quick update

we have been the recipients of several miracles in the last couple of weeks and we are happy to report several things.
first of all, sometimes miracles come with sugar cookies.
second, a good bishop really is guided and inspired in unexpected ways, even sometimes by listening to his wife.
third, even ugly carpet can have redeeming qualities -- ugly wallpaper is a whole different story.
fourth, moving across town or across the neighborhood is equally stressful, although the neighborhood move requires less travel time.
we are madly packing boxes and will make our great exodus to the opposite side of creek road on Saturday November 8th. we are overjoyed that we get to stay in our ward and in our school district. we actually got to choose from two homes to rent in a ward and area where rental properties are almost unheard of. (pretty cool miracle, huh?!?) thanks for the prayers that helped make our little world miracle-strewn.
we are accepting volunteers for box carrying a week from Saturday if you can come. see you around 9:30am.
hope you are enjoying your fall and that it is much less dramatic than ours is proving to be. here's hoping that you are getting lots of good miracles in your lives too. you deserve them.
HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY kylie and caleb -- we really hope that your birthday was wonderful!! i am hanging my head in shame for not getting anything mailed, i had the best intentions and they failed miserably. just remember that aunt christi, uncle chris madi and gilli love you and hope you have a wonderful year.
love you all!
:)

We are Home!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that we are home from our 2nd honeymoon getaway. It was really so much fun I truely recomend it to all! We left last Friday morning and headed out to California. We hit Sacramento about 8:30 pm and found Chets' cousins house. We stayed out there on our original honeymoon, except his cousin is now married, has a son and lives in a house instead of a condo. We had No plan and as such when they offered for us to stay there for the night, we took them up on it. As such though, the next morning was their son's little leauge football game, and they offered for us to go and watch. we didn't feel like we could be rude and say "no thanks, we don't like football" so we went and watched. It actually was kinda fun till some of the parents got a little wound up. WOW! It's JUST a GAME!(Any wonder why we don't like sports!)
That afternoon, we headed up towards the coast and the Redwoods. We spent until Wednesday exploring from almost the Oregon border all the way to San Fransico. We stopped of at Muir beach, which is the only real memorable place we stopped on our honeymoon, and made it to Frisco Thursday night, and I was nervous to be in that city at night. (Chets' cousin advised us against it) We didn't know where to stay that would be safe, and we missed the kids, so we turned and headed back out of town and towards home. We stopped in Truckee, and took pictures of Donner Lake on our final leg of the journey on Friday. We got home late Friday night. In all the trip was a ton of fun. I can't wait for the next 20 year trip! :) love you guys. Jana

Happy Fall

Greetings all

Its been a great autumn season here. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, high 70's with clear blues skies. Great weather for kids games and Saturday projects. I would keep these days as long as possible. Unfortunately, I think cold weather is just over the horizon. And, if the Farmer's Almanac is to be trusted, its going to be a cold one. Oh well, not much I can do about that but turn up the heater.

We wish we could be closer and see you more often. I'm feeling a longing to hang out with you guys today. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to inventing that silly teleporter yet. In the meantime, please know how much we love you and hope you are all doing well. Good fortune to you with the househunting Christi. We will send some prayers to heaven on you behalf.

Love
Dave

Happy

fall is falling

ahhhhhh!! (that was meant to be a sigh of deep contentment) UEA weekend has arrived at our house. i love it. maybe there will even be a chance for sleeping in a little? that would be nice.
it would be more peaceful if we weren't listening to the symphony of nail guns and construction worker type chatter. sheet rock comes tomorrow, so it will only get noisier.
we are madly house hunting and miracle seeking -- there are decidedly slim pickings in our school boundaries -- everybody wants their kids to go to brookwood elementary, so we would be deeply grateful to have a home type miracle happen within the next couple of weeks. until then, we are celebrating the water in the creek, and the view of the mountains that we have from our windows while we hope and pray that we will not be "homeless" much longer. thanks for your prayers.
jana, i love frankie and your yard decor. it looks wonderfullest! i want to come see. let me know when your footloose wanderings are completed and i'll come play halloween ghoulfriend and bring you stampy goodness.
PAIGE!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! YOUR CARD IS STILL HERE AT OUR HOUSE, AND IT IS REALLY CUTE AND I'M REALLY SORRY THAT IT ISN'T THERE ALREADY. maybe someday my stress management skills and my organization ability will come back to me -- i really hope so! it will be one it's way tomorrow, but since your birthday was sunday, that is way late. i hope your birthday was lovely and that your fondest and best wishes come true. love from the ruppel clan!

So Happy!

I just want you all to know how happy it makes me to read all the posts!! If you could see my smile you would truely think I am SUCH a nerd. I guess in a way I am. Oh well! This month has flown by! Christi I am sorry about you having to move, but your stamp party was lots of fun. I was just sorry to have had to leave it as early as I did. Thanks for having us! Mindy your friend was fun to meet, thanks for bringing her. Thanks for the giggles!
Not much new is happening here, except for the fact that Chet and I are about to take off for 10 Days to celebrate our ten years. We would have gone in Sept. but one of the ladies I work with got to go to Greece on our anniversary, which I don't begrudge her being able to go.)So, we are going to take off and go on, a walk about, so to speak. At this point we aren't eve sure where it is we will for sure be headed. I think we are going to head towards the Redwoods fist, but don't quote me on that. Everytime I think we have decided, Chet changes our mind :) Anyway it will ba a good time I am sure!
I should be home before Halloween, but I couldn't wait till then to share our decorations with you so I took some pix today so you can see. I was most please with the idea I had for Frankie in our front yard. Let me know what you think. I love you all and thanks for being social with, and for me! Love Jana

Hey guys

Just a quick update. The weather has turned rainy and cold fairly suddenly, and with that comes the onset of the cold season. Of course we all caught it. Katie had to miss the last couple days of school and her last 3 soccer games. But I think we're all doing better.

I just had my first test, and hopefully it went well. Jenni had been cooped up in the house with sickies so she hasn't had much fun lately.

Other than that, not much new to report. Just wanted to put an update, so we weren't accused of being antisocial.
Love ya all

fall

So, yes, I'm actually posting. Usually Dave gets to it before I even think about it, but I've had such a great time reading all the news, I thought I would contribute. I promise I won't mention anything about poopy onesies. (oops)

Yesterday Kylee came running to me with excitement bursting from her eyes. "Mom, our tree has changed, and it's amazing!" The change has been so gradual, that she didn't really notice it until now. Now it's deep purple-red, and quite amazing. We only have one tree, so it's definitely worth excited about.

We actually took a drive up to the mountains last week to see the leaves, and enjoy the brilliant colors. We found a good place to stop and dance in the trees. Dave and I danced, the kids explored, and Dave pretended to be an aspen tree with leaves stuck to his forhead. He makes a good one. I hope you're all enjoying fall as much as we are!

You're all in our prayers, and we love you tons!

Jennah

Soooooo! My kids...........

Well, it's been a few days, so I guess I can talk about it now. (heavy sigh!)
We had a birthday here just a few days ago, and now my BABY is 15!!!
You know, I never had a problem with Megan aging, but for some reason it has been really hard this last year for all the mile stones hit by Ford. You know, like registering for 9th grade, then for seminary, and now THIS! He is even old enough now to get his driving permit! AAARRRGGGG! Just kidding.(about the arg.. part)
My kids are getting OLD! Thats all there is to it! I don't even know when it happened. I was looking at pictures of just a few years ago, and they were SO little. All I can say is, enjoy EVERY step! It changes so fast and they change even faster! I'm sure Mom & Dad will agree with me. I can honestly say that aside from little "disturbances" here and there, I am really enjoying this journey. I am so glad that Heavenly Father knew what I needed, more than I did; and that he blessed our lives with such great kids. Guess thats all for now. Love Ya Jana

eeeeekkk!

hey family mine. hope you are loving conference weekend. we are, (mostly). madi's response to the fact that it is conference weekend was "BOOOOOORRRRRRINGGG!"
we would love to request any extra prayers you have, we just found out that we have to be out of this house by november 15th. i wanted to have a giant temper tantrum when we found out, but what good would that do? oh well, moving really stinks! at least it hasn't snowed yet, i guess it could be lots worse.
now we really need to find the right place for the right price and we need to do it FAST! extra prayers would really help. we've already found a place that we really like in the school boundaries, BUT. . . we are at the mercy of somebody else, so we will have to wait and see what works. i do know that if you all pray for us to get the right home, that would help lots. either way, we will be ok. things happen for a reason, even when they are inconvenient.
i wish you were all coming to my stamp party next saturday, it will be the last hurrah here on oak creek drive. besides it will be fun! you are still all invited if you can come.
love you family! thanks for being you. :)