Avery kept turning Justin’s head around so he could talk to him.
Cousin Lauren with Carson:

And hello Subaru Outback! I had a feeling everything would work out on the test drive when the salesperson, Rion Spears, asked me if I knew where Orchard School was in Rio Linda, and then if I knew principal Paula Roach. Rion taught school at Orchard for a few years, but he kept getting laid off in the spring and rehired at the last minute in August. So he became a car salesperson.
When I gave him the name of a friend for the application, he whipped out his phone to show me a name in his contacts – his mother’s name is Phyllis Thompson. Working with car salesmen has not been a good experience for me in the past, but Rion was excellent to work with. And so was the rest of the Maita sales team.

I have to give Justin a big thank-you for helping me. He is definitely Ed’s grandson. After our first visit, as soon as he got home, he downloaded a car-buying app, consulted a few other online resources, and started filling out post-it notes with information. He compared invoices with actual selling prices from surrounding dealerships to figure out what the average discount was.

I went in the second time by myself but with a definite range and clear instructions to walk out if my max price could not be met. And that’s what I had to do. About a half-hour later, I got a phone call from the sales manager,
“Can you pay just $100 more than your max offer?”
I don’t know. I’ll have to call my son and get permission.
“But at $100 less, you don’t need to get permission?”
No.
“Alright then, you can have it for your price.” Fist pump and a big smile!

With Adrienne and Sandy.

Next door to Justin’s house, there are lots of new babies. Several sets of twin lambs
and one set of triplets.

Also twin calves.

Adrienne’s husband passed away on December 8. Today was his celebration of life.

Adrienne and her children, Alyson and Adam, did a great job!
Great food, wonderful stories, lots of tears and laughter, seeing family and friends again – but most of all, hearing how loved and respected Mike was in every aspect of his life.

I should have kept riding my bike (I’m in spring training mode), but I couldn’t resist stopping to take this picture.