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Two Sunday's ago Abby was in her first primary program. She did an amazing job. She went up to the microphone and said, "My name is Abby and I am a child of God." She was good through the beginning of the program but became a little squirmy toward the end. (What four year old wouldn't?)

My family came to our ward to see Abby. Afterward we had lunch at our house. The kids always love having their cousin Jacob out to play.

Last Sunday we were able to go to Merced and see Dean's cousin Scott and his wife Casey bless their first son Greyson. It was nice to be there for that and they had a yummy lunch afterward.

Things have been busy around here lately. Dean, Abby and I are in school now. My mom moved into an new house and had surgery all within a couple of weeks. (She is doing well.) We are trying to take care of our family and extended family the best we can.

Dean was asking if things would ever be normal again. I told him things will never be the way they were but we will have to learn to have a new normal. Why is change so hard to deal with?

We are very blessed. I can't complain.

First Day of Preschool

Tuesday was Abby's first day of preschool. She goes Tuesday and Thursday mornings. She had a lot of fun and really likes her teacher Ms. Weber.

Labor Day

Monday we had a pretty fun day at the lake. Dean's brother Tyler and sister Heather went as well as my sister Sami and her husband Jared.



The kids had a lot of fun riding jet skis and playing in the lake.


The weather was perfect and the water was warm.

Moving forward

I could not see how I could continue with my blog without mentioning the passing of Dean's dad, Jeff Dockstader.

He passed away Friday, August 15th at the age of 54. It has been a very difficult time for our family. We love him and will miss him.

I would like to express my gratitude for all of the support we have received during this time. All of the food, prayers and kind words have uplifted us.

Things will never be the same but we hope to move forward with peace we gospel brings. We will see him again.

Cruise

Last week Dean and I went on a cruise. It was a four night to Mexico. We had a great time.

The first day we got on the ship and we did not do much. We had to do an emergency drill and then we walked around the ship to see where we could get something to eat. The food was good and we could pretty much get something to eat any time of the day.

The second day we were in San Diego. The weather was beautiful the whole time, sunny and in the 70's. In San Diego we did a tour of the Midway (an aircraft carrier).



That afternoon we just vegged out by the pool to read. That night was the Captain's dinner so we got to dress up.



The next day we went to Catalina Island. The ship was anchored in the bay so we had to get on a fairy boat to get on the Island.



We had a lot of fun there. We walked around for a little while. Then we rented a golf cart and drove around the Island.



After that we went on a tour of the Avalon Casino. It was not a gambling casino. I guess if you look up the definition of a casino it is a place of gathering and entertainment. It had a beautiful theater and a huge ball room. We really enjoyed that. Then we went back to the boat for more relaxing by the pool.





The next day we were in Ensenada. We went on a tour called a Taste of Mexico. We got on a bus and went on a brief historical tour. After the tour we went to a restaurant. There a chef taught us how to make a couple of things.

This is Dean making Salsa


My first Tamale


Then we ate and the food was really good.

After lunch we had some time to shop. Dean was really excited to get to use his Spanish. It was fun to watch him barter with the locals.

Dean said the best part of the cruise for him was on the tour of Ensenada. We got to see THE BLACK PEARL. It was parked there for some repairs before it sailed off to Panama for the next Pirate's movie.

Observations of a 4 year old

So, Abby says some pretty funny things. She also is very observant. She also loves cartoons.

Abby's conclusion of Carter

"Carter has Mater teeth"

7 Years

Yesterday was our seven year anniversary. We are going on a cruise in two weeks so I did not plan to do much.

Dean is the best husband ever. He told me over the weekend that he wasn't going to work on our anniversary. I told him he should go. (We didn't have anyone to watch the kids during the day. Also, he will be missing a week of work at the end of the month so I didn't want him to be even more behind.)

Before I go any farther, for those of you that have read Five Love Languages, my #1 and #2 are quality time and gifts.

Anyhow that evening my mom watched the kids so we could go to dinner. We had a nice dinner. After we were done eating Dean gave me this. . .



He really caught me off guard so I started crying.

He told me he tried to cut out all of our faces to put in it but he was having a hard time. (If you have ever paid attention to Dean's hands you will know why. Dean has what I call banana hands.) So instead of pictures he picked out a pretty font and put all of our names in it.

So, between Dean planning the day off and the amazingly thoughtful gift my day was an A+.

Dean is an amazing husband and I really don't deserve him. The last seven years have been wonderful.