Saturday, Nov. 16 at 10:08 a.m., Gweneth Ann surprised the whole family and arrived three weeks early!  “Fortunately, she is very healthy. She weighs 7 lbs., 5 oz. and is 19-½” long,” says bookkeeper Alice Sauceda. “I am still ‘in the clouds.’ This is a photo of Gwen with her big sister Jayden.” Congratulations, Alice and family! :)

Although today was the last published day to drop off your turkey donations, there is still time before Thanksgiving to drop off additional turkeys, and we will see that they get to the Modesto Gospel Mission and the Salvation Army in time for Thanksgiving Dinner! All of us at Rea & Associates want to thank not only our client family but also our business associates and the many community members who read or heard of our turkey drive and joined us by bringing in their turkeys. We may not have quite reached our numeric goal (maybe next year) but we absolutely met the more important goal of helping those in need. So again to all of you … thank you for confirming our belief that when there is someone in need, we as a community are ready to accept the challenge.

Today (11/22/13) is the last day to donate turkeys for our Rea & Associates’ First Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive. Please stop by before 5:00 p.m. Our receptionist, Amanda, the brainchild behind this exciting event, looks forward to seeing you! All donations go directly to the Modesto Gospel Mission and the Salvation army. For questions, please phone 209/521-2727.

Christmas is coming! Our client, Heidi Dversdal, owner of Heidi’s Fresh Christmas Trees, operates a tree lot near Dale and Pelandale in Modesto, from Thanksgiving through Christmas. She has the largest selection of Red Fir (silver tips) in the region, as well as farm-fresh Noble, Nordman, Grand and Douglas Firs – all hand selected in Oregon. Be sure to pick up beautiful wreaths, garland, and cute log reindeer, too! The lot is located at 4220 Dale Road, behind Holy Family Church and Modesto Commerce Bank. Ho, ho, ho!

Bookkeeper Karen Wilson recently earned her 2013 Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor certificate! She can now add them to her growing collection, which started in 2011 and continued in 2012. She’s currently a gold member and plans to achieve diamond level in the future. Nice job, Karen!

Next time you talk with Alice, ask her about her grandbaby, who is due in December. “I have a little display showing how many more weeks,” Alice says. “Amanda, our receptionist, made me a card” to celebrate the future birth. This photo shows Alice with her baby memorabilia. Good luck, Alice!