Let’s Catch Up…

Well, let me see, if my calculations are correct, it has been about three weeks since my last blog.  And, after being prodded by several of my readers, I decided that I better try to catch up!

When I last blogged, we were on our way home from the Rio Grande Valley for the holiday season.  But, before landing at home, we spent a wonderful week at Cowtown RV Park with great friends.  I won’t relive that to you as…

Joe, Weldon, and JB, kept their blogs updated and you were all well informed of the fun we had while together.  The only thing I could add…is that Mark and I were so blessed to be able to spend Thanksgiving with in our hometown with a great bunch of friends.

The week passed by far to quick, and we soon found ourselves having to say  “see ya” until next time.

Mark and I traveled 3 miles east and settled in at Karen and Kenneth’s.  With Thanksgiving behind us, it was time to start with the Christmas decorations.

  So, it was out with

the tree and a

Santa here or there and I was done.

Then it was on to the shopping…and with list from five grandkids, it was going to take a little time.  Thank goodness for online shopping, which took care of several items I could not find.  Once all the shopping was finished, it was time to sort and

wrap.

And, thanks to

Kourtney, who with help from her mom, got the big tree decorated.  Now, I have a place to put all those gifts.

  She also did a great job helping her dad

decorate the outside.

She also put up her nativity set…not sure how the

donkey got the angel’s job!

With the decorating, shopping, and wrapping behind me, it was time for Mark and I to start all the annual doctor appointments.  Mark managed to get his done in two visits, while I am still visiting doctors, labs, and imaging centers.  Guess it takes a lot of routine maintenance as we age. But, I can’t complain…I do report that so far all is good and hope that the rest of the appointments turn out as well.  We are so thankful to be blessed with good health.

In addition to the routine maintenance for ourselves, Mark has been staying busy doing a little routine maintenance on the motor home.  He changed

 

water filters and drained the hot water heater so he could change

the anode rod.  I think it needed it!

He also has spent quite a bit of time researching a water softener for the motor home.  We hook up to so many different water systems across the country and, because we know that the water in the Rio Grande Valley is very hard, we decided it would be beneficial for us.  So, after much research, he decided on the

 

Mark 8000 from Flow Pur.  It, of course depends on the hardness of the water, but, it should take care of about 800 gallons of water before going through the regeneration process which operates with a box of table salt. We are certainly hoping it will do the trick for us…I will have to report back in a month or so.

His list of “to do’s” also included getting the cover for the Jeep repaired.  It had with wear become torn in a couple of spots.  John Brown has the same cover as we do, and he told Mark to ship it back to the company and they would repair it for no cost.  So, we did, and all it cost was the shipping.  It should arrive back to us “good as new” in the next few days.  Thanks John!  

Then, with that project behind him, he started researching a bike rack for the Jeep.  I have heard from a reindeer that Santa might be delivering us a couple of new bikes.

Then, there are those projects that just happen!  Yesterday, as Mark was going out the door, the

glass in the front screen just broke right in his hand.  Not the first time this has happened to us.  The first time, we sent to Tiffin for a new piece of glass.  This time, we went to Ajax Glass, a local company, here in town and are having them make us a plastic replacement section.  Hopefully, this will take care of the problem.

Even though our days have been filled with lots of projects and appointments, there have also been fun family times.  We enjoyed having our

great-nephew home from Colorado for Thanksgiving.  In this picture, he is singing a song about a turkey.  His grandma, my younger sister, had to help out just a little.  Great song, Kyle, Aunt DD and Uncle Mark were sure glad you got to be home for a few days.

Then, there has been hockey with our three grandsons…

Andrew is playing on his first organized team, while

 

Zachary is taking skating and stick and puck classes and…then there is

Caden, who thinks he is as big as the other boys.  He will be starting skating classes after the first of the year.

Lauren is still playing

 

volleyball and loving it.

Kourtney is just busy being

a princess…entertaining us with song and dance.

Everyone is out of school tomorrow, and, I am sure that between now and Christmas, our days will be filled with lots of fun.  We have a baking day and a sleepover planned…and who know what else make take place when the five of them get together.  But, that is what makes the holidays special to us.

For now, I think…we are caught up on the news from here.  And, as I close this blog post, we hope each of you are enjoying the Christmas season.

See you back here real soon.