Merry Christmas and to all a Good Night

Our family startedcelebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ on Sunday, December 21st at our church, FOPC, where Pastor Kirk portrayed the Shepperd boy in the fields where the angel of God came and spoke to them. It was a captivating and very thought provoking presentation of the Christmas story. Then we attended Bayside Church where Megan and Josh are members. The evening service was filled with amazing music by Lincoln Brewster and the Bayside band including snow falling from the ceiling! The message of Jesus' birth was beautiful. Having the week off work helped in getting those last minute gifts, wrapping, spending time with little Isabelle and catching up with friends. Christmas eve day Donna and Al came over from Angwin and we enjoyed the afternoon visiting and then the Christmas Eve service at FOPC where we lite candles and sang Silent Night. It is always a spiritually moving experiences. Complete with a full orchestra and choir and a church lite with only the light of hundreds of candles is such a beautiful sight. What a wonderful reminder that Jesus is the light of the world.
Christmas morning was filled with the smells of Starbucks Christmas blend coffee, fresh fruit, breads and egg dishes and of course the Meyer woman running around in our crazy pajamas. Some traditions can never die. Christmas through the eyes of a Child is magical. Watchning Isabelle in awe of lights and gifts was such a joy. Basically she would have been happy with just the boxes. I have included some pictures of the day. God Bless and we look forward to seeing everyone in 2009! Have a Healthy Joyful Holiday.

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Merry Christmas

Tis the Season

As we rush around in the weeks leading up to Christmas I hope that you will have an opportunity to reflect, relax and celebrate the birth of Jesus. What a beautiful time of year. I love the music, the lights, shopping and all the wonderful treats but most of all remembering that God sent his only son so that we could be forgiven and have everlasting life in heaven. What Joy, What Hope, What a miracle.
May God Bless each of you that read our blog and we wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Thansgiving Blessings 2008

"O Come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. Psalm 95:1-6

Each day of the year is a day to give thanks but at this time of year we truly do pause and give thanks to God for the abundance we have personally, as a family and as a nation. It is wonderful to start this 2008 Thanksgiving day with our family tradition for the past six years of participating in the local Run For The Hungry. This year 27,000 lined the streets of for miles joyfully celebrating together a time of thanks and an opportunity to help those less fortunate. All proceeds from the race go to the food bank.

Megan, Josh and Isabelle spent the night on Wednesday night. As the guys played and corralled Isabelle, Megan and I were busy in the kitchen doing all the prep work for Thursdays brunch. It was such fun to have them stay overnight and work together as a family to get everything prepared.

Thanksgiving morning Katie and her boyfriend Chad met us at the house and we headed to Sac State to start the race. The morning was a perfect brisk fall morning. After the rain of Wednesday the air smelled so fresh and the temperature was perfect for a run/walk.

We returned to the Meyer house for a relaxing time watching the movie Wall-E enjoying a wonderful brunch and visiting that seemed to last for hours. Josh's mother and father joined us in the afternoon for more eating and visiting. Megan and I are heading out early in the morning for Black Friday shopping (yeah it's crazy but it is good mother/daughter bonding) and we hope to score some good deals for Christmas.

Grosse Pointe Girlfriends Reunite

Snapfish:Photo:Shared

After 34 years Pam Schnur (Pemberton), Sue Stahl (Lewis), Janet Watson (Derkich) and Ruth Woodrow (Meyer) flew to Phoenix Arizona for a fantastic, fun four days of sun, slides, and lots of laugher. This was four days we will never forget and look forward to seeing more friends next year at the Phoenix Hilton Squaw Peak resort.

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M I C K E Y M O U S E - YEAH FOR DISNEYLAND!

The Meyer/Oldenburger clan joined Larry in southern California for a fun weekend at Disneyland. Larry and I had not been to Disneyland in 11 years. So many things have changed. the creation of Disney Downtown was new to us and we totally enjoyed just walking in and out of stores and listening to the live music. Saturday morning we got up early waled to Disneyland from our hotel and got in soon after it opened at 8am. After walking down Main Street we spotted some stages and lights being set up. Katie and I decided to explore the action while Meg, Josh, Isabelle and Larry headed to Storybook ride. Katie and I soon discovered that they were taping for the Disneyland Christmas Day special and the Jonas Brothers were in concert for their taping. Katie and I got in on the action and will be watching on Christmas morning to see if you got on TV. They also had Jose Feliciano singing Feliz Navidad and the Christmas parade with roller skating snowflakes, etc. We had a blast riding all the rides. It was so cool to have our adult kids know more than us about fast track tickets and the strategy of what rides to hit first. We let them lead the way. Isabelle was such a good little girl all day. For a 14 month old she is a perfect little traveler and loved the rides she went on. She really liked Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo and the Carousel horses. We finished the weekend by having brunch at the ocean at Balboa Pennisula. Katie and I flew home, Megan, Josh and Isabelle drove home and Larry stayed at Disneyland (oh he did have a business conference he was attending!).

Fall Fun

October flew by with Larry's Birthday and our 23rd wedding anniversary celebrations, a short weekend trip to San Francisco for shopping, walking and exploring with my friend Janet, a wonderful week long visit with my sister-in-law Angie from San Antonio Texas, Halloween parties and taking in all the fall colors and just taking advantage of the wonderful warm weather we have to be outside.

Fall Fun

October flew by with trips to San Francisco for shopping, walking and exploring, visits from Angie, and enjoying the beautiful colors of fall.

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Look who they found in the Pumpkin Patch!

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Warm thoughts for Fall

Make a Smilebox postcard

Fall is in the Air

I love the feeling when seasons are changing and fall has to be one of my favorite seasons. The cool crisp air in the morning and the warm sun in the afternoon. The changing colors of the trees as they begin to turn their rich colors of yellow, orange and red. I always know it truly is fall when Starbucks starts making pumpkin spice latte's ! I have to admit I am addicted. I enjoy just about anything with pumpkin in it. This morning we woke up with overcast skies and that cool crisp fall air and headed to Apple Hill to meet up with Megan, Josh, Isabelle and Josh's brother John, his wife Marsha and their two adorable children for a little apple cider, apple fritters, apple muffins, carmel apples oh and we couldn't forget to bring home a couple of fresh apple pies for later. Yum! It was perfectly clear blue skies and we leisurely perused the crafts tents and took in the fresh air. The kids enjoyed watching people catch and release fish from the pond, feed the ducks in the pond crawling on the grass and Lily and Adam even got to ride the little ponies.

Isabelle Emily turns 1

A year of Love, A year of Joy and A year of watching our little granddaughter grow, explore, discover and melt every ones hearts. Isabelle's proud mom and dad along with grandparents, friends, cousins, aunts and uncles gathered at our house in celebration of Isabelle's first birthday for a sunny afternoon party. Isabelle seemed to love all the attention and playing with everyone.
She is truly our little gift from God.

Savoring the Last of Summer

Summer time is definitely a wonderful time to visit with friends and family and enjoy traveling. Even with Larry's consulting schedule and working in the desert the past few months we have squeezed in time with the family and taken some well need time out for rest. We went to Tahoe for a week in July and were able to escape the smoke filled valley from all the fires that were going on in the state. Tahoe is always good for relaxing, walking, wine tasting, kayaking and of course once again this year we took in spectacular fireworks on the 4th of July from the roof of the rental condo.
In August I took a whirlwind trip to Chicago, Michigan, Canada and San Antonio. I was able to connect with my siblings and their families and see my mother in San Antonio. Chicago was fantastic and my sister and I have decided we have to make that an annual meeting place to shop, dine, take in theater, etc. What a great city. I visited my 88 year old Aunt Margaret in Canada. She is an amazing woman with lots of energy and such a positive attitude. San Antonio was a blast being with my brother and sister in law and taking a 12 mile bike ride on the historic San Antonio Mission trail with them and my niece Sarah, her husband Joe and their five children who have just returned state side from several years in Germany. The kids are adorable and what troopers. We had seven kids with us all under the age of 9 and three of them riding their own bikes. You can see by the pictures it was a beautiful day in Texas and that is unusual in the month of August to have such great weather

Trip to North Carolina

Without Emily the RAGE group is just RAG so in celebration of Emily's 50th B-Day - Amy and I flew to Charlotte, North Carolina on April 24th to meet up with our dear friend Emily. Before we spent time with Emily we had a couple of days to drive to Asheville, North Carolina. With our trusty GPS guiding us we arrived in the lovely city of Asheville. Amy and I checked in to our motel about 8pm and then headed downtown to find a place to eat. After a great meal and drinks we started walking outside and noticed commotion up the street. As we headed that way we became aware that Hillary Clinton was speaking and there was quite the buzz. We quickly got swooped up in the Hillary frenzy. We heard a bit of her speech and got caught up in all the Hillary madness. Whether you are a supporter or not this was history and fun to be in the mix. The next morning we headed to the Biltmore Estate. It was beautiful and more than we expected. We spent nearly the entire day doing a walking tour through the expansive house and the gardens. The tulips, azaleas and other flowers were in bloom and the colors were fabulous! After all our walking we drove to the Biltmore winery and sampled various wines and champagnes . The next day we meet my dear friend Peggy who drove up from Tennessee. We decided to explore a state park called Chimney Rock. It was quite an adventure. We hiked up through the eye of the needle and to the top of Chimney Rock - incredible views. In the middle of the walk we encountered a tremendous rain storm. We got absolutely soaked but was such fun and added to the adventure. We definitely were not prepared for what we experienced. We then traveled back to Charlotte through torrential downpours and lightening storms. It is very scary driving when you can't see anything in front of you. We arrived in the lush green city of Charlotte where Emily and Spence have made their new home. Their community is absolutely perfect for them. We had a blast riding the mini Nascars and then actually getting on the Nascar race track, and seeing Emily's new life. Love it!

Happy 21st B-Day

Katie turns 21!
After asking several times what she would like to do to celebrate the big 21st birthday Katie gave a great deal of thought to her request and told us she would like to fly down to Southern California to see Grandpa Bob. Katie has the most loving and tender heart and this request blew us away at how selfless it was. So Megan, Isabelle, Katie and I flew to Ontario on a beautiful morning and spent a grand day visiting with Grandpa Bob Having lunch at Tom's Farm and then flew home that evening. Love Southwest airlines!
As she enters into adulthood we are so proud of the hardworking young woman that she has become. She continues to pursue her degree in business and has a dream of some day working for Nike. We pray that God will guide her, light her path and that His will be done.

ALOHA MAUI

Larry and I departed Sacramento on February 18th for a 9 day relaxing vacation to Maui. The island was gorgeous. We explored just about every inch of the island in the HHR rental car. From the Napili beach to the South end of the island to traveling the road to Hana and the seven sacred pools we loved every minute of our trip. Maui has to have absolutely the most beautiful sunsets ever! We were in Maui at just the right season to experience the whale migration. We took a two hour boat trip with the Whale Research Foundation and saw amazing whale watching the entire time! It was very difficult to come back to reality but we know that we will definitely be going back soon.

Wine Tasting in Sonoma

We enjoyed meeting up with Mike and Linda on a sunny Saturday in February for wine tasting at the St. Francis winery in Sonoma where they are club members for wine tasting and food pairing. We each brought our gourmet picnic baskets filled with fruit, cheese and bread for a delicious picnic of good food, good wine and wonderful company in a picturesque setting of vineyards and beautiful wineries. You can't beat Northern California for quick weekend getaways. Larry and I especially loved the "old vine" Zinfandel and Chardonnay.

Wine Tasting in Sonoma

Northern California is so rich in the variety of things to do on any given weekend. On Saturday February 9th we headed to the Sonoma Valley to meet up with our cousins Linda and Mike to do some wine tasting at St. Francis winery that they are club members of. St. Francis winery is a lovely mission style winery with wonderful wines. We enjoyed sampling the many varieties and pairing with different foods. Larry and I really loved the "old vine" Zinfandel and Chardonnay We all had brought our gourmet picnic baskets filled with fresh fruits, various cheeses, breads and other nibbles and headed to another fabulous winery to have a picnic. Of course once setting up our picnic next to the beautiful vineyard setting we were asked to buy some of their wine which we did and really enjoyed as well. After all it is Sonoma - how could you go wrong with any wine.

Shamrock 1/2 Marathon

After months of preparation leading up to a 1/2 marathon the excitement begins to build. The event itself is like the big party you have been preparing for and there is a great sense of excitement and relief that the day has finally arrived to push your bodies abilities to the limit.
Megan, Janet and I looked forward to Sunday March 16th to a great venue that started at Raley's Baseball field and finished on the field with the medal being put around your neck and hearing cheers from the crowd. A day or two prior to the race my foot was bothering me and started looking red. I thought it would be fine so on the morning of the race at 6am I crammed my swollen foot into my running shoe and hobbled off to the race. Once at the start line I knew things were not going to be good for me. I just told Janet and Megan to have a great race and I would take it slow and see them at the finish. Four miles into the race, I was in excruciating pain. I hobbled back to the start line and sat out the rest of the race waiting for Janet and Megan to cheer them in. Megan finished in a fantastic time under 2 hours - the woman is amazing! Especially since she had just given birth to Isabelle six months ago. Janet finished with a great time also. Once home I decided to head to the Med Center and was diagnosed with cellulitis. It is a bacterial infection that can be very serious. With a quick injection of antibiotics and directive to see my own physician the next day I was glad I didn't try to run any further. There is the American River Parkway race in May that we will begin working towards and hope no more injuries.

Tea Time with Angie

I feel abundantly blessed to have a wonderful sister-in-law who I consider one of my best friends. Angie is the most amazing woman with the brightest smile, so much love and a very patient listening ear. Where ever Angie goes she exudes love and we were so blessed to have have had here visiting in Sacramento this week. Though she was very busy with her clients, we managed to have a pamper day of pedicures and tea and shopping. The evenings were filled with wonderful talks, wine, dinners out, eating decadent pastries and fighting off robbers! Angie was able to meet her great niece Isabelle and spend time with both Megan and Katie. We treasure our time together and always look forward to our next visit what ever part of the world that takes us to.

Friends Reunion

What a beautiful weekend in Tahoe! Saturday morning, the skies were ominous in Sacramento and the weather report for Tahoe was rain with snow flurries but our good friends Emily and Spence were in town from North Carolina and we miss them so much that nothing was going to stop us from driving to Tahoe to visit with them. The dreary skies soon turned to beautiful blue and the white snow was blinding. the crystal blue of lake Tahoe magnificent and best of all Amy, Larry, Spence and Emily had a wonderful time catching up, tasting wine at the Picchetti's wine bar and then a lovely lunch at the Blue Water Bistro which I now think is the best kept secret in Tahoe. It has wonderful food and the view is breathtaking! Picture perfect day with wonderful friends.

Happy Birthday to Us!

Donna and I were able for the first time to celebrate our birthdays together. We had a wonderful lunch at the Rutherford Grill in Napa and still managed to blow out our candle. Thankgoodness there was just one for each of us otherwise we collectively would have had 119 candles blazing!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Welcome 2008! We celebrated the end of 2007 with Megan, Josh, Isabelle and another couple and their daughter that are friends with Megan and Josh. The evening included Chinese food, games with lotto tickets as prizes. Unfortunately out of all the lotto tickets only $4 was won - I guess we will all have to go back to work next week after all! We ended the evening watching the countdown in Times Square and shooting off a couple of our remaining fireworks left over from the Fourth of July.

I never like to make New Years resolutions but it is definitely time to get serious about getting back to the gym and start pushing myself away from the table.