Random November Photos

Will with his most recent haircut.

With Grandma Zoe's help, Zoey sewed this bag.

And Lizzy made this one. (Note Lizzy's cute school uniform-the plaid skirt is even better.)

We attended several protests because the city was threatening to close our library. This was one of the few times I minded not having a television because I missed the chance to see us on the news. But the important thing is they are not closing our library, yet.

John learned to ride a bike sans training wheels. This was long overdue. I was pretty sure John no longer needed training wheels but it seemed like an event that Bill should be involved in. So when Bill finally had a free Saturday, we took the bike to the park. John just hopped on and pedaled. It was that simple. So I must remember when he's driving me crazy rearranging furniture (as he is right now) that sometimes, on some things John makes parenting easy.

But he's still a goof.

Birthday Greetings

Since we moved to San Diego every Nov. 20, I get a little homesick for the Dallas 1st Ward. November 20th is Teresa Cook's (far left) and Emily Murdock's (striped shirt) birthday. Rebecca Hunt (in black) and Kelly Dunn (far right) have birthdays within a few days. It seems like some years we celebrated other Nov. 20ish birthdays but this is the only picture I have. I don't know if it was the mix of people we had in Dallas or just a time in our lives but we had lots of parties like this. So many of us were away from family and our husbands were all in some sort of career training (graduate school or residency) and we really relied on each other for emotional support and we had a lot of fun. I miss that time and those friends and it's sad to think that you can't really go back.

One of the blessings and trials of living this vagabond life is getting to know fabulous people and then either leaving them or having them leave you. Sometimes I get tired of saying goodbye, but all in all I'm grateful for each friend. When you know people so closely you truly see the strength and beauty of their character. These are women of faith and courage and love. I've been meaning to send this picture to all four but it is an old fashioned film photo (remember those) and I never took it in to get reprints. But now they can each copy it from the blog. I did both pictures so each could choose the photo they look best in. Happy Birthday!

Halloween--just 20 days late

I was feeling pretty pleased with myself that I was getting around to blogging Halloween so soon. It was just last week wasn't it? I guess not. I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving and then Christmas, yikes! If I had just one photo of Halloween this year it would be the one of Will trick-or-treating above. This was the first year he really understood Halloween and he loved it. He was a tireless trick-or-treater. Growling for anyone who asked. Trotting from house just as fast as his little legs would take him.

Thanks to my friend Beth, John and Will had darling costumes. Beth bought them at Old Navy last year the day after Halloween and gave them to me. She had just witnessed my last minute agonizing to pull together costumes for four kids and thought I could use some help. Besides they were such a great deal she said she had to buy them even if I didn't use them. Use them I did because once again I foolishly decided to try a last minute sewing project. The world would be a safer place if I didn't think I could sew. But after much seem ripping and letting the boys run dangerously wild for two days I had a princess costume--an original Ruth design--for Zoey.


I don't know that the costume adds much--Zoey is so obviously a princess whatever she wears. But I felt I had to do something because Lizzy and my mom had got together and come up with the most ridiculously complicated plan for her costume. She wanted to be Queen Elizabeth.

The Virgin Queen was never this cute.



Not surprisingly, Lizzy's costume was a lot of work and though my mom is a much more accomplished seamstress, she too suffered a little bit of costume remorse. For a week the costumes ate up all our time and patience. But the girls loved them so much, it seems almost worth it. And if they don't grow too much they can wear them next year.

By the way I want to pass on the boys costumes. Will's is size 2 and John's is size 4. If you are interested let me know. I'll even mail them if needs be. Ruth

The Rest of Bill and Ruth's Excellent Adventure

After our hot air balloon ride we said goodbye to the Blackburns and hit the road. I didn't know where we were going because Bill just loves surprises and I do too. We drove across Vermont and New Hampshire and ended up in Portland Maine. It was a breathtaking drive because the Autumn colors were at their peak. We explored the Maine coast for a couple of days. It rained one day and we loved it. We never get enough rain in San Diego. And I thought the rain just made it feel more like Maine.

A pic of our rainy drive. This picture doesn't capture how intense the colors looked in the rain.

This one's better.

Look at your spare change. Perhaps you have a Maine quarter, there is a lighthouse on it, I'm standing in front of it.



Now I'm inside it.

In addition to checking out the rocky coast,



we ate lobster (only $10 a lobster) and Bill had to eat some more fried whole belly clams.

Finally, we stopped to see some more friends near Boston, the Allen Family. You can tell they are recent transplants from San Diego. Look at the kids in their bare feet and flip flops in the crisp fall air. Among her many talents, Linn is a professional organizer (here's the link to her blog) and as such it is a dream to stay in their home. It's as clean and peaceful as a hotel but there are 4 children living there--truly amazing to me. Bill and I spent a lot of time talking about how we could make our home more like that. Having a clutter free life, helps Linn be thoughtful.


You might recognize this photo from my first post about our trip. Linn downloaded, printed it and wrapped it with a bow. It waited on the pillow of our bed. This amazes me because I often get the idea to do considerate things for people and then never get around to it or leave the project unfinished. Linn jokes about being being OCD. I wish I was just a bit more compulsive about being thoughtful. Anyhow the trip is over, it's almost been a month. But everynight when I go to bed I see this picture on my nightstand and I feel so loved-- loved by the friends we visited, loved by mother-in-law and by Lara who babysat (how do you repay a friend for something as generous as that, I'm taking suggestions) and of course I feel loved by Bill.