November rolled in and out already!!! 

It was a gorgeous fall, full of more color than the past few years.  It seemed that the trees all waited and turned color at one time. We had warm sunny skies most of the month. 

Josiah is a teenager now! 13 magic years!

One night when I was gone, two coyotes decided to keep John company.  They wandered the front flowerbed and just sat there looking in at him.

Meeting up with Maria and Alison.

I love the colors. I love the carpet of leaves on the ground. This year, John left them on the ground for me instead of blowing them away each day. By the time they turned brown and ugly, they were all wet and too deep (I thought) to blow, so I spent the day raking them into a huge pile. Then I found out that they blow just fine even if they are wet and packed up. Oh well, the exercise is good, right?

And here it is the end of November and I have daffodils in bloom!

Thanksgiving was a small gathering. It was the first one Mom has done since Cyndi and Dan's plane crash. With Lindy now living in Colorado near David's family and now Matthew's family moving to Mexico, we are getting small. Dennis' family all stayed in California for Thanksgiving this year. 

Mom's 86th

October started out with a new member being added to the family.  Nyssa. She looks like she could be a one of Charlies puppies. Jessi's friend, Julie flew up from Phoenix with little Nyssa and surprised Jessi's kids with her as a gift.

I did the final gardening for the year, pulling up all of my carrots. I was pretty pleased with them! What a variety of sizes. Next year, I have plans to plant them differently, so hopefully they will be more uniform.

I added strawberries and raspberries this fall. Hopefully they will be able to produce a few berries next summer. 

Arianna did fantastic this year in volleyball. What a great server she is now! Its so much fun to watch her play and see how much she has learned.

My two cousins, Janet and Susan came for a visit to my parents, so of course, I joined in.

                             

John and Rachel had different ideas on getting the bed ready for Beau's visit. 

                                   

The robins know just when it is the perfect time to harvest the fruit from the trees planted in my yard. They can clean off a tree or bush in just a day or two.

I planted a tiny poppy last spring. It finally bloomed, a little late, but it sure was special.

When I was growing up, there was a broadleaf maple just outside my bedroom window. It was an upstairs bedroom on the side of the house that didn't get the sun. Every fall, when I would enter my room, before even turning on the light, I would be greeted to the most awesome golden light. Those leaves turning to gold made it look like full sun shining in. It always made me think of the song  "Heavenly Sunshine". A few years later, married, there was a maple right outside our bedroom window of the house we built.  The same thing...it looked like full sun, even on a rainy day. Now here at this house, there is a maple right in front of the house.  I am posting the tree, the golden yellow light entering the glass window on the front door and a yellow leaf heart in the hedge. I find myself humming the tune as I wander the house. 

"Heavenly Sunshine, heavenly sunshine, flooding my soul with glory divine. Heavenly sunshine, heavenly sunshine, halleluiah, Jesus is mine."

The necessary paperwork arrived and I was able to send Jimmy's ashes to the Navy in San Diego. It all seemed so strange to be putting him in the mail. But I am happy that he will be taken out to sea on a Navy ship. I know he would have liked that. 

Once again, Halloween arrived. The kids had a good time dressing up and going trick-or-treating.

The last sunrise for the month.  What a beautiful way to start the day.

The months of July and August were so full of activities, it is no wonder that I didn't take time to post anything.

4th of July

Emily and Matthew came to Oregon.  We took advantage of them being here for a Five Generation photo. We know that it is a rare thing to have and are so very thankful for this.

The 5 oldest in each generation. Beginning with my Dad, who was the oldest in his family, me, John, Emily and Beau.

I went camping with Jessi and the kids to Hosmer Lake. We had a blast kayaking, with Josiah of course fishing. John and Rachel joined us for a couple of days.

I really thought it was cool how the straight blades of the water grass turned all curvy in the reflection.

Emily sent me a photo of Beau in the little car we gave him for Christmas.

That was July in a nutshell, here is August. I will let most of the photos speak for themselves.

We decided to cut down the tulip tree.  It was just a few feet from the house. The neighbors have one in the middle of their yard and it has grown huge. There is now way this tree would have grown there and not ruined the house and foundation. Besides that, the leaves started falling, they were sticky. A closer look showed that they were covered with aphids. The neighbors said it happens to theirs every year. The aphids come in and the leaves all drop. She tries to control them with ladybugs and spraying down the tree every day. We decided to just make it simple and cut it down.

It has been a while since we have talked on phones like this one.

This rose bush bloomed out in bouquets.

One day at my parents, they pointed out the heart in one of the bushes.

From flower to cucumber.

That bee has a load!

The garden exploded!

We had a visit with two of my cousins, Janet and Susan.

End of summer fun

Whenever Lina had spare time, she was busy with crafting , her favorite pastime. She got into cardboard crafts and made some pretty awesome things! A truck for Grandpa, a camera for me and a video game for Josiah and Arianna. Plus a popsicle jewelry box for me.

Mom and Dad bought a new car.

And then Dennis did too.

Dennis and Abby went on a hot air balloon ride on their visit to Sedona.

Gabe kept super busy, acting, music and joined the Air Guard.

Daniel started giving Lina violin lessons on Facetime.

I think John and Rachel went on a record number of hikes this summer.

After almost 6 months of living with us, Jessi and the kids got the news that they could move back home! 

Arianna celebrated her 11th birthday at the end of the month.