Leaving a week earlier than planned!

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!

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

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)

 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

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

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...

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!

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

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....

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

Okoboji for one last time this summer!

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