Friday, November 27, 2015

Friends, Family, Fun and Food - and Some More of That Responsible Stuff

Our final week back in the old hometown has been a good mix of visiting friends, hanging out at home, grandson time, final necessary appointments, and a lovely family Thanksgiving. 

Good friends, Steve and Lori, agreed to be our "address", and have made that piece of our new life so simple. We drove down to visit them, enjoy a wonderful dinner, and pick up the very few items that we actually needed after six months :-) Hard to believe I went out to the mailbox every day! It was so fun to get caught up with them, share our adventures, and make plans to see them again for New Years. I need to set a "photo alarm" so I'll remember to take pics of friends!

Getting to spend time with Ezra is a real highlight of our extended time here. He has grown so much in just three weeks! I went to their place several times, just to hang out, or to take he and his mommy out to run errands. Daddy's work hours get him home in the evening so we've seen him less, but they have all been over to visit a couple times - even better!! No problem remembering to take pics of this guy :-)))





Watching video of himself
Proud Daddy and the little man
Got the rig in and out of Camping World for the slide and windshield-rubber fixes on Monday - two warranty items remain, neither are life-style altering, and we plan to complete those before the end of next month. 

The black trim on the Jeep has been gray from oxidation for months, making it look as old as it really is. I had no desire to pick up the black paint stuff or multi-step restoration kits - I figured there had to be at least one household hack on line that would take care of it. 

Yep! Just this and two paper towels

After "peanut-buttering" our car
Looks like new, and smells great!
A very simple process of wiping on with one towel, scrub very little, and remove with another towel. We'll see how it holds up - and whether or not we attract a large number of squirrels at our camp sites....

I made a deal with my doctor that if my cholesterol was still high when we returned I would go on Lipitor. While all my numbers improved, including decreased weight, and getting my blood sugar back to normal, the cholesterol is still higher than it should be. Not thrilled about the statin, but grateful to have good insurance, and for the overall better health.

Nick and Jillian hosted their first Thanksgiving for the whole family (after just 3 weeks of marriage), and it was a great day! Unfortunately Brian and Shalise had already made plans around her family, and Jeff was not going to travel on this craziest of airport-weekends, so we missed having them with us. But the other brothers and their girlfriends were there, as well as their mom and Jillian's parents. A wonderful family visit with a delicious meal. (Thanks to Jillian for the pics)

Family

Bill made his famous dressing in our kitchen so the rig smelled like Thanksgiving without all the usual work! The boys continued their dad's tradition of barbecued turkey (on his old Weber), and it was fabulous - good job guys!! 


We played a fun game after dinner and then enjoyed way too much dessert. Jillian had to-go containers for all of us to take home left-overs, so the holiday was complete :-)

Yummies
Emily, Travis' girlfriend, couldn't stay but we sure enjoyed her cheesecake bites!
Food coma
Before we left for the family gathering, Scott (we're staying on his property), and his cousin and daughter came over to play with his radio-controlled cars. Autumn, his daughter, has been "scared of" Bill since she was a baby but has finally warmed up to him, and it just makes him so happy!!  They hung out while the "boys" played with the little and big toys.

Autumn hangin' with Pops
Boys and their toys
Now they're buds...
We have a couple more get-togethers before saying our good-byes on Sunday afternoon. It has been wonderful seeing family and friends again, yet the road calls loudly for us to continue our adventures.

Can we go now?


20 comments:

  1. Peanut butter!?!?!?!? Cool!

    You've got a lot done during your "home town" time. And that grandson of yours is cute as a button! The Fifty Shades of Chicken is pretty funny...especially since we just saw the movie...I am imagining all sorts of kinky stuff being done to that bird! ;-)

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    1. No doubt :-))) I didn't see the book until I saw the photo! Ezra just keeps getting cuter.

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  2. Well, my computer died. It certainly doesn't take long to get behind catching up with everyone.

    Glad you had a great time with that wonderful little boy.

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    1. Glad to see it looks like you're up and running again!! He is so special.

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  3. It was so nice to see you. I look forward to when you get to see our new house in SLC. Hugs and love BB.

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    1. I loved our visit too - miss seeing you. Can't wait to see your new digs too. BB :-)

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  4. Nice to catch up and enjoy family time, especially that adorable grandson yet sometimes the road just calls our name.

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  5. It's amazing how fast Ezra has grown and changed. So happy for you that you are getting to know him. Grandkids are wonderful!

    Who would have ever thought peanut butter for the car trim...good to know! Pearl could use a little shine!

    I love the picture of your family at the table...

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    1. I'm glad I have the blog to record his changes too. He's the best! So far the PB is holding up and looking good :-)

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  6. I love that photo of you with Ezra! Looks like you had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with family. I laughed about the peanut butter fix, and you wondering about how many squirrels you might attract. :-) Enjoy your last few days with family, and get back on the road soon, before Tessa takes matters into her own paws!

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    1. She's loved all the attention, but is definitely ready to get back out and play with us!

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  7. We use peanut butter to get labels off. I never thought about the oxidized trim...great idea, Jodee!

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    1. Amazing stuff - I just removed the label sticky off the front of the dryer.

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  8. I do not mean to push my ideas on you concerning Statins but after what happened to us, I promised myself that I would never not share it with those deciding to take them or not. A few years my healthy husband was put on them though his numbers were not very high. Within three weeks my strong healthy husband lost total use of his shoulders and cannot lift beyond where his arms bend. Even the doctors said it was indeed a side effect of the Statins. His life is very difficult now and he often falls and cannot get himself up and he is bigger than I can lift. So much he can no longer do and it has aged him so much. All who know him are shocked at what has happened to him and it is heartbreaking indeed! The meds totally destroyed his shoulders and he has often a lot of pain. Meds kill more Americans each year than any other thing. Our life is hard now because of it and it makes my heart ache to see him like this. And it was all so needless! His total count was only 211 and he never needed them in the first place. With just a little change in his diet, his overall is now 177.

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    1. Oh Joyce that is horrible! I've heard such mixed reviews from both sides of the fence - those whose lives were very likely saved by the meds, and others who had minor (nothing like your husband's) side effects, mostly sore muscles. I'd much prefer to continue bringing the numbers down with life style changes - it's a tough decision. Thanks for sharing your experience, I appreciate it.

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  9. I have no idea how I totally missed this post. Thank goodness notified me that I might have missed this! What a wonderful family gathering making memories for a lifetime:) So glad you included a photo of you loving that adorable grandson:) Do let us know if your car is attacked by rodents with it smelling so heavenly:) Good to hear your numbers did improve at your doctor visit. Now all you need is to hit a few trails and watch them really fall:)

    Safe travels as you move on today:)

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    1. It really was an amazing time getting to see everyone - especially that grand baby who gets cuter every day!I definitely have more hiking on the list as we will be back in our wonderful desert :-)

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  10. Looks like you had a great holiday. I have never heard of using peanut butter for removing labels and oxidation. We use 303 on the black parts of the car and RV, and it works well. I'm afraid Jim would eat more peanut butter than he applied!

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    1. Aha! Yes it does smell tasty while doing the work - although once the black towel goes back in the little bowl you're pretty cured of any thoughts of taking a nibble :-))))

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