Happy Christmas!



Ann & David at the top of the M Resort in Las Vegas, December  2010



Mitchell & Erin...Summer 2010...Indiana

Ann and Mitchell & Ryan...M Resort, Las Vegas...December 2010

(This post was written December 23rd, however it was posted on the 24th)

The rains have subsided.  The desert has been washed anew with much needed moisture.  The skies are clear and the sun has reclaimed its position of strength.  Today we welcomed home our youngest son Mitchell and our daughter-in-law Erin.  What a joy to see them again and know that we are going to be able to share this holiday with them.  This evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant with Mitchell and Erin and our oldest son Ryan and our daughter-in-law Heather. Joining us were Ryan and Heather's sons, Clark and Samson.  Missing is our daughter Eva and our son-in-law Greg and their children.  They live in Ohio and will not be with us this year.  It's comforting that they will be with their own little family, enjoying their own traditions and holiday festivities.  Maybe next year we can have Christmas in Ohio!

Tomorrow brings Christmas Eve and our family enjoying one another and sharing in the holiday spirit.  We will have our traditional Chinese dinner (thanks to China-a-go-go!) and the reading of the story of Christ's birth.  Then it will be time for opening presents!  We have invited the Sister Missionaries to be with us, as well as two friends of our son Ryan.  We will be on the computer with Eva and Greg and their kids to see their faces and hear their familiar voices...across the many miles.  Yes, it will be a very special day.

This afternoon, we had opportunity to go and visit my brother Bert and his wife, Linda.  It has been many years since our children have seen them.  We had a pleasant visit and renewed our association with them.  They are well and looking great.  Ryan and Heather's boys enjoyed looking at their many treasures.  Their Aunt Linda even gave each a special rock from her collection.   It was nice to have our respective families come together.  I am grateful.

This has been a season of many changes for Ann and me.  We recently changed boundaries in our ward family and I now serve as the Bishop of the Fairview Ward.  The past several weeks have been occupied with staffing the ward, visiting the sick and needy and doing our best to lift another's burden.  There are many opportunities ahead for us and for the members of this wonderful ward.  Soon there will be a new grandson in our family.  Ryan and Heather are expecting son #3 in January.  This will be our ninth grandchild!  What an amazing blessing for our family.  Our respective jobs in education keep us busy and occupied.  I so enjoy being a high school counselor.  Ann continues to work as an office manager at a local middle school.  She too finds satisfaction in her job.  Next week I begin five weeks of daily radiation for some skin cancer on my nose.  This will be the fifth procedure I've had on my nose in ten years.  Now the skin specialist wants to do the radiation to keep it in check.  Soon I'll have a post holiday red nose...just like Rudolph's!!!

We are richly blessed.  In January we will celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary.  What an incredible journey we have thus had!  There have been good times and bad.  Certainly there have been ups and downs.  Through everything...we remain close and united in our faith and our commitment to each other.  That is truly an amazing blessing!

The sun shines...once again.  The Son of man shines always.  May we each remember Christ, Jesus and cherish his example and bask in his enduring love.

David and Ann

Sweet, sweet people...Colleen and Dean Lowe



David, Ann, Jill, & Jeannie




Colleen & Dean

 Today, we received a very special card in the mail.  It was from our daughter-in-law's mother, Colleen Lowe.  What a tender sentiment this was for us.  We love Colleen and Dean Lowe!



Charity, Jill, Asher, Malichi, & Josh



A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to travel to the Salt Lake Valley, to witness a special temple sealing in the Mt. Timpanogos LDS Temple. A precious little boy by the name of Asher was sealed to his adoptive parents Charity and Josh.  Traveling with us to Utah was Asher's birth mother, Jill Ballard.  This past year, Jill chose to give Asher to this couple, so that her son would have the very best possible family with a mother and a father...along with a little brother (also adopted).  Since Asher's birth, Jill has gone to the temple and made sacred covenants as she continues to improve her life.  As Charity and Josh knelt at the alter of the temple, also kneeling with them was Jill, holding her biological son, Asher, as he was sealed to his adoptive parents for time and all eternity.  It was a tender, precious...beautiful moment.  Each of us there, witnessed the "tender mercies" of the Lord.  The ministering of angels was strongly felt also.  What a glorious experience.

While in Salt Lake City, we stayed with Colleen and Dean.  They invited us to stay with them and it was such an enjoyable time.  They were so gracious and giving, opening their home to us for this special weekend.  The more time that we spend with them, the more that we see why our Erin is the way she is.  How blessed we feel to have Erin in our life...along with our son, Erin's husband, Mitchell.  The added blessing is our friendship with Colleen and Dean.  Yes, these are sweet, sweet people.

Moving on...

The last post was pretty depressing!  Whew!  Glad that's over.

The phone has stopped ringing.  The mail volume has dramatically dropped.  The television is back to normal...whatever normal is!!!  The elections are over.  The winners are elated and those defeated are licking their wounds.  Everyone now wants to play nice.  Amazing hypocrisy!

The autumn weather is beautiful and I am a blessed man.  I found out yesterday that I will need radiation on my nose for the skin cancer thing.  I'll postpone until the first of January and then will go five days a week for five weeks.  The oncology radiologist I'm going to is wonderful.  She's such a nice person and very caring.  So, that will be taken care of in the very near future.

Change is coming for the Country Brook Ward.  Salt Lake has approved the recommended changes and all of that will take place on the 21st of November.  There will be some tenderness associated with the changes.  I'll post as I get more information.

I am so glad that life is returning to a bit of normalcy...that probably won't last long.  Onward!!!

A sad, sad day...

I voted today.  I didn't want to.  Still, I voted.  After I was finished I chose not to take the "I VOTED" sticker.  I didn't want anyone to see that I voted.  I didn't feel any better any better after I voted.  In fact, I was very sad.  Why?  I feel that today is a low point for this country.  As I went down the list of politicians to choose from...I simply could not with good conscience make a "right" decision.  Who is the better choice of candidate that blatantly lies, perpetuates half truths and then in such vile fashion, put down and demean the opposition?  I am sick of the propaganda!  I am sick of the intrusion over the the television, the radio, the telephone, the newspaper, the internet...all of it!  I'm tired of the lies...the deception!  This is a travesty for our society.  Our nation should hang its head in shame for the antics of the past few months of political discord.  I'm not proud today to be an American.  Yes, I have rights and I exercised one of them today by voting for "who knows what?!"  What happened to men and women of integrity?  Where are the folks that stand for virtue, honor and truth?  Oh, that's right...we don't elect people like that any more!  I'm truly a sad man today.  I'll read about the results tomorrow morning.  It really doesn't matter who wins.  Really, we all lose.  It's a sad, sad day. 

A new day...

I've decided to create a blog and share some of the comings and goings of the Rickey family.  Our daughter-in-law, Erin, has kept a blog and we just love reading her posts.  So, I'm going to give this a try.  Over the years, I've kept a personal journal.  As of late, I've not been too diligent keeping it current.  Hopefully this will be a better venue for me to continue to keep a journal.  With our children living all over the country, it will also be another way for us to stay connected.  For those of you that will access this blog, please enjoy the posts about our wonderful family.  -David