Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Winter Time in Arizona

 Apache Junction   High 82  Low 55

It's been a long time since I last posted. Life has been continuing very nicely because I haven't had any disasters to report. It's been a peaceful time of enjoying our winter weather, lunches with good friends, running errands and living life. 

But I do have some pictures I want to post. Our sunsets and sunrises have been incredible this year. 


 


 


Our park has a band and I went to listen to them one Saturday. These guys are really good and they love what they do. We really have a great park.

And there was some dancing.


The poppies are in bloom. I love to see everything turning green and blooming but my allergies are not happy. 


These poppies grow next to our pool. I just wish they lasted longer.


My brother and his daughter who just completed basic training.


And now for the important pictures. 😇

First Build A Bear experience.




 

 


Visiting with the Easter Bunny

Elias and cousins


 


I had an amazing experience the other day. I was headed into the post office and I smile and say hi to people that I meet up with. I smiled at a lady coming out of the post office and she smiled back. Then you told me I had a beautiful smile. That just made my whole day wonderful. 

So take time to smile at strangers. Tell someone how much you love them. Thank your Father in heaven for the life you have. Have a beautiful day.

Thursday, February 8, 2024

February 7 Memories

 AJ, AZ   High maybe 50  low 36  Rain and wind. Miserable in other words.

Two years you've been gone my love. That's hard for me to comprehend. But I have survived and I'm doing okay. I miss you and sometimes that feeling is overwhelming. But I know you are watching over me until we will be together for eternity. I love you Jim Dixon.


 













Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Happy 1st Birthday Elias James Dixon

On February 3, one year ago you surprised everybody by wanting to come into this world a few weeks early. And your family was so excited to welcome you. 

Today they threw you a Star Wars 1st birthday.  This is one time I'm so grateful for technology. I got to see videos and pictures that made me feel like I was there. 

So here are a few of the pictures I chose to put in my blog. I love you Elias.


 


 



He definitely knows how to enjoy cake.
 



 Time to clean up.  Look at that grin.


To add to the excitement, please meet Lola. Michaela and Todd lost both their beloved dogs last year, and their home has been rather empty. They found this beautiful dog at a rescue and took her home for the weekend. She is now a permanent part of the family. She is fitting in nicely but still has some trust issues that they are working on with her.


 Hey Mom, we're both here to help you out in the kitchen.

 


What a fantastic birthday for the cutest grandson ever.


Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Lost In The 60s

 Sun City, AZ   High 64  Low 48

Sun City, AZ was the first ever retirement resort built in the United States for the active, retired adult. When the Del Webb Development Company opened Sun City with the first five model homes on January 1, 1960, it was embarking on a drastically new concept. A community built strictly for retirees. 

A lot of people and potential investors thought it was a bad idea. Why would people give up their homes and neighborhoods to move to Arizona.  But in reality, thousands of people were interested in this exciting new world. 

Del Webb and his partner, Jim Boswell, had to wonder if anybody would show up on January 1, 1960 to see their five model homes.  By the end of the weekend, there were more than 100,000 people who had shown up to see what was being built out in the Arizona desert. They sold 237 homes that weekend alone. They had hoped to sell 1,700 homes in the first three years, but in the first year, a total of 2,000 homes had been purchased.  Gentlemen, you had a hit on your hands.

 


Del Webb has an amazing history and the Sun City Museum website has a couple of great links to information about his life and accomplishments. Well worth your time to check it out.  His partner, Jim Boswell, was the farmer who owned the land that eventually became Sun City. 

A couple of interesting facts about Del Webb - he was co-owner of the New York Yankees, he became one of the largest casino owners in Nevada, he built Pueblo Gardens in Tucson, and sat on the boards of 43 corporations.  And he built Sun City.

Now, with all this information behind us, the reason I know this stuff is because Paul and I visited the Sun City Museum. The museum is in the first model home that was built. 

 


The living room and kitchen have been kept as close as possible to what they would have looked like in 1960. How many of you see the home you grew up in (or your grandparents' home) when you see these pictures.



My mom had one of these jaguars way back when.



The Woman's Kitchen



My mom was not a fan of the pink so we had the light green in our house. Notice that pot on the stove, mom had one of those also. It
a Guardian Service metal pot.



Golf carts of the past


Recognize these?



After spending more time than expected in this museum, it was lunch time. It's been almost a year since we were over on the west side of Phoenix, so it was time to return to The Touch of European Cafe (Hungarian/Polish) .


 This time Paul had the meatballs with mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans. I had the Hungarian pork goulash with green beans. It was fantastic. With lots of leftovers to take home.


If you ever find yourself in Sun City, I would recommend that you get lost in the 60's and visit the Sun City museum. And then I would recommend the Touch of European Cafe.