New Year's Day 2020 to Present...

All good things must come to an end...or so the saying goes.

January 1st was the day the Ropers would leave and we would take the Mini's home. The Ropers left fairly early as they had a stop to make on their way back to Grand Haven. After they left we started showers for the rest of us and a hair trim for Bailey.  The plan was to get all that done and then I would drive the Mini's to Shelbyville and meet Andie who would take them on home. You see, now Claude had the cold. Goodness. We made it through all of these things. I stopped to spend time with Papa on my way home. When I got home we both crashed.

Thursday and Friday we took Christmas decorations down between resting times. It takes a lot of determination to get things done when one is not well. But we persevered and got it done.

Saturday, January 4th, we got this cute picture from Andie. She and Bailey are using their aprons made from Claude's shirts while they are baking. What is the container of vanilla icing. It is my response to them regarding my need for a taste of sweet and having none in the house. I was reduced to finishing the leftover icing from the Santa cookies. The girls are cute in their Claude shirt aprons.

Sunday, January 5th was a big day for Raelyn Jay Roper. She would officially enter Primary at Church. Katelyn let us know that she was very happy and they included her in everything. Yeah!!

Monday, January 6th, I had an appointment with Dr. Fine. He is a podiatrist. I have enjoyed the 5K walks with Claude. When I have to do that with close-toed shoes, it wrecks havoc with my big toes and the long ones next to the big toes. I really messed up my toes in 2002 when we were in New England. I bruised all of my toes in a pair of sneakers during our vacation. They have never been the same. When I had my annual physical in December, I made sure I was fasting when they took blood to test so I could be sure I did not have diabetes issues. The results showed no diabetes. So Dr. Lyon referred me to Dr. Fine to get a really good foot check and see what could be done. X-rays were taken and it was determined that the toes are fine, I just need to find really good shoes that fit a certain way to use when walking like that. Some suggestions of special shoe stores in Lexington were given. I also purchased some gel to use on my toes for a few months. Good visit. Nice doctor. 

Bailey got braces on her lower teeth this day. 

My sister, Neffie, and her hubby, Mike were headed to Kentucky for a very brief visit. They arrived Monday late afternoon. Mike retired several years ago. They purchased a lot of land in Oklahoma. Part of this land was a pecan orchard. This year they had a bumper crop of pecans. Neffie and Mike brought us a box full of shelled pecan halves. So very nice. The label they put on their pecans is below. It gives a history of the land. Nice. After Neffie and Mike left I would bag the box of pecans and mail some to our kids and three oldest grandmonsters. We had a nice evening visiting.

Tuesday, January 7th, I had a visit with my dermatologist, Dr. Wilson. The visit went well and no additional skin cancers were found. Yeah!!

I picked up Papa after he had lunch and brought him to Sadieville to visit with Neffie and Mike. 

Wednesday, January 8th, Neffie and Mike left in the early morning. Claude and I went back to bed for a bit. We were still on the end part of our colds and were simply worn out. This was a good thing for us to do. After the nap, I went in to visit Papa. Claude would come in later at the end of my visit and we would meet for dinner. This would be our date night using Jake's Christmas gift. We had dinner at Cane's. First time to this restaurant in Georgetown. Then we went to Theaters of Georgetown to watch the new Star Wars movie. Excellent evening. I took these two pictures and sent them to Jake with a big Thank You for such a nice, thoughtful gift.

Thursday, January 9th, would have been my parents 70th wedding anniversary. 

Saturday, January 11th, Claude installed the blinds he got me for Christmas. We are both very happy with them. It has turned very cold and having the blinds closed helps to keep some of that cold out. 

While visiting Papa on Saturday, we took a walk inside the nursing home. Papa went into the dining room. Who should be sitting there but Mr. Tuttle. Hmmm...he was supposed to be in isolation and Papa was supposed to be able to go back to Room 107 when they took Mr. Tuttle out of isolation. As we walked past the nurses station, I asked the nurses if Mr. Tuttle was out of isolation as he was in the dining room and not his room. I also asked if we could move Papa back to Room 107. The nurse checked and told me they had just taken him out of isolation. They would now work on getting Papa moved back to 107. Okay.

Sunday when I visited Papa he was still in Room 105. As I left, I spoke with Laine in the offices. She assured me it was okay for Papa to go back to Room 107. I assured her I would be there some time on Monday prepared to move him back. I would be happy to do that myself as long as it was okay now to make that move. 

Monday, January 13th, I went in to the nursing home in the afternoon. Claude dropped me off while he went to a meeting in Lexington. I got to Room 105 and Papa was not there. It seems they moved him back to Room 107 that morning. Yippee!! He was happy to back by his window. He was happy to have all his pictures around him. It is all good.

Tuesday, January 14th was the Tyler's anniversary. I posted their picture of all the kids and grandkids on Facebook with this comment: "This is the result of two people finding each other and sharing a happy life together. Just look at what you have accomplished. Happy Anniversary to Nissa Tyler and Todd Tyler, our first born and her hubby. We Love Ya Bunches and hope you have a lovely anniversary and a great year!!"

Tuesday evening Claude and I went to the Louisville Temple. This is a most pleasant experience. I always find this uplifting. 

Wednesday, January 15th, Claude posted something very cute on Facebook with this picture. He posted: "Now that the Holidays are over we're missing the grandkids a bit. Thus we are auditioning these two for noise and devotion factors and how well they get along with the dog. Please understand they are most likely not replacement candidates. But you should stay tuned as the new rankings come out Monday."

Thursday, January 16th, we started the day with our Adult Religion class. This was the first one for this session. It was great to be back in that class. We will study the Book of Mormon. 

I received a text with this picture. I have been facilitating a Self-Reliance group who is studying Starting and Growing My Business. Marissa Noe is one of the participants. This is a picture of the booth she and her friend have contracted to use in the Georgetown Antique Mall. They are on their way to their own business. How cool is that? I am so happy for them. 

I received this picture from Andie with a text. It seems our Bailey is very happy with her M&M pajama pants.

Katelyn posted this picture of Emelia. It seems she is set on climbing under this end table. She gets under there and gets stuck and can't get out. Drew had to pull her out. Katelyn's comment was that we had a mini-Nissa on our hands. Nissa is our oldest daughter and Katelyn's mother. Nissa was our child who loved to climb and crawl into tiny spaces. At one point she wanted to see if she could fit in the washing machine. She did while wear high top sneakers tied in double knots. It was not easy getting her out of the washing machine. This prompted Andie to comment with this second picture. I love my family!!

We received a phone call in the evening from Hayden. It seams he is directing two plays at school. This is a big deal and we are very happy for him. His desire is to go to a college to study screen writing.

And that catches up with all the news that is interesting. I cannot believe we are 20 days into the new year. Where does the time fly off to??