Home for Christmas!

We left Yuma on Dec 11Th and drove to Phoenix where we stayed overnight with Gary and Delaine. These friends we kind enough to drive us to the airport and also store our car at their home while we in Canada. It was wonderful to be with our family again! We did some last minute shopping so everyone had a small gift with their Christmas money tucked in to it. I had fun getting the house decorated although it was not done to the usual extent. Rayven, Mikayla, Kiana and Keeli came over after school and helped do some of it. It gave me a good feeling just knowing I had my little girls under my roof once again. Meeca and Brayden have a busy schedule with work as well as Brayden had guitar lessons and Meeca has dance! Christmas Eve we all went out for Chinese dinner with Ken's family and then we went over to Jennifer and Ken's for the evening. Brayden and Mikayla were at their mother's for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning and we missed having them with us but they came back in the afternoon of Christmas Day and were with us for the rest of our time home. We had our Christmas dinner at Brad and Marnie's and then Boxing Day we had the big Naka family dinner at the hall. It was nice to see all the family there. We returned to Yuma on Dec. 29th.

Going Home Happy Hour

Irene and our friends on the block decided to surprise us with a "Going Home For Christmas" Happy Hour. This turned into a long party, it started about 4:00pm and ended after 11:00pm. Pete and Phil really got into the music and we just had a ball listening to them play and sing. Some people even were dancing and the funnest thing is when it looked like it was over and people were going out the gate Phil started playing some rock and roll numbers; well you never seen a group of people turn around and rejoin the party so fast, then the party continued for an hour or so longer. It is friends like this that make Yuma so special.

The Christmas Season

Whoever said Christmas was for kids forgot to tell these seniors who have decorated their WINTER HOMES and RVs for Christmas. I never expected to see so many nicely decorated places in a setting of retired winter vacationing seniors. These photos are just a few of the homes, park models, and RVs decorated in the Yuma Foothills.

In the daytime I could forget it was December and getting close to the Christmas Season, it was warm and instead of snow we had sand and rocks to walk on. Then comes night, the lights are on and I get the home sick feeling, the wanting to be with my family comes over me again. I can hardly wait to fly out of here and return home to be with our kids and grand kids.

American Thanksgiving

Our first "American" Thanksgiving Dinner was hosted by Pete and Vi. It was a nice dinner with just the eight of us, Gord & Daisy, Aki & Irene, Pete & Vi, and Ernest & myself. Irene cooked the turkey and the rest of us brought the other dishes. Ernest and I have never been in Yuma so early for the winter season, usually we come down after Christmas but this year we decided to come in November and then fly home for Christmas.

Yuma Arizona

Well here we are back in Yuma for another winter season! They call us "snow birds" and "winter visitors" here in Yuma. Although it is always tough to leave our family, we are excited to "head south" and get away from the cold and snow. Over the years we have met some good people in Yuma, some are our American friends and many are from Canada. We are all there for the same reasons...to be in a warmer climate than home and to relax and enjoy retirement.

Easing into Retirement

The first whisper of retirement was exciting, Ernest was selling his business and we were going to relax, enjoy life and travel! The next whisper was part of the sale agreement was he had a "three year earn out", so he would work another three years before retiring . Those three years flew by so fast, and we were ready for retirement! Then Ernest came home and whispered to me that he was offered the position of BC District Manager with Wolseley, (the company who now owns Central). Ernest takes the position and works from home using a cell phone to stay in contact with the branches, suppliers, and head office in Calgary. He has agreed to work seven months a year. Ernest managed to golf three to five games a week all spring, summer, and fall. We still had our winter months to vacation in Arizona. I guess he was semi-retired! The final retirement whisper was in 2005 when Ernest told me he was going to give his notice that he would retire in April and his last day of work would be April 30Th 2006.

Wolseley hosted a retirement dinner for Ernest in October 2006. Although Ernest was recovering from an infection and had just been diagnosed with Diabetes he managed to enjoy his special night. I have always been proud of my husband and his accomplishments but I have never been more proud of him than that night as I listened to the speeches that were given in his honour.

After the wonderful speaches it was time to open the gifts! Our daughter Jennifer helped her dad with this and she looked after all the cards for him as well.

A final few words from Ernie and a big thank you to all who attended!