Happy New Year!!

1111... that's the birthday of our 6th grandchild and 4th granddaughter, calista hailey. born in cebu city, philippines @ 1229pm, calista weighs 6lbs, 5oz and measures 19.3 inches long. we are so thankful for this new gift of life to our family and we are looking forward to meeting her in person in a couple hours when we take calista's sisters, keilah & jaelyn, and her great-grandfather, Dr Gadiel T. Isidro, to the hospital.

i'll add more narrative later when i've recovered a little bit from babysitting duties which started at midnight new year's eve!!

till then, let me just say how thankful I am to God for loving us so much that He gave us this wonderful 6th grandchild and that both mother and daughter are doing fine.

OFFICIAL BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT: KEILAH

as we anticipate the arrival of calista, our 6th grandchild, i thought it would be nice to post the birth announcement of some of the other grandchildren. here's the one for keilah that i sent out via email...

On Saturday, April 26, 2008 @ 8:10am, God added KEILAH NAOMI MAGNO LACANILAO to our family!! Keilah weighed 6 lbs., 10.7 oz and was 19-1/2 inches long which is a pretty good size for a Filipino baby...!

Gina was in labor at Kaiser Permanente's Baldwin Park Hospital starting 10pm Friday night, but only "pushed" for 40 minutes before Keilah decided to finally make her entrance into the world.

Since her birth, Keilah has already attended her first Thursday night Bible study (at 5 days old!) and her first church service on May 4th when she was only 8 days old!! Of course, that's par for the course since she IS a PK...!!

She's a very responsive child who loves to smile, laugh, move her head, pose with her hands, and just socialize with anyone and everyone!!

We are deeply grateful to God for this precious life that He has entrusted to us. She has already brought tremendous joy to her parents, Justin & Gina, her A'po Dan, Aunties Erin & Ashley, Uncles Joe & Phil, Big Cousin Josiah, Lola Mel (Gina's mom), and, moi, Oma Pep.

We thank you for allowing us to share our joy with you and covet your prayers for Justin, Gina & Keilah as they adjust to their new life together...!

With love,
Sharon for the Lacanilaos of Azusa/Duarte/Monrovia, CA

KEILAH'S GENERIC BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT, EMAIL EXCHANGE

hello, family! here are a few pix of the newest member of the Lacanilao & Isidro clans: Keilah Naomi

date of birth: april 26, 2008
time of birth: 8:10am
place of birth: Kaiser Hospital, baldwin park, CA
Length: 19-1/2 inches
Weight: 6 lbs, 10.7 oz

Lord willing, they will be released from the hospital after lunch tomorrow, Sunday

congratulations to great gramps, gg marge, gg ma, grand-uncles, grand-aunties, aunties & uncles.

but, of course, all glory and praise goes to God for this new blessing in our lives!!



April 27, 2008 email from Rachel Yap
HI SHAR & DAN, congratulations 2u both on d safe arrival of keilah. we heard it frm ur dad ds am during d chrch worship service. kindly xtend our warmest rgards to justin & gina too.

rachel & family

my response:
keilah naomi is a beautiful baby -- my unbiased opinion...! actually, the whole drama started friday morning when i drove gina and her mom, melina, to the hospital bec she was bleeding and had been having contractions since 1am that morning. justin was at work and wouldn't be off until 2 hours later, so i told gina i would go ahead and drive her. we were there until mid-afternoon when they sent gina home bec she was still only 3-4 cm and the contractions were still far apart (8-10 mins).

at 11pm, justin called me to say that gina had been admitted and was 7-1/2 cm dilated. they had been there since 10pm. ashley, dan and i were at the hospital after midnight, erin, joe & josiah came an hour later when we were told that they broke her water. by 6am, she was at 9-1/2 cm but it took another 90 minutes before she reached 10cm which is when they would make her push with each contraction. 40 minutes later, keilah was born!

by 820am, we were able to go into the room one at a time to see her and take pix and here are some that i took when she was just a few minutes old...! she was still being cleaned and was screaming at the top of her lungs when i first saw her... after that, we all went home around 10am to rest. we went back to the hospital to visit a few hours later and stayed until 8pm.

they will be released later today, Lord willing, and we will visit them again at home after the service. gina's mom is here until may 6th, but we're trying to encourage her to relocate down here so she can see her 1st grandbaby more often. she lives in seattle, but her company has an office here in glendale...!! melina & justin were present for the birth. i was there for josiah's and you NEVER forget that experience of seeing your grandchild being born!!

right now, keilah looks more like justin with lots of hair. of course, they go through significant changes during the 1st few months, so who knows who she will REALLY end up looking like when she's older... i can already tell that this one is very special to dan -- he will probably spoil her a lot!! melina will be called "oma mel" similar to what josiah calls me, "oma pep."

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT: JOSIAH

as we anticipate the arrival of calista, our 6th grandchild, i thought it would be nice to post the birth announcement of some of the other grandchildren. here's the one for josiah that i sent out via email on august 16...


Four weeks early and after almost 24 hours of labor which included 1 hour of intense pushing, JOSIAH GADIEL LACANILAO BALDIVIA made his entrance into this world.

FATHER: Jose (Joe) Baldivia
MOTHER: Erinleigh Lacanilao
DATE OF BIRTH: Monday, August 16, 2004
PLACE OF BIRTH: Baldwin Park, CA
TIME OF BIRTH: 1:32am
WEIGHT: 6.56 lbs
LENGTH: 19 inches

Josiah is very fair like his parents, with Erin's eyes, fingers and toes that are inherited from his maternal great-grandmother's side of the family. Very alert and responsive just minutes after his birth, he is already displaying a sweet and charming personality.

His father Joe and Oma (German for Grandma) Sharon helped with the delivery, while Grandma Rose Baldivia, Apo (pronounced AH-poh) Dan Lacanilao, Aunties Ashley Isidro & Gina Magno waited anxiously in the waiting room!!

Josiah's maternal great-grandparents are Dr. Gadiel T. Isidro and Dr. Marge A. Isidro, as well as paternal great-grandmother, Mrs. Esther Lacanilao.

How thankful we are to our gracious and loving Heavenly Father for this precious gift of life!! And how thankful we are to those of you who prayed with us for Josiah's safe, albeit early, arrival (@ 35 weeks!) and who supported and loved Erin and Joe during these past 8 months. If you're ever in the Pasadena area, DO stop by 124 S. Berkeley Ave. and visit!!

So, here he is, just a few minutes after being cleaned up, examined by nurses and declared healthy and normal by his doctors -- JOSIAH GADIEL!!

thanks for letting me share this significant milestone in our family's life. God bless!!

Sharon

WELL DONE...

Sunday, January 2nd, will be my mom's 1st death anniversary. our vesper service will be a celebration of her life and legacy and i've requested one of our young people to sing a song during that vesper service. this young man was very special to my mom. with much joy, she watched him grow up and become the godly young man that he is now. she would have loved to hear him sing this song... OR, maybe she has already... :-) i like to think that that's the case...

Well Done
by Carlo Arco

Sometimes I don't understand
Why I thought that I had
All the time in the world
To go and see you awhile
For just a little while.

Too caught up in my own life
I didn't see the pain you hid with a smile
And now you're not here with me
should have been, could have been, would've been, alright

Wish I knew how to turn back the hands of time
Cause maybe then I'd be here by your side
Wish that I had done just a little more
Wish that I could see you one more time
But I know that God holds your life
Your battle is finally won and he said well done
My faithful servant well done

Too many times in our lives
do we take things for granted
I don't understand it, no
When its right in front of our eyes
Thinking they would be here for all times

Wish I knew how to turn back the hands of time
Cause maybe then you'd be here by my side
Wish that I had done just a little more
Wish that I could see you one more time
But I know that God holds your life
Your battle is finally won

Wish that I had done just a little more
Wish that I could see you one more time
But I know that god holds your life
Your battle is finally won
Wish I knew how to turn back the hands of time
Cause maybe then I'd be here by your side

Wish that I had done just a little more for you
Wish that I could see you one more time
But I know that God holds your life
Your battle is finally won
And God said well done

Thanksgiving 2010

A BLESSED THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!!

because i agree with harold estes, i HAD to post and share this...

WW II Battleship sailor tells Obama to shape up or ship out!

This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii for his seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and causes all over the country. A humble man without a political bone in his body, he has never spoken out before about a government official, until now. He dictated this letter to a friend, signed it and mailed it to the president.

Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WWII, retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in a "rest home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor, allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.

One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct, even to the head man. So, here goes.

I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.

I can't figure out what country you are the president of. You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:
* "We're no longer a Christian nation"
* "America is arrogant." Your wife even announced to the world, "America is mean-spirited." Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23 generations of our war dead buried all over the globe who died for no other reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness.

I'd say shame on the both of you, but I don't think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said, "America hasn't lived up to her ideals." Which ones did you mean?
* Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British?
* Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War?
* I hope you didn't mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.
* I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know, the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man. Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue.

You were elected to lead, not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And, just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean, you don't want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts who was putting up a fight?

You don't mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you're the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But, if you're not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president. You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat.

Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now. And, I sure as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle...

Sincerely,
Harold B. Estes

Snopes confirms as true:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/haroldestes.asp

When a 95-year-old hero of the "the Greatest Generation" stands up and speaks out like this, I think we owe it to him to send his words to as many Americans as we can. Please pass it on.