A Christmas Computer

Our grandson, Zach, is an exceptionally bright 8-year-old in the third grade in Billings, Montana. We made a the decision to bring them to Tucson for Christmas and to purchase a MacBook computer for Zach's use in his studies at Lockwood School.

As you will see, it was not under the tree during the opening of other presents. Kathy brought it out from our bedroom and the rest is evident in the video below.

New Car

The Internet is a wonderful thing. Kathy has been looking for a new car for a couple of years. While she looked at several makes and models, her dream car was a Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Last week, she received an email from a salesman in Peoria, Arizona (north and west of Phoenix) that they had a used 2008 model that had been leased for a year and only had 6100 miles.  The dealership hired someone to drive it from Peoria to our house in Tucson where we signed the purchase papers on our dining room table.  Kathy will now have a ride for her 40-mile daily commute that gets 27 miles to the gallon in the city and it has seats that better accommodate her tender lower back.

Landscaping

The landscaping, including a dining patio by the pool, dresses up the backyard.

Landscaping

Desert landscaping adorns the area around the new swimming pool.

Renunion

Bill and Lorie Hougland, my sister and brother-in-law try out the new swimming pool.

Reunion

The first weekend in October featured a mini-reunion of sorts as my sister Lorie and her husband, Bill, from Houston, and our second cousin, Judy, from near Melbourne, Australia, came to Tucson for a short two-day stay.

Judy had visited Tucson nearly five years ago. Lorie and Judy had not seen each other since she had moved to Australia in the 1970s.

Gully Washer

For those of you who think Kathy and I live in a bone dry desert here's proof to that it rains from time-to-time. Last night it rained harder than we have seen in a long time. Here's the proof, a rain gauge that Kathy deployed about a year ago. It reads 2.8 inches of rain.