Part one

I'm back!  After almost 2 months I am finally back.  I haven't been that busy, just not feeling like writing.   Do you ever get like that?  I get like that frequently.

We've been cleaning a lot around here.  Mostly drawers, boxes and anything that holds anything. It all started a couple months ago when we decided we were done camping.   We will go on daytrips and visit the kids when we camp and cook breakfast and/or lunch.  But no overnight, hauling the trailer, too much work stuff for us.  Lanny said it isn't fun for him anymore.  We have hardly gone at all the past 5 years....in fact we didn't go at all last year.  All our 25 foot trailer does is sit out in the driveway and is a spare bedroom....which we really don't need either.  Lanny just opens it up in the heat and heats it up in the winter.  So we decided to sell the trailer.  Our son, Kevon, wanted it so we sold it to him.   We needed to find the title which we thought we knew where we left it...in the safe. But it wasn't.  Neither were the titles for my van and papa's kia.  So that is what started our search.  Lanny found them at the end of the search.... the last drawer in our filing cabinet we never use in our garage.   He found all the titles except the truck....which we had to put in for a lost title because Lanny has decided he doesn't need it and son-in-law Don does and wanted it so he got it.  Both vehicles are still here but it is nice to be done with that decision and we threw away massive stuff too!  So we are happy with this.  Scruffy is telling me it is bedtime so I will have to start on this tomorrow.

thanksgiving

It has been over a month since I typed anything in here.  We got through Thanksgiving.  Kevon came over and had dinner with us. It was really nice.   And Karla and the kids came over for awhile! That was a surprise and we played Apple to Apples.  Lots of laughs.  Tried to teach Dylan another game the family played when the kids were younger (Rummy Royal). He was too impatient as we tried to remember.

We had to get the decorations and tree up for the Christmas Cookie and Ornament Exchange we had at my house.  It was fun with lots of cookies.  Lauren and Madi helped me bake (well, they did it) and decorated my tree for me.  It was fun watching them sing and laugh and have fun!

Happy 13th Birthday Riley

Our spunky little grandbaby Riley turned 13 years old today.  Time is just going so fast.   It seems like yesterday her sister turned 13. He sister just turned 18 and now Riley is 13.  I wish I could get time to slow down a bit.  I know the grandkids probably don't.  I sure love my life. I really do.

I have a few more blessings I have worked on I would like to add too.  I left off on Andrew!

15th:  I celebrate my 2nd grand child, Parker Valverde. To know Parker is such a huge blessing! I watched videos of when he was a baby yesterday and I smiled and laughed and my heart was touched. He is an incredible person. He is an 18 year old man now. He still has his sweet spirit, great laugh, big hugs, huge heart for animals and people. He is smarter than he realizes and funnier than he knows. In our family you can't help but smile at the mention of his name. He is so loved! Love you Parker! Thank you God! God always knows what He is doing!

16th :  It was 2 years ago we got our scruffy little dog. We probably got him too soon after losing Toby and he is nothing like Toby. Scruffy doesn't always listen. Well, he listens but doesn't do as he is told. He controls him and Papa's walks. He controls a lot of things around this house. But he has helped Papa to heal and gave him someone to focus on when Toby died. Scruffy didn't like or trust men and now they are so close. God knew what he was doing and I am thankful for this Scruffy dog from stinky California. Love him soooooo much!

17th:  I love our cat. He is much sweeter than he was. We have had him since he was a kitten and he was always mean to me. But now he recently started sleeping on my lap, on my bed and almost lets me pet him. I am thankful for him. God is great. He brings these animals into our lives so we have something to care for and love....and they have someone to love and care for them. 
heart emoticon

The 18th  photo is above at the top....and it is Riley!  Day #18 Riley is our blessing today and it is her 13th birthday! It doesn't seem like that long ago when God blessed us with her! Every day we are continued to be blessed by her craziness, laughter, humor, and great personality! She is so pretty, smart and athletic. Just love this Riley girl so much!!!!! 
heart emoticon Happy birthday Riley and thank you God!

It has been a crazy couple days here.  We have been having wind and rain storms  Some have been really bad.  We lost power last night at dinner time and of course we didn't get dinner done in time. So we had cereal. I went to sleep around 8 p.m. and slept terrible all night.  I didn't have my fan going, papa and the dog and cat were in and out of bed all night, and the wind howled all night.  I see a nap in my future today. The cat already started hours ago. haha!

I sent out the Christmas list of who is buying for who and who is bringing what food.  Papa will be making the turkey,  julienne potatoes and Jesus' Birthday cake. I will be making the ham, mashed potatoes, two types of gravy, the stuffing and maybe more. The girls are bringing the rest.  I hope everyone gets the day off.  We are having it the 19th of December. I'm hoping Andrew can take a family picture for us but it will be weird photo without Ryan or Amanda there. I guess life changes. Nothing you can do about it but continue living. And loving life.  

Back to Thanksgiving and a few jokes to lighten things up and make you laugh!  Have a great week!