Well it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  Every place we go.  We are in The Villages, FL.  the weather is mild and balmy.  We have been in the eighties a few times since we have been here.  We did have a cold snap on Friday and Saturday.  It looks like we will be mostly in the seventies the rest of our stay.  Kathleen and Zmo are here from Germany.  We celebrated our 50th anniversary a day late as Kathleen has an eye infection and we had to take her to doctor.  She is on the mend  and we had fillets on the Bar-B-Q last night. We are planning on Disney World on Thursday and Friday.  I think I'll play golf and let the girls do their thing.  It's Christmas Eve and we are looking forward to the big day.
We hope that all are going to have a blessed Christmas and a prosperous new year.  We are looking forward to seeing many of you in the upcoming year.  I will write more in a few days.



Got Some Catching Up To Do.

It's been a long time since I have added anything to this post.  Guess I better get to it.  We have had a good Spring and Summer.  The kids are here from Germany and we have had good times with Zmo, short for Simone'.  She has no fear of the water and she would spend all day in the pool if you let her.  Our next door neighbor has a small pool 12' by 24' and we use it most days of the week.  They are only here on the weekends and I care for the chemicals and such.  All that good experience from back at the Stockton Pool.  As you can see from the pictures we have been moving around.  We went back to Nebraska in April and May.  We reconstructed Gary's dock and spent time with Dixie and family.  We also took a quick trip to Hays to see Ralph give his presentation on the Capote book. 

On our way home from Gary's we came through Yellowstone.  It was a quick day and great not to have any crowds to get in the way.  As you can see  the lake was still mostly frozen over.  I still think the falls on the Yellowstone River is one of the most beautiful sights in the US.  We even saw a grizzly while coming through the park. 

Grandma gets many sewing projects and as you can see even a tent is not out of the question.  We bought this tent in 1970 and have spent many nights in it.  The kids took it for a weekend camping trip last weekend.  It needed some tender loving care on one of the stake loops.  It was worn out. 

Kathleen heads back to Stuttgart next Wednesday, but Jim and Zmo will be here till the 4th of September.  We are all getting together on Tuesday for a big Turkey dinner.  Traeger Time.

Oops, where have I been?

This of course is grandma's little princess. She traveled to Germany in late February to babysit as Jim and Kathleen took a few days to travel to Italy. Grandma really enjoyed the time with her one and only. Kathleen took Annette to Berlin for a weekend before she came home. She got to see the old landmarks of the Wall and Check-point Charlie and such. We are looking forward to seeing the kids this summer. We are hoping there will be a time for all of us to spend a little time together somewhere alway from all the distractions that accompany their time in Wenatchee. Maybe a week at the beach like last year.
We are planning a trip to Scottsbluff late this month to see Gary Adams and others. Ralph Voss is giving a talk on his book, "Truman Capote and the Legacy of In Cold Blood" in Hays on the 26th of April. We plan to take that in. Then we want to kick back and fish and play golf at Gary's.

I keep thinking about writing something on the blog and always seam to find something else that needs more attention. This is Annette's quilt the she showed at the Tri-City Quilt Guild Show last week. No ribbons, but a beautiful job. She started this quilt in the 80's and finally finished it last week. The applique took a long time to complete. It has traveled all over the country and Canada with us on numerous trips as something to do.

I guess it's that time of year again. We have the tree up and so far the cat has left it alone. As you can see there isn't much under it, but I haven't started shopping yet. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with lots of good grits and family. We smoked a turkey and had some smoked salmon and smoked walnuts. It was all good. The nuts were from Jim and Kathleen's trees in Wenatchee. Cindy and I picked up the nuts and I cracked them watching football games on TV. I ended up with 5 1/2 pounds of nutmeat. You brine the nuts in salt water over night and then spray them with olive oil and sprinkle rub on. I smoked them for four hours and they are a keeper. Since I have smoked another batch and sent them to Germany for the kids to try. It will probably become a yearly deal. Many years ago my dad bought a black walnut cracker from a guy in Missouri. It was made from a Model A gear. His son later took over the business, but ran out of gears and they are no more. It is a fantastic cracker and leaves the nut whole. That makes the job a lot easier. From the pictures you can see the kids are enjoying the Christmas Market season in Germany. We had those cinnamon rolls last year too. They are fired in a wood burning oven. I guess the line was a lot longer this year. We will go to Wenatchee for Christmas again this year. Cindy will be here later today on her way to Seattle. We get to be doggie sitters for a couple of days. The cat really loves that. . . . . . not. We had a skiff of snow this morning. It is about gone now and hopefully the golf course will be awaiting shortly. May all of you and yours have a Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year.

Well, it's been a long time since I posted anything on this site. It has been a great summer and fall. We are starting to see the signs of the other side of summer. It is supposed to freeze tonight. I have blown the water lines and am ready for the long cold winter. Annette lost her mother on Monday night, Oct. 17th. We were expecting this, so it wasn't a shock. Barbara was 91 years old and had lived a long and for the most part healthy life. It has just been the last year that she has gone down hill quickly. I am sure that we will miss her on the holidays, as we generally get together as a family to celebrate the occassions. Annette is busy quilting and enjoying the big room out back. She is doing the Senior Quilt that they sell raffle tickets on now. She has done a number of Quilts of Valor that are given to military past and present. She got an email from an Austrailan Naval Warrant Officer who had served with our Seals in Viet Nam. He had been awarded one of Annette's quilts and wanted to thank her for the beautiful quilt. He had a flag that had flown over the Arizona in 1984 and said he was going to hang the quilt beside it along with a number of comendations from the USN. We are quite proud of her work.

We had a beautiful sunrise on Saturday and I happened to be able to capture it on the camera. It is another reason we love living in this area. The grapes and apples are being harvested now. It's a little late this year, but it is never too late for the good stuff. We are not planning any big trips this winter at this time, but anything could happen. We always enjoy the four seasons, but if it gets really bad, I think I could be persuaded to head South for a short break. Golf has been good to me this year. I am playing pretty good for an old guy. Brother-in-law and I won our flight in the Fall Bestball last weekend. I will try to get information here quicker. I just have no excuse for the delay, other than I must have been having too much fun.

We are enjoying the time with Jim and Kathleen and Zmo home. We spent the evening on Tuesday in Wenatchee having dinner and playing. Annette is having a ball with the little one. Cindy and I went to her 30th reunion last Friday in Issaquah and saw many old friends. One of the guys that was there was in the second class I taught in Issaquah. He had his boys with him. It was really neat to see and talk to all. We went to Tonasket, WA on Tuesday to see a ex-student who missed Friday night because his son was in Pendicton, BC in a Hockey tournament. He lives in Sweden and was home for the Reunion and a family reunion. We had a good talk with the family before heading back to Wenatchee. We will head for the beach on Monday. We have a beach home rented Monday through Friday and will spend the time with family before they head back to Germany. We are going to the Long Beach Peninsula west of Portland. We are looking forward to spending time on the beach, kite flying and all the goodies that come from the water. Cindy has found a job and is back working, so she can't go. We will miss her but understand why she won't be there. We will send pictures of the trip when we get home.

Well I think that summer is finally here. We are anticipating that there will be plenty of sunshine and blue skies to follow. The gang is back from Germany and Zmo is already taking swimming lessons at the local pool. We enjoyed the 4th of July with burgers and fireworks in Wenatchee. Earlier in the Day it was the Desert Aire Firecracker Scramble. My team tied for 5th and received $37.00 each. It was a fun time and the new irons are working well. Cindy's 30th class reunion is July 15th-17th and Friday night is party night at the Gas Lamp Tavern. I will tag along to see how the group is doing. They were one of my favorite classes. Annette and I chaparoned their Senior Party. We are looking forward to the month of July as we will be spending a lot of time with the family. As the weather is finally getting hot I guess I'll have to add more water to the grass. Water is no problem this year. The Columbia as most of the other River systems of the West is full and there is much more to come. We are lucky that we don't have a flooding issue. Many parts of country aren't so lucky. More to come later.