Silent Night

It's been hard to get online lately but I did get some time now. Gene has been having some health problems. Christmas Eve was a cold windy Silent Night. Kate & Walt created a tree to put the family heirloom candles on. The winds swept thru the area to keep the flames flickering brightly. We only had 5 lit out of nearly 50 that was available. Gene was able to look out the window to watch the lighting. Our Christmas gifts to each other was being able to spend some time together shivering under the nearly full moon.

We decorated a bush outside with some ornaments that danced in the wind. We were able to get Gene some meds to lighted up his pain and then we waited.

We moved closer to what we thought would be warmer temps for everyone to Gold Rock Ranch on Ogilby Rd. NOT. The temps are just as cold and windy. We are together and thats all Walt asks for right now.

Gene got over the sore throat but ended up with back troubles which make him unable to walk very well. Pray that the cancer isn't affecting his back and the troubles are just a pinched nerve.

It's time consuming to post too many pics right now. We are suffering thru getting online via the phone and that is worse than dial up. At least it is. Hugs to all and Happy New Year.

Trailer Troubles fixed

We are on the road now for a few weeks. Heading south to AZ for some quality time with Walt's brother & his wife Kate. Gene is battleing prostate cancer and is undergoing some Chemo treatments. Right now he's doing sort of ok and wanted to spend some time with Walt. So, we are headed first to Quartzsite then on to Yuma. We hope to catch some warmer weather. I'm really sad I missed that snow storm but am not sad abt the cold weather. On our way to St. Geo we experienced the first of our troubles. One of the trailer tires started separating and was bouncing hard enough for some other traveler to notice and tell us. Ugh. We gased up and had the spare swapped out. The tire changer told us the other tires were cracked also. So much for maintenance... So, we gritte our teeth and prayed that we'd make it into St. Geo missing rush hour traffice with out any misshaps. Whew! we did. Not being a drinker, all I could think abt was getting a drink to settle my nerves. When we got in the door at Gene & Kate's I ordered a DOUBLE shot of Gingerale and downed it. All was better then for the nerves. hehehe
More on the next stage later... ok, now is later...
We took the trailer in for new tires and come to find out the tires we thought we 6 years old were actually 10 years old. Ugh. As well, the wheel bearings needed repackng. We found that out after the tires were put on. So that meant another day in St. Geo while we waited for our turn. We did some food shopping, organizing the inside of the trailer and getting Gene & Kate in order also. They were lent a motorhome for this trip. They know nothing abt RVing but we are going to educate them. Wish us luck. I might be off line for a bit, but that doesn't mean we won't be thinking abt all our family & friends.
Here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Jingle Elfs

I just ELFed us.... check it out. Happy Holidays to all http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1423361300

O Taununbaum O Christmas Tree

Today I finally got the ornaments on the tree. It's been up for a few days with lights on, but today the bulbs went on. Could have something to do with the fact that I have been out of town 5 out of the past ten days and was exhausted. The other 2 just aren't decorating people. They love it when it's all up though. Now - the wrapping begins.

Eat drink and be merry

It's tough trudging thru all that snow looking for the perfect tree, but I found one.

Dave & Donna took out out to dinner at the Red Lobster the other night for a post celebration of Walt's birthday. The jacket Dave is wearing was handmade by their son Kurt who is in NY, NY studying the design of mens clothing. He did a very nice job on it.

The tree in our front yard is having a very hard time holding up under the weight of the recent snow fall. The snow was perfect for snowman making as it was so very wet.

Let it snow - Let it snow

This is KC. She is my sisters dog and the guarder of the place. She is in her element in the new fallen snow. She just hangs outside for hours watching every snow flake fall.

We have had a taste of winter even thought it isn't officially here yet. This tree looks so beautiful all dressed in white. It's in the back yard. Our trailer looks cold and lonely, but that change soon enough. We are taking it south for a little warming up soon. The barometer shows how low it was when this storm came thru. LOVE the white, but the low pressure sure plays havoic on the OLD bodys.

See what I See

One of my most favorite things to do at Christmas time is visit a See's Candy Store. If I had my drothers, I would buy a pound, ok, maybe just a 1/2 pound of milk chocolate covered vanilla butter cream. I've ben known to eat a whole half pound at one sitting. YUMMMMMM

Family sports

Earlier this past fall my sister Patty (on the left), her hubby Ruggy(one the right) drove from the Gilroy, CA area down to the LA area to watch and chear on their son Daniel at a track bike race..

They were joined by our brother's daughter Anola to watch a great race. When Daniel was abt 11 or so, the same family members went to watch Anola at a swim meet in San Jose.

They haven't seen each other since then. I haven seen here since she was abt 4. She sure is a beauty. She is engaged to be married next August in the LA area. Here's wishing her well.

Can't click it

Will someone tell me again how to add the links to words (click here to go there). I remember Traci telling how to but didn't do it enough to remember how. HELP! Thanks

Stuffed to the bird

After a morning low of 6F the day got off to a perfect holiday. Dave Garner and his daughter Kaziah went with Mel to cut down their respective Christmas trees.
Some people just can't get away from their jobs... he used his logging truck to get to the site and haul it back.

The rest of the girls stayed behind to cook for the afternoon Thanksblessings.

I know these tasted just as good as Stacy's, but I had my hand in making these rolls.

They were so yummy. What was so great abt this gathering was that none of the food was packaged or premade - it was all made from scratch. LOVE IT.

Tom the turkey gave his all for the group. He joined the salads, scalloped potatoes, relish tray, the ham, the corn, deviled eggs and the green beans to help us all STUFF ourselves. There were pies and more pies to top it all off. Thanks to all who shared this with us. We are thankful for those that were a part of our THANKSBLESSING.

One of our Thanksblessings was the most beautiful sunsets to end the day.
Blessings on all of you....

Thanksblessings

I am very thankful for the many blessings I have in my life such as the eyes to see the sunrise and... the sunsets.

I am thankful for the friends I have made over the years. These are some from Arco, Id where we are for the Thanksgiving weekend. (r-l) Kendra, Karen, Shouanna, Keri & Kaziah. These are the bestest friends ever. No matter how long it is between visits, we can just pick up as if we'd seen each other just a few mins ago.

This is Walt & Mel. Mel is Shouanna's husband. Together they own the Mountain Man Trading Post in Arco. It's a cute little country store that sells gifts, ice cream, pizzas and sandwiches. The have a few Native American items that between fresh local fruit and vegetables is what they started out selling. They have become great friends.

The Garner's, where we are staying, use a wood stove to heat their home. Here Walt is doing his part to fuel the fires to keep his skinny bod warm.

A down side of Arco is the temps can get really really COLD. Last night it got down to 10F. BURRRR The windows even froze over. Thanksblessing for the wood stove.

Shutter speed working again

I bought a new camera today. A Fuji F480 8.2 mgp that really fits into my pocket nicely. They had them at Macey's grocery store on sale. I looked and looked at different cameras, but this one just said. YES! take me.. So I did. I had used up the other one to the point of it would have cost more than this new camera to fix it. Such a throw away society they have made us. We are going to save it for parts for Colleen's as hers is the same. My Dad and his sister and our old neighbors all have the SAME as C & I did. We just loved it.

Red Hatter

As Walt is now old enough to join the Red Hat Society, he's feeling great. We thought we'd join the throngs of people attending the FREE dinner at the Golden Corrals Resturant for Veteran's on Monday. Being at the end of a 2 hr line we made the decision with Dave & Donna to go someplace else even though we'd have to pay. It was too cold to stand outside for that long just to stand in line again to gather food. Walt's just not into that. So all of us, including Colleen went to a favorite place and enjoyed a good meal and were probably finished before we would have gotten seated at the GC.

Fall Back downs

This past week hasn't been all that exciting.. just working and not even out of town. Boring! But I did learn that another friend has had a blog for awhile. Her's if off myspace. She and her hubby are full time RV'ers now in San Carlos, Mexico for the winter. Sometimes I envy her for being able to just pick up and go here and there, other times I feel the nomadic life is cause you can't find just the right spot to set up camp. Kaylyn, I don't mean any ills for you, that is how it feel to me. But I sure can get into the moment wherever I am.
Now to add a downer in my world - I've used up my camera. Can you even imagine? It's like taking pics under the influence of drugs - all pschyadelic looking. I don't know what happened. Just one day it wouldn't take pics like it used to. To get it fixed would cost more than getting a new one I'm affraid. Ugh. I like the fact of it being a 3mg. I've looked at new ones and they are mostly 7 & 8 mgs now. That sure uses up a lot of mem in the aging computer. I know - put the pics on CD's to save space, but not being organzied enough to know where my pics are on which CD makes it tough to quickly find a pic. I hate to be in a downer mood, but the darkness of fall/winter takes a grip and sometimes just doesn't want to give up power. It's not always this way, just around the FALL BACK time change.

Do you measure up?

1 cup = 16 tablespoons
Half of 1 cup = 8 tablespoons
3/4 cup = 12 tablespoons
Half of 3/4 cup = 6 tablespoons
1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons
Half of 1/2 cup = 4 tablespoons
1/3 cup = 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon
Half of 1/3 cup = 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons
Half of 1/4 cup = 2 tablespoons
1/8 cup = 2 tablespoons
Half of 1/8 cup = 1 tablespoon
1/2 tablespoon = 1-1/2 teaspoons

One thing I'm learning how to do is use smaller portions when I cook. There are only 3 of us here and I seem to cook for a large group. Even left overs get lost in the frig. So I'm trying new recipes for 2-3 and I found this chart that is very helpful for someone who is mathematically challenged.

Smooth as cement...

This past week we've been having to be creative with where to park our vehicles. We have had a new driveway poured as did the neighbor to the south of us. We had to move our 5th wheel, my sister's boat, our truck, our Jeep and my sister's car to other places till the new drive is dry enough. The neighbor had to move her and her son's cars to the street as well. We were able to move our 5th wheel to a piece of real estate one of Walt's sons owns but doesn't reside at. We were able to move the boat, the neighbors pop-up trailer and my Jeep to the neighbor next to then one next to us (she doesn't drive so she doesn't own a car). We could also park Colleen's car there too if needed. Between Walt & I gone most days we were able to not have too many vehicles in the way of the workers.. 10 days ago they came and cleared the old cement off both places.

Then it RAINED. Ugh - wet soggy dirt has to be dried out before they should pour the new cement. So from Thur the 18th we have had all this chaos going on. They started FLUFFY the wet dirt on Mon the 22nd to dry it out more.

Here I am digging up a sprinkler line so it doesn't get burried in cement. On Wed they came and did more fluffing. On Thu they came and graded the dirt in both drives, then put frames up.





Fri morning at 8ish here comes the first dump truck.


Then the beehive of activity started. In the beginning there were only 3 workers doing the clearing, the hauling and the grading. But when it came time for the pouring the group had multiplied. Since they were pouring both drives, they needed lots of people at one time. Amazing how fast they worked too.

It took all day till 9pm and 3 truck loads of cement to finish off the 2 drives. They paid close attention to details which is what we liked abt their work.

We are both very pleased with the outcome and are willing to pass along their names and phones to anyone who needs work (and not just cement work either).

Flannel, Down & Snowmen

One of my most coziest feelings is slipping between flannel sheets under a down comforter on a RAINY Saturday afternoon. Today was one of those day. LOVED it. We use flannel all year long, but with my new acquisition of a down comforter it's even cozier...

Salad toppings

Have you ever gone to a resturant and have something to eat that your just really enjoyed? Well, that describes the Roquefort dressing at Finn's Cafe. It is frozen when they put it on your salad and by the time you get it at the table it is just the right consistance. It was a recipe from the original Finn's Resturant on Parley's Way in SLC. I just love it. Another salad I had recently was at the Curry Manor in Vernal, Ut. It was made up of baby spinach leaves, blue cheese crumbles, prailined almonds topped with a sweet oil/vinegar type dressing and a strawberry. YUMMMM. I didn't have my camera at dinner or I would have a pic of it too.

Family & Friends Celebrate Gene's life

Kate, Donna & Colleen... enjoying lunch with us. These are some of my fave girlfriends.




Karen, Walt & Finn (master baker at Finn's Cafe in SLC as well as being the only son of Finn & Greta Gurholt). They owned the orignal Finn's Resturant on Parley's Way.



Finn Gurholt & Walt's brother Gene at the luncheon we surprised him with. Gene & Kate are up in SLC from St. George for a ton of tests for his prostate cancer. They found out that the cancer has progressed into his spine. They have only a slim bit of hope thru some chemo treatments, but the prognosis doesn't look all that great. We all wanted him to know we CARE and wanted to celebrate life WITH him.

After lunch we all went over to Bill & Jennifer's house remodeling project in SugarHouse. They've been working on it for over a year now and still seems to need a lot done to it before it's finished. It is nice inside so far. This is Donna wondering if the garage isn't bigger than her house.
The house itself looks smaller than the garage, it's got plenty of room inside. Maybe the landscaping will take on a new look in the spring.