Welcome to another winter! We enjoy the pleasant weather of the desert this time of the year. We have been working on a Tree House with Windy’s Dad, Ken, and it is nearly ready for extensive use. May through September will be too hot to play outside but now it is lovely.
Adelaide “Addy” is now 2. Our little “Angel Baby” she is beginning to show a strong will, but can usually be convinced to ask (or rather use body language and sign) to politely get what she wants. She is so good she even puts herself down for a nap when she is tired most days. She is “little bitty” and doesn’t really weigh over 20 pounds. She started cruising along furniture at 1 year, but decided not to actually walk until a few days before she was 18 months old. She is a chatty little thing and has multiplied her vocabulary. At Thanksgiving she had about 6 words, a month into the new year she has about 600. She has been able to whistle at will for months now.
Cordelia “Dilly” is 4. She is in a co-op pre-school and is always happy to play with other kids. She is very clever and figures things out quickly. Super Duper Dill is still our firecracker and happy and fun to be with when she is good. In the summer she went cross eyed within a month and we took her to the pediatric ophthalmologist and they prescribed glasses, then “patching” of the eye which is done by a dilation drop once a day. Hopefully all will be straightened out at our next appointment and we will have a daughter who can see well and have depth perception. We had culture shock as it’s the first pair of glasses to enter our home and just a few months later she now looks funny without the glasses rather than with them…
Elnorra is 6 going on 7 going on 25. She is very friendly and loves to have play dates as often as possible. She is our Mother Hubbard and a fragile flower. She is such a good and helpful big sister, but sometimes thinks she’s the real mom. She is doing well in first grade. After being jealous of her sister, and at the recommendation of her teacher, she went to an optometrist. Her prescription for reading only glasses is minor enough we can’t buy a spare at the drug store…She is in an after school Spanish class and in a Girl Scout troop. In September she tripped and fell and broke her collar bone. 3 weeks later she was able to use her arm normally. She’ll know when the weather changes for year or maybe a lifetime though. Her favorite song this Christmas was “All I Want for Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth.”
Windy is 6 squared. This is another year of the tuba. She plays in not 1, but 2, bands. A concert band (70+) members and a polka band (20+) members. She played in 2 TUBACHRISTMASES, Tucson had 65 performers and the one at Downtown Disney in Anaheim there were 421 performers (one of whom is an old college buddy). She is currently practicing hard to perform a solo with the concert band. It is a lovely narrated solo in the style of Peter and the Wolf called “Tubby the Tuba.”
Last spring brought about the passing of both her aged cats, including her beloved Oliver who was estimated to be 14. A few months later we acquired a new pet named by the girls, “Sparkle,” who is a surprisingly friendly chicken. She is a survivor as she is simply living in our back yard and survives with a tree to roost in and food and water set out.
Windy keeps over busy and very happy with her marriage, lovely girls, house, repair business, volunteering at the adult level with Girl Scouts, voter registrations and multiple responsibilities at church. Not to mention all the fun and useful things like yard work, home maintenance, mending, cooking and housekeeping. She couldn’t do it all with out her mom, DD, who keeps her sane and is the best “Grandee” who babysits and loves to play.
Windy loves having 3 working vehicles (3 years ago we had none). Ben’s commuter, a reliable car “Pumpkin”, and the ‘67 VW Fastback, “Helga,” which is not (and may never be) restored but runs well and was in her first car show Jan 28 in Tubac, AZ.
Ben is no longer 30 and is in his first year of Law School at the University of Arizona. He commutes the half hour from home. He is happy and loves having other intellectual adults to talk to on a regular basis. He comes home full of bounce and wants to chat about this and that, which is a pleasant change from the last few years of “How was your day?”... “Fine” or “OK”. He wakes up early and teaches early morning seminary each day before dropping Elnorra off on the way to his school. He has a balance of all ages with the teenagers in the early morning, adults at school all day, family life and music time with the littlest kids at church.
On Dec 20th, 2011 we packed the car for a road trip which turned into the adventure of a lifetime. Instead of the simple Christmas with Grandpa Ken and Grandma Lorie and New Years in Provo with the Shaffers for Addy’s birthday we convoluted it as follows:
4000 miles, 5 happy family members, 4 national parks, 3 weeks, 2 motels, 1 royal good time
Home in Sahuarita, AZ
TUBACHRISTMAS in Downtown Disney (421 performers)
Anaheim, CA to visit Ben’s sister, Anni. And a trip to the beach.
Flagstaff to visit Windy’s dad and his wife for Christmas. Snow, what is this stuff?
The Grand Canyon
Zion and Kolob Canyons
Dinner at our favorite restaurant in Cedar City, where we spent the first 3 years of our marriage.
Provo with Ben’s family for New Years and Adelaide’s 2nd birthday. Visits with 2 tuba friends and a best buddy.
Yosemite (north pass still open, such a mild winter)-Ice skating and Half dome at sunset with a refection and the full moon.
Sequoia National Park-Can you tell that the dots at the bottom of the “General Sherman” tree are our family?
Then a visit with friends in Nevada.
And finally Home Sweet Home
We all had the usual issues with long trips but did well overall. They were so happy and made memories and new friends at every stop. Windy did a lot of computer work and Ben drove a lot!
With love and best wishes from all of us to all of you,
Ben & Windy Shaffer
Elnorra, Cordelia & Adelaide
1301 West Calle de Cobre
Sahuarita, AZ 85629
BenandWindy@Gmail.com
Ben’s cell: 520-203-2328
BenjaminNShaffer@Gmail.com
Windy’s cell: 928-774-8442
TubaMamma@Gmail.com
Facebook: Windy Elizabeth Johnson Shaffer
www.Shaffers1430.Blogspot.com
