Great Family Visit and Merry Christmas

Kevin and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

We left Yuma in the early morning hours of December 11th. We had uneventful flights which is always a good thing. The skies were clear as we left Phoenix. I never realized how many mountains are around the city. There is often a haze in the air which I'm betting is caused by being in a valley.

Eric picked us up at the airport in Milwaukee, and we spent the next week at his house enjoying his company and visiting family and friends. We brought nice weather with us, as the entire time we were there it was quite pleasant for December in Wisconsin.

Korey and Cathryn came for the weekend, and we celebrated Christmas on the 15th with my side of the family and our kids. It is always great enjoying time with family. Here is my side of the family, my mom, brother and his wife, and our family. Not a very big family anymore.

And here we are with our kids.

Yesterday we found out Korey and Cathryn have added a new member to their family. They got a Goldendoodle named Remy. He is sure cute!!

A lot of work was completed on our place while we were gone. They installed the new windows and patio door, scraped the popcorn ceilings, textured and painted the ceilings and walls, and installed a new walk-in shower. There is still touch up work to be done inside, but the brunt of the work was completed. We are able to stay in the home while the rest gets finished.

The most dramatic difference is in the kitchen. We had them remove the drop down ceiling and a large upper cabinet. It really opened the place up, as you can see in the before and after pictures. We will be putting another cabinet on the wall where the old one was removed, but not as big and cumbersome looking. We will also be getting a new TV cabinet so it will not be sitting on the kitchen counter.

All of the rest of the kitchen cabinets will be replaced and be higher to the ceiling. The microwave vent will be covered as well. The shorter side will be extended so we can have a dishwasher and another cabinet there.

The refrigerator had a large cabinet structure around it. That was also removed to open things up more. We will have cabinets on the back side of the refrigerator, but not an enclosure all around it. All new appliances are being delivered on Jan. 8th.

The new shower is done in white tile and looks great. I'll post a picture next time as it doesn't have a door on it yet. That is being installed this coming week. In the meantime, we're using a shower rod and curtain, which is fine for now. The new windows also look so much better, and I'm sure will give us better insulation and noise reduction as they are dual pane versus single pane.

We will be celebrating Christmas with friends here in Yuma. We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas wherever you may be.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Keeping My Fingers Crossed

It's been a month since my last post. We've spent that time enjoying ourselves here in Yuma!

In my last post, I mentioned that we would be playing night golf. It was a lot of fun, but I was surprised how discombobulated it made me feel. The resort did a great job placing glow lights along the course, so there was no problem finding our way around. However, when it came time to hit that ball, my brain had a hard time figuring it out. A few times, I actually felt some vertigo. It was still a great time!

Last week 36 of us headed out into the desert for the first group hike of the season. We did a total of about 5 miles, so got a good workout. If you look closely, you can see the line of hikers snaking all the way back over the ridge in the photo. Kevin is in the middle wearing the gray sweatshirt. (Click on photo to enlarge).

On Thursday afternoons, we play in a Bocce Ball group. Everyone brings an appetizer, we eat together, and then we play 2 or 3 games of Bocce. There are artificial turf courts here, so it's a little different than the Bocce games we played in Wisconsin. It's a lot of fun, and a great way to meet new people. 

Sunsets in Yuma are often spectacular. Here is one we saw at Bocce. 

And here is another one from last week.

Last Thursday was the food drive in the park. A guy named Keith has been organizing this event for the past 26 years at this park. He was hoping with this year's donations to get to 100,000 pounds of food collected in that time. WOW!!! They asked Kevin if he would help this year, and if they could use our truck to pull the trailer around picking up the donations. Kevin was happy to do it. Thursday turned out to be a cold, cloudy day with rain predicted. Luckily, there was only a little drizzle a few times during their collection time.

That night it rained almost an inch. Yuma has certainly gotten more rain than normal this year. The next morning the mountains were shrouded with clouds and fog. Not a site we have seen here before.

The sun doesn't stay away for long though. Soon it was back out, and we were enjoying a nice day again.

I've been busy sewing with the quilting group. I also joined the woodworking class. This is my beginning project after the first class. I might just get it done before the end of the season :)

The windows that were ordered for our remodel are done. Tomorrow the contractor is coming to begin work. That's what I'm keeping my fingers crossed about. We've observed that work around here does not get done at the pace we are used to seeing in Wisconsin. It reminds me of what they referred to as "island time" on some of our vacations. It is definitely a different way of doing things. The plan is they will be doing the messy inside work while we are in Wisconsin this coming week. I sure hope that is what actually happens.

We leave for Wisconsin bright and early Tuesday morning. I am so looking forward to seeing our family again. I do miss those kids of ours!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!