2003

Another year of change.    This time brought on totally by finances.     We made some very bad investments, compounded with being royally 'taken' in a business scam.    Both put us seriously in debt and we had no choice but to leave our lovely home in Eldorado Springs which we had put so much work into.     But such is life and we moved on.

Before this though, we did have a major storm go through our region and Stockton, a small town just south of us had a path completely destroyed through the town.    Only one person was killed which in itself was a miracle.

Our property was covered with roofing, papers, documents, letters etc. after the storm and driving through the town made one think of the bombed areas in World War II.     Mair was with us at the time and she and I did have some great times during her visit - walking what was now over 2 miles of delightful paths through our woods, and a trip up to Kansas City and on to the Amish country.

Willie had to get in the act with this photo of Mair, Louise and I in front of the barn.

We sell the house

and buy and move into a single wide trailer in Poteau, Oklahoma.     It had lovely decks and some nice
decks and storage areas,  plus at one time it had been nicely landscaped and we could see the potential.



Louise had decided to move permanently to California, but she did stay at this home and take care of the four dogs while we made a quick trip to California.

I have to interject a story here, which I think is so typically Dick and I.     We hadn't unpacked any boxes when we left on this trip and we made better time than we had anticipated, so when going along I-40 in Arizona we saw a turnoff to Snowball (I think I have the name right).     We commented that we had never been there, so took a detour.     We kinda liked the place and were looking at homes and sites, when I turned to Dick and said "We're sick!!    We're not even unpacked in the Oklahoma and here we are looking at Arizona!"  

We made another purchase when we returned, a home that had had a roof fire and sustained major water damage in a little town of Heavener.    When we walked through it, I thought there was nothing we could with it to make it habitable, but Dick with his amazing ability to see the bigger picture, thought it would be a great project.    We bought the place for $4000.

This is what the living room looked like, and the kitchen was even worse:

The bathroom was another disaster - in fact there was no place in the home that wasn't severely damaged.

But keep these photos in mind - we'll show you the end results later on......

Jerry and Bev paid us a visit here with two of their friends they were traveling with, then returned later on their own.     It was good to have them.    

This 'visitor' wasn't so welcome.    I'm just happy I found his discard on the deck and not the filled out version.

These photos never turn out well for me, but I still had to take this photo.    I think Dick did a fantastic job and coming up the road, it looked like a ship lit up.

2002

The year 2002 was a relatively quiet one - especially after the busy, eventful 2001.     And apparently, it was a year that I took few photographs.

Louise was gone for most of the year, she spent the summer in California and the Christmas, so before she left in the early summer Dick and I did take a few days and went to Myrtle Beach.....

It was very relaxing and we played golf, look around and I walked the beach - always one of my favorite pastimes.  

It was my turn to visit Britain and spend time with Mair and this time we chose to stay with Ian in London and play tourist in that great city.     We went to the Globe Theater (where Shakespeare performed in his plays), to Westminster Abbey (saw some of the tombs of some ancestors!!), had a fantastic day in Oxford.    Both Mair and I just love that city, and both being great fans of "Inspector Morse" loved seeing the places that we would see in the shows.     We spent a day at the British Museum - amazing old history relics, including mummies; and a magic day at Hampton Court, another place steeped in history that both of us love.   

We also spent a nice day with our cousin Mary and her husband Peter:

Dick and I did get to spend Thanksgiving in Sacramento, staying with Hazel, Cody and Karen.    Bill and Frances were there too, so it was quite special.

We had a rare white Christmas that year.     It was a heavy snowstorm by El Dorado Standards, and even our dogs seemed fascinated with it.

Emma is the black 'dot' on the right.    Not even snow was going to deter her from her daily walk around the property.

Dick did a fantastic job on the Christmas decorations.    Wish I had taken a better photograph of them.

Every year I seem to have a favorite photograph, and this year it is of Dick......

The good parts of 2001

Setting the horror of 9/11 aside, 2001 was a great year for us, filled with visitors and fun events.

Jerry & Bev were the first of our visitors.     They were in their motorhome and parked it in our driveway.    

This was followed by Tricia, who helped Dick finish one of his bridges.     We always enjoy our time with Tricia.

We were able to attend the Craig Family Reunion in Arkansas, and Bill and Frances came too.    They would always take photos of each one of the eleven children's downline that attended.    We posed for the attending downline of Lowney Craig, the oldest daughter of this large family.     Bill and Frances visited us in Eldorado Springs after this and it was here that we learned of Bill's Altzeimers.

Denise and Jill spent a few days with us - Louise's visitors really, but we sure enjoyed them.    Jill seemed to enjoy fishing in our lake.

Mair was the next visitor and she and I enjoyed once again our daily walks through our woods - much expanded from the last time she was here.    Emma and Pedro would always accompany us, and so would Willie but she was always on the hunt, so we would only see here occasionally.     Samantha was too lazy to come!   Emma was funny with Mair, she would continually 'herd' her in the right direction!

While Mair was with us, Irene and Andy came for about five days.    This is the only photo we have of the three of us.    I look at this and can't believe I was ever that fat!    That's the highest I ever was in my life - I'm happy to say I am some 35 lbs. lighter now.

Our last visitors of the year were Ken and Lynda (Louise's son and daughter-in-law).

A big event we missed was Mindy's graduation with her degree in Photography.     Love this photo of Momma Grad.

And also love this sample of her work - one of Becky's kittens:  

We had some different company at the bird feeder.    This was the first time we had seen the wild turkey come so close:

And last but not least - the mystery of the year.     We have no idea how this happend.    We simply went outside and there it was.    Did the poor little thing die of fright?   Did one of my cats give their 'friend' a gift?     We will never know..................