Christmas Gift: Outing #10!

We went for a late afternoon drive through the foothills above Auburn looking for fall colors!

It's just beginning around here...

But we found some scenic areas and lightly traveled roads...

...and ended with a yummy Jamba Juice!

It's Fall in Andover!

(Warning  or Invitation: If you send me cute pictures of my grand kids, I may post them on my blog!)

Love those piles of leaves!

 Pumpkin carving time...

 The younger girls did theirs mostly by themselves!

Heidi is always thinking like a YW president!

 Ready for the Trunk or Treat!

Are We Having Fun Yet?

YES!!!!!!!!!

My Weekend!

I love when the weekend holds some special events!

On Friday the Dads were having fun times with their girls: Daddy-Daughter camp out for the Melanchuks and Daddy-Daughter date for the Perrys.

So the boys (6 of my 10 grandsons) and their Moms (plus Lily) gathered at our house for playing and dinner.  It was a great time!  Unfortunately, the only picture I took was of the dessert:

I can't believe all the fun they had with some tiny bouncy eyeballs!  This was all we could find at the end of the night:

On Saturday we attended the sealing of some special friends...

...and attended the reception that night.

I was her visiting teacher and Dan and I were the matchmakers!

So happy for them!!

And now her last name is: Ricks!

And then on Sunday I got to see these three participate in their Primary program.  The theme this year is Families Are Forever.

Their ward had the kids sit with their siblings and give their parts with their siblings.  It was wonderful!  Joshua spoke about family scripture study, Hannah spoke about family prayer, and David spoke about Family Home Evening--all memorized and just perfect to this Grandma!

Halloween Park Party #2!

The games were lots of fun!

First they played Hot Spider, sort of like Hot Potato.

(I have had this spider for almost 30 years and it still makes an eerie sound when you squeeze it.)

Next, they made tombstones for themselves:

Then they played Graveyard.  They were not allowed to move a muscle (except to breathe) and a grave keeper walked around inspecting each corpse for movement!

Then it was time to try to eat a donut with no hands while your partner dangled it over your mouth!

And finally it was Musical Circles with Halloween music:

The Moms, the kids, and the grandparents all had a great time!

Halloween Park Party #1!

Hannah and Joshua are at a new school this year.  In an effort to meet the parents of some of their new friends as well as to meet the new friends, MaryAnn hosted a Halloween party at the park on a day off of school this past Monday.

Let's get the important stuff out of the way:

Here are the snacks she prepared!

Healthy and clever!  Love them!

Even healthy candy corn!

Very cute water bottles for everyone!

Dan and I were sort of in charge of Jacob and Lily.

Jacob loved sliding...

...and playing with this dried out marker!

Lily enjoyed the snacks...

...and just being cute!

Fun games in the next post!

It Isn't Scary!

When Dan was first called as Stake President, one of my first thoughts was: Oh dear, we may have General Authorities staying at our home.  That will be scary!

For the second time now we have had a General Authority and his wife stay with us.

This weekend we hosted Elder Daniel L. Johnson (of the first Quorum of the Seventy) and his wife LeAnn.

Both times all I can say is that it is one of the most delightful experiences I have ever had!   

The Johnsons were warm and loving, easy to talk to and very pleasant in every way!  We loved getting to know them, asking them questions and learning much.

The service they give is incredible, not to mention the schedule they keep.  They flew in on Friday from Utah and while they were here until Monday, they presided over 5 Sacramento Mission Zone Conferences as well as our Stake Conference. Each Zone Conference was 3 hours long. The stake Conference included  2:00 p.m., 3:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m. meetings. Elder Johnson was the main speaker at every Zone Conference and every Stake Conference meeting!

We are blessed to have wonderful people leading our church!