The Orioles Have Returned

The orioles are eating at the feeders and it is wonderful.  The Evening Grossbeaks and the Rose Breasted Grossbeaks are in also.  Spring has sprung.

KYLIE'S FIRST COMMUNION

We went to Holy Trinity Catholic Church for Kylie's First Communion mass.  Then we went to St Stans Field House for a very nice part to celebrate her and Ryann's First Communion.  What a precious Grand Daughter !

A Sleepy Mom

Well mom has been sleeping for two days.  I went to see her on Thursday at about 9:30 and thought she would be up and waiting for me and she was sound asleep in bed.  Then on Friday I got there about 11 and found the same thing.  I told the staff to get her up by 9 am now.  She slept all day Thursday and Friday.  We will give her until Monday to get rested up.

Today we move my mom "up north"

Well today we packed up and moved my mom 100 miles north.  Everything went well except it really rained bout half way up and a few things got wet.  Mom is very overwhelmed with people all over her checking her health, getting the phone and cable working and just totally new surroundings after 11 years.  She is now living at THE BROOK in Grayling, Mi.

Rainy and cold 4-20-12

Today was errand day. I had a teeth cleaning appointment, banking, pop bottles into the store, thrift shop drop off and a small amount of grocery shopping. I finished all of that by 1 and went upstairs to sew, after a little lunch. I am working on the Divorced Farmers Wife. I am almost caught up. I am also going to try to do some by hand. I really need a hand project for evenings and such. I have been knitting socks for about 2 years and Mike and I definitely have enough socks ! !

Meeting with Sheffield Bay 4-17-12

Well my mom has been living at Sheffield Bay Assisted Living for 11 years and we had a meeting with them today and they are saying mom has to move because she is needing a Hoyer Lift and they do not use them. At times mom does not help with assists and they feel it is a danger to her and their staff in case she fell. Wow this is a tough one with her being 87 years old and being there for so long. The Brook Assisted Living allows Hoyer Lifts in their facility and it is only 30 minutes from me. We are going to be moving mom there next month. I certainly hope and pray the move isn't too hard on her.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

We had a lazy morning with the kids and Ron even came over. After the kids left I headed over to Judy's for the finale of Crafting Weekend. It sure was a great group of women, as usual. I believe there were as many or more quilters as scrapbookers. I worked on my block of the month for THE QUILT SHOW.com. It certainly is working up beautifully. It is a good lazy rainy/cloudy Sunday.

Weekend with the kids

Becky and family came up to celebrate Mike's Birthday. Chris brought his Weber grill to grill/smoke a pork loin. I made potato salad, sweet corn and strawberry shortcake to go with. What a great meal ! ! ! We bought Bryce a t shirt at the Grand Canyon with a saying on the back "Just Go Hike A Canyon". We bought Kylie a necklace with her name and then at Bealls I found her an adorable jean skirt and a cute pair of jeans. The day was absolutely beautiful with sunshine and mid 70's. I uncovered the south garden of it's winter leaf covering. We took a walk after dinner with flashlights and that was great fun. What a blessed day.

4-9-12 visit with mom

Well since I haven't been on the road in so long.....down to Bay City I go. Mom was so happy to,see me. She got a huge smile on her face. She was doing ok. She did ask some questions and was alert. Her notes said she had a rough weekend and she is not helping much in transferring. God Bless us all to make the right decisions for her!!!!!

Busy week 4-12-12

Wow, does time fly, or what????? I have been busy catching up with mail, paperwork, laundry and just everyday stuff. Had a physical today, picked up the taxes and got some groceries. I actually got some paper piecing templates printed today to, hopefully, sew on tomorrow. I am working on the BOM on The Quilt Show.com. It is absolutely beautiful but I am 2 months behind.

HOMEWARD BOUND April 7, 2012

This is our last day of travel. We woke up fairly early and were on the road by 8:30. We stopped in Rockford to the Meijers for supplies and were home about 4. It was a h are decision not to go and see mom but I knew we would be so ready to,get home it wouldn't of been worth it. The house is fine and we got everything out of the car and sort of arranged. Wow do we have the mail!!!! There really is NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!!!

HAPPY EASTER

HAPPY 65th BIRTHDAY to my wonderful hubby!!!!!

Well it has been puttin "stuff" away and cleaning up some today. I did put a ham and baked potatoes in the oven. So Ron came for dinner and we actually got the house looking half way decent!!!! Now I am watching the Masters and doing absolutely nothing. Tomorrow off to Bay City to see my mom.

Indiana bound

I am currently sitting in the hotel watching the Masters and deciding what sounds good for dinner. It is going to be a culture shock to have to cook again!!!!! Just kidding.

We decided on Mexican fare and there is a restaurant right in the same complex with the here in Merrillville IN called THE TACO DEPOT, we both ordered the enchilada dinner and they offered 3 different sauces. In hindsight we should of ordered different ones but we both ordered thes salsa verde white sauce of sour cream and cheese that they make from scratch and it was AWESOME!!!!!! I told Mike I wouldn't be surprised if they made their own tortillas. They were like creeps so light. It was definitely the best enchiladas I have ever had!!!! The menu is at http://www.thetacodepot.com/index.php/mexican-food

April 4 on to Iowa

Well we are leaving Nebraska and headed east to Clive Iowa. The day is beautiful and the trip is great. We saw a numerous amount of turkey with the toms all puffed up trying to impress the females. Every thing is green and lush. Spring has sprung!!! We arrived in Clive and I headed for a quilt shop 7 minutes away. What great fun. I found the "sale" room and enduldged. Just needed the down time from driving and there is no better way, for me, than a quilt shop!!!!! Clive Iowa is a very nice and cute town. Again, the LaQuinta is also very nice.

April 3

Well it is the fuel pump and it will be repaired today. Talk about time going slow just waiting. All of our winter clothing is in the car so I have sandals to wear in over 20 inches of snow!!! Not the best case scenario. I did get a lot of reading done.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Well the car has been repaired and the roads are passable. Even the people at thr reception desk at the LaQuinta in Trinidad CO were so happy for us to be able to get on or way this morning. Everyone there was so friendly and if you have to be stranded it is a great place for it to happen.

We are heading to North Platte NE. The Rocky Mountains are breathtaking. We passed Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs and The Airforce Academy. There wasn't even snow an hour north of Trinidad. Crazy spring storm. Sure felt good to be traveling again!!!!

We ate dinner at Whiskey Creek Saloon and Steakhouse. I ordered a flat iron steak that was wonderful. I started with a house salad with some sort of French dressing that is found in Nebraska and that was very good. The steak was accompanied by asparagus, so I felt it was a nutritious and light meal. Mike ate about half of my steak so that was a good thing also.

April 2, 2012

We got the car into M & M Auto Repair right away this morning. They will do a diagnostics on it and we will go from there. It doesn't sound like we will be going anywhere today. The LaQuilta here in Trinidad, CO is very nice and accommodating us well. Great breakfast of French toast and sausage. So we certainly are in a good spot to wait for some news and/or repair of the car.

My mom is not doing very well. I called her yesterday and she was telling me that my dad didn't come home last night. My dad past away in 2000. So wow that was HARD and with the car issues and being so far away UGH!!!!!! I called today and she is sleeping a lot and definitely has some changes going on. Sheffield, the assisted living, said they didn't feel she was readying to pass quickly but just changing. So hopefully Iwill be able to get home for her, I know that Jesus would make sure of that!!!!!

ONTO COLORADO

We made our way to Trinidad Colorado. It was not without incident. Our fuel pump or something like that is getting much worse. We stopped every time we were anywhere near 3/4 of a tank of gas and still stalled out numerous times and had to pull over and restart it. Thank God we were able to limp to the hotel. We did stop in Santa Fe and totally enjoyed that town. My friend Judy has sang it's praises for years so I had to check it out. Went to Old Town to the Portal and I purchased a brass bracelet and earrings made by Navaho. Nice town sure wish we could of spent more time to investigate it as it should be explored. Hopefully we can get the car repaired quickly tomorrow and be on our way to North Platte, NE. The weather is looking wintry so time will tell.

LEAVING ARIZONA HEADED HOME

we left this morning about 9:30. We are headed for Gallup, NM. Everything is going along fine, until we see brake lights up ahead on Highway 40. We spent 2 hours in a makeshift parking lot. The culprits were road construction taking it down to 1 lane and a semi on fire. Wow did that thing burn, the cab was totally gone and even the trailer was really damaged. Then we are going along and the cruise shuts OFF and I have no gas, so I pull over and restart it, WHEW!!!!! About an hour later it shuts down again so repeat the process and Thank God it worked again. We fill the tank up with high octane Shell gas and settled in the Gallup Laquinta for the night. Our plan is to keep it 3/4full and see if we can get it home before we have it repaired.

3/26/12

Every Monday I have been doing Shopping Therapy at my most favorite place BEALL'S OUTLET. This is my last Monday to indulge ! ! ! I got Kylie a pair of jeans and a way too cute jean skirt. Along with many other "items". Too fun. Too thing they don't have a store anywhere close to where we live. An absolutely beautiful day. High 70's, sunny and a nice breeze.

HOOVER DAMN AND LAS VEGAS TRIP

Mike and I headed out to The Hoover Damn this morning. It is mind boggling to imagine how anyone can even think of building something like that let alone actually bring it to fruition!!!!

Then we went over to Las Vegas to go to the APPLE store in The Forum Shops. My nieces and nephew and their spouses were visiting Vegas and staying at the Flamingo so we stopped by and visited with them by the pool. I just love to see them whenever I can, which is NOT ENOUGH. Emilee had a video on her IPHONE of Lillian and Ella walking, too cute!!!! She says they are laughing all of the time. They don't even weigh 20 pounds.

So on to the APPLE store. What a great time. It is like going to a family reunion everyone is connected by their love of their APPLE products!!!!! There was a guy there from Costa Rica buying 2 4s IPHONES. One for himself and one for his girlfriend. The IPADS were the main attraction. It was great to see so many people in there and buying not just looking!!!!!!

3/16/12

Really moving slow today……82 degrees and beautiful AGAIN. Judy checked the
house today and said it looks like we survived the electrical outage ok. She said it
is to be 70+ degrees in Lovells and to get warmer for the next week.
CRAZY WEATHER

GRAND CANYON 3/14/12

We headed to THE GRAND CANYON this morning, about a 3.5 hour trip. We
stayed at the Yavapai Lodge. We parked there and took busses everywhere. We got off the bus and walked to the "rim". On the way we were asking each other "where is it" and then BAM it is in your face and ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING. What an AWESOME SIGHT. It was a true religious experience. There are really no words to do it justice. We had
dinner at the El Tovar Lodge right on the edge of the “rim”. What a wonderful day!

3/8/12

We went to breakfast at Hash Browns a go go at the Imperial Palace. It was a
great breakfast and huge quantities. Mike is still totally bummed out about losing
the money so when we went back to the Mirage to check out he put $20 into a
Wheel of Fortune machine and make $250.00. So we left quickly while the going
was good

3/7/12 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

We went to Vegas and the drive over was absolutely beautiful going over the
mountain. But we weren’t too impressed with the slot machines. I put in $40 with
absolutely no returns so I went off the The Fabric Boutique, man did I have fun
there ! ! ! ! I blew $200 but it was definitely worth it. I walked in and all fabric was
30% off and all tools 20% off, how could I refuse, hahahahahah. We stayed at the
Mirage and we went to dinner with Becky, Chris, Doug, Ava, Fran, Paul and Beth.
They sang happy birthday and it was a fun time. We went to see Terry Fador and
that was WONDERFUL….We met up with Becky at New York New York and
played some blackjack with Becky’s help and won back some of the money Mike
put into slot machines

3/5/12

I took the car in to get the oil changed and they told me that the rear brake cylinder
is leaking. The quoted price was $ 318. I called Mike and he told me to bring it
home. I saw a repair place on the way back and we went there. He told us it was
the rear axle seal. So he replaced that for $215. Oh well

3/4/12

We are going to Oatland today. It is an old mining town with mules roaming at will
and sound interesting. It is 60 degrees at 7 am so should be an awesome day.. It
was great fun. The mules are crazy just roaming around and if you buy a bag of
feed they are your best friends until it is gone. The bank robbery re-enactment was fun and it was an absolutely gorgeous day.

3/3/12

I actually did some sewing today. Jenny got in the dog bag and ate 2 of Jesse’s heartworm, so far the only problem is the little thing is pooping more, what a crazy
critter. We went to Laughlin NM and Mike won $ 176.00 on his first $5.00. I just
lost and lost about $15.00 total. Way to boring and a really sad environment for
me, but Mike had a great time and he won so that is great. Lovells got 14 more
inches of snow last night. Ron doesn’t have power so we probably don’t either so
good bye plants and maybe water pipes. Sure is beautiful here 76 and still windy
but not as bad.

DAY 6 OF OUR TRIP WEST 3/1/12

We are actually going to arrive at our destination of Bullhead City, Arizona. We traveled through wind big time. The house is "tired" but the setting is absolutely wonderful. Right on the Colorado River and mountains all around us. We have a gazebo by the river for dining and 2 docks on the river for laying in the sun. Too bad it is windy and cool so far.

DAY 5 OB OUR TRIP WEST 2/29/12

Off to Albuquerque, New Mexico today. Many more miles of land and cattle. All the way through Texas too.

DAY 4 OF OUR TRIP WEST 2/28/12

We head for Yukon, Oklahoma today. Wow talk about miles and miles of NOTHING. Wind farms and cattle. You could see FOREVER and not see a single home. Warm though. We saw robins and cardinals at a rest stop. YEAH

DAY 3 OF OUR "TRAVELS" WEST 2/27/12

I call the wrecker as soon as I found a repair shop. They haul our car away and we wait. I finally call and they tell me that it started right up when they got it to them!!!!!! So they do some extra testing and change the gas filter. It's 3 p.m. When we take off for St. Louis, Missouri.

DAY 2 OF OUR TRIP WEST 2/26/12

We are ready to head out. The Tahoe is packed up, the dogs are in the back seat and we had enjoyed our complimentary breakfast. I turn the key and it grinds but will not turn over.....GEEZ!!!!! We try a few times with the same result. AAA is called to send a wrecker to bring us some gas since we finished the day before with less than a quarter of a tank, so that seemed logical. The wrecker arrived with the driver covered with as many tattoos on his body that I wanted to see and many piercings.....he put a gallon or so of gas in and nothing......so since it is Sunday there are no auto repair shops open since now we are thinking it is a fuel pump. So we stay another night in Merrellville, Indiana. The staff at the LAQUINTA'S a have so nice and accommodating.

GOING WEST TO ARIZONA 2/25/12

Mike and I with our English Setter, Jesse and our Cocker Spaniel, Jenny left Northern Michigan headed for Arizona on March 25, 2012. We have never been west so it was an exciting day. We stopped in Bay City to see my mom and then on our way to our first stop in Merrellville, Indiana. We always stay at LAQUINTA's because they are pet friendly and nice enough.