Starting our Garden

Yesterday Rich and I started some seeds for our garden. This is the first year we are starting our garden from seeds and we are a little nervous. Rich set-up some lights in the garage and we bought some seed trays. Usually we buy plants from the local nursery, but this year we decided to be a little more adventurous. We ordered tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds online, so we could get hard to find varieties. We also bought some melon seeds at Lowe's to try. We are keeping our fingers crossed and reading the many books we checked out from the library to make our garden grow.

(Notice I'm holding a Martha Stewart book)
Here are a list of the seeds we planted:
Tomatoes
1. Neves Azorean Red
2. Oaxacan Jewel
3. Jersey Devil
4. Zapotec Pink Ribbed
5. Church
6. Florida Basket
7. Super Marzano
8. Sprite
Peppers
1. Giant Marconi
2. Rocotillo
Eggplants
1. Rosa Bianca
2. Kermit Hybrid

Once the ground is warm and danger of frost is gone we will also plant beans, soy beans (edamame), cucumber, and herbs. Rich and I enjoy having home grown vegetables around to turn into sauces, salads, and salsa. Last year, I started keeping a garden journal to document what we grow and if we like it. This way each year we can keep growing our favorites and then try something new. Who knew growing up that I would enjoy gardening so much?

This year I am also starting a flower garden on the side of our patio. This area gets some light, but not enough to produce good quality vegetables, so I am going to try flowers there. So far I have dahlias, gladiolus, poppies, marigolds, and zinnias planned. I will probably add a few more as I find plants that catch my eye. Last year we completed my small rose garden, so this year I bought a new mini-rose to put in a pot because that is all I have room for. My main problem with gardening is I don't have enough space.

We Love Spring

We have been enjoying the beautiful spring like weather and are taking advantage of it. We have been walking Luca a lot on the bike trail and enjoying the green grass and wild flowers. This past Saturday while walking Luca on the trail we let him sniff around an open field. He loves to smell and follow scent trails, so we let him take the lead and followed him around the short grass. Luca pulled hard on the leash and followed a scent toward some tall grass. Rich and I joke about Luca finding a pheasant and 5 minutes later Luca had scared a pheasant out of the tall grass. It was pretty neat to see and if we were hunters Luca would probably make a good hunting dog. It is so much fun to watch Luca follow scents. He really gets into it and sometimes snorts as he goes along.

Yesterday I took Luca for a walk by myself in the afternoon and it was so quiet and serene. We had the whole path to ourselves and I enjoyed the quiet. On our walk we came across 5 deer and 4 turkey. Even though we often see deer on the trail I still get excited every time we see them. We haven't seen turkey in a while so it was nice to see them coming back around this time of year. The only disappointment was I did not see the woodpeckers. There is an old tree along the path that woodpeckers live in, but the last few walks I haven't seen them. I hope they have not moved on because I always look forward to walking by that tree and looking up to see 2-3 woodpeckers hanging out.

I think we our so fortunate to have the bike trail so nearby. It is a beautiful place to walk and it is nice to have so much nature in the middle of the city. Now that the time has changed and it is lighter later, Rich and I plan to spend more time on the trail together.

BEAUTIFUL SAN DIEGO

We spent this past week on vacation in San Diego with Lisa's parents. We stayed in Oceanside and had a beautiful room with a view of the ocean. While there we went to the Zoo and Wild Animal Park. We also walked on the beach and visited one of Rich's mission companions.

The first day we went to the zoo. We got there just in time to see the baby panda. The panda was 7 months old and adorable. We were surprised when we saw the baby had climb up a tree all by herself and was comfortably taking a nap.

We then made our way to the Galapagos Tortoise exhibit. A couple of years ago we went to the zoo and missed seeing the Tortoise, so we made sure to see them this time. Most of you probably know Lisa loves Tortoises and Turtles, so seeing these giants was the highlight of our day.

On Tuesday we spent the day hanging out at the beach and visiting with Rich's mission buddy. At the beach Rich skipped rocks on the waves and I looked for shells. We both love the ocean and walking along the beach. That night we had dinner with Rich's friend. They served their church missions in Italy together. They had a good time reminiscing and catching-up.

The next day we went to the Wild Animal Park. We enjoyed the ride which takes you on a safari through Africa. It was neat to see the animals roaming free like in the wild. We were excited to see a baby giraffe and 7 lion cubs. We also had fun feeding the Lorakeets (birds) and riding the wild animal carousel.

We had a great vacation, but are glad to be back at home. We missed Luca and were happy to pick him up. We also missed our bed and are excited to sleep in it tonight. Rich has the rest of the week off so we are planning to relax and spend time at home.

Visit with Parker and Zoie

This past Saturday Rich and I drove down to San Diego for a vacation. On the way we stopped to visit with Rich's sister, Anne, and her family in LA. We spent the night and had a good time with our 2 nieces, Parker and Zoie. We were excited to see how much Zoie had grown and to meet Parker for the first time. We also enjoyed chatting with Anne and Craig.

3 Day Weekend

It was nice that Rich had President's Day off because it gave us a chance to work in the yard. We have been planning to plant a couple of fruit trees since we moved here 3 years ago and we were finally ready to plant. On Saturday, after finishing the last of the prep work we went to Capital Nursery to pick up our trees. We got an Early Elberta Peach and a Moorpark Apricot. Since there was a sale going on we also picked up a Mandarin Sunburst Miniature Rose because I love roses. That night we soaked the bare root trees and on Monday we planted the trees along the fence in our backyard. We are excited to have the trees planted and now we have to wait patiently for the next 2 years for the trees to produce.

On Monday morning we went on a bike ride along the river because the weather was beautiful. After about 2.5 miles I heard a loud hissing noise coming from Rich's bike. At first he thought it was his chain rubbing, but then all of a sudden he stopped dead in his tracks. We then realized his tire was completely flat. It went flat so fast that we were not able to pump it up to make it back home, so we began to walk. We walked along a back trail so we were not in the way of the other bikers. Since we rode 2.5 miles we had to walk 2.5 miles pushing our bikes. At first we weren't that happy, but it turned out to be a nice because the trail was pretty and we were able to talk.

That night after planting the trees we relaxed while playing our favorite Wii game Lego Star Wars. This is a game Rich and I enjoy playing together and we often stay up way too late playing. My favorite character is Boba Fett and Rich likes the Emperor.

For those of you wonder about Luca, he is doing great. His stitches have healed and he is the same crazy, high-energy, fun dog again. Actually, he was fine about 2 days later and we worked hard to keep him calm so he didn't rip out his stitches.

Luca and Rich are best buds. They like to play and relax together. Aren't they so cute.

Happy Valentine's Day

This Valentine's Day was busy for us because like most of you we had to work. I was fortunate enough to get home around 3pm so I could make our dessert. Rich and I like to celebrate Valentine's Day at home alone with a good pizza. We don't enjoy going out to restaurants and fighting the crowds. This year we ordered 2 large pizzas from Round Table and relaxed at home playing Boogie (dancing/karaoke game) on our Wii. We also ate red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. It was delicious (if I do say so myself). We also exchanged valentine's. Rich gave me a giant heart shaped box full of my favorite See's Candy...3/4 full of milk chocolate-chocolate butter cream....HMMMHMMM! I gave Rich a box of See's Candy, Peanut M&Ms, and something to keep his puzzle pieces organized. For us Valentine's Day is about being together, relaxing, and indulging in cake and candy, so this day was perfect.

POOR LUCA!

Yesterday was a horrible day for Luca. A little after 1pm Luca and I went for a walk like we normally do. We headed down to the bike trail which is one of his favorite places because he loves to smell everything. As we started heading down the trail I saw another dog acting excited and running around its' owner. The dog was on a leash and off in the field 20-30 yards away so I did not worry and we kept to the trail. Luca usually ignores other dogs and this is what he did on this occasion. He didn't even notice the other dog and keep sniffing whatever scent he had found. A few moments later I heard the owner yell, "NO, come back" and she fell to the ground. My initial reaction was to help her because she fell pretty hard, but then I realized her BIG (100lb.) dog was running straight for us in an aggressive manner. I went to pick Luca up and get him out of the way, but before I could get to him the dog grab Luca's back end and started shaking him. I of course was freaking out and screaming as loud as I could. I tried to hit the other dog but he grabbed Luca 3-4 times before I was able to position myself in between the two of them and protect Luca. By this point the other owner made her way to us and got her dog, so I could survey the damage. At first I thought Luca was okay, but then I saw the blood. I noticed at least 2 places where he was bleeding on his hind quarters. I was very upset, scared, and unsure what to do. I didn't know how I was going to get Luca back home quickly because he was in not state to walk and he is pretty heavy to carry that far. That is when a true blessing happened. At that moment a park ranger came driving by and he drove me home. I was so grateful because by the time I got home I noticed he had more puncture wounds than I originally thought. I immediately called the vet and a good friend to help me get him there. By the time we got to the vet the bleeding had stopped, but I was still worried because I couldn't see the full damage. The vet kept him for about an hour and a half to suture the 5 wounds. Unfortunately Luca had to be put under anesthesia because he was too wiggly. When I picked him up he was walking on his own and appeared to be happy. All of last night he was loopy from the anesthesia and pain medicine. He also limped on his right leg where the worse wound was. It made us sad to see the pain and discomfort he was in.












Today Luca is doing better. He is acting more like himself which makes the recovery hard. Luca is not suppose to jump or play hard for 2 weeks. It is only day 2 and he wants to jump around and play with his toys. He also has to where a cone collar from time to time so he does not lick his wounds. Even though he appears to be feeling better he is unhappy he cannot play and has to where his cone collar. The poor guy can't see where he is going and keeps bumping into things. We also have to help him drink his water or it makes a big mess. Rich and I are trying hard to help him obey his recovery rules, but it is going to be a long 2 weeks.
This whole experience has been traumatizing for both Luca and I. I am just grateful the park ranger came by when he did and that my friend was home when I needed assistance. I am also grateful his wounds weren't worse and that I was not injured as well. Luca has been a true blessing in our home and we have grown very attached to him over the past couple months.

On Your Mark, Get Set, GO...It's Pinewood Derby Time!

On Friday the 25th our ward (church) had its annual pinewood derby race. For those of you that did not grow up around the Boy Scouts, the pinewood derby is a race held each year for the cub scouts in which they make their own car from a block of pinewood. The cars are then raced down a track and timed. The cars have to adhere to strict rules and must not weigh more than 5 ounces.
Ever since I married Rich I have heard all about the pinewood derby and Rich's glory days of old. He made several cars and won the race at least one year. I have always thought it would be fun to make a car and compete, but the race is only for cub scouts. But then we moved to Sacramento. In our new ward every year the scouts use the pinewood derby as a fundraiser. The cub scouts have their race, but then there is another competition in which anyone can enter for a small fee. In my mind this is ingenious because there are many men that want to relive their glory days of old and produce the fastest car. Unlike most of the competitors I like to make creative cars with themes. I don't care as much about speed, but I wouldn't mind being the fastest car. Over the past three years Rich and I have each made a car and had a great time doing it. I have converted Rich to making fun creative cars oppose to focusing on speed and winning. This year my car had a flower garden theme complete with potted flowers, ladybugs, and a butterflies. Rich made a coffin shaped car with Jack Skeleton (Nightmare Before Christmas) on top. During the prerace weigh in my car was way too heavy. We had to drill many holes in the bottom of the car to make weight. My car definitely was not the fastest, but it wasn't the slowest either and it looked pretty darn cool. Rich's car was underweight, so he added extra weights to the bottom of his car. Rich did well this year and placed 5th overall. He was happy with that and more pleased that he beat me because I have beaten him the past 2 years.

LISA'S CARS:

2006-Tortoise and a Hare

2007-Bowling Ally

2008-Flower Garden

RICH'S CARS:

2006-Pirates of the Carribean

2007-Spaceship

2008-Jack Skeleton

Luca Update

Luca is doing great. Today we decided to groom him ourselves. We have bathed him in the past and we haven't had any problems. Today we bathed him and clipped him. We did an okay job clipping him, but it took a lot longer than we thought and Luca was beginning to get antsy so we stopped. We still need to groom his feet and face. I feel bad because when I was grooming his head I used the shorter clippers and now the top of his head is too short. Luca looks like the bald bear from the movie "The Great Outdoors" with John Candy. The nice thing is in a couple of days it will grow out and he won't look like the bald bear or a balding old man. Even though his haircut isn't the best Luca is still cute and we still love him.

Yesterday we did a lot of yard work in our backyard. We did some cleaning up after that big storm a couple weeks ago and some prep work for the fruit trees we hope to put in this year. We spent almost all day outside and Luca loved it. He loves to run around and chase his ball. Unfortunately he got filthy dirty and was pretty smelly, but now he is clean and smells great. Toward the end of the day a sad thing happened. He lost his favorite outside toy, a glow-in-the-dark orange ball. Luca was so sad and is very attached to a couple of his toys...they are like his security blanket. He looked all around the yard for a while and then we looked too. We have no idea where it went and are afraid it got buried when we were putting down the grass blocker. That night we went to the store and got him another ball and he was happy again.

We have developed a new game we like to call the Adrian Monk game. The name refers to Lisa's favorite TV show "Monk". During season three episode 15, entitled "Mr. Monk and the Election" Mr. Monk plays a great game of keep away. We have adapted this game for Luca. Luca has his favorite toy, black kong, and a few others he likes. Rich and I get all these toys out and play the Monk game (keep away) in our family room. Luca loves the thrill of the chase and is quite acrobatic. Rich and I have a great time too and enjoy watching Luca leap in the air.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICH!

On January 15th we celebrated Rich's birthday. Unfortunatley for him he still had to work, but he did get off a little early. Since it was a week night and we didn't have much time we decided to keep the celebration simple. We went out for dinner at Black Angus and then home for cake. Rich wanted a chocolate cake with a vanilla buttercream frosting, so that is what I made. I decided not to put 33 candles on the cake because I didn't want the extreme heat to melt the frosting...ha, ha! Instead I found glow stick candles which were perfect for Rich because he loves glow sticks. I sang Happy Birthday to him, he blew out the candles, and then we ate. We gave Luca a special dog brownie made with carob instead of chocolate because we didn't want him to feel left out. After cake Rich opened his gifts. I gave him scrabble, picture frames for his office, Wii wireless head phones, and an IOU for the Wii Link crossbow. The gift he wanted the most was the Link Crossbow, but it was on back order. Originally amazon said it would not be available until Feburary, but Rich was happy when it arrived a couple days after his birthday. After cake and presents we relaxed and Rich played the Wii.

Starting Off the New Year Right

This new year already seems to be flying by. We had fun celebrating the new year at home with Luca. We continued the family tradition with homemade clam chowder and sandwiches on New Year's Eve. Of course we separated the chowder and made clam chowder for Rich and potato chowder for me. It was the first time we made the soup ourselves and it turned out really good. We added some celery, peas, and extra potatoes to make it chunkier. We decided we like the additions and will probably make the soup again before next New Year's. While eating the soup we watched "Rudolph's Shiny Happy New Year". It is one of those cheesy old holiday puppet/claymation movies. We also watched "Meet the Robinsons" which we both enjoyed.

On New Year's day we relaxed at home all day. Rich played some Wii games and later on we watched some Planet Earth videos. Rich also ate Lentils because in Italy it is good luck to eat lentils on New Year's day. I did not eat any because it looked and smelled gross. It was nice for Rich to have the day off and not have to go anywhere or do anything.

This past Friday we drove down to my parents house and stayed the night. On Saturday we went to Monterey for the day. We went to the aquarium to see the new otter exhibit. It was neat. There were two different kinds of river otters and both were so cute. They were small and very active. We also wanted to see the juvenile White Shark. This is the 3rd White Shark the aquarium has had and we have seen all of them. He was small, but still impressive. Rich's favorites were the white shark and the new river otters. My favorite is always the sea otters, but I also enjoyed the river otters and watching the big sun fish eat. We were sad the kid splash zone was closed for remodeling because there are beautiful reef displays there, but we decided we will go back later this year when it reopens.

After the aquarium we walked up the street to eat at Archie's Diner. This is a tradition we started a few years ago. We like to eat there because they have the best garlic fries. Whenever we talk about going to Monterey we always talk about going to Archie's for garlic fries. The fries are covered (and I mean covered) in fresh garlic, parmesan cheese, and a little parsley...Hmmm.

After a late lunch we headed home, but on the way we of course stopped at Garlic World in Gilroy and the outlets. We almost always stop in Gilroy for garlic and great shopping. This time at Garlic World we only bought blackberry honey and marinated olives (garlic olives). At the outlets we shopped for Rich because he has lost weight and his pants are too big. He kept wearing his pants that are 1-2 sizes too big and I decided to put an end to that. We bought him some jeans that fit and a couple of tops because we actually found large-tall at Eddie Bauer. I've always known I married a handsome man, but he looks even better with clothes that fit properly.

Today was my 13th anniversary of my baptism and confirmation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It has been a great 13 years and I am grateful for the gospel. It has brought peace and joy to my life. This past year was rough on me and filled with ups and downs, but the gospel has given me the faith and strength I have needed. I have relied on prayer and going to the temple to help me through the hardest days and it has never failed. I know I am a blessed person and I am grateful for all that I have. I am truly grateful for Rich and that he honors my baptismal anniversary every year because he knows it is a special day to me. This year he surprised me a couple days early with red roses and candy because he knew we would be gone this weekend. What an awesome husband! I know I am bragging a little bit, but I am a very lucky lady and I want Rich to know how much I appreciate him.

Christmas week

We spent most of the week traveling and visiting with family...the way the holidays should be spent. We went to Lisa's parents on Christmas Eve. That morning my mom called to let us know my grandma had a mild stroke early that morning and that she was in the hospital. My mom headed to the hospital and we waited for an update. The doctors said she had a TIA (mini-stroke) and that no long-term damage was done. My mom said she was doing good, talking , and joking. My parents spent Christmas day at the hopital with her and she was released the next day. We did head down to my parents later on Christmas Eve. We ate some yummy home-made spaghetti and meatballs and opened gifts. We were excited to get a food dehydrator to make beef jerky, fruit leather, and other fun treats. We also got a programmable crock-pot and green Le Creuset pot. As you can see there was a food/cooking theme. We were also happy to get some gift certificates which we haven't decided on how to use yet. After filling our tummies and opening gifts we headed home to wait for Santa.

On Christmas morning we woke-up to find Santa had visited and filled our stockings. We got lots of yummy candy and some other gifts. This year we bought a new digital camera so that was our gift to each other. We did enjoy opening a gift from Rich's sister Anne and her family. Luca also had a stocking filled with goodies and toys. He destroyed several of the soft toys my parents gave him within minutes. Santa knowing Luca's desire to chew and destroy toys gave him things he could not destroy within minutes. He also got a small blue football and red snake. Luca will play with these toys sometimes, but prefers his old Kong toy to everything else.

We spent Christmas day with Rich's family. We had the traditional Christmas feast and of course I (Lisa) brought spaghetti with meatballs. The food was great and again we filled our tummies to the brink of explosion. It was great to see everyone and spend some time with our nieces and nephews. Nathan our 7 yr old nephew loved Luca and I am pretty sure Luca loved him.

The day after Christmas was sad for Rich because he had to go back to work. Luca and I were lucky to be able to relax at home. We were both pretty tired from all the traveling. Luca actually sleep the entire day away and I was nervous something was wrong because he didn't really want to play, but the next day he was back to normal.

Yesterday, we traveled back to my parents because my grandma is staying there for a little while. We had the Christmas dinner my family didn't have Christmas day because they were at the hospital. It was nice because we got to visit with my Aunt & Uncle and my cousin and his family. It was a nice day and great to see my grandma. She is an awesome lady with so much strength and talent. I admire and love her very much.

Today after church we are taking the time to rest. I have been getting a cold Rich is just getting over, so we plan to veg out on the couch and hang with Luca. Next week will also be a little crazy with the holiday but we are planning to stay home this time and do our own thing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The Nativity at the Sacramento Temple. The pictues don't do the scene justice. It was so beautiful and moving.

Almost Christmas

This week has gone by fast for us. We have been busy preparing for Christmas and enjoying the holiday season. We both had work Christmas parties. Lisa's work ate Round Table and cookies. Rich's work party was a bit more fancy. We enjoyed dining at Piati's Italian Restaurant. It was good and a great opportunity for the office to relax and enjoy each others company outside of work.
Luca is settling into his new home and more of his personality is coming out. He is hilarious and makes us laugh everyday. This week he was a little naughty and we've learned he can be a sneaky dog. Usually when we shower he sleeps on his dog bed or the couch, but one day this week he was a little too adventuresome. We had a box with unwrapped gifts under our tree and thought it would be fine because he didn't show any interest in them. But one day while Lisa was showering he got into the box. He got Jake's (mom's dog) Christmas present and ate the treat with it. He also got a package of hot chocolate, ripped it open, ate some, and spilled the rest. The third thing Luca got a hold of was his own toy. When I found him he was hiding in our exercise room chewing on his Stocking Stuffer toy. Needless to say Lisa was a little upset and put Luca in the cage for a time out. He knew he was in trouble because he went in the cage without whining. We have now moved all the unwrapped gifts up out of his reach and make sure we keep on eye on him. We also found him late one night trying to eat some of Rich's Mint M&M's. He snuck out to the family room while we were brushing our teeth and a few minutes later we found him trying to get at Rich's candy dish. The candy dish and our See's candy are now on the kitchen counter. We have learned Luca is a little piggy and will eat whatever is within reach.
Today Lisa's 10 year old Primary (Sunday School) class acted out the nativity story. My mom made the costumes...THANKS MOM...and the kids loved it. We only practiced for about 30 minutes before, so it wasn't the best production of the Christmas Story, but it was enjoyable and taught the children the true meaning of Christmas. My only regret is I forgot to take pictures of the kids in their costumes.

We are looking forward to this coming week and the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with family. We want to wish all of our family and friends a safe and Merry Christmas. We hope you will all feel the love and peace our Savior Jesus Christ has to offer. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Enjoying the Holiday Season

Last week we finally put up our Christmas tree and decorations. It made it feel a lot more like the Christmas season. We also watched the muscial "White Christmas" which is a family tradition. Lisa use to watch it every year with her mom while making making cookies or decorating the tree. We now continue the tradition.
This week we have started making Christmas goodies. We are planning to make 4-5 different kinds of cookies and other treats we can't mention because some of you will be receiving them as gifts. Rich and I enjoy cooking together, so this is a fun time of year for us. Luca has been a little more whinny because he wants to eat all the treats we are making. I feel bad so I think I will have to make some dog biscuists for him.
Today we enjoyed a nice walk on the river trail with Luca. He loves to sniff everything and track the scents. While walking we saw two woodpeckers and a hawk. We haven't seen the deer recently.

The Weekend

This past weekend was nice. We started out Saturday relaxing at home and watching a movie. In the afternoon we took Luca down to the river. We have walked on the river bike path a lot, but not down to the river. Luca really wanted to get in the water, but it was too cold and we didn't bring a towel. In the summer we will let him get in the water and see if he really likes it. That night we went to the Sacramento Temple. It was peaceful and a perfect way to end the day. There is a beautiful nativity scene on the temple grounds. It helps you to remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas.
After church on Sunday we took Luca for a short drive. He loves car rides, but he is use to roaming free in the backseat. We have decided that he needs to be belted in, so he will be safe and not be able to distract the driver. We bought him a special dog harness and decided to try it out yesterday. Luca did not like the harness and kept getting twisted in the seatbelt. We are trying to figure out a better way to keep him secure in the backseat. Lisa is visiting her parents tomorrow, so we will try the harness again with lots of treats and dog bones on the way.

Week in Review

The past week has been typical. We are busy, but not too busy. We are starting to feel the crunch of the holiday season. We have a lot to do before Christmas and we still have not put up our Christmas tree or decorations. We plan on doing that tomorrow. We are curious to see how Luca will react to the Christmas tree and ornaments. So far he has been a good boy and not destroyed anything in the house. He doesn't chew on anything that is not his toy...what a blessing.
When Rich took Luca for his first walk in the rain he did not seem to enjoy it. That night we bought Luca a blue raincoat. He wore it the next morning and seemed to do better. We never thought we would dress up our dog, but it is practical and we hate to admit it but Luca is so cute in his coat.
Yesterday was probably the most exciting day of the week. Rich had the opportunity to go the the exhibition, "Bodies Revealed". Since Rich is in the medical profession this exhibit fascinated him. Lisa of course had no desire to go since the sight of blood bothers her. Rich had a good time and said it was interesting. Lisa stayed home with Luca and bake apple coffee cake and apple muffins. Luca stayed right by her side hoping to get any crumbs that fell to the floor.