THE GIRLS

Peek-a-boo, I see you.

Does she have to lay on me? I know it’s cold but gee whiz.

ODDS AND ENDS

SNOW in Apache Junction. I just cannot believe this is happening. The snow only lasted about two minutes and certainly didn’t stick to anything. But still, snow!

They are also saying this could be one of the coldest New Year’s Eves in Phoenix weather history. A good reason to stay home and stay warm.

Yesterday it rained and rained all day and most of the night and then the wind decided to blow. All of this before the snow hit. Today I did not leave the house. Jim took the boat in and had the brakes on the Avalanche taken care of.

While I was sitting in the house staying warm and making turkey noodle soup for dinner, I spent a lot of the day watching this hummingbird. This bird is one of the most territorial birds I’ve seen. The ones in Washington State were pretty good at keeping other birds away from the feeder but this one really takes the cake. He does not let anybody else near the feeder and that includes us. He spends hours sitting on the feeder (which I find unusual) sometimes eating but most of the time keeping an eye out for other birds so he can run them off if they come too close. Really a great way to spend the day.

FUN TIMES

One of the best things about the full time RV life style is getting together with friends. And almost always, the getting together involves food.

We met up with Jeri and Terry, Eric and Karla, and Jerry and Janice at Joe’s Barbeque in Gilbert, AZ. Great food with great friends.

On the Tuesday after Christmas we got a call from our friends Bill and Carol from Billings. They had driven down to Scottsdale to deliver a car to the owner of the dealership where Jim worked. We drove up to Scottsdale and took them out to dinner at Pinnacle Peak Patio.

Interesting restaurant.

“Pinnacle Peak Patio is renowned for its delicious mesquite broiled steaks, casual western atmosphere, and its "NO NECKTIE POLICY." This "no necktie" tradition was started one night when a Phoenix executive came in for dinner. The original owner, wanting to keep the atmosphere in his restaurant casual, told the executive, "Either you take that tie off, or I'll cut it off." The executive did not take heed and was appalled when the owner pulled out a butcher knife and promptly cut off the offending cravat.

Wanting to be recognized as a victim of this absurd policy, the executive demanded that his tie be prominently displayed for all to see. The necktie was stapled to the rafters along with a business card identifying its victim. Pinnacle Peak is very serious about its "no necktie" policy and over the past 48 years has cut over a million ties from unsuspecting customers.”

Their restrooms are also a little different than the norm.

On Wednesday we headed down to Florence, AZ to meet up with Toni and Doug for Mexican food. They had never been to a Mexican restaurant and I sure am glad they picked a really good one. The L&N Inn.

After having lunch we went across the street to the Pinal County Historical Museum.

There are exhibits of 125 varieties of barbed wire, early doctor's instruments, a large bullet collection, and saguaro cactus furniture. Western film star, Tom Mix, was killed in an automobile accident south of Florence in 1940 when his metal suitcases fell on him.

There is an exhibit of early-day equipment used in executions at the Arizona State Prison in Florence. Included are the door to the gas chamber, the chair in which the condemned sat, hanging nooses and photos of the hanged as well as invitations to the hangings.

This is a foot pedaled jigsaw. A really great museum.

CHRISTMAS DAY

I anxiously awaited the phone call from Todd to tell me that Michaela had said yes to his marriage proposal.

My sister and I then took our presents over to our aunt’s apartment and she had so much fun opening them. She was pleased with what we got her. She’s not too hard to shop for which is unusual for an older person. She loves jewelry – dangly earrings and large gold bracelets. She also loves chocolate and pretty sweaters. (of course, I forgot to take any pictures while we were there.)

But she was having a problem with her phone. It wasn’t working and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I took the phone with me for Jim to check out.

After dropping my sister back at her house I went home to finish fixing the potatoes for Christmas dinner and gave Jim the phone to look at. Of course, it worked for him.

Jim and I then had to go back to my aunt’s place with the phone where he figured out that the phone had been plugged into an outlet that was operated by a switch near the door. Yes, the switch had been turned off. He plugged the phone into a different outlet so it couldn’t be turned off and it works just fine now.

Then over to my sister’s house. I told her that we needed to take Aunt Happy’s dinner back to her right away. Judy put together a couple of plates of food and back we went to her apartment. She was really excited about getting a home cooked meal rather than the food they serve at her place.

Back we went to Judy’s house. Jim had picked up Paul and we were finally ready to sit down and relax and enjoy our Christmas dinner. Boy was it good. Time to go home and give the girls their Christmas dinner and take them for a walk.

FISHING

Jim finally got a day of fishing. He went to Saguaro Lake and really had a great time.

 

 

 

The motor on the boat gave him a little grief when he first started out but then it seemed to work just fine. He fished for several hours, caught some fish, and then headed back. When he got back to the dock there was a family there from Nebraska. The Mom was from here originally and she asked Jim if he’d give their two kids a ride up through the canyons. The kids were probably 14 and 11 and Jim said he’d be more than happy to give them a ride. They got up in the canyon and the motor quit on them.

Jim used the trolling motor to get them back out into the lake and then a guy in a bass boat came by and towed them back to the dock.

 

 

Jim and my brother-in-law, Don, were going fishing on Tuesday but that didn’t happen. The boat goes into the shop tomorrow and we’re hoping they won’t hold it hostage for too long.

LAKE PLEASANT

When we were having the recall work done on our rig, we decided to ride up the road and check out Lake Pleasant. One of our friends, Steve, had mentioned it to us and Jim is always interested in any lake that has fishing.

The lake is about 30 miles north of Phoenix. The lake has over 50 miles of shoreline with 10,000 acres of crystal clear water fed primarily from the Agua Fria River.

We stopped at the Marina and RV Park. The RV park was full but I don’t think I would want to stay there anyhow because the sites were really really close together. However, they have a lot of electric and water sites that actually look out over the lake which I thought were a lot better than the park. The park did have trees but no views of the lake.

After checking out this park we drove down to the Maricopa County Campground. Now this one we really liked. This is where we will stay when we come up here. Jim thinks he can do some really good fishing and hopefully some catching at this lake.

This is a picture of the boat ramp. This place must really get busy in the summer time.

THE KIDS IN BILLINGS

Billings, MT – Jim actually remembered to take a couple of pictures for me while he was in MT for his doctor’s appointment.

This is one of Todd using his new snow blower. Does this picture gives you some idea of why we don’t want to spend the winter in MT any longer?

 

 

 

The next picture is Zoey. Isn’t she just so cute!! (Notice, I put Zoey in here before the kids.)

 

 

 

Next are a couple of pictures of the kids. This was before Michaela got her ring.

 

 

 

 

 

Michaela’s favorite color is green and Todd’s is red so they make the perfect Christmas couple.

THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS

My aunt was not feeling any better with her cold and decided she needed to go to the hospital. They decided they should keep an eye on her for a few days to make sure that the cold didn’t turn into pneumonia. We spent a lot time with her and taking care of things at her apartment for her.

The Wednesday before Christmas, we went down to Casa Grande. Jan and Bill invited us for dinner along with Dave and Sherry, John and Karen, and Polly and Vern. Had a wonderful time visiting and catching up with everybody. We also got to stop and visit for about ten minutes with Toni and Doug.

Thursday evening my sister says – let’s ride the light rail to downtown Phoenix and see the Christmas lights. Sounds like a good idea to us and off we go. First stop was in Tempe where we had dinner at 5 Guys. Burgers and fries.

Back on the train to downtown. Guess what – not a single Christmas light to be seen. Not a tree, not anything. The only red and green we saw were the traffic lights.

We get on the train coming back out to Mesa and I must admit the people on the train were “interesting” to say the least. We had a good time even though we didn’t get to see any lights.

On Christmas Eve day we got to take my aunt back to her apartment. She was really happy to get out of that hospital and was looking forward to seeing all her friends. The doctor told her to behave herself for at least two weeks but I’m not sure that’s going to happen.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Okay, it’s almost the end of 2010 and I’m almost two weeks behind on my blog posts. So I’m going to be trying to catch up in the next few posts. By the way, we’re still in Apache Junction.

What a wonderful way to spend the Sunday before Christmas. A group of us headed over to Jeri and Terry’s and Jerry and Janice’s place for a barbeque. They were parked next to each other so we had lots of room to get set up.

 

We brought our own steaks and whatever else we could find at the store that sounded good.

The group consisted of Eric and Karla, Jerry and Janice, Jim and I, Jeri and Terry, Paul, and Jeri’s cousin, Shelly.

MICHAELA SAID YES!!!

December 25, 2010 – Todd proposed to Michaela this morning and she said YES! We are so excited about making her an “official” member of our family. She’s been a part of our family for a long time and we are so happy she said yes.

 

 

 

This is Todd’s ring that he’s going to wear as an engagement ring.

The wedding is June 24, 2012.

 

 

 

Notice that is in the summer time which is a good thing since it will be in Montana. I like to think they were thinking of us old folks who hate winter when they planned that date but I doubt it very much. Gives me a whole year and a half to maybe lose 10 pounds. LOL

Congratulations you two. You’ve made this a really happy, special Christmas for us. We love you.

CHRIST, THE REAL GIFT OF CHRISTMAS

The Bible Christmas Story

Luke Chapter 2, King James Version

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

MORE BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

Friday I finally got some laundry done while Jim and Paul went to Cabellas. Now remember, Cabellas is 60 miles one way, and the only thing the guys bought (besides lunch) was a couple of caps. But they had a great time doing those guy things.

Saturday morning my phone rang about 7:30. My Aunt Happy wasn’t feeling good and needed to go up to the hospital. So Jim and I went and got her and took her to the emergency room. She has a bad cold but her lungs are okay and that is what we were worried about. Being 97 we need to really keep on eye on things like a cold. We finally got her back to her place and had lunch with her and then got home about 2:00.

Got a text from Jeri. She, Janice and Jerry were going to stop by. When they got here they were hungry so we went to Cobb’s Restaurant for lunch again – Jim and I just had some chicken wings. After visiting with them, we came home and putzed around the house.

At 9:00 we headed out to pick up my sister so we could go do some Christmas shopping. This is 9:00 p.m. Do you realize the stores are open until midnight. That’s nuts. But we needed to kill some time until midnight when we were taking my sister to get her medicine. It’s a medication she can’t be without and they cannot fill it until after 30 days have passed.

Finally home to bed about 1:45 a.m. Definitely time for bed.

I GIVE UP

I tried fixing that last post several times so the names would match up with the pictures but I am not going to win this one so I give up.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

As Christmas approaches more and more people are arriving here in the sunny Southwest. It is so much fun to see everybody again and catch up with their travels and adventures.

On Wednesday we went to the SKP Chapter 45 luncheon and got visited by Santa Clause. The luncheons are held at Mickey D’s restaurant here in Apache Junction and we really enjoy visiting with everyone and meeting new people.

My sister and her hubby (Judy and Don) arrived Wednesday afternoon. They have a home in Helena, MT but come down to Mesa to spend the winter. We helped them unload and open up their park model and then went to Panda Express (yea) for dinner.

Thursday we met up with some Class of 2009 and 2008 SKPs at Organ Stop Pizza. I never get tired of going there and listening to the fabulous organ.

Eric and Karla,

Sherry and Sharon, Eric and Karla

Jerry and Doug

Jeri, and Janice

Toni (Jerry, Doug, Sherry and Sharon.

It’s hard to visit because the organ is loud but we made up for it during the couple of breaks the organ player took.

Lots of Christmas music and good times were had by all. Sherry and Sharon brought some friends of theirs who actually live in this area but had never been to Organ Stop. Isn’t it funny how when you live in an area, you don’t take the time to explore.

MARGIE LOVES ME

Even if Mom doesn’t love me enough, Margie does. She fixed my “alien” eyes in my picture so I can be pretty like I want to be. Mom just let’s me have those weird looking eyes cause she doesn’t know how to fix them.

See how pretty I am and I do have brown eyes. Thank you Margie, I love you.

Skittlez

IT’S A SMALL WORLD

We need to have some recall work done on our motor home chassis and Jim wanted the work done by a Chevy dealer. The closest one we could find is in Deer Valley, AZ which is about 55 miles from Apache Junction. The dealership wanted us to bring the rig in around 7:00 or 7:30 Tuesday morning. Do you have any idea what rush hour traffic is like around here at that time of the morning?

We decided to drive up Monday afternoon and found a Passport America campground for $20 only 4 miles from the dealership.  Tonight we are at the Desert Sands RV Park. Jim and I were headed out to the truck to go to dinner and a guy walking his dog stops to say hi. He then notices our Denny Menholt sticker on the truck and asks if we bought the truck in Billings, MT.

Jim tells him that he used to work for Denny and the guy goes on to say that he went to college in Billings. Then Jim mentions that I was born and raised in Sidney, MT. This man used to teach high school in Sidney and was the football coach. He asked what my maiden name was and then he wanted to know if Bubbles was my brother. Come to find out – Bubbles is my brother Rob. That was his nickname on the football team. My brother is almost ten years younger than I am and Tom didn’t teach at the high school when I was there. We visited with Tom for awhile and he tells me to tell Rob hi the next time I talk to him. Since today is his birthday I was going to call him anyhow. How fun it was to wish happy birthday to Bubbles.

What a small, small world.

PARTY TIME

This time of year there are always more things to do then you can possibly have time for.

On Saturday we had two parties to attend. The first one was at noon here in our RV park. We had a hot dog roast and potluck. Most of AZ is under a no burn order because they haven’t had any rain in forever. So instead of cooking the hot dogs over an open fire, we had several grills and the men did the cooking.

So much good food. I still really don’t know anybody’s name but I did meet Bonnie and Orv so I can at least call them by name when I see them. Had a good time and tried not to eat too much.

Because at 4:00 we had our Escapees Chapter 45 Christmas dinner. The dinner was held at the Pier de Orleans Restaurant in Mesa and we had 75 people there. It was also our chance to donate money to both Escapees Care and the Apache Junction Food Bank. We raised $700 for Care and $1055 for the food bank. That is so fantastic.

The dinner was so much fun because we got to see several people we haven’t seen in a long time. Eric and Karla, Sherry and Sharon, Jerry and Janice, Jeri and Terry, Jan and Bill, Sherry and Dave, and John and Karen. I love these kinds of get togethers. (I used a couple of Jeri’s pictures because Jim hasn’t quite got his new camera figured out and most of our pictures didn’t turn out.)

After dinner we went to the Mormon Temple in Mesa to see the lights and listen to the Christmas program. The lights are really incredible and Michelle Bahr sang beautiful Christmas music to really get us in the mood for Christmas.

A really wonderful day.