Jury Duty

Last Month I got a letter in the mail, a letter I doubt anyone looks forward to getting. It was from Superior Court of California County of Sacramento. and on the outside it had in big black letters OFFICIAL JURY SUMMONS ENCLOSED. Obviously I didn't think I was receiving a check from the state for a million dollars. Nothing good could come in an envelope labeled in such a way.


I had been hopeful that I wouldn't have to do more than just call in every day and not have to actually go downtown and spend the day waiting and walking from Jury lounge to court room to Jury lounge etc. However that was not the case because when I called in last night I got the message that I had to report to the courthouse bright and early Wednesday morning to do my civic duty. I got off work last night at 1 am and had to get things ready to go later that morning to Jury duty. I had to read over my Jury summons letter again since I hadn't read it since I got it last month.


I had to make sure I knew how to get there and figure out about how long it would take. I didn't want to be late or miss the chance to park for free in the jury parking lot.


I also needed to make sure I didn't take my usual items I carry with me, such as my pocket knife, Leatherman, and fingernail clippers. I don't understand the whole you can't take fingernail clippers on planes or in court, what am I going to do manicure someone to death? And yes I have heard it has to do with the little file on the clippers. What could I do with that little file that would cause a problem? I could do more damage with a ballpoint pen than I could with that file, and yet I carried in probably about 10 pens in my bag with no problem or questions asked as to why I would have so many pens in my bag.

Or why I had 3 flashlights in my bag and one small one in my pocket. Just so you know one flashlight was in my purse, 2 flashlights are in my backpack (I use them at work when we test the genereator in the mornings) and the one in my pocket just comes in handy from time to time when I need a little light.
As you can see most of the flashlights are made of metal and yet the security didn't even bat an eye at them.

So for the whole day I walked around the court house with this badge on.
After getting into the court house I went upstairs to the jury waiting room and checked in. I was handed a questionnaire to fill out to expedite the jury selection process. When I was called to a panel and sent up to the court room we sat in the hallway for about 1/2 an hour until they came out and started calling the names of the first group to sit in the jury box as well as 6 alternates. As I stood listening for my name I started to notice a pattern. All the people who's names they called were minorities. Then filled the box and the alternates and the rest of us filed in to sit in the gallery. The Judge explained the basics of the case and started questioning the prospective Jurymen. I know know more details about 18 strangers than I knew about my closest friends. I was just glad I didn't get the third degree. The judge dismissed one juror for hardship and the lawyers dismissed one other. Then they settled on the two alternates and set the rest of us back to the jury room.

That took about 4 hours and so when we got back to the jury waiting room we were sent to lunch for about 1 1/2 hours. I chocked down some gross food in the court house cafeteria, not wanting to go through security a second time. Then back to the jury room where we got to wait for more panels to be called. They called a panel of which I was not included in and they said they had 3 more court rooms that will need juries but they had not heard from them yet. So we waited. When I got back to the jury room after lunch there was a movie playing on the tv set which was Night at the Museum. Which had about 1/2 hour left so I watch that. Then they put in another movie which was The Game Plan. I watch that movie in its entirety. At that point the guy behind the desk got on the speaker and said he had good news and bad news which did we want to hear? Someone in the group said bad so the guy said we still have 2 more court rooms to fill juries for. The good news is I just saved a ton of money on my insurance. Everyone groaned but then he said because it was late and the court rooms had not requested juries we all were going to be able to go home. That was good news since it was now about 3:30 pm and I could if I got check out possibly make it to work on time. Well I had to wait for my group and of course it was the last group but I did get out of there only to wait in line to get out of the parking lot, then another line on the freeway trying to get to Rancho Cordova to work. I was only about 20 minutes late for work which was great as I had figured I would be more like 2 hours late. Lucky for me that night at work was quiet with no problems and I got out of there and headed home.

Have you ever noticed that the more tired you are the harder it is to get to sleep? Well it was for me and I didn't get to bed until about 3:30 am. It was a very long two days for me but the best part was I only had one more day of work this week and then I can catch up on my sleep. Check off Civic duty done for at least 12 months.

It's a Boy!!!

I got a phone call yesterday from Bryan and he asked me if I had heard. I said are you a daddy? He said you're a grandma! Bryan's wife gave birth to their baby on May 1st.

Baby's first picture. 8 lbs 4 oz. 19 1/2 inches
Mama and baby
Look at the hair on that boy!

First Family Portrait
I just love these pictures of Hunter!

Congratulations Bryan and Sarah!! Your baby is beautiful, I can't wait to come out and see him in person. See you next month.

Rachel's gift

My brother and his family came out to California last week. They came to see Lori's (my sister-in-law) Grandfather who is 90 yrs old. He went into the hospital two weeks ago and they were worried he might not make it to his birthday in July. There was a bit of a scare and he was in ICU for about a week, before they moved him to a regular room. He is doing better and was released from the hospital and is now back home. We are hoping to celebrate his 91st birthday come July.

Rachel has talked about getting her hair cut for locks of love every since her sister Becka did a year or so ago. So while they were here in Ca. Rachel decided she would go for it. If you don't know anything about locks for love it is a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. (got that right off their website www.locksoflove.org) Anyway Rachel's hair is down to her bottom. So for her to give 10 inches for locks of love, she would still have long hair. She actually had more like 12 inches cut off since about an inch they couldn't use because of split ends and the about an inch to complete the cut/style. She has been growing her hair for a long time and was a bit nervous about getting it cut.

Here is a picture of her before she got her hair cut.

Here she is in the chair just before the hair stylist started.

This is a picture showing her getting her hair cut.

Here she is after and checking out how it looks.

When I told her I wanted a picture of her holding her hair that was cut off she said "No I don't want to see it." However I told her we need to send in a picture with the hair so locks of love will have a face to go along with the hair.

Here she is holding the hair they cut off that will go to locks of love to be made into a hairpiece. Afterward we went to the mall where Rachel, Becka and their cousin Katie had fun shopping and running my legs off. I could only get them out of the mall by bribing them with Jamba Juice. They went home on Sunday and I miss them already. Hopefully I will see them again soon when I go visit them in Utah. Good Job Rachel, I'm proud of you for donating your hair to a good cause.

Trip to the Beach

While we were in San Diego my brother David took his two youngest children to the beach for the first time. They enjoyed playing in the sand and getting into the water at most up to their ankles. The water was a bit cold even for southern California. They had never been to the ocean and we had a little time between visiting the temple and the reception that was to take place that night. So we went to the beach. Here are some pictures of them.
This picture is of them getting ready to get their feet wet.














This is my sister-in-law Teresa also playing in the water with the kids.
Here my brother is playing in front of a wave.


The kids loved the beach and when we told them we had to leave Jake said "I don't want to go."

Kaisi & Marc's Wedding

Well here it is another month later and I have again traveled to yet another LDS Temple for a wedding. My niece Kaisi got married this past weekend, March 14th to Marc Grow in the San Diego temple. It's a beautiful building and the wedding was wonderful.

The happy couple just coming out of the temple.

This is my sister and most of her family. One son was not at the wedding.



This is of the bride's family with grandparents.


This is a picture of my parents in front of the Temple.


Now for some fun pictures from the reception.

First Dance


I didn't get a picture of the bouquet toss but I did get this video of the groom retrieving the garter.



And here are a couple videos I just had to post on my blog of my dad dancing. Keep in mind this is a mormon wedding so no alcohol was served or consumed.






Until the next adventure...