Yes Hi Again! We have had some quiet weeks since our trip to Sedona...just doing this and that's!
We enjoy continuous hikes around the area. Lots of hiking paths to enjoy! We take our day pack and sometimes we pick up a Subway sandwich and then go off unto the trails! Of course we have a weekly errands to run too.
I have been invited to a Ladies meeting on Wednesday's and that has been wonderful! Always such a special time!
One of my desires when I would "retire" was to pick up the guitar again...and I have been doing just that! Getting back to playing my chords and getting those fingers to stretch and strum - takes time and the callouses on the finger tips have to be built up again! Ouch! But it is coming along and so I hope to find a group in Bend to stay with the practice and learn!
So many have encouraged me (Thank you!) about our Blog. I have always wanted to do a little writing and so I have started a new blog and it is called
"Words that Encourage!" (www.hiswordalamp.blogspot.com) These are scriptures & verses that the Lord has given me through the years and I have expounded on them. Just putting into writing the encouragement God has given me through the years! That has been special for me personally just to get it on paper (well blog - that is!) I hope it may bring encouragement to others as well!
Nick & I have also decided to write down some of our family history. People keep saying "you should share the stories about your heritage!" We both have a family member on both sides who are doing a Diemel Ancestry search and also my cousin in Holland is doing a Baidenmann family history search! I think it is pretty amazing that even these names crossed it's path in a cemetery in Chimahi/ Bundung, Java where Nick's father and my grandfather are buried in the very same Memorial Military Grounds! Can you believe that? We were so overwhelmed to find this out a few years ago and of course we had to go see it for ourselves when we were in Indonesia! And the neat thing is that there are a total of 7 of these Dutch Military
Cemeteries in Java and both his father and my grandfather are there buried n the one cemetery! Amazing right?
We have also enjoyed some painting - Nick is a wonderful artist and I have done a little in the past...so on a quiet afternoon we will pull out the brushes and canvas and each do a little work....it gets really quiet here in the motor home because we are intently concentrated - ha!.
Nick & I have really enjoyed playing pool at the clubhouse here in the park. Several times a week we will play a good competitive game(s) together! We are both very competitive and yes we both enjoy winning too-ha! So we are working hard on our skills and angles and just love those balls to fly into those pockets! We have enjoyed playing 8 ball but recently we have been very competitively playing 9 ball - a little different which as you can figure is using only 9 balls. You shot the balls in sequence 1 through 9 - and every time you aim the white cue ball at the following number ball - you must at least tap it...or the next person can pick up the white cue ball and place it at the right angle to hit that following ball into a pocket! It has been fun and so far so good....I have beat him a few times! Ellen likes - very much...but Nick - well he is just good..and he too gets the balls just where they need to go! His smile is much brighter though when he wins! Ha! Sorry Nico!
Slowly but surely ever since April 1st, the people all around us in he park are leaving to head home - either by car or flying out or driving their RV's or 5th Wheels home to Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Colorado, Kansas, Virginia...we can't believe all these retired people and yes many are in their mid 80' and they are all still doing this every year! But we see it in the stores, restaurants, streets, it is getting very quiet around here in the area....like a "ghost town!" The locals says that their livelihood comes from the people who come here to winter - so everything slow down really slows down for the summer months! But everyone will be back here again starting November!
Nick & I can certainly understand it now that we have been here ourselves these 4 1/2 months! It has been such mild weather and with some rains here and there and some cooler nights here and there..still, it has been at an average of 70-80 degrees all these months and also some really nice days around the high 80's and even some days in the low 90's! So' amazingly pleasant! No wonder so many people come from so far away to escape the cold winter from up north!
There are people in the park that live here full time - we hear that might be about 15 occupied mobile homes. But the rest ....are heading home!
To Nick & I i'ts a whole new experience, of course! We both admit that the warmth and being able to enjoy the outdoors all winter has been a big treat! We have walked most everyday and hike at least 3-4 times a week! So conditioning has been great!
Nick & Shannon, and Nicholaas and Jasmine are doing well...busy earning a living! Nicky works at a very large and reputable RV lot and the busy season is when all the snowbirds are here...so all these months he has pretty much worked a 6 day week! Shannon stays busy with doing improvements on the house they live in (and she is quite handy!) Nicholaas was hired at the local Toyota Dealer and is selling cars...he is doing a great job! Jasmine his girlfriend is a makeup artist & stylist and is working in the Dion department at the shopping village! We just got word that McKenna our grand daughter (Nicky's daughter who still lives in Cabo San Lucas Mexico has been accepted at Arizona State University! We are proud of her! She is interested in law! Smart girl! So McKenna will be moving into the house later this Summer and start her studies and work towards her career!
This weekend we will be celebrating both Nicky and Shannon's Birthday at their home...so it will be great to get together again!
Shannon is VERY gifted in art - just amazing what she can do and so' detailed! So we got her some art items to continue to be so creative!
Go Shannon...you are really good...keep it up girl!
Nick painted the Superstition Mountain range here in the area. Well with them moving here it was a nice personal gift to them -
Nicky enjoyed that!
Nice picture Nick & Shannon!
Happy Birthday Shannon April 8th
Happy Birthday Nicky April 19th
Nicholaas what happened? What happened to that handsome smile?
I know it was a l o n g day today at work right? Ha!
The upcoming plans:
We have paid our space rent up to the 30th of April and then we will leave here with our motor home pulling our car. We have booked 2 nights in Sedona along a creek - it seemed so nice when we drove through it when we visited there!
From there we will enjoy seeing the Grand Canyon for a few days and then go on to Zion and Bryce National Parks too. Nick has a dear friend who we will be visiting in Nevada on the very tip of Arizona, Utah and Nevada in Overton. From there we will drive north towards Modesto again to see friends & visit Jim our step-dad in the Bay Area.
The plan is to head north to Oregon after that! The end of May the weather in Oregon should be warming up again! We look forward to see the family there again and all our friends and enjoying the beauty of Central Oregon!
Yes....we both still love the pines!
