Making Tiramisu

We enjoyed the morning with Brian.  He cooked bacon on the grill for breakfast.  We played a board game until time for him to leave for the airport.  We are so grateful he came to Tucson this week!

Audrey and the girls and I were invited to my friend, Ornella’s house at 2 this afternoon, so she could make a batch of tiramisu with Lauren and Taylor.  Ornella gave me her recipe along with the ingredients and a ceramic dish to make the tiramisu in, for Christmas.  We took everything with us, and she taught the girls each step of the recipe.  Lauren and Taylor love Ornella’s tiramisu, so they were thrilled.

Celebrating Papa’s 75th birthday

Yesterday morning was spent in Papa’s workshop, with everyone making leather projects.  We finally celebrated Papa’s 75th birthday, actually on May 24, and with various other celebration reservations made and cancelled, we came together in Tucson, and on Zoom in Phoenix and Fargo, yesterday at noon.  We sang to Papa and everyone shared a special moment or trait or series of events that involved Papa in our lives.  It was a happy, teary time of sharing.  Papa unwrapped his gift, and the party favors for everyone - a two volume family photo album of the past 40 years… Whitney’s idea from many years ago, and Covid gave me no more excuses to put it together.  We loved seeing everyone on Zoom, but we miss having everyone together!

We ate lunch on the patio under sunny skies and went for a hike in Pima Canyon from mid afternoon to sunset.  We got take out dinner from Firebirds, and Lauren helped me ice a carrot cake for dessert.  After dinner, we played Ticket to Ride.  It was a fun day!

Family in Tucson

We planned a family gathering in Tucson this week, with all four of our kids planning to join us for three days.  Yesterday was arrival day.  Whitney’s flight was cancelled and Claire’s family has been exposed to Covid, so they are quarantining.  Brian arrived at 1:30 yesterday and Audrey’s family arrived at 5.  We nixed the plan to stay in a hotel, so Brian is in our guesthouse and Audrey and Dan are in the guest room.  All of us took Covid rapid tests and we’re negative.  We’re being as safe as possible!

We ate and talked all afternoon.  The girls made s’mores and we played charades until bedtime.  Papa and I are happy to have part of our family with us for a few days!  

Christmas Celebrations

We celebrated Christmas with our friends Jennie and Jovita on Christmas Eve.  Jennie grew up with and graduated from high school with Papa.  Jovita grew up in the Miami area of Arizona too, so they know all the same canyons and stomping grounds.  Jennie prepared a delicious multi course dinner, that we lingered over for hours.  We had a delightful evening!

On Christmas Day, we loved the conversations with all four of our children, Whitney, Audrey, Brian, and Claire.  We talked with more family - Grammar, Granny, Lynne, Mary, and friends - Linda in Dallas, Joy in Sarasota, and Brenda next door.  We had Christmas dinner with our friends Ornella and Donato, just a block away.  It was a delicious multi course dinner, finished off with Ornella’s tiramisu.  Ornella is my walking partner.  She and Donato bought a house in Italy this year, so we often compare notes on our experiences in buying in the EU.  We had wonderful Christmas celebrations!  We love our family and friends!

Breakfast with “Our Kids”

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast with “our kids,” those that we met 7-8 years ago at the Boys and Girls Clubs.  We met at First Watch, and ate on the heated outdoor patio.  Tatiana moved to Dallas this year and Alex and Gabi live in Phoenix, so we missed the three of them.  David, Alan, Meybelyn and Daniel, and Karla and Sierah joined us, all vaccinated!

Karla and her Mom made a big batch of tamales for us.  They were in a festive container, so they went in the center of the table.  As we ordered and everyone was talking, Karla quietly passed around a card, that everyone wrote in.  We opened the card and were struck by how beautifully written each message was, from their hearts.  

We love “our kids” more and more year after year.  We are proud of each of them.  We are blessed to have them in our lives.

Happy Holidays 2021

Happy Holidays, 

As we near the end of 2021, we are grateful for life and health. We began 2021, celebrating our 40th anniversary, with Audrey’s family staying with us for close to two months. Due to Covid, Audrey homeschooled the girls, so they had the flexibility to learn from Arizona. We went on lots of field trips, hiking and finding petroglyphs. We hiked with Claire’s family at Picacho Peak. We helped Mary prep her house in Phoenix to put on the market. We were busy and wearing masks.

We were vaccinated in late January and February. We took a trip to Kauai in early April, and rented a cottage on the beach, enjoying the magnificent scenery after a year at home. In June and July, we spent five weeks in Abiquiu, NM. Audrey brought the girls to stay with us a few days and we visited Chaco Canyon and Bandelier National Parks, Ghost Ranch, and Santa Fe. In late July, we flew to Fargo to visit Whitney’s family over two weekends at their lake house in MN, and we spent a few days in between with Audrey’s family in Omaha. 

In early August, we spent four days with Toby and Greta, visiting Sedona, renting a boat on Lake Powell for a couple of nights, and touring Antelope Canyon. We were fortunate to see Claire’s family several times during the year, in Phoenix and Tucson. Emerson and Colby stayed with us in March. We took them to Tombstone and hiked in Tucson. Our grandchildren love building fires in the firepit with Papa, so there were plenty s’mores made too!

After getting our Covid booster shots in August, we left on September 2, to fly to France for 10 weeks. We house hunted the first month and purchased a house in the village of Lectoure in early October.  We stayed six weeks in a rented house in a nearby village, Saint-Clar, getting to know the area. We plan on spending summers in Lectoure. We stayed a week in Paris, before returning home on November 13. Our Paris apartment was across the street from the Hôtel de Ville with the Notre Dame a block away. We enjoyed waking up and going to bed with all the Parisien activity outside our window, walking along the Seine, and museum hopping every day.  It was our best trip ever to Paris.

Cousin Dickie and his wife Susan, visited us in Tucson for a few days just after we got home from France, in early November. We hiked and talked, enjoying time outside with perfect weather. Mary, and our friends Jennie and Jovita joined us for Thanksgiving on the patio. We visited Lynne in San Antonio and Louise’s parents in Kentucky in early December. Our four children are coming to Tucson during the holidays, to celebrate 2021 birthdays and anniversaries. We’re grateful our six youngest grandchildren are now vaccinated. We missed family gatherings and time with friends over the past two years.

We’re hopeful 2022 will be a good year for the world! Make a plan to visit us in France! Stay in touch. We wish you a happy holiday season and New Year! 

Love,

Louise & Dale

A Few Things

Papa and I hosted a Thanksgiving Dinner with Mary, and our friends Jennie and Jovita.  It was a simple multi course dinner served on the patio.  We had cranberry salsa with corn chips to start, butternut squash soup, Jennie’s salad, roast turkey breast, roasted veggies - Brussels sprouts, little potatoes, carrots, peppers, and red onions, with apple dessert - apple crisp with golden raisins and cranberries, served with whipped cream and crisp apple chips, along with mulled apple cider.  We took our time and talked for hours.

Four days later, we flew to San Antonio to visit Lynne.  She turned 99 on November 16 and was doing great!  We had dinner together both nights of our visit with friends of hers joining us, in the fine dining room at her assisted living facility.  We flew on to Kentucky to visit my parents.  We stayed with my Mom and visited Daddy and Martha at their assisted living facility, where we also visited my Aunt Guyneth and Uncle Norman.  Fortunately, the weather was nice in Kentucky, so Papa and I walked about 4 miles each day.  

We flew back to Phoenix on December 6 and stayed overnight at Claire’s house.  Emerson and Colby had an early release day on the 7th, so we took them shopping before leaving to drive home late afternoon.  They were really sweet.  We had a good time with them!  Since we’ve been home, I’ve been busy getting ready for the holidays, buying and wrapping gifts.  Papa and I are taking French classes online and have been working on our French.  Every day seems to bring more things to add to the “to do list.”  We’re glad to be home, enjoying our view of the Santa Catalina Mountains and our extraordinary winter weather.

Cocoraque Butte

We took Dickie and Susan hiking at Cocoraque Butte on Tuesday.  We took wooden mallets to “play the rocks.”  They really did sing!  Dickie and I hiked up the mounds of rocks to find petroglyphs.  Papa and Dickie found nice pottery shards.  We had a good time!

Hiking with Cousins

While still in Paris, I had a middle of the night text from my cousin Dickie.  He and his wife, Susan, were in Arizona for a couple of weeks.  Their trip was winding down and they were curious about when we would be back in Tucson.  We invited them to come stay with us, Monday-Wednesday.  They arrived yesterday in time for lunch.  The weather was perfect so we ate on the back patio.  We went for a hike on the Pontatoc Ridge Trail.  It was a perfect day for a hike!

Back to Tucson

We flew most of Saturday, from Paris to DFW to Tucson.  We arrived at home just before midnight.  Along the way, we reflected on our trip to France.  

We drove 5850 km = 3635 miles.

We walked 303.24 miles over 10 weeks.

We stayed in four different properties over 10 weeks, two B&B’s, a castle, a house, and an apartment.

We looked at dozens of properties in our search for a house.

We found a house!  We have made a 10% deposit and are waiting for closing instructions.  We’re preparing for the adventure of renovation and furnishing the house, and living in France for part of the year.

Our trip was extraordinary in myriad ways.  We made friends along the way, had interesting conversations, revisited several favorite places, ate some amazing meals, learned historic facts we were not aware of, and much more.  We’re always learning!

We came home to Tucson and woke up to our view here.  We love our life!  All good!

 

Bateau Tour

We took a bateau tour on the Seine this afternoon.  We enjoyed every minute!  Paris has 37 bridges.  We passed the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais, Notre Dame Cathedral - in the midst of a major reconstruction, the Conciergerie, Musée d’Orsay, and so much more.  The weather was beautiful.  

We went on a long walk after the bateau tour, to the Rodin Gardens, arriving just 10 minutes before closing, so I took a photo of The Thinker through the fence.  We walked through thé Tuileries and the Louvre, just after the sun set.  Everyone in Paris was out and about.  It felt festive and happy.  For us, Paris is the Capital of the World.  We’ve had a wonderful week!