I LOVE SKYPE WITH WEB CAMS! THE END.

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.

OcToBeR BiRtHdAyS

Well, October is a busy birthday month in my family. October 6- Dad Ricks, October 13- Matt, October 17- Jenn, and October 23- Mom Ricks. I've been slacking on my picture taking because I've been forgetting the camera. But this past Friday, Mom Ricks' birthday, Dave remembered the camera. So I have some pictures! We did celebrate everyone else's birthday but don't have any pictures to show for it. Sorry Dad, Matt, and Jenn (you live far away, so I wouldn't have pictures anyway), it doesn't mean I don't love you. So here are some pictures from Mom's birthday. We went out to dinner, then came home and opened presents and ate cake. Dave and I stayed the night so he could watch the disappointing BYU football game. It makes me laugh how emotionally and mentally attached boys are to sports. Anyway, here are some pictures.

The web cam for Skype so now she can talk to and see her boys.

New soft sweater. It has fur on the inside.

Mom and Dad Ricks.

Blowing out the candles.

Catch Up

Well Dave and I have been in our new apartment for over two weeks now. We've got most everything together and clean. There are a few things we still would like to get but that will take some time and more money. I'll post pictures soon. We haven't gone to our new ward yet because we've been going to our previous ward since we were both in the primary and the primary program was yesterday and we didn't want to bail out on them (we're both teachers and Dave was the pianist). So we have yet to see what our ward is like. This Sunday will be our first time going to our ward. I'm sure it will be great.

It's nice to be in our own place and have all of our things again, but at the same time, I'm glad we still live close to family. Here are a few things we've been up to the last few weeks, besides moving in and getting settled.

We rediscovered the awesomeness of our Nerf Guns. Dave's brother gave the guns to us for Christmas a couple of years ago and had only used them once because we didn't have a lot of space in our studio apartment. So now that we have multiple rooms to hide in, we decided to try them out again. It was super fun but we got tired pretty quick. We also discovered that we don't have very good aim.


Also, I went to Enrichment with Dave's mom last week and made some cute Halloween decorations. Here's the finished product.


As already mentioned, yesterday was our last Sunday in our old ward. Here is a picture of our primary class, ages 7-8. Mostly girls, but they were all great and we are going to miss them.


And to catch you up to today, for our FHE activity, Dave and I went to See's Candy. Grandpa Ricks gave us a coupon. It's not a pre-packaged box. We got to pick our favorites and experiment with new flavors. This makes me happy to be able to choose my own candy. So needless to say, I'm in heaven. That's the way to go.


So that's about it around here. We are busy with work and getting things to finish up the apartment. OH! I almost forgot. We just got a TV. Dave's mom found one at a garage sale for $30 and it's in great shape. We discovered that my portable DVD player can plug into it, so we can watch movies. And then Dave's parents gave us their TV stand since they are buying an entertainment center. That's another great thing about living close to family. We get first dibs on all the things they don't want anymore. We also got a desk and are getting some bookshelves from them too. Dave and I also just purchased some tables to put in our living room. We found out about them from some friends. It's great to have family and friends looking out for you.

New Place

Here's a really quick update. Dave and I moved into our new place this weekend. It happened pretty quick but we're happy with the place. It's a one bedroom apartment, yes we actually have separated rooms now, as opposed to the studio we were living in before. The kitchen and bathroom are both newly renovated and the rest is in great shape. It's a gated apartment complex and it has a pool, sauna, gym, and laundry facility. We are close to a lot of places like the freeway, grocery stores, etc. and live in a quiet little neighborhood. We are about 20 minutes away from where we were living (with Dave's parents) in a city called Rancho Cordova, still just east of Sacramento, and the commute for Dave and I will be about 20 minutes as well, but luckily we'll both be going against the traffic. So we didn't move far but we have our own place and it felt like Christmas as we started to go through boxes. I forgot all the things we had. So if you don't hear from us for a little bit, it's because we don't have internet (I'm using the in-laws computer) and we are busy unpacking and putting the apartment together.