It's That Time of Year (03/28/22)

 

What time of year is it, you ask?   It’s that time when Paul and I start to do some summer planning, and I realize I have blog posts that need to be written. 

So, here we are. I was actually pleasantly surprised when I opened the program that I had actually already written most of a post about the holidays. And here it is:

The Holidays

It wouldn’t be Christmas in Havasu without the annual boat parade- it has now become a tradition for us to head down to the water, armed with hotdogs and potato salad, to await the boats.  

This year the parade is almost twice the size it usually is, and it seemed EVERYONE was talking about being there, so we got there early and played cards while we waited for dark.

The London Bridge is sporting new lights this year- and is absolutely gorgeous with its ever changing display.

We kept ourselves busy as we waited for Christmas. We had a designated date night, with all 4 of us heading out to dinner, dressed up just a little bit more than usual. 

 

We had happy hour at sunset...

...and watched the hummingbirds on the feeders, just inches from us. I will say though that this picture was made possible by the fact that I found out I can use my Apple watch as a remote for the camera on my Iphone.

We even learned how to make the official "Olive Garden Salad"!

We also did things like drain the pool, clean it, and fill it back up again.  That’s not the fun stuff though.

Paul and I hiked to Pilot Rock, a trail that leads to the lake, and found a great spot for boat camping.

Soon enough our holiday guests arrived. We haven’t seen our friends Brad and Marilyn in two years, because they are Canadian.  As a bonus, they brought a friend with them this year-always a great time!

It was still a little quieter for Christmas than it usually is, even though our daughter Jess made an appearance.  We changed it up a bit this year and made tamales on Christmas Eve. Jess was happy to help.

New Years was a bit livelier, with Paul’s fraternity brothers and their wives arriving from California.

 With Omicron alive and well, we had unusual party favors, but were definitely more relaxed with all negative results.

And then, it was 2022. 

What’s that joke?

“That moment when you realize that 2022 is pronounced 2020 too.”

Let’s hope not.

Winter 2019-2020 (06-30-20)

Well, I thought I was all done blogging, but now that we are traveling for the summer, I think I changed my mind. We will see how long it lasts.  My reasoning? Well, partly because I am more interested in writing when we are doing fun things, and partly because at least 7 times in the last week, Paul and I have asked each other things like....where we we when we ate those scallops that time?....did we hike that trail when we were here last time?......What year did we go to----?  And the answer could always be found in....you guessed it...my blog.
So, with that being said, here is a synopsis of what our winter was like...

Winter in Havasu is, thankfully for us, filled with family, friends, and fun.

  

The holidays were their usual crazy time, with Rvers in the yard and guests in the house.

We never know who is going to be around, but we are always happy when the crowd includes our daughter Jess.

Our friends are always up for a good time, so when the weather is nice, outdoor activities include games on the back deck, Teryx rides in the desert, and campfires in the back yard.

When the weather turns lousy, the fun moves indoors with dance parties, Guesstures, the annual Yankee Swap, and of course Farkle.

Of course, no holiday would be complete without the official weighing of the carrot cake!


















The festivities don’t end with the holidays- January brings the Balloon Fest, and more friends-

Whenever the weather permits, we make the trek to our favorite restaurant, El Paraiso, preferably in the Mustang, with the top down, but it isn’t always warm enough for that

February we hosted our annual WinterBlast party for the Fireworks festival.

As usual, we didn’t stay home the entire winter- we took a few trips for various reasons.

  In November we took an impromptu trip in the camper to meet up with Mike and Julie in Tucson for the Celtic Festival....

And were lucky enough to be there for another gorgeous Arizona sunset.

In December we headed to El Paso to check on Paul’s mom ( I finally remembered to get a picture!)...

















... and stopped in Phoenix on the way home for my cousin Linda’s Sweet 16 (60) birthday bash weekend.  Everyone dressed up as they would have when they were 16. Paul wore his Eagle Scout uniform (yes, it still fits) and I wore corduroys and a plaid flannel shirt. The birthday girl was dressed up as Homecoming Queen.













Well, that sums up the Party aspect of the PPP, but we also have the Project portion as well.


Large and small, we had lots of projects.  The biggest was probably the solar panels we had put on the roof. Paul has been waiting for the price of solar to be worth doing, and now we finally have the entire RV garage roof covered with panels.  He has fun checking our output every day.










Work wise, leveling the side of the yard was probably the hardest…We had literally tons of dirt brought in so that we could level the side near the fence.

 This makes it much nicer for parking our stuff over there.

Some of the projects mostly involved us just writing checks….those would include the new rain gutters along the back ( and some in the front) and the new shade, so that we can “close off” more of the back deck.

And, some of the projects could have been accomplished by just writing a check, but Paul chose to keep himself busy by doing things like making his own corn hole game….

The Holidays 2018

By mid December we were starting to get an idea of who was going to be able to make it to our house for the holidays.

The first to arrive were Brad and Marilyn- they are Canadians who travel in the U.S. during the winter. As soon as they arrived we visited our new favorite restaurant- El Paraiso. 

Great food, great margaritas, and best of all, you can sit outside and watch the sunset while you eat.

As the days went by, more people arrived and we enjoyed the sunsets in the back yard. With the cooler weather upon us, our new propane fire pit saw a lot of use.








Speaking of cold weather, this particular winter was horrible. Cold and rainy way too often.

Don't let this picture of our crazy Canadian friend fool you.. it wasn't that warm out!

It was so rainy that I was shocked to wake up one morning and see fog out the window...

The outdoor temperatures were sometimes close to freezing, and I have never seen the pool temperature so low.

Anyway, there were still plenty of days with decent weather, just not as many as we are used to having.  Ideally we had wanted to take the boat out sometime around Christmas, since none of our friends had been on it.

The weather didn't cooperate, but we don't give up easy, and instead had our Christmas Eve happy hour on the boat.....in the garage!

Maybe Christmas Eve happy hour on the boat will become a new tradition. We can add it to the already established tradition of the annual Yankee Swap. 

We sure do manage to laugh a lot!
















Of course, soon after Christmas comes New Years. Some of our friends (and our daughter Jess) had to leave before that, but others arrived, so we still had a full house-just the way we like it!











We started off the new year with quite a (never to be repeated) bang. Lets just say we should have been able to get our money back for the fireworks.

On days that aren't actual holidays, we still find plenty to keep us busy...

We really enjoy sharing meals, and with everyone pitching in, its so easy and so much fun.

In the evenings, whoever is so inclined will either head to the hot tub, or play Farkle or poker.

Day trips can include hiking, a trip to the Desert Bar or a visit to the old mining town of Oatman.

And of course, when we don't feel like cooking, we can always head to El Paraiso!

And then, it was 2019.....finally.