At the Portland, Oregon Temple with our darlings...

 

I'll post more about our wonderful Thanksgiving visit with our beloved Snyder family later, but for now, this precious picture will have to suffice. We do love our little angel girl! <3

Mother/son bonding...

 

We were at our stake conference in Oakland this past Sunday, and I had to get this sweet shot. He's a wonderful son, and she's a wonderful mother. Love these two precious people!

80 years young!

 

So....I am indeed the luckiest daughter-in-law in all the land. This darling mother-in-law of mine has been such a huge part of my life, and one of my favorite blessings for the past 29 years. She has treated me as a DAUGHTER in every sense of the word, and from her I have learned to be a much better person than I would ever have been without her in my life. She is one of the kindest, most loving women I have ever known, and she has been there for me and for my family through thick and thin. I could not possibly love this little five foot angel any more than I do. She is truly one of a kind.
HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sweet Mom. You are loved more than you can possibly know....

Halloweanies

 

Our ward trunk-or-treating spectacular this year was different for us for many reasons. First of all, we were invited to be in charge of one of the game booths, which we pulled off without incident--praise all that is good and holy--and the kids even seemed to actually enjoy it. It was right up Tor's alley, too--pumpkin golf. Yes indeed. As you can see by our professional grade photo, the object was to get a golf ball up a little ramp and into the pumpkin's mouth. They got two tries to get it in there, or 47, depending upon their skill level, and then they got to pick out a prize. It is amazing what a small child will do for a small rubber object of questionable origin or function. But nonetheless. Fun was had by all. Especially by me, as I sat myself down on a chair with the basket of prizes on my lap while my darling handled the little monsters...er....darlings with their swinging golf clubs and wildly flying golf balls. Oh, and the tracks that kept falling apart. But I was holding down both the fort and the prizes, so what could I do? Someone's got to do the heavy lifting. **sigh** That chair wasn't all that comfortable anyway, but I hate to complain.
Another reason this year was different was that we actually dressed up. Yessiree. And how. I had a hot date with SPIDER MAN, so what could possibly be better than that? They say that behind every good man is a good woman, and I would have to agree with that statement. In this particular case he would not even exist were it not for my needle and thread and a LOT of little plastic spider rings...which, I might add, had to have their 'rings' amputated in order to become just a plain spider which could sit quietly yet menacingly upon his shirt. Can I interject at this point that I do not even like spiders? At ALL. And it is no easy fete to sew them onto something without touching them. I tried that, believe me. Can't be done. And just to add insult to injury, I even hung them in my very own hair. On purpose, no less, so that my spider man would be attracted to his spider woman. I swear. The things we do for love.....
But the highlight of the night was definitely when all the little golfers rushed the parking lot to do the actual trunk-or-treating. This was the year of all years for me in that respect. I had one of my young women on one side of me, who we invited to come sit on the back of our van with us because in our charitable condition we realized that she was just standing there handing out candy bars without having a proper place to sit. Did I get away with that, or did you catch the "candy bar" part? Yup. You did. Okay, so I was handing out my candy with one hand, and dipping into her candy bar bag with the other. Bless her heart, she even tilted it in my direction to make it easier. Favorite young woman, hands down. And then on the other side of me was a darling little family who were giving out the assorted tootsie rolls which also call my name. Should I be embarrassed that I made actual children wait while I tilted the bowl towards the light in their trunk so I could pick out the orange ones? Well, come on--it was hard to see out there in the dark. What's a girl (okay, a grown woman) to do? I didn't want those little stinkers to get all the orange ones....Give me a break.
But in one respect, the night ended much the same as all other trunk-or-treating nights in that we were the first ones to burn rubber out of the parking lot. We were done. Stick a fork in us. The pumpkin golfing had taken its toll on these old fogies...The only thing that could have kept us there any longer would have been a grandchild or two. And that wasn't in the cards, so off we went....to pick the spiders out of our hair and the orange tootsie rolls out of our (MY) teeth. Ah, the joys....

Technologically challenged....

 

....but we can still be happy about it. :) The top picture shows how lovely and relaxed you can be when someone else snaps the picture...The bottom one shows a different story. It just so happens we couldn't figure out how to use the timer on our camera that we've had for YEARS, but that doesn't mean we can't leap back fast enough to make it seem like we do. Ignorance can be bliss. We're living proof. Even if we do look slightly crazy. :)

SWEET potatoes.....

 

Okay, here's a little peek into the life I get to live....I opened up the refrigerator today to find this note on a plate containing two huge sweet potatoes. Let me explain. Last week, I bought an entire bag of sweet potatoes at Sam's club....because they were there. Now mind you, neither Torrey nor I like them. And we are the only two people who actually live in this house. So, go figure. My school of thought was that we SHOULD like them. They are good for us. They are loaded with antioxidants. Uhm. It is Fall. They are orange.... They were there. So you can see how I suddenly found them to be entirely irresistable. No? Okay, well anyway. On with my story.
I had just returned from a trip to Colorado where my mother had mentioned that she actually cooks her (regular) potatoes in the crock pot instead of baking them in the oven, and they turn out great. I thought that was genius. I simply had to try it. But I decided right there on the spot in Sam's Club, that I would try it with sweet potatoes. Maybe somehow that would just put them over the top, and Torrey and I would have found our new favorite food! Right? RIGHT??? It could happen...
But it didn't. They did indeed turn out perfect in the crock pot. That part is for sure. But there was one problem. They were still sweet potatoes. Which neither one of us like. Did I mention that? Anyway, I valiantly ate one. Well, half. Okay, a fourth. Then Torrey valiantly ate some, too. We pawned 3 of the hugest ones onto Torrey's Mom, who lives nearby and happens to love sweet potatoes. Now there's a tender mercy. I hate wasting food. But. There were still these two ugly ones left. And so I put them on a plate, right in the very front of the fridge so I wouldn't forget about them. That worked. I didn't forget about them at all. Perish the thought. Instead, every single time I opened the fridge, I thought, "UGH. Sweet Potatoes." And I watched them get uglier and uglier by the day. First they developed a funky sheen. Unnatural, I thought, as I reached across them to get to the real food. Then, they sort of started to sink in on themselves. I wasn't entirely opposed to that--unlike the sheen which I personally found quite offensive--because in the back of my mind I was sort of intrigued by that and secretly hopeful that they would just continue to sink and sink and sink until there was nothing left of them at all. Not even a little sheeny spot on the plate. Then I could just merrily toss it into the dishwasher and think "Huh. Wonder why I left an empty plate in the fridge." Hey. That happens around here.
Anyway, the sinking into invisibility plan did not work out. They just sunk enough to look even uglier, so I was left with my inner debate: to toss or not to toss. I decided to decide that later. Which was when I found the note. Which made it all worth it. I would buy that entire bag of sweet potatoes again just to experience the note. Oh the notes we have traded back and forth over the years! Those notes and the ensuing laughter are some of the BEST parts of my life.

My gigantic and beloved family...

 

This is a picture of a picture--under glass, no less--so it isn't very clear. But I love all these dear ones and want to blog this precious picture so the world can see my beloveds. What a group! They have all grown up to be wonderful adults, and I could not possibly love them more.

September at the Oakland Temple

 

It's such a beautiful time of year...I couldn't resist snapping yet another picture. :)

Shauna and her best friend lugging her luggage...

 

Our annual "back to school" ritual. Shauna and Nicole loading it all up and moving it all out. Now that is a TRUE FRIEND!

My first college roommate!

 

This my dearly beloved friend and former roomie, Dee. Oh the memories we have! :) My brother surprised me when I visited him last week--he had invited her over! It was so great to see her--I think we could talk for about a week straight without ever stopping. What a great surprise!

Start your engines! Or just hop on your bike...

 

We were just about to hop on our bikes and head into the wild blue yonder of 17 Mile Drive at Pebble Beach, California. This was our Labor Day weekend adventure, and it was one of the funnest dates we have ever had. We had previously ridden along the coast of San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge, and all around that area, and we LOVED that, so we were excited to go down to the Monterey area and do this ride. It was perfect! A perfect day, perfect weather, perfect EVERYTHING!

Along the way...

 

I think this is "Bird Rock"

 

...such an original and catchy name, don't you think? :)

Showing off his balancing skills

 

Beautiful scenery

 

Happy, happy us....

 

More of us....

 

Italians!

 

As if the day weren't perfect enough, Torrey got to chat it up with some vacationing Italians. He was in heaven...He LOVES to speak that beautiful language.

My Rock...

 

Biker babe? I think not....

 

Rockin' round the....rock.....

 

Some really awesome scenery...

 

...and the stuff behind him isn't so bad either.