And then there was one...

One hundred days ago, Shannon, Ella and I made a chain for Ron to count down his last one hundred days at work. We draped it across the windows in our family room. (see March 20th post) Each day he would remove a paper link that would bring us closer to his retirement. Today is the last link. Today is the last day I will pack him a lunch to take to work. The last day of a routine he has had for over 24 years at the Prosecutors Office. Each day for the past couple of weeks he has been bringing home framed family photos, memento's, little pieces of his life as a Prosecuting Attorney. His office, which looks out over the Sound will be cleared out by days end. There will definitely be an unfillable void in his office...Ron, as I've been told, is "one of a kind". So on to a new chapter in his life. This will be the first summer he has had "off" in over forty years! ...........Well deserved my love..................... ......................................................now let's go play!

Last night was Ron's retirement party for work. There were lot's of important people there to wish him good luck and everyone had glowing things to say to him and about him. Attorneys who had worked with him, some county workers and people in law enforcement who he defended, some judges who he tried cases in front of, and even some lawyers that he went toe to toe with in the courtroom, came to wish him well. It was very touching when his co-workers (and his bosses) got up to tell of experiences when Ron took the time to do something special for them or when he assisted in making something in a trial work that no one else thought of. Many stories of Ron going the "extra mile", doing significant things for others in his quiet, unassuming way. Treating everyone with respect and kindness. This is why I love my Ron the way I do. He is so genuine.

This is one of my favorite photo's of the night. Of all the important people there, Ron's family was the most important! Ron is so proud to have his little grandson Logan share the evening with him.

I just love my guy!

We have so much fun when we travel. I especially love going on road trips with Ron. Sometimes we have the CD player turned up and we sing (like no one is listening). Sometimes we play word games, taking a word or two from a song or scripture or poem and just keep it going...kind of a six degrees to Kevin Bacon-esq game. Sometimes we design our dream home with words only. As we were driving, we saw this meadow in Eastern Washington, and decided we needed to plop our imaginary dream home down in a location just like this...so we hopped out and took our picture. It was pretty windy.

Ron and I just finished this book. It is an easy read, but it took us a little longer to read because it was our "dessert" book. After we read scriptures each night (our "meat and potatoes"), we get a little dessert book. I already knew the story of Stephanie Nielson, but it was, at times, very emotional to read it out loud. Would I recommend this book? Yep!

Lake Chelan

This week we've been at Lake Chelan. The drive over here was beautiful. Here's my handsome hubby with the dam behind him. Someone turned this warning into a silly sign: And this one too: There's still lot's of snow in the mountain passes. I love traveling with Ron. I call out "We've GOT to have a picture of that!", and he stops or turns around and we go back. This is one of those places. How many times are you going to drive thru Concrete?? Exactly! So we stopped at Concrete Washington to take this picture. It's a pretty solid town >harhar< .....Last night we had dinner with Ron's co-workers at a winery...there's lot's of wineries around here. (Ron and I had sparkling lemonade) It was Italian food and it was DELISH! And we had a buena vista of the lake below and the vineyards on the mountainside. It was magnificent! ...Today we had a private picnic at the park (how's that for alliteration?) by the lake...very relaxing. Why is it, when you try to take a picture of yourself, it ends up looking like when you get really close to a Christmas tree ornament?? I love my guy!

Happy Father's Day

My mom married my step-dad when I was eleven, and to me he was my dad. He passed away in 2008. I miss him. I'm surprised at how much I miss him. He was the dad who took us on family vacations. We would drive cross country to visit my grandparents. That's what family vacations were, visiting relatives for up to two weeks at a time, then driving back home. Dad also taught us to work by "finding" jobs for us to earn money. Several years in a row we had to deliver phone books to earn Christmas money. In the crisp October air we'd run door to door dropping of each book then run back to our station wagon to grab another armful. My parents (especially Dad) really ingrained in us the importance of giving service too. We had Stake farms that grew apples, and peaches and cherries. And at picking time my sister and brothers and I would be climbing up the tree to see who could get the furthest piece of fruit. I think we probably ate half as much as we picked. It's funny how we hated doing it at the time, but now I look back on it with fond memories. My mom passed away when I was 21. My dad lived alone, without her for the next 27 years. He was a good man and a good example of staying true to his word. Occasionally he was taken advantage of, because he was a man of his word. He also obeyed all of Heavenly Father's commandments. Yeah, I miss him. Happy Father's Day Dad.

Um, God could have left spiders off his "to-make" list

I'm in Time-Out. Not the fun, uplifting, sponsored by Deseret Book, kind. The "I'm-so-mad-I-could-spit-nails-so-I'd-better-remove-myself-from-the-public" kind. Earlier this evening my husband and I were out running errands. All was right with the world. We got home, I hopped out of the car and went around back to wait for the trunk to pop so I could get our groceries out. From my peripheral vision I could see something LARGE moving across the brick on my house. It was the giganticest >yes I said GIGANTICEST< spider I have seen since moving to the Pacific Northwest! I calmly waited for Ron to get out of the car, and as calmly as I could say...trying not to freak out in front of the entire neighborhood...I told him to get some spider spray or poison or something that would kill the heck out of that thing. He (my husband) mosies on up the steps and comes sauntering on back with...(have I given you an idea how slow he's going)...a SHOE! I still have my eye on the spider 'cause I don't want him escaping so we can't kill it, and Ron brings a flippin' SHOE??? Then he tries to smash him and it's like a game of whack-a-mole. So I go and grab the first poisonous looking spray I can see which happens to be wasp spray, and I spray every inch of house, brick, siding, flower bed, neighbors dog (ok not the neighbors dog) I'm sure the spider is just laughing as he makes a clean getaway! By now I AM freaking the heck out! And I am fit to be tied! I HATE spiders. HATE. Did I make myself clear on that? They FREAK me OUT like nobodys business!! And the fact that this one got away. Grrr!

So many talents, so little time

My grandchildren make me laugh! This is Logan, age 5, he learned a new trick...from his MOMMY! Which I find hysterical!!

A good mommy lets you "DO" her hair

A GREAT mommy let's you "do" her hair with LEGOS!

It's not what you look at, it's what you see...

My Visiting Teachers came this morning. I answered the door in my robe and p.j.'s. Yeah, there, I said it. I answered the door and invited them in, and I hadn't even brushed my teeth yet. And let's call it like it is, I'm no Natural Beauty. I know. You're shocked, right? I'm sure they were thinking: "That Ron is a luck-ee man." {Insert sarcasm here}. But they were super sweet and acted like they didn't notice the gigantor cyclopse zit in the middle of my forhead, or my matted hair. But what my dear friend did notice was these little pansies growing in the seams of my driveway. They must have been blown there from last year's flower pots that were placed by the openings of the garage doors. A true friend looks past the fact that it's after noon and you're still wearing your robe that has dried egg stuck on it, you have matted hair and unbrushed teeth, and tells you you have beautiful tiny pansies growing on your driveway. I am the luckiest girl in the world!

He planted a seed in the '60's...

I've been going through boxes of old pictures and family history looking for something (anything) that might have my blood type information on it. It's crazy how the littlest bits of the puzzle can stop up the whole mission application process. While I was digging through the boxes (you should see my art room, Holy Cow!), I came across my mom's Certificate of Baptism and Confirmation, dated March 22, 1964. My mother was a convert to the Church, and she went into the waters of baptism while she was 8 months pregnant with my youngest sister. The certificate says that her baptism was performed by John Lyman Sadlier. I have often wondered about the Elders who taught and then baptized my mom. Would they know what a profound difference they made in her life and in generations after her? Because of two Elders serving in the Hawaii, Honolulu mission, I am preparing to serve a mission with my husband, 48 years later. I had to know if "Elder" Sadlier was still alive so I could thank him. With the help of the Internet, I looked up and found five people with his name. Figuring he now had to be between 67 and 69 years old helped me narrow it down to one. I got brave and dialed the number. A woman answered the phone. I asked to speak to John Sadlier. The woman on the other end said he wasn't in the office, "could she take a message?" Like the dork that I can sometimes be, I said this wasn't a business call it was more personal in nature. Realizing what that might have sounded like even as the words were leaving my mouth, I quickly asked, "Is this his wife?" I really should have brushed up on my "woman finding old missionary who baptized mom", etiquette. Sheesh! Anyway, after awkwardly explaining who I was, and extracting from her that her husband did, indeed, serve a mission to Hawaii in the 60's, we had a nice conversation and she couldn't have been more gracious. I gave her my cell number and she said she would be excited (probably relieved is more like it) to give him the message and let him know everything we had talked about. Going directly down my line...My mom was baptized, I was baptized, my mother's grand daughter was baptized and now at the end of this month, my mother's great-grand daughter will be baptized. Thank you Elder Sadlier.