Retired for a year - June 30, 2024

 It is crazy to think that a year ago, I retired.  I feel like the year has flown and I feel like the year has dragged.  So many things happened this year...not good, not horrible, just lots of things and changes.

The day after I retired, Jamie, Dusty, and the kids came.  We were super busy.  Then after everyone went home, I had a couple of weeks to adjust to not working, before I had my shoulder surgery.  It took four months of rehab twice a week.  It was a real trying time.  I had to just sit in the recliner morning and night icing my shoulder and trying to function the best I could.  

It was really depressing.  I missed work and I missed my friends.  I didn't get to have my Goodbye dinner at The Timberline Restaurant like we had planned because of my surgery.  We focused all of our energy on getting me rehabbed so that I could go on our already scheduled Rhine River Getaway Cruise with Viking.  The day after my surgery, Sylvia Reynolds passed away.  We felt terrible - we didn't find out until it had been a few weeks.  We missed her services.  I also had to go to court on my accident which was not fun.  We finally got things settled.

We enjoyed the cruise, Keith got really sick for a few days, we met some nice friends from England and saw some beautiful sites such as Switzerland.  We got home and got ready for the holidays.  

In November, Keith's mom celebrated her 90th birthday.  Unfortunately, she was too sick to celebrate the things that we had planned for her, and the course of her life changed drastically.  She had low oxygen. for a while (we are not sure how long) and she lost some memory.  We quickly realized that she could not live alone.  My nephew Chase was interested in buying her home, so after Christmas, we got things rolling.  

We found a home for Eva at Our House in Harrisville.  We helped clean out her home, which was a daunting task.  And got her settled in at Our House.  Keith and I visit her almost everyday.  We run her errands and do her banking.  We had to cancel some of her utilities and take care of taxes for her.  

I feel like things were kind of a blur.  Everything happened very fast.  I was able to go to Kamryn's last Dance trip to Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm.  The trip was a blast.  

We suffered some devastating losses in April.  Dale Thornton was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer on April 1st (no April Fool's joke) and he ended up passing away on April 29th.  It was devastating.  

We attended Braxton's iSucceed graduation in Nampa Idaho.  And then we turned around and went to Reno for Brady and Kamryn's High School Graduation.  They were both great trips but short trips with a lot of miles to drive.  My car turned over 100K miles on the way home from Reno.

We got home and I attended Elva Espinosa's funeral mass.  Our friends Dave and Vicki were absolutely shocked by her passing.  We were too.  Such a sweet lady.

June always sucks with the death date anniversaries of my Mom on June 3rd and Skyler on June 11.  

The twins turned 16 on June 26th and Jamie and Dusty celebrated 10 years of marriage on June 28th.  

The weather has gone from delightful to very hot, which I am not enjoying.  But we will survive.  So much for my first year of retirement.

Lunch with Greenbriar Friends

On Friday, June 28, 2024, I had lunch with my Greenbriar Ward friends.  We met at the Olive Garden and enjoyed a wonderful meal together.  It was so fun to catch-up.  Love these ladies!

The Twins Turn 16

On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, Dax and Alexis turned 16.  Dusty took Dax golfing.  We didn't hear what Alexis did for her birthday.  But later that night, the family celebrated at dinner.

Both kids will get their driver's license's soon.

Father's Day BBQ with Eva

On Monday, June 17, 2024, Keith and I attended a Father's Day BBQ with Eva at the assisted living facility Our House.  My hamburger was cooked just right, we had chips, potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans and ice cream sundae for dessert.  It was yummy!

Kamryn and Brady's High School Graduation - DeMonte Ranch High School 2024

We got up early and got ready.  We met LaRee and Kevin downstairs at 6:50 a.m. to head to the university.  It is good that we left early.  There was a lot of construction on campus and traffic was heavy.  We got to our seats around 7:15 a.m. and waited for graduation to start.

There was a slideshow of the grads with the pictures that were taken for the yearbook.  

The grads entered the arena in fours.  Kamryn was first, then Brady.

When Jamie was pregnant with Skyler, Kamryn said, "When I graduate, Skyler will be starting Kindergarten."  How profound!  And now that time is here... One chapter ending, one beginning.

Kevin, LaRee, Keith and I went back to the hotel.  We went to rest.  It took a while for the kids to get out of the university parking lot.  Keith crashed right away, and I couldn't sleep.  I sent pictures to Jamie and LaRee and played June's Journey.  Then Jamie came to the hotel to pick me up for lunch.  Keith woke up about the time I was leaving, so he came with us.  We followed Jamie (Alexis driving).  

We had Kamryn open her cards as we were waiting for dinner to arrive.  

Kamryn was very grateful.  Alexis has a stunned look on her face.  We treated the group to lunch and then went back to the hotel to rest.  We went over to Jamie's around 4:30 and visited with Kevin and LaRee.  Brady came over around 5:30.  He opened his gifts.

We had to get a picture of the grads after their 2 hour naps.  They were beat.

Dax entertained himself with the balloon.  

Dusty cooked ribs and potatoes.  We ate and then sat outside after it had cooled off and visited for a while.  We said our goodbye's and then we were off to the hotel for a good night's sleep.  Keith and I actually slept pretty good and took our time leaving in the morning.  We got home around 8:00 p.m.

Trip to Reno for Kamryn and Brady's High School Graduation

On Tuesday, June 11, 2024, we headed to Reno to attend Kamryn and Brady's High School Graduation.  The ceremony wasn't until Thursday morning, but we wanted to get there in time to help with the graduation preparations and party on Wednesday before graduation.  It is a good thing we went early.  It was so hot driving to Reno.  My Subaru overheated in Winnemucca.  We drove to an AutoZone and got some coolant.  The manager there advised us not to try to drive to Reno.  It could do major engine damage to the car.  We went to the Ford Dealership to see is someone there could help us.  One of the salesman gave us the name of an auto repair shop and we took it to them to get fixed.  Then we called Dusty and he came and got us.  Reno is 2 hours and 10 minutes away from Winnemucca.  We got something to eat at Maverick and then waited until Dusty got there to pick us up.  We loaded our stuff into his car and off we went.  We finally got to the hotel around 10:00 p.m.  We were exhausted.

Luckily, Kevin and LaRee were coming on Wednesday morning.  They were able to pick-up my car on their way to Reno, so we had our car after all.  I am so grateful for the auto repair shop that got our car in quick and back on the road for us.

Wednesday morning, Jamie called and asked if I could watch Skyler while Dusty worked and she ran errands.  She picked me up at the hotel around 9:00 and I watched Skyler while Keith slept in.  I kept little girl entertained until around 1:00 when she and Dusty returned.  I picked up Keith at the hotel and we went to the house to help with the party preparations.

Keith and I went back to the hotel around 3:30.  We rested for a minute and then visited with Kevin and LaRee.  We were relieved to find out that my car only cost $81.00 to fix.  There was a spring in the radiator cap that broke, leaking radiator fluid and coolant out of the car.  The coolant was bone dry when they checked it.  Keith and I had added a half gallon of coolant to the car after we went to auto zone.  

We all headed over to Jamie's around 4:30 to help with the food.  The wind began to blow like crazy, wiping out some of the decorations.  We did our best to get everything ready.  Dusty and Jamie served tacos and chips and watermelon.  They had a drink bar and desserts.

The balloons kept popping because of the high heat!  The arch was kind of a disaster.

Skyler swam in the pool and Grandma LaRee kept an eye on her.  We visited with the folks that stopped by.  

The party was in full swing around 7:45 when we left to go back to the hotel to rest.  Jamie sent us a few pictures of the backyard later that evening.  The kids partied until midnight.

The party was a success and fun for all.  The grads had to be at the University of Reno by 6:45 a.m. or they couldn't walk.  Way too early for me.