November 29, 2008
Lorraine's Report

Saturday night again, another busy week has flown by. We are still here in Morgan Hill, CA at TT. We spent the Thanksgiving Holiday with our daughter, Susy, her husband, Mark and our grand daughter, Kaitlyn. I forgot to say “Happy Thanksgiving” to all our friends and relatives last week. I hope everyone had a great holiday.

Monday and Tuesday of the week we were up by 7:15, (early for me) and went up to watch Kaitlyn. She wasn’t up to going to pre-school, so Susy asked us to watch her. She was still one ill little girl, running a fever, coughing, and still had little blisters on her tongue, hands and feet. But by Wednesday, she was starting to feel a little better and then she wanted to eat. I was so happy she wanted to eat, I gave her whatever she asked for. She is lots better now, and is well on the road to full recovery.

Thursday I woke up with a heavy cold. I figured I would probably get one, from all the people on the airplane who were hacking and coughing when I flew into B”ham last week. Sure enough, it happened and on Thanksgiving, of all times for me to catch a cold. My body has been telling me I need to slow down, but right now isn’t the time. Anyhow, we had a great dinner and wonderful time with Susy, Mark and Kaitlyn.

Friday; Susy and I would go out when we lived in B’ham for all the black Friday shopping. We would get up by 5 or 5:30 and hit the early opening shops, especially Fred Meyer, for all their goodies. This year, I woke up at 7:15, got up and took my cold medicine, so I could get going. I went back to bed for a half hour, enough time for the meds to take affect. Then, we went back up to Susy’s. Mark had gotten up early to be at Fry’s at 6 am, but there was a long line, so he went to eat. By the time he got back, most of the electronics he wanted were gone. When we got to Susy’s at 9:15, Susy was ready to hit several shops for deals. We hit several places she wanted to shop, but by 12:30, I asked to go home, I was out of ump. We went home and Susy and Mark went back out to look for a new television. When they got back later on they had found one. It’s going to be delivered today Sunday.

Friday night we went to downtown San Jose to watch the tree lighting ceremony in the park. They had lots of decorated trees, a bunch of carnival rides and some little food booths for people to go through. There were a lot of people in attendance, the big tree was full of lights and it was very festive. We then went and had pizza downtown. Fun times for all of us.

Saturday is put up the Christmas tree day. We spent the afternoon putting up Susy’s Christmas tree. It turned out to be spectacular. She has so many beautiful ornaments. Mark had taken baby to do a bunch of chores and Chuck was there to help carry up boxes of stuff, and whatever needed to be done. We went to Armadillo Willies for barbeque tonight for dinner. Then Chuck and Mark tried to take the old TV to the basement rec room to set up, but it was too heavy for them.

This next week is going to be busy for us also. We will be leaving here on Tuesday morning with Susy and baby, they will be staying the week in the motor home with us. We are headed to LA to Disneyland. Susy’s friend, Yami, from Florida is coming in on Wednesday to meet up with us. We will all go to Disneyland, probably Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Then on Friday, Chuck will take the motor home to a Thousand Trails by LA to leave it there until we return from our cruise to Mexico. Mark will come down on Friday night or Saturday to LA. Susy and Mark are going to watch Misty dog for us until we get back from our cruise. Our cruise is from December 6 to December 13. We will be going to Mexico, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan.. This is the cruise I won when we were back in Missouri at Terrible’s Casino in May. It’s going to be a fun time for us, busy-but fun.

So till next time…See you down the road…. Lorraine

PS Happy Birthday to Dave from Minnesota and John from Blaine, WA

11/30/08

Chuck's Report

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Another week gone by. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, we left our cosy little motorhome earlier than usual. We wanted to get to Susy's house before she had to go to work so Kaitlyn didn't have to be dropped off at her daycare. She was still not feeling up to par, the blisters in her mouth still were causing her some pain so she didn't eat normal. But she is on the mend.

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On Wednesday, we had some errands to run so we picked Kaitlyn up from daycare, she was tired and ready to go home. But the big thing was, she was hungry so we let her eat whatever she wanted. Since then, she has been eating better so guess she is better. She sure didn't feel good for about a week or so.

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Thursday was Thanksgiving day, we were able to spend it with Susy, Mark and Kaitlyn once again. In the past we spent Thanksgiving at our house, usually both Rich and Susy were able to be there. Last year was the first time away from home for Thanksgiving. Lorraine wasn't too sure how it would turn out but we spent it at Susy's house, Rich was able to come down and we had a good time. We had a good time this year also, although Rich was unable to come down and be with us.

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On Friday morning, Lorraine and Susy got a late start on Black Friday shopping. They used to leave early in the morning and make a day of it but Lorraine wasn't feeling too well so they only stayed out for a few hours. I was able to use babysitting Kaitlyn as a good excuse to stay home, I don't like to fight the crowds.

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After dinner, we went to San Jose for their tree lighting at the city park. This was attended by way too many people for me. Lorraine was pretty tired and still not feeling so well so mostly we just sat and watched people. Of course, by the time the big wigs finished with their speeches, the lighting was over 1/2 an hour late. I think we enjoyed this but not something I need to do very often.

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Saturday was spent putting Susy's Christmas tree and other decorations up. Lorraine is still fighting her cold but was able to be lots of help. I tried to stay out of the way and was a good go-fer.

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Here are some pictures of our week. Hope you enjoy them too.

Kaitlyn and her dog, Dora, riding in the laundry basket. Who says you have to spend money to have fun?

As I said, we let her eat whatever she wanted.

Here's one for you, Nana.

Reviewing the fliers for Black Friday. Think she enjoys it???

I don't know if I've posted a picture of Mark and Susy yet, here's a good one.

Kaitlyn having fun with Mommy and Daddy.

A picture just before sitting down to eat Thanksgiving dinner. Susy and Lorraine did a great job on it, as usual. Sorry, I didn't get a good picture of the dinner on the table.

Lorraine talking to our son, Rich.

Out to the tree lighting at San Jose on Friday night.

One of the displays at San Jose.

There must be over a hundred trees decorated by different groups.

Kaitlyn, Chuck and Mark at San Jose. How's that, Rachel?

Another booth at San Jose.

A big help decorating the tree at Susy's house.

Susy hanging decorations on her tree.

Here are all three of them, working on the tree.

And now that we are done, here is a curtsy.

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So that was our week in review. We really enjoy spending time with Susy, Mark and Kaitlyn but understand how much we disrupt their normal life. At least with this lifestyle, we are able to return to our own house each night. Thanks for having us, Susy, Mark and Kaitlyn!

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My brothers and sister plus their families got together yesterday. It has been a long time since almost everyone was in the same place without a funeral or something. I called and was able to talk with most of my brothers and my one sister, sounds like they had a good time. Sorry we were not able to be there with you but glad you spent time together. By the way, I forgot to ask if someone would send pictures of the event. I'm sure there were lots of cameras in action. I might be able to identify most of the nieces and nephews but not their kids so you may have to label the pictures.

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So until next time, enjoy yourselves and be good.

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Thanks Chuck