MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

"It's the most wonderful time of the year"...that's what I think of when I think of Christmas!! I love seeing all the lights & decorations on everyone's homes; I love all the wonderful music @ this time of year; and most of all, I love celebrating the birth of our Savior with my family all around...it truly is the most WONDERFUL time of the year!! I love giving gifts to people & seeing the expression on their face and I love all the DELICIOUS foods we have @ this time of year...I love CHRISTmas & remembering that CHRIST is the reason for all our celebrating. I hope all of you will have a wonderful CHRISTmas & a very happy, healthy 2011!!

Down to 1 chicken

It has been almost 3 weeks & I am happy to say that it has been MUCH quieter in the mornings since I gave back our rooster ~ it started crowing VERY early in the morning, the day that the hen was going to lay her 1st egg...& it continued crowing EVERY morning & sometimes @ other times of the day...to the point where I just couldn't take it any more. I called the former owners & they were more than happy to come & get the rooster & they apologized for the fact that it was a rooster instead of a hen ~ I was worried that the remaining chicken would be lonely, as they are socialable animals, but she seems okay & has continued laying eggs and is doing well. I know that our neighbors are happy we got rid of the rooster...now if only we could get the neighbors' dogs to stop barking when ever I go outside to feed the chicken, it would be "all good" again!

We have chickens, again!!

Today at work we had 2 very nice patients bring us lunch...delicious sandwiches, fruit, chips and home-made guacamole and soda. We were talking about how they have chickens and I told them about how we used to have chickens until 3 years ago when we had to get rid of them because we couldn't find anyone to take care of them while we were going out of town. We were sharing stories about our chickens and they said they'd like us to see some of their chickens, and they offered to bring some over to the office to show us. We told them they didn't have to go all the way home and then come all the way back, and then they left so we could see patients this afternoon. About 10 minutes to 5 this afternoon, they called & left a voice mail message saying they would be over in just a few minutes with some chickens. They showed up just a couple of minutes later, with a box holding 2 baby chickens and one of them was holding another baby chicken. Then as they were opening up the box, they said "these 2 are for you, Debbie"...I was shocked and delighted! They are a breed called Silkies, and they have LOTS of soft, fluffy feathers on their heads, bodies, & feet...and they are very gentle & calm. One is black and red, and the other is white and gray...after thanking them profusely & putting them in my car, I drove the chickens home & announced to Everton "come & see what's in my car"...he was surprised! I let the chickens wander around in our back yard for about an hour while I tried to get rid of all the dead weeds & plants that were thriving inside the chicken coop, and then put the chickens inside their new home & watched to see what they would do. They looked all around, pecked at some of the plants inside the cage, and eventually the black one went inside the little hen house, and the other one hopped up on top of the hen house, then hopped up onto a perch, and then flew down to the ground & ended up sitting on a perch in the corner of the coop. Tomorrow I will buy them chicken feed, a feed container, and a water container & enjoy watching them & coming up with a name for each of them. I'm thinking of naming them: Salt & Pepper or...Bordeaux & Eclair...what do you think?!

Priorities

I've been thinking about my priorities lately. When I was a kid, I only thought of my own happiness and what I wanted to do each day. When I was a teen-ager, I wanted to be popular, and to be liked by everybody, which didn't happen, but my priorities were to be friends with as many people as possible, and that's all that mattered. When I was in high school I FINALLY realized that being liked by everybody was impossible, so I was happy having a few really good friends, and I dated a few different guys, and tried to find out what kind of person I was turning into. In college I had a full-time job and I took classes that interested me, which changed from semester to semester until I went to BYU and decided to major in child development and family relations. That's when my priorities changed once again, and I had some good friends, great classes I was taking, and I found out that I missed my parents & siblings! I lived at home for a little over a year, had a full-time job, bought a V.W. bug (my 1st car!!), and almost got married...'til I realized that the guy didn't have me as a priority...so we broke up and I dated other people and ended up dating my college boyfriend a 2nd time and we ended up getting married. He had many of the qualities that I wanted in a husband & I was a priority in his life and he became a priority in my life. Being married for 30 years, my priorities have continued to change over the years, when we started a family, the children came 1st often times, then as they got older, my husband became a priority once again, and now that our kids have all married & or moved out, my job and husband and grand-daughters have become the priorities in my life. I also enjoy my new car, going to Disneyland, volunteering at the temple, and working in the nursery at church, and spending time with our children & my extended family. The one priority that has NEVER changed in my life is I have always put our Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ FIRST, and all else has followed. I'm pretty happy with my priorities at the moment!!

Update...finally!!

Once again I have neglected to update my blog...but I have been enjoying life and have read alot of other people's blogs, and was finally motivated to blog again, after reading so many others! I am happy to announce that our son, Allen & his long-time girlfriend, Candace were married in a ceremony performed @ the Ventura Court House on Friday March 5th, 2010. We got to meet Candace's parents & some of her siblings and all of us were there as well (Everton & I, Jen & Shaun and their twins Hailey & Brooke, Mike, and Lis & Adam)...it was a short, sweet ceremony. I think it was VERY funny when the judge asked Allen to repeat after her, and then she said "I, Allen, take you Candace to be my lawfully wedded wife..."as he started to repeat it, got to the part where he was supposed to say "take you to be my lawfully wedded wife" and he said "take you to be my...wait, what?!" (he was VERY nervous!)...but after we all laughed, he repeated it correctly and they were officially married. There were LOTS of tears, hugs, & photos...then we went to Peking Inn for a celebration lunch & Grandma and Grandpa Vargas, Cindy & Johnny, Chris and Ty all met us there...there were about 2 dozen people...we had an AWESOME lunch! After lunch, the newlyweds wanted to go ice skating, so some of us went to the Oxnard Ice Skating Rink & I watched them skate...it was fun just hanging out & visiting & watching them! Then we went back home, and Al & Candace met us @ our house and we took them to Pop's Soda Pop & Candy Shop for some soda & candy, then we treated them to dinner @ Me n Ed's Pizza ~ it was a GREAT day!! We welcome Candace to the Freitas family!! In April, I got to drive
up to Utah with my friend Nancy Jenkins, and met my sister Lori & my niece Becca and hung out with them for a couple of days in Provo, while Becca took finals & checked out of her dorm. Then Nancy, her daughter Jocelyn, and I drove back to Cedar City & stayed @ their friends' home a couple of nights & we got to hear Sherri Dew speak @ a Regional mtg. before we drove back to Camarillo ~ we had a FUN, "girls week" & I loved spending time with Lori & Becca and had a blast with Nancy & the girls too! On April 26th, Everton & I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary ~ hard to believe I've been married longer than I've been single! It has been an AWESOME experience being married to my best friend & even though we've had our ups & downs, I can honestly say I'd do it all over again ~ and look forward to hopefully many, many more years together! On April 29th I got to volunteer @ R.A.M.L.A. @ the L.A. Sports Arena. It's a FREE medical clinic that is done in various inner-cities and remote areas, all over the world, and thousands of people are seen & treated (for free) by volunteer doctors, dentists, nurses, and optometrists ~ in the area where I was working all day, we saw over 470 patients, it was incredible!! I felt sooo happy to be able to help so many people all in one day! I definitely want to volunteer again next year - it was sooo worth while! The doctor that I work for, and his nurse practitioner wife, and 1 of their sons + 2 of my co-workers & myself all met @ work at 4:30 a.m. and we car-pooled down to the convention ctr., where we started our "shift" at 5:30 a.m. and we worked 'til 6 p.m. ~ it was an EXTREMELY loooooong day, but worth the lack of sleep, for sure! I'm so glad I went!! Our grand-daughters are almost 9 nonths old, and are doing all kinds of cute & adorable things! Brooke has already learned to go from her tummy to sitting, to pulling herself up & standing, & she LOVES to have us hold her hands and let her "walk" all around. Hailey has learned to roll over and likes "talking" and is learning to sit up by herself. She has tight muscles in her neck, and needs to do "stretches" and have LOTS of tummy time, to strengthen her muscles, and she loves to eat!! They continue to bring so much joy and happiness into our lives, and I am so thankful they live close by and I get to see them every week!! I love being a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and grandma!!

Special events of 2009

I've been thinking about many things that happened in 2009 and I just want to review them:

Lis & Adam got married in January. We found out we'd be grand-parents for the first time in January. Mike & Sara got married in February. We found out Jen & Shaun were expecting TWINS in February!! We celebrated our 29th anniversary in April. We bought my new car in July. Hailey & Brooke McFadden (our twin grand-daughters) were born on August 18th. I went to Disneyland for free on my birthday in September & bought an annual pass. Al & Candace got engaged in November. Everton's company moved to Oklahoma in late December, but he's been able to work from home. I'm working 3 full days as a medical assistant & the other 1 1/2 days as a receptionist and have been @ my job for almost 6 years. We've had a GREAT year and are looking forward to many more exciting events for 2010! We have been blessed ABUNDANTLY & are GRATEFUL to our Heavenly Father for His goodness and tender mercies to our family!!

2010 Toyota Corolla recall - WHAT??!!

I have been the PROUD owner of a 2010 Toyota Corolla for 6 months now and have enjoyed the ride so far...until I read the news last night that Toyota has stopped sales on several models, including the Corolla, for a faulty gas pedal defect - apparently the gas pedal gets stuck while accelerating & has caused several FATAL accidents - WHAT??!! I was just bragging to my husband the other night about how it's been 6 months since we bought my new car, and how I LOVE IT, and it's sooo much fun to drive, and it's SOOO pretty, and I've never had any problems with it, and it's the BEST car I've ever owned, and it gets GREAT gas mileage...etc, etc, etc...I guess I spoke (& BRAGGED!!) too soon!! : ( We called the salesman @ Toyota who sold us our car, but he wasn't there - 'cause we want to know what we're supposed to do to get the problem fixed! So far, Toyota hasn't decided what to do yet, & they say they purchase their gas pedals from a certain manufacturer and haven't been able to resolve the problem yet. So...I am now driving more carefully, and my husband instructed me on how to SAFELY put on my brakes & turn OFF the ignition, IF the accelerator sticks, or IF the car lurches forward while I have my foot on the brake. GREAT! So until we hear more from Toyota, I'm CAUTIOUSLY driving to & from work & will still drive to the temple on Sat., where I volunteer on the 1st & 5th Sat. of each month - and I'll probably drive down to Disneyland this Friday, so I can use my annual pass this month. Hopefully NOTHING bad will happen!!