MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL !!!!!

Well, I guess it is time to enjoy the rewards of our labors. We are quickly approaching Christmas and we must have all been nice, as I see many presents under the tree. The gentleman you see in the trees is Germany's St Nicholas. He is sharing with Zmo's kinder class about how each one is doing and what they need to work on. It was wonderful spending the time during this special season on a different country. I think we all are looking for the same assurances that we are loved and have tha ability to share that with someone else. Jim brought the tree through the forest back to the apartment. Kathleen and Zmo decorated it and the candles were the finishing touch. It is a beautiful tree. May all of you take the time to share your christmas season with those around you. May we all reach out and make someone's day special. Merry Christmas

As we come to the close of another year.

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

It has been another full and prosperus year. We have enjoyed so many fruits for our labors and it seems they just continue. I hope this finds everyone well and getting ready to enjoy the holidays. We have just returned from Germany and are slowly getting our clocks back to normal. It doesn't seem bad going over, but coming home just takes longer to get adjusted. We had a great visit with Jim, Kathleen and Zmo. We were there from November 23rd to December 14th. I'm sure that they were glad to see us leave as we were using their bed. We certainly enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of Jim and Kathleen, but also the many interesting people we met along the way.

We were there for the season of Weihnachtsmarkts. It starts in late November and runs to Christmas. They are Christmas Markets. We had the opportunity to go to five different markets. Stuttgart, Strasbourg, Fr, Esslingen, Ludwigsburg, and Ulm. They were all different and and all very much alike. The food was wonderful and of course the Gluewein, which is a hot mulled wine. They had both red and white. Each market had it's own special mugs. There were booths that had almost everything you could need for Christmas. There were ornaments, nutcrackers, incense houses, leather work, wood work, and goods from all over the area.

We went to Ulm by ourselves and what a sight. The cathedral there has the tallest spire in the world. They have a pipe organ that was magnificent and we were lucky enough to hear a 30 minute concert while we were there. The building was huge. As we sat listening to the concert, we watched our breath. It probably was in the low thirties in the building. We traveled to Ulm by rail and it was nice to see the countryside all covered with snow. We bought scarfs in Ulm, as the wind was blowing and we needed the protection around the neck opening.

Our trip to Strasbourg, France was by bus, with a group of teachers from Kathleen's school. It was a long day, but well worth the trip. We had a group lunch at a small restaurant that was spectacular. We were certainly ready to get back on the bus at the end of the day. It was a two-hour ride.

Of course the biggest part of the trip was spent with Zmo. We really enjoyed seeing her and how she is progressing in her kinder school. Her languese is amazing. She speaks German very well and her English vocabulary is grow every day. She had a little friend come home with her one day who spoke no English. Annette is talking and Zmo said, "Grandma, she olny speaks Duetsch."

Jim is the chief cook and bottle washer. He is a very good cook and almost everything we had was german origin. He did make pizza one night which is one of his specialties. We are trying to get ready for Christmas here at home and that is going slow. We will go to Cindy's for Christmas and will probably spend a couple of days there. The ground was bare when we came home, but we got enough snow to cover the ground this morning. Hopefully it will melt, but the temperature is supposed to stay cold all this week.

Again, "Merry Christmas and may you have a wonderful new year."

Lake Wallowa

What a view! We spent last week in Oregon. Annette had told me of this place and said she wanted to go back to see it. It is only 4 1/2 hours from home. We stayed at an outstanding B&B and enjoyed the beautiful area with Annette's brother Stan and his wife Terri. This lake is at the 4200 foot level and the Tram leaves you at the top of the area at 8150 feet. The restaurant in the picture is the highest restauant in the Northwest. The food was great and the prices were very reasonable. One of the tourists we met at the top said that this had been on their "Bucket List" for a while and I told her it should be on everyone's list. We will certainly go back. There are about three miles of trails around the top of Mt. Howard and we only did about a third of those. We would like to see the other side of the mountain. In the bottom picture you can see the mountain to the left. That is where the tramway goes. It is a fifteen minute ride and lots of views to go with it. We had breakfast with our friends from Dorset, Ontario yesterday in Wenatchee. We hadn't seen them for four years. Their daughter and boyfriend with them were on a bike ride to Winthorp and beyond. It was great to see them and spend some time with them. They run the Marina near Dorset, that we stopped at in 2006. It sounds like all is well in Germany as Kathleen has started back to work. We are shopping pricing for a trip later this fall. The weather is beautiful here and we hope to have much more of it in the next few weeks.

Wedding Reception at the Winery.

I fear that summer is coming to a close. It's still warm and sunny, but the nights are a little cooler. Today the wind is blowing at a stiff rate. They say it could be as high as 40 mph until 9 PM. Our weather has been very good lately. We went to Leanne's reception last Friday. She is Phillip's daughter, that's Annette youngest brother. It was a really nice reception and the food and drink was very good. They had a DJ and the dancing was good also. Met some new people and saw a lot of old friends and family. It's always nice to see the family grow. James, Leanne's husband is a gymnastics coach. He works in the Bothell area of Seattle. That's the north end if you don't know Seattle. He is not a teacher, just helps run a gymnastics program. Who knows, we might see one of his proteges in the Olympics some day. The quilt was a gift from Annette and Maggie. Maggie put it together and Annette quilted it. It is a beautiful quilt. We spent the time with Stan and Teri, Annette's other brother. We went to Cottage Grove on Sunday to see Jodi and Jim. We haven't been there for a few years. It was good to get together with all. And of course the food was good everywhere. We are getting ready for a busy September. As you can see by the photos, Kathleen and Zmo were at a biergarten somewhere enjoying the time. She starts school next week. Their time here seemed very short, but time flies when you are having fun.

Goning Home Again

Well. we haven't written for a while. We got home from Kansas on the first Thursday of August. We had a great time. Saw a lot of people and I think this was the biggest group of I'm not sure who you are reunions. I think the family is in good shape. We spent a couple of days at Gary's and Nancy's and of course had a fish fry. Dixie was able to come and join us for the festivities. Yesterday we loaded Kathleen, Jim and Zmo for the ride to Seattle for the flight back to Germany. It seemed such a short time that we got to see them. They are home now and Kathleen said that Zmo was a good traveler on the way back. She did shed a tear while landing at Amsterdam. Cindy and I put the office back together and all is well on the home front. I'll write more in a few days.

Happy Birthday Barbara

Well, it took a little doing, but we finally celebrated Annette's Mother's 90th Birthday. She was released from the hospital on Thursday and placed in an extended living home. She has a nice room and it is a beautiful building. We have a friend whose wife is there with alzheimers. She is happy doesn't remember much of anything. He told us that the staff was great and that he did some volunteer work there each week. We are now in the getting ready to go phase of the trip. We are looking forward to seeing Dixie on the 27th. We will be in Topeka on the 28th. We had a very scary incident occur last night with Jim, Kathleens husband. He and a riding buddy had stopped here on their way back to Wenatchee from the BMW rally in Redmond, OR. When they were about 15 miles north of here a wind shear hit Jim and blew him off the road. He was doing about 65 and he was able to walk away from it. Good clothing and helmut made the difference. He's stiff today and probably will be for a few days. He spent the night here. He has a few cuts and bruises, but he should mend OK. We thank the Lord that he is with us every step of the way. We'll see you soon.

Aren't Grandkids Fun?

We were at Kathleen's on Sunday and Grandma got to make cup cakes for Zmo and family. Jim was on a bike rally near Mt St. Helens. He arrived home in the late afternoon. It was very hot and the pool on the deck was used by people and animals alike. We had hamburgers on the grill and enjoyed the time together. Our plans got a little changed this last week. Annette's Mom was placed in the hospital early Thursday morning. We are taking everything day by day. The Birthday party for this weekend has changed. We are not sure what it will be like. She should be released from the hospital tomorrow. She probably will not be able to come out, so we will go into town to celebrate. We will know more tomorrow. We have also decided to cut back on the trip. We will be in Topeka for the Reunion, but will probably go right back home after. Kathleen and Jim and Zmo leave here on August 14th for Germany. We felt that with all that is going on, we should be close to home. Hopefully we will see those we planned to stop and see later. We are looking forward to the trip, but also know that things could change at a moments notice. See a lot of you soon.

The Fourth of July

It's that time of year again. We had 58 golf carts in the parade this year. As you can see, grandma is getting the goodies from the drivers for Zmo. She had quite a day. Time in the pool with Grandma and Cindy and then time in the pool with Grandpa and then out to the street to watch the Golf Cart Parade. This is becoming quite a show. All are decorated and most throw candy to the kids along the route. Zmo also had time to try out the new flower pot. All in all it was a wonderful day. We had ribs on the Traeger and good wine to go with it. What can get better than that. The wind was blowing so the evening fireworks were cancelled. It was too bad, but we have so much fuel on the ground it's better to be safe than sorry. Today was our big Firecracker Scramble and my team finished one shot out of the money. That's about normal. Annette's mother is turning 90 on the 17th of July. We are hosting a party for the kids and hope to have good weather, good food and good vibes. We are starting to plan for the trip to the reunion. We hope to get away from here about the 23rd or 24th of July. We will probably take four days to get to Topeka. We will stop at Dixie's on the way and maybe see Gary and Nancy there. We will spend time with Gary and Nancy on the way home. We are looking forward to seeing many friends along the way. Kathleen will leave Stuttgart tomorrow to fly home. Jim will pick her up in Seattle. She spent the Fourth in Brussels for a conference. We are looking forward to seeing her. We know they will be very busy this summer seeing old friends. I think they have to be back in Stuttgart in mid-August.

Summertime, Finally

Summertime and the living is easy. This is Francis, Kathleen's cat, enjoying the beautiful weather. Annette is in Wenatchee visiting the granddaughter. I stayed home to play golf. Many little projects to get done and the Reunion Trip is getting closer every day. We have not decided the complete trip. I was saddened to hear that Ted Coulter had passed away last week. I was planning on seeing him again this summer when we were in Topeka. I'm glad that I got the chance to see him in 2006. We'll probably be in the area about two-weeks. So many people to see and not alot of time. We will determine soon our route and let you all know. We need to check with a few people to see when they will be around and if schedules match up. We are looking forward to the trip and seeing many old friends.

Home again!

Jim and Zmo enjoyed a walk on the beach at Lake Sammamish State Park. We had lunch there after picking them up at the airport Tuesday about noon. We had some great lunchmeat we picked up in Burien and some Bitburger Bier I got at a QFC in Burien. So, we had a lunch similar to what we would have had in Germany. Jim said, "Everyone in this park speaks English, what a concept." We enjoyed the sunshine and the almost empty beach. Once we got to Wenatchee, Zmo had to get reaquainted with all the toys she used to play with. The little car was a hit and she can really make it go now. As you can see, she has grown alot, but that's what kids are supposed to do. She finally crashed about 6:30 PM. Cindy said she was up at 4:00 AM That time difference is bad.

It looks like it's heating up in Germany

What a pleasant place for a glass of Reisling. A small tributary and a cool bottle of the German good stuff. That's what they are famous for. It looks like the kids are having a good time too. Our Bestball Tournament is this weekend and we'll see if the shoulder will produce. Dave (brother-in-law) and I will see if there is any thing left in the tank. I really have been playing pretty good of late. I hope it continues. I am going to the Seattle area to play in a benefit tournament on Monday. A bunch of my ex-students are playing and I will join them. It will be interesting to see if any of them are any good at the game of golf. I am sure a few are. It will be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it. July is filling up. Annette's Mother celebrates her 90th birthday on the 17th. I thought the reunion was on the third weekend, so we had planned to leave the 18th. Now, I think we will wait a week and plan on arriving in Topeka on Wednesday the 28th. We will plan on seeing friends and family after the reunion. I think Kansas City for the Fiskins and Salina for the relatives and the Harding's then on to Stockton and ScottsBluff and home. I hope we will be able to see most of you at that time. We are looking forward to the trip and getting back with friends and family. I think that Jim and Zmo are coming the 22nd of June and Kathleen will follow July 6th after a seminar. We are just taking it one day at a time. Isn't that something I heard some great coach say?

BRIGHT EYED AND BUSHY TAILED

I guess that the weather is nice in Stuttgart, too! It certainly looks like the fathers are having fun using the strollers as seats as the children play. It was very nice in Desert Aire today also. I played golf with friends and enjoyed my beer, although it was Budweiser, on the Deck. I'm getting a new computer tomorrow. It is a Quad Processor and has a lot of goodies on it. I'm sure it will be faster and more fun it play with. It also has Windows 7 and that will be fun to learn. We have a big Senior Golf Event on Wednesday. We have players from around the area coming here to play. We have 124 signed up. That will fill up the course. We have 12 golf courses we play each year and this is our turn. We will have Hamburgers and all the trimmings after golf. Annette said yesterday, Did you realize that it is only six weeks till we head for Kansas? I knew that. We are looking forward to seeing all of the cousins. But, for right now let's just keep the sunshine coming every day.

There's a Rainbow round my shoulder.

There's a rainbow round my shoulder. That's a song that my mother used to sing and yesterday we truly had a rainbow round here. These pictures were taken about 7:30 PM. We had been to Yakima in the morning and the surgeon said get out of here and play golf. It rained most of the day and in the late afternoon it got pretty nice. All of a sudden I looked into the sky and there it was. You could count all seven colors and you could see the double rainbow above. It was truly a beautiful sight. We had it for about a half hour. We had visitors from another course today and it was a great day. We had 74 golfers and played in the morning. We served lunch afterwards. I had a good day, shooting an 83 and getting a closest to worth $36.00. The shoulder feels good and I know that I have to continue to work it to get the strength back. No more traveling for therapy though, so things are looking better. Maybe I'll even get going on a garden. More later.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Desert Aire. We reached the mid-eighties. I was on the 6th tee-box watching for a hole-in-one. This was the annual couples tournament. One of the Cart Dealers of the area puts up a cart each year for the prize of the hole-in-one. And again this year no one succeeded in getting one. We are getting ready for summer. It seemed to be a long cool spring. We have no garden started, but that might come later. I see the surgeon on Tuesday and hope he takes me off the therapy. The drive to Yakima twice a week is getting old and expensive. They say that I have full range of motion back and am improving as I go along. I still do not have much strength in the raising of the arm. I guess that will come with work. I spend abour 45 minutes to an hour a day on working out the shoulder. The golf game is coming back. It doesn't hurt to swing, so I am a happy camper. More to come.

The Glockenspiel

These pictures were taken in Munich and this is the famous Glockenspiel. If you have been there you know what a great experience it is to watch as the knights challenge each other in a joust that unseats the loser. It was raining, still a great sight. The entire process takes about ten to twelve minutes. It doesn't run every hour, just 11 AM, 12 N and 5 PM. The crowd gathers to watch. If you haven't seen the glockenspiel, go to Google and write in glockenspiel. Select the one from Munich and you will have the opportunity to watch as many people have placed this viewing online. The weather is finally warming up here. Wore shorts for the first time this year on Friday. Golfing is getting better. I very happy with how the shoulder is doing, but it will be quite before the strength is back. We had a Mother's Day Brunch with Cindy in Wenatchee. Went to a Bed and Breakfast called The Wild Ivy. The owners are friends of Cindy. He used to be a chef in California. Wow what a meal. We dined on the patio in the sunshine and thoroughly enjoy the food and the champagne. Talked to Kathleen yesterday morning. They had been to the Wilhelma Zoo and Bier Garten as it was evening over there.

These are two pictures from Heidelberg. The one on the left is a bridge over the Neckar River. There is a lock just above this bridge. The picture on the right is the local castle of Heidelberg. We spent the day there our first weekend. It is truly amazing to see the buildings that were built before the USA was even thought about. There is a high water mark on the bridge dating back to 1539. It was the highest mark of all. That must have been a wet year. I know that there is much more to see, so we'll probably have to go back.

The Food Was Good Too!

I asked Jim when we were going to have snitzel and he said how about tomorrow. We went to a little hole in the wall in Stuttgart called the XXL Snitzel Paradise. As you can see from the picture the servings were ridiculous. What you can't see is about 5 or 6 potatoes cut up and cooked with onions and gravy under the two snitzels on my plate. Jims's had mushrooms and gravy. Annette's was just the snitzel and the salad bar. There was a small guy at the table next to us that finished one of these. The three of us had about four big pieces left and we took the potatoes home for hash browns the next day. The two guys behind us looked pretty stuffed at the point of the picture. On the right you can see that Annette enjoyed the grits also. She did eat the whole thing. She said later that it wasn't very big and the bun was thin. Oh, and the beer was good as always.

Back from the Ashes

Here it is Derby Day and you can see we have already run the race and Zmo won by a nose. It was a wonderful trip and we really enjoyed spending the time with family and seeing a new world. It was an eventful trip from the start. We were an hour late leaving Wenatchee and were the last two seated on the plane to Amsterdam. The plane pulled out about five minutes after we sat down. During our second night in Stuttgart, they had an electrical fire in the elevator area. We had to go to the outside. What a Chinese fire drill. Imagine waking out of a deep sleep and going outside to hear only German. We had no idea what was going on. Jim kept us up to date. We finally got back into the apartment about 2 AM. The problem caused no phone or Internet from 4/8 to 4/23. We were in the dark about what was going on in to outside world. Annette and I traveled by train to Munich on the 14th for three days. When we got back, Jim said that maybe we would be staying longer. He was right. We got an extra five days in Stuttgart and the weather was wonderful. In the high 60's or low 70's each day. We enjoyed the extra time, but I'm sure that the household is more settled since we've gone. The top right picture is the apartment complex where Jim and Kathleen live. It was built in the early 1970's. They live on the fourth floor of the middle building. The building on the right has a top floor restaurant. We ate there one night. Very good food and you can see a long ways. The shoulder is continuing to improve and I am playing golf regularly. Annette has two quilts to finish for customers, so we are keeping busy. I will add more later.

Haven't posted anything in a while. My shoulder is getting better. I played five holes last Friday and five holes on Saturday with Men's Club. There is no pain when I swing, so I guess that all is going well. I am still doing physical therapy twice a week in Yakima. They say all is well, but I sure do notice the lack of strength in the shoulder. I feel it will be a long time before the strength gets back to normal. I am working daily to build that area. It gives me something to do with my time. As you can see the grass is getting green and we are having a very nice end of winter. This morning came too early with the daylight savings time change. We are having our first tournament this weekend. The Winter Best Ball. As you can see by the picture I took yesterday, the weather couldn't be better. You can also notice the trees missing on the right of the fairwayof #3. The picture on the right is the area between #4 and #5. It looks like the plantings are doing well. We are getting ready for the trip to Germany. We leave on the 6th of April. Annette can't wait. It has been snowing in Stuttgart and I sure hope it is gone by the time we get there.

Big week last week. We went to town about every day. On Wednesday the Elk were quite close to the highway and by chance we had the camera. It is such a beautiful sight to see. There were probably 250 to 300 animals. As you can see they are not concerned with the passing traffic. We also purchased a new vehicle on Wednesday. We stayed in the Korean group. This is a Hyundai Tucson. Hopefully it will be as dependable as the Kia. I see the surgeon again March 2nd. I am hoping that he will let me start hitting a few shots. I am chipping and putting now. He said that in March he would probably turn me loose. We'll see and will keep you informed. We leave for Germany on the 6th of April and return on the 20th. We are looking forward to the trip and the sightseeing. We have never been across the pond. Stuttgart has had a hard winter. There has been snow on the ground quite a while. We are hoping that Spring will come before April 6th.

The Big Catch-Up

As another beautiful day dawns in Desert Aire will try to get you all up to date with the comings and goings of the Mullen family. Thanksgiving was a little different this year. With Jim, Kathleen and Zmo in Germany we celebrated with Cindy, Dave and Maggie. Cindy did a 21 pound turkey on the Traeger. We had it in brine for a day and then smoked it for about 6 hours. There was a little bourbon in the brine. It was one of the best turkeys we have ever had. We had a chance to have it again, New Year's Eve at the neighbors and the result was the same. Since my surgery on November 4th, I have been diligently working on therapy for my shoulder. We have a therapist in Mattawa which is five miles from here. It is an easy trip as compared to Yakima or the Tri-Cities. She is very good and I really enjoy her helper, who is a 49er fan. I had an old 49er sweatshirt that I had picked up from the lost and found at the Junior High in the late 70's or early 80's. It was like new and I gave it to her and she thought it was wonderful. It is an old style and I told her if she sold it on ebay, I wanted a cut. She said it was going on the wall. As you can see by the pictures, we get to see a lot of the kids in Germany. The sled that Zmo and her buddy are on was by the garbage one morning. Jim picked it up and reconditioned it and when the snow came it worked fine. The sledding hill is very close to where they live. As you can see Santa comes to Hamburg also. He looks alot slimmer than the one we have here. The kids went to Hamburg for Christmas. Jim has relatives there. They had a great time. After Christmas they went to the Hamburg Aquarium, which looked wonderful. The picture of Zmo on the Dodge truck was taken in that area. Can you imagine an old Dodge truck in Hamburg with one American on it. I thought it was a interesting shot. I don't know if Kathleen or Jim thought about that connection when they took the pic. We went to Cindy's for Christmas. Cindy is now living in Jim and Kathleen's home in Wenatchee. She really enjoys the change. She is working out of the house as a medical recruiter. She is caring for the dog and cat and I think they enjoy her too. We had a wonderful prime rib, with leftovers for sandwiches and soup. We didn't have snow for Christmas, but did get it for New Years. Cindy came here for the weekend and we had alot of football and food. Aren't the holidays fun. We saw the surgeon yesterday and everything looks good. I can use my right arm now, but can't lift anything heavier than a cup of coffee. I am proceeding with therapy and hope to be back in the swing of things in March. Hope all of you had a great Christmas and will have a bountiful New Year.