2023
December
2023 is fast approaching year-end! Harry delivered his last message for 2023 on Dec. 10th at Cedar and chaired the monthly housing authority board meeting on the 12th. Willardene continued weekly therapy sessions. We drove to Wichita on the 19th so Harry could keep the eye surgeon appointment on the 20th - got to spend an early Christmas visit with Jonathan and Martha. Martha took us on a tour of Christmas lights on the 19th, then provided taxi service to get Harry to and from his eye doctor appointment - the treatment was an injection into the eye which will have to be repeated monthly for some time to come. Back home we planned another IHOP dinner for Christmas, but the first white Christmas in several years kept us at home for a couple of days.
November
A normal, at home month - Harry gave the morning message at Cedar on the 12th, attended the monthly housing authority board meeting and had an eye doctor appointment. Willardene continued her weekly therapy to improve her mobility, and with nice weather, we were able to enjoy a great turkey dinner at IHOP for Thanksgiving. The bad news for the month was Harry's eye doctor found he had developed macular degeneration in the right eye - appointment scheduled with an eye surgeon in Wichita next month.
October
Another busy month - two trips and the usual activities at home. The October Adventure file contains the articles provided to our local newspaper with some pictures added. In two months we have put 6,000 miles on the 2021 Traverse we acquired for Willardene's birthday.
September
Our annual Labor Day week visit to Ruidoso, NM., is included in the 'Summer Adventure' file Harry is getting used to his hearing aids as we enjoy traveling in the 2021 Traverse we acquired as Willardene's birthday present!
August
Postings are included in the 'Summer Adventure' file - again local newspaper entries with pictures added.
July
Summer activities are being posted as a single 'Adventure' file. July entries include July 4th at Willard's and Willardene at Mayo Clinic - these are local newspaper postings with a few pictures added.
June
First big event in June was attending Ron & Peggy's 50th wedding anniversary party Norfolk, NE. Enjoyed the party that was scheduled and hosted by their daughter, Leslie. On the way home had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants - Red Lobster in Kearney. Willard, Tiffany, Isabelle and Violet came from Rock Springs, WY for Fathers Day weekend. Harry gave the message at the Cedar Church on Fathers Day - our family of six accounted for nearly half of the congregation! Willard used his Juneteenth holiday to get the family back home so he could go back to work the next day. Harry chaired an executive committee meeting of the NWKAAA board to review and update the Affirmative Action Plan on the 21st, giving an opportunity for shopping in Hays. Willardene continued weekly visits to her massage therapists. Our next big adventure starts the 29th when Ellen will be driving us to Rock Springs for a July 4th family gathering.
May
The first week of May we were in a condo in Spirit Lake, IA - the resort was still in off-season mode, so there wasn't much to do, however there was a Perkins restaurant close at hand, so we enjoyed a lot of mammoth muffins! The main purpose of the trip was accomplished - Willardene visited Mayo Clinic where the doctor said he could fix her hip and was ready to do the surgery the next week. But we had too many events scheduled for early summer, so we scheduled a return to Mayo Clinic for July with surgery on the 18th. We returned home in time to attend Stockton High School graduation and the after party for the young man who does lawn work and other odd jobs for us. Harry gave the Mothers Day message at the Cedar Church and Willardeme resumed her weekly visits to her massage therapists. Cousin Walter came for the Memorial Day weekend.
April
April 2nd was Palm Sunday and Harry delivered the morning message at the Cedar Church. Willardene had three sessions with her therapist for her left leg problem. Our second trip for 2023 was our annual spring visit to the rose garden in Tyler, TX., with stops along the way to decorate family graves in OK: the trip report is under 'Adventures -current' on the menu. Court papers were received from Harry C's probate, so now we are starting the process to clean out his house and get it ready to sell. Much of his stuff will be moved into the storage house to the north of our house, so Harry has started cleaning it and making room for Harry C's stuff. We leave April 29th for our third trip - this one will include taking Willardene to Mayo Clinic- details will be in our May posting.
March
March at least came in like a lamb. Harry was able to chair an executive committee meeting of the NWKAAA board to review and update the Employee Handbook. March 5th Harry delivered the morning message at Cedar (he will continue to bring the message on the first Sunday of each month that we are home). For his birthday on the 6th, he was able to enjoy shrimp at the bowling alley - also received several cards. We left on the 10th for our first vacation trip of the year. This trip review is copied from Willardene's face book page: Our first trip in 2023 was to celebrate our 62nd anniversary. The trip was some what of a disappointment. The condo reserved in north-east Arkansas was still operating in winter mode - most amenities didn't open until after April 1st. And the weather was wet and cold, so we did a lot of staying in the condo resting and sleeping. Best part of the trip was spending some time in Wichita visiting with Jonathan and Martha on the way back home. As always, we found ways to enjoy the trip. March 21st Harry chaired the NWKAAA board meeting, which was held in Oakley. March has continued cold - today (28th) we got up to a temperature reading of 14 and about 1/2 inch of fresh snow on the ground, but it did warm up quickly and the snow was gone by afternoon! March may go out the way it came in - like a lamb.
February
Another cold, winter month in Kansas. But, Harry was able to give the morning message at Cedar on Feb. 5th. Monthly housing authority board meeting for Harry was Feb. 14th; then Harry took Willardene to her favorite meal at the bowling alley - fried chicken which is available every other Tuesday. Also had more than our share of Valentine's candy and treats. The cold weather and staffing problems caused our bowling alley to have to close a couple of days in Feb. Hoping March will be better!
January
The New Year started off with a bang - both of us still battling the flu. Harry did get well enough to deliver the morning message at Cedar on the 8th. The cough associated with the flu proved the hardest to get rid of. Harry was also able to chair the board meeting of the Area Agency on Aging on Jan. 10th, the main purpose of which was to review the annual audit. Jan., has been pretty cold - had about 4" of snow on the 21st making a weekend that we couldn't get out of the house. The young man that does lawn work and other odd jobs for us was able to clean the snow off our back porch and ramp Sunday afternoon, so we could get out on Monday. Willardene's chiropractor who had a baby in Nov., came back to work on the 9th and now Willardene is back to her weekly appointments for her left leg problem. This coming weekend is forecast to be very cold, so we may find ourselves confined to the house for a second Jan. weekend!