Well, here it is yet another year gone by. My how time flies when your old. First let us thank those of you who took the time to send us Christmas cards and letters. It is always nice to hear from those with whom we haven't had enough communication with over the past year. As many of you may know, we (Connie) always sent out cards and letters over these past many years, however, Connie's handwriting has gotten so hard to read, that she doesn't even attempt to write any more. So even though you may not receive a card or letter, we still have you in our thoughts.
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This past June we spent 10 days visiting my brother Tom in Sacramento, CA, getting his surgery for esophageal cancer. This was a very difficult for all involved. After the operation we then accompanied him home to Lake Tahoe during the early days of his recovery.
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The good news was that we had time to visit with my mother in the nursing home. This was the first time we had seen her in two years. Mom is now 94, and in spite of dementia and Alzheimer's, she is still doing quite well. With a little coaxing, she even recognized both Connie and I.
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This Christmas we are 'pet-sitting' our friend Jim Herring's dog Scooter, while Jim spends the holidays with his daughter back in Kansas. Over the past year since he moved to Vegas, we get to see Scooter on a weekly basis. A Terrier, he is the best behaved dog we have ever known. He is very affectionate, never barks, and loves to be pet. At nearly 110 years old (in people years), he mostly eats and sleep, similar to us. We spoil him with slices of cheese.
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Occasionally we have someone over for dinner, so this is becoming less and less. It is so much easier to go out to a good restaurant. Jim has us over about once a month for lunch or dinner or Bar-B-Que. This past November, his daughter Christina was visiting from Kansas, and they had us over for wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner. They even had the house decorated for Christmas.
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Since Connie broke her hip, which still causes her considerable pain, we don't seem to get out as much as we used to. We try to get out to eat 2-3 times a week, play a little 'slots' and (me) poker at the casino, and an occasional movie. This week we just saw "Rogue One - A Star Wars Movie" in 3D-IMAX and really enjoyed it. With the help of Netflix and Amazon and DirecTV, we spend the rest of our time in the evenings watching TV shows and movies.
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Other than that Connie spends most of her time reading books on her Kindle Paperwhite while I work on my pictures for my photo blog on the computer. This year Jim and I signed up with the Nevada Site Steward Program to be site stewards for some endangered Petroglyph sites. I try to get out hiking, as weather permits. In addition, an injury to my left knee has limited my hiking over the past several months. After two months of pain I finally just received a cortisone shot that has done wonderful.
It seems that with each passing month I end up adding another person to our list of doctors. Thank God for my insurance. Come the new year, I will be starting it in the hospital getting a kidney stone removed. Even though I have one in each kidney, they only do one at a time. I actually had this done back in 2010 and only hope it goes as well this time around. Well, I guess that's about all for now.
Hope you have a
Merry Christmas and a wonderful
New Year!
Love, Ken and Connie
