Dorky Dacia

Thought you all might like to see a short clip of the dorky dog living with us.
Courtney was kind enough to send Dacia a new bed today. I put it outside on the patio for her, and she immediately decided it was a new toy to chew. She has eaten every other bed she's had, so I supposed she figured we gave her new chewing fodder.
Enjoy!!

Thankful Month

We have a lot to be thankful for, since our last post. First, Mom got to witness the birth of Amanda Jean Runyan. She is a beautiful little girl, and we are happy to welcome grandbaby #20 to the family. Her older brother and sisters got to watch the birth, as well. It was fun to see their reactions. Kendall was still in school, so she had to come up later. Gabby just wanted to know "when is mom going to put her pants back on."





Then we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Runyans, Lyons, Aaron's Parents, and Grandma and Grandpa Hawley.




At the end of the month, we got together with the Lyons, Runyans and Stubblefields to celebrate Emily's birthday and have a fun night of Bunco. The cousins had a great time playing together.





We look forward to the Tripps visit at Christmas and hope to have more family photos to post.

Waterhole

I took these cool pics when we went to Six Flags, and I wanted you all to see. I just never thought of the hole in water when a large object falls in.

Bedazzled

Dad and I don't often take pics of one another. I guess you will have to settle for pics of whoever happens to be visiting us or pics of the dogs. Weezer had to stay home from the ward Trunk or Treat, but Dacia got to go. Weezer gets Dacia too worked up, so we decided to let Dacia go out alone. All the kids enjoyed petting her. She was a good doggy for the event.
I am in charge of costumes for our ward Roadshow. I am going to see if I can "bedazzle" some T-shirts for one of the scenes. If it works out, we can do something during our Fam Reunion with the Bedazzler.
Tomorrow is the Sikh parade. I wanted to go to the open house today for free food, but dad wouldn't do it. Chicken!! Emily went and she brought me a Samosa. The town is awash with turbans this weekend. Bill and Hillary were scheduled to come, but were told not to, so they wouldn't be a distraction from the real purpose of the event. I will take a picture tomorrow, so you can all feel badly you are missing this special hometown event. It is WAY bigger than when you were all kids.

Dog cuddle

I am still trying to figure out how to format this blog thing, so for now I will just have to do another post to get all the pics on that I wanted.
Jared got in a good lap cuddle from Dacia. She just climbed right on.

Fall is here!!

Fall is definately in the air, which confirms it is my favorite time of year. I don't know if it is because of the fall colors, cool crisp air, socks and shoes or just that the hottest part of the year is over, but I love fall. I also love the first day I can break out the flip flops and let my feet go naked. Go figure!!
We had a great visit from Jared, Debbie and kids. What a treat to hang with Hannah, and get to know Ben a bit better. We met up with Runyans at Bishops Pumpkin Patch and had a great time. Thanks to the Runyan kids for being so kind and warm with their little cuzzies. They always make sure they are having fun and being safe.
Micah, Sarah and Jackson came at the end of the week and we all went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. We had a great time. There were 6 grandkids under 4, with Hannie being the only girl in the bunch.
We all got together again Sunday night after General Conference. The house was loud, but full of love. The only missing part was Meg and Family and Josh and Family.
I am into week 4 with Invisalign. Each week gets easier. They are still bothersome, but I can handle it. The hardest part is brushing after eating. The grossest place I have brushed in so far would be Movies 8. Nasty!! I am sure I grossed a lady out at Costa Vida. The sink wouldn't drain and she was waiting for me to finish, so she could wash her hands. Sorry Lady!!

The first few days with Invisalign was a real challenge. My teeth hurt with initial movement, and I felt badly that I probably wasn't as sympathetic with my children who wore braces. Sorry! I had to resort to getting acrylic nails put on, as my nails were short and became bruised under the nail bed in my efforts to remove the trays. The new nails helped, and now I can remove the trays quite easily. Then the next few days by evening time I was ready to scream out with tooth claustrophobia. My teef just felt like they needed to breathe and break free. Now that I am in my second week, I am adjusting. No between meal snacking, unless I want to remove the trays, and brush. I had to get sensitive tooth paste, cuz my mouth was raw from constant brushing. So . . . I survived, and now I will just have to repeat the tooth pain, when I get my new set of trays on Thurs.
I spoke in Church today, and am glad it is over. I should be good for another couple years. Spoke on "by their fruits, ye shall know them." Don't know if my talk inspired anyone else, but I felt some nice spiritual feelings in the preparation of the talk. It was a good week for those feelings. I shared with all of you the tender mercies of the Lord in helping me find Jason. I just had a long conversation with his mom, Joyce, and we plan to meet in Sac when I take Grandpa next week for some skin cancer treatment. She was wonderful to talk to and harbors no ill will towards anyone in the family. Lots of things were cleared up for me. Jason is in Uncle Denny's stake, and Denny will be calling him.
Joyce is a labor and delivery nurse at Sutter Memorial Hospital. She has been alone for 21 years. She has had a difficult life, but rose above the challenges and made a life for herself and her children.
Talking to her helped fill a hole I have always felt in my life.
Jared, Deb & Kids arrive tomorrow, and we are looking forward to some fun times - a trip to the Pumpkin Patch, and Marine World. I will post some photos real soon

Togetherness

I am joining the blogger world in a feeble attempt at family togetherness. The phone is great, but I find the information stream gets stuck, and I don't have the memory to keep track of who I told what. So, I will try blogging.
I have something new to wear these days - Invisalign!! I got my first trays today. Dr. Reading now does Invisalign, and he offered me a good deal - so I took him up on it. He said I was a good candidate. The correction time is fairly short. I will need a total of 8 trays for the top - 16 week treatment and 17 trays for the bottom. I am pretty sore today, but he said it will get better. I can only take them off to eat, and have to brush before I put them back on. I guess that will cut down on between meal snacking! It takes some skill and pressure to get them off. I am sure I will get better at it, as time goes on. I won't know what to think of my smile without my front tooth sticking out. Surpisingly, it will correct more quickly than the bottom crowding.
We had a lovely rain last evening. Everything is all fresh and clean now. I am glad for fall to be here, but disappointed I didn't get in another swim in the pool. We had a short swim season this year, and I missed out on a lot of it, since I was gone so much. The new pool liner made taking care of the pool much easier.
Grandma and Grandpa are settle in at The Courtyard. No complaints about the food. Today they went on a group outting to the Oroville Fish Hatchery. I am glad this new place offers monthly outtings, as well as trips to Movies 8, and WalMart. I am hoping my errand runs for them will lessen. They are much closer to fetch for Church, too.
I got a chair massage at the mall today. It was WONDERFUL. Those guys really put some muscle into it. Eventhough there was a ton of pressure, it wasn't painful. I love Clarice, but I will have to agree with Jared, as he terms her massage a "professional tickle." It is lovely and relaxing, but not deep tissue.
Okay, Jared, Megan and Andrea, we just need to get you two on board with the whole blogging thing.