Dancing through a Show Low Summer, 2014

     It’s so hard to believe we are almost through our first entire Show Low summer.  We’ve loved it here and look forward to many more.  There are Arts & Craft shows many weekends and lots of outdoor activities, besides our personal loves of quilting and billiards. 
     The biggest event of the Summer was the birth of my first Great-Grandchild.  (I’d always said that  since all the Great-Grandkids were Gary’s, I wasn’t old enough.  Guess I can’t say that any longer.)   William Purjue Pak Henderson arrived on July 9th, the day before his Dad’s birthday.   He would be Robert’s first grandchild, so I’m sure he’s bursting his heavenly buttons.

Add caption3 day old William

William with proud parents Hailee and Cory

      The next major event was Anna's wedding.  Anna was married to Robert when he was killed in 2005.  We feel very fortunate to have remained a part of Anna's life since then.  She married Lynn Harp on August 15th, at the Luxor in Las Vegas, NV.  Lynn is an EMT on the Evanston Fire Department an knew Robert too.

Cory walking Anna down the aisle.

Anna & Lynn

      Lynn's great with the kids and combined they now have six children.  Lynn has a daughter Jennifer married with a daughter, who lives in Cheyenne.  They each have two children attending the University of Wyoming, in Laramie.  Ameray is a Sophomore in High School and the only one still at home, year round.  Riki and her family were there, as well as Robert's step-mother and two half-sisters. 

Quite a family!

     Since we were all at the Luxor, we had lots of time to visit.  Riki, Kai, and I even managed to get out early one morning and get a geocache.  Of course we enjoyed the pool as well.  On our way back to Show Low, we stopped to visit friends from Evanston, who have relocated to White Hills, AZ.

Gary & Katy

     We also stopped at the "Standing on the Corner" park in Winslow, AZ, for Gary to get a new shirt.  He's about worn the other one out over the last ten years.

Katy,  "Standing on the Corner in Winslow, AZ."

      Remember the Eagles song?  Interesting that all you see behind me and the statue are painted on the brick walls.  The building that was part of this wall burned down about 6-8 years ago.  Fortunately, they saved the wall and have since torn the building down, but reinforced the wall, so it remains.
     Earlier this summer, my friend Diane and I attending a hummingbird banding at the SIPE Wildlife Area, outside Eager, AZ.   It was very interesting.  They weighed, measured, assessed, and banded several hummers in front of us and explained much about their migration habits.

Hummer inside the screening, being weighed.

Hummer taking a well deserved drink after banding.

      The large band in the picture above is for a goose.  Hummingbird banders have to make their own, as they are so small.  You can barely see one in the magnifying box to the left of the large band.  It was a great experience and one I hope to repeat in coming summers.
     A dear friend of ours, Kathy, came to visit and rented a trailer just down the road from us for a couple months.  She and I got to most of  the craft fairs while she was here and with Gary and Bandit had several geocaching outings. The August Geocaching Challenge this year was to do one of six different kinds of geocaches during the month of August.  We each got a Virtual, Traditional, Puzzle, Multi-Cache, Earthcache, and Event.  We had to go to the Petrified Forest to get the earthcache and attended an event about 50 miles east of here in the White Mountains near Payson.  As usual, its a great way to see new things and learn new facts.

Kathy, Gary, & Bandit at the Petrified Forest

     I've been doing some Kumihimo braiding and some with beads this summer.  My friend Diane Hitzel introduced me to this.  Its fun and addicting.  Here's a couple bracelets I've done.

Kumihimo Bracelets

     My friend Susannah and I took a quilt class called Accidental Landscape that was a lot of fun and taught us new techniques for landscape quilts.

Accidental Landscape of the Beach

     I continue to enjoy the water aerobic classes from 4-5  mornings a week.  The gals in the classes are really fun, so we have a great time while getting some good exercise.
     Gary continue to enjoy his pool tournaments and while practicing on the pool table in the our clubhouse, has met some other pool players in the park.
     I've been learning to play Mah Jongg, a Chinese game played with tiles.  It's a lot of fun.  Hopefully I can get some converts at the Roost when we get there.
     Bandit got a surprise one night when he was outside in our yard and met some of the local wildlife.  Fortunately, it wasn't too close, but the smell certainly let us know it was a skunk.   His facial hair got the the brunt of it, and he  was rubbing his face and eyes for quite a while.  I washed his face that night many times and hte next day we used a recommend solution of 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, and 1 tsp to 1/4 cup dawn dish washing soap.   It worked great and took 99% of the odor out..  We're all hoping it's a one time occurrence.

Poor Bandit after a dozen face-washings.

     Our next sojourn will be to Albuquerque, NM, to attend the International Balloon Fiesta with the SKP Boomers.  We will be there from Oct 1st though the 12th.  We will attend the safety trainings and hope to be assigned to help crew for one of the balloons.  I'm sure it will give us a different perspective, from when we attended as spectators in 2002, although our friends from there, Cathy and Chuck introduced us to a lot of the behind-the-scenes doings. It should be an exciting two weeks. 
     After that we will return to Show Low for a week and then head for the Roost in Casa Grande, our Winter home.  Please do not mail anything to us here after October 1st.  Send anything to us at our Roost address:  3241 S. Montgomery Rd.  Casa Grande, AZ 85193.

Dancing Through a Show Low Summer,  2014
Hugs, Gary, Katy, and Bandit too!
       

Dancing thru a VERY busy Spring, 2014

     I went to check my last blog & can't believe it was the end of April.  Fair warning, this will be a little lengthy with all we've done.  I left for St Louis the 29th of May, to spend time with my cousin, Sandy.  Since we're both only kids, we've been more like sisters growing up.  Sandy picked me up at the airport & took me to meet a wonderful couple & good friends of hers, Gus & Bren.  They are a gold star family, having lost a son in a bombing in Afghanistan.  We had a lot in common & I was honored to be able to meet them & become friends.
     Sandy's backyard had a beautiful Redbud tree blooming.  I forgot how beautiful they are.

     Sandy was very patient with me , as we explored quilt stores in the area.  We also went to her & Bill's house at Lake of the Ozarks for a couple days.   The dogwoods there were exquisite.  The weather was too cool to go out on the lake, but we enjoyed relaxing
     On our way back, we stopped at a quilt shop in Jefferson City.  It was a great shop & Sandy caught the bug, buying a pattern & some fat quarters to try her first quilt.  She has great style & color sense, so I'm sure she'll do well, if she's able to make time for quilting in her busy schedule.
     Sandy & I had a great visit and capped it off, picking up Riki on Sat afternoon.  We enjoyed dinner out with Bill's daughter's family.  We topped it off by going to Ted Drew's for frozen custard.  We were amazed at the crowds.  There were about 10-15 lines & each one had about 10 people in it.  There were barricades along the sidewalks to keep the lines from going into the street.  We learned that this place has quite a reputation! I had a Hawaiian Concrete (another word for a very thick shake).
      The next day Sandy took Riki & I to the hotel in Clayton, another St. Louis suberb.  As with every National Fallen Firefighter Foundation event I've attended, firefighters from local departments were there to assist us with luggage & getting checked in.  This was a survivors conference, specifically for adult, immediate family survivors.  We attended a variety of workshops.  One very interesting, was on making Mandelas.  Riki completed hers after returning home & it was outstanding! (picture to come in next blog)
     Riki presented a session on making memory broaches that was enjoyed by many.  I led two sessions of Laughter Yoga that were very well received.  (I've already been told they'd like me to do it again in 2015.)
     All meals were provided.  There was a breakfast buffet at the hotel.  For lunch, we walked about 1 1/2 blocks to the local fire station.  They pulled all the equipment out & set up tables to serve us lunch each day.   Lunches included hamburgers, bratwurst, pulled pork, & a chilie cook off.  All this plus good sides & gourmet desserts.
     We were bussed to venues for the evening meal.  One night was a murder mystery event put on at their union hall.  We all had parts to play & were given cards that told our names & background. Nobody knew who the murderer was.  A few people were given special roles to play.  It turned out Riki was the murderer, much to her surprise too.  She did a great job!
     Another evening we went to Grant's Farm, one time owned in part by Ulysses S. Grant & run by Anhuser Busch.  Music and many animals kept us entertained.  One of the famous Clydesdales even stopped by.

A Really Big  Horse

     The last night was spent at the City Museum.  Everything there is from recycled materials, including the building.  There were many door prizes given away that night including five quilts, made with patches from various fire departments.  I was fortunate to win one of these.  I enjoyed it for a couple months & have since passed it on to Cory, Robert's oldest son.

Quilt I won on far right.

     The last day was strictly optional & we had signed up for events.  Riki & I joined the bus tour that took in tours of the Anhuser Busch Brewery, St Louis Cardinals Stadium, and of course, the arch.  All too soon it was over & we left having made new friends & renewing friendships among our survivor family.

     While I was gone, Gary was repainting our shed in Casa Grande.  He did a great job.

     As soon as I returned, we took the weekend to get packed up and summerize our rig, before leaving for Show Low.  We came up "on the mountain" on May 13th and had two weeks before our trip to Wyoming and Utah.   We drove our car this time, instead of the Class C.  We only planned on staying for a week and saved over $500 in gas this way.  Riki was gracious to open their home to us.   We stayed with them and enjoyed the side benefit of being able to visit with her kids.   It was a busy week,  visiting old friends and family.
     My quilting friends had a special get-together at the home of my friend, Bernie.  It was so much fun to see all their projects and of course I had to buy a couple kits.  One I've completed since I got home.  The picture doesn't really do it justice, as it's a 3-D sampler with each block being several layers deep.

     Saturday after we arrived was Tyler's
graduation, (Robert's second boy).  Robert would be very proud of him, as Tyler almost has his heliocopter pilot's license and plans on attending University of Wyoming next Fall. Here's Tyler receiving his diploma.

      We realized that next Fall we will have quite a family in Laramie, Wyoming.   Our four oldest Evanston grandchildren, Cory, Keegan, Meghan, and Tyler will be attending the University of Wyoming.  Cory's girlfriend, Hailee and their baby will be there also, along with two of Anna's fiance's children, Hunter and Madison.
     We had several family get-togethers during the week and enjoyed all of them.  We also got to see Gary's two sisters and his older brother in Salt Lake City.  We attended the high school graduation of Sharee's second son, Jed.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any pictures of him.
     We visited Gary's son and the youngest grandson, Bowdie.  This is the little one that weighed just over 1 pound at birth.  Truely amazing.

     Our timing in Utah was perfect for me to help, and Gary to play, in Utah's NFFF Memorial Golf Tournament.  Gary, Riki, and her husband Kevin, play on the Evanston Team, in Robert's memory.  I help where I can with the golf tournament.  They had a full field this year and raised a lot of  money on their auctions.  All proceeds go to the NFFF.
     You may have caught that mention of a new baby in one of the previous paragraphs.  I'm about to become a Great-grandmother, when Cory and Hailee have their baby due July 4th.  This is the darling announcement they posted for their friends.

Cory and Hailee

   We didn't have much time for relaxing, but figured we could catch up when we got back to Show Low.  We wanted to see as many of our friends and family as possible.
     Other family happenings include Gary's granddaughter, Amber leaving for the Mission Training Center in Mexico, last week.  She will be serving an 18 month Spanish speaking mission in Virginia.  She's very excited and looking forward to the new opportunities.

     Once we arrived back in Show Low, Gary went to work on our metal shed, installing a window, so I could make a portion of it into my sewing studio.  Next came the fence.  We had decided on a white picket fence with a sturdy gate across the front of our yard.  We still have a lot of unfenced area in front of it, but this gives Bandit plenty of room.

New window in metal shed.

New fence and gate for Bandit's yard.

     We've settled into our summer activites, with Gary playing golf twice a week in Snowflake, and in 2-3 pool tournaments a week.  After several seconds and thirds last year, he placed first two weeks ago and tied for first last Sunday.
     A friend and I went to the Lavender Festival in Concho, about 35 miles from here.  We saw demonstrations on cooking with lavender (I didn't know you could do that.),  as well as planting and growing lavender.  Of course I bought a few plants.  They attract butterflies, smell wonderful, and seem to do really well at this altitude.  Our other plants are doing well, so hopefully these will too.

Lavender Demonstration Garden

     I'm staying busy with water aerobics, 3-4 mornings a week and sewing the many projects lined up for me.   I'm also going to be leading Laughter Yoga groups at the Senior Center and at our park.  Our Thursday night country dancing has resumed at Icy Roads.  We've had their beautiful dance floor all to ourselves from 6-7:30 the last two weeks.  While that is nice, we're worried about whether they will be able to continue without more customers, so are doing our part to publicize it.
      Until next time, we're happily dancing in Show Low....................................
      Hugs, Katy, Gary and Bandit too!  

Dancing in Spring 2014 Heat........

     We're still in Casa Grande & the weather has turned much too warm, much too early.  Temps are pretty steady in the high 80's and much too often in the mid to high 90's!    From what I hear on the TV weather, there are some parts of the country that would enjoy it.  Believe me, I'd send it if I could.  It's been an eventful season here at the Roost, with lots of activities.
     As we all watched the Olympics, it was decided to have a Senior Olympics here.  We signed up to be a country & then we chose names & made flags.  At that point the collective imaginations took over.  It was amazing what different folks came up with.  Our country decided to be the "Land of Lost Memories."  You can guess why.  The really good part was that we didn't have to remember anything, as we walked around looking confused.  Now some would say that didn't take much acting, but I'll pretend not to hear that.  I sewed the flag and another team member made badges.

     Everyone competed in at least one event. All events were modified so everyone could do them.  I've attached a picture of Steve & Gary playing basketball.

     Medals were made from CD's and everyone had fun winning some.  The anthem for our country was sung to the tune of "My Country tis of thee" and had the following lyrics:

My Country Tis of Thee

Land of Lost Memories

I Forget the Rest

da da da da dum dum

da da da daaa dum dum

etc.

     Easy, right?

     Entertainment at the closing ceremonies included the three top hat whistlers.

      Gary led the way.  It was a surprize even to me, as he wouldn't tell me what he was doing extra.

      Our next activity was a golf tournament in the desert behind our park.  We signed up to adopt a hole and could design it with whatever we wanted.   Gary filled a water basin and then had a rain gutter going over it, with the sides cut out, so the ball could go in the water.  I had a box with a semi circle cut out on each end, so you could putt through it.  There was 30 feet from tee to hole on each of them and the teams (Put together very randomly) had to all use the same club.  There was only one putter, the rest of the time it might be a driver, a 3 iron, or whatever.  Some were even left handed.  The game concluded with songs around the fire, weinies, and s'mores.  

     We had an owl nest in one of our saguaros.  Although we watched for several weeks, no babies appeared.  We're hoping they come back next year.  It was fun seeing them close up.

     The end of March, I went to Mesa one weekend to become Certified as a Laughter Yoga Leader.  Although I had been attending sessions at the Senior Center here, I had not been formally trained.  It was a fun weekend.   Besides AZ, other trainees come from NM & MN.  I will be leading monthly sessins at the Casa Grande Senior Center during the winter months and will talk to the Show Low Center when we get up there.  I'll also lead weekly or monthly sessions here at the Roost next season.

     I  finished a quilt for our bed in Show Low from the crazy fat quarters I got at last year's shop hop in Wyoming and made a pair of pillows as well.  I also finished two other quilts I'll show  you next month.  I don't want the recipients to see them here.

     I had another trigger finger and got it repaired last week.  The padding after outpatient surgery was so impressive I included a picture.  The incision is about 1-2 inches long on the palm.  It's much better now.  

     I also became a member of Women of the Moose lodge.  Moose Lodges are another resource for spending the night when traveling.  Friends went with us to dinner at the Arizona City Center for my first visit as a Moosette.  

     One of our new leaseholders got our park involved in adopting and cleaning up the road our park is on.  It's a 3.5 miles stretch of road.  The signs in both directions were just put up last week.

     Gary has been doing well in the local pool tournaments, winning the last two he entered.  Our pool players in the park have gradually left, so he's not playing much here. 

     Next week I leave for St. Louis.  I'm looking forward to visiting my cousin, Sandy for a few days.  Then Riki will meet me there for this year's National Fallen Firefighters Suvivor's Conference.  I'm leading two sessions of  Laughter Yoga while there.  Riki is leading a class on making memory broaches.  We're both looking forward to it.  

     The week after I return, we'll head up to Show Low for the summer.  We'll make one trip to Wyoming and Salt Lake City for high school graduations again, but only stay 1-2 weeks.  More on that and other family news in the next blog. 

Until then we're Dancing through the Spring, 2014 Heat..........................
Hugs from Katy, Gary, and Bandit too

Dancing through a warm winter......

Hi Everyone,  
      I'll start by apologizing for the length of this.  It seemed we were so busy, I just didn't have time to tackle writing this.  I kept saying I'll wait until after _____ and include that too.  It grew and grew.  Our weather has been fantastic this year.  Certainly the nicest of the 12 years we've been coming to Arizona in the winter.  Lots and lots of 70 degree days and  very little wind and rain.  Believe me, we feel very lucky and fortunate to be living this lifestyle.

      We enjoyed our annual visit to Organ Stop Pizza with our park, just before Christmas.  We also had the usual Christmas parties.  Besides our  new rig, we bought each other new recliners for Christmas.  They are designed for smaller spaces and both swivel and rock.  Once we decided that was what we wanted, they brought out a fabric sample ring that must have had over 50 choices.  Thinking this was going to take a while, I watched while Gary went immediately to a dark grey sample that  had beautiful texture.  He said that was his choice and I immediately agreed.  Funny how fast something can go, when you both see what you like right away.  They arrived the week before Christmas and fit beautifully.  The store delivered them and took our old ones as a donation to their church.

     Riki and her children drove down to visit us for a few days the latter part of their Holiday vacation.  Her husband, Kevin had a hip replacement two weeks earlier and elected to stay home recuperating.  While we missed him, we understood.  We brought our Class C motor home over and rented the empty spot across the street from us.  The kids were all able to stay there.
     Kai had spotted the "Domes" on the Sci Fi channel before they came down.  They are supposed to be haunted.  As far as they could tell, they were built in the 80's by a tech firm and  have been vacant for some time.  They're only about five miles from us, so we sought them out.  We weren't able to get close, due to the No Trespassing signs, but didn't see any signs of a haunting.  It was fun though to follow up.

The Domes

    The first thing the kids all wanted to do was go back to the Ostrich Farm.  When we were there several years ago, we didn't do the monster truck ride, so we included that this time.  They all had fun with that, along with feeding the ostriches, goats, deer, prairie dogs, and lorakeets.   The lorakeets are so cute and very clever at removing the lid to their nectar.  They land all over you, from your head to your arms and hands.  They're beautiful besides.

     We also went and watched the sky divers at the Eloy airport, down to Tucson to the San Xavier del Bac Mission and Saguaro National Park.  Another day we went to the old Casa Grande Ruins.

     I wanted to show them St. Anthony's Greek Monastery, as it's one of the prettiest places around here.  It is so green and lush, its hard to believe it's in the desert.   To tour their beautiful grounds, women must wear long skirts, scarves, and long sleeved loose tops.  They have clothes there to help outfit you, if needed.  Men also must wear long pants and long sleeved shirts.  Here are Riki, Meghan, and myself, ready to head out.

      On New Year's Day we drove the Apache Trail and went through Goldfield Ghost Town.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to stop at Tortilla Flats, as hundreds of motorcycles were there and there were no parking places within a mile.  Besides all that we played some cards and we went to the New Year's Dance here at the park, while the kids went to a movie.  It was a fun and very fast five days.

      One of the things I wanted to do this winter was visit the Dale Chihuly Glass Exhibit at the Phoenix Botanical Garden.  He had an exhibition five years ago that we couldn't get to and I didn't want to miss this one.  We went with friends Lucille and Jim from our park.  Reservations are needed because they run out of room in the parking lot.  I had reserved the 4-8pm time slot, since I wanted to see them at night.  Our timing was perfect.  We got there about 3:15 and they let us in.  We were able to see the 22 glass sculptures all in daylight.  Then we went to dinner in one of their restaurants and when we went back out at 5:30, it was dark.  We retraced our steps and saw all 22 sculptures all lit up at night.  It was wonderful.  I've included a few pictures, but they don't really do it justice.

     Bandit and ourselves completed the intermediate course of obedience training.  He continues to do very well.  As with many dogs, his ability is directly proportional to the amount of time we give to his training.  Here he is playing patti-cake with Gary and just generally showing off.

     Mid-January, we loaded up the Class C and took off for Yuma.  Of course Dateland was our first stop with shakes and ice cream for the freezer.  We boondocked at KOFA, the SKP Co-op and enjoyed their activities along with their dog park, swimming pool and hot tub for six days.  While in Yuma, we also visited with friends from both Evanston and Show Low.  I timed it right to see their quilt show and Gary got in a round of golf.  We also made a trip to Algadones, Mexico, for meds, (walking across the border as usual).  We noticed there were fewer people there and even though we stayed until late morning, had no line when we went through customs on our way back. 

     Then it was time to head for Quartzsite,  the winter mecca for snowbirds in Arizona.  We boondocked in the desert with the Boomers in what is referred to as Boomerville.  Just over 100 rigs signed in over the two week period.

Boomerville in Quartzsite

Beautiful Desert Scenery & Mountains

  Activities varied and Gary even got in a couple pool tournaments with his friend Steve.  They each took second in a tournament, so were happy with that.  I led a Laughter Yoga session with about a dozen people.  We had a good time and our laughter could be heard over a good portion of the desert.  Gary and I also managed to find 57 geocaches while there, to hit 2,700 total. 

A Yuma Micro.

     The last day, we went to the Desert Bar, (Nellie E. Saloon).  It's located north of Parker, five miles down a very bumpy dirt road.  It's only open from noon til 6pm on Saturday and Sunday.  It was built on an old hilly mining claim, in 1983.  It's been added on to every year since then.  We had heard about this place from other RVers for several years, so it was fun to finally make it there.  We timed it right and got there about 11:15.  There were only 2 cars in the parking lot, so Gary parked next to a covered walking bridge that led to the bar.  We walked around, bought t-shirts, got drinks, and staked out a table.  It's a good thing we did, because by noon, the place was packed with more coming in droves.  They have live music and dancing and of course we stayed to enjoy a dance.  Friends from our park showed up just before we were leaving and joined our table.  We turned it over to them and headed back to our car.  I wanted to take a picture of the church in the parking lot, so Gary went to move the car.  There were no parking places and he stopped a gal to see if she wanted our spot.  He backed out so she could pull in and then  he pulled behind the car next to him to wait for me.  The gal parked her car, walked over to Garys, threw a 5 dollar bill through the window onto the front seat and said "thanks for the parking place!"   She walked away and Gary didn't have a chance to say anything.  I came back to him laughing and saying it was worth it to wait.  As we left, we saw people parking a 1/2 mile and more away from the bar, so I'm sure the $5 was worth it to that group.

Gary's favorite spot, of course!

     We wound up cutting our trip about a week short and skipped the Geocaching Bof Rally.  The day before we left Casa Grande, we'd had an incident in our new rig.  Gary and I were sitting in the recliners that afternoon, when we heard a thud.  When checking it out, I discovered water pouring out the bottom of the storage area.  A clamp holding two hoses together had popped off and water was pouring up against the roof of the storage area and raining down on the converter.  Gary shut the water off and got it fixed, but a short time later we realized our batteries were no longer charging.  The converter wasn't working.  We used a charger to get them back up that night and emptied what we weren't taking with us from the 5th wheel fridge, into the fridge in our shed.  Then we turned everything off when we left.  Gary kept thinking about it and after two weeks, was anxious to get back and check everything out.  It turned out the water had shorted our the converter and it had be replaced.  Gary was able to do that and by the next afternoon, everything was working in order again.

     After we'd been back a couple weeks we toured the new Gilbert Latter Day Saints (LDS), Temple as guests of friends Dianne and Ray from Wyoming.   It's open to the public until it is dedicated. After that, you have to meet certain criteria of the the Mormon Church to be able to go beyond the waiting rooms on the first floor.
     We had to wear shoe covers, but they had several people sitting in chairs to put them on for you as you went in and take them off for you as you exited.  It was beautiful throughout.  The white marble and colors of a soft seafoam green, gold, and white, made it very serene.   There were incredible crystal chandeliers in some of the area, increasing the amount of light.  An agave plant theme was used throughout from the carpeting to stained glass windows. 

     After we got home that night, we watched Gary's granddaughter, Amber, open her  Mission Call.  She'll be going to the Mission Training Center in Mexico and then is assigned to Richmond, VA, where she'll teach the gospel in Spanish.  It will be an amazing experience for her.  As I've mentioned before, Gary already has a grandson serving a mission in England.

Amber with Mission Call Papers

     We're not  having our annual follies here this winter, but are having Senior Olympics in the Park.  It is a parody, with different members becoming five different countries.  More on this next time.  Roof Raisers is the organization that provides most of the improvements to the park. I was elected Vice-President.  That should help keep me busy for the next couple years.

     I'm also looking forward to attending a two day training to become a certified Laughter Yoga Leader.   Our current leader at the Senior Center in Casa Grande has had her duties reassigned, so I'm slated to take over that group in March.  Riki and I are both flying to St. Louis, MO for this year's National Fallen Firefighters Suvivor's Conference.  I will be presenting two Laughter Yoga sessions there.  It is easier for Gary to take me to the Phoenix airport and pick me up from Casa Grande, rather than Show Low, so we'll wait to go up on the mountain until I return.  Then we have two more high school graduations in Evanston, WY and Salt Lake City, UT.  We're thinking we'll just drive the car up for those and stay with family.  By mid-June, we should be in Show Low, AZ for the summer.

     Take care everyone and let us hear from you too.  We love hearing what you are doing.
Dancing through a Warm Winter...............
Hugs, Katy, Gary, and Bandit too!