Let the Festivities Begin!

The holiday activities are in full swing here at StoneRidge. It started about a month ago with the Mammas on a Mission. We all went shopping for the 3 families that were chosen by the local elementary school. They supplied us with their Christmas wish list and we were able to fill each one. Just last week we all got together again to wrap all of the gifts. They will be delivered to each family before Christmas.

The parties started here last Saturday night for those of us left here at StoneRidge. It was hosted by our Forest neighbors Terry and Gabe. Gabe prepared the main course, pork loin on fresh Amish dinner rolls and each guest brought a side dish or appetizer. We even got a box of chocolates from our friends working in Havasau City at the Sees candy store. (Thanks Jim and Patty).

There were a total of 58 attendees with 50 participating in the gift exchange game.  Those that chose to participate brought a gift of their gender and they were randomly numbered. As each couple was called, they could pick a number to a corresponding gift or steal one that had been opened.

I think it would be safe to say that everyone had a fun time. We rounded out the evening just talking with neighbors, playing pool or with the Wii.

Please enjoy this short video and see for yourself. Don't forget to turn off the "myplaylist" in the sidebar before you start the video.

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas!

Christmas Lights went up right after Thanksgiving in the Forest at StoneRidge and all around the compound (as we lovingly call StoneRidge). This year we are spending our first Christmas in our new home so the decorations were coming out!

I didn't get things up as quickly as I have in past years. I usually had everything completely decorated and the tree up the day after Thanksgiving. We sold our 16 year old artificial tree before we moved to Idaho and last year was the first in my adult life that I did not have a tree at all!

I'm waiting to get a new artificial tree 'til the sales after Christmas. The day after all of the holiday festivities began here, StoneRidge Pals Tammy & Russ, along with their grandson Adrian, invited us to join them in their annual tree hunt at their Newport property. They have 15 acres and plenty of trees that we could legally cut down without a permit.

Granted the trees are not what you would find at a Christmas tree farm, but we had fun looking for and cutting down our tree which I had never done before.

I haven't had to string lights on a tree for almost 20 years, so trying to string the lights on this "Charlie Brown tree" was going to be a challenge. With a minimal amount of branches to work with, I had to pick and choose from the close to 100 ornaments for the ones that would adorn our tree this year.

The stockings are hung, my advent calendar is up and I actually got out my North Pole Village. It hasn't been out of the box for nearly 10 years.

This advent calendar, a Christmas Present made by my sister Angela in 1991, 

has been out every year except last year. It is my favorite decoration. 

 

Getting snow the last couple of days has completed our holiday picture. It will be very different for both of us since we won't be together with our family on Christmas day. Fortunately, we will be able to see them 2 days later in Montana.

We may not be with you in person, but we will be there in spirit!

Beyond an Act of Kindness

A few weeks ago it was announced that one of our StoneRidge Pals, Ginger, is about to do something remarkable. She is donating a kidney. She is donating a kidney to her friend Jo. How lucky is Jo?

Ginger met Jo during her travels in their motor coach and they have been very close friends ever since. As time past, Jo let Ginger know of her condition and the possibility of needing a kidney transplant. Ginger offered hers. She's not a match to Jo, but she will donate to someone else, which will put Jo at the top of a very long list of possible recipients. So Jo WILL get her kidney!

She and her husband, Jim, flew to Kentucky on Sunday to prep for surgery. Jim will stay with her until the 18th and then fly back to Phoenix. Ginger returns to Phoenix at the end of December. Today, December 15, 2009, she undergoes the kidney operation. She is in my thoughts and prayers. All of us here at StoneRidge hope her surgery goes smoothly and her recovery is quick. Good luck Ginger!

Here are some links to stories about Ginger:
Courier-Journal and Wave3 TV in Louisville Kentucky

Open for Business

I have my dinning room back...

 and StoneRidge Guy has his office!

Bradford Appraisal is officially open downstairs. StoneRidge Guy was obsessed! There was no stopping him to get the office finished and the furniture moved down.

 He painted the walls with 2 coats. Then painted all of the moulding. Finally he had to trim out all of the windows, hang doors, trim doors and add the floor boards.

 That took about a week. He spent the next 2 days moving furniture and files into their new home.

There may still be a few more things that need to get unpacked, but everything seems to be working and he has settled in quite nicely.

We're In!

Finally! After a year and a half, this is the post you've been waiting for. It's not quite finished, but we are moved in. Thursday, October 28th, was the first night in our new home.

The Plan:

DirecTV came on Tuesday to install the new HD Dish.

Verizon, for phones and T1 Wifi, for internet were both scheduled for Thursday. (Which is why we picked that night to spend our first in the house.)

Reality:

No one showed up! And because they disconnected our phone at the condo to make the transfer to the house, I couldn't call to find out where everyone was.

It was a frustrating day, to say the least. I couldn't leave the house because I was afraid I'd miss the installers, but I needed to go back to the condo to move more stuff to the house. They both showed up on Friday along with the landscapers who delivered the gravel for our driveway.

To make things worse, it was pouring rain. StoneRidge Guy and I had to rake the gravel to move it to the edges and get it level. I was lucky to have to go to work. He was at it all day long, in the rain!  My arms and shoulders ached for days. 

 

As you can see, boxes are being emptied and knick-knacks are getting put place.

 

Here's StoneRidge Guy preparing our first breakfast in the new house.

Our new dining room table.

 

This is our guest room, where we will be staying while we finish the house. 

Hopefully, some of you will be staying here when everything is finished.

Our now finished guest bathroom. It took 4 trips to Lowes, but we finally got a medicine cabinet that wasn't damaged or missing parts

My make-shift linen closet, since the cabinets for the laundry room have haven't been ordered yet.

Until a couple of days ago, I had to dry my hair blind because we didn't have a mirror in the bathroom. It's bad enough I have to plug the hair dryer in the hallway, 'cuz the outlet in the bathroom doesn't work. I can't dry our laundry because we need a new plug due to the upgrade in the building codes. This is definitely testing my patience


Next week the electrician is scheduled back in to fix what doesn't work and/or install what hasn't been. The plumber is due back to get our hot water working properly and see why our water pressure is so low. I could go on, and on, and on, and on...


I don't know what plan we're on now, I think it's around "R". Way back around plan "D", we were going to get the guest room, bath and kitchen done enough to move in. Once we got in, our priorities immediately changed. 
This was our list of what we needed to finish:
1. hall closet (I needed alot more space to hang our clothes)
2. pantry
3. laundry room, so I would have a linen cabinet.
4. trim out the front door
5. add back splash to kitchen counters
6. finish the master bed and bath
7. glaze and varnish doors and trim
8. trim all doors, windows and floor.
9. start on downstairs.

Well we got as far as the hall closet when we realized that we just had to get the office set up for StoneRidge Guy. The list is gone.

 Our dining room is now the office of Bradford Appraisal. It's just not working out. 

We both agreed that we should just move downstairs and get the floors in so he could set up the office. After we changed our minds 3 more times about what we should do with the floors, we decided on a laminent wood.  

The office walls are painted, the windows have been trimmed out and he is painting them as I write this. The base plastic has been laid down along with the padding. We 
 may be installing the wood floors tomorrow.
Hopefully, by next week, we'll be moving the furniture out of the garage and into the office. Then we'll probably finish the downstairs before we move back up. 

Both of us agree that our favorite room is the one that was never even supposed to exist: the music/bonus room. It will be the last room that we finish, but we know it will be the most fun. 

So for now, things are moving along. I have no idea what the next project will be. I can tell you one thing... it should all be done by next summer! And there will be plenty of room for guests!

The First of Many More!

Who says you need to live in a house before you have a party in one? StoneRidge Pal Jim was having a birthday, so we decided to break in the house the right way.

We started the evening by going out for a Mexican Dinner in Newport.

Then we had cake at our house.

Here we are all hanging around the island in the kitchen. To complete the night it was cocktails and music in our music room.


We are trying to be officially in the house by the end of this week. DirecTV was installed today and StoneRidge Guy got to watch a few minutes of a football game on the new TV. He was very excited! High speed internet and our phone service will be installed later in the week.
I'll keep you posted.

Oktoberfest!

21 StoneRidgers in 7 motor coaches caravan-ed the 4 hour trip to Leavenworth, Washington. It's a town very much like Solvang, in California. (StoneRidge Guy was not able to join us because he was heading to No. California for his annual golf trip.) Friday morning we all met in the Motor Coach Village parking lot to start our trip.

first row (left to right): Carol, Susan, Cindy, Rita, Patsy, Murray, Tammy, Judy, StoneRidge Gal, Patty
back row (l to r): Russ, Marci, David, Rusty, Dennis, Larry, Terry
missing: Jim, Gabe, Allen, Joe (they were busy prep'ing the coaches)

We left early, hoping to make it to the Thousand Trails RV park by mid afternoon. Our intention, of course, to get set up in time to have a bratwurst dinner in town. StoneRidge Pup Maggie and I stayed with pals Jim, Patty and Sadie. (Sadie is Maggie's sister, they are litter mates.) Most of us were doubled up, so the quarters were tight.

After we set up camp, all of us went into the town of Leavenworth for some beer, brats and a bit of shopping. Our trip organizers scheduled groups to make meals. We had our breakfast each morning around a roaring camp fire by the Tammy & Russ' coach. Of course there were Bloody Mary's and Mimosas. Dinners were held indoors at the Family Hall, again pot luck style.

Saturday was the day for Oktoberfest. It started at noon with a parade followed by the keg tapping ceremony in the Festhalle, the main hall. It was fun, but we found our where everything was really happening... The Beir Stube! Would you be surprised to find out that we spent the rest of the day there?

Lots of people, people with funny hats, with beer mugs, always full of beer and Lots of Dancing! I can confidently say for each and every one of those in our group that we had a BLAST! The chemistry in this group of 21 couldn't have been better. We all agree that this should be an annual event.

There were too many photos so instead of uploading each one, I made a short video. If you are reading this from the web site, please turn off the "my tunes" in the sidebar before you start the video below. Oh, by the way, Steve won his tournament and will make sure that he joins us next year for Oktoberfest 2010.

2nd Annual StoneRidge Jamboree

Surprised?! I know it's been awhile since I have posted anything here. And you were probably expecting an update on the house. Sorry to disappoint you, but there won't be any house pictures this time.

Last year's impromptu get-together was dubbed the 1st Annual Stoneridge Jamboree. About 20 people came to watch the jam session which included Stoneridge Guy, his best friend and Moderator Band member Bill along with 2 Motor Coach neighbors Jim and Bob. The gals, being the wives, Patty, Linda and myself would sing along and play percussion. We all agreed it was so much fun we should do it again. This time we would practice some songs so we could actually play them from start to finish. This triggered my urge to play the drums.

As most of you know I took up the drums this past October. It was a childhood dream that I have fulfilled. I haven't taken a lesson yet, but do plan on starting this winter. In the meantime, I have been trying to learn via the internet. So for the last 10 months I have been practicing to be ready for our next Jamboree. I must admit that I have never had so much fun!

We got a list of songs together that we would practice throughout the year, in preparation for our 2nd Jamboree. There were a few practice sessions at the Motor Coach Lounge and in our garage, which is why Jim has been referring to us as the StoneRidge Garage Band.

Bill was planning to join us, traveling from Portland just for this event. This time 2 more of his Moderator Band mates decided it sounded like fun and flew in too. So this year we had a crowded stage which consisted of:
StoneRidge Guy Steve on guitar ** Bill on lead guitar and vocals ** StoneRidge Gal Mary on drums ** StoneRidge Pals Jim and Bob on guitar ** Moderator Band husband and wife team of Jim on electric piano, guitar and vocals ** Brenda lead vocals ** Jim's wife Patty on vocals and took it upon herself to make up song sheets for our audience ** Bob's wife Linda manned the bar and lead the dancers.

Left to right: Jim, Patty, Jim, Bill, Brenda & Steve

Left to right: Bill, Brenda, Mary & Steve

Left to right: Bob, Jim, Patty, Jim & Bill

StoneRidge Gal on Drums

StoneRidge Pal Tammy with Linda
The audience up in a conga line.

We all sang along with the lead vocals. After a few martini's I even got up to the mic and sang with Patty.

We probably had 50 people in our audience; singing along or dancing.


Everyone agreed it was a great night and are already planning the 3rd Annual StoneRidge Jamboree. I have been told that there is video that will be posted to youtube. As soon as I know about it, so will you.

Green River '09: Out Fished by an 8 year old!

Our annual Green River Trip, except for last year when we moved up to Idaho, has been planned for months. Even so, StoneRidge Guy and I weren't prepared to take our StoneRidge Pup Maggie with us so our wonderful neighbor and friend offered to puppy sit. That made leaving her a much easier task.

We left Blanchard on Wednesday and drove for about 7 hours getting us to Spencer Creek Campground where we spent the night. It's about an hour north east of Idaho Falls.



A nice place to spend the night, but I wouldn't want to stay for any length of time unless I was into dirt biking or 4 wheeling.

Anxious to get to Utah, we left early on Thursday and arrived at Deer Run Campground by 6pm that evening. It was great seeing our friends from the old neighborhood. We had our camp set up in no time.


As we have since 2002, both families set up in the same spot. We share kitchen accessories and alternate with the cooking chores. It makes for a very pleasant time.

Friday morning we were all ready to get to the river. The next two shots show the river at put-in just below the Flaming Gorge Dam.
Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera ready where we launched the rafts and pontoons. So you'll have to take my word for it that we've never seen it so busy. There wasn't much room for all of the water craft. We had to double up while we waited for the guys to drop off one of the trucks at Little Hole take out.

The river was much higher and running alot faster than previous years plus it was HOT! Because it was so busy up top, we decided to beach at the earliest convenience to get our gear set up.
The girls thought it would be funny to toss crackers into the water and the fish loved them. They were jumping out of the water to eat. Taylor, the older of the two, was there and ready with her rod. she hooked into a monster trout.


It put up quite a fight, and after a few minutes she landed it.

It would have been a keeper, over 22 inches, but we put it back. They are just too beautiful!

Because the river is running so fast, it's much harder to stay in one place for fishing. Expecially since I had lost one of my flippers. Now all I had were the oars to manuever and that didn't leave me with enough hands to hold my rod.

It was a quick trip down to Little hole, but the scenery is breathtaking. These pictures just can't do it justice.


Knowing that the river is usually more busy on weekends, The girls had planned other trips for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday the guys went back to the river and girls went to Red Rock Canyon. They have a small private lake and restaurant. The big girls could sit and relax while the young ones tried to catch the baby trout and crawdads with their butterfly nets.

Then take a paddle boat ride. It's a good thing they didn't get too far. They were complaining about how tired they were before they got 50 yards from the dock.


Sunday we woke to a cloudy sky and slightly cooker temperatures. We took the 90 minute ride down the mountain to go to Vernal. The guys went golfing and we were planning to go to the dinosaur museum. We would usually make our trip to town mid week and never had a trouble. Duhh! We're in Utah. On Sunday. The museum was closed along with the restaurant we would usually hit for lunch. It didn't leave us with too many options. So we hit the K-Mart, Smith's Food King and McDonald's. HooHoo!

It rained on us on the way back to camp. After unloading the groceries we decided that ice cream was in order and wifi for me and Jeanette. The guys have just arrived and we're going to check out Little Hole to fish.

I'll try to update everyone again sometime before we leave here.