On The Way To Our Parker AZ Park

 Well then, our road to Parker was a fun ride, we took our time, drove during the day only and actually spent the nights in dog friendly hotels...found some OK ones too.
Driving through the  mountains of CO is pretty awesome

 Especially with the snow capped tops

One of our stops to exercise the dogs and play in the snow ourselves.  All three boys enjoyed trudging through the snow...and not only did the little boys 'pee' but David is off to the trees to do the same himself!

 HA a picture with me in it...doesn't happen very often!

So darned gorgeous.  While driving through Vail I looked really really hard for someone famous but nope didn't spot anyone...isn't Vail where all of the rich and famous go to ski and stuff?

Oh dear and then there is Utah

 This is a state that we really need to spend some time in

 Love those formations and the colors

We spent our last night on the road with Rachel who was kind enough to not only invite us to spend a night but she cooked the first home made meal we had had since our wonderful Christmas meal.  Those that know Rach know she is a great cook...there is just something to be said for knowing what spices to use.  The next morning she sent us off with tummy's full of scrambled eggs and toast oh and coffee as well.  Thanks a ton for the hospitality Rachel.

So the very first thing that we did upon arriving in Parker was to hit the urgent care facility.  I was feeling pretty awful and was sure that I had a great big sinus infection which I am sure was exacerbated by the altitude.  I have been on antibiotics for 6 days and finally, today, I feel better.  I really haven't done much of anything other than wait for this crazy stuff to clear up, but watch out New Year's Eve...here we come haha.  The park has a dinner and dance to celebrate and although we don't dance we do eat.  Our neighbors will join us and maybe, just maybe, we will be awake past midnight....or not.

So, I hope that you all had a nice Christmas and have a safe and happy new year.

Christmas In Minnesota

Before we left for our winter home and Len, Kel and girls went to Michigan to spend Christmas with Kel's family we had our Christmas together.  Great food, good fun, presents and BS and family, what more can one ask.
Grandpa decided we should save decorating the cutouts until we could do them with the girls.

Shelby spread the frosting onto her cookie and then..... 

 Decided it was much better eaten that spreading on a stupid cookie:)

 Here the girls are decorating away

 While Shelby ate her frosting, Julia and Grandpa decorated

 There isn't much sweeter for a grandma than watching her grandkids in their Christmas program.  It just so happened that the girls were on the opposite end of the stage than we were but I did get a few shots

Julia in her skit with her 'classmates'

Shelby did just fine until she spotted her Momma and Daddy.

Lenny in the kitchen preparing another wonderful meal.  Kelly cooked as well she just didn't get in the picture.  We had home made egg rolls stuffed with feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes and something else...what is it guys?  There was home made turkey/cranberry ravioli, shrimp wrapped in bacon, ahi tuna with home made wasabi-oh dear I know I am missing something and it was all good.  Grandma Loi, who is a tad picky, really liked the ravioli.

Speaking of Momma/Grandma Loi here she is opening the wall hanging that I quilted for her.

 And Auntie Kelly playing with the Lincoln Logs that she bought because she never had them when she was a kid:)

 Julia was the official gift hander outer as well as the 'I will help you open your present' gal

Shelby Marie running to Grandpa to show him the cell phone that she got

Even Tigger got into the act

 Shelby's favorite might have been her Elmo and friends set and Julia loved her drawing pad

I cant decide if the look on Shelby's face says that she likes this dolly or if she wonders why it isn't talking to her like all of her other friends at daycare do.

And here they are our two little MN Christmas angels

The night before we opened presents I listened to my son tell his daughter how Santa was going to come down the chimeny, eat the cookies, drink the milk and deliver the gifts-precious.
AND another too good to not share story.  Shelby needed her diaper changed and when she was asked if she did in fact need it changed off she went to the bathroom, moved the foot stool to the toilet, pulled her pants down and hoped up onto the toilet.  Never mind that her diaper was already wet....she's got at least part of the idea.  Oh yes, even though she didn't 'pee' in the potty she did grab toilet paper, wiped, flushed the toilet and asked to wash her hands (by going to the sink holding her hands out).  AND THEN later Kelly caught her pulling her pants down attempting to sit on the itty bitty Barbie toilet in the living room...really Shelby??????  Kids are great, especially when they are your grands.
It was another wonderful early Christmas.  Thank you so much Len and Kel for hosting, now have a great time with Grandma Sherry and Grandpa Tim.

Busy? Hell Yes!

My sewing room and I have become pretty close these past few weeks, so close in fact that I got pretty darned sick of that room.  However the projects are done, and sometimes I think it would be much easier and quicker to get all of our gifts from the stores.  Nah, I really do enjoy my sewing room and creating new things.  Here some of them are:

A Christmas table runner for one of my favorite people

 A soft cuddly blanket for a special young boy

 A Dresden plate quilted wall hanging for a lady who deserves so much more

 And a card table playhouse for two very special girls and because it was on their 'Dear Santa' list

I have decided that I will be starting my next year's Christmas gifts this January....but then I know me, I will start and put them off until next November...dear Mary why oh why did you give me this procrastination habit? 

We don't have much of a winter wonderland this year but I was able to get a few 'sort of winter' shots on a few drives

 A wet snow fall day

 We lured this gorgeous eagle to our back yard with David's deer hide.  We were both surprised that we didn't have a few more of these birds of prey on that hide.

 Cat tails and reeds make for a great winter picture

 Oh and just one more thing that I have been doing....with David's help.  We baked 7 different kinds of Christmas cookies to take to Prior Lake this coming weekend.  Because I wanted to get my gifts done David offered (after i suggested) to help me bake cookies.  A fine job he did do, the cookies look tasty, the kitchen not so much HA.  Those Woelperns are great cooks but they do know how to make a mess in the process.

 Oh yes our auction is set for May 5th 2012.  As my friend Mary says, "It sounds so finale".  We are actually glad to have it all set up.  Our auction folks,the Dauks, will make it a fun day.  They are great people and we both wish we could have gotten to know them sooner.  We have actually been to many of their auctions and some of the things they will have on our auction bill are items that we have purchased at other auctions they have done.  So it seems that after May 5th we will be without a stick house...well we may still have the house but their will be nothing in it.  I suspect that is when we will officially become full timers?  The house itself is not going on the auction block, we are still hoping that it gets sold sooner than later.  It will happen.  We are lucky that we have no mortgage makes this process much easier.

Off to Prior Lake tomorrow to spend a few last days with the Leonard clan and an early Christmas.  Monday we begin our two day drive to AZ.  Yep, we are planning on driving straight through once again.  Crazy is as crazy does.

What Are You Thankful For?

As the dogs and I were walking through the woods yesterday I was thinking about what I am thankful for. I am thankful for so many things; David, our family, our grandkids, friends and our ability to live the life that we enjoy living.
And this year we are especially thankful to a group of caregivers. People who care for others for a career will never become financially rich and we typically only hear about them when something has gone amiss. This past year David and I have gotten to know a team of people that excel in what they do. When David's brother (who lived in a home provided by Shiloh's Hope) came to the end of his life, this team of people went above and beyond so that Ron could live his last days comfortably in the place that he had called home for the past few years. With the assistance of Mankato Hospice and Nicollet County Social Services, Ron's caregivers made the heartfelt commitment to allow him to pass at home. Tammy (the caregiver working at his passing) reported that she was holding his hand when he passed-it doesn't get much kinder than that.
So this year David and I are especially thankful for the above caregivers and others of you that provide care to those of us that need it during critical times in our lives. Please thank your caregivers for a job well done-they deserve it.

I Dont Even Know How To Title This One

I guess the sign says it all. Yep we put our little slice of heaven on the market
This idea started pulling at David when he broke his leg this spring and got almost 2 months behind in his 'projects'. I think it was then that he realized no matter where we were or what we were doing he was always in a rush to get home to finish whatever project was on the agenda at that time. We have been so busy that we haven't had the boat out this year and the only time that we have had it out in the past two years was when Ryan was here in May 2010 (or was it 2009 Ry).
We are pretty remote up here, we drive almost two hours both ways to get to our doctor, to the pet groomers, the dentist and any major town for groceries. Don't get me wrong, we love this place and were proud to share it with the grandkids and kids that were able to spend time with us here as well as friends and family members. We appreciate those that took the time to make the trip but that is just it, it's a trip not just a little jaunt. Darn it Barbie and Lynn, we will miss you even though we didn't get together often, we did get together...thank goodness for facebook:) So David began the, 'What do you think about' talk and as we talk we kept coming up with reasons why it was a good idea. We need to retire from retirement, So I said how about we then spend the summers on our land by StPeter in the motor home (yes we plan on trading the 5th wheel for a much more friendly while you travel motor home) so that we are close to the MN kids as well as family and friends. We are looking forward to playing shoot with my aunts and uncle on a weekly basis (gonna have to save up my dollar bills), babysitting the MN kids at a moments notice, being able to go to any store that anyone ever needed with little effort and as I get older I realize how much I miss my friends and family. I have some very special friends and I miss you all so much.
For those that have not seen our slice of heaven here is the listing- BTW the babe that happens to be in picture 15 does not go with the sale of the house. How in the hell did they manage that little oops.

http://glarmls.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=22483830-88fc-4a0b-a69b-874bcd303cc7&Report=Yes

As I loaded these pictures from last weekend's hunting opener I became a little nostalgic because it was the last time that our MN kids will be here and I think these photos captured a bit of that nostalgia.
Julia is quite fond of her Grandpa Dave and it is pretty obvious

Shelby with momma and daddy walking through the woods

Oh this one really tears at my heart. Julia has always loved to spend time in my garden......My momma loved to garden, I love to garden and Julia loves flowers-a future gardener in the works perhaps?
Our Shelby will probably not remember this place but she is comfortable here, she loves the outdoors and is our adventurous gal.
Julia and daddy spent some time by 'Tackla's' pond
And Shelby spent the weekend being the happy go lucky girl that she is. She makes me smile every time I look at a picture of her.
Julia found Daddy's old trike that his grandma bought for him and I had used for garden art.
The plan is to sell everything-yes my friend Mary, everything...it will be OK. (Mary is my friend who if she were to help me decide what to keep and what to get rid of would put whatever I wanted to get rid of in her car). David does not even want his tools, I know I know that my friends is a heart stopper. He is tired of working and working and working and really does not think that he will get bored...heck we will fish rather than work! Furniture, nope it's going. When we are ready to come off the road we plan on renting an apartment and we can then at that time acquire the 'stuff' that we need to furnish it. My crafting really does need to downsize which is not going to be easy-actually what will be even more difficult is that I will not be able to have the stash that I am used to having on hand at all times. No worries I will get used to it:) Oh yes I see it now, this journey brings much fodder for the blogger....

We are far from our next step in our life's journey. We know that the housing market sucks and of course so typical of us-buy high sell low- but we feel as if something will come along and this will work out.
More to come.

1800 Miles In Two Days

It was a grueling drive. We drove straight through with a very uncomfortable sleep in the truck stop after the 1000 mile mark. Of course we made quite a few stops for the dogs and us and I suspect when we head back in December it will be the same sort of trip. Unfortunately we certainly will not have the same kind of comforts awaiting us as we did Saturday. We stopped for the night at Len and Kel's (thanks Mary for taking the doggies for the night) who offered a very comfortable bed to sleep in (although David wondered if we should just borrow a couple of pillows and sleep in the truck....HA), a nice warm shower and a home-made chicken Alfredo pizza for supper. This is going to be our new 'Kelly's special please make again' I am sure.

And it is surprising how much can change in even a few weeks when you are talking grand-kids (I cannot even imagine how much the ones we don't get to see very often have changed-sad face)
Shelby Marie is no longer sleeping in a crib, is walking walking walking, has a mouthful of teeth and is sitting in a regular chair with a booster seat for meals!
Does it look like she thinks she's a big shot...yep I am thinkin so.

Now that they both have their own chairs life is better
And Julia is driving. OK maybe not really but both girls sure do like their Barbie Jeep. Julia does drive only because Shelby has not yet figured it out. Once she does...look out cul de sac! For now she is content to enjoy the ride.
Right down to the backyard they go.
Yesterday we grabbed the dogs and put on our last 250 miles home. Not far from home I spotted what I was sure was an albino deer. I have never seen one much less gotten a picture of one. And this is not the best of shots because it was dusk and he/she was behind the trees but it is proof that I was not seeing things. I wondered if it could be a horse until we spooked it and it's tail went up and off it went.
Speaking of deer, next weekend is the opener and I hear we may be getting a snow storm just in time for it. Good for seeing deer in the woods as well as tracking them, if one should be lucky enough to not only see one but get a shot at one as well. Len, Kel and the girls will be joining us for the annual opener get together-more on that later I am sure.

October 27 2005

Makes today, October27, 2011 my sixth year cancer free. We are now on our way back home. David would like to make it in two days....that would be 900miles a day and i guess even I have to drive at some point....gonna muzzle him while I drive. Because we are on the road this post is going in via my Droid which does not allow for paragraphs etc so excuse the awkward look. I really do want to thank my family and friends who were there for me during my journey-you know who you are and so do I :)

Her Maiden Voyage

David found himself a good deal on what is called a Porta Bote this past summer. A Porta Bote is one that folds together so that you can haul it easily. When it's time to put her in the water it is unfolded, the seats are put in (three of them) a dealy on the front and one on the back, attach the motor (6 hp) the oars and walla you have yourself a 10 foot boat. It was certainly easier to put together than either of us thought it would be and she runs down the river quite well.

Here he is the proud captain of his ship...or porta bote. The first day we set out of course there are people on the beach watching every move. I waved and hollered, "We are on our maiden voyage wish us luck". We didn't get very far down river when a jet ski came upon us, slowed down and pulled up beside us. The driver, who we later fund out was 81 years old, was sent by one of his friends (one of the guys that I had hollered to) to check on us. His friend told him that we were on our maiden voyage and he was worried about us. Too damned funny to have an 81 year old nice as can be guy breeze up on his jet ski to check on us young-uns. It was actually a very nice gesture and we told him so...after we all had a good laugh. It is interesting that many of the folks on jet skis here are in their 70's and 80's. They must live well because one would never know how old they are by looking at them.

Anyway, we have spent the past couple of days on the water and it has been wonderful. We don't go all that fast but it is the sped that I prefer.
There are some pretty darned nice homes across the water from us.
The boats that we share the water with are these and more...
Every one of them goes much faster than we do and some don't play so nice. One big ass cigar boat going full throttle I am sure went by within 25 feet of us causing waves that didn't beach us but threw a tremendous amount of water in our boat-enough to get my camera wet and those are fighting words. As I threw up my hands and said very loudly, " What the fu--" he waved at us. See, some just don't play so nicely.
This is our campground from the water. We are in there somewhere.
Mountains and vegetation on one side-Cali side
And shear mountains on the AZ side. We didn't even get the boat out at home this year so this has been a treat, mean big boats and all. When we come back it'll be fishing time. The world record sunfish was caught here-5 pounds some ounces. I cannot even imagine!
But driving down the road beware of the burros. This momma and her little one held my interest for quite awhile
These guys are not dumb, they know where the good grass is. That would be on the golf course where they water it constantly. There has been a herd of about 20 wild burros here every time we have gone by. Wouldn't that be fun Ryan? Wouldn't have to worry about the burros, it's what they leave behind.
Yep it's nice here. We head back home next week but will be back in December.