Well, there just comes a time when Dahmah (Grandma) has to pull out her proverbial Brag Book! (Grandma's Brag Book -- the computer, has virtually thousands and thousands of pictures!)

Phil and I have four beautiful grandchildren -- Antonio, Raquel, Lalo and Julia Jo -- and I plan to share pictures of them all at some point in time with you. (There are a number on my website already.) In this blog today, I'm posting some pictures that I especially love of Julia Jo, a.k.a. JJ.

The picture above was taken when JJ, Kim and Paul were visiting Mimi (JJ's adoring Minnesota grandma), and was showing everyone how strong she was, carrying around weights. I love JJ's smile (she's always smiling! -- all one needs to say is, "Smile, Julia!"), and I love the energy and motion portrayed in this photo.



Talk about smiles!! JJ comes by her lovely expression honestly, doesn't she? We've always said that our son-in-law, Paul, has one of the most beautiful smiles we've ever seen. JJ loves her daddy. So do we! He's a blessing to our family.



My sister, Teecie, gave some beautiful ruby-red slippers to our other granddaughter, Raquel, when she was a little thing. When Raquel outgrew the patent leather slippers, she passed them on to JJ, and now they're some of JJ's favorites (this girl LOVES shoes and girly stuff!).

Recently, Kim and JJ met some friends at a pool where they had great fun. After swimming a bit (at two years of age, JJ's a great swimmer), it was time for lunch and then a little more swimming. This all wore Julia out, and as soon as they got in the car, she put on those red shoes and fell asleep. When they got home, Kim took JJ upstairs, laid her down in her bed, and took a picture of her in "those" shoes. :-)



Kim and Julia Jo have come to Illinois on occasion, spending 3 - 5 days at a time with me. One day we were out in the car, and I happened to have my camera (You don't say! ha) with me. While stopped at a traffic light, I turned and captured the above shot, one of my favorite pictures of Julia Jo. What a beautiful baby!