Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas to all from North Carolina.

Here is our 2006 Christmas image that was supposed to go out on cards, but we had a scanner malfunction.

Ricketts Family Traditions

The Ricketts family has been gathering twice for Christmas since I was about 8 years old. After my Grandpa Jim married Grandma Veda (adding her 4 daughters and their children) the family got too big (currently at 29 cousins) to meet at my grandparent's house. We then started what's called the "Children's Party" at my grandparent's country club. We also decided to have an "Adult Party" for Ricketts adults at rotating homes. Today, there are so many adult children that we are busting at the seams.

The parties themselves and the activities (music, children's performance, Santa, group photos, etc.) make up our traditions!

Disneyland Again....

Larry and I had a long weekend away that incorporated Larry's work Christmas party in Pasadena and a trip to Disneyland, of course.

On Saturday, we left for Pasadena to join his colleagues at Bistro 45. We then spent the night in Pasadena so that we could do a little shopping in the Historic Old Town Pasadena and have lunch at the Paseo Colorado the next day.

Without "Goofy" hats ...and with "Goofy" hats.

We then spent the next day and a half at Disneyland and California Adventure. The decorations and festivities were incredible and helped get us into the Christmas spirit. Guess which photo made us sad....

Work Christmas Party

Cheesecake Factory was the destination of Erin's work Christmas party. Erin is fortunate to have such a great team!!

The is a photo of the entire KP HealthConnect Long Term Support team at the Woodland Hills Medical Center.

Teresa and Michael are at the top of the photo. Jennifer (my co-trainer) and Francisco are to my right.

Here is Anthony, Odie and Dawn.

Dominic's Baptism (Reception)

Our little miracle child, Dominic, (son of Adrienne and Scott) was baptized in the hospital because they were unsure about his health. However, a reception ceremony and mass were celebrated on November 25th. Larry was a proud Godfather and Erin is calling herself the Godmother-by-proxy. Scott's brother, Kevin, a newly ordained deacon, performed the ceremony.
Below Photos: Dominic with favorite "calm me down"snake that plays music when you squeeze his head. Adrienne still can be on the cell phone and do a few other things.
Dominic's Grandfather gives him a blessing. The ceremony begins at St. Dominic's Church, of course!

Many Thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my uncle Randy and aunt Kari's house in beautiful Laguna Niguel. I can't remember the last time I celebrated Thanksgiving with my Grandparents. It's was a memorable evening with good conversation, scrumptous food and thanks-giving all around.

Smile

I took this picture at California State Univerity Monterrey when we went to watch Christine, our cousin, play a great Volleyball game (October 1005)...It always makes me smile and thought I would share.

St. Bonaventure Festival

This is the first time in 11 years that I had a chance to go to my childhood festival. It's been going on more than 30 years and is as big as ever. It was great to see some old friends and be with family. I am sorry to report that although Larry wanted to ride the "scary" rides, Scott, Monica and I only felt safe going on the Ferris Wheel. We have all seen and heard of a few accidents through the years...no thanks.

Patrick Martin's Baptism

We were so honored to be at my friend Nikki's youngest son Patrick's baptism. Nikki is traditional and likes to go "full body dunking." Welcome to the Christian family Patrick! Isn't he a the cutest???

To Agoura Hills

Well, after 3 long months of trying to sell our house, we received one more offensive offer and learned of interested tenants. After much discernment, we decided to rent out our house in Alameda to a nice young couple.

Therefore, we needed to move all of our furniture and "stuff" either into the attic or down to the Valley. We found a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment in Agoura Hills. It took about 4 weekends of moving and getting the house ready for renters, but we feel very blessed that we found a nice place to live that is a far cry from the Calabasas dungeon.

Where We Work

Larry's Work: Bank of America, Century City
Senior Vice President, Private Bank Trust Group
Erin's Work: Kaiser Permanente, Woodland Hills Medical Center
Senior Learning Consultant, KP HealthConnect (trains the Hospital and Clinics on the new Electronic Medical Record system while reaping the benefits of unlimited answers to odd, but interesting medical questions before or after class)

Our New Parish

St. Maximillian Kolbe church is the first parish that Erin found on the internet. She called some of the parishoners to see how they liked the area and the parish. She talked to some very nice people who raved about the community.
We love the simplicity of the architecture and the meaning behind all the details. The liturgies are also right on!!
St. Maximillian Kolbe is a 20th century saint from Poland who offered to die in order to save a man from death during World War II. This man and his family were able to be at his canonization in 1982. To read more about this saint click here. http://www.stmaxchurch.org/info/patron.htmlTo

Universal City Walk

We finally found some time for a little taste of L.A.'s newest famous Universal Walk next door to Univeral Studios. We decided to save that theme park for another day.