411 The Walters Bunch

Lake Mineral Wells....what a great trip! Well, we did it. We took the new travel trailer out on its first expedition. I must say I was super nervous about towing such a large trailer with such a relatively small tow vehicle. Theoretically, we are 25% below our towing max, but actually figuring what you can tow is more complicated than "my car says I can tow 9200lbs and my trailer weighs 6300 so we're good".  Once you add all of our weight inside the vehicle we are a little closer than I would like to be for our max, which traveling through flat areas is fine, but going into hilly/mountainous areas CAN cause the car to overheat.  There will be NO trips out west through the Rockies without getting a larger vehicle, or not having  the kids, but I really have no desire to head back that way anytime soon anyway. We struggled with towing the pop-up though some of those steep grades and I can't imagine how scary towing a trailer bigger and heavier than the tow car woul...

Ok, the police department does these awards every year and the first year D worked there we went. It sounded like a fun FREE night out. We would have dinner and fellowship with other adults, something young parents desperately need. That did happen. Unfortunately, it was very  --we'll say disagreeable--to us that at an awards dinner for the POLICE dept . that some officers had several beer bottles and other empty alcoholic beverages in front of them. I really felt no alcohol should have been served since they are held to a higher standard, but I digress. I also didn't realize that most of the other "adults" we would be having dinner with were permanently stuck in 12th grade. Yep, those kind of guys. I know you know exactly the type I mean: play stupid jokes, act like they are about 15. Long story short, we left early and NEVER attended again UNTIL this year. A co-worker had told D he should attend the ceremony this year. In other words, D was getting an award. Ya...

The reception after the funeral. First off, we had to deal with the death of D's grandfather.   While this wasn't something that surprised us since he had COPD and was 91, it was still hard. It was definitely harder than when his grandmother passed away. She had severe dementia and we had felt she had left us years before she really did. His grandfather was coherent until the end. He had spent over 3 weeks in the hospital and we were glad he found peace, but it was still hard to watch him go. Fortunately, we were allowed enough time for one final visit with him and we were able to say goodbye.  He was really upset that the hospital didn't have happy hour and they tried to give him turkey sausage instead of "real sausage". I think if God let me have a choice I would rather suffer a little at the end of my full life than forget the family and life I had. Rest in peace Papa and give Nana a hug for us! The funeral procession. I didn't get a pic, but one co...

We gave the girls roses for Valentine's Day and T got chocolates. We also took them to the zoo and out to lunch. We love to have fun on holidays! Now President's Day will probably go by without a fuss, but Valentines Day we do enjoy. My husband and I don't really give gifts to each other for holidays other than birthdays and Christmas. We do little things for each other at random times through out the year and believe that the randomness of it, makes it more special than some arbitrary date on the calendar each year, though occasional we do go out for our anniversary, but since it is so close to Christmas that is usually rare also.  Valentine's Day is more for the kids. They make each other and us wonderful little cards and sometimes include a little something from the dollar store. They get really excited about being able to do something nice for their family. I do not give them any money. They have to spend their allowance if they want to purchase something. Some...