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.
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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.

September Miracle!

On Monday, September 21st, at 4:06 PM our son Jeff and his wife, Rachelle participated in a miracle and became parents for the first time. Their "little son", Lucas Jefferson Mann, was born. He weighed in at 9 lbs 10 oz and was 23 and 1/8 inches long. These are their first family photos!! We are so happy for them.

So fresh from Heaven!!

All bathed and beautiful even down to his little "Mohawk" hairstyle!

Rachelle was so good to keep us feeling a part of it all being so far away. We received pictures on our cell phones so we could see our grandson often. She sent us this one the morning of the 22nd from the hospital after feeding him.He seems quite pleased.

"Sprout", as he was affectionately called before they met him face to face, didn't receive his name until they were ready to leave the hospital on Tuesday. We think they chose a great name for our precious grandson after getting to know him a little.
But I think he will still be called "Sprout" on occasion.

Day 3
His Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Ron were fortunate enough to have been there when he was born and were a great help during those first few days being at home. Grandma Cindy is holding Lucas here and is the reason I have some of these nice pictures from his first 5 days after birth. Thank you Cindy!!
His Uncles, Aunts, and cousins were ready to greet him

as above where Uncle Dave is holding him.

Day 4 "Snug as a bug in a rug"

Day 5... Hello there little bright eyes. It's good to see you.

Rachelle had just fed him and he was so satisfied.
She sent this picture of that contented peaceful look.

Day 5 again...the little sleeping angel.

Sunday morning Rachelle sent this sweet photo saying. "Happy Sunday." It's amazing how a little fellow can change in his appearance so much in one week. We love him so and can hardly wait for November when we are going to Utah to see him in person and touch those cute little cheeks, give him hugs, and shower him with love. The miracles in our family are plentiful.

Weddings of September

On the 12th of September we attended the wedding of Matt Dold.

The wedding was held at the home of a friend of the Dold family high in the hills of the pretty little town of Glen Ellen where they lived when Matt was a toddler.
The ceremony and reception were overlooking this lake on their property. It was a perfect place and the weather cooperated too.Matt patiently waits for his bride to join him.
Ruthie, his cousin, is a bridesmaid.

He watches and waits...

Here comes the beautiful bride, Francesca, on the arm of her Dad who, with his wife, came all the way from Hungary to be there for her.

Friends and family...we are gathered here in the site of God to witness the marriage of Matt and Francesca....

They say their vows....

You may kiss your Bride...

I present to you Mr and Mrs Matt Dold

The garter and bouquet were thrown and Fronie's sister caught the bouquet and a friend of Matt's, that I know from working at the Chiropractic office, caught the garter.

The Bride and Groom share some dances together.
The food was delicious. Some of it was Hungarian traditional food made by Fronie's mom.
Matt and his wife will be going to Hungary with Jan and Greg to have a wedding ceremony over there for her family and friends who live there.
It was a beautiful day and a very special event. We were glad we were there. Matt told us "he was very glad we were there but he wished that Dave, Jeff and Chris could have been there too."
He seemed very happy. We are very happy for him and his beautiful wife.

The week after Matt's wedding I had a wedding cake to do for another young couple. The wedding and reception were out in Sebastopol at "The Vine Hill House". I created this design using her wedding invitation to inspire me. She and her husband and their family were very happy with the way it turned out.

Supurb Beauty of September!!

This post is about the beauty of the nature that has surrounded me this month.
I've started walking regularly again and so I thought I would take my camera along with me one morning. These are some of the natural beauties that delight my senses and uplift me as I walk. The picture above are those gorgeous flowering trees that bloom in Sept all around Santa Rosa. We even have one in the dark pink color growing in our yard. How fun it will be when it gets that big.

As I walk through the Oak trees that are at the far end of the park, I smell them and that fragrance that surrounds me takes me back to my childhood and a park I used to go to in Berkekey called "Live Oak Park". It is an instant memory and a very good one. At the same time I look around and down that path in front of me as I stand under the Oaks is a view of the fence that surrounds our first house in Santa Rosa...the home where we lived when all three of our youngest sons were born.

Then I walk down that path and stand by that fence and look out at the view that we had from our deck in the backyard of the playground over the stream and through the trees. Look familiar... sons??

Near the end of my walk in and out of the park walkways is a pathway that is another favorite. I love the majesty of the Weeping Willow trees. They have a grace and beauty all their own.

These cuties are some of the Gerbera Daisys that grow on our deck. I love looking at them out of my kitchen window.

This is the Hydrangea plant that my Philpott family gave to me one Mother's Day. I love the color of those flowers. It brings me much happiness. Thank you family.

This cute little succulent plant was a get will gift from the Kitchen family that was waiting for us when we got home from our extended trip to Utah in June. It's "get well" messsage was greatly appreciated and it is blooming again so that it's love extends on.

Light pink roses that bloom profusely on our front path on a bush that my boss gave me for assistants day in 2008 make me smile every day. I love that I planted it and it grew so nicely. I got another one this year that is a dark, dark pink that I have planted across the path from this one. It will be fun to see it's growth too.

I love nature and the way it makes me feel. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who created all the beauties that surround me. Now it's on to the next phase of nature and all that fall has in store for the senses.

Awesome August!!

The First Saturday in August, our Stake President and good friend, Perry Bingham (front center) came over and told Richard that it was time for him to be released from his 8 years of service on the High Council and I was also being released with him from our 8 years of service as advisers to the Single Adults in our stake. The picture above is his last night with the High Council. It was a hard release as we both loved serving in those capacities but with change comes growth and new opportunities to serve. You will see at the end of this post where we are serving now...

The two weeks surrounding that event were very busy weeks for 4 of our sons. All four of them moved from one place to a new place. Our son John and his wife Noelle and their 5 children moved to Taylorsville Utah from our rental home in Sacramento. He got a really good job there but not until his wife and kids had already moved into their new rental home. That's a leap of Faith which accompanied with the confirmation of the Spirit was exactly what they were supposed to do. They have a lovely home there and are setteling in nicely. Our son Dave and his wife Brook with their son Carter moved from Salt Lake City into the beautiful newly fininshed 3 bedroom basement apartment of the rental home John and Noelle live in. And our son Jeff and his very pregnant wife Rachelle moved from a 2 bdrm upstairs condo to a 3 bdrm downstairs condo in their same building in Salt Lake city. It's wonderful having 3 of our sons and families so close together while Jeff and Dave finish school at U of U. They love being close and having family dinners together at least once a week. Noelle takes care of Carter when Brook is at work and Dave is at school. There's nothing like family!!!
Also the first weekend in August our son Chris and his wife Emily moved from our house in Santa Rosa to our rental home in Sacramento as he started school at ITT for his computer animation degree. Emily is still communting to Sonoma county to work but hopfully she will be able to find a job close to home when the opportunity presents itself. Chris is still looking for work in Sacramento that will fit with his school schedule.
I'm very grateful that we are staying put!!

On the 15th of August we were in Grant's Pass Oregon with Chris and Emily to celcbrate my Dad's 90th Birthday. We had a party for him with his friends from his barbarshop chorus as well as other friends. Dad has a quartet and they entertained us beautifully. You will see a couple of videos of two of their songs at the end of this post. We had a great time spending a couple of days with family. With thoughtful calculation we figured that it had been 17 years since my brother Larry, my sister Joanne, and I had all been together at the same time. We promised not to let it be so long next time.

The week after we got home from Oregon, our granddaughter, Beth and her son Jordan arrived from Austin Texas for a visit. What fun it was to spend some time with them and her Dad Steve Berry too. Jordan is a very busy little guy. He loved burying his little cars in the dirt.

They came to church with us the Sunday they were here and Chris and Emily were here that weekend too so they got to visit with them as well.

The last Saturday of the month, Richard and I went to Sacramento to do Temple work at that beautiful temple. We had been there for the sealing of John and Noelle's children but never been through a session there before. We spent a great day with Chris and Emily there and at their home seeing the fun decorating they have done to make their home their own. Family is where the real Joy of Life abides!!

We did get new callings at the end of the month. I am the new Relief Society President and Richard is the first assistant in the High Priest Group. New opportunities for us both.

Here is my Dad's quartet and one of their songs they did. I have been trying to upload a second video but it is taking forever so I think I will cancel it and try and put it in a post by itself so that I can get this one published. My Dad is on the far left and sings high tenor. My video skills are new, so when the picture isn't good...just enjoy the beautiful sound!!!

"May the Road Rise Up to Meet You"