Welcoming Henry

I hope you all don't fall off your chairs, but this is actually Melody posting on the blog.

I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Arizona the week after Henry was born to meet and welcome him. He is such a sweet, cuddly baby! And I had a lot of fun playing with Grant, Lucy and Molly too (Pam & Rob probably thought Grandma is starting with the 2nd childhood thing!)

Grant was my very own personal alarm clock and greeted me almost every morning with a "do you want to play, Grandma?" I usually talked him into having breakfast first.

I love these expressions! I think they had seen a few too many camera's that day.

Rob was "Wonder-Dad" the whole time I was there. He made the "Super A" list when he (and Grant helped) brought me (and everyone else in the family) a plate of delicious French-toast, bacon and eggs for a special Valentine breakfast in bed!

Valentines is a very fun holiday at the Fishers - they have a Valentine-fairy that decorates the kids bedrooms while they sleep!

I got to be the delivery service and bring this beautiful baby afghan that Great-Grandma Raona made for Henry.

I didn't get any pictures of her, but Kim picked me up from the airport and spent all of her precious free time with us while I was there. She is so much fun - the kids love to watch out the front window for her arrival. And like Grant says "she makes the BEST cakes!"

As I'm sure you all know, Pam is an amazing mom, it was a joy to visit and feel the wonderful spirit of love in her home. Thanks for letting me come!

Out with the Old - In with the New

After getting smacked in the rear-end by a hit-and-run driver a couple of weeks ago, we recognized it was time to step up our search for something to replace the old Jeep. I really loved that old thing. And in spite of the cracked windshield, loose seats, broken heater motor, leaky spare tire, terribly peeled paint, and odds & ends of other cosmetic blemishes - it served me well for at least 10 years, especially during those times when I was traveling all over the north state for my Church assignment. It was a car I was comfortable in, and felt like I could do anything with (including driving across 40' wide creeks up to the gunnels deep in flowing water and climbing up major 4 wheel drive trails in search of a better route for my 50 mile hike).

;;;;;;;;

But those days are gone, and this past week we bought the Jeep pictured above. In spite of spending more that I had planned on when I started my search a year ago, I feel like we got a good price for a vehicle with less than 39,000 miles and is just 3 years old.

That's not to say it was easy. Buying this kind of car is completely out of character for us. I know I spent a restless night thinking about it. I'm sure Mom did too. But I feet right about it, however difficult or out of my comfort zone it was to do.

My plan all along has been to get something we could rely on to get us anywhere our family is, in any kind of weather, at a moment's notice. And to have something that would last at least 20-25 years - well past my retirement date. I also need something that will pull my trailer and be able to haul a fair amount of gear inside and on top. This car fills all those needs. We didn't go into debt to purchase it either. that was another requirement.

In Other News

The weather here has been incredible for the past several days. Most of this past week was so warm the fruit trees are all budding out (very pretty, but not good news for the farmers). A couple of days ago I rode my bike down the levee to Boyd Pump boat ramp (a little over 5 miles away) wearing shorts and a thin exercise shirt. Just 2 weeks ago I was bundled up in my warm workout pants, heavy shirt, and lined jacket to make the trip. The picture below gives a view of the green all around on the west side of the levee at the boat ramp.

But we're not done with winter yet. This coming week will bring more cold (well, cold for NorCAl) with temps in the mid to low 50's. It would be good to get some more rain and snow in the mountains to supplement what little we've had so far, but I suppose the farmers will just be happy if it doesn't freeze. That would cause all the buds to drop and effectively destroy the entire fruit crop for this year. This is life in an agricultural region.

I always think of the joke about the farmer who won $2 million in the lottery. When they asked him what he was going to do with the money, he replied: "I guess I'll just keep farming until it's all gone."

Valentines Day

Mom came home from Arizona Tuesday where she had a great time playing with Pam & Kim & the grand kids. I picked her up at the airport ans we drove out to the temple. Afterwards we decided to go somewhere other than our usual stop at Panera Bread Co. for dinner (I mean after all, it was a special day).

Driving east up Folsom Blvd we came to an Original Mel's Diner (based on the one made famous by "American Graffiti." It was a great choice. The food came almost immediately after we ordered it. The french fries and milkshake were wonderful! Mom had a pastrami sandwich and I had a Big Bopper burger. We were both quite happy with our selections. It was a good day.

The Hit Man

Melody's in Arizona playing with grand kids (Molly wants to know "why did not the other grandpa come"), so I took grandma (my Mom) with me to the stake Valentines activity for adults. It was a dinner/mystery theater thing that was really quite well attended. Over 400 people were there to eat Mexican food and watch a short, one act play during which an engagement ring disappears. The we had to make our guesses as to who took it and where it was when the play ended. Pretty Fun.

But we got there late, because on the way we were rear-ended by a hit-and-run driver. We were stopped for a red light on Hwy 99 at Franklin when "BAM" somebody slammed into the back of my Jeep! You can see the damage below. What you can't see is that the front seats are all messed up with the backs of them tilted back at a 60 deg angle, the way Rich likes to have them. Only they won't straighten up.

;;;;;;;;

The force of the impact threw us forward into the car in front of us (who turned out to be a member of the Church and former student of mine). It looked like the three vehicles involved all signaled and pulled over on Franklin, but after we got off the highway the driver who hit me wasn't there. Rats.

But as I'm on the phone with the 911 operator, a woman pulls up behind us and says: "I got his license, I got his license!" It turns our she was behind the driver who hit me, saw the accident, and followed the vehicle to get the plate number. When it became apparent that the driver knew she was following him, she broke off and returned to us. It also turns out that her husband is a lieutenant in the YC police dept., and she wasn't about to let this guy get away with anything! What luck.

Anyway, grandma and I are all right, and we have had fun at the dinner. Looks like I may be looking for a new vehicle sooner than later. I'll let you know how things develop.

Here at Last

I hope I'm not stepping on anybody's toes with this, but I know Pam won't be updating her blog anytime soon, and I just couldn't wait. Below is grandchild number 10 (we're now even at 5 of each gender). A baby boy (to be named later), 6 lb 15 oz, 20" long born just before 7am AZ time.

Congratulations to Rob and Pam!

Saturday Feb. 4th

Yesterday morning I helped the priests and teachers in our ward understand orienteering (compass use and map reading), along with GPS navigation and geocaching. I did this in the river bottoms at Shanghi Bend. The day was so beautiful that I returned at about 2pm and ran 4 miles along the lower levee road (the one that runs at the foot of the levee between it and the river). I haven't run that far at one time in months! It felt great. Below is where we went geocaching, and where I started my run.

Later in the evening I watched a movie and finished the puzzle from Hades. It was a gift from the Butcharts for Christmas (so I guess I can blame Michelle for telling them I like putting together puzzles), and it was by far the most difficult puzzle I've ever completed. But now I want to do another, easier, one.

It's a beautiful scene cut - into 1000 pieces. But unlike common jigsaws, there are not well ordered rows of similar-cut pieces. Rather, there were extremely odd shaped pieces , sometimes weaving themselves into circles or waves. Many places in the picture had very similar colors so it was hard to distinguish which part of the picture they belonged to. There were also many pieces that looked like edge pieces, but were not. They just had one side that was flat because that's the way they were made. I almost gave up several times when I first started. But here it is at last. I may have it laminated - or I may just take it out in the back yard and burn it.

Groundhog Day in Yuba City

So this morning I showed my students some Groundhog Day jokes (I usually start the day with a comic or funny video clip), and explained the background for the day. I even gave them a plot summary of the movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray and Andie McDowell.

I explained that the "moral of the story" for the movie is that if you treat people rotten and are only concerned about yourself - stepping on whomever you need to in order to get what you want, then you always have the same day: a rotten one. But if you treat people nicely, and help others get what they need, then every day is a new day. And a happy one that brings you what you want.

They're only teens and pre-teens, it remains to be seen if they get it.

Other Places Have Hills - We Have Wind

This afternoon as soon as I got home from school I jumped on my bike and made the 10.5 mile round trip to Boyd Pump boat ramp along the levee road. It was a nice, sunny day for a ride. . . or would have been except for the near 30 mph north wind. No problem on the way down, murder on the way back. Took me an hour!

;;;;;;;;

You can see my shadow in these photos of the river bottoms that I took while riding. The grass is green, but the trees are bare. And, of course, with all this sun, the local groundhogs certainly saw their shadows. We'll have 6 more weeks of winter - hopefully bringing some much needed rain along with it.