I asked George what he wanted to do today. He said he wanted to drive out to the mines. We drove out to the mines past Saltaire to Great Salt Lake and into Tooele(?) We had lunch at Del Taco! I told him there were other places to go eat in Tooele if he wanted; he said he wanted to eat there. Weird choice huh? Before we left he was talking about his kitten, he thinks it is so cute :) Dennis took a picture of him with his kitten. (I couldn't put it on here, it didn't turn out). It’s so cute to see him with it. (He has been having issues with Joy; I talked to him about that too. I told him she was a nice girl). ;)

We had such a fun day today! George was outside and said he had just gotten up. He wanted to eat at home. He made coffee; we ate and talked for a little while about all kinds of stuff. I asked him what he wanted to do today and he said he wanted to go watch the ski jumpers in Park City. I wasn’t sure if they would be jumping or not, but at least it would be a nice drive if they weren’t. We ended up watching one of the movies they have there. It was highlights of the 2002 winter Olympics. It lasted for quite awhile and he never took his eyes off the screen! It was so awesome that he was so into it. We looked around afterwards and he was really interested about the ski stuff and all the medals. He saw a cute white stuffed kitty in the gift shop area on the way in that he really liked. He bought it on the way out. When we got home he said he bought it for me! I told him I would keep it at his house so he could take care of it. He loves it! He said “It feels so good, I’m serious!” Now he has a pet ;)
His BP was 142/82 and his weight was 98lbs.
I have 2 more pictures on photobucket.

November 6, 2009

What a day! We went to get George’s hair cut, it looks really good. He said it felt good too. :) (Look at that smile). We were going to find a place to eat, he knew where he wanted to go and was pretty persistent as where to go. We drove all over the place. We finally ended up at the Japan Market, he was saying he wanted a bento box, they didn’t have any. Another place we went to ended up being closed. After looking for awhile, we finally just ended up picking something up and taking it home. We had a really long nice drive though ;) I told him to get out tomorrow, it’s supposed to snow on Sunday!

November 4, 2009

Today was my Dad’s Birthday. I only came over for a little bit. I fixed George lunch and we sat outside in the sunshine :) He was saying what a nice day it was. He even was trying to blow a horn, I tried it but it didn’t make any noise. He blew into it and made his own noise, it was great! (He wanted to get his hair cut. I will take him on Friday).

November 2, 2009

I know it was only a few days ago but the only thing I can remember is that George wanted to go to Samurai Sushi for lunch. We spoke to the owner for a little bit; George was speaking to him in Japanese too. It was a nice day; we drove up the canyons to see the leaves.
His BP was 116/73 and his weight was either 96 or 97 lbs.

George is back! :) He did a lot on his vacation with Sharon and David, and his family. He talked about that for a bit. Ryan and Joy were home, Ryan made us omelets! George loved it! After he talked with Ryan and Joy, we carved some pumpkins with Sharon. He did a really good job and even wanted his picture taken with his pumpkin. He was so talkative today; it was so nice to see his interactions :) Ryan drove us up to Alta to watch himself and Trevor do some ski jumps. George brought me back a gift from MN. So sweet! Thanks George! :)
I have 2 more pictures of George talking to Ryan and Joy on photobucket.

It's our fifth full day here. Almost 2pm and he fell asleep again. We were planning on going to the Mill City Museum since it's a little cloudy and supposed to rain. But I think he's pooped. On the third day it snowed! There were big giant flakes coming down and he refused to go out. But by 3pm we convinced him that at the Mall of America we would be inside the whole time. So we went and stayed till 9pm. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe where he bought a souvenier mug. He looked for one for Jody but couldn't find anything with her name on it. He really liked the moving gorillas and rainstorm. We also went to the aquarium where the fish swim above our heads. There were also sea horses and lots of turtles. He liked the sawfish the best. We mostly just walked around the mall and looked at the amusement park. At first he wanted to go on the rollercoaster but after he saw it in person he said no. I wish he would have gone on the ferriswheel at least. But he was getting a little grumpy by the end of the day. On the forth day we went to visit Marty and Rita, David's parents, in Richmond which is about an hour and a half away. It's a very small farming town with not a whole lot to see. But they took him on a drive around horseshoe lakes where Marty fishes. It was too cold to take the boat out. So everyone was encouraging dad to come out again in the summer. He really liked visiting with everyone. David's two brothers and their wives came to meet him. And they made a big meal, a traditional MN fish fry. They cooked up 40 sunfish, the last bunch they had caught over the summer. There was a ton of food and dad ate everything. He had a lot of fun chatting with Marty. But was most interested and happy to watch Curtis, David's 9 year old nephew. Dad told him he'll teach him Judo next time he comes. And afterwards said, "that chubby boy is really smart". We really want him to come out again since the weather has made it hard to do a lot. He's doing really well here, adjusting easily, and not getting too confused. There are a lot of stairs, unfortunately, but David put in a hand rail for him. We wish he could stay out longer but with the weather, it would be better for him to come out for a longer stay this summer. Jody, can you work on that?!

Thanks to Jody and Joy, Ryan's friend, my dad made it on the plane! He was all ready to go after Jody left on Monday but on Tuesday he woke up to cloudy skies and said he wasn't going. Luckily it didn't rain so he got dressed but was still not sure. So, Ryan arranged for his massage therapist friend, Joy, to come over and give him a massage! They are so nice. Blake took us to the airport and all went well. But the massage must have relaxed him too much because he had to use the bathroom 5 times by the time we got to MN! Two times in the airport (the plane was delayed) and two times on the plane and the last time we didn't quite make it. But even so, it was fun. He stared out the window the whole time and saw the city lights when we landed and lots of clouds at sunset when we left. And we had a little picnic with a highball and snacks on the plane (see picture, he's toasting you). He thought I was going to get off the plane at some point and let him continue on by himself. He told me I'd better take him to the airport when it's time for him to go home. He felt better when I said we were going to travel together. We had fun on the plane.
On the first day, we went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant with a goldfish pond and bridge; then we went to the Science Museum--didn't get to see Titanic, but got to look out at the Mississippi River.
On the second day, we took him to Minneapolis and walked the skyways (indoor, glass walkways between buildings), went to lunch on an indoor balcony overlooking a glass atrium in the center of one of the skyscrapers. There's an indoor waterfall from the ceiling. We walked around downtown to Brit's Pub where they have a roof top Bowling Green, and saw the farmer's market stalls on the street. Then we drove to Minnehaha Park to look at the falls (the one on his flashcard). He wasn't impressed. So we wheeled him around the park but it was too cold. So we went into a snackbar at the park for a glass of wine and pickled herring -- he eats a lot! He loved the bathroom which was "warm and not stinky". David said he really liked the hot air dryer and even used it on his butt. At the end of the day, David had to help out with a talk by a SouthAfrican Priest who fights against apartheid and who lost his hands and eye with letter bomb. At first dad said he didn't want to go because "I don't want to see hands cut off". But we went and it was a long meandering talk. So, afterwards he just laughed at how people like to talk too much if you give them a chance.

I came over on Monday to help George pack and get ready to go to MN with Sharon! She mentioned making flash cards for him to take with him. (Good idea Sharon) :) we made flashcards of places he would like to visit while out there. We went for a drive to look at the leaves (It was a pretty day) and we drove around the neighborhoods to see houses with Halloween decorations. We stopped at the liquor store then picked him up something to eat. I hope he has a really nice time!

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I came over around 1:00 (Friday) and George was still in bed! When he got up we had to look for his hearing aids, we found one in his pocket. We looked all over and ended up washing his sheets too. We only had time to go to lunch today. He said he wanted to go to the Asian place ‘just up there’ I showed him the cards and he chose Kowloon saying ‘ya that’s it’. When we were driving down 13th east he pointed to Mt. Fugi and said “Aren’t we going there?” So we ended up going to Mt. Fugi. He is still a little sore from his fall but is doing well. I have just had him use his cane. I use the wheelchair on long distances. I've noticed that if he sits for too long it's harder for him to get going. I've had him walk and stretch, it seems to help.