A Water Leak, A Love Tree and a Cake Mix

 AJ, AZ  Our weather continues to be beautiful - highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s. But we are in desperate need of rain which is NOT in our forecast.

Great friends make this world a better place and Paul is one of the best. He is always willing to help me out when I run into a problem. This time it's a soft water thingie. I have one that quit working and I thought I could get by without having soft water. That is not a good thing with our really hard water. After I had to replace my hot water heater, I knew it was time to soften up that water. 

But before he started replacing the Water Boss, we had breakfast at the Bisbee Breakfast Club in Mesa. I did not know there were these restaurants anywhere but in Bisbee, AZ. It just became our very favorite place to have breakfast. 

And then the work began. I'm pretty useless so Paul was on his own.  He successfully removed the old one and started to hook up the new one. Turned the water on and oops - leaking around the connections. They need to be replaced. He also discovered that the hose I bought would not fit through the hole in the container the Water Boss sits in. So he is going to have to enlarge that. 

At this point he had been working for several hours and it was time to call it quits for today. He'll finish up next week.  

But before he quit, he was able to clear the clog in my shower drain. Little does he know, I'm starting another to-do list. Not really, hopefully. 

Winter seems to have arrived here in the Valley. We are under a freeze warning for the next two nights with lows at 33 degrees. Daytime temps in the upper 50s or lower 60s but at least we're not buried under snow and ice.

I stayed in most of the week. Trying to stay warm. Had a doctor's appointment.  Seems we do a lot of that as we get older. The doctor's staff decided they didn't feel like taking the Christmas tree down, so the made it into a love tree.

Paul and I went to lunch at Los Gringos and afterwards he finished hooking up my soft water. Of course, nothing ever goes easily or right the first try or the second try. After Paul left I discovered that there was a leak coming from somewhere. So Paul made another trip to my place and worked his magic on it. Thank you beyond words, Paul. 

Our park has been contributing to the local food bank for years. Jim and I took over the program several years ago and I continue to be in charge of it. This month I decided we should do something different. We decided to make birthday kits to donate.  These kits consist of an aluminum cake pan, a box cake mix, frosting, a can of soda, napkins and candles. This is my table.

If you're wondering why a can of soda, there is a reason for that.  As most of you are aware, eggs are in short supply and the price has sky rocketed. Even the food bank can't collect eggs anymore and the people they help cannot afford to buy them. So I found this recipe that requires only a cake mix and a can of soda. No oil or eggs.

I actually made one of the cakes to give people a chance to see what they tasted like. It tasted really good and was very light. I made a vanilla cake with a can of 7UP. 

On line you can find a chart that suggests what sodas to match with which cake mix. I included it here but it's kind of hard to see. 

My two favorite guys.

2025

        HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

2025 has arrived and our weather is beautiful here in Arizona. I celebrated last night by having a root beer float and trying to stay up til the ball dropped in Times Square.

I took this picture a few days ago when the sky was this beautiful orange color as the sun rose on another day.  

 

May 2025 be an outstanding year for all of us.

 

Elias's Second Christmas

Lots of pictures from Billings. I really am grateful for the technology that let's me be a part of his life from here in AZ. However, the new toys definitely were more fun than visiting with Grandma. Lots of excitement.

Christmas pictures with Santa and cousins

Making cookies

The boom box this Grandma gave him. 

This next picture was taken from a video showing the truck tires going around and Elias running it on his tongue. Never dull with little ones around.

Good friend, Jerin, brought Elias a present.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday. 2025 is rapidly approaching so I hope we're all ready for new adventures.

Christmas Happenings

 AJ, AZ   Our weather is certainly not winter weather. We have broken several high records by being 14 degrees above our average. We have had several days in the 80s and a few in the 70s. Nights are down in the upper 40's or low 50s. 

We had our yearly 4x4 parade through the park. There were about 300 of them that drove through. I think they had to split them into two groups because there were so many. After the parade is over, we had cookies, hot cocoa or apple cider up at the clubhouse.

Ginny and Jenny waiting for the parade to start

The following week, was our park parade of lit up golf carts, electric bikes, and scooters.

I was volunteering at the Christmas lights at the temple in Mesa, so Ginny and Wendy took pictures. Goodies were available once again up at the clubhouse.

Marilyn, Pat and I did a 2 1/2 hour shift at the temple lights. We were there to answer questions and to make sure there weren't any big problems. Other than a few rowdy teenagers and a cut finger, things went very smoothly. However, all that standing really did a number on my back. I really doubt I'll be able to do it again next year. But the lights are amazing and there were so many families there. Really fun watching all the little ones. 

Paul and I had a fantastic lunch at Vito's in Mesa. My Italian sausage sandwich was really good and Paul thoroughly enjoyed his pizza. One of the things we've noticed is that the restaurants are not as busy as they have been in the past. I think people are holding on tight to the purse strings because nobody knows for sure what the future is going to bring.

Friends, Tacey and Shane, sponsor a drive through donut and hot chocolate celebration at their house. They started it in 2019 during covid when people couldn't get together. Jim and I used to go every year. This year Wendy and I went up to be a part of the fun. Wendy immediately jumped in to help out and I did my job by visiting. 

 

Tonight we celebrate the birth of our Savior and the offer of an Eternal Life in His presence.