Ted Wise August 12 1920 - January 25, 2015

Three years ago, also in January, we got a call that my Mom had a heart attach and later that day died. Sunday morning, the 25th, Kristi called and said our Dad had passed away during the night after being sick for only a few days. He had a long life as a wonderful father and grandfather and was luckily to be able to see a new generation of the family with the birth of his great grand daughters, Amber and Kayla. He graduated from Fresno State and was set to attend graduate school when the war started and he enlisted for duty in the Army. After the war he met my Mom when she was on a vacation from her home in Pennsylvania. and they were married and had a long wonderful marriage. The last few years were hard with health issues but their love was strong and they set a good example for Kristi and I. He was a good family man and I don't think i ever hear him say anything bad about anyone. Back when I was in college we often had discussions on the war and other issues and though we often disagreed Dad always had intelligent things to say. Joe also looks back on the days when they had some great conversations about issues of the or life in general. He will be missed by all.

We end the Year with Snow at Jojoba Hills

Yes, the new Blog Header picture is of New Year's Eve morning. Savannah got us up when it was just starting to get light and we looked out the window to see everything covered with snow. What a beautiful way to end a great year. We got dressed and took Savannah out for a walk around the Park taking the camera to take a lot of pictures.

When we got back I had to put Savannah in the shower to melt some of the snow off her paws. She had a bunch of snow ball clumps attached to her fur. The picture below didn't come out very good but you might get the idea. I think she had fun in the snow. I let her off lease for awhile to run around.

There was a New Year's Eve party but we just decided to stay home and had a quiet evening. Joe has been on a very low carb diet for his diabetes for a few weeks or so and no alcohol and a lot of food restrictions. Christmas Eve and Christmas were the only days he went off it as far as food goes and his levels have been much better. I have had some stomach issues and so I have been trying to be careful of what I eat and drink as well.
We have been having a good time here in So Cal. We have been attending Ducks games and are down to our last two games including one tonight. There was a big Thanksgiving dinner in the park but we ended up getting together with three other couples for a small dinner as the Ranch House. The Ranch House has a living area with couches and chairs, a big screen tv, tables for dining and a large kitchen that anyone in the park can sign up for for gatherings. Pat and Kathy Vicks brought several turkeys that Pat smoked on his large barbeque grill. It was wonderful as well as all the other food everyone brought. We had a great time. Then we got a second Thankgivng on the following Saturday with the family. It was at my niece Kori's and husband Nick's house this time. All the family was there plus George and Felicia and her daughter and son in law. Our grand nieces, Kayla and Amber are just adorable. It was fun to see them. They are great little girls.

Of course more delicious food and just enjoying each other's company.

Back in Jojoba we continued have fun, with get togethers, volunteer work and hand weights and yoga for me. Can't get Joe to those but at least he is getting some exercise by walking in our hilly roads here is the Park. There are many activities and committees and we now even have a Dog Park committee. Below are some pictures of our first meeting at our great Dog Park with many dogs and their humans.

As we were going to spend both Christmas Eve and Christmas in the Orange County area we decided to reserve a spot at San Clemente State Beach and spent 4 nights there. We didn't have an ocean view from our spot but it was a short walk to the overlook of the beach. We had great weather while there.
Christmas Eve we went to Karol and the Boys house. Karol's mother Sharon and her husband Noel, her sister Karen and nephew Nolan were also there. Karol had an Italian theme and there was a ton of good food with lots of pastas. On Christmas we headed to Kristi and Brocks for Christmas dinner. Our nieces and their families were at other members of the family and so it was just Kristi, Brock, my dad and Karol, Casey, Michael and Chris and ourselves. Savannah came also and Lily, Heather and Ryan and Amber's dog was there and those two seem to get along though Lily was the playful one. She could play ball for hours. Didn't get any pictures taken this year for the Christmas holidays. We had a good time at both family get togethers however. Next week we are going to spend 4 days at Bolsa Chica State Beach in Huntington Beach. We have our last Ducks again that is honoring Teemu Selanne and we are also going to a special film about Teemu in which he will be there talking and answering questions after the film. We hope to take the kids out to dinner when we are there as well. We also are having our RV leather furniture redone as the original ultra leather which is so thin is ripped in numerous places. Right now we only have the driver's seat in the motorhome. That will be covered when we go to pick up the other furniture. Looking forward to that. Will have pictures of our "New Furniture" in the next post.
Hope everyone has a great New Year in 2015.