Christmas is done and now on to New Years! :)

 We had a nice Christmas weekend, different from all the others because we didn't go over to California this year. Other than missing the family there we enjoyed the laid back feeling of Christmas day. Normally it's not like that. 

Some of my favorite young men 💙 Adam, Mason, Seth, Aaron, Jacob, Jesse and 
Dusty 💗

Cassidy in front wanted a girl picture 💗
Chelsea, Christina, Holly, Erin, Lori, Erin, Chloe and Mel
a few more didn't make it to the picture. 

    Adam, Eric, Mason, Seth, Aaron, Jacob and Russell, our grandsons and their

    dads. Only one missing was Bryan, who lives in Arkansas now. 

We started our weekend with Champagne Sunday. It was cold as you can see by the iced windows. I love this when the windows look like this. Ken started a nice fire which helped warm the outdoor kitchen. 

As it was Christmas Eve I made mashed potatoes to take next door to have along with the leg of lamb John was making. 

A very nice evening with their family. 

John and Karen

Ken and Janell helping to put together a new toy for the kids

Isaiah and Gabriel 

Isabel and her sweetie Dakota 

Monday morning we took our time and enjoyed our Christmas morning. Later in the afternoon we headed over to Izzie's house (Karen's mom). She had made a huge pot of Pazole to share with everyone. After returning home we went next door for a bit. 

Tuesday, Ken got some of our presents hung. Got a few here.

                           Ken had a little time to play with his new toy, the cargo trailer. 

                   The Can Am fits nicely! 

                            

Wednesday we decided to hit Walmart and Ken wanted to drop off a tire and rim with Discount Tire in Carson. The Mansion needed one replaced. With any luck we'll get out of here for a few weeks. Ken has an appointment at the end of the month so we've got a little time. The tire was supposed to be done at 1400 but it wasn't by the time we were ready to head home.

We bought a new Mr. Heater (big buddy) to put in the Komfort fifth wheel and John bough two so Thursday we headed for Sparks to pick those up. As long as we're in the Reno area, a Total Wine stop is needed. All stops went smoothly.  Linner at Sharkey's in Gardnerville and then home. Pretty much killed another day. 

We've got company coming this weekend. 😊 Hopefully the expected snow over the summit won't amount to much. It was going to be a bigger group, but looks like it'll be smaller. Still waiting to hear from a few! 

Happy Hour time! 🍷🍺 Have a great evening! 

A weekend trip over to California, just getting things done here

 

This little lady is our friend Joanie. She turned 100 in August!
She lives alone and takes care of everything. She doesn't
drive anymore because of her eyesight. She's pretty special to
us! 💖💖

                   Another special lady to us, Ken's mom Alice, aka Grandma.

                  She turned 96 on Monday! She still lives alone and drives! Her license

                   expires on her 100th birthday! 💖💖              

   Saturday the 16th we headed over the hill to see family and drop off Christmas gifts. Ken put the Yakima on the car and after that found that the lock wouldn't work so we changed our plans a bit. 

We got to Eric's house around 1000 and were able to visit a bit and drop off their gifts that were in the Yakima. 

Next stop was Russell's house to visit with them. Jacob home's after completing his schooling in Pensacola. It had been a year since we've seen him so that was nice along with the rest of the family. Allissa included 💗

Lori, Aaron and Jacob 💙

Russell 💙

Russell, Jacob, Ken and Aaron 💙

Jacob's certificate for completing the Carrier Air traffic Control Center
Operations Couse. Proud of you Jacob! 💙

We visited for a few hours and then we headed over to our friend Joanie's house. I tried several times to call her and always got a busy signal. She was surprised to see  us since she hadn't heard from me. 

We visited for awhile and she and I had a glass of wine together. 💗 It was a great visit. Joanie was one of our first volunteers at the Sheriff's Department when they started the program in November of 1993. 

Eventually it was time to head to the motel as it gets dark so early. 

We had a nice evening and had chicken and potato salad I brought from home. 

Sunday morning we again headed for Eric's house in Cool, Ca. He offered to make brunch for us and his family. We hadn't seen Seth and Holly since he got out of the Marines in August. A great visit with them too. 

Eric and Chris made quite the spread, oh so yummy! 

Quite the spread of carne asada, incredible whole beans,
rice, cheeses, tortillas etc! Thanks Eric and Chris!! 💗

Mason and Chloe 💙

Holly 💗

Eric being a good husband and pouring Christina's mimosa
💖

Holly and Seth 💕

Mason, Chloe and Christina 💗

We ended up opening presents from them and they opened ours for them except Eric, he's waiting until Christmas morning. 

From Russell and Lori and a NAS Pensacola cup 💙

A very unique bird feeder from Eric and Christina. The label 
on the bottle is made from a press that is made from steel
of the twin towers. Great history about Horse Soldier Whiskey.

                       Now I want a bottle LOL. 💙 Veteran owned! 

                                                     From Russell and Lori

From Seth and Holly 💖
There's more but these are the pictures I had today!
Kids and grandkids spoil us rotten!! 

After a few hours there we headed back down the hill to Grandma's house to celebrate her 96th birthday (it's on the 18th but we were headed back home then). 

Diane and Jesse were there too, so that was nice. Again, after a few hours we headed back to the motel, just pulling in at dark. 

Monday morning after some hard boiled eggs and toast we headed up the hill towards home. It rained overnight but not much going up the hill. 

We stopped and picked up a Total Wine order in Reno before heading to Carson City to have a late lunch/dinner at Betsy's. 

Home and then next door to visit with Karen and the pups for a bit. 

Yesterday Ken had a cardio appointment in Carson, so back we went. Walmart and Ross were included in that visit too.  We dropped at tire at Discount Tire to have a flat fixed we got on the way home Monday. Picked that up last thing. 

We decided to treat ourselves so we went to Red's Old 395 grill for linner. More expensive than Betsy's but oh so good. We only go there 2x a year or so. 

We headed home, got the car unloaded, started a fire and enjoyed the evening. It was a great trip over the hill, wish we could have seen more family but didn't work out that way. 

Today was a stay at home and get things done day. With presents, wrapping paper etc, was feeling like the house was closing in on me LOL. A good cleaning and I feel better. 

Ken's taking John's tractor in for service tomorrow as John is still working in the Bakersfield area for another day or so before coming home for Christmas. He's got it all loaded on John's trailer, most of his working was outside today. 

Well, it's about time to head next door and visit with Mugsy and Lila. Have a great evening 😊🍷🍺

Small town parade, Champagne Saturday and Sunday :) Going over the hill tomorrow.

 Last Friday night we attended our "Small Town Christmas Parade." Last couple of years the town council has been working on making events available the first 10 days or so of December. The culmination is the parade. 

Here you go Elva! Two cuties getting ready to go see 
Christmas lights. Great niece Cassidy and great nephew Owen
💙💖

I love our tree all lit up 😀

We really had front row seats in front of Karen's shop on Main. Alot of lights and entries. I just took a few pics as a lot of them are repeats from last year. 

We had quite the turn out for the parade! 

Karen's grandson Gabriel along with his friend whose
name I forget :( 

Isaiah, another grandson of Karen's 

Saturday morning we actually had Champagne Saturday as our plan was to watch the Army/Navy game.  Navy lost, but it was still a good game. Ken barbecued some hot links that were delicious! 

Sunday we repeated the Champagne and I cooked in the outdoor kitchen with a lovely fire going courtesy of the hubby. A couple of easy going days.

Pizza once again on low carb tortilla shells. Yummy and
oh so easy on the griddle 😋

Yesterday we headed for Carson City and Ken's 6 month checkup with the lung doctor. All is good there! Picked up our ugly sweaters at Kohl's for later this month. Ended the afternoon with a delicious linner at Betsy's before heading home. 

The staff went crazy decorating the office. Dr. Foster
said they came in on Saturday on their own time toast up this 
fabulous display and other things everywhere! 

Later we headed over to Karen's for happy hour. 

Today found me wide awake at 0220. Guess I should get up, but the bed is comfy and I always hope I'll got back to sleep. NOT. Started the coffee around 0545 and got our day started. 

Ken did some banking, paying our real estate taxes and then working on our orange Patriot. WE'll be heading over the hill tomorrow to drop off the car for a few weeks while grandson Jacob is in town. He's finished his training in Pensacola and will be home on Thursday 😁 Congrats Jacob!!

I spent a lot of the day wrapping presents to take over to Sacramento this weekend. Not as many as there used to be when the kids were small, but still takes time and the family has grown. 

Every year Eric and his boys (now daughter in law Holly goes too)
go out to the forest and find
their "Charlie Brown Tree" I'd say this is the best on so far! 
Looks like Roxy and Spike are enjoying too!

Holly, Seth and Mason in front of the special tree. Mason
actually spotted it first. 😁

Up at Sugar Pine Lake

My new sweatshirt from Karen! LOL. 

Fire has been going all day! Very chilly, 42 feels like 38.

Yep, this fire is nice! Have a great evening! 

Happy Birthday Linda! An overnighter in Carson City, Adam visits, this and that!

Here it is Wednesday afternoon and we're getting ready for some rain to head in later. 

Sunday morning was our typical Champagne Sunday.  I made brunch out in the outdoor kitchen and we enjoyed our drinks. Once that was done we set about decorating the kitchen. Love how it turned out. Simple but cheery!

Our niece Jennifer was in CA for Thanksgiving from TN. Ken's
mom who'll be 96 on the 18th of  this month 💗💗

Table runner made from the leftover material 💗

We ended up not decorating the inside tree on Saturday so got it done Sunday  afternoon. Adam arrived around 1930. 😀

Eric made this star in kindergarten 43 years ago. All our
ornaments have a memory attached to them. One day I'll
have to add notes to them so we can remember once our
memory goes LOL. 

Monday morning after breakfast he left to take a hike at Sweetwater Canyon. We left not too much later. He'd be home but we were spending the night in Carson City because of Ken's 0645 appointment on Tuesday. 

He got some blood work and an X-ray done. After that we did some Christmas shopping and running around. Got to the hotel around 1530 and went to Betsy's for an early dinner. 

Tuesday morning we were at the appointment in plenty of time and then around 1000 we head for breakfast and then home. We wanted to be able to spend some time with Adam so any running we needed to do could wait. 

Ken had our 20 foot trailer filled with tumbleweeds. He
burned them yesterday afternoon, but there's tons more out
there! Hopefully the wind today will help by blowing them away.

Out by the fire last night 

We had a great day yesterday with Adam and then later in the afternoon we headed out back where Ken made an outdoor fire. Enjoyed our visit as always. 

Eventually we came inside to watch some tv until it was time to call it a night. 

This morning we enjoyed a leisurely morning with Adam until around 1000 when he took off to head back to his place. He's got 4 10's at work so he's enjoying his 3 days off a week. 😁

He and Erin will be back for New Years. Looking forward to that!

Ken worked outside moving vehicles as he'll be decorating one of our trees that we call Karen's tree. She loves seeing it at night through her bedroom window. 

He went out to start Nellie (the motorhome) the other day and she wouldn't turn over. Figured it was the battery, bought one today and nope. Bottom line we spent $1500.00 for her and don't want to have her towed to a shop and put who knows how much $$ into her. So we have another guest room for visitors. I love her, but we've put too much $$ into older vehicles before. She had some delamination damage on the last trip too. So it's time to park her. :(

Monday was my youngest sister Linda's 65th birthday! Welcome to Medicare LOL. 

I thought this was a great action shot of great nephew Owen!

He and Cassidy visited Santa dressed as reindeers 💗

Baby Phoenix is growing up! He'll be 10 months on the 11th!

I think he liked Santa!! 

Russell, Lori and friends John and Andrea made a quick 
visit to the beach for sunsets and beers 😁

Russell, John and a friend who came out to help with a sliding door at John's.
I didn't get his name..darn..

Well, it's Happy Hour time! It's cold and windy, so it'll probably be inside.

Have a great evening! 🍺🍷