Sunday, November 22, 2009

I Am Thankful For...

These People...
Meet Dave, the love of my life.

These are my parents. They taught me everything I know.

This is my oldest brother and his family.

This is my other brother and his family.

This is my sister and her family.

These are my adorable nieces.

These are my other parents. I'm glad we live close to them.

These boys are my brother-in-laws (and my husband). They're pretty cool and crazy, but I sure do love them.

My family is what I am most thankful for and I'm glad we get to be together for eternity. I'm also grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and Mother and my savior, Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the gospel, the scriptures, a living prophet, and all those who paved the way so that I can worship freely and enjoy all that I have today. I'm grateful for my friends and all they do for me and the fun we have together. I'm grateful for food. Mmmmm good. I'm grateful for a job, a roof over my head, and transportation. I'm grateful for this wonderful country. I'm thankful for beautiful scenery, colors, music and other sounds. I'm grateful for my body and my health. I have so much to be thankful for and I'm glad we have this time of year to think about and remember all that we have been blessed with. Happy THANKSgiving!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Sacramento Zoo

Dave and I went to the zoo yesterday and it was great. I got so excited once we stepped through the gate. I felt like a kid again. It has been many years since I've been to a zoo. It wasn't huge but it was good enough for me. It only took us a couple of hours to walk through the whole zoo but that was enough time especially since we both got hungry. Here are a couple of pictures of some of our favorite animals.

Flamingos are such unique and pretty birds.

This was some kind of horned-billed bird. He sort of played shy and ran away but then would come back and run back and forth in front of you for awhile.

This little guy is one of my new favorites. The Red Panda. Cool. That's all I have to say.

Dave made the comment, "That's how I used to do my hair." If you can't tell from the picture, the Emu has his hair parted straight down the middle and kind of slicked down. It made me laugh, especially since I've seen pictures of Dave with his hair like that.

It wouldn't be a trip to the zoo without a tiger. Scary.

One of the other cool animals we saw, was the parrot who could talk. Some of his phrases were, "Hello!," "How are you?," "Pretty bird.," and "Was up?" He even mimicked a lady's laugh. I was really impressed. Anyway, we had a great time and I can't wait to go the zoo again!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

I (Dave) feel like writing something

Hi everyone. I haven't written for a while, but that's because I've been way too busy lately playing video games and pumping iron. I admit that part of me is embarassed to admit that I still play video games when I'm 26, but why should I be? Why do people always mock video games, but encourage reading Harry Potter and (ugh!) Twilight? Those books are not educational, no matter what my wife says. At least video games increase my hand eye coordination (some games) and make me feel a sense of accomplishment when I save the world from marauding minotaurs or North Koreans. Or both. And most games have a storyline in them that makes it just like a book, except you get to take part in the action instead of simply sidelining it. It's like a "Choose Your Own Adventure." (I loved those, but I kept getting sucked out to outter space and have my head explode or fall into a black hole in my space ship book...) The moral of the story is that Twilight is stupid, and Harry Potter could never take on a North Korean-minotaur hybrid.

In other news, I'm weighing in at about 153 these days. That's legit.

I played tennis today for about 3 hours with my friend Chris Pritchett. It was intense. It would have gone much faster (we only played 3 sets), but we almost always botched our first serve. No, I didn't wear the little tennis skirt. Since you were wondering, yes, I won.

I wish I had something important to write, but Kathryn always covers all of the "practical" stuff, and we don't have any kids to laugh at.

I've been doing a lot of medical interpreting, and I've been talking to a lot of old people about their potty habits. Why do the old men always feel the need to show me the catheter bag with their pee in it? Is that really necessary? (the answer is YES!)

The end. Thank you for your time and patience.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Dave, the Groomsman

One of Dave's good friends from high school got married yesterday. Dave was a groomsmen, the only groomsman. The past few days, he's been getting ready for the big day. He had a rehearsal on Thursday, and then Friday, the wedding day, he had to be there 3 hours early to take pictures. Needless to say, his mom and I met him there later. It was a very nice ceremony, short, sweet, and to the point. After the ceremony, they had a dinner and reception full of all the traditional wedding must-dos: cutting the cake, speeches, the bouquet and garter throwing, and dancing. I've met Zach (the groom) a couple of times and him and his bride Jennifer came over during the summer for Dave's birthday. They're a great couple and we are very happy for them both. Congratulations Zach and Jenn!
Dave and I just before the wedding.

Dave and his mom.

Dave, escorting a bridesmaid.

Dave, the Groom-Zach, and Chris (another school friend)

When Dave and I weren't dancing, he was posing. Lookin' good.

A Different Halloween

Well Halloween was a little differnt this year since Dave's grandma passed away and her funeral was on Halloween. We did have a lot of family in town so it was really nice but there was a lot less "Halloween" and lot more talking, eating, and playing games. Don't think we're insensitive, we are sad that Grandma is gone but she would want us to be happy, and really we are happy for her because she is in a better place and Ricks ARE known for loving games. Anyway, first to start off Halloween, my work had a party the Friday before Halloween. My boss is awesome. We closed the business for a full 2 hours to party. There was tons of food, a pumpkin carving contest, and a pinata. It was pretty fun.

Grumpy, Snow White, and a little princess.

A nerd and a 70's chick.

Mr. T- "I pity the fool."

A 50's chick, bat girl, and a witch.

Then on Halloween, as already mentioned, it was Grandma Ricks' funeral. It was a very nice funeral. A lot of family and friends came and they had great memories to share. That night we had a big dinner and some of the younger kids did do a little Trick or Treating. Mostly we just hung out and played together. It was a fun time though we met under sad circumstances, but it is nice to have the gospel in our lives because we understand that families are forever.

Some of the pallbearers.

Some of the many family members who filled the house.

The hair is kind of hiding the face, but Brandon was a Zombie.

In Memory of Focha Black Ricks

Monday, October 26th, Dave's Grandma passed away. She was almost 91 years old. She was a sweet ol' gal and I'm glad for the little time I got to spend with her. For the past few months, I've been doing "Grandma Duty", along with Mom Ricks and Aunt Rosanne. Grandma was in a wheel chair so she needed help getting in and out of bed, using the bathroom, taking her pills and eating. Grandma Ricks was not a woman of many words, at least how I knew her. She was very kind and would always smile. I will miss her but she is in a better place now.

The last week of her life they had decided to put her under hospice care when her already failing health got worse. She was no longer eating or drinking anything and most of her time was spent in bed. So it really was a good thing for her to move on with her next great adventure. She went peacefully. Her funeral was a week ago, Halloween day. It was sad but at the same time, everyone was very happy for her because they know that she is in a much better place, with other family members who love her. I was glad to hear more stories of how Grandma really was when she still had energy and spunk in her. We will miss her, but her legacy still lives on with her family.