About an hour ago. . .

All is safe in Runyan City.

Right Now

Our existence while I clean, patch, and paint what feels like (and will eventually end up being) nearly every surface in our house.



No, we're not moving. It's just time. LOOOOOOONG past time. Like nearly 7 years since we moved here and I've been putting it off kind of long.

The hall is done and the feeling there is so peaceful now. There was some kind of violence in this house with the previous owners. It was evident on nearly every door where there were punch and kick marks. Somebody punched a basement closet door from the inside out. Rome and Oz's door was kicked through on both sides. There was also a dog that scratched every door and chewed every window. Long has been my thinking that someday we would hang new doors. So I didn't do anything to them. It's embarassing that I let them stay that awful for so long, and trust me they were AWFUL. Now I'm embracing the saying, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without". Those doors still have life in them, so up went the patching plaster and on went the white paint. As I covered everything, I honestly felt the Spirit strongly and still do. The violence was being erased, and while for so the long the hallway has been one of my most hated places in the house - now it's one of my favorite. It's not a perfect job, a professional painter I am not. But I'm doing my best, and am proud of what I'm accomplishing. Finally.

Easter pics to come, and so are house pics as I finish more.

Imagine Dragons

I've got a LOT to post, California, Disneyland, Valentines Day. But here's something to listen to first. The band is Imagine Dragons, the lead singer is my cousin Dan Reynolds. I still remember Dan as a gooney little kid who sat with my Dad Dan and my brother Dan talking about being the "3 Dan's". Now he's a bona-fide rockstar. Time, it's just one of those things that never ceases to march on. If you luv their stuff, like most who hear them do, you can buy their new album here.

Family of Authors

Christmas was quite the time for family authors. Jeff presented all the members of his family with a paperback copy of his book "Jonny & Jeffy" (written with his brother Jon, illustrated by Jeff) and then his sister Regina presented us all with a copy of her new young adult novel "On Little Wings". Both are definitely worth a read.

Jeff's book is for sale on Amazon. Amazon Prime members can get it for free, otherwise a download is $2.99, both options are here. The paperback version is $12.99, available here.


Regina's book is free to download for the next few days from Amazon, here. You don't need a Kindle to get it, you can download it to your computer (you just need to download the free Kindle Reading App). You can also buy the paperback for $10.95 here.

Enjoy!

New Years 2012

Jeff had the night off, so we were all together for New Year's Eve! The littles were super excited to get the stay up 'til midnight and did a great job doing so.



We played what turned out to be an uproarious game of Life. There were several times when we were all in stitches (the kids are like me, they find things more and more hilarious as the hour gets later).



Jeff started with his dream job and a great salary. But then was FIRED and drew his actual job and salary. No joke! But not to worry, he retired first and won the game as a multi-millionaire.



Our toast



Jeff's optimistic message for 2012.



With Dick Clark





With Ryan Seacrest

Happy New Year!

(There are several new posts below, including Christmas)

Christmas 2011

All was merry and bright.



Santa came!



He filled our stockings, all were coal free.



Don't be fooled, there are about 1 million presents under the tree, the blue ones are from Santa.



Everybody got exactly what they wanted, and then some.



Capri got her MP3 player, Oz got his truck.



Sable got her dishes, Rome got a rockin' archery set.



I got all the books I wanted, they are so pretty on the shelf I got for my birthday (that's a missed post still to come). I also got 11 backscratch coupons from Capri, I was only a LITTLE excited as you can tell.



Jeff got the "cereal shopping spree" that he asked for. This is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. He gets to hit Walmart and get whatever cereal his heart desires.



These mittens and animals are from Gramma and Papa. The littles also scored other individual gifts, their first painting, and a 2 day trip to Disneyland and California Adventure! Thanks Gramma and Papa!!



It goes without saying that there were a lot of presents given and not pictured. We all got great stuff that we loved.







After church I got some pics of the littles in their Christmas clothes. Can you believe the weather?



Gorgeous!





Oz was asleep when we got home from church, so after he woke up I snagged some pics of him still in his Christmas clothes.

Merry Christmas!
Many luvs, hugs and kisses to all!

Red Barn Farm

Our ward had a fall activity at the Red Barn Farm in Weston. We love this farm and used to go there every year for a ward activity before the ward split. Sadly, our new ward didn't have any more activities there - till this year. It was just as much fun as we remembered.




Oz LUVS animals. When there is an animal about, he is gone to the world. Only that animal exists. He loves to feed them, and will without fear stick his whole hand in their mouth. Luckily, he's super gentle and has yet to be nipped. Yet.






They had a super yummy "crock pot luck dinner". There was a ton of variety and we all stuffed ourselves.



Proof of the yumminess.





After dinner we went on a hayride in the dark and then roasted a ton of marshmallows at a huge campfire for s'mores. Oz ate the equivalent of at least an entire large Hershey bar while happily sitting on a log in front of the fire.

Our only complaint? It was too short! Start time was 6pm and by 7:30pm they were cleaning up and people were headed home. By 7:45pm we were nearly the last people there. Come on! On the way home both Jeff and I agreed that 8:00pm should have been the start of a rousing family barn dance! Oh well, it was a great time and we were so glad to have gotten to go.