What a difference a week makes!

Tucson
This time last week we were in St. Louis in freezing weather; this week we have the air conditioner going and it is 87 outside! However, it is windy...trying to blow us off this hill again.

We arrived home safe and sound last Monday afternoon. Left Kansas City in 34 degree weather; arrived in Tucson to 87 degrees! Needless to say, we were happy (at least I was) to see some sun and heat.

This week has been devoted to doing our $%^&* income tax! I hate this job! However, the only part I really hate (besides having to pay) is the collecting of the data needed. Every year I say I will, on a monthly basis, do a spread sheet for taxes....and every year I don't! GRRRR

Yesterday I spent all day doing something I LOVE TO DO! I spent all day riding my ATV. Bruce and Holly, plus my nephew Bruce and I went ATV riding up the back side of Mt. Lemmon. Round trip was about 40+ miles and I had the time of my life. It was so beautiful back in the wilderness, and since we left fairly early in the day, we had very few people to contend with. The road to the back side of Mt. Lemmon is pretty much a 4 wheel drive road, unless you have an ATV. For the first half or more of the road, it is fairly smooth and an easy ride. Then, just past the old mine, the road changes and it gets narrow and fairly rough in spots and steep in places. Beautiful scenry tho. Once we got to Mt. Lemmon we had lunch and of course, a piece of pie; then it was back down the road. Now, the old mind decides to kick in and sayes "What goes up, must come down"....hmmm. However, it wasn't a bad trip down...until we stopped for a break half way down. When we went to start my ATV again, it refused to start. Nothing either Bruce did would convince it to start. NOW, is the time I was very thankful I wasn't up there alone! Finally, Bruce pulls out his tow strap (I tell you, he was prepared...unlike I was!) and winds up towing my ATV (with my nephew Bruce on it) back down to where we were parked with truck and trailer. Sure am glad I didn't have to ride back on the ATV being towed. HOlly and I rode her ATV back. So, now my horse (as I call my ATV) is broken! (Insert a pout here) Bruce looked at it today and decided that we probably need to take it to Honda; so being the wonderful person he is (And he really is a great guy) he will take it in for me tomorrow. BOO HOO...my horse is broken.
Bruce Spaid, Holly and Bruce Sanderson
wild poppies along the trail


The rest of this week will be spent getting ready to leave on our next big adventure; Orlando Florida for a week and our Panama Canal Cruise. We leave for Orlando next Saturday and I am so excited to see some good friends from Lancaster days who live near Cocoa Beach; and also my high school girlfriend and her husband who live on the west coast of Florida.

So, until next time, we hope all is well for everyone.

The Easter Baskets are Hung by the Chimney with care?

O'Fallon, Missouri
Happy Easter

Well...this is interesting. We had several titles for this blog...such as: I'm Dreaming of a White Easter? or, We Wish you a Merry Easter, or Here comes Easter Bunny right down egg lane? Why, you ask? Well, we are having a white Easter...yes, the white is SNOW! We awoke to snow this morning...of course, we have had snow, rain, sun, windy, etc, repeat.

I rest my case...I am cold!

A busy week this has been. We arrived in Kansas City late last Sunday after a bumpy departure from Tucson, where, incidently, it was snowing when we left there! I give up!

Monday we met up with grandson's David and Danny and David's girlfriend, Tiffany. We decided to go see the museum exhibition "Bodies Revealed", which was very, very good and interesting. It was raining buckets in Kansas City that day....all day. But the rain didn't stop us!


Danny, Grandma, David

Tuesday dawned cloudy and overcast, and windy. Oh well, better weather was forecast for the next few days. We spent most of the day visiting with David and Danny and did a little shopping. We said our goodbye's after dinner.


Wednesday we headed to O'Fallon to see Mike, Bev, Sarah, Natasha and Nadia. Weather was okay for us, but just south of us it is flooding BIG TIME! Three rivers out of their banks and many people displaced.

We met our newest great granddaughter, Nadia today...she is 3 months old. Nadia is a cutie too.


Natasha is growing up so fast. She is 8 years old and a real young lady.


Thursday Bev and I spent the day playing and visiting the quilt shops. We bought some material and made a couple of table runners....I do love to quilt.

Friday Natasha, Beverly and I went to St. Louis Art Museum to see the Quilts of Yesterday Exhibition....very impressive. We had lunch at Wolfgang Pucks restaurant, very good.

Saturday was spent in preparation for Easter Sunday. Sarah, Natasha, Nadia and I did have lunch together and a quick trip to Target.

Today we got up and went to church (in the snow); then came home and had a great dinner. Stephen left for the airport this evening and we are packed and ready to head to Kansas city and the airport there tomorrow. We flew Express Jet this time and we have to say it is a great little airline.

We have had weather from snow to 72 degree's while we were here...it must be spring.
So until next time I will leave you with some pictures.


Grandpa and Grammy with Nadia and Natasha

Grandpa and Grammy with Sarah, Stephen, Nadia and Natasha

Mike, Bev, Dad, Stephen, Sarah, Natasha, Nadia

Quilts, Josh, Eagle and other things

Tucson
Mar. 16, 2008

Brrrr...our weather has been crazy!!!! All last week it was in the 80's! It was wonderful....then this morning it is 45? WTH? It seems as if we have a cold front coming through and snow is predicted for later today/tomorrow for elevations over 3400 ft! That is periously close to our 3200 feet! And of course, the wind is blowing a gale, so it's cold! However, the wildflowers are out and they are beautiful again this year. And the desert is green, from the recent rain/snow we had. Of course, all the "things" are in bloom as well....achoo!

The Spaids have all gone back home, with the exception of my brother Dick, who has the house below us in the winter and my nephew Bruce who is staying with him. We had a great reunion and missed the ones that couldn't come. Next year we are planning to have the reunion over Spring Break so perhaps more nieces/nephews/cousins can come.

Bruce, Dick, Al and I spent 3 wonderful days at Spring Training. The Mariners were in town for 3 games, so we took advantage of it. Bruce and Al saw all three games, Diamondbacks, White Sox, Rockies; Dick and I saw only two, but it was great. And we all decided we want to do it again next year. It was hot and sunny and we all came away from the games a little on the "burnt" side.

I spent most of last week quilting the baby quilt for Joshua.
I am so hooked on quilting...I can hardly wait to start my next baby quilt, which will be for Nadia. I am finding that quilting relaxes me, especially the sewing part with my new machine. And it challenges me as well, which is good. I need a challenge other than Al sometimes. :-)

Kali and Josh are here visiting Gary and Jeannette, so we spent some time visiting with them. Josh is the best little guy...he is now 7 months old, but as smart as can be (don't ask Gramma (Jeannette) about that....she will say he is the smartest baby in the world...and Grampa (Gary) agrees!) He is such a good baby as well, fusses very little, usually when he is hungry, wet, tired, etc. Kali is a great mother as we knew she would be. What a blessing this little guy is to the family.


Last night we had our annual corned beef and cabbage dinner for St. Patricks Day. Yes, a little early, but since we will be gone on the 17th, we decided to do it early. Hubbells, Voss's, Spaids and Bob Grabow were here. Good friends, good food and good times. On Thursday we had Bruce, Holly and Cortney over for a pork roast...a new recipe I tried out and everyone loved it! And it was super easy.

This morning we had a visitor. Both dogs were barking, so Al went to the front window to see what was outside....lo' and behold, we had an Eagle! He was perched on one of our big rocks, just looking around! We have never seen an Eagle here! And he stayed around for over an hour!!!
And our resident road runner (we named him "Freddy")was not happy about being invaded. Freddy actually was near the eagle looking at him as if to say "What are you and why are you here?"
So our wildlife population continues to increase. The javalina's are busy around here as well. When we came home the other night there were 8 of them trying to get into the bird seed we have stored in gallon containers by our deck.

We are flying today to Kansas City and then on to St. Louis to visit. Danny, our grandson who is in the Army is home on leave, so we will spend some time visiting him and his brother David in Kansas City. Then we will drive to St. Louis to see Mike and Bev, Sarah, Natasha and Nadia and Stephen will be home from NYC for Easter, so we will get to see him as well. We are both excited about this trip.

So until next post, we hope everyone is happy and healthy and living life the way they want....

The Winter of our lives...

And it's winter before we know it.... I don't know who wrote this, but it is good!!!


REFLECTIONS


You know, time has a way of moving too quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years.

It seems only yesterday that I was young, just married and embarking on my new life with my mate.. And yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years went. I know that I lived them all . and I have glimpses of how things were back then and of all my hopes and dreams.

But, here it is ... the winter of my life and it catches me by surprise!
How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where did my babies go? And where did my youth go?

I remember well, seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were years away from me and that my winter was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is ... we're retired now and we both are turning getting gray ... we move slower and I see in us those older folks I used to see that we never thought we'd be. We're not in such bad shape considering our years ... but, I see the great changes and our winter is upon us.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore ... somedays it's mandatory because if I don't on my own free will ... I just fall asleep where I sit! And so, now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do all the things I love.

But, at least I know, that though the winter has come, and I'm not sure how long it will last ... this much I know, that when it's over...its over....Yes , I have regrets .There are things I wish I hadn't done, things I should have done. But indeed, there are many things I'm happy to have done Its all in a lifetime of living and loving.

So, if you're not in your winter yet ... let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you ever thought possible. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life please do it quickly!

Life goes by swiftly so, do what you can today, because you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!

You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life...so, live for good today and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember...

"Life is a gift to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one."

LIVE IT WELL MY FRIEND!!

~author unknown~

Aunt Alice Hicks haunts us once more!

Tucson
Mar 5, 2008

Well...we have a bunch of Spaids wroamin' around our house! As I said before, my (Jo) family reunion is here and my sister, two brothers, one sister-in-law and a nephew are still here. We are having a great time. Over the weekend, Jennifer was here and my nephew, Bobby Dean from San Diego was here. I never realized that Jennifer had never met my nephew Bruce; and she didn't remember Bobby Dean...well of course not, she was just a year old the last time she saw him! And we have been a bunch of busy Spaids while we have been together!

Jo and her sister, Jean

I picked up sister Jean and brother Bob and wife Mary from their cousins in Surprise, Arizona last Thursday. Now, mind you, their cousin's aren't mine...don't ask! Anyway, I finally got to meet the Verver side of the family ... what a great bunch of people I met! Joanne, Kent, Karen and Keith...I have heard about these people all of my life, but never have met them until then. I can't wait to see them again! And we all practically live in each other's back yards in the winter.

Friday we picked up Jennifer from the airport and went to have lunch at El Charro, a great Mexican place in Tucson. Gary and Jeannette joined us as well. Then Saturday we hosted a steak dinner at our house for 16. All Spaids that were coming were here and we had a good time talking over old times.
SPAIDS: Dick, Jean, Jo, Bob


Sunday we went to brunch and then Jennifer, Jean, Mary and I went shopping. Those 3 can out shop me any time!! Whew!
Monday was spent taking Jennifer to the airport and running a few errands. Yesterday all of us with the exception of Al went up to Mt. Lemmon. We had a great time exploring the rebuilt Summerhaven and having a piece of the great pies that Mt. Lemmon is so famous for in these parts! Today we went shopping .. again. I am truly tired of shopping. Tomorrow Jean, Mary and I are going to Mexico and Tubac...yup, more shopping. I am shopped out.

Two evenings have been spent going over my grandmothers and aunts birthday books (see previous post for explanation on these) trying to figure out who is who in our family. We finally figured most of the people out with the help of my sister Jean who has a wonderful recall of all of these people and she was the smart one that asked questions of our grand parents, parents and aunt and REMEMBERED what they told her. I have never wanted to much to ask my parents questions as I did these two days as to our family history. So all you out there with parents still around, look at them as treasure troves of information on your family history and ASK QUESTIONS while you still can! Any way, we found our selves back to "who was Aunt Alice Hicks?" My sister thought she knew a few weeks ago when I asked her; however, that person she was talking about was Aunt Katie, not Aunt Alice! We all came to the conclusion that we had no clue who Aunt Alice was! Well, now it was really starting to bug me....who the heck was she? So I spent one night searching on the Internet -- do you have any idea how many "Alice Hicks" I came up with? Good grief! Finally I paid the fee and went to Ancestory.com. I found our Alice Hicks and her husband, but still didn't know who she was or how she was related to us. After a while, I called a distant cousin, Jim Chapin in Smith Center, Kansas who has done some research on the Chapin side of our family. I could only hope he knew the answer...and he did. Apparently our great, great grandmother Lydia was married twice. Once to a Forbes and once to a Merrifield. Our Grandmother was a Forbes, Alice was a Merrifield, and they were half sisters....which makes Aunt Alice Hicks our great, great aunt....I think! After all of this, I think I am my own grandmother. And yes, Jennifer and Melanie, I have this all down on paper...and it makes some kind of sense...maybe.

So now I am going to go unscramble my brain and see if I know who I am! My brothers and Al stayed out of this mess and just let us "women" try and figure it out! Figures!

Until next time...I think I know who I am, but I finally do know who Aunt Alice is!