Jenna Joy is Born

On Dec. 28 at about 8:00 pm, Bob's daughter, Stacy, had her baby girl, which was a surprise because they thought it might be a boy. They had decided not to be told the gender like the old fashion way. Any way she weighed 10 lbs. and 2 ozs. They named her Jenna Joy which I think is such a nice name. We will be leaving Friday morning to drive down their way to meet Jenna Joy and visit with her family.

Here she is. Isn't she precious?

Here is her family. They look very happy.
Her big brothers look like they've already fallen in love with her. I can't blame them.

Fitness in Sioux Center

While we live in Sioux Center during the summer and fall months, we enjoy the town and what it has to offer. Staying fit is very important to Bob and me so this year we joined Snap Fitness. It's a 24/7 center so you can go whenever you want. The staff there is very helpful and friendly so it makes it very pleasant to work out there. Bob usually walks on the treadmill for about an hour and then does some strength training with some of the machines and weights. I usually do the elliptical for about 45 min. then the bicycle for about 45 min. and then I do the machines and some weights for strength training. I call my 2 - 3 hour work out my part time job.

Here are some of the staff, Kyle in the first picture and Kyle and Carter in the second one.

Here are the machines, etc.




One reason I agreed to move to Sioux Center back in 1985, was because it had an indoor swimming pool. Today we have a fairly new All Seasons Center which includes the indoor/outdoor pool, meeting rooms, and an ice arena. We are very lucky to have this facility in Sioux Center. I have done a lot of swimming in the pools here. I have picked a couple of days a week where I go during the Senior Swimming time, and I swim my mile. Then I return later in the day to do an hour's water aerobics class with long time instructor, Lorna Moss. She always gives you a good work out. Here she is with her water friendly microphone and speaker system.
Here we are working out in our pool.





Our indoor pool also has kid friendly areas.


And there's a very nice hot tub.
In the same building as the pool, we have an ice arena. It is available for hockey and other types of skating. We don't really go skating, but it's available.


The entry way of the All Seasons Center is very nice too, and it's all decorated for Christmas.



If you want, you can watch people swim while enjoying the entry area.

Friend Fixes Stained Glass Window

When I lived in Boone, IA, I had a friend who did stained glass windows and he made this one. I have enjoyed it for many years, and my friend, Chris, enjoyed it at her house for several years. Well one day it fell and it was damaged. I should have taken a picture of how it had cracked and broken glass and how it was all bent up. Luckily I have another friend who does stained glass and he complete refurbished it. When I asked how much I owed him, he said $10, and I said, "No way!!!" We agreed that he would let me donate to a water well project in Nigeria that he funds. So I got a nice window, and he got a nice donation, and I got a good feeling I'm helping out too.

Here is the stained glass window. Now, do I keep it here, or do I let Chris have it so she can continue to enjoy it in her lovely home. We'll see.

Dane's and Bret's School Holiday Concert

A couple of days after the snow storm, Bob drove to attend Dane's and Bret's (two grandsons') Holiday Concert at school. Since we haven't left for the South yet, it was nice to be able to enjoy the program. Unfortunately, Bob did not take a camera so no pictures except for the program flyer.

Winter Has Arrived

About a week ago we go a snow storm and it even got down below 0. Why are we still in Iowa? We are waiting for Stacy (one of Bob's daughters) to have her baby. I'm not sure how I survived being in this climate for so many years. I guess you do what you have to. I do, however, have to admit the first snow is kind of pretty.

Banks for Sunday School

One of the Sunday School teachers asked Bob if he would be interested in making some wooden banks to use to teach kids about being responsible with money and learning to save, share, and spend their money. So Bob agreed and spent a lot of time making three of these banks. They are truly a labor of love. He delivered them this weekend.

Here are the original banks that he used as patterns.

Here are the ones he made. He wood burned the pattern on the banks.

Visit with Stacy and Family, Chris and Pat

Bob had some business to take care of in the Ft. Dodge area, and we made plans to meet his daughter and her family in that area for supper. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of our visit with Bob's daughter. I guess I was too caught up in visiting that I forgot to take pictures. I hate when I do that. So our pictures will be in our minds. We had supper at a Pizza Ranch and had a nice visit. Brett ate the equivalent of almost a whole pizza. Wow!!!!!! Since the ice cream machine was working, Dane enjoyed a root beer float. Grandpa Bob did a magic trick that went awry at our last get together. This time the trick worked. Miss Piggy was feeling a lot better. Stacy is staying healthy and ready for the new baby. They don't want to know if it's a girl or a boy. Either way we'll all fall in love with him/her. No problem.

Since we were in the area, I called my good friends, Chris and Pat, to see if they would meet us for lunch and apple pie at the Community Orchard just north of Ft. Dodge. Luckily they were able to accept the invitation. We enjoyed a delicious lunch, delicious apple pie, the nice Christmas setting, the gift shop, and most of all, the company.

One tradition our friends have is to give "presentos" from time to time when we get together. Chris always comes up with very unique and appropriate "presentos." She had gotten one for me for our next gathering, but decided to give it to me here. It was a representation of our two collections, teapots (hers) and swans (mine.) It is a lovely swan teapot.

Here we are enjoying the ambiance and showing off the swan teapot.

Notice my swan pin too. I do have a swan cup that I can use with my new swan teapot.


Bob got a compliment for being patient and understanding with our visiting. Usually when our GROUP gets together, the husbands find somewhere else to go. One of our husbands thinks GROUP stands for Getting Ridiculous, Our Utmost Priority. I think we pretty much behaved ourselves at the Orchard though.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Thanksgiving with Cardona's and Sister, Kathy

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for family and to be with them as best you can. It's been nice to have Mitzi and her family in Omaha these past few years and to be able to join them for the Thanksgiving holiday. This year we were able to be together. Kathy was able to come from Alabama so that was also very nice. Mitzi was gracious enough to make a beautiful table with beautiful table settings. The silver is family silver and it was so nice to be able to enjoy it for Thanksgiving.

Here are Aly, her son, Logan, and her boyfriend, Robert, waiting for the food.
Nicholas and Christian are looking pretty patient while they wait for the food to be put on the table.
The food is being served. It was a joint effort and it all tasted so good. Thanks to all who contributed.
After dinner we visited for a while. One thing we did was watch Christian's turtle eat his Thanksgiving dinner.

Then we sat around the table and played some very fun games. That's one thing the Cardonas enjoy doing. It's a good time to laugh too.


Father and son back in the kitchen just goofing off.
Kathy in the foreground, Robert and Bob in the back. Just hanging out.
The next day we invited Logan and Aly to come swim at the motel so everyone came eventually.

At the beginning, Logan clutched onto Aly, but Aly gave Logan to me, and I just played with him, getting him to feel more comfortable in water and teaching him some skills.
At the end Logan was floating around on his own and doing all kinds of things. Grandma Mitzi thinks she should sign him up for swimming lessons.




While we swam, Robert did a little homework on his computer. He didn't bring his swim trunks.
Later we hung out at the house. Logan decided to do what Riley, the dog, did.
We got the Wii out and tried some Zumba, but not everyone was very interested so we did Glee singing. That was a lot more popular with everyone.l







Afterwards, at Kathy's request, we played Apples to Apples for a short period of time. Then it was time to say good night and good-bye.

Thanks, everyone, for a great Thanksgiving.