Author: Rudy

Saturday: Rudy and Sue re-watched the movie from last night (The Debt) – and were glad they did. It was a very good movie. We walked to Walgreen’s to return the DVD before having a late lunch back at our house. We watched NFL playoffs – first the Forty-niners beat the Saints, then the Patriots walloped Tim Tebow and the Broncos. Sue and Alex talked on the phone quite a while. We had leftover chicken for supper.

Friday: Rudy went for a golf clinic (driver) in the morning at Mountain Brook (presented by two young golf pros) – and came back feeling positive about what he learned. Kaaren and MaryLou arrived at our house around 4pm. The boys were golfing 9 holes at Mountain Brook.

We all met at Wine Canyon for wine tasting and appetizers and great sunset views of the Gold Canyon Golf Course. We picked up a couple of pizzas at the Firehouse Bar & Grill and all had supper together at our house. After supper we watched ‘The Debt’, a movie that Ken and Kaaren had seen before and recommended – but Rudy and Sue both slept through parts of the movie.

Thursday: Moving day for the Driedgers and Neufelds. Dave took two loads in his car to Tom Sung’s apartment (on Idaho Road). At around 4pm we left for Phoenix.

Dave had ordered us NBA tickets on StubHub.com. We parked not too far from the US Airways Center in downtown Phoenix and headed to the place where we had agreed to meet. The restaurant we had picked was closed but our friends were there waiting to meet us. We decided to go to another restaurant (Majerlys) just down the street.

After dinner we went to see our NBA game – the Cleveland Cavaliers versus the Phoenix Suns. It was an entertaining game even though the Suns lost. Steve Nash played well and was the top point-getter.

A big waning moon guided us back to our home near the Superstition Mountains.

Wednesday: Rudy and Sue cycled in the morning. After lunch Dave and Ken went golfing with Tom Sung. The rest of us went for a ride around the neighbourhood, where MaryLou took photos of mailboxes for her blog article.

While the Nikkels golfed nine holes at Mountain Brook, Kaaren and MaryLou made a chicken dinner.

Tuesday: Rudy, Sue, Ken, and Dave went for a long hike up Silly Mountain – probably not that good for Dave’s hip and Ken’s knees.

Kaaren and MaryLou went for a bike ride. They road 20kms! Right to Walgreen’s and back, with MaryLou riding the big purple bike! Very impressive. Dave and Ken golfed nine holes while Rudy and Sue hit a couple of buckets of balls on the driving range. We walked to Walgreen’s to pick up a movie. Ken barbecued salmon for supper. We watched our movie, ‘Higher Ground’. The theme? Religion.

Monday: Sue, MaryLou, and Dave went to the Mesa Market to buy fruit and vegetables and then to Bashas for more groceries.

The four of us golfed 9 holes at Mountain Brook in the afternoon.

The Driedgers picked up Ken and Kaaren from the airport and we all enjoyed the taco casserole that Dave made for supper. We had a long discussion (about religion!) around the dinner table.

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Queen Valley Golf Course for 18 holes of golf. Beautiful weather, pretty good scenery, semi-interesting course, poor score. But the beer was cold and the experience and time with friends was excellent. After golf we hurried home to watch the last minutes of the Texans beating the Bengels. Then we watched the Detroit Lions lose to the Saints. We had a great spaghetti supper in there somewhere too. Went to bed after watching a bit of SNL. Tired but happy.

This morning we were back on track with our usual Sunday routine: watching Fareed Zakaria and Reliable Sources on CNN, and having french toast for breakfast! Then a bit of NFL.

The first game was the best of the weekend: The Giants blew away the Falcons. The second game saw Tim Tebow once again pull out a miracle finish as the Broncos beat the Steelers in overtime!

We had weenies and potatoes for supper. It’s almost a full moon out there — it will be tomorrow night. The Driedgers watched “The Good Wife” on TV and then the four of us headed out to the Cold Stone Creamery out on Crismon Road for a late-night ice cream snack.

Tomorrow we’ll probably go back to Mountain Brook for 9 holes of golf before the Driedgers go to the airport to pick up Ken and Kaaren.

With 16 holes of golf yesterday and another 18 scheduled for tomorrow, today was to be a reading day — a day ‘off’. Started out like that. But not long after breakfast Sue suggested a walk to Walgreens to return yesterday’s movie (Margin Call). So while MaryLou cleaned the inside of her car, the rest of us walked through MountainBrook to Walgreen’s and back. Sandwiches for lunch. Then, a short nap before taking a drive to the Mesa Marketplace. MaryLou bought a shirt, Dave did too, Sue bought some fake Norwex cleaning cloths.

Sue made pizza for supper. After that we watched The Daily Show and Colbert; then we watched 3 episodes of “Friday Night Lights”, a DVD series the Driedgers brought along with them. Ended the night with a bit of NBA and some projections for NFL Wildcard Weekend which begins tomorrow.

After breakfast Sue and I went for bike rides. We came home and showered. By the time we were done the Driedgers were back from a big (Seniors’ Day) shopping day at Bashas. Marylou made us sandwiches for lunch.

After lunch I worked on my YFC website — still just setting it up. Dave and Sue read. Marylou worked on her blog. The Driedgers went for a bike ride at 3. The Nikkels stayed home.

We went to Santan Village later in the afternoon and stopped in at the Apple Store and the big wine store. After a bit of shopping we went to check out the Bash High School Basketball game in Chandler. It was fun watching these high school boys play with talent and skill we don’t often see. The Basha Boys team is number one in the state and handled the opponents easily.

After the game we went to the Firehouse Bar for burgers.

Woke up and saw the light was on in the kitchen. Sure enough, there was Marylou sitting at her laptop when I got up. Soon we were all up. Sue made coffee, and later made toast for us all. Dave and I went for a short bike ride out to the swimming pool and back.

At around 10:30 we headed out for a hike up Silly Mountain. Marylou has a sore let and can’t really hike much, so it was a shorter and slower trip than what we’re used to. We got back to our house at noon.

After a great lunch (sandwiches and chips by Sue) we sat around for a bit. Read. Googled stuff. Talked a bit about napping. I booked a 3:00 tee time at Mountain Brook. Got there a bit early and shared a small bucket on the driving range before walking nine holes. Good times. Dave and Sue and Marylou all shot good games. I had fun but my game sucks.

Finished a bit earlier than we did in December so we didn’t really see the beautiful sunset on Superstition on holes 8 and 9. Still, I think we all had fun and I think both Dave and Marylou enjoyed the golf game. I think they liked the course too.

After golf we stopped at Bashas to pick up steaks and caesar mix. When we got home we had a couple of drinks before the Driedgers headed out to Tom Sung’s place on Ironwood to bring him his golf clubs and some other supplies — and to check out his house (where they will be staying later this month). Sue got the potatoes and vegetables going while I blogged. We watched a bit of the Iowa Republican caucus vote on TV.

When the Driedgers get back we’ll barbecue the steaks and have supper. Then we’ll probably sit around and watch a bit of TV and maybe play a game (Smartass — a new game they got for Christmas) before going to bed (early)!