Eshet Chayil aka Ruth Bubbles Moroknek

An accomplished woman, who can find?

Her value is far beyond pearlshusband's heart relies on her and he shall lack no fortune.

She does him good and not evil, all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax, and works with her hands willingly.

She is like the merchant ships, she brings her bread from afar.

She arises while it is still night, and gives food to her household and a portion to her maidservants.

She plans for a field, and buys it. With the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

She girds her loins in strength, and makes her arms strong.

She knows that her merchandise is good. Her candle does not go out at night.

She sets her hands to the distaff, and holds the spindle in her hands.

She extends her hands to the poor, and reaches out her hand to the needy.

She fears not for her household because of snow, because her whole household is warmly dressed.

She makes covers for herself, her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known at the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.

She makes a cloak and sells it, and she delivers aprons to the merchant.

Strength and honor are her clothing, she smiles at the future.

She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the lesson of kindness is on her tongue.

She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise and praise her, her husband lauds her.

Many women have done worthily, but you surpass them all.

Charm is deceptive and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears God shall be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

Women are amazing

Women have strengths that amaze men.....

They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream.

They sing when they want to cry.

They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in..

They stand up to injustice.

They don't take "no" for an answer when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have.

They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally.

They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding.

Their hearts break when a friend dies.

They grieve at the loss of a family member,

yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.

They have compassion and ideas.

They give moral support to their family and friends.

Women have vital things to say and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,

IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

When sisters are together it always requires a celebration

And this time we had more to celebrate than just being together (although that would have be a good enough reason) Celia had just recently turned 25 ( I know can you believe that I have a 25 year old daughter) So after a little bit of discussion we decided on dinner at Pasta?

But the opportunity for the sisters to be together happened because of Family Weekend for Sigma AEPie and even though we tried to have all the Big Girls Club together but alas we only had half the group in person the other half in puppet.

I was a great weekend and a great reason to celebrate.

We are proud Sigma Parents

What a lovely weekend with Sam and her Sigma sisters. After a slight change in our schedule we started our drive a second time and made it to Davis just in time for Shabbos. I was a very nice dinner (that Sam cooked with the help of her Sigma sisters). We had dinner on Friday and then brunch on Saturday followed with a trip to the farmers market, shopping at the Davis MU (student union) and then a little down time where I built her shelf that we didn't get time to finish before I had to leave the last time I was here. Barry watched a little football and the girls had some time to be together. We had another brunch on Sunday morning and it was all over.

Sam I just want you to know that you planned a beautiful weekend and we had a great time. I am glad that The Bear and I got up here for a Family weekend and now we just have to get up her for picnic weekend.

327 miles to Davis...

You would have thought that by now I would have some cute pictures of what Barry and Ashleigh are having for breakfast since we got out of the house so early and after all we were ahead of schedule.





But you know one of my favorite lines..."man plans God laughs" well he might be laughing but we (Barry, Ashleigh, Celia and me) are not laughing. We left the valley ahead of schedule at 10:00 and everything was good... dropped Celia's car off for some work ...as we were driving past Der Wienerschnitzel we stopped got them some breakfast (not my choice) and we were on our way...but just before the tunnel on the 5 coming out of the valley something happened that changed our plans...we don't know what but something hit our windshield and well the pictures tell the rest of the story...so we went back home changed to Allegra and left the valley right on schedule by 12:00 noon.....so Sammie we are on our way just a little delayed.

I know your wondering what am I posting

o.k..... so it's a memory, but it is a really nice memory of when Barry was still in banking (a life that was a long long time ago)...in the old days he would get up first and lay out his cloths for the day...he would hand his shirt on the armoire and then he would ask which tie? When Ash was little (before age 8) she would be in bed with me for a morning snuggle and she would help pick out the tie of the day ( I know I am really regressing here, I wonder if this is a symptom of Empty Nest).

But that was a long time ago ...and Ash doesn't crawl in bed for a morning snuggle (matter of fact she is usually the first one out the door)

and Barry is usually in a

RGEB golf shirt

but it was a nice momentary flash back to a time long long ago. But damn did he look good this morning when he went out the door.

I have a child how old!

How did this ever happen... I can remember the day like it was just last week what do you mean it was 25 years ago? (26 in reality)

But I guess there has been a little bit of time between when Celia was born and today but I just can't imagine that it has been 25 years.

But October 18th was the birthday for a lot of wonderful people in my life.

update: I know it is now 11-5-2010 Celia is 26 and I just need to add pictures when I get home.

Up Up and Away.....

O.K.... we did it, I know your asking what did we do?

We checked one more thing off our empty nest list.... A HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE!!! yea ha!!!but instead of saying done that, don't need to do it again.....this is definitely going in the do it again category.

beautiful, smooth, fun, exhilarating all words that can be used but don't do the adventure justice.





we started before sunrise....the Hot Air Expedition van picked us up and off we went to the launch area.... which is actually a large (these balloons are 3 stories tall and actually displace more square feet than the good year blimp) flat area where they get the balloons set up








and watching the process is actually quite interesting (Marty I think you would like this), they fill the balloon with cold air, and then when it is full they start to use the burners to heat the air and right the basket.



while the ground crew is getting everything ready our Captain Mike D gave us a few instructions

and before we new it we were in the basket and getting ready to leave the ground.

And then we were off....

it was smooth actually that was the biggest surprise to me was how smooth and peaceful the ride was, and if you didn't look down you didn't even realize that you had left the ground.


and that is how it started...we slowly lifted off and then up UP and Away!!!! we did have one slight detour when one of our basket mates...no not Barry, had a panic attack and we had to set down so she could get off ...but that was quick and then we were up again.





And then it was just an amazing experience full of moments when you realize that ....














that God does exist....and she is right in front of you...no matter which way you turn.

We were so busy looking that we didn't realize that our hour had passed....we had been up to 4,000 feet traveled about 5 miles and it was time to set down again for the celebratory toast, The Ballonist's Prayer, breakfast and the presentation of our Certificat d'Ascension En machine Aerostatique.

And yes this is us at 4,000 feet

and we can't wait to do it again

I hope some of you will join us next time.

Off on a new adventure

This year we are experimenting with Empty Nest....I know I know Ashliegh is still in school and at home (kind of...but that is for another post) so we are trying to just do little trips...and that is what we are on this weekend.

We are in Arizona, at The Kierland Resort and Villa's in Scottsdale to be exact...using a little timeshare for a little rest and relaxation.

One of our favorite places to relax is in the Lazy River....a 900 foot river pool where you grab an inner tub and just float....when we get home I will put up the pictures from the Lazy River (oopps forgot the sync cord for the water proof camera).

And as wonderful as it is during the day



it is a great place to walk and sit at night.

with little lighted seating areas an fire pits all over the property.

I think I am going to enjoy this empty nest thing...

It's Sukkah Time !!!

I love Sukkot for many reasons:

I get to use my tools to build something.

I also get to see how my girls have learned to use power tools...sometimes that sight is a little less reassuring than I would like

I get to have all my kids (from a time when they were young and cute) around me. O.k. so it is really hard to see but, when we first built the sukkah (way back in 1999) I traced the kids on to the wall panels so they would be with me all the time, this picture is of Nathan. If you can't see it ...you will just have to come to the sukkah and see the real thing

We get to have ushpizim (visitors to our sukkah) over. And you all know how much I love throwing a party

And when the weather is nice I love to sit in the sukkah for breakfast, which is probably one of my favorite times of day.

This is the 10th year that we have put up a sukkah and each year it gets better and better.

It started 10 years ago when I (with a lot of help) put up my first sukkah.

here is the first assembly crew

I have had many helpers over the years ...

Nathan in 2004

Shomer always tries to help

Ben, Sam and Ash helped in 2004

David and Sam did the framework in 2007

Ashleigh, Sarah, Zander and Hannah helped decorate.

Over time my little sukkah grew from it's original 8x8x8

to a 10x10x8 and that worked for quite a few years,

but then last year I decided it was time to make it a little bigger I know I know.... but it really didn't look that big on paper. But it was ... and my little 8x8 sukkah grew to be

a 20x10 major construction event.

which might take a few more people to assemble and it might require a few more boxes (up to 8 now) to store. It is still a great time of year and my favorite holiday.

and Shomer always likes when visitors come to our sukkah.