In Memory of Morgan

On a beautiful sunny afternoon in November 1995 I decided to just go "look" at the dogs at the SPCA. Larry was working in Tracy at the time and I felt that it would be good company for me and protection for the girls and I to have a dog. As I walked up and down the corridors watching all the dogs jumping up and down and barking for attention I suddenly spoted a very poised quiet medium sized dog in the last kennel with three other hyper dogs. I asked if I could take the dog out to the yard area to get a feel for what kind of dog she was. As soon as the lease was on she yanked me straight outside. She ran around the yard area like a giselle and then came over to the bench that I was sitting on and layed her head on my lap. She melted my heart and I knew that was the dog for our family. I called the girls and they were so excited. We went the following day to pick her up in our family blue van. We had no sooner pulled out of the parking lot at the SPCA when she jumped over all the seats and sat her self right in the middle between Megan and Katie. She was now just one of the girls.We named her Morgan. For the past 12 years she has been our faithful companion and friend always greeting us at the door with her little stub of a tail wagging. Whether we were going to drop off or pick up the girls from school or go to the store, soccer practice or anywhere she was the first to the door and jumped into her favorite spot in the front seat so she could see everything. She let the girls dress her in the most ridiculous outfits and drag her around like a baby. On Wednesday August 7, 2007 her life came to an end after we found a large mass in her liver. Our house has a big empty place in it now without her but we will always remember her and the unconditional love she gave us all.

Coming Attraction!

35 days and counting! Megan has had a beautiful pregnancy. She is glowing and the baby is growing like crazy right now. Megan says that our little "Sunshine" has quite a kick. we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first grandbaby! Her due date is the first week of September and she will be delivering at Mercy San Juan Hospital - just down the street from us.

Last Days of Summer

THE RAGE MINUS AMY
LAKE ALMANOR

This past week marks the last days of summer vacation for Ruth. Every day has been maximized and filled with memorable times. This past week I had the opportunity on Monday to visit with my friend Emily who was on a whirl wind visit to the west coast from her new home in North Carolina. Janet and I did our four mile walk in the morning on Monday, followed with meeting Amy for kayaking at the CSUS Aquatic Center. Lake Natomas was beautiful, a calm peaceful morning on the river. After kayaking we met up with Emily for pedicures and lunch. I was then off to Placerville to pick up Larry and head up to Tahoe to have dinner with our good friends from Portland Oregon, Tom and Kathy Marshall. We had a fabulous tritip dinner on Lake Tahoe at their rental house with all of Kathy's family and headed back to Sacramento as the sun was setting on Lake Tahoe. I left for Lake Almanor Wednesday to spend the rest of the week with the RAGE group minus our "A" = Amy. The RAGE is not the same without her but we did have a blast at Gretchen's cabin. Kayaking, laying on the dock and talking about everything under the sun for hours on end, walks, great food and a perfect end to a fantastic summer. It is back to work next week and this fall will be challenging and interesting as we adjust to new administration and new students. It truly has been a wonderful time of re-energizing, relaxing and realizing how blessed I am.

Visit to Victorville

Wednesday 7-18-07 I made my last trip to Victorville, where the city motto is "A Vedder community". I never did figure out if this was just a misspelling on the part of Victorville folks or is that really a word - vedder? The high desert is a place of hot, dusty, windy and did I mention hot weather. I don't know why anyone would want to live there but the city is exploding with growth. Bob Ruess, my dear friend and former father-in-law has decided to move to Corona. After losing Iris in October who he was married to for 63 years, he is really lonely there by himself and will be moving closer to his son. I was able to help him pack up lots and lots of stuff that he will probably never use again and bring home some special things of Iris's for each of the girls to remember her by. I was glad to have had the time this week to spend with him and hear his many fascinating stories of growing up during the depression era. They were truly the greatest generation - I don't think I could have survived some of the things they had to do.

High Flying Adventure

PLEASE LORD GIVE ME A SAFE LANDING

Like mother - Like daughter... Not to be outdone by her mother, Katie and her Jamba Juice management team went on a high flying adventure 7-16-07 at the Lodi airport. Katie's manager and two other team members went skying diving. This was the first time for all. Katie had a blast and said she would do it again. maybe next time she will take me along with her. We Meyer woman love adventure and thrills. This picture says it all.

Summertime Adventures

Summertime is always a great time to catch up with friends and do a little traveling. We kicked off the summer with a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was the first time for Larry and Ruth to really see the culture of Mexico. Larry did amazingly well with his limited Spanish in trying to converse with the locals and we even explored Puerto Vallarta and Bucerias by public bus and taxi which was an adventure in itself. The lush tropical Sierra Madre's and the beautiful ocean gave us plenty of options everyday. Our favorite activity though was lounging around the gorgeous pool at the Mayan Palace where we stayed and enjoyed our poolside service.



We then spent a week at Lake Tahoe and were joined for the Fourth of July by Larry's sister Donna and her husband Al as well as Katie and her boyfriend Chad. We had a great day taking hikes, hanging out by the beach and watching the fireworks from our 7th story sundeck at the condo that we were staying in. Fantastic week with lots of relaxing and sleeping in.