Snow and Catching Up

 

It snowed here two days ago!  We had a good snow during the day then a little more overnight.  The ground was not froze so most of the snow melted as it landed but enough came down to cover the ground about an inch deep!  This picture is looking out the back door onto the golf course. 

The snow really makes it feel like winter.  Just before Thanksgiving I winterized the RV and  just recently had it serviced.  Before parking it on blocks I filled the fuel and propane tanks in preparations for winter.  We had talked about going south for the winter after Christmas but we need to be back here in February for a baby shower that Cindy and the daughter in laws are hosting.   So I will be spending the winter at home while Cindy works.  We have a routine now … I drive her to St Louis airport on Sunday evenings and pick her up on Thursday evenings.  It is a two hour drive that I have come to enjoy.  I purchased some college courses that I listen to on the road.  They are put out by Great Courses and are usually very good.  They can be expensive so I only buy them when they have their 70% off sales.

Now to catch up!

Even though I complained about the leaves in the last post, I really enjoy the fall.  Especially sports playoffs.  We went to High School soccer play offs  with Kyle and Jenni.  This game was of special interest to Kyle as it was his new home town playing his old High school.  Both he and I have coached soccer.  I coached for 14 years, mostly younger kids and when he coaches it is usually kids that are in high school or just before high school.  He knows the game better and is the better coach, I just have fun teaching the little kids the basics.  

 

Soccer play offs in the Midwest!  As you can see this is definitely farm country!  Kyle’s alma mater won this game and then went on to win the state championship!

I also called a buddy and took him to see one of the best high school football games I’ve seen since Trevor was playing.  Neither of us had a connection to the teams but I had heard that the quarterback on one team was really good and that the other team had a really good running back.   They did not disappoint! Both the quarterback and running back put on a show with the game going to overtime.  The winning score came on a pass from the quarterback in a back and forth game.  Very enjoyable game … too bad someone had to lose!

As some of you know our youngest son bought a house in Palos Heights.  The weekend after the closing we drove the RV to Joliet to help move and set things up.  Cindy job was to take care of our grandson while Leah was a work and Trevor and I worked on the house.    

 

It was King’s job to keep an eye on the neighborhood and let us know what was going on!

After working on the washer and dryer and doing some other small jobs outside it was time to set up the TV and the shelving around it.  Leah did a good job picking out the shelves and designing how it look when done. 

One shelf up and now for the TV.

After moving the wiring into boxes behind the TV we finally hung the TV and began putting up the bottom shelf.

During one of our breaks, Cindy snapped this picture of the happy new home owners.

The highlight of the day came when everyone got to see Jameson roll over for the first time!  Cindy, Auntie Em, and Leah all recorded the feat!

We were able to get a lot done on Friday night and Saturday.  Sunday morning we had breakfast with Leah’s family and returned to the  house to finish up and pack up tools.  That afternoon I took Cindy to O'Hare to fly back to work and I returned to the RV to walk the dogs and relax.

Monday morning I drove from Joliet to Carlinville to see Kyle and fix a leaking toilet.  When in Carlinville we stay a Beaver Dam State Park. It is a very popular park with the locals so I was pleasantly surprised that there was only three campers in the whole park!

The weather was in the 50’s and 60’s with partial sunshine…beautiful days! 

The lake at Beaver Dam.  

 

After returning home, I called a tree trimmer to take care of the leaf problem that I mentioned in the last blog!

No actually I called him to take care of some storm damage that was too high up for me.  So while he was there I had him top some trees that were close to the house.

The tree trimmers finished up on Wednesday before Thanksgiving just before we celebrated our Thanksgiving.  All the kids had their plans for Thanksgiving day so we had a unthanks giving meal with the kids the night before.  No turkey, no dressing, none of that, they would get all of that on Thursday.  We had pot roast mashed potato carrots and fried apples with biscuits.  Also Cindy fixed the most unusual food I’d ever heard of.   

Chocolate covered bacon!!!!  It was good!!!!  But you could only eat one.  Fat on a stick with chocolate and nuts, mmmm!

 

After Thanksgiving and before they returned to their home on Sunday they helped start the Christmas decorations.

Sox and Santa on the stairs.

During the following week I finished the decorations inside and out..now we are ready for winter and Christmas!

KP.

PS: Jim our  plant experiment did not work. We kept the pots small to make them easy to move but the plants need bigger pots. Then when we moved I put the plants in the back of the Jeep and the ride there shook the peppers and tomatoes off the vine.

PS: Dee we now have a Culvers in town!