cooks great and real healthy, and he was always on the go.  Dr Boozer, (I love that name) will be very happy.

Saturday we went for a walk on State Street and Grandma picked up some sand toys for the park this week.  We had a bit of a cry, trying to leave the toy store, because they had a train layout and Лука played there for at least 40 minutes, so we promised to get his trains setup when we got home.  At 2 years old that is not a great compromise so we went to get something to drink. Tata (SIL-daddy in Serbian) came thru on his promise and in true engineering style made a great train layout.

 It is amazing how well Лука speaks two languages.  He speaks Serbian with his Tata, English and Serbian with his Mama and easily speaks English to Grandma and Grandpa. Truly you have to get them while they are young.  DD1 has got a good grip on Serbian too and they all talk to Baba and Deda in Serbia on Skype.  It is a Wonderful world in Santa Barbara!

Лука is off to Serbia

Darling Grandson was off to Serbia to see his Baba and Deda. Grandpa Bankerchick is jealous that now even his DG has gone to Europe. This is Лука first trip abroad and DD1 said he managed the flight very well.  Airplanes are his particular passion and he could barely be constrained during the security part of the trip.  His mommy is not sure he really understood he was actually in an airplane, but the picture clearly indicated he was delighted to have a Grand Adventure,  I had a surprise Skype visit with him on Sunday and he was clearly not jet lagged.  His grandparents have some of SIL's toys saved and he was playing with his autos.  He is going to be bi-lingual as Dad speaks to him in Serbian and English. He seems to pick the word that is easiest to pronounce, so we are all learning a bit of Serbian.  My guess after a month with his Baba and Deda,(Serbian grandparents) he will be speaking a little more Serbian when he gits back, more for me to learn.  Baba and Deda spend the winters in Santa Barbara and he has not seen them since March, so he will have a great time.