Farewell 2012!

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Cuddles (Tigger's brother) as well.  It was a sad time to lose both pets within days of each other.  I think Cuddles couldn't live without Tigger.  I told the family not to bring me any cats... it will be awhile before we get another cat.

Other than that though, Christmas and the end of the year were great.  We got Sea World passes for Christmas, Chris got an iPhone, I got a massage and jewelry.

The girls at Sea World...

And we picked up this little gem... our case with Ford buying back our Explorer under the lemon law should settle in our favor in January.

Ally started volunteering at Sharp Hospital in the Radiology Department.  She loves it.  It's part of her prerequisites for her college Rad Tech degree.

Chris and I celebrated 28 years on the 30th.  We ate at our fave anniversary place, Ruth's Chris Steak House.

Wedding Bell Chapel where we got married is now a restaurant/bar called The Tractor Lounge.  We tracked it down and will eat there sometime soon.

We had our usual New Year's celebration.  Bree came over and she, Ally, and I played games all evening and pigged out.

It was a pretty good year -- looking forward to 2013!

Goodbye Old Friend

We had to say goodbye to our cat of 15 years, Tigger.  The best cat in the whole world!  He would hunt for clothes in the house just like they were animals and deliver them to us for a treat.

Cuddles (his brother from the same litter) is having major issues.  I guess he is depressed.  He won't purr, won't wag his tail, won't "make bread," won't use the litter box, and the list goes on.  He howls a lot.  All he wants to do is sit on our tall storage cabinet on our patio and look for Tigger.  We have replaced the litter box, set up a new litter area, bought spray that is supposed to help, fed him canned food, bought him a little house... you name it and nothing is helping.  We will see in time I guess.  Fortunately he is still eating and drinking.  He has been relegated to the enclosed patio since he won't use the litter box.  Tigger was the alpha cat -- I guess Cuddles misses being told what to do.  Now we have ordered a pet heating pad to put in his little house on the patio, because it's gets cold at night.  We still bring him in the house, but only on our laps or on his favorite chair.  Poor kitty with a broken heart...

This was Tigger's last night.

We are still getting ready for Christmas.  I didn't want to pack away my desert collection, so I put some Christmas decor on it.

Give Thanks

So much to be thankful for this season -- family, friends, and health just to name a few minor ones!

We took off to Sedona for a week over Thanksgiving.  Even though we have been to Sedona many times, we had never went on the famous Pink Jeep tours.  So this year we went on the Broken Arrow tour.  The scenery was magnficent, and the ride was crazy!  Ally loved it.  Here's a couple pictures of the craziness.

The scenery in Sedona is wonderful.  The red rocks are plentiful and gorgeous.

Amy is now looking for a job cutting hair.

Our cat Tigger, is not doing well.  We are waiting to get lab results back.  He has lost weight and is not eating well.  He is 15 years old, so the end might be near.  We will know more tomorrow, but the vet said to prepare ourselves.  Ugh.

Looking forward to decorating this weekend for Christmas... 'Tis the Season!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The good news is that Amy passed her written test for her cosmetology license, so now she can begin looking for a job styling hair.  It's been a long four years at Burger King -- kudos to her for sticking with that!

The bad news is that it looks like another four years of democrats in office.  Ugh.  Also locals passed three propositions funding education and the like and they raise sales tax and property tax.  Do people not get it?  Very depressing... but thankfully I know Who is in control, and He will never get voted out.

The ugly news is that T-Mobile tried to pass this off... they took away the unlimited text by accident and started charging 20 cents per incoming and outgoing messages.  Uh... yeah.

Both cats wanted the potroast I had cooking in the slow cooker all night.

Ally and Bree dressed up to pass out Halloween candy.

Looking forward to being off next week -- headed to Sedona to spend Thanksgiving with Frank and Thel.

Born to Crop... Not to Mop

I have done my share of cleaning this week -- trying to leave the house in order before I head to Ohio on a quick five day trip.  I get a lot more enthused about my digital scrapbooking, though.  I'm all up to date on organizing and storing my photos, too.  Woo hoo!

Here's proof that I'm caught up on my scrapbooking...  I also print these out on archival paper in 12" x 12" albums.

I'm not sure if it's because the kids are grown now, or what, but I have seemed to have more time lately to get stuff done:)

I'm Freeeeee, Freeeeee Fallin'

Ally turned 18 and went skydiving the next day.  Amy went with her, too.  They had a lot of fun.  So glad we paid the extra for photos and a videographer.  I will never do such a thing, but they certainly had a good time.

Ally...

Amy...

The instructors made it a lot of fun.  We have over 200 photos, I'm thinking of making the girls photo books through Costco for Christmas.

Never Ending Heat

I don't know how much more I can take, but the weather lady PROMISED it would start cooling down this week.  I've lived here in So Cal for 18 years and it's never been this hot for this long in the summer.  We've had temps over 90 for at least six weeks.  Ugh... I'm telling myself I will never complain about being cold this winter no matter what.  Haha -- we will see!

I am on the Refocus Team at our church and we've been working on a Mission Statement, Core Values, and Vision for the last couple months... lots of meetings...

And this is what I need to drink get through a day full of meetings... all day long... in the hot weather.

Ally and I went to see Finding Nemo in 3D yesterday.  This is one of our favorite movies of all time... so we had to pay the extra to get the full effect!  Loved it.

Never Forget

Today is 9/11 -- can't believe it's been 11 years since the towers fell.  We were at Chris' Border Patrol Academy Graduation and were supposed to fly that day.  We had a rental car so we kept it and drove for three days, back to our kids on the West Coast.  Freedom isn't free!

Amy and Ally went to the Padres game last night with some free tickets Ally got from her college professor.  The Padres beat the Cardinals while I stayed home and watched the Chargers beat up the Raiders in the their season opener.  Good game -- I was sad though that my babies are all grown up and can go to games without me.  I can't believe Ally took Amy and not me with her extra ticket.  Hee hee.

It is still hot here... the temp has come down a bit but so muggy!  How hot is it???  My electric bill was $438 -- that's how hot.  I think that's a record.

Fall Means One Thing...

Living here in Southern California means that fall doesn't mean much more than school starting again.  Not many leaves turn color, and those that do, sure won't be doing it any time soon.  The tempurature has been over 90 for a month with no end in sight.  But one thing it does mean... of utmost importance... is that Starbucks brings back it's pumpkin spice lattes and fraps.  We call it The Revolution!

My boss brought me this shirt back from his trip to the Philippines.  I'm easy to buy for... either a sbux gift card or anything related!

I did buy a ticket for just me to visit Ohio at the end of October.  Hopefully I will get to see some leaves changing, but it might be too late.

The girls took this pic over at Lake Murray.