Christmas 2021

Happy Holidays, Everyone!  We have been downsizing now for a couple of years; knowing for a while that we needed to move to a smaller home on one level. 

With age, comes the realization that taking care of a large house and yard are not as fun as it used to be. It takes up too much of your precious time and you no longer need so much stuff!!

The decision to move now came upon us quite quickly. A combination of many things including the ever-rising expense of living in the greater-Seattle area and the rising market for houses helped us take the big step.

We went into high gear with the downsizing; we sold or gave away mountains of clothing, furniture, tools, etc.

Then the packing began.  Harold had a “talent” of being able to find cardboard boxes.  Megan would fill 10 or so and announce she needed more.  Before she knew it, Harold would arrive with another “gift” on the front deck. Packing in earnest took about two months. We also spent many hours fixing things around the house and yard (painting, staining, cleaning, weeding, pruning) so it would look good for the market. All you people who have moved (everyone) know

exactly what we are talking about!  It was never-ending, relentless and exhausting. We had some very generous relatives and friends that helped us a LOT.  My nephew Matt and his family were amazing! We couldn’t have done it without all of our family and friends …really!!

    More good friends gave us a farewell party in April at the home of Dave and Kathy Vreeken.  It was wonderful to see so many friends and relatives there. We cleaned out our freezer and gave everyone a parting gift of salmon steaks and applesauce! We packed all our earthly possessions into PODS and then spent our last two nights at another generous friends’ home nearby, as we still needed to sell Megan’s beloved Yukon and do last minute cleaning and then packing our car. After living in the greater Renton area our entire lives, growing our children there, experiencing joys and sorrows there and living in this house for 32 years, it was very painful to leave.

Amongst all the hustle and bustle, Megan was trying to retire after 18 years with the Kent School District (Kentridge High School). Anyone who has retired (most of you?) know what a hassle that is (decisions about pension, paperwork, etc.). So many good friends and good memories. Harold had worked there also for several years as a substitute. Our good friends in the Special Ed department gave us a very nice farewell luncheon and many thoughtful gifts. School was still in session until June 25^th, but the school district was very generous and let Megan teach online as we traveled and even after we arrived at our new destination.

We left our home tearfully for the last time and drove out of Washington state on 3-May. It took us 5 days and 4 nights to get there.

We spent 3 of those nights with good friends along the way.  Bev, Shayne, Barb, Randy and Gloria – we love you!

It was wonderful to see them again and do some catch up.  I just realized how many times we have used the term, “good friends” during this newsletter. There is a reason for that – we have MANY really wonderful, very generous friends and we are so thankful for all their love and support during this time.  But especially thankful for all the memories we have of them and with them throughout our lifetime. Thank you ALL so much.  You know who you are!!!

What’s that?  Oh, some of you are wondering where we went!  Ha!  I guess it would be good to tell you that!  For those of you who don’t know, we moved to Arizona.  Our youngest son, Jacob, moved here with his family during the summer of 2020.

For two months, we rented an AB&B (air bed and breakfast apartment) in Mesa as we searched for a home.

We found a house somewhat close to Jacob’s; about a 20-minute drive. We live in the greater Phoenix area in what is referred to as the ‘East Valley’. Jacob and Emily live in Queen Creek, Emily’s parents live in Gilbert and we live in San Tan Valley.

Our new address:

665 W Desert Valley Drive

San Tan Valley, AZ   85143

Yes, yes, it is quite a bit different than Washing-ton in many ways. Of course the most obvious is the weather. We got here just as the dreaded SUMMER was beginning. It was hotter than Hades!  Check out our car thermometer!  It was 120+ day after day after day.  Everyone has air-conditioning; you learn to adapt.

Summer is when the ‘Monsoon Season’ arrives including a fun event they call “Haboob”.  That is when you get a loud warning signal on your cell phone telling you to stay inside.  If you’re driving, you should pull over to the side of the road and turn off your lights!  Yikes!!  It can be the middle of the day – the sky goes dark with swirling sand/dirt with amazing thunder and lightning.  You cower inside and wait until it passes!

The Monsoons are when it just dumps rain for several minutes.  We have NEVER seen it rain like this in Seattle! Afterwards, if you venture outside, the heat and humidity force you to run back inside.  Humidity?  In Arizona?  What …….?

That season is past and since mid-September, the weather here has been quite pleasant. Going to November football games in shorts and a T-shirt is a new experience. We didn’t start wearing long pants until Thanksgiving!

We have been busy moving into our ‘new’ one-story, smaller house and yard.  It takes a while to make a new house your home.  We have made some major improvements inside and have started some work outside.

After the last Monsoon, we went outside to discover the 8-foot Prickly Pear cactus in our front yard had soaked up too much water and had blown over with the winds. It lay in a crumpled pile. We newbies have a lot to learn about desert flora. 

We know cacti have spines and Harold knew enough to wear thick leather gloves and long pants as he tried to pick up all the pieces. What we didn’t know is that cacti are EVIL!  Not only did this guy have big spines but also millions of tiny, fuzzy spines that are too small to see and too fragile to try to pluck out. They went right through his gloves and clothing.  Tripping and falling into the cactus pile didn’t help.

Harold’s hands, arms and lower legs were covered in tiny spines.  We tried to pluck them out with tweezers, but they just break off.

We have asked Arizonans what to do and they just say, “Don’t climb a cactus.”  Oh, OK … thanks a lot!

There are several things in Arizona we have never needed to deal with before – air conditioning, solar panels, pest control (scorpions!) and irrigation.  It’s a different world.

Did you know …

Frank Sinatra sang about doing things “My Way”, but in nearby Mesa, we do it the …

There are many cotton fields between the residential neighborhoods.

 On 20-November, Harold rode El Tour de Tucson, a major bicycle event 100 miles south in Tucson.  It ain’t as big as STP (Seattle-to-Portland) and not as well supported, but there were 6,500 riders. It was a great ride!

 Megan and Harold attended the rededication of the Mesa Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during November. This was the ninth LDS temple, built from 1922-1927.

Harold serves as an ordinance-worker at the Gilbert Temple -- the 144^th temple -- built in 2014.

 We have connected with several high school friends and former co-workers who have also moved to Arizona.  Lots of fun!

Christmas 2020

 

This has been an “interesting” year, to say the least.The topic that has been on everyone’s lips throughout the year has gone by many names. Some of those have included: Wuhan Virus, Chinese Virus, Kung Flu, Novel Coronavirus, “Livin’ Covida Loca”, Covid Chaos, or COVID-19.

For the rest of this newsletter, we will be referring to it as simply “The Covid”.

During Winter break in February, H&M flew to Phoenix, AZ. We stayed at Jacob’s in-laws’ home and over the 5 days we were there, they gave us a grand tour of the area.  It was in the mid-70s the entire time and we had a lovely stay.  There is nothing like picking a fresh grapefruit each morning!  On the flight home, Megan began to feel feverish and achy. This was when “The Covid” was just starting to be in everyone’s consciousness.  It all went downhill from there.  Megan spent the next 2½ weeks in bed and missed 12 days of school. She dragged herself back to school on a Wednesday and the next day was the last day of school as we used to know it. Never thought that school would still be closed as we speak!!  By the way, Megan had her antibodies tested later and it wasn’t “The Covid”.

Key Arena (Seattle Colosseum)

March 6^th was the 50^th anniversary of H&M’s first date. Megan was still not up to doing anything too fun.  But we decided to re-enact our first date as best we could.  Fifty years ago, Harold had asked Megan to go with him to a Sonics basketball game at the Seattle Center Arena. So, we drove to Seattle Center and parked.  Megan leaned on Harold as he held her up / dragged her along.  The Arena was in the middle of a major remodel and was fenced off.  So we couldn’t go inside.  But we were able to ask a very nice stranger to take some pictures of us in front of it. (Don’t look at the pictures too closely and remember – I was SICK!  We went into the food court and, except for a few employees, we were the only people there!  It was our first recognition/realization of what the “new normal” was going to look like because of “The Covid”.

Deserted Food Court (formerly Food Circus)

Love American Style with popcorn

O

Baskin Robbins (formerly Broncos)

ur next re-creation was a drive back to Renton to the site of Broncos, a 1970 burger joint.  Broncos is long gone so we visited the site now occupied by Baskin Robbins.

3rd Avenue, Renton Washington ghost town

  We were unable to watch "Love American Style" and eat popcorn in my parent's basement, so we went home, found that show on YouTube and enjoyed some popcorn.  A very fun evening regardless of  “The Covid”.                                                 

For about six weeks in April & May, Harold delivered packages for Amazon Flex. He enjoyed the driving around and it kept him busy - because people were doing a lot more shopping online due to

Amazon Flex

“The Covid”.

May 4^th – Online “school” began. All classes were taught using MS Teams. High School Seniors lost out on many rites of passage and graduation was delayed due to “The Covid”.

Kentridge Graduation 2020

Kentridge Graduation 2020

Kentridge High School had their first ever, outdoor, social-distanced graduation “ceremony” delayed until July 11^th.  H&M volunteered to help out. The graduates stayed in their cars with their families. Many of them had decorated their cars with pictures, streamers and balloons. They wore their caps and gowns. There was a route that they drove through the campus. At one point, one graduate at a time would get out of the car and go over to an outdoor stage where they would walk up a ramp and receive their diploma, let their families cheer and take pictures, and then walk back down and get back in their cars and drive away. It was definitely a very different celebration, but one that they/we will never forget, all due to “The Covid”.

No STP  – Seattle to Portland – bike ride this year.  My annual 206-mile bicycle odyssey from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington to the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon was cancelled due to “The Covid”.  

Bummer.  I hoped to ride by myself but there was insufficient time prior to our road trip.  I look forward to my 27th STP in 2021.

In October 2019, Megan turned 66. In honor of this milestone, Harold promised her a trip on Route 66.  Their epic adventure began on July 21^st.  We flew to Chicago and rented a car. We stopped long enough to sample some famous Chicago pizza and then immediately drove into downtown Chicago to find the “Beginning of Route 66” sign. One thing we noticed was how little traffic there was … everywhere.  It looked like a ghost town due to “The Covid”.

We took three side trips during our sojourn.  The first was to Nauvoo, Illinois to see Church history sites (including Zelph's Mound) and the Mark Twain Caves in Hannibal, Missouri.  The second was to Kansas City/Independence, Missouri to see additional Church sites and our friends, the Sitlers.  Our final trip was to Branson, Missouri to see several shows.  Other highlights were Cahokia Mounds in Illinois; Meteor Crater in Arizona; "Standin' on the Corner" in Winslow, Arizona; Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, and the Blue Whale in Catoosa, Oklahoma.

Also " we visited 16 Costcos during our Route 66 jouney. This brings our grand total of Costco visits to over 50!  Whoopee!

The mileage from Chicago to Gilbert according to Google is 1,738 miles.  We traveled 4,164 miles!

Watch our 19-day Route 66 adventure!

This wonderful travel video was created by our son, Benjamin.

Perhaps in 2021, we will finish the final 421 mile section in green above.

After many, long summer hours of online-training on several different computer programs (MS Teams, Canvas, Actively Learn, Skyward), school “started” for Megan on September 3^rd, completely remote … due to “The Covid”.

September brought with it forest and brush fires in southern Canada, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Oregon and California. The winds brought much of the smoke to Seattle creating more reasons to be ordered to stay inside…in addition to “The Covid”.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, without … “The Covid”!

 

 

When Jesus Christ was born, angels proclaimed, “On earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

This December, the promise remains the same. As we love and serve each day the way Jesus did, we can end 2020 on a hopeful note.

Please note ... these camels have been thoroughly

educated in the art of social distancing.