Visits from Don and Jane and Then Some

On Feb. 8th my sister, Jane, flew in from Boise to stay for a few days. That same day my brother from Alaska, Don, and Dixie also stopped in on their way through driving from Yuma to Twin Falls and beyond. We had a good time visiting and all of us went out with Gene and Lynn to dinner at a restaurant in Mesa that evening.

That night Don and Dixie stayed at a motel next door and took off early the next morning to see my brother, Glenn, in Twin Falls that evening. Jane stayed with us. During the week we made jewelry items in wire wrap including a ring and bracelet. They turned out to be beautiful. On Thursday we took Jane for a ride up the Apache Trail, the historic winding road to the Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River. Along the way we stopped to view desert scenery and Canyon Lake before arriving in Tortilla Flat, the tiny town along the way. It consists of only a couple of stores and a saloon/restaurant with an outdoor patio where a small live band entertains daily.

Friday morning we girls went to the market and walked our bottoms off looking and looking while Dad and Gene took a 10-mile bicycle ride. That afternoon we went to a Northwest States Pot Luck lunch in the park where we were the only people representing Idaho.

Saturday morning there was an auction in the park. I bought a small teapot for my neighbor, Gayle Bramwell, as I knew she wanted one after seeing mine. They were selling some things by the box full with many going for as little as $1 which is what I paid for the cute teapot. The auctioneer stood on the back of a golf cart as it moved down a street in the park where items were stacked on both sides. It was good for a little entertainment.

Saturday evening Jane went with us to a stake-sponsored Valentine's Day Dance. It was a 40's and 50's theme that included a half-hour of swing dance instruction prior to the dance and some very tasty goodies. This was a fun evening.

On Valentine's Day Dad and Gene worked a 4-hour shift at the church welfare cannery in Mesa bottling over 6000 pints of tasty salsa. Dad and Gene each brought home a pint for helping. Dad, Jane and I exchanged Valentine's day gifts and cards.

We also appreciated the cards from family and friends.

That evening we went to an Elvis impersonator show here in the park starring Gene Styles (www.genestyles.com). We had seen him last winter and wanted to see him perform again. He does a very convincing performance with many of Elvis's memorable songs.

The next day we took Jane to the Goldfield Ghost Town and then to the Superstition Mountain Museum a short distance up the Apache Trail. We looked through a number of gift shops and checked out the reptile exhibit at the ghost town and looked through many outdoor displays at the museum before taking Jane to the airport for her flight home. We enjoyed the time with her and hope she had a fun and relaxing time spent with us.

Thursday we went with park residents to a private showing and pizza buffet at the Organ Stop Pizza Restaurant (www.organstoppizza.com) in Mesa. This was also a repeat of last winter's visit. The Mighty Wurlitzer and the many associated instruments that are played by the organ console are amazing. It is like listening to an entire orchestra and the salad and pizza were delicious.

Then on Friday evening we were thrilled by an awesome show by the Dutton Family (www.theduttons.com). They perform in Branson, Missouri during the summer and in Mesa during the winter months. Three generations of very talented performers put on an incredible show of music, dance, singing and humor. On Saturday evening we attended a talent show and art display with pot-luck desserts at intermission at our ward meeting house. I was coerced by Dad and my artist neighbor, Gayle, to enter a display of my wire wrap jewelry. There was quite a variety of talent from ward members and we had an enjoyable evening. I also got a number of compliments on my jewelry which made it worthwhile.

Sunday we attended meetings and then enjoyed a free ice cream social sponsored by the park that afternoon. Along with bicycle rides, including a 10-miler with Dad, playing horseshoes, enjoying the pool and several evenings of games and movies with the Liljenquists this has been quite a busy couple of weeks.

Arrival of Special Friends

Tuesday morning we were invited to celebrate the 59th wedding anniversary lunch for park neighbors, Marge and Alfred Johansen. It was at a nice restaurant on a golf course and we had an enjoyable time. People were particularly impressed with the personalized card I had made and printed on the computer.

Then shortly thereafter I stepped on the edge of one of the park walkways and severely sprained my ankle. It is now getting a little better but the bruising shows how bad it was. Our dear friends, Gene and Lynn Liljenquist arrived Tuesday afternoon for a month's stay. That evening we were treated to the talents of a young woman musician and vocalist who was born blind and with a severe cleft palate named Sarah Getto. She is very talented and we enjoyed her concert immensely. What is most remarkable is what she has accomplished in spite of severe handicaps. Much credit goes to her parents. She played the keyboard, fiddle and sang, doing very credible oldies renditions of Patsy Cline, Karen Carpenter, Anne Murray and others to the accompaniment of soundtracks she had previously recorded herself. You might check out more about her at www.sarahgetto.com.

During the week we have enjoyed the pool and spa several evenings along with movies and games. Dad found a web site that streams movies without commercials and we watched "Water for Elephants," The Help," and "Tangled." We especially enjoyed "Tangled." On Friday we visited the Mesa Market and even after seeing the huge flea market at Quartzsite, Gene and Lynn were amazed at the size and variety of this market. We only saw about half of it in two to three hours of browsing. On Saturday we had "lunch" at Costco as we browsed all the sampling stands and finished it off with an ice cream treat. It was a zoo! The place was huge and jam packed with shoppers. We thought it was just the Saturday before the Super Bowl but one of the associates said it was always this way on Saturday and if we thought it was crowded now we should stick around until 4 to 5 PM. In the afternoon we took the drive up North a ways to Fountain Hills and did the hike around the lake there where the man-made "geyser" shoots water up well over 300 feet for 15 minutes every hour in the center of the lake. It was a nice relaxing afternoon with even some atrists and authors showing and selling their work along the way near a playground with a couple of cute sculptures.



We finished the trip at sunset by driving to the upper end of Idaho Rd (where our park is located on the lower end) for some views of the valley and the beautiful desert scenery nearby.

Today our park neighbors, Bill and Carla Dodds are coming to visit our church meeting with us. We hope and pray they will be touched with the Spirit there.

Sharing the Gospel and Plumbing Problems

To begin we would like to share one of several beautiful Arizona sunsets this past week.

Early this week we gave a missionary copy of the Book of Mormon with our testimony inside the cover to our park neighbors and friends, Bill and Carla Dodds. These are the people whose meeting in their Community Christian Church we attended one evening last week. We have since had some conversations regarding our beliefs and this morning we attended one of their regular Sunday services with them prior to our ward conference. Their pastor spoke on "God's Greatest Desire." There was a baptism of one man during the service along with prayers and music by a choir and the congregation. It has been interesting to compare beliefs with a number of similarities noted. These people are sincere and dedicated in their beliefs and their congregation was very friendly. However it helps me appreciate that the restored gospel builds on and expands existing Christian beliefs as if seen through wide-angle optics that fill in missing details and critical principals lost with the Great Apostasy in ancient times. The Dodds plan to attend Sacrament meeting with us next Sunday as we share each other's beliefs. We are grateful for their friendship.

Along with our missionary efforts Dad also helped Bill get his webcam set up and completed getting Skype working on his laptop. This effort began last winter but at that time Bill didn't have the required camera and microphone. Then he was asked to help clear an annoying error from our Arkansas neighbor, Gayle Bramwell's laptop. Aside from these activities early this week it appeared to be somewhat relaxed as I caught Dad reading out in the sunshine on his Kindle.

That was until Dad discovered a leaking toilet in our motor home. That began a three and one-half day ordeal requiring multiple trips to Lowe's and RV supply stores, completely tearing out the old toilet, it's pedestal and all associated plumbing and building it back from scratch. This was due to nearly everything being incompatible between the old, now obsolete, pot and it's supposed replacement. Dad was complaining about a sore back, neck and knees along with a number of battle scars on his hands when it was finished.

This was the scene in my living room during the project.

But now it is finished and, gratefully, no more trips to the park's public restrooms.

While Dad was busy with his plumbing project I went with a park neighbor to the desert golf course across from the park one morning. This was my first ever golf game other than miniature golf. We played nine holes and she was very gracious to help me. It was fun but somewhat frustrating when a good drive hit and bounced off a piece of brush or a rock. The "greens" are smooth but I was also having a hard time not hitting the ball to hard when putting. For a couple of afternoons I was also busy making jewelry with the stones and wire I had bought. I have made earrings, finger rings and necklaces. I have received many compliments from friends and neighbors that have seen them and I have enjoyed this relatively new hobby.

While the plumbing project was underway we were waiting for a shipment from Amazon of safety items and a trip computer for the bicycles. We have yet to receive reflective vests. Some of our riding involves riding on streets with no bicycle lanes and we felt it would be safer and more enjoyable if we are more visible and can also better see what is behind us. It is also fun to check our speed and trip parameters such as distance, average speed, time, calories burned, etc. Here you can see the rear-view mirror, trip computer and brightly-flashing LED tail light for each bike. It is funny how these bicycles have hung around without being used for nearly twenty years and now we are getting some exercise and having fun riding them.

Friends and Relatives

     Last week after returning from Utah we were busy doing something just about every day. Monday evening we were invited by park friends, Bill and Carla Dodds, to attend a meeting with them at their Christian church for the second session of a 3-day series of meetings with music and sermons dedicated to the subject of "Heaven." The guest preacher was a visiting pastor who travels nationally. I had a difficult time with my stomach for most of the meeting and had to step out of the chapel but I still heard all. It is always interesting to learn what is taught by other Christian religions. Many of their beliefs correspond with ours but I am always grateful that we have been given a "fullness" of what has been revealed and restored by the Lord to us in these latter days.
     On Tuesday we visited Dad's Aunt Eula in Chandler. While there we picked oranges, tangerines and grapefruit and Dad helped Kevin with cleanup after he had trimmed part of an oleander hedge around the property. We are very grateful that they are willing to share this delicious fruit with us that might otherwise go to waste. I don't think Arizonians fully appreciate the abundance of citrus fruit available in this area. Perhaps they think the same of much of our colder climate fruits that also goes to waste in back yards back home. That evening we went to a karaoke jam in the park clubhouse. Not many people showed up and the equipment was not working properly so several musicians went to fetch their guitars and an auto harp and took turns singing impromptu songs, many of which were unfamiliar but fun, for our enjoyment for nearly two hours.

On Saturday we met with Dad's Queen Creek cousins, Milo, Ivan and Alayne and kids for dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then went back to Milo and Ivan's home for games for the evening. We had a great time with lots of laughs.
     This past Tuesday we went to a dinner show in the park. We had BBQ chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, a roll and a cookie. Then we were entertained by a group made up of two married couples from Colorado called the "Saddle Strings." They were very entertaining with good music, jokes, audience participation and dancing.

The next day we joined a large group of park residents for a 49th wedding anniversary for park neighbors Bob and Lori Bruns at their 5th wheel RV site near ours. Many of these people have been coming here for years and know each other well. We are still relatively newcomers trying to remember many new names.

And then yesterday evening we met at a Mesa restaurant called Wild Berry Diner for a dinner to celebrate JoAnne Campbell's birthday. She and Peter are our Canadian neighbors across the street that we got to know well last winter. The food was excellent and we all had a great time.

We then came home to another of several swims this past two weeks followed by the animated movie, Robin Hood. At the pool we met a new couple, here for just a couple more weeks from Emmett, Idaho along with two new Canadian couples the arrived recently. The Idaho couple, Terry and Susan Howard, are LDS and we have invited them to attend meetings with us tomorrow.
     This morning we enjoyed the $3 pancake breakfast offered by the park each Saturday. The pancakes are delicious with the usual sausages, scrambled eggs, orange slice, syrup, jam and butter. Then I spent the afternoon at the flea market and then visited Michaels craft store with my artist fried, Gayle Bramwell. Wow, what a store!