Saturday, November 1 through Sunday, November 16, 2025: Skies, Appointments, Preston, and Getting Ready for the Holiday Season

Saturday morning, there was a beautiful sunrise.

On Monday, I took Preston on a walk to the "North Forty" part of Highland Meadows. There, we saw a number of mule deer. Very nice!

Later in the morning, I had an appointment to donate blood to Vitalent Blood Services at the Williams High School.

Unfortunately, they were not able to draw enough blood. Darn! I might decide to stop trying to donate blood. It is getting so "hit and miss." 

In the early afternoon, I had a telemed appointment with Dr. Trasi Crumrin at North Country Clinic here in Williams. She went over my liver functioning lab results --- they looked good. Yes!

Tuesday morning, I drove Preston to Williams. I parked the truck near the post office and Preston and I took a nice walk. One of the local motels had a nice Christmas display.

That evening, Tom and I went to Red Raven for dinner. 

 

It was the first time this year that we dined there. To my surprise, Tom was very pleased with the restaurant. Of course, he loves the Old Fashion drinks that the owner Deana makes.

 

That evening, a neighbor posted on Facebook a gorgeous photo of sunset over Kaibab Lake.

My sister Wendy texted an old photo of the nine Smith Sister cousins. That was probably the last time all nine of us were together. Cousin Bill and brother John are no longer with us.

 

On Thursday, November 6, Tom had a follow-up appointment with Dr. David Felsted. His eye pressure readings are still high. Dr. Felsted is glad that Tom has an appointment later this month with Dr. Christine Funke in Surprise. She is a glaucoma specialist and surgeon.

Friday morning, I walked Preston to the entrance of Elephant Rocks Golf Course. There, I took a nice photo 😍

The town of Williams has been getting ready for Christmas. The tree on 2nd Street has been placed for the holiday season.

The Grand Canyon Railway Polar Express started on Friday, November 7. It will run until Saturday, January 3, 2026.

Preston continues to amuse us. He likes to jump on top of the spa and look around.

Barbara Coad texted me. My sister-in-law Elise Ebbert has died. Apparently, it happened on September 20. She was 89 years old. There will be a memorial service in January.

My neighbor, Jan Chumley, conducts a circuit class at the First Baptist Church on Tuesdays. Since there is no pickleball this time of year, it is nice to have this option.

Veteran's Day was the 58th Wedding Anniversary of Pat and Bill Wheeler. It was nice to call them --- congratulate them --- and get cute photos of the two of them.

My Estate Planning attorney, Alexandra Shroufe, has two sons attending the Naval Academy in Maryland. Her youngest son was at Arlington Cemetery when President Trump made Veteran's Day remarks. Amazing how close he was!

At this time of year, fifteen states are able to see the Auroras --- or Northern Lights. We are fortunate that Arizona is one of these states.

 

My town of Williams loves the Christmas season. One evening, I saw the lit Ponderosa pine trees on Route 66.

 

Before leaving Williams for the winter, I wanted to deposit more of Kelsey's and Jamie's ashes in special places. One special place was the caboose at Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. The ashes were place at the base of the Railroad Crossing sign.

 

On the Saturday before we left Williams, the owner of 1 Source Air Conditioning --- Manny---came to our home to perform maintenance on the two heaters and on the two air conditioners. He found that the heater in the attic of the garage was severely infected with mold. The unit was also in dire need of replacement. The mold is very concerning --- as a health risk to Tom and myself.

 

Many said that the other heater unit in the attic above our walk-in closet was in good condition. When we return to Williams the end of March, Manny's company will be hired to replace the one heater and the one connected air conditioner. The cost will be over $20,000. But, Manny said that there is great financing available for this project. Thank goodness!!!

 

Later in the day on Saturday, Preston and I walked the outside of the golf course. It was a beautiful day.

 

On Sunday, I went to Bethany Fellowship for church. After the second service, there was a robust potluck. The church provided smoked turkey. Tom and I brought my 24 hour layered salad. It is always a hit.

 The food was delicious and the early "Thanksgiving" super was great.

Monday, October 13 through Friday, October 31, 2025: Dodgers, Sisters in Maui, Preston, Friends, Bearizona, Christmas Card, and Geocaching

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a winning season again this year. My brother Peter and his family enjoy going to Dodger games.

 

My grandniece, Sophie is the quintessential Dodger fan! 

Friends of mine who live in Warsaw, Poland, vacationed in Malta. Waldemar Paradowski is now retired. Congratulations to him! 

 

On Facebook, a Williams resident captured this beautiful photo of a sunrise at Cataract Lake.

 

My sister Wendy and her husband Kai are in Hawaii. Wendy shared a lovely Hawaiian sunset.

The mule deer are enjoying the fall weather too.

 

One morning, Preston and I walked around the golf course.

 

 

Now, two sisters are in Hawaii! Wendy and Carrie are both on the Island of Maui. Wendy and Kai are at a resort and Carrie and Brent are in a condo next to the Kuwata resort! And, it was not even planned!

 

 

The couple on the left side of this photo are friends of Wendy and Kai. Wendy and Kai enjoyed a sunset catamaran adventure too!

 

 

I had a sleep study scheduled in Flagstaff. I enjoyed some sushi for dinner at Hiro's before arriving at the Sleep Clinic by 7:30 p.m.

I was discharged from the Sleep Clinic at 6:00 a.m. It was so cold in the morning that I had to use a credit card to get the frost off of the truck windshield!

 

Preston has a girlfriend. There is a mule deer doe that has visited Preston three separate times.

 

While I am no longer a member of the Organization of Women Executives, I always enjoy seeing photos of some of my Los Angeles friends posted on Facebook.

 

Barbara Coad and Carla Schmidt are in Paris, France. They are in Paris for a week before boarding a Holland America cruise ship and making a transatlantic journey. 

 

 

 While in Paris, Barbara and Carla rendezvoused with some other friends, Pattie and Craig Apregan.

 

My niece Lauren and my nephew Blake both live in Georgia. Lauren posted a photo of the four of them together --- Blake and his wife Nicole, Lauren and Cody --- and their son Colter. Fun!

 

A dear friend, Paula Browne, lives in Southern Utah. She and her husband Leeton have three dogs. Two of them are adorable Corgis.

There was a Wednesday night series at my church with Pastor David Jeremiah called "The World of the End." I was able to attend a lot of the video series. The church gave me the book of the same name to read chapters of those sessions that I missed.

I decided that it was time to work on my Christmas cards. I made a folder of potential photos and went on Shutterfly to select a card. The one I liked was for ten photos. I had Tom review the potential photos and I selected the photo placement on the card. 

 

Preston and I like to go to town and walk around. Today, we walked by the steam engine train that is decorated for the Christmas Polar Express.

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, October 23, my friend Chris Peterson and I went to Bearizona. Chris is an excellent wildlife photographer. She took some amazing photos.

 

 

 

 

It was also nice getting a photo with Chris.

 

 There are more photos of fall that captured my heart.

 

 

 

 

Friday night, Tom and I had dinner at El Comedore Cardena Mexican Food & Cantina.

An early evening photo of the train passing over the Country Club Drive bridge was awesome.

On Saturday, Preston and I went to Dogtown Lake. It was a beautiful day to walk around the lake.

 

 I even left some of Kelsey and Jamie's ashes by a picnic table.

The next day, Preston and I went back to the Dogtown Lake area to do some geocaching. We found four cache containers total.

Preston was very helpful throughout the search process.

Tom's ophthalmologist wanted to do a laser procedure on his eyes ---  to try and lower the pressure caused by his glaucoma. So, early Wednesday morning, we were in Flagstaff at Barnet-Delaney-Perkins Eye Center.

Tom was in and out within an hour. So, we stopped and picked up some coffee and headed home. 

 

The next day, Tom dropped me and Preston off at the dry Holden Lake. The two of us walked home.

 

 

Early Friday morning, there were deer on the golf course by Elaine Brady's home.

Later that morning, Tom had an appointment with a nurse who came to our home. For treatment of Tom's dry eyes, he is paying for a special saline solution called Vital Tears. Tom's blood is used to make this serum.

That afternoon, I visited Di and Greg Jonsen at the Kelley Parsonage home. They are leaving that day to move to the state of Maine. Greg has children and grandchildren there. Di and Greg are originally from Maine themselves. I sure will miss these two!