Adventures of Grandma, Drew and Kayley

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

Not a lot to report on from Phoenix. Just the same old nice weather. :-) We were even in the 80's a few days ago. We have two cool days ahead of us and then back to mid 70's so we really cannot complain about that too much!

We had plans to drive up to Cave Creek tomorrow for a Valentine lunch and just to walk around the shops but the forecast is sounding cool and wet so we may put that off for a few days. It is nearly impossible to get into restaurants around here on the 14th so that is why we were going for the lunch date. There are several museums I have been wanting to take Mark to so perhaps a rainy cold day would be good for that... or maybe a movie!

Every Saturday a group of us gals take a long hike somewhere in the Valley. We have not had a bad one yet! This past week-end we hiked the McDowell Mountain Park and it was the best hike yet that I have had in AZ. The views took your breath away and the trail was in great shape and easy to hike...not too many rocks to trip over! After the hike we always go out for breakfast which rather negates the calories burned on the hike but that is the fun part! :-)

Some pics from Saturday's hike:

Phoenix Open

2012-02-06T17:56:00.001-07:00

Mark and I had a grand time at the golf tournament this past week-end. We had such fun on Thursday that we decided to head back again yesterday....on Super Bowl Sunday! We knew we would be home in plenty of time for the game and the commercials so saw no reason not to go one more time. Kyle Stanley had a tremendous come from behind victory and we were so happy for him. I felt so awful for him last week-end at Torrey Pines and never dreamed he'd come back this quickly. He is now a rich young 24 year old! To make the day even better, as we were waiting in line to buy tickets, a lady came up to Mark and said she had an extra ticket for free if we wanted it. If we wanted it??!?!? Yes, we wanted it. :-) $25 saved is a good thing!

Other than golf tournaments and hiking, we are just enjoying the weather and missing our kids and grandchildren! I will see them again on March 20th so I am looking forward to that trip.

We hope to get to Mesa this month and see some friends from Dayton that are wintering there. Jeff and Patty P. have been here for several weeks and Craig and Barb P. are coming next week. It would be fun to get together with them at least once! Maybe they can also find time to come here for dinner for one of Mark's great ribeyes on the grill. :-) Anyway, looking forward to seeing them all.

Some pics from our week:

Looking across TPC golf course with stadium hole #16 in the background.

Phi Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson on the green

We hiked a new trail at Cave Creek Park and found this unusual saguaro

The new Quartz trail. It was a pretty hike and am sure we will do it again.

A little bit of everything

2012-01-28T17:03:00.002-07:00

It has been a little over a week since we returned from Peoria, but it seems like months! I guess I will never get over missing our grandchildren until they are too old to care if we see them or not! I doubt that will even help me!

We were welcomed back to Arizona with picture perfect weather. It has been non-stop beautiful, making it great for hiking, walks around the neighborhood for Mark, and yard work, etc. I just wish this weather were everywhere so no one has to suffer bitter cold.

Yesterday Mark and I went to Turf Paradise, a horse track just several streets from our home. I had purchased a VIP package on Living Social for half price which got us into the Turf Club, bottle of wine, dinner for two and $5 to spend in the gift shop. (I bought a Turf shot glass). It would have cost $70 for this total package but I paid only $30. Well worth it as we had a blast. We had a gorgeous view from our table and we placed bets on every race without having a clue to what we were doing. :-) I won a couple of races but Mark was the big winner! $51.80 on a $2 Box Quinella bet. That more than covered our expenses. We are always happy to leave a gambling establishment with their money in our pockets rather than vice versa. :-)

This morning I met 7 gals at Cave Creek Park for a hike on a new trail just recently finished. I have usually hiked the Go John Trail here but this new hike was very beautiful, but shorter. It is called the Quartz Trail as it went by...quartz rock. :-) I enjoyed it! The hike was followed by brunch at Venues Cafe in Carefree. Delicious but we decided that the GPS monitors rated us as not hiking far enough for the calories consumed. :-) It was a very fun morning. (Sharon, we missed you and they all asked how you are doing. The hikers were Betsy L., Marilyn, Edie, Sharon R., Mary Anne, Jane and Carol.)

This week is the Phoenix Open. I would like to go two days but we are going to go Thursday for sure. Megan always had some pull to get us free tickets when she worked here so guess we will have to pay this year!

Well, that catches us up since our return from the birthday bash. Still had some videos to edit from Peoria so will include those along with some more pictures.

Shawn Johnson, eat your heart out:

Misc. shots:

Kayley ready to ride Matt's gift to them, a John Deere Gator

Drew on last year's gift from Uncle Matt!

Drew loves writing numbers...this is getting a little out of his range but he did great.

Proud Grandpa and Kayley

Two buddies

Grandma and her two favorite kids

And they're off!

Mark is going to apply for a job here so he can keep up his tractor skills during the winter...

This track is in a beautiful setting in north central Phoenix

Happy 5th Birthday to Drew!

2012-01-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

Drew turned 5 on January 15th, 2012. Mark and I flew to Peoria on Friday night to help him celebrate and are staying until this Friday, the 20th. We had a family party for him on Saturday. Matt and Grandpa Butch also drove over for the week-end celebration. Drew received lots of toys and Mommy bought a delicious ice cream cake from Dairy Queen all decked out in a Cars theme with Lightning McQueen and Mater. I think the birthday boy thoroughly enjoyed his day! That evening we dined at Drew's favorite pizza place in Dunlap.

We are spending our days here playing with Drew and Kayley and getting used to cold temperatures and snow once again. I miss these grandchildren terribly when we are in Arizona but I don't miss this god awful weather! :-) I am spoiled rotten now and can hardly function if I am not in flip flops,sandals or hiking boots. The kids love it, though, and spent time outside with Andy making a snowman, snow angels and sliding down the hill. We watched from the warmth of the window!

Some videos and pics of our time here and Drew's birthday:

Drew checking out his ice cream cake

Kayley getting ready to dig in!

Drew getting served first.

Daddy set up his construction site

Kayley enjoying Drew's tool kit...real tools. Yikes!

One more sweet thing.

Kayley and Uncle Matt

Drew with Uncle Matt

Kayley and Grandma

Happy New Year!

2011-12-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that you are looking forward to the new year. 2011 seemed to fly by, as they all seem to do lately! Mark and I spent a very quiet Christmas in our home. I did go on a hike the 24th but other than that we just chilled out here and enjoyed it. I made chili for Christmas Eve and French Dip sandwiches on Christmas with my new crock pot, a gift from Mark. I also received a Shark hand held vac. That is the problem with two homes....what you have and are used to in one, you want in the other, too! I also received some money for shopping. Well, he might have said it was for my savings account but I am not certain I heard that part correctly!

Christmas Day Drew and Kayley skyped with us and showed us what Santa brought them. It appears they won't be bored over the rest of the holiday. Plenty to play with from what we saw! It was so much fun seeing their excitement but we didn't talk long...there were toys that needed playing!

We are still hanging around the home this week. I did hike yesterday and today, though. I think I am addicted to that activity. I never, ever tire of the view or the challenge. Today a helicopter was hovering over the mountain and circled it several times. I hope no one fell or had a heart attack! The news this morning talked about all the rescues they have had to do because of all the visitors going on hikes and they aren't used to the terrain. They are falling, breaking body parts or becoming ill from the elevation, etc. The majority of the rescues have been on Camelback Mountain which is NOT for the faint of heart or for those out of shape. I have hiked it once with Megan and once with sister Sharon and have no desire to do it again. I am not tempting my luck!

The Hawkeyes play in the Insight.com bowl in Tempe Friday night. We went to it last year but I think we will pass this year. I think the Sooners will have their way with my Hawks and I just couldn't stand to see that happen. Mark and I plan to go to the pre-game parties and fun for awhile but then will come home to watch the game.

I hope all of you have a safe and Happy New Year and a fantastic 2012!

Some very random pics:

via Megan's phone: Drew very happy with Grandpa's gift!

Having fun at Greasewood Flats on a Saturday afternoon with friends.

via Andy's cell phone: Mr. and Mrs. Claus

One of the trails I hike on North Mountain

Rainy days and sunshine...

2011-12-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it is already the middle of December. Christmas will be here before we know it! When I worked I used to LOVE this time of the year and looked forward to the long holiday season with my family. Now, every day is like a holiday but I do miss spending Christmas with the kids and grandchildren. I think next year I may skip flying home for Thanksgiving and do Christmas there instead! I want to see Drew and Kayley's excitement during that holiday. Or perhaps I can convince them to all come to Phoenix once so they can enjoy nice weather during the holiday break!

Mark has been keeping busy puttering around here. He put up our Christmas lights and installed a new garage door opener. I have been hiking and shopping, two things I am getting quite good at doing! We have been having some rainy days, though. While that is great for the desert it doesn't do me much good for outdoor fun. Yesterday was gorgeous, around 70 degrees. Today looks to be the same. This afternoon we are going with friends to Greasewood, an outdoor grill/bar with live country music. We always have fun there and are looking forward to seeing the friends.

We plan to golf on Christmas Day if weather permits. We are assuming everyone will be asleep on the couch from consuming huge meals and won't be out of the courses. Or, everyone is thinking like us and they will be packed and we won't get a tee time!

Well, this will most likely be my last post before Christmas so we wish everyone a very wonderful holiday with your families. We hope Santa is good to you and yours!

Some pictures from our week:

I put some lights on the cactus and the rocks

The nice thing about AZ is that you can hang December lights in shorts!

The hikers are starting to decorate the mountain tree for Christmas. Can you tell which ornament is mine?!?!

Cacti Santa

I just HAD to put up a pic of my two favorite people!

Ready to start our winter

2011-12-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

Mark made it to our Phoenix home early this afternoon. It was quite a journey. He originally was going to leave Iowa on Saturday but mother nature had other plans. Sunday he finally got off the farm and to Matt's home in Omaha. Mother nature again decided that he should postpone his plans and stayed an extra day at Matt's and left Tuesday morning instead. His travel on Tuesday was good and he was happy he waited that extra day. He drove from Omaha to Moriarty, NM. That is just a few miles from Albuquerque. My best shot in a day's drive from Omaha was Tucumcari, NM and he went another 130+ miles! Wow, I could not have done that! His drive today was uneventful, even through Flagstaff. I am so glad to have him join me here and we look forward to a great winter.

Tonight we skyped with Drew and Kayley and it did make us lonesome for our grandchildren! I wish we could be with them at Christmas but they will have a grand time without us there. Santa sounds like he is going to be good to them.

A video of Kayley from our Thanksgiving trip to Peoria:

Wonderful two weeks in Peoria

2011-11-28T08:50:00.001-07:00

Tonight I fly back to Phoenix after spending two fun weeks with Drew and Kayley. Kayley was feeling much better by the time I arrived two weeks ago so I probably would not have needed to come this early. But, I am glad I did. :-) The kids went to pre-school every morning to keep in their routine and I picked them up after they had lunch each day.

Mark came on Tuesday evening and stayed until yesterday. Matt arrived Wednesday evening and also returned home to Omaha yesterday. We had a fun family Thanksgiving!

We trimmed Megan and Andy's tree this week-end so that chore is done and even wrapped some Christmas presents. I wish we could fly back for Christmas but are instead waiting for Drew's 5th birthday in January for a return visit.

Mark is planning on leaving Saturday to spend the night at Matt's in Omaha and then will start the long drive to Phoenix on Sunday morning. That should put him in our home mid-afternoon on Monday. I can't wait for him to join me there! He will be shocked but I don't even have a "honey do" list this year. Maybe we can golf more and do some sight seeing! We are looking forward to a great winter.

I hope everyone had a great holiday with their loved ones and may you all have a blessed Christmas.

Some pics from this trip. (Haven't had time to edit any videos, yet!)

Getting ready for Mommy to take a Christmas card picture.

Drew was very proud of his cupcakes.

Looks like he now wants to eat one!

Princess Kayley

It was so nice here we went to the park twice!

Drew still likes to build trains....out of any vehicle!

Leaving a week earlier than planned!

2011-11-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

I originally had a flight to Peoria for Thanksgiving break scheduled to leave on the 21st but yesterday I called and had it changed to tomorrow. Kayley has been in the hospital for three days fighting meningitis and I want to be there when she is discharged and take care of her when she returns home. As of this writing they are very confident it is the viral form, which is much better than the bacterial version. The spinal tap should be definitive today in regards to which meningitis she has contracted so we are all keeping our fingers crossed. Megan said she has really been sick. Vomiting, bad headaches and neckaches, dehydration, etc. My poor sweet granddaughter!!! I am hoping I won't even be needed when I arrive but want to be able to help out if she cannot attend day care. That poor child has been through a lot since the first of October when she had her tonsils/adenoids removed. As Megan said, she may never get her into a doctor's office or hospital again after what she has been through!

Needless to say, I am scrambling to get things packed and the AZ house shut down for a two week absence. I hate paying an extra $50 for checked bags so am only taking a carry on which doesn't allow for much packing anyway. I may have to borrow some of Megan's wardrobe! :-) In case I don't post again for awhile, a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!!

I embedded this video on my Facebook page but will re-post for my friends that are smart enough NOT to have a FB account! It is a young man hang gliding from a cliff that I hike to almost every day. I have seen attempts before this one but they were never able to take off because of wind gusts. I was thrilled to finally see a guy actually take off. Too scary for me...I couldn't do this!

Looking forward to Thanksgiving!

2011-11-03T20:25:00.001-07:00

I am getting settled into life in Arizona once again. I have the grass starting to grow, pots filled with geraniums and lots of hiking as often as I can do it! My only problem is missing my husband and children and grandchildren. I am flying to Peoria for Thanksgiving so that will solve all of those "missing" problems for a while. As much as I love "warmth" and the desert one cannot beat family! That said, I hope the weather isn't so horrible there that I cannot get out in a timely fashion back to AZ. Ha! Like I said, I love warm weather. :-)

These past two days have really been hard on my thighs! Guess I am not in very good shape after spending 6 months in flat Iowa. Yesterday I climbed up and down for 6 miles and today went with great gal Jane for another 6 mile hike. It was so much fun hearing about her and hubby's wonderful adventures in their RV all summer traveling across this glorious West and the Natl. Parks. They love their RV and it makes me want to buy one and just go! Thanks Jane for a great morning.

Mark and Megan both talked today about the weather back in the midwest. Megan was not impressed, especially after just returning from a business trip to Alabama. All I can say about that is: IA. MN, IL, etc. are not known for their weather. They are known for their educational possibilities, stability and great quality of life. I am glad we raised our children there and guess I have to admit I am glad we are able to get out of that crap (winter weather) now that I am older! Ha!

Some (very) random pictures:

Half way down North Mountain!

I still have a ways to go...

The black dirt is turning grass green!

Another view from the top

Stolen fall picture from Megan's blog.

And another pilfered pic

I wish these two could have rung my doorbell on Halloween

I am in the desert

2011-10-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

I left Thursday afternoon for Omaha. Landed at Matt's around 4:30 pm. He was working but returned home around 6. He took me and a friend (Kailie, sorry if I am not spelling it right) to Anthony's steak house. Very, VERY good meal. We had a great time there and then back to Matt's home. I hit bed early because of a 12 hour drive the next morning to Tucumcari, NM. The drive went without a hitch, so that was a plus!

I left Tucumcari at 6 am New Mexico time. That would be 7 am Iowa time and 5 am Arizona time. Needless to say, with the 2 hour time difference I made it into Phoenix early on Saturday, around 1:45 pm. That left me plenty of time to grocery shop, start getting rid of the AZ dust and just relax. I still do not like the drive down the mountains from Flagstaff to Phoenix. I cannot imagine doing that road in the winter. Yikes!

Yesterday I spent most of the day preparing our little lawn for seeding. Thank goodness it is "little" because it took a lot of hard work, bending over, lifting 8 big bags of top cover, etc. It is worth it in the end but I am stiff this morning! I was going to go on a hike today but that can wait another day. :-)

I was very disappointed in my rose bush garden. I lost every single one. They were so beautiful when I left last April and the watering system was working so I don't understand what happened! It was a long and very hot summer here so I am thinking that I didn't have the water on long enough for them to survive. Live and learn! We enjoyed their color so much that I am going to replant them but if they die again next summer then cacti are going into that spot!!! Hard to kill a cactus out here. Ha!

No video today. :-( I will have to rely on Megan to keep us updated as to what Drew and Kayley are up to these days!

Mexican Palm upon arrival was in desperate need of a trimming!!!

Mexican Palm after trimming it...immediately!!

Date Palm was also looking very shaggy!

Date Palm looking clean shaven!

Mark's cactus was overtaken by grass while we were gone. He is going to have to deal with this. I am not getting near that cactus!

This once was my beautiful rose garden. Upon arrival it looked like the yard of a foreclosed home!

This is what my rose garden looked like when I left last May. Must have really been a long hot summer in the Valley!

Home, but not for long (updated with a video)

2011-10-18T14:51:00.001-07:00

I returned from two weeks in Peoria last Friday night. Kayley was well on her way to being healed after her tonsillectomy/adenoid surgery. She was finally about 99% the last couple of days I was there and we knew she could start back to preschool again. It was very hard to leave knowing that I will be heading to Arizona soon. I will miss those two little ones so much! I do have a plane ticket already purchased to fly to Peoria for Thanksgiving, though, so that thought helps me some!

Mark almost has the harvest finished. He ran into combine problems this afternoon so he may not be finishing tomorrow as planned. Hopefully he can get that old machine up and running again to be done for the season! Wish him luck! Jan Miller is still hauling grain for him and the last two days I have been riding with her and the time spent visiting has been fun! I don't get to see her as often as I used to so this has been very nice.

My plans are to leave this Thursday for Matt's home in Omaha and spend the night. I like getting up early from his house and hit the road for about a 12+ hour drive to Tucumcari, NM. I wouldn't be able to get that far without that extra 3 hours provided by leaving from Omaha! That should put me in Phoenix by early afternoon on Saturday. I am not looking forward to the cleaning that will face me after all those dust storms this summer. I imagine it will be bad. :-( Oh well, it's a small house!!!

The next time I post I will be in the desert. I am anxious to get back there and do some hiking! Mark will join me when he gets the fall field work done.

Some pictures and a video from my stay in Peoria....

Kayley writing on her whiteboard when she started feeling better.

She is in the process of drawing a "pretty rainbow"!

Kayley wanted to go to the park and have a Burger King picnic one day. She wasn't quite ready for that, though. Four fries into it she started cyring and said her mouth hurt. :-( We went home and had scrambled eggs and cottage cheese and she was a happy camper!

Daddy said he would buy her a fish when she started taking her medicine without his "assistance".

Kayley said these were not pajamas and insisted on wearing them all day. I thought they looked like pajamas and Megan confirmed....they are pajamas. Oh well, she was very comfortable all day!

Grandparents Day at Preschool

2011-10-07T18:54:00.011-07:00

Lucky for me, the kids' preschool held Grandparents Day while I was actually here! Yay! Unfortunately, Kayley of course could not attend but Megan came home from work to watch her so I could attend for Drew. I had such a great time and I think he was very glad someone was there for him. There were lots of old folks in the building today. :-) I was feeling sad that Mark couldn't attend so I made sure to make some videos for him.

Kayley had a so-so day. She was constantly saying she was hungry but no matter what I offered her that she said she wanted it was unsuccessful when it came to putting it into her mouth. Just softly cried and said her mouth hurt. I can only imagine! She did take liquids all day so that was the main goal. I finally did get two bowls of ice cream down her. I look forward to the day the little gal is back to herself!

Some random pics and videos of Drew's program:

Drew and Kayley with the pumpkins mommy bought for them

Drew and his best friend Sam playing outside after the program

Getting ready to perform for the old folks

Kayley at home feeling good at the moment!

Some videos from Grandparents Day:

Kayley's surgery

2011-10-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

Kayley had tonsil/adenoid surgery scheduled for Monday so Saturday I left for Peoria to lend a hand in her recovery. The surgery went well but the recovery, not so much. The doctor said her tonsils were the size of ping pong balls and the adenoids half that size. Those were some super big tonsils for such a little mouth and head! She had the surgery at around 10:30 on Monday and they said she could go home as soon as she drank 4 ounces. By late afternoon/early evening it was obvious she was not going to do it. She had drunk 0 ounces. :-( There was no choice but to admit her and get an IV started so she would not become dehydrated. All day Tuesday we worked on getting her to drink. By that evening she had taken around 10 ounces of various liquids. (We had a VAST array of choices for her!!) I would not call them "easy" ounces. We all worked hard for those few sips! Wednesday she was feeling a bit better and they decided to release her as they think she will do better at home. Since we have been home, she has been sipping but taking her meds is a nightmare, and this from a little gal that always took medicine without complaint. I am sure the feeling in her throat is not helping. Andy's been given the task of administering her meds. Lucky Dad, but he is the only one strong enough to get them down her! Megan and Andy were told it is about a 2 week recovery. I never realized it was such a major surgery, at least the recovery period anyway. Oh well, we are praying Kayley keeps properly hydrated.

Update: Today Kayley was....remarkable! She took her meds in a cup on her own. Big advancement! She had scrambled eggs for lunch and cottage cheese for a "snack", along with black olives. Thank goodness Kayley likes foods like that because they are soft!

Some pics and one video:

Looking happy, happy before leaving for the hospital!

Still looking good in pre-op

A bit out of it following surgery

Forcing a smile in the hospital....still not drinking any liquids, though.

Working on drinking...anything!

YAY!!!!

This is her position when Andy said "time for your meds"!

Having fun decorating a pumpkin in the play room

The look we got when we said "drink Kayley"!!!!

Happy we are leaving her alone!

Super glad to have brother Drew visit


Ah, laying in bed watching Mickey Mouse. Life is good!!! This shows how we tried to get her to drink! :-)

Very quiet here...

2011-09-26T12:55:00.002-07:00

Yesterday Mark and I drove Drew and Kayley to meet Megan in Iowa City ending their week long stay with us on the farm. It was hard giving them back! We had such a great time with those two cutie pies. Drew is now going to be a farmer when he grows up and I think Kayley will want to be retired like me and play in the gardens when she grows up. Ha! When we returned to the farm last night and walked into the house the silence was deafening and I did not like it. I sent a text to Megan stating this and she laughingly replied that they were saying how loud it was at their house! :-) I think I prefer loud...

I started mowing today and gave up after an hour. Too dang cold! Gloves didn't even help. So, I came in the house and started sorting stuff to take back to Arizona! It won't be long now if this weather keeps up. I see it is 98 in Phoenix today and that sounded just about perfect. I will be sticking around long enough to help Kayley during her recovery from surgery on Oct. 3rd. I plan on staying in Peoria until she feels well enough to return to daycare. As much as I hate to have her go through the surgery, I am glad to get to see them one last time before heading to the desert.

I have one short video of them getting a ride on grandpa's combine and dumping one last load onto the "pile". They thought the combine was pretty awesome. Grandpa doesn't call his very old combine awesome so he was glad someone thought it was! :-)

Still having fun!

2011-09-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

Drew and Kayley are still with us on the farm. The weather was a bit iffy for a day or two but the majority of the time it has been just about perfect. We have spent many hours outdoors riding on tractors and Clayton's home made car and digging up all the bulb plants in my garden. They dearly love doing that and I realize that in a year or two they will NOT be nearly as enthusiastic to help me get them out of my gardens! They both have "work" gloves at home and Drew was wishing he had brought them here. Kayley wanted to run home and get hers....a mere five hour drive for Walmart kid gloves. Ha! We have one more day with them and then I drive to Iowa City on Sunday to meet Megan and return Drew and Kayley to their rightful owners. :-)

While it is the last time they will visit the farm this year, I will be seeing them again and very soon. Kayley gets her tonsils and adenoids removed on Oct. 3rd so I am going to help by babysitting during her recovery period, however long that may take. I hope she gets through this with very limited pain! I hate seeing them (or anyone) in misery. :-(

Some videos of all the rides on the farm:

A week with the grandchildren at the farm

2011-09-20T11:55:00.003-07:00

I left Friday morning for the drive to Peoria. I was originally going to meet Megan and Andy in Iowa City and we would "exchange" the kids there because they had tickets to the Hawkeye game on Saturday. But, their dog Sox had ACL surgery so I volunteered to drive to Peoria and spend the week-end there watching the kids and the dog so they could have an extended week-end in Iowa City with no worries about Sox. We had great weather in Peoria and spent a lot of time at the park and playing outdoors and the Hawks won so all was good.

I loaded up the kids Sunday morning to head back to the farm and Grandpa. We were going to meet Megan and Andy along the way but we crossed paths about the time we were calling to meet! So, everyone just went their merry way as there was no place to stop when we met.

The kids are having a good time here. Drew cannot get enough of driving the golf cart and Kayley wants to ride the lawn mower and cart non-stop but Drew thinks that is too noisy. :-) I agree! I also pulled all my flowers from the front garden and they are having a blast getting down and dirty in the soil. Baths and hard scrubbings will be a nightly ordeal, I can see!

I am going to meet Megan on Saturday or Sunday for the exchange back. Looks to be a fun and busy week for us here on the farm.

Some pics and a video from our time in Peoria. Andy had built Sox a ramp because she is not to do stairs for several weeks. As you will see in the video, it didn't take Drew and Kayley long to make use of her ramp! I told Andy to keep the ramp there so when I move in with them in my golden years I will have a way to get outside for some fresh air. I am guessing the ramp will be HISTORY the minute Sox is better. :-)

Drew with his "fishing pole" at a Peoria park

Kayley in one of her Disney dresses

She's happier to be at MacDonald's than Grandma....

Varmints....

2011-09-14T18:00:00.001-07:00

We have creatures on our farm that we really like....and we have those not so likeable!

Okoboji for one last time this summer!

2011-09-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

We spent part of Labor Day week-end once again at Lake Okoboji, this time staying with friends Jim and Nancy. Megan and the children drove to the farm Thursday night, arriving around 10 p.m. We left for Okoboji on Friday morning, meeting Matt there around noon. For a rundown on our trip getting there in Megan's Tahoe, please see her post on the right at "Kayley's Story". Very amusing!

The weather wasn't nearly as nice as our last stay at the lake but we all still had a great time. The wind off the lake made Grandma colder than she wanted to be but I wouldn't have traded the week-end for anything. :-) There is lots to see and do there during this particular holiday, which is the end of the season for all the resorts, parks, etc. Lots of people show up for one last lake adventure. After this week-end the boats start coming out of the water, docks get put away, etc. :-(

We left for the farm on Sunday afternoon and Labor Day we went to Kevin and Julie's home in Dayton for breakfast, bloody mary's and parade watching. Drew and Kayley learned quickly that if you wave and act cute you will receive LOTS of candy. LOL

It was a great end of the summer. Some pics of our time together:

Kayley with her bright pink sunglasses

Kayley loved petting Frosty and Warren the cat at Rick and Nadine's

Uncle Matt and Drew walking to Arnolds Park

One more ride on that roller coaster

Drew thought this ride was a bit too tame for him

Kayley chose a red fish this time!

Lots of old cars and hot rods lined the street by Arnolds Park

Looking out at all the boats on the lake

More Okoboji pictures

2011-08-29T10:57:00.001-07:00


Nancy, Barbara, Nadine and Marla at "Grape fest" (Local Milford grape farm)	Live music, wine, food and flea market...FUN!

Megan, Kayley, Drew and Matt on the log ride

Daddy and Kayley in West Lake

Enjoying the beautiful blue water

Drew and Kayley at miniature golf

Drew and Kayley on the house deck. I was going to buy them a Hawkeye cover but thought better of that idea!

Some grandpa holding his....grandchild's toy banana. Priceless picture! LOL

Mark and Jim on our way to Rog and Pam Ferris home

I was so excited to see the "real" Maxine at Grape Fest!

Kayley was too small to ride the go-carts and was not excited about this replacement ride....

Megan and the kids loved the log ride

Jim washing his new best pal, Buddy.

Having a hot dog roast with the Houchins

Jim is a volunteer "sheriff" for the bike trail and gets to ride this while on duty!

Frosty...the reason we were blessed to stay at Rick and Nadine's! She's a good dog and quite beautiful.

Andy and Drew on the go cart. A bit blurry as they were going about 100 mph when I snapped this. Ha!

Okoboji=good times!

2011-08-27T05:31:00.002-07:00

We are enjoying Lake Okoboji. Mark and I are house/dog sitting for friends who have a gorgeous home on the lake.What a wonderful place to be in Iowa in the summer! Nothing like it. It all started over a week ago. I drove to Peoria, IL on Wednesday, the 17th, to pick up Drew and Kayley as their daycare was going to be closed that Thursday and Friday. I spent the night in Peoria and we took off the next day for the farm. Andy and Megan arrived very late Friday night and the next morning we took off for the lake. Matt joined us at Okoboji and we had a wonderful time until they all left on Tuesday.

Drew and Kayley had SO much fun at Okoboji!!! We did the lake, Arnolds Park, wave runner, big, BIG boat ride, Sugar Shack, etc. I think they would be happy to come every summer to Lake Okoboji. :-) I know I would!

Mark and Matt took Jim's boat out for some fishing and had an excellent time and even caught some fish! I went one afternoon with them and just lazed around while they were reeling in northerns and bass. Such fun!

We were a bit lonesome on Tuesday when Megan's family and Matt left but we soon recovered. Ha! Our very dear friends, Nancy and Jim, live right next door and we just love seeing them on a daily basis. I even got to see an old school pal from the 70's and toured her and her husband's lovely home, too. It has been an awesome 8 days. Last night the owners of our "good fortune" returned from their Canadian fishing trip and we are staying an extra night to take everyone out for a steak dinner in Minnesota. It has been a fantastic way to wind down the summer here in Iowa. Thank you, Rick and Nadine!!!

Pics and videos from our week:

Matt with a small northern

Mark and his northern. After hearing the tales from the Canadian fishing trip, these look a bit puny!

Kayley and Andy in Peoria

I bought these buckets for the beach but they found other uses!

Greeting grandpa when they arrived at the farm

Kayley pulling leaves from branches...why do I even buy toys? :-)

The very first ride at Arnolds Park

We LOVE Okoboji

The first of about 20+ roller coaster rides!

First time on the log ride

Looking over Matt's catch from the dock

Family reunion

2011-08-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

Mark and I hosted a family reunion at the farm. Its unofficial designation was the "sweetcorn" reunion. The summer heat wave pushed our corn to the limit and it was getting very done but everyone seemed to enjoy it anyway!

It all started on Wednesday, August 3rd. Jan and her granddaughters Hayley, Olivia and Carley arrived first. We grilled hot dogs and had, of course, sweetcorn for dinner. Megan, Andy, Drew and Kayley arrived next....late that night after leaving Peoria when their work day ended.

Thursday morning Jan, Andy, Megan and I attempted to play golf at Honey Creek near Boone. Beautiful course but we only managed 6.5 holes as it started to POUR rain. It didn't appear that it was going to subside anytime soon so we had an expensive 7 holes of golf! We really needed rain desperately so I wasn't all that sad but then as we drove home and arrived at the Pilot Mound stop sign it became apparent that our farm received zero rain. That is when I became sad!!!

Thursday late afternoon Marla, Kallie and Liam arrived safely from Minneapolis. Friend Cyndy from Ankeny also arrived around that time. We invited good friends Jan and Clayton for Mark's grilled chicken and.....sweet corn! It was a fun evening.

Friday saw more golf. Marla and I stayed on the farm with all the little ones and everyone else went to the Dayton Golf Course. Britt drove down from Alexandria that day and met them at the course. After golf Mark grilled chops (and sweet corn) for a big crowd. Larry and Jody came from Rockwell City and Kevin and Julie, Dan and Katie, John and Amanda and Sarah also came. Another delicious dinner and a fun evening with the family.

Saturday morning Larry drove back to the farm and Lane and Angie, Jake and Jesse came in the afternoon. We grilled burgers for dinner....with sweet corn! Saturday consisted of a water fight and a tractor ride from Grandpa Mark for the little ones.

A constant sight on the farm for four days were vehicles going non-stop. The golf cart and lawnmower never seemed to sit still. They had a great time driving between the two farms for hours on end! It was fun watching them go, go go!

Some videos of our time together:

Finally some time for golf

2011-07-26T06:36:00.000-07:00

Mark and I have not golfed once since last summer but now have gone twice in four days. That is a record for us, I believe! Friday we went to Dayton for their special, all day golf with a cart for $20.00 Too hot and too old to "golf all day" so we did 18 holes instead. Yesterday we decided to try Honey Creek near the Ledges in Boone. I had golfed there a few times but Mark had never been to this course. He loved it and his game showed it. It was the best I have ever seen him golf! Had he not goofed up with some 3 and 4 putt holes he easily would have broken 90. I didn't do so well, though. :-) I am having my clubs re-gripped today so I KNOW my game is going to improve immensely. Ha! The grips are all torn and a mess so it might help my swing a little. I can hope anyway! After golfing at Honey Creek it is going to be hard to go back to Dayton. The fairways and greens are just a lot nicer there and the scenery is breathtaking in the hills and valleys. You definitely want a cart with great brakes as some of the holes are really steep.

We are having a family reunion at our farm next Thursday-Sunday. We are praying the temps and humidity go down to a more normal level while everyone is here. Sounds like sister Jan and most of her kids and grandchildren are coming, Larry and Lane's family, Megan and her family. Not sure about Matt but I am hoping he can make it, too. They are all excited about eating sweet corn so Mark has been watering it faithfully since we are getting way too little rain. The lawn looks quite sad right now! I haven't mowed in over two weeks, very unusual for me! The bluegrass is brown but of course the crab grass is green, tall and unsightly. A little drought doesn't hurt that grass. :-(

Mark teeing off at Honey Creek

24 hours at Okoboji

2011-07-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

I made a quick but wonderful trip to Lake Okoboji on Sunday to visit my old friends Jim and Nancy Houchins and their extended families. Such fun! Their daughter Laura and her family were still visiting from Texas so it was an extra special treat! They truly live the good life in their retirement....winters in southern Texas and summers along the shore of West Okoboji. Doesn't get any better than that!

Two pictures from their dock

I left Monday at noon and it about killed me off to leave but Mark and I have plans to return two more times this summer. Cannot wait.

Tuesday I drove to Des Moines to have lunch with another old friend, Jacqui and her sweet daughter Katie. Had a marvelous time spending the afternoon with them and I think I will become Katie's adopted grandma!

Looking at our long range forecast it seems we are in for a tremendous heat wave. Very little rain before or during this so the crops, flower beds and lawns are really going to be stressed. We may have to water our sweet corn! Here's hoping they are wrong about the rains...

Here's a short video of some still pics I took during our Peoria stay. Enjoy the rest of summer everyone!

Our holiday week-end

2011-07-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Mark and I left for Peoria last Thursday. We stayed through Tuesday noon and had a wonderful time with Megan and family and Matt. Matt didn't come until Sunday, though and stayed with the Thiel's until Wednesday morning when he left to golf with buddies in Chicago.

Thursday night we went to Drew's favorite restaurant, Mickie's Pizzeria in the tiny town of Dunlap. He says he LOVES the pepperoni pizza there but I think he LOVES the candy grab game that is in the hallway. Grandma made sure she brought lots of quarters so he and Kayley could grab "1 cent candy" with each try! :-) Andy was at training all week in Chicago and did not make it home until Friday night.

Friday Megan went to work and Grandpa and Grandma watched Drew and Kayley. We went to the park for lunch and play but it was pretty hot and humid so didn't stay too long.

Saturday night we met Andy and Megan's friends at Lake Camelot to watch fireworks that their HOA puts on each year. We arrived early and waded in the lake, played on the playground and rolled around the hillside while we waited for darkness. The fireworks were remarkably good considering it was just a local neighborhood presentation!

Sunday we just stayed around Megan's place. Andy blew up the kid's new pool and they had a grand time swimming. We had fun watching! That evening we grilled raspberry chipolte pork loins and they were delicious! The kids got to do sparklers that night and Andy blew up a few small fireworks for them.

Monday Megan took us down to the riverfront and we walked around the area. Very nice. People were already setting up lawn chairs before noon to save their spot for the evening fireworks. I cannot imagine sitting all day waiting for fireworks! We left around 7:00 for the riverfront that evening and had no trouble securing a great spot for our chairs and blankets. There were a ton of people but the area is huge. They filled the time waiting for darkness with a splendid stunt plane show. My neck was stiff from looking upward for so long! Finally it was time for the "show". Let me tell you, it WAS a show! The most spectacular fireworks display I have ever seen in my 60 years! Mark heard on the news the next morning that the cost was $100,000 and I believe it. It was such fun! We did have trouble getting out of the Cat parking ramp, spending more time there than at the fireworks I think. Ha! As I said, there were a ton of people there and it takes time to move them all out!

On Tuesday grandma put the kids to nap after lunch and then we took off for the farm. That left Uncle Matt to babysit, a first for him I believe. :-) He had fun with them when they woke up and they played in the pool and had snacks, etc. It was just a wonderful 4th of July for all of us!

Some images and video from our week-end....some are repeats of Megan's post on her blog "Kayley's story" which is on the right side if you would like to see her thoughts on the week-end.
The first video is of Kayley trying to "dive" into the pool. It was hilarious, to us anyway! The second one is Drew and his pool tricks:

A brief taste of the stunt show:

Killing time before the fireworks start:

A small taste of the great fireworks we saw:

A very windy night!

2011-06-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we woke up to a massive clean-up day on the farm! Very high winds during the night brought down two huge trees, one falling in to the other. They were not tiny trees. We really had no clue where to start so we began on one end of the farm and worked our way across, picking up seemingly a zillion sticks strewn every which way. We had the little stuff picked up by noon and could barely stand straight after all the hours of bending over! After lunch we started on the two big trees. I was a bit overwhelmed and then our good friend and neighbor Craig came over with two forks to put on Mark's tractor and the two of them sawed and hauled some massive wood to our now huge burn pile. I kept busy cleaning up the little stuff under all that big stuff. What a tiring day, but with Craig's help we had the majority of it tackled! All that is left is the huge log which we are still contemplating on how to remove from our lawn! I hope that is the end of storms and wind for Iowa. Enough already....

Now, what to do with huge "log" on the right? Maybe we will just make seating for our bonfire area!

Two more videos

2011-06-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

I found a couple more videos that I took from Drew and Kayley's stay at the farm!

A week on the farm!

2011-06-21T11:42:00.002-07:00

Thursday, June 9th Drew and Kayley arrived with their parents. Matt also arrived that evening. This was the official birthday for Kayley who turned 3 on the 9th.

Friday night we drove to Fort Dodge to visit Grandpa Butch who had a room at a hotel with a pool. The kids enjoyed swimming and we all ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant, The Cellar.

Saturday Megan, Kayley and I went to a shower for Brooke Swanson at Barb Peterson's home. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone and Kayley was very good at the shower! Following that we had Kayley's actual birthday party with gift opening and a delicious "princess" cake. Grandpa Butch came to the farm for the celebration and spent the night with us.

Sunday Megan, Andy and Matt all headed home and Drew and Kayley stayed at the farm. I was a bit concerned that they would get homesick for an entire week but they were little troopers and did just fine with grandpa and grandma. We had a fantastic time! The big hit for them was swimming in a little pool I bought for their visit. When we weren't swimming we were driving the golf cart all over the farms, spraying water from the hose, picking up sticks, cleaning grandma's car from splattered bugs and playing pool in the basement.

This past Sunday we loaded up my car and I returned them to their parents in Peoria. That is a five hour drive and they did great on that, too! Drew got pretty excited when he started recognizing landmarks for Peoria and he said he was excited to see mommy and daddy! I stayed that night in Peoria and left Monday morning for the return trip to the farm. It is VERY quiet at our house now...too quiet for my taste! :-)

Some videos and pics of our very fun week:

This video is pretty hilarious at the end!

Misty day at the zoo

2011-05-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

Mark and I met Megan, Drew and Kayley at the Omaha zoo yesterday. Their aunts Kim and Jenny were also there along with cousins Macie, Noah and J. D. The weather was far from perfect but they had a good time. Kayley enjoyed the animals immensely but I think Drew was having more fun pushing the stroller and trying to keep us all away from getting too close to the windows of the apes and tigers! (He is still a bit of a worry wort but that is his caring nature!)

After the zoo the ladies all took their children home for a nap. Mark and I drove to Kim's house around 4 P.M. and took Drew and Kayley back to Matt's house to spend the night. We took them to dinner at Dave and Buster's and of course had to play some skee-ball. Drew loved that! Had enough tickets to buy a tiny little car...total cost was $10.00. :-) Why was I never smart enough to open a place like that or smart enough to make a zillion Thomas the Train engines for a tidy profit?!?!?!?

Movie from the zoo and Dave and Buster's"

Windy.....every single day!

2011-05-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

I am getting a bit tired of the wind out here on the prairie! I mow and I am covered with dirt and grass. I try to water and the water blows every which way but on the plant that needs it. But, it is still better than the killer tornadoes that seem to be popping up everywhere lately. Very scary weather pattern right now!

Mark finished the beans this past week so all is good in cropland. We received a little over an inch of rain so now everything has moisture. Next on the list will be spraying the corn and beans.

We are going to spend the coming week-end with Matt in Omaha. We are looking forward to seeing him. Megan and family will also be in Omaha that week-end and we get to babysit Friday night so they can go out with Andy's brothers for the evening. Friday afternoon we are going to the zoo. They have the BEST zoo and we look forward to going with Drew and Kayley!

We had a very "close to dead" tree go partially down in the wind. I have been wanting it down for several years so mother nature decided to help me out with that project. Part did NOT go down so Mark took care of the rest of it. Now, what to do with the huge trunk still there?!?!

A video of part of the tree coming down. This is for Drew as he likes stuff like this. :-) Also, some stolen pictures of Kayley from Megan's Facebook page.

90's to 40's

2011-05-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Only in Iowa can you get that type of fluctuation of temps in less than a week! The cool weather did bring some rain with it so it wasn't a total waste. Our corn is "popping up in rows" and he should be able to plant the beans as soon as it dries a bit. Mark held off on the beans because it was so dry. He said the sweet corn should be ready August 1st. Cannot wait!

I planted a bigger garden this year since I am home now to take care of it. Lots of tomatoes and some green pepper, cabbage, eggplant, green beans, onion, zucchini and cucumbers. I haven't planted that many items since I was in my 40's but with food prices getting higher I thought it a good time to do so! Plus, I love fresh vegetables.

I also put in several knock-out rose bushes in various spots and transplanted other perennials. I also planted my usual bed of zinnias and canna bulbs by the driveway. I keep threatening to do something different there but I just love the color that those produce.

This morning I stopped by to visit Jan and Clayton and ended up staying almost 3 hours! Guess we had lots to catch up on after a half year apart! It was so great to see them looking so happy and healthy!

Well, that catches me up on our routine of the past two weeks. Andy did send me a video of Kayley "reading" to her baby which I thought was very cute. Drew gets into the act, too, and I am not sure what language they are talking in but thought it worth sharing! :-)

2200 miles

2011-05-03T05:18:00.000-07:00

That is the total I have driven this past week. Needless to say, I am tired of sitting in a car and tired of buying very expensive gas! I left Phoenix last Monday and spent the night in Dalhart, TX. Tuesday I drove to Matt's home in Omaha to spend the night. He took me out for a birthday dinner at the Texas Roadhouse and then we went for a drive looking at beautiful lake homes in the area. We then watched the movie Hangover before calling it a night. That movie was quite hilarious.

Wednesday morning we went out for breakfast before I took off for the farm. It was good to get back to the farm and Mark but the weather was really cold! Matt said I came home a month too soon and I have to agree with him. Hopefully it will begin a warming trend soon!

I was home Thursday and then Friday I decided it was time to hit the road again and I drove the 320 miles to Peoria, IL to see Drew and Kayley. Megan had signed up for a March of Dimes walk in honor of Kayley so I couldn't miss that! I had a fun week-end with my grandchildren and hated to leave them come Monday morning.

Now I am back at the farm and waiting for it to become warm enough so I can start working in my gardens. I am anxious to finally plant a big garden after a 4 year layoff! I just need the weather to cooperate. There were frost warnings last night so it isn't time to do so quite yet.

Some pictures and a short video of my Peoria week-end.

Andy "said" he was digging a garden plot but with his mother-in-law visiting I wondered exactly what he was digging!

Ah, thankfully it WAS a garden plot! :-)

Having a snack at the park

Kayley thought it was fun up there!

Drew is old enough to know that this can't be safe!

March of Dimes walk on Sunday afternoon in Peoria

Mark's cactus

2011-04-20T09:53:00.001-07:00

The cactus last night

How it looked this morning! Beautiful

This cacti bloomed the day after Mark left so he never got to see it. I had no idea they would bloom twice but last night I noticed buds all over the place on it and this morning it was just beautiful, with more blooms than a month ago! Cool. Good job Mark on your specimen selection!

Great week with the grandchildren!

2011-04-15T19:10:00.001-07:00

I just returned to Phoenix after spending an entire week at Megan and Andy's home in Peoria. It was glorious seeing Drew and Kayley again. Oh how I have missed those two kids! Fortunately the weather was quite nice, too.

Mark and Matt drove to Peoria on Friday and stayed through Monday morning so it turned in to a great family get together. We bowled, went to bicycle "Safety Town", watched the Masters and visited the park many times. All in all it was a wonderful trip for this granny. It was very hard to leave, though.

Some pictures and video of our week together:

Kayley is all smiles (as is Drew!) after receiving a new baby during potty training for a job well done.

Drew and Kayley have a beautiful park with a pond by their house. They discovered much fun at water's edge.

Kayley picking grandma a "flower"

Kayley's before and after picture for the team page at March of Dimes

The desert is full of color

2011-04-03T07:24:00.001-07:00

Well, at least our landscaping is in bloom! I have also noticed a lot more color on my hikes recently. It really is a beautiful time of the year in the desert!

Mark left for Iowa Friday morning. Spent the first night in Dalhart, TX and yesterday drove to son Matt's home in Omaha. They were going out to dinner and then settle in to watch the Final Four. Mark will leave sometime today for our farm. I imagine he will be glad to be home after so many hours on the road. It is really quiet and lonesome here without him but I just cannot face being in Iowa this early because all it does is rain and the wind blows constantly, making it seem much colder! I will just enjoy this beautiful time of the year here and I will have Mark call me when it is at least 70 degrees there for three straight days....then I will come to the farm! Ha!

Wednesday I drive to the Mesa airport for a non-stop flight to see Drew and Kayley in Peoria. I am super excited about that visit. I am staying for an entire week! Mark and Matt are still driving up that week-end so it will be a great family reunion for us all. I did notice that there is rain forecast for 5 out of the 7 days I will be there...see what I mean about the midwest? But, I will be with my grandchildren and I will finally be able to post video and pics of Drew and Kayley! I am getting tired of putting up only plants. See below. :-)

I planted this bare root rose garden in February and it is really showing color lately!

My potted plants took a bad hit from the frost in January and never really recovered.

Mark purchased this little (but expensive!) cactus for our landscape. We never once thought it would bloom this year!!!

Beautiful red blooms

Getting close

2011-03-29T15:20:00.002-07:00

Mark has only two more days left in Phoenix before he heads back to Iowa. He plans to leave very early on Friday morning and spend the night in beautiful Dalhart, TX. The smell of cattle lots and the sound of many passing trains will lull him to sleep after a long day on the road. Saturday he will make it to Matt's home in Omaha and then on to the farm on Sunday. He expects to find branches and limbs awaiting him in our yards. Our good friend Jan said there were quite a few down. :-( I feel bad that I will not be there to help him pick them up. (Seriously, I really DO feel bad!)

Last night we met my sister Sharon's children at Olive Garden in Old Town Scottsdale for dinner. Lisa, Erik and Aaron were all there along with Lisa's boys Aaron, Daniel and Taylor. Son Nick had to work, unfortunately. It was great to see them all. They told Mark and I that we are their surrogate parents now that Sharon and Arne moved to Florida! I bet they were wishing for their REAL parents when the dinner bill arrived. LOL.

Tomorrow is my birthday....number 60. I still really haven't wrapped my head around that number but I guess I am supposed to because everybody keeps remarking about that number. :-) I am simply glad to be here for it! I plan to hike Black Mountain near Sharon's old home and in the evening Mark is taking me to a restaurant of my choice. Sounds good to me! Once we get back on the farm we rarely go out to eat. The closest decent restaurant is 30 miles away and none of them come close to Mark's grilling anyway. :-)

Below are pictures from last night's family dinner.

Sharon's children Aaron, Lisa and Erik

Lisa with sons Taylor and Daniel

Lisa with brother Aaron, son Aaron and his girlfriend and Mark

Baseball fever

2011-03-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

Our son-in-law Andy and his brother Mitch arrived last Wednesday night with another couple from Peoria to take in some spring training games. They have been gracious enough to let Mark and I tag along with them to several games and we have been having great fun. We watched the Cubs/White Sox on Thursday in Mesa, but missed a game Friday night because it was sold out when we arrived. Yesterday we made up for it by attending an afternoon and evening game. Those matched the Padres and Dodgers in the afternoon and the A's and Rockies last night. I must say my stomach is getting tired of ballpark food, though! I need a home cooked meal soon. :-)

The weather has been picture-perfect for these baseball fans and I am happy they are enjoying the temps and sunshine. It will probably be hard to return to Illinois after enduring these nice days but spring is just around the corner there....hopefully!

My new rose bed is loving the sun, too, and is now almost in full bloom. It makes for a nice bright corner in our landscaping.

Well, this pretty much sums up our adventures the past week: baseball and ballpark hotdogs. Hope you had a good week, too!

Beautiful week-end

2011-03-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

Today was simply gorgeous! Not too hot, not too cool, just perfect. I could take 365 days a year of this stuff! To make it even better, our niece Lisa and her sons Nick and Taylor came for a late lunch and visit. It was so great to see them! Her sons are getting so mature. Taylor will even be driving soon! I joked and told him I was glad I would be back in Iowa when he gets his license! I don't envy parents out here in all this traffic. I was worried when Matt and Megan got their license and there were hardly any cars on the road in rural Iowa!

Yesterday Mark and I attended an LPGA event in Scottsdale. I would like to go again tomorrow for the final round but doubt we will. Instead we will go to the driving range and practice what we learned from those very talented young ladies. :-) Actually the only thing I learned was I cannot wear golf outfits like they wear! LOL

Our son-in-law and his brother are flying to Phoenix on Wednesday to attend spring training games for a few days. We are really looking forward to having them here and it should liven up our household during their stay! Thursday Andy bought us all tickets for the Cubs/White Sox game in Mesa so that should be a fun afternoon.

Well, not a lot more has happened around here so will close. I do have two pics from Lisa's visit today. One has Mark in the picture and one has Nick in the photo.

Getting HOT!

2011-03-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

The temperatures in the desert are really heating up. Mark and I went to another spring training game (our third this year) and my car on the way home said it was 90 outdoors. I wasn't surprised, as I was very warm at the game. We saw a slug fest today and I lost track of all the home runs and doubles!

The plants are finally starting to rebound from that January freeze. The warm temps are making everything start to grow and bloom. My newly planted rose garden even had one bloom already. The others are close behind so hopefully it will show a lot of color before Mark heads back to Iowa.

We skyped with Drew and Kayley last night. We get such a kick out of that. It is my salvation! I am anxiously looking forward to my flight to Peoria on April 6th for one week. Then it won't be long and we both will be back in Iowa and only a 5 hour drive to visit them. :-) I am hoping to coax the kids to come to the farm for a visit without their parents but they might not be too keen on that. Kayley likes her mommy! I am afraid they would get homesick because they are still a little young.

This week-end my niece Lisa and her sons ( I hope) are coming for a steak fry. We are looking forward to that. Hopefully later in the month we can set a time to meet them again in Old Scottsdale for dinner with nephew Aaron. Mark would like to see them all before he leaves.

Well, that just about catches us up. We are living a very laid back life at the moment and enjoying it immensely! Some pics from today:

Spring Training

2011-03-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I last blogged! There just hasn't been a lot of action here worthy of "reporting". Things like getting taxes done, putting up a new security light on the garage and replacing a roof tile that was damaged isn't all that interesting! Of course that was all Mark's doing. I either would watch him work or would go for long walks. :-)

The weather here has taken a definite "warm" turn and I am loving it. Not that it wasn't nice before, but now it is summertime beautiful. It was such a lovely day today (80) that we decided to go to a baseball spring training game between the Reds and the Padres. We aren't fans of either team but the field was close to us and we just wanted to enjoy the atmosphere, a beer and a hot dog at the old ball park. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and will be going several more times, most likely to different parks around the valley. There is a new one just finished for the Diamondbacks that looks beautiful so that is definitely one where we will attend a game.

We continue to skype with Drew and Kayley. It makes me so lonesome for them but I just love seeing them, even if on the computer. They are both changing rapidly and growing up! I just couldn't stand it any longer so I bought a ticket to Peoria for April 6th for a week's stay. I can't wait! Mark will probably be back in Iowa by then and he and Matt are going to drive to Peoria that week-end, too, so it will be a great time!

Well, that is about all the news I have for now. We plan to get busy enjoying the rest of our stay here so hopefully I will be posting a bit more often with something besides working! Below are some pics of our afternoon. I took a picture of the little girl because I loved her pink BB glove and I think Kayley is going to need one of those very soon! :-)

Landscaping is finally done. Whew!

2011-02-19T09:21:00.001-07:00

New fountain in back patio

New patio fountain

Front yard with rip rap added

Back yard before

Back yard after

Back yard before

Back yard after

Back yard before

Back yard after

Mark and I finally finished ALL the landscaping, both front and back yards. It was a labor (and I do mean LABOR) of love but we are very pleased with the results! Today it is raining in the Valley so we are taking the day off and going to a movie today!

Quick update

2011-02-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

I have zero pictures and zero videos :-( but just wanted to add a quick update to what Mark and I have been up to lately. We are still working our butts off, this time in the back yard. We originally were just going to add more landscape rock to the area but after more thought we decided we didn't really like the color of the rock, thus we decided to remove it, all of it.....another big task! I have lost count as to the number of times we have been to the city dump and scooped rock and dirt off of his truck. Visiting the dump has almost become comical and we stay in good spirits laughing on our way to this uninviting place. :-) We hauled the last load today and are celebrating by going out for dinner tonight. The area looks really good, level and ready for some brand new rock and a new color scheme. That will happen on Wednesday with our "hired" helpers!

We won't know WHAT to do with ourselves after this project is finished. Perhaps we can golf, go to movies, hike, golf, visit the zoo, golf....the list could be endless. Ha! Mark did say he thinks I will just think of something else for us to tackle but I am thinking he needs to really enjoy the rest of his winter. I agree with my husband.

Well, hope this finds everyone surviving their winter. I won't even tell you how nice it is here this week. It is why we bought this place. :-)

10 ton of rock, all by shovel!!!

2011-02-02T14:17:00.000-07:00

Our rock for the front yard was delivered this morning at 7 a.m. and by 11:00 it was all spread and nicely raked. We did hire a very nice guy and gal to help us or Mark and I would have spent several days doing this labor. We are really happy with the results and really pooped! Before and after pictures below.

We are in a three day cold snap so we covered all our plants and bushes last night, even the new palm tree. It has only been in the ground a few days and we feared the frost would kill it. In fact, everything in the front is less than a week in the ground so our lawn looked like a Halloween decoration after all the wrapping. We will have to do the same tonight and tomorrow night and then it gets back to normal. We are going to the Phoenix Open on Saturday and it is supposed to be sunny and 72 which is just about perfect. I hate to complain about the weather when my children are sitting in a blizzard. Megan said Peoria could get up to 20" last night but I don't think it got there. With that huge amount what's an inch or two less. :-( Long winter for the folks back home.

This video is for Drew. He loves dump trucks so I know he will like this movie!

Before: Front yard

After: Front yard

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Frost protection last night:

Stiff and sore!

2011-01-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

Mark and I have been working on the landscaping in our front yard. Tearing up sod is not such an easy trick in desert "dirt"! We (he) finally got through it with the help of a rental tiller from Home Depot and then we went to work on making subtle mounds here and there. Then it was off to nurseries for plants. Everything is in the ground, water lines installed and now we just wait for the landscaping rock, all 8 tons of it! Mark decided that we would be dead spreading that much rock alone so we are hiring two guys to help us. I am grateful for that! I am very excited to see the end result. Will post pictures, of course. :-)

We had hoped to attend the Phoenix Open one day but a cold front is heading our way and I don't really want to sit out there if it is too cool. That is really too bad for the golfers because it has just been beautiful here for weeks. If it is in the upper 60's the day we planned to attend then we will go! It is really a fun day so the weather better behave.

When I wasn't working on the yard I edited two more videos from Drew's birthday party. It makes me miss them, though!

Some still pictures

2011-01-22T08:59:00.001-07:00

Greetings from Peoria

2011-01-18T13:24:00.001-07:00

We have been here a week. Yes, it is very cold and I hear it is near 80 in Phoenix but the grand kids are keeping us warm and laughing. We fly out tomorrow. It has been a fantastic week with everyone. Matt arrived Friday afternoon and Grandpa Butch and Mitch arrived that evening. Saturday was Drew's 4th birthday so we celebrated as best we could considering he had a fever and later found out it was strep. Poor kid! The motrin kept it at bay and he enjoyed his day which consisted of presents, birthday cake and his favorite thing: bowling! Andy took him sledding one day. Drew loves playing in the snow. I went out and shot video for awhile. I am not too used to the cold anymore! :-)

I have lots of pics and videos to sift through but did get one edited (sort of) to enclose. The kids love to dance and we got a real kick out of them. More to come as I get them finished.

Still staying busy

2011-01-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

Mark and I are keeping ourselves busy putting finishing touches just about everywhere on our winter home. We are pretty much done indoors for now with the only thing left: putting cabinet hardware on the kitchen cupboards. This week we started on some landscaping in the back yard. It looks pretty rough right now with landscape rock needing to be added and some dirt hauled away but Mark did install brick edging around our little lawn and that is going to look really great when the rest of the yard is done. I planted a rose garden in one area yesterday with Mark's help and cannot wait until the bright pink and white roses bloom in time. Looks a bit ugly at the moment. :-) The front yard renovation will begin towards the end of January. There is grass in the front and we want to remove that and have a total desert look which is easier to leave in the summer than a grass yard!

We are both VERY excited to be flying to Peoria, IL on the 12th to attend Drew's 4th birthday party! We are NOT excited about the weather that will greet us but that is minor compared to seeing Drew, Kayley, Megan, Matt and Andy! Matt is driving from Omaha to Chicago and then coming to Peoria in time for the party. So glad we will get to see everyone this trip.

Some pics of our work in the back yard. As I said, look very tough right now but it will be better in the future when our rock work is done!

Mark installing the brick edging around our yard.

Out with the old, in with the new

The brick edging installed

Another angle

Happy 2011

2011-01-02T14:10:00.002-07:00

I just got used to writing 2010....where does the time go? Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful year and may it bring you much health and happiness!

Mark and I didn't do a thing for NY's eve or NY's day. Well, we did do lunch at our favorite restaurant, Manuel's, yesterday but that was about it. It is so cold here that most celebrations had to be miserable! We have covered our plants for three nights straight and will probably do so again tonight. It is supposed to start warming up a bit and for that I am thankful. It isn't all that bad during the day but it has been in the 20's at night. Very uncommon here! But, still better than if we were on the Iowa farm. :-)

The 28th we attended the Insight Bowl in Tempe to watch our Iowa Hawkeyes beat the Missouri Tigers. The game wasn't until 8 p.m. but we left around 3:00 in the afternoon and drove down to the campus and hit the tailgating bars and had dinner. It was so much fun and such a great game. It made for a very memorable 36th wedding anniversary!

We also spent the cold days finishing all our cornice boards in the home. Now every window looks fantastic! Next project, landscaping. Labor intense, that! But, I love to do landscaping so I am looking forward to the challenge. Not sure if Mark is quite as enthusiastic for this job as I am...

A few photos from the tailgating and bowl game:

Grandpa and Grandma's vicarious Christmas

2010-12-26T07:52:00.000-07:00

How we spent Christmas...

2010-12-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

We spent all day finishing our cornice boards. Merry Christmas, huh? Oh well, it was a nice gift for us, even if it did involve labor. Ha! Hope your day was more fun. I am certain that it was!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

This is our very first Christmas by ourselves with no family around. I thought it would be harder, but it isn't so bad because it absolutely does not feel like Christmas to me. I am sure that is exactly because there is no family here and being in AZ, it is hard to get into the spirit of Christmas in 70 degree weather!

Mark and I spent the day making cornice boards for our windows and sliding door. We accomplished one window and the sliding door. It takes a long time! We decided to go with a southwest fabric as that contains a lot of color from our decor. We are both quite pleased with what we have done so far and come Christmas day we should get them all done...hopefully. :-)

Megan and family are spending Christmas with Andy's family in Le Mars. They had some dicey roads today on their journey (gotta love that Iowa weather) to Grandpa Thiel's home, but thankfully they are there now safe and sound. I think they will be going to Omaha later in the week and then should be able to see Matt for the holidays.

Well, have to go put the finishing touches on our Christmas Eve traditional dinner...frozen burgers and a salad. Ha! Merry Christmas, all!
Our patio door before:

Patio door after the installation"

Closeup..we are fixing those holes! :-)

Being sick

2010-12-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

Mark was pretty sick all last week with a cold and he finally went to Urgent Care on Friday. They said he had bronchitis and I don't doubt that as his cough was pretty rough. After three prescriptions he is doing much better and now I am feeling crummy today....dull headache, sore muscles, etc. I suppose he just had to give it to me! I won't wait as long to go to the doctor as he did! I don't like being down.

The weather is still beautiful here, setting several records last week. It cooled down a little the last two days and we even had some rain but it still quite warm, especially when my brother Kevin told me it was 3 degrees in Iowa. Yikes! I hiked several times this week, Mark put up some more shelving in the garage and we have been measuring our windows for cornice boards. I cannot wait to see the finished product and bought the fabric today as it was 50% off. (Still rather expensive, though!)

Well, that is it. We have just been puttering around our winter home and enjoying the weather. Stay warm, my cold weather friends and family!

The tall cactus in the middle is there temporarily. Andy gave that to us when they moved and I want it to be in our front yard when we landscape.

I planted two vines along our west wall.

My geraniums were just planted. Cannot wait until they are huge and beautiful!

Me with our good friend Alice from our townhouse days. We went to Greasewood for drinks and food and it was warm and fun!

Quiet week-end

2010-12-11T07:30:00.004-07:00

Mark and I don't have a lot planned this week-end. Mark is working on my honey-do list which I keep adding to daily. I hope he doesn't just protest and head back to Iowa! :-) Oh well, he can't go now because they are having a blizzard today. :-( I am assuming Matt and Megan are getting similar winter weather. Looks like Drew and Kayley will have snow to play in with their new winter gear.

Last night we ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant. It was as delicious as we remembered! It is only a few blocks from our home so I imagine it won't be our only visit this winter.

Our big project will be landscaping the front and back yards. There is grass out front and I want to get rid of that and put in desert landscape. I do not like watering that lawn all summer while I am not even here plus it is a waste of precious desert water! The hardest part will be removing the sod although planting and spreading rock won't be a walk in the park!

Tomorrow we are going to Greasewood (a western-type outdoor bar/restaurant with live music) with a friend who was a neighbor when we lived at Megan and Andy's townhouse. She is a lot of fun and a very positive person so we are looking forward to seeing her again.

The pictures below show Mark putting up our Christmas lights, the end result and also our neighbor's light show, which makes ours look like a night light! I also posted a pic of a cactus that the hikers on North Mountain decorated for the holidays. It is right by the decorated tree that I posted a few days ago. There is also a picture of our new garage shelving that Mark installed this week. There are no basements out here so this was a must and I just love the shelves. The garage is finally back to being a garage. :-)

Mark putting up Christmas lights

Our neighbor's great decorations

Our less impressive decorations!

Santa cactus on North Mountain trail

New garage shelving courtesy of Mark!

My farmer arrived

2010-12-08T15:02:00.003-07:00

Mark made it to Phoenix on Monday afternoon, around 2:30. He left Omaha Sunday morning and drove ALL the way to Santa Rosa, NM that first day, over 900 miles! I only made it to Tucumcari when I came and thought that was as far as any human could drive in one day. Guess I was wrong since he went on another 50 miles! That made for a very short day on Monday plus gaining an hour. It is so great to have him here. The valley has greeted him with beautiful weather, near 80 every day and looking to set a record this week-end.

We started right in working on our garage. I am painting it and he is going to put up lots of shelving so we can get our junk off the floor and allow us to get both vehicles put away at night. We are taking a break this afternoon and putting up Christmas lights outdoors. This neighborhood gets very festive so we don't want to look like old scrooges!

This morning I hiked North Mountain once again. I really enjoy the challenge of this trail and see lots of familiar faces now. They have a small desert tree near the top that the hikers decorate for Christmas every year so today I brought a snowman ornament up and hung it. (See pics below). My broken little toe is still killing me so I am still unable to get in my hiking boots. Thank god for Teva sandals! Mark thinks I am doing nothing to help my toe heal by hiking every day. I am sure he has a point. :-)

Yesterday we purchased tickets to the Insight Bowl here in Tempe since the Iowa Hawkeyes are playing. We have never been to a Hawkeye bowl game so couldn't turn this down. After purchasing we learn their star receiver was arrested on a drug charge and won't be playing. :-( That kid probably just lost a lucrative career in the NFL and is headed for the pen instead. So sad.

Well, that is all for updating. I will tell more later when I know more!

Enjoying my life

2010-12-03T12:03:00.005-07:00

I have been back in AZ since Tuesday. I cannot complain about the weather, of course. It has been in the mid to upper 70's each day and always sunny. I think that is my favorite thing about being here....so much happy sunshine!

I have been shopping, hiking and replanting my frozen, dead geraniums. All my plants bit the dust while I was in Iowa for Thanksgiving. It seems Phoenix had a very "unusual" freeze for November. No kidding! It about killed me to throw out my tomato plants with their brown little fruit dangling. :-( I didn't buy any new tomato plants as I have decided Costco tomatoes taste just fine and will stick with colorful flowers instead.

I have the Christmas tree up and decorated but there won't be any presents under it unless Mark brings me some. Hint, hint... Everyone else is getting money from us, thus, no packages!

Below are pics from my hike this morning on North Mountain and also one of our orange tree which is starting to turn. Hope Mark feels like eating a lot of oranges this winter!

A VERY Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T18:47:00.002-07:00

We had such a great time over the Thanksgiving holiday. Megan, Andy and the kids arrived on Tuesday evening and the fun truly began. It was so great to see Drew and Kayley, I could hardly stand it! Matt came on Wednesday so the immediate family was complete.

Thanksgiving Day the festivities continued with the arrival of Kevin and Julie, Larry, Jody and Lane, Angie, Jake and sweet little Jesse. I made all the traditional Thanksgiving fare and Julie added crab stuffed mushrooms, Angie a salad and Larry and Jody brought pumpkin pies. No one walked away from the table hungry....well, maybe Drew. He told me he only likes pizza, hot dogs and yogurt. :-)

Everyone went home on Sunday so Mark and I found it very quiet on the farm that day. I was once again going through grandchild withdrawl for several hours!

I flew back to Phoenix today. Had a long stop in Denver but finally arrived here around 2:00. All my patio plants were dead. Several nights of freezing temps did them in good! It is NOT supposed to get that cold this early so I was really surprised to find my geraniums and tomato plants all goners! :-(

I hope everyone also had a wonderful Thanksgiving and am sure everyone is getting ready for Christmas now.

Some videos from our week together:

Baby it's cold outside!

2010-11-20T12:05:00.003-07:00

Only in the upper 20's here in Iowa! Thankfully there is no snow or ice. That would be much worse although it would be prettier to look out the window! I had forgotten (not really) how dreary winter can be in Iowa with everything brown and the wind howling. I think the worst part is rarely seeing the sun. Why does the midwest have so many cloudy November days?!?!

Oh well, the weather will not be a concern once my children and grandchildren arrive! I am looking forward to that day immensely! I plan on having the Thanksgiving dinner here and my brother and some of his family are coming. Haven't checked in with my other brother yet to see if he can come. Must do that Kevin!

I am a bit upset that our upstairs dish receiver is not working and they cannot come fix it until the 27th! Nine days without a TV would about kill some people off I would think! Fortunately, the receiver in the basement is working. I wish I had stuck with DishNet as we never had any dish problems with them. It seems to be constant with DirectTV. Grrrrr.

Well, until I have photos and videos of everyone when they are home I guess I will sign out. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there!

Fun with sis

2010-11-10T08:00:00.004-07:00

I had a great time with sister Sharon during her visit to Arizona. I took her to the airport bright and early this morning for her flight to New Mexico so she can visit her son Erik and his children before heading back to Florida.

She arrived last Wednesday and stayed with Lisa that night. I picked her up in Mesa (Lisa's home)on Thursday and we went to my home for the rest of the day and evening. Friday morning we hiked and then met Lisa and her sons Nick and Aaron for happy hour at Dos Gringo's in Old Scottsdale. She went home with them for the week-end. Then Sunday I drove back to Old Scottsdale and met Sharon, Lisa, Aaron (1), Taylor and Dan for dinner at Oregano's. Megan, it is still is as good as you remember!

Sharon came home once again with me and stayed until her flight this morning. We hiked three times despite my broken little toe. I couldn't get my hiking boots on so I threw on my Teva's and away we went! We also worked in two visits to Terravita, Sharon's former home in Scottsdale. She was able to see many old friends so that was great for her and them! I think they wished she still lived there. :-) I don't know if the feeling is mutual, though. Sharon seems to be very content in The Villages of Florida!

Now it is quiet and I look forward to spending Thanksgiving in Iowa and seeing Drew and Kayley. I cannot begin to tell you how much I am looking forward to that!!!

Some pics from her visit:

Our good friend Marilyn at her home in Terravita

Hiking at Squaw Peak in my sandals

Dinner with friends at Terravita Country Club

Feeling sorry for myself

2010-11-02T06:00:00.002-07:00

I think I broke my little toe yesterday morning. :-( I plowed in to a step ladder, barefoot, and today it is black and blue and I can only walk with a limp. Sharon comes here on Thursday and we were all set to hike. Ain't gonna happen... I am trying to decide if I should see a doctor but I recall always hearing "there is nothing they can do for a broken toe" or was that a broken nose? Anyway, I am not a happy camper and am cursing my clumsiness! My mom was always severely stubbing her toe so maybe I came by it naturally?

Halloween

2010-11-01T04:27:00.004-07:00

Well, I am glad that is over! I never did get too fired up about Halloween and this year was no exception. For the first time in my life, though, I had trick or treaters! Living on a farm in Iowa doesn't work well for little goblins and the townhouse we lived in the last three years we saw "maybe" ten or so kids. The street we are on now had a huge turnout. I ran out of candy and had to shut the light off! Next year I will have to buy more candy or head to a movie. :-)

I sowed the winter rye grass in the back yard and will now watch to see if it grows. I also planted a lantana along the west wall and decided to try two tomato plants in pots. I am going to be in Iowa November 18-30 so I am worried about the pots not getting watered while I am gone. I think I will run landscaping drip lines to both pots so they don't die while I am celebrating Thanksgiving.

I do my 5.5 mile hike every other day. I am hoping to work up to every day but will start venturing out to other trails so I don't become bored with this one! I don't know exactly how many different trails there are in the valley but I would bet money that I could go a LONG time and never take the same one. Some are just not comfortable doing alone, though. I like the ones with lots of people on them and no mountain lions! :-)

Since I missed out on seeing Drew and Kayley in their costumes I stole some pictures from Megan's FB page. Drew actually wore his Thomas the train costume for trick or treating. Hurray!

Warm and NO wind

2010-10-28T20:29:00.002-07:00

I almost hate to post this regarding weather. It is just beautiful here in Phoenix but October is a great month in the valley! Mark said how awful it has been back in Iowa...windy, REALLY windy and very cool. I talked to Megan tonight and she said it was 45 degrees in Peoria. Yikes. It was 85 here and not even a whiff of a breeze. I will now quit talking about the weather before I lose midwest friends.

I hiked my mountain yesterday once again. I took the route "backwards" this time and it took me 25 minutes longer! I was rather surprised at that but uphill going the different route was very rocky so guess it slowed me down big time. I never have to stop to rest the original way but stopped several times on this route to catch my breath. The scenery even looked different going the different route so that was a pleasant change.

Tomorrow I need to think about sowing the winter rye grass. I have never done that before but have watched my son-in-law do it and it does not look like fun. Mow it down to a stub or nothing...sow the seed...fertilize...cover in smelly mulch/(poop) and water, water, water. If I have half the lawn he established I will feel successful!

Sister Sharon from Florida is coming to AZ next week. Her children, grandchildren and I are very excited about that. Should be a great time! After AZ she will fly to Albuquerque to see Erik, Kadin, Gracie and new son Jeffrey. I should have some pics to post after that visit.

Well, hope everyone has a fantastic week-end and GO HAWKS!!!!

Pictures for Drew

2010-10-26T18:01:00.007-07:00

I went for a walk today to Megan and Andy's old home in Phoenix which is about 2 miles from our house. As I was walking I took pictures of all the sights that Drew, Kayley, Sox and I saw every day on our walks. I am curious to know if Drew remembers any of these sights! (So Megan, let me know.) :-) I am guessing that he will not remember them but perhaps he will.

I have been busy since my return doing all my yearly doctor check-ups so that has kept me busy. I also hiked to Shaw Butte which is about 3 miles from here. It is a 5 mile round trip hike...I made it up and down fine but I definitely had blisters! Need to get these feet back into hiking shape! (Months of flip flops with no boots!)

I heard the central U.S. was overwhelmed with ridiculously high winds. They even called it very unusual. Our weird weather continues.

Ok Megan, here are the pics. See if Drew remembers any of these! There are even some I dug out of my archives of his old house and pool.

Getting settled

2010-10-23T19:50:00.002-07:00

I spent most of today running around Phoenix. Groceries, propane tank refill, Walmart and visited a good friend from our townhouse days. I was way over-dressed in jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Very beautiful and immediately came home and put on shorts and t-shirt. While talking to Mark tonight he said he was waiting for the furnace to kick on and I was waiting for the AC to kick in. That is what 1400 miles will do I guess.

Megan went to the Iowa-Wisconsin game today. It was a nail-biter and not a good outcome for our Hawkeyes. I had taped it and planned to watch it when my errands were finished but I peeked on ESPN.com and found out the final score and just could not bear to watch it. I am one who always identified with the "agony of defeat"! :-( The ISU Cyclones did have a huge victory over Texas, though. Glad some people are happy back home!

I am going to try to get my butt up and hike tomorrow morning. It has been a long time but that IS one of the reasons I came out here now so I hope I do it.

I wish I had updated video/photos of Drew and Kayley but that is rather impossible. I won't say how much I miss them but I will say it is way more than my sadness over the Hawkeyes if that gives you a clue... :-)

Have a fantastic Sunday.

Made it to Arizona

2010-10-22T20:17:00.002-07:00

I am back in Phoenix. I arrived today around 1:30 P.M. This was a MUCH shorter day driving than yesterday and it was helped by gaining two hours on the drive! The first day I made it to Tucumcari, NM.

All is well and good with our home. No water leaks after sitting all summer in the heat so I was pleased with that. I got a little bit blue when I drove by Megan and Andy's old street and the parks I used to frequent with the kids and Sox. I just felt like they were still there and I needed to turn and go visit them. Being in AZ and not having them close by will definitely take some getting used to!

I have no pics or videos to post so will put these two older ones up for Drew and Kayley. Megan said Drew enjoys it when I post videos of him when he was "little". :-) Maybe Kayley will enjoy her video from when she so much younger, a few months back!

I lied...

2010-10-18T12:31:00.006-07:00

My last post talked about my good-byes to Drew and Kayley. Well.....it has been so nice in Iowa that I didn't take off for Arizona as early as I anticipated. So, I had time to squeeze in one more trip to Peoria for another good-bye! I left Friday morning for Illinois with a two hour stop at the outlet mall near Iowa City. Arrived in Peoria about the time everyone was getting home from work and day care. It was so great to see Drew and Kayley one more time! We had a really fun week-end. Saturday morning Megan and I and the kids went to look at granite for their kitchen. We then made a few stops at different stores for some items and returned home in time for their afternoon nap. That evening we went bowling which is always a favorite event for Drew. He ran to his room for his "bowling" shirt when Megan said we were going. This time Kayley bowled and had a blast. She did very well thanks to some help from their friend Wes. Both kids scored over 100 so I was glad I wasn't bowling to get embarrassed!

Sunday was another beautiful day for mid October! We packed a lunch and headed to the park. Drew rode his bike all the way to the park. Grandma was in power walking mode to keep up with him! We carved a pumpkin in the afternoon and grilled chops for dinner. I hated to see Sunday come to an end but all good things must end. I left this morning after everyone left and made it back to the farm around 1:00 P.M. Mark is out doing field work so I haven't seen him yet.

I leave for AZ on Wednesday. I plan to stop at Matt's in Omaha that evening and then head out bright and early on Thursday for Tucumcari, NM. Long day, that one! If all goes as planned I should be at our Phoenix home late Friday afternoon. Here's hoping for a better winter for you guys staying in the midwest! So long...

Three videos from the week-end:

Kayley's tea party:

Pictures:

Goodbye Drew and Kayley

2010-10-05T06:09:00.004-07:00

I drove to Peoria on Friday to spend the week-end with my daughter and my grandchildren and to say goodbye for awhile. I will be leaving for AZ in a couple of weeks and this was the only week-end they had open so I took advantage of that. We had a great time! We went out for dinner Friday night to a place called the Fire... something. :-) Here's a picture of the outside!

It looked a little bit (lot!) like a dive! :-) It actually had pretty good food and it had a beautiful view of the Illinois River.

Saturday morning Megan and Andy shopped for granite while I watched Drew and Kayley. That evening Andy grilled delicious marinated chicken breasts, followed by the Iowa-Penn State game. We won easily so it was a fun game to watch, nothing to get nervous about!

Megan bought Kayley a Super Girl outfit for Halloween and she is hoping that Drew will wear his Thomas the Train costume from last year that he refused to wear! Drew is not "in to" wearing costumes so I am betting he refuses, but I hope not.

Sunday afternoon we went to Tanner Orchard. This place was unbelievable! When we arrived there was a LONG line waiting just to enter their market. It was well over an hour wait. Thankfully we just wanted to take Drew and Kayley to their playground so that was a quick entrance. The playground cost $7 to enter, even the adults that are just going in to watch their children. They have quite a "racket" going on there. Fortunately old people 55 and over were free. I do believe that is the first time my age has worked well financially for me. :-) It really was a fun time for the kids but Drew would have been happy if we only visited the pedal tractor area the entire time. He does love riding those. We had a very good time and we were glad we took them.

Monday morning it was back to work and daycare so I said goodbye and headed back to Iowa. It was a melancholy trip. The longest I have ever been separated from them is two weeks and now it will be seven weeks before I see them at Thanksgiving. :-(

Two videos from my week-end:

Catching up

2010-09-30T07:19:00.003-07:00

Mark started combining beans this week, the weather is cooperating and all is well in farm country...for now anyway! You know what they say about Iowa's weather!

I have been winterizing my flower beds and decided this year to chop everything to the ground. We will see how that strategy works out next spring! I am totally done with everything outdoors but I might mow one more time. I sprayed both lawns for weeds, twice, so there better not be one dandelion next summer. :-)

Since I have nothing left to do I may head down to AZ pretty soon. I am going to Peoria this week-end to say good-bye to Drew and Kayley. That should about kill me off! Thank god for Skype. I know I will never make it the entire winter without seeing them so already have a ticket back here for Thanksgiving and I am sure I will fly to see them in January and probably March! They are at the age where changes occur too rapidly and I don't want to miss out.

I won't have any pics or video until this week-end so I will re-post a couple of old ones. Drew looks so little in them!

This video shows Drew starting to get very mobile!

Adventures of Grandma, Drew and Kayley

Happy Valentine's Day

Phoenix Open

A little bit of everything

Happy 5th Birthday to Drew!

Happy New Year!

Rainy days and sunshine...

Ready to start our winter

Wonderful two weeks in Peoria

Leaving a week earlier than planned!

Looking forward to Thanksgiving!

I am in the desert

Home, but not for long (updated with a video)

Grandparents Day at Preschool

Kayley's surgery

Very quiet here...

Still having fun!

A week with the grandchildren at the farm

Varmints....

Okoboji for one last time this summer!

More Okoboji pictures

Okoboji=good times!

Family reunion

Finally some time for golf

24 hours at Okoboji

Our holiday week-end

A very windy night!

Two more videos

A week on the farm!

Misty day at the zoo

Windy.....every single day!

90's to 40's

2200 miles

Mark's cactus

More Peoria videos

Great week with the grandchildren!

The desert is full of color

Getting close

Baseball fever

Beautiful week-end

Getting HOT!

Spring Training

Landscaping is finally done. Whew!

Quick update

10 ton of rock, all by shovel!!!

Stiff and sore!

Some still pictures

More video

Greetings from Peoria

Still staying busy

Happy 2011

Grandpa and Grandma's vicarious Christmas

How we spent Christmas...

Christmas Eve

Being sick

Quiet week-end

My farmer arrived

Enjoying my life

A VERY Happy Thanksgiving

Baby it's cold outside!

Fun with sis

Feeling sorry for myself

Halloween

Warm and NO wind

Pictures for Drew

Getting settled

Made it to Arizona

I lied...

Goodbye Drew and Kayley

Catching up