Chuck-E-Cheese

As you all know, it's a bit of a tradition for Aunt Jen and Aunt Jan to take the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese so we decided to go right away so we wouldn't get so busy that we couldn't fit it in.

 Pizza was actually quite good. 

Grampa and Sam at the shooting game - looks like Grampa is a bit confused, doesn't it?  Well, he was.  Sam, of course, knew exactly what was going on.

 This guy was very good at keeping the helicopter in the air.

 Sam  LOVED this driving game.  He even shared his tokens with Aunt Jen and Gramma so we could try it.  Aunt Jen said it made her a bit dizzy but Gramma found the solution to that, just go slower.  Chase came by and told me I had to put the accelerator "to the floor" or I'd never win.

At one point, Sam came running over to the table and said, "Gramma, go drive my car for me. I have to go."  Off he ran to the bathroom so I took over for him but only for a few minutes.  He didn't even have time to wash his hands so after the game was over, back to the bathroom he went.

Our traditional picture in front of Chuck-E-Cheese looking into the sun. I wonder how many of these pictures we have.

That's it for today. Time for lunch, even though Grampa took them for ice cream this morning for breakfast dessert. They had to go along with him to watch the cows while he unloaded branches at Uncle Dick's pasture.  I think Grampa is taking them swimming this afternoon for a little while and then to Beauty and the Beast tonight.  They've chosen grilled cheese and soup for dinner so that will be easy.

Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gramma and MOM

Breakfast with the Princess on the Porch

Can you believe it - I  made a  big breakfast - eggs & sausage with toast for my boys and we ate out in the new screenhouse Grampa put up for me. There was a nice breeze and it was wonderful.

 Katie, this is Princess Chase and Pretty Princess Grampa Peter.

We are now off to work and the boys are going to Aunt Jan's for the day.  Tonight we're going to Chuck-E-Cheese.  Aren't you all envious?

Have a great day!!!!

Love,  Gramma and MOM

PS: When Sam got dressed this morning, he was so excited - he thought Mom had forgotten to pack underwear until Gramma burst his bubble and found them in the front suitcase pocket.

Happy Early Birthday, Grampa

Ever since we began coming to Wagons West, Dad has admired these "Dutch" patio lights. He has talked about getting one but just never did because they are a little spendy. A gentleman in his 80's here in the park makes them, soooooooooooooooo one day I just figured, what the heck, I'm going to get one for dad's birthday.
Well, through a long set of circumstances, I ended up having to tell him about it and of course, he wanted to put his lamp up right away. We think it looks wonderful - in fact so wonderful that we bought one for DeAnn - thought it would go with the entire theme of Lynden. What do you all think?

That's it for today!! Have a good weekend ahead.

Love, MOM and Gramma

Trip to Yuma

Thursday morning we headed out to Yuma to visit Dad and Uncle Rich's cousin, Teunis and his wife, Gloria. They moved to Yuma from Burnsville last October and were anxious to have company in their new home. They had two extra guestrooms so we stayed with them. I loved this fence in the front of their house and it had two moveable gates for access to the yard. Other than that, it was a nice home but not unique in any way.

Gloria is a GREAT cook - she fixed us a Mexican cold soup appetizer that had tomatoes, onions, baby shrimp, pieces of fish and I don't know what else. I really liked it - dad, of course, passed but Rich and Henrietta both ate theirs. I did notice the second day they took ice cream rather than the appetizer stuff.


On Friday we went to Mexico which is always an experience. Uncle Rich liked "haggling" with the locals - neither dad nor I do. It wasn't even really fun to look at things because as soon as you showed even a hint of interest, they were all over you to buy things. We bought two bottles or liquor and two bottles of "poop" pills as dad and Uncle Rich called them.

It was a nice trip with good company but next year when we go, I want to see the Nat'l prison museum and the lettuce and vegetable fields and we can skip Mexico. I was surprised as how clean Mexico was compared to the times we've gone south of Tucson.

Isn't this a fine group of Haan/Scheer cousins??

We stopped in Gila Bend at a store we'd been to once before and they were in the process of selling out so I got this big piece of southwest art. I'd been wanting something really big for this wall and I found it. Dad wanted two smaller pieces but I talked him into this one. If you go back a few blogs, you'll see a before picture with two trees and a bird. The two chairs and table we bought from our next door neighbor lady at the garage sales. I really like this area and we have lunch out here often.

See dad's new little friend - he received it in the mail from a very special person. Thank you!!! It looks really cute.

Well, that's it for this week. Cindy and her boys and Brenda and her family are arriving on Wednesday and Thursday so it will be a busy week. Tonight we're celebrating Henrietta's birthday and their anniversary. Tomorrow night we're invited to friends for supper and Thursday night is potluck at the club house - man oh man, no cooking for several days. What a life!!!

Have a super duper week. Love to you all

Gramma and MOM

Tucson Guests

Dad went along with Uncle Jerry and Aunt Bonnie to the Pima Air Museum. It's been several years since we've been there. I stayed home to work on the newsletter. They took a walking tour, the trolley tour and the boneyards tour and ended up spending most of the day there. From what I heard, they all had a good time, except they couldn't find a place to eat. Next time they'll take a picnic lunch along.

Tombstone is one of my favorite touristy places around but I think I'm the only one who thinks that. Dad nor Marv or Judy were as impressed as I am. I think it's just a fun place to hang out.

Here's the Sabino Canyon trolley which I also like. However, I do like to get off and on and ride and up and down the canyon.

DeAnn, once again here are a few pics of the Arizona dessert - BEAUTIFUL!!! I never get tired of looking at these magnificent cacti. I need to take some more pictures of our mountains because I also love looking at them and I can even sit in my chair and see them through the window.

Guess my friend, Gayl, needed to scratch her arm and couldn't hold her cup at the same time. She had just lost her shuffleboard game and was sitting all by herself across the court.

Have a great day!!! Love to you all

Gramma and MOM

Shuffleboard Tournament

Today was the beginning of the annual shuffleboard tournament. Dad has been practicing for a while but hasn't been able to the last couple of days. Here he is in the maroon pants practicing against Lyle. Holly, you remember Lyle, don't you!! I told him it was your birthday a couple days before and he remembered and told me to be sure to wish you a Happy Birthday from him last Tuesday. Then he asked me the next day if I had remembered. He thinks you are VERY special and of course, I had to agree with him.

The big tournament:

Dad and his partner, Lynne, won their first game but I wasn't able to take pictures because I was a score keeper. He did awesome!!!! This is the scoreboard from the second game - they only lost by 5 points. Lynne shot a puck into the -10 spot with only one puck left. She could either try to knock the -10 out or try to score but couldn't do both. So she knocked out the -10. VERY good game.

Dad in action:

He was playing against our good friend, Gayl.

Well, that's it for today. We have games at 6:00 tonight and finals tomorrow morning. Time to eat so have to sign off. Have a super, duper wonderful week!!!

Love you!!!

Gramma and MOM

Washington in February

Look at this little cutie - isn't she the sweetest 3-year old around? Can you believe I only took a couple of pictures when we were in Washington - I didn't even get a picture of our "STAR".

We went for breakfast almost every morning with this lovely young lady. When DeAnn and I went to this cute little new boutique in Lynden, I had her try this hat on. I thought it looked so cute on her but she wouldn't buy it so I did. Happy 41st Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did, however, take some pictures from the plane. The pilot said we would be flying directly over Mount Rainer, which I have only seen from the plane. It seems to be clouded over a lot when we've been in Seattle. The pilot also said that off to the right was Mt. St. Helens. You can see very clearly where the volcano blew - it was off to the side. I had always thought it blew from the top but that is not the case.

These are Mt. St. Helens:

This is Mount Rainer - tallest mountain in Washington. Very majestic!!!

DeAnn says she can see beauty in all types of locales, such as the prairies of the Midwest; the mountains of the West and the oceans and rivers. However, she has tried to tell me there is no beauty in the desert - well, she's WRONG!!!! These pictures were taken from the car window so they are a very poor representation of the beauty of the desert. I love driving through on our way to or from Mesa. In a few weeks, there will be lots of wildflowers blooming so it will be even more beautiful. What do you all think?

These really are poor pictures but I'll take some better ones when Marv and Judy are here. They're coming this evening and we're anxious to show them around our "home away from home."

That's it for this week. I will try very hard to take more pictures. I have some videos of Holly's play but I don't know how to post them. Will work on it.

Love to all

Gramma and MOM