Molly the Bat Mitzvah - Oy!

After years of preparation and training and my nagging, my precious daughter successfully completed her Bat Mitzvah ceremony. She was amazing! Poised, lovely and she read the Hebrew from the Torah like a pro!

We were lucky to have so many friends and family come to Burbank for this amazing event.

And more Ribniks in one place than ever seen in the past 100 years! (An educated guess.)

Front Row: Molly Ribnik and Marina Demaine

2nd Row: Jay Hamilton, Susie Ribnik I, Katy Demaine

3rd Row: Alice Young, Susie Ribnik II, Harlan Ribnik, Ron Ribnik

4th Row: Erin Dunn, Linda Ribnik

5th Row: David Young, Georgia Young, Nate Naill, David Ribnik, David Demaine

Will the real Susie Ribnik stand up - wait both Susie's are standing up!

After the ceremony, at Temple Sinai of Glendale, we had a rollicking party complete with an awesome DJ (DJeddie.com) and a photo booth. Lot's of food and music and fun.

No Bat Mitzvah is complete without the chair dance! Molly hung in there and didn't fall off!

Chair dancing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcsQhfkyFas

YMCA dancing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBTc4fIWYL8

Later - meals with family and Molly got to open the many wonderful presents and cards she received. What a great outpouring of love.

Thank you everyone!

PHOTO BOOTH PICS - awww, how cute:

2 Puppies - Double the Fun!

Well after falling in love with Sophie the Puppy, we decided to help out with the pet adoptions at PetCo.

While there we saw another dog rescued when Sophie was rescued - Charlie. He fell in love with Molly and spent the whole day curled up in her lap. What could we do? Adopt him too!

So, now we have two silly puppies. Sophie - about 4 months old and Charlie - about 1 year old. They adore each other, play and sleep on top of each other (ahhh, the true meaning of "dog pile"), keep each other company and keep us laughing at their antics.

They are nearly house trained now (ok there is an accident now and then) and are eating lots of stuff...but we love them completely and are very happy to have them as part of our family.

Welcome Sophie Ribnik - puppy fun!

The house has been sooo lonely without a fuzzy faced being to greet us and love us...so we adopted a new puppy dog.

We had planned a larger version...but Molly (ok and me) fell in love with Sophie. She is a little terrier and cute as can be. Oh boy, now comes the training and real fun. I know what Molly is doing for the rest of her summer break! :-)

Gee, she sorta looks like my childhood dog, Dolly. What a wild thing. I hope she is as good of a dog as Dolly was.

Good-bye to the Best Dog Ever

Max the Puppy

Max the old man

Max the Dog, the best dog on earth, left the planet on June 29th. He had to be put to sleep. He was very sick, in pain and wasn't breathing well. Though we know that he is in a better place, our hearts are broken.

Max has been an important member of our family for over 12 years. We can barely imagine our life without him - the house is already so very empty. Talk about unconditional love - Max didn't care if we were tired and cranky, if we smelled bad (he kinda liked that), he could always be counted on to eat anything that fell on the floor and was even willing to clean our plate if we let him (who needs a dishwasher?) Max was a great guard dog - he kept us safe from the evil mailman, the meter-reader and any neighbor rude enough to walk down the sidewalk or ride a bike in our street.

I will miss him waking me up at the oddest hours to go outside and "water the lawn". I'll miss the earnest greetings that I got every time I came home, as if he hadn't seen me for years and was delighted that I came back. I will miss his fuzzy face and the mounds of hair he shed and left as a present for me daily. I'll miss the understanding looks he gave me whenever we discussed the matters of the universe (or was he waiting for me to share a morsel of food...hmmm?) Mostly I'll miss the dog who was just glad that I was around.

Nieces Graduate!

Katy Demaine Is A High School Graduate! WOW!

We went to Phoenix to watch Katy receive her High School diploma. She was one of the speakers and did a great, great job. College bound in the Fall - U of A!

Marina Demaine finished Middle School! WOW!

We also went to Marina's middle school ceremony/graduation/continuation ceremony. She won an award and was too cute. Katy, her boyfriend Brandon, Molly and I were there to cheer for her!

The Renaissance Comes to Burbank

On a lovely day in May the Lords and Ladies of the Luther Middle School 7th Grade made merry. They dressed in appropriate attire for a frolic in the land. They bartered for each others wares, they watched and participated in sword play and dancing.

We parents were able to join in as judges of the student's knowledge of the Renaissance. Was a tough judge...you betcha! hahaha. I made Molly's outfit. I thought she looked just lovely.

Jr. Youth Group - Beach Party in May

Susie, Joyce and Cantor Mariana.

The Jr. Youth Group was at it again. Out for adventure and fun in the sun. Well, there wasn't a lot of sun as the day was over-cast, but there was lots of sand, hot dogs, chips, games, fun and more fun!

Some of the boys get in touch with their sand building talents.

Can you dig it?

Spring Break - 2009 - A visit with the Nicks Family

Jonathan - on the beach.

The best Mother's Day present

he could have given to him Mom!

It was one of the few days he had energy

to go outside.

Zack is on the far left.

Jonathan is in the middle.

Anna is on the far right.

What a beautiful family!

Now and then you meet some very special people. I've been friends with Ramona Nicks Heikel since I was in 8th grade. In December I heard from Ramona that her sister-in-law Anna Nicks and Anna's sons Jonathan and Zack were coming to the San Diego area. They were in search of medical treatment for Jonathan, who was diagnosed the previous July with Cancer.

We had the opportunity to meet up with the Nick's family while in San Diego on Spring Break. We just loved them and have stayed in touch, sending to them shipments of goodies (DVDs, magazines, healthy snacks, a skate board, and so on - thanks to all my friends who contributed to these care packages!)

Sadly, Jonathan lost the battle to cancer on June 19th, 9 days before his 16th birthday. This was an amazing kid who never asked "why me?" and always thought of others. Anyone who met him and his family felt lucky to have known him.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to this lovely family.

Spring Break - 2009 - San Diego Fun!

What a great time for a get-out-of-town-outing. We loaded up the car, grabbed Molly's friend Jessica and went to San Diego. While there we saw the sites, ate at good restaurants, and visited our old friend Shamu at SeaWorld. Jessica's mom Deanna joined us a couple days in to the trip. So I had a "playmate" too!

We had a great time.

Look There's Flipper!

Whale Watching with the Jr.Youth Group!

January is a perfect time to go see whales...or at least dolphins. We went out with our Temple Jr. Youth Group in search of Shamu. We sort of saw a whale at one point...but the cool thing was the dozens and dozens of dolphins we saw. Well worth the trip just for that!

The Whole Group

Joyce, Cantor Mariana and Moi

Flipper and Friends

Meet The Ribniks - from New Jersey!

Did you know that there is another Susie Ribnik? Yes there is and she is very cool!

Susie and Ron Ribnik, my cousins, came from New Jersey to LA on business. We met in Hollywood (Hollywierd) and had lunch and photo ops! I wish they lived closer!

Happy New Year - 2009

Molly and Jessica just rang in the new year!  Raspberry Tea and silly hats.  Here's to a great 2009!  It will be a great one!