AN ATTEMPT TO CATCH UP

It does not seem like I have time to keep up with the blog since we got back to Arizona, so I am making a conscientious attempt to bring everyone up to date as to what we have been doing this past month. I have been trying to get the office area, bathroom and a section of Rob's shop painted and trying to keep Rob from helping me too much. That has been a chore in itself, but he knows his restrictions and has been keeping within the limits that his surgeon has placed on him. More than anything, I have appreciated his moral support, because the painting has not gone well at all. We have had one disaster after another with the Behr primer/paint that he bought. The walls are two tone - white on the upper and blue on the lower. After painting the upper half of the walls white, Rob helped me tape off - 48 inches from the floor - with the blue painters tape, so that I could paint the lower half blue. When we tried to take the tape off every wall, the paint came with it. What should have been an easy job has become a disaster of going back and redoing walls over and over again. The final solution was to try green(Frog tape) and use a hair drier to dry the paint as I put it on and immediately take the tape off. As of yesterday, that seems to be working - now I just have to go back and redo the walls again. Oh, well.... Lesson learned - Rob says he will never buy Behr paint again!!
On the brighter side, Robert and I have been having fun keeping up with all the grand kiddos activities. Aiden finished up with the "Little Athletes" program in Queen Creek, by getting an award for the best in basketball. He was very proud and he and "Grandma Judy" can be been shooting hoops almost every day at the house. We also try to go for a bike ride every day either before or after he goes to preschool. Sometimes we wait until after either Grandpa or I pick Connor up from school and then the three of us will go for a bike ride. They are definitely active little guys and keep me on my toes.
We all helped Samantha celebrate her seventh birthday on October 17th with pizza and cupcakes at her house with her sister, McKenzie, and her mom and dad, Therese and Jamie, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Rob, cousins Connor and Aiden, her Grandma Paula and Poppa and I.
We took part in the Buddy Walk for Down's Syndrome on the morning of October 30th at the SRP Pera Park in Tempe. Here is a picture of Samantha (on her mom's shoulders) and some of her family and friends that took part in the festivities. It is a great fund raiser/ social activity that includes a mile walk and all types of fun activities for the children and their families. Local businesses, such as Jamba Juice, and Blue Bunny Ice Cream were at the finish line for the walk; passing out treats. There is music and dancing, bounce houses, wall climbing, etc. The turn out seemed even larger this year than the last time we were able to attend.
On Sunday, October 31st, we headed out to support Stephanie in her first triathlon - the City of Mesa Halloween Triathlon/Dualthon at Freemont Junior High in Mesa. The boys - with Rob and my help - had made signs as a surprise for her. Rob and I vowed that would be the one and only time that we would undertake that kind of project again! Trying to supervise a 4 and 7 year old with paint, glitter, stickers and minds of their own and have the signs turn out - an impossible feat. We vowed to let grandpa to do it the next time. We could have both used a stiff drink after that project. Mom did appreciate their effort and she was the only one to have signs cheering her on. She did really well with a finish time of 1.22.14. She finished 31 of 51 and 5th in her age bracket (35-39). She's training now for a Triathlon in Anthem on December 11th.
I need to back track a little. On Friday evening, October 29th, Robert and I went up to Queen Creek Middle School, to watch a football game. My granddaughter, Breanna is on the cheer leading squad for North Point Prep in Phoenix and they were playing Queen Creek Middle School that evening. The cheer team did an excellent job, their football team - not so much. The score when we left about 5 minutes before the end of the game was 38 to 18. Poor North Point Prep did not have a chance. They were out sized by the Queen Creek team, but it was fun to be back in the stands watching a high school game.
Sunday after the triathlon, I headed to Phoenix to spend Halloween night with my daughter, Kelly and my grand daughters, Breanna (13) and Alyson (11). They were all decked out for trick or treating in their costumes. I managed to get a picture of them in front of some of the decorations at their neighbor's house before it got dark. There were a lot of trick or treaters in that area Halloween night. Their next door neighbor Tommy and Tammy dress up every year and really decorate for the holiday. Tommy managed to scare everyone who came to the door with his costume. Monday afternoon, Kelly, Breanna and I attended a Volley Ball play off tournament that Alyson's team from the Americaschool, Charter School participated in. Unfortunately, they lost both of their games and did not progress to the next level. It was fun to watch the game and even though they lost they played well. I headed back to Queen Creek Tuesday and got back in time to pick up Connor from school with Grandpa.
We celebrated Robert's 68th birthday on Friday with dinner with his brother Tom and sister-in-law, Birdie. Tom and Robert share the same birth date, however, Tom was born a year earlier. We headed back to Stephanie and Rob's, for "movie night". Stephanie had baked a wonderful German Chocolate cake for Grandpa's birthday - his absolute favorite and boy was it delicious. We all devoured huge pieces and enjoyed every morsel of it! She makes the best cakes and with full bellies, we sat around watching Toy Story 3 with Stephanie, Rob, Connor and Aiden.
This morning, we headed out to the Polar Ice facility in Gilbert to watch McKenzie work out with the "Kids First Hockey Clinic". This is McKenzie's 5th class and she is so cute and determined to keep up with the boys. Today she was the only girl there and she skated as hard as the boys and was as determined to get through all the different workouts that the coach put them through. They skated - non stop - for an hour and just kept on plugging along, falling down, getting up and trying again with smiles on their faces. By the time she hit the locker room to change out of her uniform, she was soaking wet from sweating, but she had the biggest smile on her face.
Well, that's a short version of what we have been up to. Life has been busy here at the "Derivan Compound" and there is never a dull moment.