Being Thankful

Well, I just had to stop what I was doing to say how Thankful I am for what I have. I have a house to keep me dry during wet weather, it may not be the warmest right now with the heater broken, but I do have a roof over my head and I can heat some of the house with wood in the stove. I have cars to drive that are paid for and in working condition. I have a job that I go to 5 days a week for 8 hours a day and get paid for it. I have a loving family and loving friends who are there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on, a pat on the back, a few words of encouragement, help doing something that I need help on, being able to go to the church of my choice and worshiping God as I wish to. Part of me thinking this way is finding out about a fellow ward member who doesn't ask for much at all and doesn't have much in the way of material things. This person I will call "Larry" lives in Lompico in a little 1 bedroom cabin that the landlord was going to remodel but has felt he has put too much money in it already and isn't motivated to do much more. Larry only gets less than $900.00 a month in disability because of his back. He was in an accident that was not his fault and has chronic back pain. Larry's vehicle's back window is missing and only has a thin plastic sheet replacing it. In the cabin he rents, he pays about $425.00 a month. He doesn't have running water in it. He has to go to the water heater which has a hose attached and turns on the faucet to fill containers and then turns off the faucet. With these containers of water he is able to pour water into the toilet so it can be flushed since there is no running water in the cabin. Larry goes to a friends a few houses up the road to use the shower. Larry only has a hot plate to cook on. He does not have a stove or oven. He can only cook things that he can cook on the hot plate. Larry's electricity is by a power cord. He has a lamp he uses for light. There was a hole in the roof that he has been able to cover with some wood but only after the rain a few weeks ago got his bed wet(a used full box spring and mattress that was given to us that we gave to him). It took him a little while to get the mattress dry so he could sleep on it. Larry only has a small space heater to use occasionally to try and get warm because if the electricity bill gets to high, the landlord won't pay it. I don't hear Larry complain, he just is grateful he has a place to live and where his son can come over and spend some weekends with him. We had Larry over for lunch on Sunday after church and Dennis was surprised how much he ate. Larry commented that he usually only eats one meal a day but for the past few days had been visiting him mom and she made sure he ate 3 meals a day. Well, I could tell you more, but this is longer than I had planned already. I now think before I complain about it being cold in our house. I at least have a woodstove to heat part of the house and some wood. I have a few space heaters I can use to help keep a room warmer. I have warm clothes to wear and water that works in my house. I can do my laundry at home and can bake cookies if I want. I have light to be able to see properly in the house, I have electricity to run my tv or radio and I can run my dishwasher. My goal this Christmas season is to be a secret Santa to Larry and his son. I want to share a little of what I have to make this mans live a little happier, warmer and not so hard. I will be thinking each day before I complain about something, is it really all that bad? I hope everyone thinks about what they are Thankful for during this Thanksgiving time.

Family Summer Vacation - South Lake Tahoe Aug. 2009

We started our Family Vacation by having a mini Judd Reunion at the Camp Ground by the Lake in South Lake Tahoe. The Dennis Judd and William Johnston families had planned to spend a week at this campground during Melissa's 25th Birthday Week and invited Dan & Patty Moody and my parents Norm & Inez Lee to join us. Dennis had a great idea to have Melissa organize a mini family reunion for the Judd's. Melissa emailed and facebooked all the family members to let them know of our plans and what the dates where. With many messages going back and forth, the date and time were set for the reunion. The menu was decided on and assignments were made. Melissa and Rachel had spent 3 weeks with us before we left while Will was on a work business trip in Germany and London. It took us much longer than we expected pulling the trailer to get to the campground. We were about the last to arrive to the campground, but we enjoyed spending time with everyone. There were 2nd cousins that the kids had never met and nieces kids that we hadn't met before. About 1/2 hour or so after we arrived, in drove Will and Amanda. Will had flown home from London the night before, picked up Amanda, packed the truck(which Melissa had all set aside ready to go before she left for CA) did laundry and got a few hours of sleep. Boy did he need this vacation. Any who, for Melissa's birthday(she requested Dennis' dutch oven fruit cobbler for her B-Day cake) she wanted to do something special. So what do you think she did? Well, she had already skydived before, so this time she decided she wanted to para-sail. She checked out the prices and she, Will, Rachel and myself went down to the marina for the time they had reserved. I was going to watch Rachel on the shore but found out for a small fee that Rachel and I could also go out in the boat and watch from close up and take pictures. Above you will see a picture of when they were not to far from the boat so you can see them and one way up high. We went out to dinner later that night and celebrated Dan's and Meliss'a B-days. Dan's B-day was the week before. The guys went fishing a few mornings during the week seeing who could catch the 1st fish, largest fish and the most fish. The gals would go shopping(Rachel got to meet the Blues Brothers while we were out shopping), exercising, doing laundry or just hanging out at the camp site. We went sight seeing and took a long bike ride with Dan & Patty one day. As each morning came the events would be: will Amanda be able to zip & unzip her tent(the zipper had a major problem), will the air still be in Dennis & Lorrie's air mattress( it sprung a leak, we purchased another one to only find out it leaked also), how many hours will Amanda sit in the womens bathroom charging her cell phone and texting James(her new boyfriend) and do G.G. and Pops(Norm & Inez) have enough plugs in their motorhome to charge everyone's cell phones or ipods. We all took a trip to Virginia City one day(see Jeff on the bucking bronco w/his energy drink) . We took old family photos. Dan and Patty did one and the rest of us did one together. I don't have a scanner so I can't put it up, sorry. We enjoyed walking around the town and seeing all the shops. Norm & Inez left after lunch and went to visit a friend who lived near by. The rest of us stopped by Genoa on the way back to see the town and the monument. On Friday Dan & Patty, Norm, Inez & Jeff took off for home. The rest of us went down to the lake and took a ride on a catamaran and then went back to camp and went for a bike ride. We road near the lake side and stopped for a bit of fun in the water. Rachel had a blast playing in the water and shooting us all with her water gun and pouring water on us from her bucket. After breakfast at IHOP on Saturday we said our goodbyes and went different directions for the ride home. For me, it was hard to say good-bye to Rachel after spending a month with her and not knowing when I would see her next. She's growing up so fast. All in all it was a fun and relaxing vacation for all. We will see what we plan for next year.

March B-Days For Jeff, Lorrie and Rachel

I received a real surprise this year for my B-Day. On the 18th of March I went over to have lunch with my parents in Santa Clara where they live, and when I entered the motorhome(they live in a Class A Motorhome), I saw Rachel standing just inside the door and Will sitting in one of the chairs. I said hello and was about to ask why and then Amanda and Melissa came from around the corner where the couch is and said Surprise. I was in total shock!! I never expected them to be here. They said didn't you see the truck outside? I did see a truck and motorcycle in tow, but didn't think it was theirs. It was such a wonderful surprise. I found out that everyone else in my family knew, only I didn't. The kids had gotten there only 2 hours before I arrived. They had checked with my boss earlier in the week to see what time I got off work that day, so they could be there on time. This had all been planned for about month. Well, the rest of the suprise was that they were all going to to redo my kitchen cupboards. Dennis and Jeff had started them a while back, but never finished them. Will did alot of the work and they look great. They took off the white paint, sanded off the dark brown paint underneath and have them down to the natural wood. We will have to linseed oil them and then put them back up. Dennis and I just have to get movitated to finish them. Hopefully the weather will get back warmer so we can do this outside. Amanda was able to visit with many of her High School friends while she was here. Well, we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on my B-Day(20th) after work and Rachel loved it. On Saturday the 21st(Rachel's 2nd B-Day) we had a party at my sister's home in Scotts Valley. Patty & Dan Moody, Dave, Carole & Ruben Carter, my parents, Dan Judd and of course my sister and her family were there. It was a great party and great to see everyone. Jeff, Rachel and I received many nice gifts and appreciated them. Sunday we headed over to Twin Lakes Beach to enjoy the ocean. This is the same beach were Will proposed to Melissa over 3 1/2 years ago. It was windy and a little cold, but I gave Amanda and Melissa each a pretty glass bottle for them to collect Santa Cruz beach sand and shells so that they can each have a little bit of Santa Cruz and the beach with them always. I was sad to see Monday come since the kids had to leave to go home. It was such a long drive for them all, but I'm glad they made the drive. Waiting until mid August for our Family vacation is so far away. I'm so glad that we had great weather for them while they were out here.

Fun Flashback

So this photo is from my 8th or 9th birthday, I can't remember for sure. I just want to start sharing old family photos because I think its fun to look back. I'd also like to have some of all of yours for my collection. You might recognize a few of the kids here. On the back wall is Brian Moody, the other boy on the left is Jonathan Judd, I'm in the middle below Brian, Front row on the left is April Judd, Front row right is Kimberly Snyder, and the blond in the very front is my sister Amanda Judd. The other kids were some of my friends at the time. This birthday party was at Dave Carter's house.

Amanda's 22nd birthday!

22 candles Everyone singing at the restaurant Amanda spent the Holidays at my house including her birthday, which is the day after Christmas. We went to a Brazilian Grill called Tucanos for dinner and the employees sang to her and then we had cake at home the next night because we were too full from dinner to eat it on her birthday.