2014 in Review

January:

We made our motorhome more livable by removing the bench dinette and replacing it with drawer storage, a bookshelf, and a comfy Euro Chair. I made a trip to Tampa with two of my best buds to visit another best bud who had retired to that area. We took a day trip to Blue Springs to enjoy the manatees. 

February:

Bob worked on a viewing platform for the Daytona 500. He built it for his sisters' campsite in the infield. We take our motorhome over to the infield every year but usually watch the races from their campsite. However "someone" had other plans for me. I ended up having major surgery about two weeks before the race and had to watch all the action from the comfort of my recliner in the living room! However Bob got to use the platform.

March:

We made a quick trip to Daytona to check out Bike Week activities, attended one of our granddaughter's Winter Guard Competitions and worked on re-landscaping the front yard.

April:

In April we had a cat explosion! We had been feeding a feral cat community for several years and up until this year nature had done a fairly good job of keeping the colony under control. This year nature thumbed its nose at us. By the end of the summer only six new babies had actually been added to the colony but at one time there were over fifteen babies! Needless to say the mature females were neutered! Because the tiles in the main bathroom were literally falling off the wall we had the bathroom re-tiled and a new tub installed. We also spent quality time with our granddaughter attending her Honor Roll breakfast and a band competition. 

May:

The beginning of the month saw us making plans for our summer sojourn to PA. Those plans fell by the wayside when Bob was told that he would need surgery and follow-up treatment for some bladder tumors. So instead of leaving for the North we continued to tend to the expanded cat colony, watched our granddaughter magically (or so it seemed) transform into a beautiful young lady for her final middle school dance and experienced many different emotions over our niece's deployment to Afghanistan. We thought this year would be the first time ever that we missed one of Sarah's piano recitals but because of the change in plans we were able to attend. We also were able to attend her final middle school band concert. One of the best days though was the grandparent/granddaughter day at Disney!

June:

Bob's treatments continued through June so to keep us busy and to try to win the "Battle of the Torpedo Grass" we re-did the front lawn one more time! And to celebrate our granddaughter's birthday we spent several days at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground. 

July and August:

Finally Bob was finished with his treatment and cleared for travel. We loaded up the motorhome with supplies, 3 people (our son went part way), and some cats (duh!). We headed west.

Our first extended stop was San Antonio, TX. We then moved on to Cortez, CO where we toured Mesa Verde, Four Corners and Monument Valley.

Next stop Las Vegas. After a few days in Las Vegas Mike flew home and we traveled north to St George, UT for some much needed rest and recuperation. Then on to Lake Powell. Finally it was time to head east with a stop in Holbrook AZ to view the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. A short visit with family and friends in PA and by the end of August we were back in FL.

September/October:

September and October were spent traveling from doctor to dentist to doctor again for our semi-annual checkups, watching Sarah and the Oviedo High School Band perform, entertaining an unexpected guest and sending good thoughts and prayers to our niece in Afghanistan for her continued safety.

November:

I like to give family and friends hand crafted Christmas presents so a lot of my time was devoted to those projects. And obviously not a lot of time devoted to taking pictures! We celebrated Thanksgiving with as many family members as possible. A niece returned to FL from the cold and snowy north and was feted with a baby shower.

December:

December saw us spending a day at Epcot with our daughter.  We were there to watch Sarah and the Oviedo HS Marching Band perform. Another day we joined Bob's family at Blue Springs as a niece and grand-niece were here for a visit. We welcomed our Army niece home from Afghanistan. And of course we prepared for and celebrated Christmas starting with an early present from my son.

And that was 2014! Hope yours was as full of happy memories as ours. Happy New Year 2015!