Greetings One and All !!!
Strange how one really C-R-A-Z-Y year (2006) will
make you just catapult off the planet for awhile!
Soooooo…..2007 is here and I think we are too!
We are still recovering
from the “Ringing-in” of the New Year and vowing to make this one less hectic with more quality time for ourselves,
friends and family.
We’ll see how that goes……
Early indications are…..
Well…..
????????????????????
Stay Tuned.
Since our last check-in was summer of last year we’ll attempt to go back
and just give you the highlights!
Shari's brother Spencer and wife Reveau added a new daughter (Lily) to their
family and they are all well. Spencer still runs his Chiropractic Clinic but enjoys leaving the day-to-day operations to his
staff while he works from home - way to go Spence!
Labor Day we visited Shari’s best friend Pam from L.A. and her family in Deep Haven,
Minnesota for the long weekend and attended a heckofa
State Fair.
We all much preferred it to the huge one here in Texas….it was bigger….with
CHEAP fair-food that you pay for with cash – not tokens…..and not just stuff you would get at an amusement park…..fresh
Strawberries with Cream….Ice Cream made with nitrogen – You GOTTA try this!!!! (Straight from Heaven!)….and
all you can drink milk (Chocolate or Regular) for $1….Shari’s favorite – Cheese Curds and the list goes
on…..
We enjoyed a low-key weekend of cooking, sitting, fair-ing and just good ol’
companionship. Shari got to hang out with Pam’s sister Jill and cousin Valerie –
also acquaintances from the “L.A. Daze” …. All of us now grown with children and with the exception of Pam
not having seen each other in 15 years….talk about a twist on reality!
Garrett turned 4 September 9th and we all celebrated at a local flight
museum with this great kids area and an airplane-themed jump house. He got a
huge Dinosaur castle – people eating thing and a million Fisher Price Dinosaurs – among other things and a good
time was had by all.
Somewhere in here we formally adopted two Great Dane brothers – Amos (Amo-daeus)
and Andy (Androol) – 2 year old fawn Danes with big, floppy ears. They
are so cute together and have been a nice addition to our family. We also sold
all of our cattle due to two years of drought and the sheep will be leaving soon too….we’re going to rest all
our pastures for a year and then “Start over”.
Shari made a late September getaway to Colorado….she
jumped in her Subaru with her big black Dane “Nose” and left Walter and Garrett home for a boys weekend. She drove from our home to the home of some friends in Gunnison and then back up to
spend a day driving around her beloved former home-lands in Evergreen before spending the night with a family friend in Denver
and returning home….it was a quick four-day trip but Shari loves alone time and loves the road and certainly loves Colorado. It was a good way to clear the overcrowded head.
Garrett was Spider-Man for Halloween and we enjoyed our church carnival and also
trick-or-treating door to door. We love that we still live in an area where this
can be done safely. We don’t care what anyone says….Trunk or Treat
isn’t quite the same!
We got a lucky break when a local contractor was able to bring us 30 dump-truck
loads of big limestone rock to dump in a 30 foot crater caused by the flooding several years ago when the spillway next to
us functioned on the back part of our property. When they finished we had heavy
machinery come over and dig out another one of our ponds – dumping about 15 loads of dirt over the rock….adding
15 feet of bank to our property and preventing years of erosion. The best part of it was that all of that rock was FREE!!! We planted rye-grass on top and voila….whose property is that?!?! Very cool.
We also built a “Dog yard” / Pavestone sitting area on back of our house
to enjoy …. It also is a place we can close in the dogs when it rains so that our floors aren’t decimated with
mud and all that fun stuff. There is a pea-gravel area where they can do
their business too…..whoever heard of “Litter-trained” dogs?!?!
Walter and Shari
became hopelessly addicted to the new version(s) of the old Sci-Fi classic “Dr. Who” (It’s like 24 meets
Monty Python meets Star Wars) ….It’s currently re-running on BBC America if you get that channel….Amber
and Montgrummies – you would LOVE this!)
Thanksgiving was had at our Cabin with family and friends in attendance as well
as home-cooked food, parades on T.V. and pony rides for all the kids. I think
we’ll be starting a new “Tradition” here and it was really nice to be home! “There’s no place
like home…..”
December was the usual hustle-bustle and all were a little apprehensive as things
started to change “Tradition-wise” due to the new dynamics of our families….Shari’s dad having passed
and Walter’s mom going through Cancer treatments that left her not feeling too well.
We celebrated Mid-Month with Walter’s family and all enjoyed gifting Walter’s brother Randy and wife Elizabeth
as they were expecting twins in early 2007. Later in the month we enjoyed some
time with Shari’s brother and family – exchanging gifts and attending a wonderful
Sunday Brunch at a posh local hotel. Walter, Shari and Garrett decided to fly
to Coeur d’Alene to spend time with family and also alone…..We made the long series of flights Christmas Eve (After
having Garrett in the Emergency Room until 11pm the night before (Bronchitis/Flu!) and got in just in time to spend the night
with Scott and Mom (Kids were off with their respective parents this year). Christmas
day we all woke up and had our favorite brunch and then drove 4 hours south to our Cousins the Montgomery’s in Kamiah
for Christmas Dinner and an overnight of fun and games. Cousin’s David
and Lynn had returned a few months earlier from a 2 year mission in East
Germany so it was great to see them again. This
is our second family……
After dropping everyone back in Coeur d’Alene,
Shari, Walter and Garrett headed off on their own for five or so days on the Montana/Idaho
border skiing, sledding and hot chocolate-ing! We had made reservations at a
hotel we had never seen before and had to check in at 10:00 at night at a “Sister” hotel in a different area of
town….when we got our key and opened the door to our Non-Smoking room …. Well….it smelled like it had been
smoked in for 50 years and probably had. So, back we went to the other hotel
to get a different room….got back….opened the door on the upstairs floor….no smoke smell…..we turn
on the light and three people in bed sit straight up and say “Excuse me’ ….. to which we reply….”So
Sorry!!!” go back YET AGAIN to the other hotel and finally talked them into letting us stay there for the same rate
(This is the hotel we should have booked all along and would have stayed in had we known!!!!).
We wound up with large beds, room service, pool / spa and WiFi. Moral: Don’t book reservations in hotels you don’t know – even if they
look great online! We’re way too old for “Sand-paper” towels!!!
Skiing was great and Garrett was excited to make it up the tow-rope this year
--- all by himself!
Mom and Scott came up to join us one of the days and that always makes for a
“More the merrier” kind of party.
It was a nice getaway.
A cool thing is that we had reserved a basic 4-Wheel-Drive vehicle for the week
which was suppose to be a Nissan XTerra or something….we wound up being upgraded to a BRAND NEW Infiniti Q35 for the
week with all the bells and whistles at no cost. It was white with a tan leather
interior and a camera that shown on your dash when you put the car in reverse as well as other cool things …. We didn’t
see how it wouldn’t come back trashed after a week of skiing in the mountains but somehow it held up really well. Guess
that’s why they cost the big bucks! Speaking of cars….Shari’s
“Dream Car” Subaru Outback seems to be the only “Lemon” Subaru on the planet and Shari
is working with Subaru and the Dealership to get her out of this one and into something else.
Bummer.
We did a smaller version of our New Year’s Eve fondue and played the traditional
‘Who can stay awake until 12:00am’ game. (Hint: NO ONE !) We were
the first ones out this year as we had a 7am flight New Year’s Day…meaning we had to leave the house at 4:30am...(These
were the only days we could get space available on our free airline tickets….wonder why?????!!!)
Arriving in 2007 here’s the ‘Short version’: Shari got the flu upon her return home …. Randy and Elizabeth gave
birth to healthy twins – a boy and a girl …. Walter’s mother had her bladder removed and is expected to
make a full recovery …. Shari has been getting her Thyroid fixed as it
quit working somehow over the last two years and is over halfway through taking off the 30 lbs gained in the fallout….should
be back to “Normal” by the end of March if all goes as planned. It
is nice for her not to want to sleep 16 hours a day! (Well….want to – yes, need to – no)
Walter AND Shari are on very strict health-food
cleanses to get their bodies straightened back out: No Dairy. No Sugar. No Yeast. No Fruit. For 2 months. Surprisingly it has not been as hard as one
might think and everyone is feeling MUCH more “Normal”….lots of meat, vegetables, eggs, nuts and brown rice. It does up the grocery bill some and does take a lot more planning. Can someone PLEASE open a drive-thru fast-food restaurant?!?! What
we wouldn’t give for an In-N-Out Burger!!!
Walter is enjoying his new job at BancTec and gets to travel some – he
spent a good part of January / February working in Vegas and also made a day trip to San
Antonio.
We have continued to purchase rental property and it is turning out to be a more
than part-time job but it’s all good….we have great tenants so….no horror stories yet!
Shari got her Real Estate license late last year and recently joined a busy local
brokerage. She works out of our home and surprisingly has an abundance of business that can be a challenge to fit in
the middle of all our affairs!
We are getting ready to put up a Purple Martin birdhouse in the next few days
and are excited about that while being saddened by the fact that our ducks and geese flew the coop during an extended ice
storm a few weeks back. We’re going to let the pond dry up….dig it
back out (They get mucky and shallow after a few years) and then We’ll get us some more water-fowl. We sure miss their mindless quacking….. To everything
there is a season I suppose.
Future plans for this year are a large garden to grow all this produce we’re
eating, swimming lessons for Garrett (He took some earlier in the fall too….), Karate lessons for Shari AND Garrett
(Do you think we can talk Walter into doing this with us???!!!), A visit to OUR cabin from the Idaho Montgomerys, a 4th
of July trip to Idaho with a side trip to Montana and in early 2008 we booked the 1700 sf Penthouse on a week-long Royal Caribbean
Cruise. We don’t usually splurge like this but figured as a once-in-a-lifetime
trip it was an OK thing to do. We might never come out of our cabin!
Garrett won’t start school this September as he misses the cutoff by 9
days but that is okay…mom enjoys having him home. He goes to Mother’s
Day Out twice a week at a local Baptist Pre-school
and just loves it! He had his first “Show” performance a few days
ago and the critics (Mom and Dad) are raving.
Is that it?
Surely it must be……
Not bad though for an update that has to cover the last 9 months.
Some of
you have not written for a VERY long time! We would sure like to hear from all
of you….and you know who you are!!! (Do we need to start naming names?!?! Consider yourselves warned!!!) Each and every one of you on this list are important to us so……WRITE !!!
Much love to all from all !
Make 2007 the BEST!
Love,
Walter, Shari and Garrett Guess
PS I'm posting some new pictures of Garrett on his page....
