January 2010

We have had a challenging but fun first month of this new year. We started out with the challenge of my job downsizing and creating one full time position from two part time positions therefore I was laid off of a job that I really loved. So now to the challenge of finding a job in this hard economy where there are hundreds of people applying for any job out there. Well, we will see what happens. However I haven't been bored or with a lack of things to do. I have been very busy actually. So besides learning job search skills and how to write a resume and do an interview...here are some of the fun January happenings for Richard and I.
***************************
We started out on January 9th by going to see our favorite comedian, Brian Reagan, at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. He keeps you laughing so that you feel wonderful and it's all pure fun...and CLEAN. However, your cheeks hurt when it's over. We love it! He is great! We try to see him whenever he is in Santa Rosa.

On the 16th we went out to Sebastopol to celebrate Mark La Grave's Birthday with his family and friends. This is a picture of him and his boys, Joshua and Lucas who we consider our grandsons. We love them and are so glad to have their family, who are a part of our family, live near us now. We also celebrated Christmas with them then too as we missed seeing Mark and Kathleen during the Christmas holidays.
This is the Birthday cake I made for Mark.
He loves gardening and is a Doctor by profession.

On Friday the 22nd Chris and Emily came out to Santa Rosa so we could celebrate Chris's 26th birthday with him. That night was our ward Talent show and we decided to perform the Abbott and Costello routine "Who's on First" we did 20 years ago and practiced it for many days and weeks. This picture below is us after the performance when we came home. Yes, those are Christmas decorations behind us...I told you I was busy. The tree was down but I was still trying to take down the rest of the decorations here a little and there a little. Everything was down before February though. I tried to post the video and it was, in theory, downloading for 5 hours but still not accomplishing the task so I canceled it. I will try and put it on Facebook because it downloads much faster; so check there if you want to see it.
Chris and Emily. Can't believe our "baby" is 26 years old.
Wow, does that make a person feel old! Love you Guys.!

Stupendous end of 2009

So many wonderful events and memories just kept coming during the last quarter of 2009 that I didn't have the time or energy to blog. So I thought I would give you a bullet point summary complete with a picture slide show. I hope you can get a small feeling of the wonderful memories and experiences we were blessed to enjoy.

• October 9th: Richard's 70th birthday celebrated with Chris and Emily and a few close friends.
• October: Our ward Halloween chili cook-off and harvest party at the Lowder's farm. Joy was a witch serving the brew. Mark and Kathleen and their boys came and enjoyed it too.
  
• Joy attempted a garden...our pear tree gave us the most beautiful pears ever but the cantaloupe were teeny weeny and laughable.
• Our Thanksgiving trip to Utah was abundant with amazing surprises and blessings. It wound up being The Best Thanksgiving EVER and a reunion of our posterity...all 33 of us!!
• Joy enjoyed being a part of the annual Nativity art and music exhibit again this year. We both sang in the Choir with Dan Earl again. That is always one of the highlights of the Christmas season for us.
  
• We saw the Christmas lights at the Oakland Temple for the first time in many years.
• We attended the David Archuleta concert at our local entertainment center and loved every minute of it. Joy even got a T-shirt. David actually attended our ward sacrament meeting that weekend. The young women... actually all the women were thrilled!!
• Christmas was quiet. Chris and Emily were here in the afternoon and we "skyped" on the computer with our Utah and Texas families, and called the rest on the phone.
• New Year's Eve was spent with good friends enjoying good food and fun games as we welcomed the new year with hope for it's future and ours.

I will try to do better at my blog this year but being Relief society President takes up a lot of what used to be my spare time. Happy New Year Everyone!! Hope you enjoy the slide show.