2012 December

December 1-14

We started December back in Austin with a washing machine disaster at Roberta’s son’s house.  We discovered a leak in the tub – after Roberta had filled it completely with water!  Things improved when Mike decided to buy the biggest tree he could find for his living room.  It was beautiful, but needed some help standing up without tipping over.  Tying it to the staircase banister did the trick and once it was decorated and lit up it was really beautiful.  Luckily the weather was still pretty good so Dave and Mike were able to get a lot of work done on the backyard fence and the front yard landscaping before the “rainy season” got underway.  It actually did start raining just as Dave was finishing the last few planks on the one side of the fence where they had been able to finish all the posts – the other side had been flooded by a plumbing leak at the neighbor’s house making it impossible to set the fence posts on that side of the yard.  So we left Austin mid-December for Fort Worth, where we were going to meet our new granddaughter, with the expectation that Mike would be able to finish whatever we hadn’t been able to do with his fence and backyard.

To clean up all the water from the washing machine disaster we had to move the appliances.  Under the range we found quite a collection of interesting items – among them these remnants of Mike’s “younger” days – lots of beer pong balls!

Mike bought this 12′ Christmas tree – the fulfillment of a childhood dream – for his living room 

Oops! The tree tipped over more than once while Dave & Mike were putting it up.  Attaching the tree to the stair banister finally solved the problem.

Putting on the lights

Mike puts on the tree topper

Looking good…almost done

Voila! The finished tree was beautiful!

Mike and his roommate Monica nailing planks on the fence

Temporary stepping stones lead out to the shed while the backyard undergoes its renovation.  Thanks to a plumbing leak coming from the neighboring house (to the left) it wasn’t possible to cement the fence posts on that side of the yard.  As it turned out it was several weeks before this part of the job could be completed!

The front yard needed to be leveled and the sprinklers had to undergo some repairs

Dave had to race against the impending rain to finish as much of the fence as he could

Raindrops started falling as he nailed in the last few planks!

Once the ground cover was down, secured by bricks, and covered with mulch, the missing piece of the fence could be replaced.  The front yard was finished until the weather permits the planting of a new lawn.

The rest of the fencing material had to be protected from the elements until the project could be finished, but so far the backyard looks great!

Dave’s son Geoff and his wife, Kinzie, and son Adam welcomed their daughter/sister, Harley Loretta McRae, into this world on December 12 – yup, she was born on 12-12-12!  We were anxious to meet her, which we did for the first time that next Saturday.  We spent several days enjoying her before heading to a campground in Glen Rose, Texas (about an hour from Fort Worth) to spend Christmas Day.

Harley Loretta McRae, 1 week old

Big brother Adam kisses his new baby sister

Proud daddy Geoff naps with Harley

December 15-31

We had been thoroughly enjoying the “spaciousness” of our new RV and Christmas Day was no exception.  Dave decorated (created?) our “tree” shortly after Roberta went to bed Christmas Eve and she was very surprised by it on Christmas morning.  We liked the little town of Glen Rose so much we decided to return to it after the first of the year if we had time.

Our new bedroom is so much bigger! (relatively speaking :-))

Our new living room is so comfortable!

Moving into the new RV was like moving into a new home, just on a smaller scale.  Here Dave works on one of the many projects needed to make our new home “perfect” for us

Dave came back from a morning run with a piece of native Texas mistletoe

The “tree” Dave created in our RV

The Christmas gifts we opened on Christmas morning

We couldn’t help but notice the resemblance between Dave & Porter Rockwell!  The book was one of Dave’s Christmas presents from his parents.

Christmas stockings, RV style

Dave relaxes in the RV Christmas afternoon

We had to return to the place where we bought our new RV for some minor work and were surprised to see our old RV in their back lot – kind of like visiting an old friend!!

We returned to Fort Worth shortly before New Year’s Eve, expecting to find something fun to do there to ring in the New Year.  But Roberta came down with a nasty cold and couldn’t shake it in time for celebrating, so we kept it very low key for the evening.  No big deal – we’ll find plenty of chances during 2013 to catch up on our partying!!

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