New Years Eve

 

I flew three of my helicopters this afternoon.  The flight with the FW-450 was a short one, I had installed a new GPS module and it shut it's self down after a couple of minutes because I hadn't calibrated the compass yet.  I did get full flights on the Jet Ranger and the BO-105.  After I was done with them I took the game camera back out in the woods and set it up.  While I was out there I found two fir trees that got blown down during the last windstorm.

When I was done in the woods I decided to bring the new game camera I was testing on the back deck in and it happened to have a picture of James' car in the driveway.  It turns out he was looking for me and I was out in the woods.  He went over and visited Steve and Dianne when he couldn't find me and had a nice visit with them.  He came back and we had a nice time talking with him.

I was looking through the pictures on the new  game camera and came across several of a bus going up the driveway, but none of it coming back!  One of life's little mysteries I guess.

It has been a busy and a good year for us.  We are both pretty healthy and enjoy life.  We are not planning on doing anything this evening except listen to fireworks which I have been hearing all day.

We hope you have a Safe and Happy New Year!

More Gifts

 When Debbie, Josh and the Boys stopped by here on the way to skating the boys had Christmas presents for us that they had picked out.

These are the ones Jordon got for me.  On the tape measure it says "The Man-The Myth-The Legend GRANDPA".  I will have to write him a note on the note pads.

Jacob got me this pyramid.

I can't argue with that statement.

They also got Vera these butterflies for her pot outside, but she likes them so well that she put them into a flower arrangement in the living room.

We have been snacking on this tin of desserts that the boy's grandma Natalie made for us.  I forgot all about putting it in the the post about gifts.  Vera tried out the new vacuum today and said it worked good and has lots of suction.

As I came in the house for dinner I noticed that the fog they forecast was already forming.  It is pretty dense now, looking at the security cameras I can hardly see the neighborhood lights.  Lunch and dinner were great today because Vera made bread.

Ice Skating and the Cowlitz River

 

We had a nice visit with Josh, Debbie and the boys today.  They were on the way to Portland to ice skate.  Right away Jordon got out the car carrying helicopter and filled it with Hot Wheel cars.

The remote control helicopter needs new batteries as it was having trouble flying over the edge of the coffee table.  It has been several years since I changed them and they have gotten lots of use.

I was wondering why the boys had gloves and stocking caps on until Debbie told us they were going skating, then I understood! 

Debbie sent me this picture of them at the skating rink.  She said it is a temporary one they set up in downtown Portland.  She said Jordon loved skating but Jacob was content to be pushed around on the seal sled.

We made a run to the Post office and picked up the mail.  Afterwards we drove down to Lions Pride Park to check the river.  It looks like it is 3 or 4 feet higher than the last time we went by it.

Christmas Gifts

 

I mentioned in the Christmas Eve post that I didn't have a picture of Jacob's Robot and Michelle sent me a nice one this morning.

Mik, Michelle and James got Vera this hand held cordless vacuum.  She got all the pieces out and checked them out.  I charged the battery so she is now waiting for a nice day because she wants to clean her side of the car.

Mik, Michelle and James' gift to me was so nicely wrapped that I hated to unwrap it.

This is just what I needed, the one in the car port has dumped me onto the ground a couple of times and I know that James was there for one of them.  Vera got to witness the other one.  This one has much bigger wheels that are farther apart.

This is the parts for it and the instructions which I had to use for a couple of steps.

Getting the holes lined up for the seat and seat braces was one of the harder steps.

Here is the finished chair, I am excited about trying out the cup holder.

Christmas Day at Mik and Michelle's

We went down to Mik and Michelle's for our traditional Christmas dinner and gift exchange.  We got there about 3 and it wasn't long until I claimed the chair with a good view of the football game because my knees were sore from all the standing last night.

I got my phone out and started taking pictures when the boys showed up and started playing with Jacob's Build a Robot.

In this picture Jacob is demonstrating the robot to his grandma Natalie.  I didn't end up with a picture of the robot but it was really cute.

Josh and his family watching the game.

Vera found her favorite place to sit next to Jazz and visit with Bev.

Mik and Michelle with the prime rib and turkey they made.  The turkey had been smoked and tasted great, I was too full to try the prime rib but I am sure it tasted great like the ones at other Christmases.

After dinner and the gift exchange it was time for group and family photos.

James is visiting with the Karnofski's.

We hadn't gotten a picture with Beverly lately and this one turned out great.

My last picture of Christmas Day 2024 was a nice one of James, Michelle and Mik.  It was a day filled with food, good friends and a great family.

Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve at the the Uhlenkott's.

Michelle got James and I matching Seahawk sweaters so we wore them this evening.  Dan and Robin had provided a turkey dinner which was excellent and lots of people brought their favorite dishes so there was lots of good food to eat.

Santa arrived at 6 and Kenny went right over and High fived him.

Santa with Brentley the youngest kid there.

Josie with Santa as Emmy takes their picture.

Hattie only lasted a few seconds on Santa's lap.  On the table is part of the great food, for some reason I forgot to take a picture of the table.

Kenny waiting her turn with Santa.

I think the candy canes Santa was giving them were a big hit.

I had a great time watching Rory tonight she is really cute.

This is during the White Elephant gift exchange and Bob's brother Jack is just opening the gift he chose.  He didn't have it long as it was stolen several minutes later and he had to pick again.  We have not entered it for several years so we left shortly after it started.

Christmas Eve at the Gourde's

After dropping Vera off at home James and I went up to Gabe and Des's to spend a little time at their party.

Grandpa David knows how to entertain Hattie.

Their gift exchange was just starting when we got there.

Desiree had a really cute Christmas village set up.

I remembered to take a picture of the table up here.  The only problem was I was too full to do any thing but sample a couple of my favorites.

In this picture you can see one of the games set up for later.

Desiree had everything decorated up very nicely.

Here is a short video of the end of a game Dianne made.  Prizes, money, scratch off lottery tickets etc. are wrapped in pieces of cling film, some short and some long.  The ball was about 8 inches in diameter when they started and in the center was a small box with the grand prize.  After the game started the next person in line had to roll a pair with dice to get their turn.  After that game was done James and I headed to our house and Mik and Michelle followed shortly.  It was a busy evening but I sure had a good time.

JP's visit and flying the new drone

 We had a little sunshine this afternoon so I got my new drone out and made a flight with it.  I tested the return to home feature right away and it landed about 18 inches from where it took off.

I went up quite a bit higher than I did with Barry's and took this picture of the house.  It looks like it's roof needs cleaning also.

I went up a little higher and you can see Betty Finkas's house and shop.

This afternoon Anne Marie brought JP by for a visit as they were on their way home from Vancouver.

JP and Chole knew right where the toys were from their last visit and started playing right away.  Chole found the puzzle Vera had ordered and started putting it together.

It only seemed like a couple of minutes and she was done.

JP had the helicopter loaded with cars and had a good time playing with it.

It wasn't long before they had most of the toys out and Leia the youngest one was right in the middle of things.

The older kids moved into the dining room area and Leia wouldn't go in there because the helicopter scared her.  Vera told Anne Marie about my blog and got one of the blog books out to show her.

JP really enjoys the Hot Wheels we have.  They didn't stay too long as they had a 4 hour drive to home.

We made a quick run to Safeway this evening and took a couple of pictures of lights.  As we came down the driveway there was several vehicles stopped on the other side of the road with a police car that had its overhead lights on.  It looked like a couple of officers standing out there as well.  We also went by a wrecked pickup on Pleasant Hill Rd that was in the ditch with the back end out into the road.  When we came back it was sitting on the shoulder and the front was banged up pretty good

Castle Rock's lights sure look good, I took this as I went in to get the mail.  Vera did some baking for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this evening.  It was a busy day but we sure enjoyed it.