REMODELING

WOW!!!! What did I start, this started before Christmas as simply repainting the bathroom and replacing toilet that was loose. But then the water would not turn off to toilet so we had to call a plumber to replace the valve and toilet, but he could not do it, because the floor was warped because of water leak. So had to call a person to come and replace floor, but leak had got under vanity. So now I get a new vanity, toilet and floor. EXPENSIVE, but I guess in the long run it would be good, because if the floor had continue leak under the tile it would have got into the front room and hallway. WOW

Christmas Time

Christmas this year for us was a little different, it was the first year that we only had one child at home. Monika and Michael are in Korea and of course could not come home for the second year. Corey and Family are in Las Vegas and were here last Christmas, and were planning on coming this Christmas but did not get leave so it was a little different. We had a nice Christmas. We opened a couple of presents here and then went to Granny's and spend most of the day. Rodney and family, Rusty, Granny and Michelle,Donald and Me. We had a great time playing games and visiting. It was the first time in a long time that Granny had all of her kids together for Christmas so that was a nice Christmas for her. I got the most awesome and wonderful gift. Granny had a quilt made for me that she had got a lot of my friends and family to make squares and then she quilted it with Grandma Hatch's thimble (Which she also gave to me). Oh what a gift that I will treasure for years. Also I got new tennis shoes and a BIGGEST LOSER Wii game, Beautiful Jewerly that was given to me with love from my awesome hubby. I got a beautiul lamp from Korea. So I had a great Christmas the only thing that would have made it the perfect Christmas would have been to have all my kids and family with me. I miss my kids so much, they are the light of my life. I have 3 of the best children in the world, a daughter-in law, and son-in-law,a grandson, a great hubby and 2 wonderful brothers, a mother, and dad and a mother-in-law. I am truly blessed. But, I cannot forget the real season that we celebrate Christmas and the Birh of our Savior.

CATCH UP TIME

WOW, where did the last three months go. I KNOW. Taking care of Donald. As of the last post he was doing good. But then on November 3rd he was Hospitalize with another Staph Infection. He was in the hospital for 7 days. He then came home and has been on IV's for 7 weeks twice a day. With a nurse that comes once a week and does lab work. He has had to physical therapy and has had a slow recovery. But tomorrow is his last IV treatment so to celebrate we are going to Las Vegas to see Corey, since his family did not get to come down for Christmas. So that kind of sums up the last three months, so we can hopefully start getting bad to normal.

Doanld Having Surgery

Donald is in the Hospital recovering from knee replacement surgery. He is doing good. We are very pleased. But we are also cautious after last time and the infection. So we are taking it one day at a time. Thanks for the all phone calls and friends that have often to help and showed their love for our family. Get better soon Donald, we miss you at home

HALL Reunion

Oh What a good time was had by all that attended. It was fun seeing and visiting with relatives that we have not seen in a while. Thanks goes out Steven Beck and the Theron Hall Family and any others that helped organize this wonderful day. The Lunch was pit pork and very delicious. Thank you Andy. We need to do this more often.

September Family Home Evening

We had a BBQ for Labor Day weekend for the September Family Home Evening. We have added a few adopted family members along the way. In addition to Rodney, Branden, Rusty, Grandma Hall, Granny, Corey, Michelle, Austin, Michelle #1, Donald and Debbi. We had the Millers, (Bryce, Clarissa, and Kyla), the McCoids (Jim and Diana) and the Mighty Merwins (John, Mindy, and Courtney,) Ashley was sick (hope you feel better). We had a great time visiting and playing some games. We try to get together once a month.

2nd part of the day

We went to the Brimhall pool for swimming and eating after the service project. The kids had a great time along with their parents. Lots of good eats. We had sub sandwiches and chips, salads, and cookies. What a feast. The weather even was cooperative after it was suppose to rain. It was humid but we all survived. Thanks again Brimhall Family.

Service Project

WOW, way to go Brimhall's. What a wonderful idea and what a great time that we had. We spent the morning doing a Humanitarian Service Project. We quited blankets, cut out file folder games and we donated baby items for babies. It was well attended with muffins and juice for a late breakfast. Thanks to the Brimhall Family for having us all work together for others

Service Time at Enrichment

We had a night of Service Exchange in the Ironwood Ward and we all had a great time.

Foxie growing up

Yes, I got the new camera and guess who is the first one that got their picture taken. Yes, our little FOXIE. She is growing up and quite the character. She was laying around chewing on a bone. She does not like to share, she has to be the first at everything and does not like someone else getting attention.

New Camera

Got a new camera. Old one could not be fixed. So now it is finding the time to get it out and learn how to use it and post with it. I loved the old one. I am not good at this modern technology. So hopefully this weekend I can learn to use it. On July 24-25 we took grandma Hall to Luna (where she was raised) to their 24th of July Parade. We took her to St. Johns to eat at El Camino and then to Grandpa's Grave in Eager. We came home over the mountain though McNary. She had a great time and enjoy the scenery. Wish I would have had a camera to share these memories.

Reunion

We had a Winkler Family Reunion June 25-27 in Nutrioso. Sorry not any pictures yet, camera decided it needed a vacation also. So it is in the shop getting fixed. I did get a few pictures before it went down, so when I get it back I will post pictures. We had a great time, rain and cooler air was a delight. It rained almost everyday, a couple of days was pretty steady. Donald, Debbi, Corey, Michelle #1, Michelle #2 and Austin decided to make a vacation and stayed for 11 days. We enjoyed a good old fashion 4th of July in Springerville with a parade and then fireworks that evening at the airport. What a wonderful time celebrating our freedom. Too bad we don't remember those serving every day. We enjoy Nutrioso and love our place and also seem to find a few things that need to be done every time that we are up there. This year we poured a small section of concrete and painted the trim on the bunkhouse. It was also a challenge to keep the mud out of the trailers and bathroom. So thanks to all that helped and also to those that show up and enjoy this family reunion. We do wish more would come and join us.

Foxie's First Camping Trip

For Memorial Day we went to Nutrioso and Foxie got her first taste of camping. She loved it, she played in the dirt and we have many holes all over the property that she dug. We saw lots of rain. It was cool and we loved every minute of the relaxing and resting and fishing.

"BIG" Fish

I caught the only fish of the weekend. I did not get a good picture of the before. But, if you look close you can see Foxie trying to get to the fish on the ground. Then this is the after "COOKED" version minus the head. It was about 17 inches long and about 3 lbs. Donald did not even have a bite. So I was the winner of weekend. This one was caught at Luna Lake.

We adopted a new baby girl

Our new addition is quite a sight, she is short with very small legs and so far is trying to adjust to a leash. It will take a little while to work on the potty training but we will work on that too. She already likes to cuddle with her daddy. Her name is "Foxie" She looks like a little fox with her pointy ears and she has a curly tail. We missed Shelby so much and the house was quiet. We missed having someone follow us around the yard. So we are glad to open our hearts again to this sweet little thing.

Hulsey Cousin Party

Oh what a great time we had, It was so good to see family we had not seen for a while, it was fun to eat, visit and eat some more. What a fun bunch of people. We are blessed to have such a great family. Thanks to Mike and Kay for opening their home for us to party. We hope to start a new tradition and do this once a year and hope that more join us next year.

We decided to spend a couple of days of Spring Break at the Lake, on Thursday we went to Saguaro Lake and on Friday we went to Roosevelt Lake. Not much luck in the fishing department. Debbi was the clear WINNER, out scoreing Donald and Michelle we will not mention numbers, but she won. We had a good time and relaxing time. What a fun couple of days

33rd Anniversary

It is hard to believe that 33 years have gone by, but that is exactly it. IT HAS. Wow where did the time go. Yes, there has been rocky roads and uphills battles, but we are still together and we are growing "OLD" together. Michelle and Granny gave us a dinner surprise on Saturday and we had such a great time. It is fun to get together and play games and laugh. I love you more and more every day, Donald. Thanks for putting up with me.

Another 5 K

We did another walk yesterday at the State Capital, the weather was great and it was beautiful with everything bloom, there was not such a big crowd, and we walked it is 59 minutes, Pretty good for us. We are really enjoying this walking.

American Heart Walk

WE DID IT!, WE survived, Mesa Public Schools encourged us to walk in the American Heart Walk Feb 28th at Tempe Town Lake, we did the 5K. Donald took his fishing pole and fished at the lake while we walked. It was a beautful day. They had a lot of booths set up and a stage with entertainment. it took just over an hour to walk and we had such a great time. Up hill and down hill we went. We are now ready to particiapte in one next week at Wesley Bolin Plaza with michelle's Work.

Working Hard

Michelle is learning from her dad how to cut out the designs for their side business. They are now making things for Easter and St. Patrick's Day. She learned really fast and they had a good time together even laughing over mistakes made and OOPS, in some cuts. What a good time working together having fun doing something they love.