Christmas 2010

 

We hope everyone had a nice Christmas - we sure did. All the kids and grandkids got here by 4:00 Christmas eve and we proceeded to have a good time - eating, drinking and opening gifts. Santa Claus even showed up right after Caleb (3) called him on granpa's old cell phone to see when he was going to get to grandpa house, so was extra special watching their reactions.

Of course we had to plow snow again before they all got here - had another 6" Thursday afternoon and evening - got another inch or two last night. We broke the record for the most snow ever in December early last week and we still have 5 days of December left.

Kari's and Kelly's heading home later that evening as they live just a few miles away, Kristin and Darin's stayed over. Darin, Bee and the boys headed to Bee's mom's in the morning, we headed to church and spent all of Christmas day just laying around watching movies and napping.

Having several the neighbors over for supper Tuesday evening and then get Christmas put away so the MLS pictures can be taken and hopefully some showings start. Have 3 short weeks of work then off to TX and away from the cold and snow.

Getting the house listed and ready for Christmas Rya and her babies!

Our grandaughter Rya loves her babies - and has lots of them!!

We had new carpet installed a week ago and finally got the house put back together. Realtor wanted us to get that done before the house got "officially" listed. Looks nice - hopefully a selling point! Vicky has been busy getting decorations up and now getting presents wrapped and under the tree. Have a busy week of meetings for work and soon the weekend of Christmas will be upon us. Kids will be here christmas Eve, just hangin out on Christmas Day and then Christmas with Bob's sisters and their familiers on the 26th. Bob's niece Jen is trying to get home from England but according to her facebook entries, she snowed in at the London airport.
As you can see we have lotsa snow - another 4-6" is forecasted for Monday - I think we have enuf! More of our friends are heading south to TX right after the holidays so hopefully the weather cooperates.
Well not much else new - just counting the days till we are back in the warm country.

Winter in MN Comes Early Caleb's Birthday Party

We continue to CHILL OUT here in MN for another few weeks. And chill is the word as it was 0 here this morning after receiving another 8" of snow Friday and Friday nite. Here it is the 1st week of December and I have had to blow out the yard and driveway twice!
Been staying pretty close to home - cleaning closets, corners, cabinets - sorting, tossing and throwing a lot of stuff we just don't need anymore. Keeping the garbage can filled and another schedule trip to Goodwill this week. As soon as the carpeting is replaced this week the house will be officially listed. Realtor wanted to take some pictures with the new carpeting before putting on MLS. So we will see how it goes over the winter for showings and maybe a sale.
Last Saturday we celebrated Caleb's 3rd birthday. He celebrated with many of his cousins on his moms side of the family - they celebrated monthly birthdays - I think there were 6 or 7 birthdays. Party was in Melrose - kids had lotsa cake and the parents had a wing tasting. We came in 2nd - along with 4 others. Was a good time -got to see a lot of people we don't get to see very often.
Another busy week ahead - getting carpeting finished, meetings in St Paul Wednesday and Thursday and getting house ready for Christmas next weekend.

Back to the Cold!!

This morning we are packing up a few things and shutting down a few things at the house and heading back to cold MN for a couple months. Should be back in TX around the middle of January.

Really enjoyed the 80 degree weather nearly everyday - hopes it's warmer this year when we return than it was last year.

Had a great time just doing fun things - very little working on the house. Although we did put in a new dishwasher (old one died last spring) and then neighbors put in all new appliances so we bought their stove - nice GE smooth top. Ours was original to the house - worked but served it's time. Got my laptop desk and Vicky got a small end table so we should be good on furniture. Now wish the wood flooring was done.

Played social security with Lloyd and Gail and Ellis and Patty a couple times and learned a new card game "Somba" - much like hand and foot.

Of course there's going out to eat - Danny's, Fat Daddy's, Arribas in Mx and of course supper and at Bob and Joni's and Gil and Bev's.

Went to Mx last Tuesday with Bob and Joni - had a good time maybe a couple too many margarita's for the women - they were dancing by noon!! Hearing a lot of stories about the violence at the border but Progresso is very quiet. Military is there monitoring traffice but merchants and locals are very nice and make us feel very welcome. We are their bread and butter and they are very thankful that we come to patronize their business.

We fly out at 11:40 should be home by 8 tonight. Brrrrrrr!

TX

Friday was travel day for us - not in the 5er - but in the air - 5 hours from Mpls to Mission! Pretty uneventfull flight, had one stop in Memphis, clear most of the way so enjoyed the window seat and watched the scenery. Arrived in McAllen about 3:45, Bob and Joni were there shortly to pick us up. All was in great shape at the house - almost looked like someone had been here all summer. Hooked up the battery cable on the car and the Olds started right up! Had put new seals around the garage door last spring and they really helped to keep the dust out of the garage - car was still nice and clean.

Headed over to HEB for groceries, stopped by Lloyd and Gails but they were out somewhere. $99 later we headed home put food away then over to Danny's for our Mexican food fix. Made plans to have lunch with Bill and Mavis on Saturday and imagine we'll check in with Lloyd and Gail, Pete and Shirley, and Gil and Bev and stop to see how Bob and Joni are doing painting their house.

So all is well here. More Later

It's Getting Cold!!

Well it's not to bad today but earlier this week we were ready to get out of here!!! Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the wind blew 30-40 MPH from the W - SW along with rain and some snow - it was miserable! But only one more week and we will be in Texas for a couple weeks.

Last weekend we took our new fifth wheel out on a shakedown. Tried it out Prarie Meadows Casino at Granite Falls - . Weather was perfect and once we figured out how to get the tv's and surround system to work all was well except we didn't make enough to pay for it! So much more room with the extra slide. Kelly and Blake stayed over Saturday nite and it was very comfortable with 4 people moving around. We think it will work perfect once we sell the house. Vicky got everything put away in the new spaces - wasn't sure if everythink would fit, just took some re-arranging. Got home Sunday and got everything moved into the outside storage areas and then attempted to get it winterized. That was another struggle - took a phone call to the dealer on Monday to find out that I had one valve turned the wrong way so antifreeze would not flow thru the hot water lines. So now we have it packed away till spring.

Had the grandkids Thursday nite and D & B's boys all day Friday. Their daycare was closed due to the flu. Was a busy day but fun!

We're Still Kickin!! Fall has arrived

Where do I begin - other than it's been busy and summer has gone and fall has arrived. Guess I'll bring everyone up to date from the last post in July.


Our remodeling project is finished!!!! Bathroom looks great - Vicky loves her new tub and tile. Bryan and I are glad it's done too - what a job getting the new tub in! Garage is finished too - Darin did a great job in getting it finished off. Complete with sheetroock and textured walls and ceilings, pine trim around doors and windows, new service doors and epoxy finish on the floor - looks like a new garage!!! Thanks Darin..

Kristin and Bethany helped us paint 3 bedrooms, a bathroom and the laundry - all in one weekend and we put up some new blinds and swags so the house is looking pretty good - almost ready for listing! We also spent one weekend cleaning out the shed - kept the fire burning all day and got rid of a lot of "stuff" - treasurers as the kids say!! - that we just don't have a need for. Now we need to have a BIG garage sale in the spring.

We took in a few more polka fests - Ellsworth WI, Ottertail MN, Little Falls MN andSauk Center MN - had some great times catching up on what everyone was doing, seeing friends from Texas and people from all over MN. Ottertail and Sauk Center were first time events for us and they are on our calendars for next year - we had a great time.

In July we headed to Hinckley MN for the Kehn (Vicky's mom) family reunion. Stayed at Grand Casino campground - nice and a good value. We had full hookups with cable TV and Wifi for about $23/night. With over 100 people attending and most staying on site, Grand Casino set us up in the pool area for our get togethers - complete with grills, charcoal, trays filled with ice to keep food cool, tables chairs, etc., all at no extra charge. Was good to see some of the family we haven't seen in a long time.

Labor Day weekend we changed our plans at the last minute. The forecast was windy and rain so we decided not take in the threshing show at Rollag and instead joined a bunch of friends camping new New Ulm. We had a great time - weather there was very nice, food was abundant and we even had entertainment by a TX friend on Saturday.

Throughout the summer we kept kicking around the idea of getting a little bigger 5th wheel - since the plan is that this will be our summer home in the near future. So whenever we had a chance, we would check out the options and floorplans of many different brands. We looked at Montanas, Cameo, Brookstone, Select Suites and Cedar Creek. We have a Cedar Creek now and it and our Dealer, Rebel Camper, has treated us very well. So after getting shopping and looking and getting price quotes - we got another Cedar Creek - a 2011 34' RLSA.

We have the old one cleaned out and now we are waiting for the new one. We'd like to get everything moved in and maybe get a nice weekend to try it out yet this fall. Who know's with MN weather. This has been a great fall tho, beautiful colors, high temps maybe we will get lucky.

As you can see the grand kids keep growing and love to play in grandpa's leaves!!!

So till next time - keep in touch.