This is Connor and Makenzie on our dock with the snowman Makenzie and Barry made when they were at our house over the Christmas holidays.  Pagosa got 37 inches of snow last week that I missed out on shoveling, while we got 4 inches of rain here in Anthem.  Wolf Creek Ski Area received 67 inches of new snow last week.

We had the grandkids and Molly here last week while Barry was at a Forest Service workshop in Tucson.  We went to church with my Dad twice on Sunday and spent most of the rest of the day with him at his apartment and again yesterday afternoon helping get somethings taken care of and organized at his apartment and with his paperwork.  We enjoyed the church services at his church and were very impressed with caring concern and love shown by many people in his congregation.  I was listed in the section of the their church bulletin in their prayer concerns and many people whom I had never met came up to meet me after each service and told me that they had been praying for me.  They give a lot of attention and care to my Dad and were all very encouraging to him about his giving up driving after his recent accident.  He sold his car for salvage.  Fellowship Square, where he lives,  makes, grocery,  bank and medical runs 3 different days a week to anywhere the residents need to go within a 5 mile radius, so we just need to change hematologists to one who is closer.  Joanie is taking care of a lot of these things and he appreciates her immensely.  I think he will be just fine without a car and everyone will breathe a lot easier.  His arthritis is pretty bad and he in pretty unstable and shaky, especially in the mornings and seemed particularly feeble and frail when we went to pick him up for church Sunday morning.

It was cool here following all the rain, with frost 2 or 3 mornings, but it is warming back up very nicely and looks to be  another beautiful week shaping up.  Green grass and stuff is already showing all over the desert floor.  We could see snow on several of the higher mountains to the north and east of us from Anthem.  Joanie has a bad cold and I may be starting to get it, or else we would be back to biking, hiking and rollerblading this week.  We may be getting to visit with some more old Arizona friends this week and plan to go up to Prescott Valley Thursday afternoon and spend the night and watch to kids Friday while Molly goes to a meeting.

I had my chemo treatment at the PHX  VA last Thursday.  It went well and we were favorably impressed with the facility and my caregivers.  My CEA level had stayed the same as the time before, and I was metabolizing 100% oxygen, which was a first for me – must be the elevation!  Anyway, wanted to give an update.  Thanks for your continued prayers.  Love, Jerry

We arrived  Friday afternoon at the house in Anthem, AZ that we will be renting for a couple months.  We had spent the night before in Prescott Valley with Molly and Barry, Makenzie and Connor after driving down from Pagosa on Thursday.  The house is in a gated community, so we have to use a scanner card to open the gate to come in.  The house is pleasant (maybe 5 years old with all new furniture and appliances, all on one level with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and an office.  It has a double car garage and a walled in back “yard” with all crushed rock  and couple bushes of trees, but Bailey our little dog can be left there when we go away.  There is a covered back patio.

We went to Arizona Hills Community Church today where the pastor is our old fellow Campus Ambassador from NAU in
Flagstaff 35-38 years ago, Bob Lehman and his wife Janet.  We were in a married couples Bible study with them back then.  We enjoyed the church service a lot and went out for lunch with the Lehmans and Janet’s parents, who it turned out knew a whole bunch of people I knew including 3 I had worked for and one with whom I was a partner in our real estate businesses back in 1988.  He remembered my speaking at Ralph Eaton’s funeral, so we connnected on many experiences.

The weather here has been perfect high 60’s and low 70’s, absolutely delightful.  We’ve familiarized ourselves with the community of Anthem and ridden our bikes in the neighborhood already.  We are looking forward to having Molly and the 2 grandkids come spend Tuesday through Friday with us while Barry takes a class in Tucson.  Unfortunately, it looks like it will rain here most of this coming week- even though rain is always very welcome around here.  Afraid we will have to miss all the snow heading to Pagosa from these storm tracks.  There is enough rain predicted to cause the desert wildflowers to bloom profusely this year, although the peak would be after we leave, but it could be very green here by March if all of this materializes.  The desert here is very scenic with many types of cacti, lots of palo verde trees and many bushes and shrubs, some of which are blooming now with beautiful flowers

We picked my Dad up yesterday and brought him back here to watch the Cardinals game – ( so sad!) then supper.  He had an accident last week with his car and has decided to give up driving after some persuasion from his kids.  Thanks to my sister Jan, who did the hard part, with encouragement from Joanie and I and my sister Mary, he came around.  Fortunately, no one was injured and miraculaously the car he ran into when his foot “slipped off the brake” was not damaged, even though his car  incurred enough damage to be within $300 to $500 from being “totalled.”

I go into to the PHX VA this Thursday to meet with an oncologist and probably get my first chemo infusion down here.

We are happy to be here and excited about visiting other friends we have in this area as well as spending lots of time with Makenzie and Connor and Molly and Barry.  We h0pe to do more biking, some hiking, frisbee , maybe some fishing and even brought our roller blades.  I did bring my golf clubs and might even play some if my friends down here twist my arm just a little.  The weather is just delightful – almost like our summer days, but without the super intensity of the sun ( this time of year).  It’s hard to believe the effect elevation has temperatures.  We will be wearing shorts a lot in the daytime, but the nights are very mild also.  We are driving around with our windows open and seeing people with their convertible tops down.  This is the time of year people around here live for!  We feel blessed to be able to get in on this for a couple months- maybe next year we’ll try 3 months!  Love, Jerry and Joanie

Barry and Molly Wallace, Me holding Connor, Joanie holding Makenzie, Heidi and Jon Busch at our church’s Christmas Eve service.  Michael and Marrie Hibbard had to return home the day before as they both had to work on Christmas Day.  We’ll get to spend a lot of time with the Wallaces these next two months.  We will be just about an hour southest of them in Prescott Valley and about a half hour north of my Dad in Phoenix. Grammy and Poppy will be there soon Makenzie and Connor!  Being grandparents has got to be one of the richest blessings of our lives!  Maybe this is why God has allowed me to hang around so long!

Farewell for a couple months to our Pagosa friends pictured above:  Mike and Bobbi Coppenger – next to Joanie and I – Paul and Cathy Henry, George and Linda Muirhead and Bill and Barbara Fair ( and others).  Joanie and I leave later this week for Arizona where we will be renting a house in Anthem.  We will have an extra bedroom and bath, so if you’re in the area – come visit.  Our cell phones will be the best way to reach us.  Joanie’s is 970-946-4967 and mine is 970-946-1575.  Or e-mail which is:  jdriesens@centurytel.net.   We’re looking forward to seeing our Arizona friends!  (We are Cardinal’s fans, too- pretty exciting game yesterday, eh?)

    A few prayer items include thanks for praying for Diane and John Sefton in Dallas.  Diane had surgery last week for breast cancer and is doing well and so far it looks like she will not require either radiation or chemotherapy.
     Mike Coppenger will undergo outpatient surgery tomorrow in Durango for a growth on his thyroid which has paralyzed his vocal chord.  Part of his thyroid may need to be removed also.  Please pray for him.                                     Another friend, Dave Thomson, may be facing more surgery – the removal of his stomach.  He has already had his colon removed.   ( Apparently the small intestine is cabable of handling everything when it has to.  Please pray for him and his wife, Lura.      Also, little Elizabeth Bailey, four years old, is back in the hospital with some continuing issues.

     Hoping your 2010 is more trouble-free than the friends I’ve listed above.  But in this world we will have trouble.  Read Psalm 23!  Love, Jerry

Peace, written by Dan Hart and Andy Davis in 1973.   Sung by Barry McGuire on his SEEDS  album.  Diane has shared that she has God’s perfect peace going into this surgery.  Please pray for Diane and John!  Thank you!  Love,  Jerry  (A CD copy of SEEDS is available at:   barrymcguire.com   )

PEACE

Sometimes when I’m thinking, just kind of halfway sleeping, one thought is always the same.  It’s all about how rich I am, to have a hold of my Saviour’s hand, that’s why I’m praising His Name.

He gives me peace, wonderful peace holding on to my Saviour’s hand.  I’ve found peace, wonderful peace, holding on to my Savior’s hand.

Then I think of all the sorrow coming on the world tomorrow and I know it don’t have to be.  If all the selfish hearts playing out their selfish parts would take the time to look up and see.

Well they’d find peace, wonderful peace, holding on to the Saviour’s hand Yeah, there’s peace, wonderful peace just holding on to the Saviour’s hand.

Don’t you know that your position, isn’t caused by some condition?  It’s the result of your own choice.  But if you stop right now and turn, you can miss the coming burn.  Praise the Lord and lift up your voice.

You’re gonna find peace, wonderful peace, holding on to the Saviour’s hand. Yeah there’s peace, wonderful peace, just a holding on to the Savior’s hand.

Grammy and Poppy on ice skates pulling Makenzie and Connor on sleds on the ice rink in front of our house.

     We had wonderful visits from our kids and grandkids over Christmas time.  Marrie and Michael arrived on Sunday but had to leave after skiing on Wednesday as they both had to work Christmas Day in Grand Junction.  Molly and Barry and the grandkids also arrived on that Sunday and didn’t have to leave until the following Sunday.  Heidi and Jon flew into Durango on Tuesday and out on Sunday.  We had a super time with all of them!  Hope you and yours had a blessed Christmas.

    Joanie and I drove to Albuquerque on Monday for my 3rd round of chemo yesterday – Tuesday.  My CEA level dropped again from 39 to 22.5 after only two rounds of chemo.  The first one produced a drop from 50 to 39.  So it appears that this new regimen is working quite effectively and quickly so far!  We are encouraged!  ( So for the friends we visited in last April’s trip to California in conjunction with our three days in Redding at the Bethel Church- which I intimated was kind of “goodbye trip” – I suppose you now will think I was “hollering wolf”.  We may just have to make another trip some other time in some other year!)

     Joanie and I have rented a place in Anthem, AZ – a pretty new community about 20 miles north of Phoenix for a couple months beginning in mid- January.  It is about an hour from Makenzie and Connor and Barry and Molly and about a half hour in the other direction to my Dad.  It looks like I will be able to receive my next 3 chemo infusions at the Phoeniz VA hospital.  Hopefully I will be able to get back into a little better shape with more outdoor hiking and biking there without risking more pneumonia here with the frigid aair we’ve been having lately ( -12 recently).  It’s snowing again now and it’s hard to believe in less than 3 weeks I may be nearly done with snow shoveling for this winter- although late March early April can still easily show me what I was missing .

     Wishing you all a very Happy New Year ( or as we say in the chemotherapy infusion room – one patient to another – “Have a New Year!”

Love, Jerry                     

P.S.  If you ever wonder when you check the categories in which I post my blogs – when you see 3683 – it just means I forgot to check one of the real categories, which I have to go back and do for each and every post.  I used to edit them when I found that they defaulted into category 3683, but I guess I’ve let a few slip in there and it seems kind of silly to edit old posts now just for that.  I do appreciate comments that people have sent that have corrected information about authors of songs or photo credits and I usually try to edit those to correct or include credits I’ve ommitted.

Good old Paint, the gentle Goswick horse that Makenzie loves to ride.  Barry is putting Connor up too, before Mark Goswick leads dear old Paint around with Makenzie holding the saddle horn and the reins.  We had our Thanksgiving feast at the Goswicks with their family and some friends.

    ” I ride an old Paint, I lead an old Dan; I’m off to Montana to throw the Hoolihan.  They feed in the gullies, water in the draw; their tails are all matted, their backs are all raw. 

Chorus:  Ride around little dogies, ride around slow; ol’ Firey and Snuffy- rarin’ to go.

(Second verse omitted- too sad!)

Chorus

Ah when I die, take my saddle from the stall; put it on my pony, lead him from the stall.  Tie my bones to his back, turn our faces to the west; we’ll ride the prairies we love the best.

Chorus”

This is an old cowboy song with many variations to it sung by many.  The version I like best is one Barry McGuire sang on a old folk record album I have.  ( But then again I like Barry’s version of any song better than any other artist that sings it with the exception of California Dreamin” which was actually written by the Mommas and Pappas for Barry to sing.  He actually recorded it first with them as the background singers.  They asked him if he minded if they recorded it and he said of course not, it’s your song.  Their recording of it, which went near the top of the charts is simply the same recording with Barry’s mike turned off.  A little ancient trivia for you.)

Front Row:  Michael, Marrie, Makenzie, Molly, Connor and Joanie               Back Row: Me, Trevor, Barry and a friend named Bryce.

Makenzie showing how old she is now with Uncle Michael and Aunt Marrie looking on.