Iowa Family and Friends, May 29-June 5, 2015

Brother Kevin's youngest daughter, Sarah, got married May 30. I spent three nights on the farm with family and three nights at Lake Panorama with high school friends. It was a fun week but much cooler than I like. I only took one pair of long pants and wore them 5 out of 7 days.

Jan, Larry, Sharon, Marla, Kevin at the wedding.

Boating with high school friends. Where's the sunshine?

We three "ran around" together in high school.

I arrived home at 2:20 AM Friday morning and these beautiful flowers were waiting for me!

 Thank you, Arne!

Spring Fling in NM and AZ - April 9-21, 2015

Erik and his buddy, Jeffrey/Lil E

Jeffrey at the Skate Park

Jeffrey with Sisters and Their Friends

Hiking with a teenager. Next time, no phone. :-)

Proud Grandma

Beautiful colors on one of my walks.

From Los Alamos, I traveled to Phoenix and spent a week with sister Marla. We hiked several days, went to Terravita one day, and made a trip to Jerome. We were lucky enough to hear Moondog play for a couple hours. We spent the night at the hotel above the Spirit Room and enjoyed a nice breakfast with him before driving back to Phoenix.

Christmas in Arizona

With Lisa gone, I decided the family should be together this Christmas. Lisa loved the family holiday gatherings. So, I reserved a condo at Legacy Golf Resort in south Phoenix. We stayed there for grandson Aaron's wedding on Feb. 1. Everyone liked this place because it had activities for everyone and a full kitchen for cooking family dinners.

Erik, Kadin, Gracie and Jeffrey arrived first on Dec. 21. They brought Christmas decorations and a small tree so it was very festive. They picked up Arne and I around 8:30 that same night.

Monday, Dec. 22, we were joined by Nick and Taylor. Nick was only going to be able to stay for two days because of work but...he broke his collarbone the previous week-end while snowboarding at Tahoe. We were sorry for his injury but very happy that he now would be staying in Phoenix until Jan. 6. Grandson Aaron and Kristina joined us for dinner and spent the night. It was great having so much time with them. They both seem very comfortable with us now.

Jeffrey showing off his new hairstyle.

Tuesday, Erik treated his girls, Nick and Taylor to a Suns game. Arne and I got to have Jeffrey to ourselves and it was a delightful evening. He was so good, with no sisters to harass him.

Jeffrey making a friend.

How do I look, Grandpa?

 Wednesday night, Nick and Arne stayed home while the rest of us went to the Phoenix Zoo for Zoolights. I know we should have gone to a Christmas Eve service but just didn't feel like it this year.

Christmas morning, the kids opened their many gifts. Santa was employed this year so they had a pretty good haul.

 

Moondog arrived around 2 and we ate dinner around 4:30. We all wondered where Daniel might be. 

 Family gifts were exchanged that evening. I gave each of the kids and grandkids a personalized book titled "Remembering Lisa." While they brought tears, there were also happy memories. Only Moondog was not able to look at his book as his grief is still heavy.

Friday afternoon, we all headed over to the fire station where grandson Aaron is a fireman. He gave us a tour of his fire truck and where he and the other three men on his team hang out when nor on call.

Aaron and Aaron

Brothers

Saturday morning, Erik and kids headed back to New Mexico. It was sad to see them go but we had a fun week. Nick, Arne and I headed to Marla's, where we would spend the next four nights.

We had a nice time with Mark and Marla, in spite of the cold weather. Marla and I hiked three mornings. We celebrated their anniversary with Mark grilling fillet mignon. We celebrated Nick's 28th birthday at Oregano's. Nick left on Tuesday to spend the next week with a friend. Arne and I flew home on Wednesday, arriving in time to spend a couple hours at a neighborhood New Year's Eve party. We didn't last for the 10 PM ball dropping, however.

Heading out for Nick's birthday dinner.

Arne and I on visit to Terravita

A memento from the Swensens for the Swansons

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I wish everyone good health and happiness in 2015.

Cruisin' with Neighborhood Ladies

A week ago I joined the Miona Shores Ladies' Cruise for the first time. My next door neighbor, Rose Ann, was my roommate on this four night adventure. We were on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas. Arne and I were on this same ship in 2012 when we took a 10-night cruise from New Jersey to Quebec City. I must admit my after-cruise survey was not glowing. I listed six items with which I was displeased. Someone told me they think the cruise lines have cut back on staff.

On a positive note, entertainment on the second and third nights was very good. The comedian kept us laughing for a solid hour. Our only port was Cozumel. I took the three hour tour of Mayan Ruins since there's not much else on this island of 97,000 inhabitants. Our guide was excellent...native born, humorous, with lots of knowledge about the Mayans.

Before this trip, I had been on several other ladies' trips; five hiking trips, two golfing trips and four basketball trips. I have to put the cruise at the bottom of the list for lasting memories. The ladies were wonderful but I prefer trips with more physical challenges. Yes, I could have tried the rock climbing wall but it was too windy and wet for this old gal. Next year, they are planning a five night trip back to Cozumel with a stop in Key West. I will not be going on that trip.

Huntsman World Senior Games

The first week in October, I traveled to St. George, Utah for the Huntsman World Senior Games. Since we have to fly to Las Vegas, two friends and I got in around 2 PM and spent the night. We went through Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden, next to the Mirage, where we were staying. We then walked down the strip. On the way back, our feet were tired so we had a 10-minute foot massage. We went to Toby Keith's Bar and Grill for dinner. We were up in our room by 9 PM. Such old ladies!

On to St. George, Utah, where Basketball was scheduled Oct. 6-8.

 Monday night was the sponsor's dinner for women's basketball. We went to a restaurant which served their meat on a very hot slab of granite. You cooked to your liking. Surprised someone didn't get burned.

Tuesday night was the Opening Ceremonies. Three skydivers came onto the football field with the third carrying the American flag. There was wonderful entertainment and a super speaker named Thurl Bailey, NBA basketball player who was on the NC State team which won the 1983 NCAA tourney.

We had a fun time, until the final game.  There were five teams in the 70’s bracket.. We won our first three games quite handily but our third game on Tuesday, we lost by three points. Very disappointing.

On Wednesday, we were seeded #1 and played the #5 team, which we easily won. That afternoon, we played the #2 seed from Detroit, Michigan. This was a team we had beat on Tuesday. During that game, one of their fans yelled “Racist” whenever the ref made a call against Michigan. One time, I was sitting on the bench when she yelled it. I turned and looked incredulously at her and she yelled that I had never experienced what she had experienced. I just shook my head. Anyway, in our second game with them, going for the gold medal, the ref called next to nothing on Michigan. They had a gal about my height who outweighed my by at least 40 lbs. Our first time on offense, the ref told me to move out of the lane, “in and out”, but he never once called "Big Edna" for lane violation. He never called her for offensive fouls either. As a result, I ended up with a jammed finger, bruised ribs (and that’s with a chest protector) and the final charge she gave me sent me falling like a tree. I think she stepped on my foot, not intentionally, which caused me to go straight down. The ref called no foul nor time out while my teammates helped me up. There were over 7 minutes left in the game but the First Aid nurse told me not to play for at least 15 minutes so I was done. I will play in the Senior Games in Minneapolis next summer, but if the officiating doesn’t control the game, that will probably be the end of basketball for me. I’ll find a sport with less contact in which to participate...pickleball, swimming and track come to mind.

With our silver medals

From Utah, I went to New Mexico, getting into Santa Fe around 6 Thursday night. Friday and Saturday, I was able to watch Kadin and Gracie play volley ball in a tournament. Jeffrey was so cute, yelling "Go Hawks" as he's playing a game on Erik's phone. Guess he's been to a few games.

Gracie's (#37) 7th grade team took home the first place trophy.

Monday was a holiday so we went to Santa Fe. The girls love to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings and after lunch we did some shopping with a stop at Pet Smart so Kadin could get more fish to try in her tank. I wonder how long these poor things will last.

Gracie braiding Kadin's hair while Jeffrey plays on Dad's iPad.

I had a full day of travel on Tuesday, the 14th. Erik and Jeffrey took me to the Los Alamos Airport where I got on a 9-passenger plane for a 20-minute flight to Albuquerque. I had three hours before my flight to Houston. I finally got to Orlando around 8:15 PM, where Arne was waiting for me.

Back to Iowa for 50 Year Class Reunion

On Thursday, Sept. 25, Arne and I took an early morning flight to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We arrived around 8:30 AM with our first stop being Iowa City. There we had breakfast with a friend who is a retired English and African-American Studies professor from the University of Iowa.

We drove to Mt. Pleasant, home of Iowa Wesleyan College, our alma mater. We spent a couple hours touring the campus before checking into our hotel. That evening, our good friend, Lori Wright, joined us for dinner and the dueling pianos show in the Chapel. 

IWC Chapel

Former library, now Administration

Pioneer Hall - Arne and I took many English and British Lit classes here.

ST Hall - My home for three years.

Friday morning Arne and I headed off to a park for some exercise. We planned to do some walking on the paths and were surprised by this wonderful outdoor fitness equipment and I was able to get some "weight lifting" in also.

This guy was excited to show us his 2 1/2 lb. bass.

Friday evening we attended a reception at the college President’s home and the Alumni Banquet on campus. We went to the Mt. Pleasant Country Club for an alumni gathering.

Receiving my 50 Year College Class Medal from the college President.

 

After Banquet, with good friend and BB teammate, Lori.

Saturday morning was group picture time and then the Homecoming parade. After lunch on the lawn, we attended the first half of the Iowa Wesleyan football game, which IWC won. After a steak and shrimp dinner in the student center, we went to the Mt. Pleasant Country Club for another alum gathering. We danced several dances and called an early night as we had to get up at 5 AM for our drive back to Cedar Rapids and flight home.

Arne in back row with fraternity brothers.

Riding in the Homecoming parade with sorority sisters, Jan and Judy.

My sorority, ZTA. met on the upper floor of this house for years. Looks pretty sad now.

Larry and Lori flew their plane over from Chicago. Larry flew over and Lori flew it back.

Arne and I had a wonderful week-end with perfect weather and quality time with some special friends. There was talk of doing it again in two years. We'll see...