Testing Christmas Presents

James spent last night with us. Today he and Parker were out testing James' Christmas presents.


The scooter made several trips between the charger and the driveway.

The boys had a great time doing wheelies with Razor electric scooter.

James with his new Powerwing

Powerwing wheelie?

Parker zipping along, it is fast enough that I am not getting on it.

At noon, Barry and Mona came down to pickup their Bunnies from Bev. Bev, Debbie and Josh brought the bunnies up to our place for the transfer. We had a pizza lunch and a nice visit with everyone.

I did a funny one at the store yesterday, we had brought some groceries at Sentry and were checking out. I swiped my debit card and entered my pin number and it came back denied. I looked at the card and I had pulled an Applebee's gift card out that was next to my debit card.

More Snow!

More snow this afternoon, great big flakes that floated down real slow. James went out and was catching them on his tongue. By the time it got dark we had about an inch. James went to Will's basketball game, when he got back a snowball fight had been arranged with the cousins. They had a great time, David, Laury, Dianne, Auna, Parker, Gracie and Max were out with James. There must be a couple of inches now and it was snowing like mad when I took the pictures.

Sunday 12 27 Flying

I did make it flying today, the sun was shining on the Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens. The only problem was none of it was hitting the flying field so it was pretty chilly. It was not long before I had my new heater out and put on my Carhart Arctic Work Suit. I was real comfortable after that! Four other flyer's showed up also and we had a pretty good day. The winds were light to none all day. I forgot to take pictures of the planes I flew, but I did get some pictures of our excitement for the day. One flyer was testing a new plane and made a high speed dive. We heard a noise and pieces flew off the plane. It had lost most of one stabilizer and one elevator was sticking straight down. After he slowed down the plane flew pretty well and he was able to bring it in for a landing. Needless to say, that part will be lots stronger after he repairs it.


Right after loosing the left stabilizer.

You can see the elevator sticking straight down at the rear.

He made a great landing!

This story will probably get told several times at the field and get better with each telling.

After I got home we made another run up to Vera's sisters and she is doing better. Then it was back home to watch the Seahawks recording, that was a waste of time! I am ready for a new Quarterback and Coach.

Saturday, a busy day!

What a beautiful day Saturday was! I built on my B-36 most of the day. Vera got a call from her sister, she had fallen and needed some help doing a couple of things, so we ran to Chehalis and picked it up. Traffic was a little crazy, everyone gets real impatient going through that area of two lane freeway. We ran up again in the evening and there was still lots of traffic, but they were not driving nearly as crazy. Maybe the darkness calmed them down.

Today is looking good for a little flying after it warms up. Maybe I will have some airplane pictures on here later.

Christmas Day

Mik, Michelle and James Tree.

Two Great Prime Ribs about to come out of the oven

Mik slicing up the first Prime Rib.

We had a great Christmas Day! Mik, Michelle and James made the best tasting Prime Rib. It melted in your mouth! Everyone brought their specialty, so there was lots of good food and treats around. Everyone was in a great mood and it was fun visiting with them.

Vera and I got a set of outdoor speakers, so I am going to have to finish the wiring I put in about 10 years ago. It already runs out to the deck from the entertainment center so I just have to add jacks and a wall plate.

It sure is great when you can spend such an enjoyable day with family and friends.

Christmas Eve

What a great evening! The kids are growing up so fast! The gift exchange sure had lots of laughter during it this year. There were some really nice gifts, I never saw what I would consider a White Elephant. The food was delicious as usual. For a change, I did not over eat. I will probably make up for that tomorrow.

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Alan

Christmas Food!

There is what I did today, sheeted the lower side of a wing. Vera made fudge, a recipe that has honey in it. I got to lick the bowl and I must say it turned out good. Of course that is all I get until Christmas!

We did go out once, made a mail run and picked up some supplies for Vera's Christmas Crab Casserole.

I am looking forward to Christmas and not just for the food.

Christmas Lights

After eating at the 49'er tonight we went driving around Castle Rock looking at Christmas lights. I think we enjoyed this one the most.

Saturday, Jackie came up and spent the afternoon. Her computer is having issues and I tried to fix it without any success. I did get all her data off the hard drive.

Sunday was pretty laid back, football and building models. I came in once and Vera had just finished chocolate chip cookies made from scratch. I got four of them, the rest are for Christmas.

Best day in ages

I had my last day of therapy on Thursday. It is not bothering me now, but I am going to keep up the exercises. I also went to see Dr Turner about my knee. I ended up getting a cortisone shot in it. I can not believe how good it feels today. Hopefully it will last through Christmas and then the next time it flares up, I am going in and get it rebuilt. Thursday evening we went to James first band concert. The kids did great! I posted a video on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBtmIJRBOVI

Afterwards it was off to Coldstone, I think I have a new favorite, Founders Choice made with Peanut Butter ice cream.

Only 6 more shopping days left!

More therapy

More Therapy today, the shoulder is getting much better. I made up a rope and pulley system like one they have me using. I used it this weekend to workout and I think it helped. Today they had me do some more exercises that I can do at home. After Therapy, we did a little shopping at Fred Meyer and headed home. About 15 or 20 minutes and the knee was ready to quit. I don't normally look forward to doctor appointments, but I am ready to see the orthopedic surgeon on Thursday. I understand the new knees are good for 25 years, 70 + 25 = 95, which would be great!

Hope you stayed dry today!

Weekend

We had a good weekend. James spent Friday night with us, so I got in more practice on the Xbox. Sometimes, I think I am getting it figured out. Jack and Marsha brought over a Christmas gift with popcorn in it that Vera and James made in the old fashion way, in a pan on the stove. It got exciting when we poured it into the bowl as a few more kernels popped and popcorn was flying everywhere. James played his favorite song on the piano several times for us while he was here. I will put a link to it on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-qTI3_pb2I

Sunday we went to James' basketball games and then headed home for a little R&R (watching football), icing the knee and heat on the shoulder.

Today is our Christmas present wrapping day, which went very well and we are all done.

Playing with Ice

I picked up James like normal on Fridays. We had made arrangements for him to stay the night. So we went and picked up his clothes and Xbox. When we got home he went right over to check the pond ice I had been telling him about. It did not take long and he was out on it.

After we ate and James played on the pond some more, he wanted to go see if there was ice on the creek. There was, but not as much as the pond.

With in a minute James was flat on his back, the ice was really slippery! Then he got a rock and worked on breaking some off. He sent most of the piece he fell on floating down the creek.

He busted off this piece from the one behind him by jumping on it. Then he ventured further upstream and tried to break off another shelf of ice. It broke when he jumped on it, but he slipped and went in about knee deep. I told him it was time to head back before the cold set in. As he was climbing up one glove froze to the bridge rail. He thought that was neat so he stuck the other one on there also. I swapped gloves with him so he could drive the 4 wheeler and we headed back. It was a big adventure and we had a good time.

Short video here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfmRhk5DwN4

Sounds like tomorrow may be nasty, be careful out there.

Therapy

More therapy on my shoulder today. I had a new therapist today. For a small lady, she sure is strong. I did not know my arm would go the far up. I got a real workout today! It is helping, I have a better range of movement and it is not waking me up at night when I roll over onto it.

Afterwards, Vera and I went to the Country Village for lunch and then hit Fred Meyer to pick up a few things. The therapy must have tired me out as I sat down to put some heat on the shoulder and ice on the knee when we got home and ended up taking a big nap. Watched the Steelers get beat, not much of a crowd there with the wind chill making it -21.

Hope you got a chance to enjoy the beautiful sunshine today.

Alan

Ice keeps growing and the Duck is stuck

Well the Duck is really stuck now. He is going to be there until it thaws, if that ever happens.

Where the water bubbles up for the pond sure froze into a pretty shape. The birds land on it and get drinks out of some holes in it.

Every day there is less of the water fall showing. I fully expect not to see it one of these mornings.

No one has been out behind the house since it snowed, so about half of it is still there. Quiet day here today, I did a little building on the plane, packed a couple of buckets of hot water out to the pond and scanned a picture of the twins. We had biscuits and honey a little while ago, now that was really a treat.

Stay Warm!

More Ice

Boy did the pond and waterfall develop some serious ice last night. Our low was 6.7 degrees so everything is freezing, I had to empty the small fountain after I poured hot water in it to melt the ice. The pump was making all kinds of noise. I think the cold got to the wireless outdoor temperature by where I am sitting as it reads -85.6 degrees. Now it went blank, it does show sunshine so it is getting something right. I went to therapy on my shoulder this morning, it seems to be helping as it has not woke me up for the last couple of nights. Afterwards Vera and I went to Applebee's for lunch, their 7 oz sirloin on the 2 for $20 is great! UPS showed up again today, we are going to have to start wrapping soon.

Hope you are staying warm.

Building Planes

Boy is it cold, 14 when I came in from the shop tonight. The cold weather did make the waterfall look nice, but it froze the duck in the ice. We have had that decoy forever is seems, we found it years ago while looking for a lost airplane at the Goble field.

What I have been doing the last couple of days when I have time. The right wing for the 108 inch B-36. It is taking longer to plan out the details than it will probably take to build it. Perfect project for these cold days.

Today we did our Christmas cards and got them mailed. UPS showed up with more presents and one of Vera's was at the post office. My team won on Monday Night Football so all is well around here.
Therapy on my shoulder is helping, I slept all of last night without it waking me up. Another appointment tomorrow and then off for lunch somewhere with Vera.

Game Day

James making a basket this morning.

James getting a rebound.

James waiting to go into the Game.

He hustled today, made some baskets, good passes and had a couple of steals of passes. Lots of fun to watch, this being a grand parent is great.

We stopped and picked up a Papa Murphy's stuffed pizza on the way home to try out the new oven. Good excuse! and it turned out great, they were never done even in the old one. It was snowing out a little while ago, small flakes so we may not get much.

Therapy

I am doing this on the laptop, so no pictures today.
Boy was it cold this morning, I had an 8:30 therapy appointment for my shoulder. I ran the van for 15 minutes and still had to scrap the windows. I spent almost 2 hours getting evaluated, doing exercises and getting treatments. I treated myself to a Burgerville Chocolate/hazelnut milkshake afterwards. A little shopping and I headed home and did a little work at M&M's rental (I was a failure, it still doesn't work). I decided it was time to drain the hoses and cover the outlets as most of the lows are forecast to be in the 20's. I am sure enjoying the heat pump and the pellet stove in the shop. I got the parts for my new plane, so it is back to work on it.