This is our (new to us) 2004 Toyota Highlander Limited.

We've started 2014 off with something new.

We traded our 1997 Jeep ... it had 197,000 miles on it.

 (Had that jeep for over 20 years)

It was time to find something that was a little easier to get in and out of.

January started out with a trip to the ER on New Year's Eve. The reason was Lou's foot swelling rapidly and with so much pain that we couldn't wait.  A round of antibiotics seemed to take care of it but we're still trying to figure out why the pain is coming and going after a month.  It's not just an infection in the foot. The infection is gone and Lou does not remember injuring that foot so we don't know the cause of this.

I really had a difficult time getting him into the Jeep with his sore foot.  I had an even more difficult time getting me into the jeep behind the steering wheel.  I had not driven it for probably two years... and it was not fun. So as soon as Lou's foot was feeling better... we started hunting for our next vehicle. We had two criteria... 1. Lou had to be able to get in behind the steering wheel without bumping his head (with his hat on) and 2. It had to be more comfortable than our 1997 basic two door Jeep Sport. (Oh, and I wanted 4 doors... and Lou wanted to haul a 10 ft long something without it hanging out the back window.)  Based on that, it should have been easy. It wasn't.  Lou must have gotten into at least 20 vehicles in two dealerships before he found one he would even drive. The Jeep Patriot was considered but once we drove the Highlander, we liked the Highlander over the Jeep.  It has a rack for hauling long items. It has four doors. It has a sun roof and ... BONUS...  it has heated seats.  (WHOO~HOO~!)

Now for news about the project...  Work continues on the women's Shower room and laundry facility. The five washers are in place but the wall behind the dryers has to be taped yet before it can be painted Once the painting is completed, they will be able to use those washers and dryers.  For the past year the 30 women have taken turns using the two washers and dryers in the main building.  (Tad and Connie have three sets in their residence for their use and the other directors and graduates to use.)

December was rather cold but January seemed to be normal.  Lots of rain and temps around 40 deg most of the time.  February became a record setter this past week.  Very cold temps for this area and that meant lots of snow. There were many accidents.  At least one 40 car pile up on I-5 with one fatality and many going to the hospitals. In fact, the hospitals were all on disaster alert because of the injuries happening constantly over three days. We simply stayed put. It was the only way to stay out of being in an accident.

The rest of the United States had their pictures and stories of cold snowy weather ... this is ours. CLICK HERE