Racing and Growing

 The 8^th of November Todd came for a visit and we had a really nice visit. Dawn came over after the workman left her place so it was extra nice to have both ‘kids’ for a visit!

On November 13th we went to Phoenix International Raceway park for Larry

to ‘experience’ his birthday present, driving a NASCAR race car around the

track. It ended up being an almost all day affair as he was supposed to drive

at 2 PM but didn’t get to drive until nearly 3:30 PM. Thankfully the weather

was cooler than it has been but the sun was still brutal for Larry as he

rounded turn three looking directly into the afternoon sun! He had a good

time anyway and we were again with the kids.

 

Larry getting into car 24, the second car as the first one won't start

I’ve been wanting to plant a garden but with lumber prices sky high had

decided to forgo it for this winter. Then Dawn and Vince had something

delivered in wooden boxes that Larry was able to repair and I now have an

above ground garden with radishes, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots,

beets, Brussel Sprouts, and onions coming up. The celery has yet to show its

face but I still have hopes.  God is good all the time!

For Thanksgiving we went to our youngest grandson’s place and had a nice

day and dinner. There were 10 of us. The highlight of the day was seeing an

owl on the neighbor’s roof in the city no less. Not something that happens

very often I don’t think. Actually there were two of them but only Dawn saw

the second one as she heard it, turned around just in time to see it fly away.

                 Alex getting the turkey ready

        The owl on the neighbor's roof

      We had a beautiful sunset that I have to share!

Once again enjoying great AZ weather

Larry sneezed and blew out his top denture and broke a tooth.

Thankfully he was able to get in to see the dentist right away

AND his insurance paid for all of it. PLT!

I baked another Lemon cake with cream cheese frosting and it was better this

time. And still tasted good.

October 3 and every Sunday since we’ve been back to church in

person (due to me being able to walk in sneakers). Afterwards

we have gone for Chinese just like we used to do years ago.

Dawn and Vince went to CO to see Bethany so we took turns

checking on the cats making sure they had water and food. One

day the empty water cup was upside down in the sink showing us

they didn’t like it running out of water! Cats can be so funny

sometimes!!

Larry has been working on the replacement bumper and it is

coming right along. The photos show the new hitch and the

bumper after it was painted and drying in the backyard. 

                         What the bumper attaches to

    

                             Bumper drying in the sun

The new hitch he made saying he should have done this a long time ago!

                 Getting the wiring out of the way so he could weld

   I found

a neat sign that I had to get for Larry and it is now on the door of

his Man Cave. See picture for what is says. 

I found a recipe for no bake Lemon Cheesecake and that’s the

new favorite dessert now! Really good and simple plus I like the

NO BAKE!

We have charged the new car a few times (still have less than

1800 miles on it since May) and I figured out it costs us 2¢ a mile

to drive it. Considering recent gas prices, I think we made a wise

decision!

I had a nice visit with my friend Judy and she was able to see our

new set-up. Since the weather has been so nice recently, we

stayed outside the entire visit.

Today is our third great grandchild’s 3rd birthday so Happy

Birthday, Iliana!

New Beginnings

 

We started off the month with Vince and Dawn treating us to Red Robin for Larry's birthday. Then on Sept 11 we had a party for him at the Phoenix City Grill and had a great time seeing folks we hadn't seen in quite awhile. It was extra special as our granddaughter from ID flew in for the weekend.

I was given the OK to walk in my boot so I was grateful I didn't have to have my knee walker during the party. I've since graduated to sneakers but still have to be careful as my foot swells and gets sore. I use a cane just to be on 

the safe side.

The weather has cooled some so Larry has been outside finishing up the gate opener and putting a stack on the exhaust for our furnace/water heater so it goes up and over the RV cover as well as the house. He put a fan in it to help remove the hot air as well as to cool the air down. The pipe still gets to 160° so NO TOUCHING!

Larry liked his lemon cake so well I decided to try it again only this time I modified the frosting and cut the sugar in half and doubled the cream cheese and it came out much better. At least it didn't split

in two from the weight of the frosting! I also made it two layers instead of three so there wasn't as much frosting needed.

On Sunday the 26 th we had a nice nearly all day gentle rain that gave us half an inch of rain so the yearly total is now 7.54", more than twice what we had last year. We’ve also had rain go around us on all sides since then but I don't mind as it has given us cooler temps especially at night.

Moving forward

 August was unusual this year as we had a whole week without 100º temperatures and rain for several

days in a row!  More like it used to be when we first arrived in AZ in 1977 as the ‘monsoon’ rain

 would roll in around 3-3:30 every afternoon for most of the month of August and the last part of July. 

This year was different as the rain seemed to come whenever it felt like it be it afternoon, evening or night!

We really need the rain and I’m grateful for it but now we have mosquitoes as well as really pretty

green trees and lots of weeds!  

 Our weather gauge showing it was really raining!  (cats and dogs)

Larry is most happy to have our new car back and looks forward to driving it whenever he can. I

haven’t really gone anywhere except to visit doctors and Larry is still doing the shopping but I’m

slowly getting back into cooking and dishwashing. Hopefully soon things will be back to normal

again.

One of the things I did before I broke my ankle was open and close the gate whenever we left in the

car. Larry has had to do that recently so he ordered a gate opener and when it was cooler outside he got

busy putting it in. He had a few interruptions like a water leak which took him a day and a half to fix

but he finally was able to get it working Aug 30. Of course now I am able to put pressure on my ankle

and hopefully soon will be walking normally again when I can open the gate and the opener won’t be

needed, but it will come in handy when it is raining and we need to leave or come home.  

             Putting in the control box for the electric gate opener

         Attaching the opener to the gate

I baked a lemon cake for Larry’s birthday and it turned out ‘unusual’ as it weighed 7 lbs and the

frosting (also lemon) split the cake in two. It spite of what it looked like it was good and lemony like

Larry likes. We froze much of it as it was way too much for us all at once!  

       The really heavy lemon cake for Larry's birthday

Too many Bumps

 The eye surgery July 1 lasted over an hour also as the new lens also dislodged and another lens was put in, this time sewed to the white of my eye. It is going well as I can see much better now although not as well as in May before all this happened. The surgeon had told me I would be near-sighted because of where he had to place it. It is still a bit red and swollen a little but with all my eye went through, I can’t blame it for being sore!

July 6 I hit a big bump and slipped and fell out the MH and dislocated and broke my right ankle. God

is good and at the time I felt no pain. Larry took me to the ER where the ER doctor put it back in place

and splinted it and said I needed to see a surgeon ASAP. I saw a really nice foot surgeon and one week

later I spent the day in the hospital to get my ankle repaired. Again God was good and I had no pain

while in the hospital. I have a knee walker and the challenge of getting around in very small spaces.

Larry has been a wonderful trouper, cooking, doing dishes and cleaning as well as being my ‘go-fer’.

He, surprisingly, is a good cook! He put in grab rails in the shower so I can get in and out as well as a

grab bar on the foot of the bed so I can pull myself up into bed. He had to take up all the throw rugs as

I promptly fell on the knee walker when it hit a rug. Fortunately I was able to catch myself before

hitting the floor.  

                         One of the two new grab bars in the shower

The other new grab bar in the shower plus the leg bag to cover my foot so it doesn't get wet

Basically the only places we have gone this month are to the doctor’s office (several different ones) as

the only way I can get in or out of the MH is on my fanny, each step at a time. I’m building up my arm

muscles though!

Another bump was our new car at 707 miles died because coolant leaked into a motherboard and it has

taken a month to find and get the part. The dealership called today to say it is ready to be picked up

which Larry will do on Monday.

One good thing is the temperatures have been cooler and we’ve had some rain which is most needed!

In fact I don’t ever remember three days in a row in July being below 100º!

We did go to Dominick’s 2nd birthday party in Gilbert July 24 (great grandson whose Dad is Alex) and

had a fun time.  

    

                                       Opening one of many presents

                           Singing Happy Birthday to Dominick who turned two July 28

                                       Awesome birthday cake!

                                         Shane with LaTia and Alex in the background

                                  Dawn and great grandpa Larry

July 30 was Dawn’s retirement day and Vince set up a very nice display of all her awards and badges,

pins, etc showing her 20 years as a Phoenix police officer. He took her out to eat and then we played

Mexican train with Vince winning. 

Too Hot Too Soon!

I started June off by having eye surgery on my right eye. It seems the IOC that was put in 20 years ago

for cataracts dislodged and I couldn’t see clearly. This happened in May and took almost a month to

get everything in place for the surgery. However, it did not go as well as planned so this afternoon,

July 1, I’m having another eye surgery to have it repositioned. Hopefully this time will work! Today’s

surgery is supposed to take two minutes as opposed to the last surgery which was an hour.

Our oldest grandchild, Cerét and family moved to Idaho and June 5 they had a going away party at

their house in Mesa. We had a really good time and met some of their friends. 

It is hard to see them leave AZ!

!

                                Grandson Alex nearly lost his left eye 18 months ago so we were playing around!

                            All the guys in the family

  

                               All the girls in the family

                          Larry with our two children

It has been really hot for June reaching 117º and staying above 110º for many days. Of course since

then the NW has experienced temperatures just as hot and they are not used to such high temps! Really

grateful we are NOT in OR this summer! As a result of my vision being “two vision” meaning I see

two different views out of my eyes, I have not felt safe walking at night so have not walked for the last

month and really miss walking! (It has been too hot to walk during the day.)

Granddaughter Bethany and her new beau, Dax, made a one day trip to AZ to pick up the last of her

furniture and possessions. We all went swimming in the afternoon and then went to the Angry Crab for

dinner. The pool was really refreshing and we had a fun time at dinner getting to know a little more

about Dax. The consensuses was that he is ‘approved’.

 

                         Vince and Dawn at Angry Crab

       

                                Bethany and Dax at Angry Crab

Relaxing by the pool 

Todd came for a visit on the 23rd for Father’s Day and he couldn’t have picked a nicer day! First off it

RAINED and the temp went down to 72º so we sat outside most of the time he was here as it was so

nice. We had a wonderful visit! 

                     Todd getting ready for a ride in the new car

                               Todd and his Dad

For the first time in a long time, Larry, Dawn and I won at Train (three different nights) as Vince

usually wins four out of five nights in a row. Makes the game more interesting for us but not for Vince!