We are Keeping Busy!

There has been a special activity on all but two days since we returned from CA, and those days have been spent painting and doing routine household chores. Yes, we had the walls painted but the previous owners made such a mess of everything they did that there was paint on the ceilings, on all the trim, on the tile, etc. Now we are going back and cleaning up all the black/brown/dark red and other dark colors that were carelessly painted everywhere. I guess they never heard of painter's tape; they certainly did not use any. Oh well, let's talk about the fun stuff.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

This was the last game for Jackson's freshman football team which was why we never considered staying in CA any longer. Remember, he is #33!

I love how my camera focused on Jackson in this shot!

They won by a significant margin so the season ended with a 6 - 3 record! The coaches gathered their team and each coach shared words of encouragement and advice.

Raising their helmets in celebration!

The entire team then faces their fans and sings the Puma Fight Song!

Jackson is third from the right.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

While running errands in town, I noticed this unusual cloud formation. It reminds of the shape of many agave or aloe plants, the wispy leaves branching up and out from a central base. Surely you noticed my Superstitions in the background!

That afternoon was the first time Rich cooked on his new grill. Those were some tasty chopped steaks!

The high point of Thursday for me though was going to Sandee's book club with her. I got to meet more of her friends and enjoy a smart conversation of varied perspectives on a book that I had recently read too! A big win-win for me!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Some of Sandee's and Shawn's college friends live here and others they see once or twice a year, usually at Alabama football games. One of those families, who live in Albuquerque, visited this weekend. Shelby loves when these families get together because they each have two girls where most of the local families they spend time with have mostly boys. We were all at Dylan's hockey game this evening, except for Steve's wife who was home preparing for all of them to watch Saturday's game at their house.

Dylan's team finally got their official jerseys; his actual number is 23. He is at the front center of this photo at the opposing team's goal.

Dylan is at face-off in this shot.

After the game he still had plenty of energy to join all the fun that the other kids were having, while the rest of us continued visiting.

Sandee and Shawn with their friends.

Saturday was one of those paint and chores days but Sunday, oh, did we enjoy

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Through Sandee and Shawn we became friends with the Young family right after the kids moved out here. Their daughter, Jordan, is an amazing rider who competes in Gymkhanas so we attend when we can.

The couple sitting nearest Rich are Jen's grandparents. Getting to visit with her grandma is an additional treat for me!

From there we went to the Queen Creek Olive Mill for a late afternoon meal. It was a perfect day to sit outside under the olive trees and savor a delicious salad and sandwich.

As we headed to our car, I took this photo...my Superstitions are in view all the way to Queen Creek!

Here is my cotton pickin' husband...giggle...getting me a cotton boll.

Here's the contraband...

Isn't it lovely? The leaves didn't even make it home before wilting, but the boll is on the window sill in front of my desk...sigh...

We hadn't seen the kids since Friday night...gasp! haha...so we dropped by their house in time to join the celebration of Dexter's third birthday. For the occasion he was wearing his new Halloween costume! In this photo he is barking excitedly because he sees Rich, and he especially loves Rich!

A plate of treats and a bag of gifts for the birthday boy!

Sandee was preparing dinner and the rest of the family was relaxing after their fun-filled weekend with friends and decorating for Halloween this afternoon.

Even though we were invited to stay for dinner, we headed on home so they could begin getting ready for the week ahead. I'm so glad because, as we neared our house, we were treated to this magnificent sky art, painted by the setting sun.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Other than checking out a couple of used vehicles late this afternoon and a delish dinner at Chipotle, our day again was spent doing laundry and painting...Rich is doing most of the painting but I do pitch in too.

Lovin' Life ~~ And All Our AZ Activities

We are AZ Home!

Before sharing a few photos of our day, I want to mention what a special date of celebration this has always been for both of our families. Three very important folks in our lives were all born on this date. Rich's mom was born on October 22, 1906, my Pauline was born on October 22, 1912, and my dad, the youngster of the three, was born on October 22, 1916. We loved them and will always miss their presence in our life.

Today we drove back to our AZ home from our fabulous visit with family and friends in sunny southern California. It's a long one day drive in the motorhome so with two stops for breaks the 460 miles took about twelve hours.

We left the campground a little after 8:00 this morning. When you're driving east early in the day, cloud cover like this is very welcome.

Looking back as we approached the Santa Susanna Pass it was sunny over Simi Valley, which is where we stayed.

I loved seeing the mountains shrouded in haze as we came down the other side of the pass.

The 118 runs high above the southern edge of  the San Fernando Valley. Again, I just wanted to capture the haze that is often seen in the mornings.

Many, many miles later we saw these mountains on the horizon...Arizona!

Wouldn't you know it? There was a crash on I-10 near the airport which delayed us some.

When we got home, it was a quick unload of the refrigerator, computers, and bathroom stuff but the rest can wait until tomorrow. What a luxury it is to have it parked next to our garage!

While we were gone, our bedroom was painted and our bathroom is nearly done. The paint colors I chose...hmmm  Oh well, I'll wait and see what it's like in the morning.

Lovin' Life ~~ And CA, but Happy to be Home

Our Last Day In CA

And on our last day here, we relaxed. Bill & Deanne came out around noon. We had lunch and then sat outside at our campground visiting.

But after a while the little bitty flies drove us inside. That was a good thing because then we started playing Farkle, as we do when the four of us are together, and we "girls" won five out of six games...yahootey!!

We all went to dinner at a mediocre rib place in Simi Valley and said our goodbyes there. Tomorrow morning we will be on our way back to AZ. What a fabulous week we have had seeing all these folks who are such a special part of our life.

Lovin' Life ~~ Visiting With Family & Old Friends

Today...We Ate!

Mid-morning we met Bill & Deanne at The Junkyard for brunch. It was recommended by our family and three out of four of us had a great breakfast...take a wild guess as to who was the fourth. Of course.

It was a great place to sit and visit for a few hours with our long-time friends though.

This is for you, Shelby...PEACE!

After a stop to check on the girls, we went back over to Ted's and Johanna's to visit. Their daughter, Christina, was there. Soon, the rest of the family came over too.

Christina

Johanna & Brewski

Ted, Brewski, & Rich

Helen, Johanna, & Marianne

On our way to dinner, Merl and Helen rode with us so we could stop at Cal Lutheran. We never knew where the memorial brick with Ted Sr's name was located on campus but Merl had found it while working one day. Merl took us right to it and I got this photo of Helen sitting next to the brick. Ted and I were both CLU Alumni and now his daughter, Judy, and his grandson, Patrick, are students there!

The ten of us went to Cisco's Mexican Restaurant for dinner. Like Rich has said, we don't remember ever having laughed so much for three consecutive days in our entire lives!

Cisco's

Judy & Barbara

Marianne, Johanna, & Helen

Ted Jr & Rich

Christina, Bev, & Merl

We all went back to Ted's for an hour or so then we said our goodbyes to all of them. Barbara flies back to Denver in the morning, Marianne flies home on Tuesday, and all the rest go back to work tomorrow. 

The girls were glad to see us get home so early!

Lovin' Life ~~ Fun, Food, Family

Ventura, CA

We party late here so I am again trying to post through bleary eyes when most of the world is sound asleep. Saturday was another perfect day...what can I say? We picked up Frank and Marion at 12:30 then drove to Ventura Harbor Village.

As we were walking down the pier, there was a crowd gathered so we checked it out. They were having a Kinetic Sculpture Race. This was the second of the three heat race. First they had raced in the water, now this figure 8 land heat, and last was a mud run. The vehicles were fun and inventive!

 And They're Off!

This was the first contestant in the mud run but they exhausted more than their allotted ten minutes without any success so we went to lunch because this was going to take forever.

My companions seemed to enjoy watching them get stuck in the mud though!

After a tasty lunch at Margarita Villa in the Village we walked across the street to Surfer's Knoll Beach. I do love me some water!

I am always the only one to walk down to the shore and into the water. That is some great exercise by the way!

Our niece, Barbara, always comments on Rich going to the beach with shoes and socks on so I posted this on FB and again here, especially for her.

Not me, I've been in the ocean and back up to where they were waiting.

We visited at their house a while then came back to feed the girls some dinner and call to see what the rest were up to. July, Merl, Barbara, and Marianne were all at Helen's so we went over there. There is no shortage of laughter when we're with any of them.

Lovin' Life ~~

Can't Wait for Tomorrow to Continue the Fun!!!