September and October Birthdays

September 9, 2021
Mason turned 13 -- Junior High student, smart, talented and very polite.

Happy Birthday Mason!!!!

October 5, 2021
Kacy Marie is 6 years old.  A very talented dancer, as limber as they come with back flips.  Kindergarten smart.

Happy Birthday Kacy!!!!

October 13, 2021

Lauren is 6 years old.  What a great reader and learning to play the piano.  Kindergarten smart.

Happy Birthday Lauren!!!!

Brookelyn is 6 years old.  Sweetest hugs and learning to play the piano.  Kindergarten smart.

Happy Birthday Brookie!!!!

Jesse is 6 years old.  Wow, what a great athlete, skilled at shooting baskets and playing soccer. Kindergarten smart.

Happy Birthday Jesse!!!!

October 30, 2021

Grandma turned 71 years old - not quite junior high smart nor kindergarten smart.  Still learning.

What a sweet birthday my family gave me - a surprise party.  Everyone came to St. George and decorated the club house and invited my good friends.  I was reallllllllllly surprised.  They had been talking behind my back for a long time planning this event.  This touched my heart more than anything else they could have done.  I love them.  By the way - this is my first birthday party.  Oh, I have celebrated my birthday with a cake (sometimes) and a few cards, but usually it falls on trick or treat night for Halloween.  

I get the most pictures on the birthday page this year.  Thank you so much family!!!!!!

School Dayz, School Days

 We, meaning our children, have all the grand children in school.  Kacy, Jesse, Lauren, and Brookie, all started Kindergarten this year.  Mason started Junior High.  Ali and Tyce are in their same elementary.  Taylor is a senior.  It's fun to see them start school, but sad for us because their can't come and see us whenever they want.  There is still the threat of Covid and so some online learning may occur, but we surely hope they all stay healthy and in "personal" school.

Taylor - senior year!  You're almost finished with high school and then on to college.

Tesla across the United States (August 20 - September 3)

 Theron has always wanted to travel long distances in the Tesla to "try it out" on the road.  Collin and Kathy Wood invited us to go to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with them on a trip.  So, Theron drove, the rest of us flew.  Theron had to leave about 4 days before us in order to be at the airport to pick us up.

On the way, he stopped at Pike's Peak and drove the car up and coasted it down.  He actually had more power when he got down off Pike's Peak than when he started - regenerative braking.

He then stopped at the North Pole to order our Christmas presents for this year.

Along the way, he slept in the car putting up a little tent on the inside to keep lights out.  This was a dream trip, literally.  Each night, he stayed at a campground or truck stop and put the car in 'Camp Mode'.

In Kentucky, he stopped to visit Noah's Ark - a replica but a very life size one.

The animal pens in Noah's Ark

Someplace in the mid-west, he visited Fantastic Canyon or Caverns.

The day he was supposed to get us in Myrtle Beach, he was there, but we weren't.  Our plane was delayed in Las Vegas and this caused us to miss our connecting flight in Dallas.  We had to get another flight that would ultimately end up in Charleston, South Carolina.  Because Theron wasn't feeling well that night, we stayed in Charleston and he drove down the next day to get us.  It was great having a car there and being able to travel where we wanted when we wanted.

We took a fun carriage ride around old Charleston.

We visited Fort Sumter where the Civil War started.  Interesting that the first shots fired were just to scar the northerners in another fort to leave.

Theron participated in the retiring of the colors that afternoon at Fort Sumter!

It's really not much of a fort, however, this is only about 1/3 of it that is original.  It's located right in the harbor in Charleston.

We enjoyed the beach, eating crab, riding the Ferris wheel, eating barbecue, sleeping, swimming in the pools and a Polynesian night at the resort.  It was a fun time.  When it was over, Theron dropped us off at the airport in Myrtle Beach and we had a very uneventful flight home.  Theron on the other hand, drove for four more days.

On the way home, Theron was able to see all the electrical trucks going to New Orleans to restore power from Hurricane Ida's destruction.  He also visited Neala and Louis, stopped by Hendricks home but no one was there and enjoyed himself alone in the car.

Why? Between Island Park and Moseby Mountain, we bought a business

 We are both 70, we have been retired for over 15 years, we don't need the money, we don't need hobbies, we don't know why.  We bought a business - Pur Pool Water, Inc.  When our neighbors, Davis', were having trouble with the high calcium level in their pool, Theron started researching different ways to treat swimming pool water instead of draining the pool and refilling it.  This year is an extreme drought year and water conservation is very important.

He found a company in Salt Lake that had a reverse-osmosis system in a trailer that could go to a home or business pool and filter the water.  For a 20,000 gallon pool of our size, it takes about 10-12 hours.  This means we can't do multiple pools per day, just one is our goal.  We will not make tons of money, but perhaps we can employee or teach some of our grandchildren how to run the business.  I am certainly learning lots about setting up a business and keeping track of accounts, etc.  I have now learned QuickBooks, Wix and GoDaddy.  We have domains of both purpoolwater.net and purpoolwater.com.

I'm still asking why?  Perhaps we still have something important to learn in our old age.  Perhaps it is part of our storage program - a large generator and R/O filtered water to sell and drink.  Who knows, but it's kind of fun setting things up.  We had the money readily available, we have the time, we have the knowledge (or at least Theron does), we have an interest and it's a return on investment rather than a payback to us.  Will it work?  We hope so!