Pecan Grove (www.pecan-grove.net) Pecan Grove and Senior Residence

Della Bolt went down quickly after leaving PG March 10th, and passed away peacefully May 1. She was 90 years old. Much was said at her funeral by her daughter Henrietta, nephew Charles Strong, Esther Duncan and Rich Raschke, to remind us of what a wonderful spiritual and strong woman Della was. We are grateful for the 4 years she had at PG with us. Email Ken if you’d like the link to an audio of her funeral.

April showers have continued into May. Which for us means more mowing! The rain didn’t stop the visitors though, we have had several special visits this month. Beginning with a few visits from our workers. Talus and Lyle stopped by for lunch, and on a separate occasion several sisters stopped by. Mary Simon, Jennifer Bartels and Jennifer Lester. Mary had just returned from Central America and shared some stories of her time there.

We also enjoyed a revisit from Gwen Farmer. She was accompanied by several other sisters who were traveling together. Here they are together. It was nice of them to offer for our residents to take a sister workers photo with them.

Elton had a visit from some old friends, Aaron and Lori Stallings. Here they are with Karen and Elton.

Our old friends from the East Coast Jim and Linda Bolt came for the funeral of their aunt Della. Jim grew up with Ken in Maryland and knows the family well. Several other visitors are shown below.

Karen thought it would be nice to take Elton to see Fern and Gilbert. Here they are together with Gilbert, and again in Ferns’ room for a visit.

Joyce had a family of old friends from Nebraska come visit, she really enjoyed the special time. Here they are in front of the piano.

The Schroeder’s grand-daughter Candace Sandon and her three kids came for a few day visit. They enjoyed making puzzles with Elsie and even worked with her to cook dinner for the residents. Here they are being read to by Marilynn, and putting together puzzles. The boys loved being outside, swimming in the pool, fishing and pedaling the pedal boat on the lake. They picked a fresh pond Lilly from the lily pads for the table.

May saw several big birthdays the first of which was Kathy, who turned 72! We celebrated all of the family’s May birthdays at once, and here are the happy birthday girls. They wanted an ocean themed cake, so Salena delivered.

We have had a few moments for candid shots this month. Here is Ken getting advice from Elton on how to clean gutters, Ronald getting a hair cut, and Marie working with Karen to make omelets. Last we have our resident mothers celebrating mothers day together, and the newest “resident” of the week a tree frog.

We really appreciate your continued interest in us here at PG.

Kenny and Ken

First, we would like to say that Jack Newman has passed. He died on the 8th of April, and his service and burial were on the 15th. All of the Newman family were able to attend, as well as many well-wishers who knew and loved Jack. We are forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support from those who knew him, and are happy that he has found peace.

We seldom get all of the Newman family together in one place, so we took the opportunity to take a few group photos!

There were several birthdays this month, and visitors to match. First, Kenny turned 31. Here he is with his Panda cake. All 6 of the grandchildren wanted to be a part of the photos, and the gift opening. Anita had returned from her trip to Mexico with goat meat, so it was goat taco day. We had many hungry takers, how special!

Next we had three birthdays all back-to-back. Shawn first, and then Ken and Alice on the same day! Alice’s nieces Carol Martin and Barbara Davies were here too early to celebrate with her on her birthday, so they celebrated with pie instead. Here she is enjoying her guests. Shortly afterward, another niece and frequent visitors, Marian and Roger Fryer, were here on her birthday which made it quite the week for Alice!

We also appreciated a special visit from one of Ronald’s old companions, William Berger. He rode along with Dickie Beeman, who both wanted to come see Ronald and impart greetings. William works in Mexico, so it was very nice to hear some of his stories. Here they are together out front.

Esther was warmly surprised to hear that her niece, Rachel Quiroga, would be visiting us from Florida. She came for several days and they had plenty of time to catch up and pal around. Rachel enjoys cooking and hiking, so she was very pleased to help out in the kitchen and explore the grounds.
Here they are with Anita before going shopping, and again before hiking.

Louis and Elsie received a quick visit from their son and his wife, Don and Becky Schroeder. Don had just been hunting and brought us some wonderful meat to try: Oryx! He grilled it for the residents and it was a hit! Here they are on the porch enjoying the sunshine and Don grilling away.

We also had a few day visitors; Lynden and Nadi.ne Laird came from North Carolina to see Fern. Here they are with Fern and again at Pecan Grove.

We had a lunch visit from two different families. The Klors: Scott, Kim, Saige and Haydon. Here they are posing with Alice and Marilynn. They were going horse-back riding at Ty Nordic’s just down the road, and decided to stop by. Another day we were joined by the Uzzells: Jennifer, Jolee, Julia, and Saige, who enjoyed helping Elsie with the jigsaw puzzle.

Spring has been bountiful! Karen had the bright idea to take some of the residents on a safari. They went to search for bluebonnets and had a blast. Here they are with their treasured flowers, as well as a few shots of the kids playing in the same flowers.

Shawn and Anita have moved! Not very far, but it is a big move. The downstairs of the old wood barn has been converted into a barndominium. They could not be more excited about the extra space! Here they are happily cleaning their new place, and moving in.

Thanks for your interest in PG!

Kenny & Ken

We started this month similar to the last, with two birthdays at once! Patty Maki and David Cleveland both had birthdays on the third. He had just flown back from treating himself to a Mexican get-away and decided to spend his birthday with his dad. Here they are enjoying their cake!

David’s sister, Elton’s daughter, Karen Cleveland arrived from Colombia on Valentines Day. She’s been here visiting her dad, and leaves tomorrow (March 1) to be with Ruth Taplin in the south Houston field for a couple months before going to conventions on the west coast. Here are the 3 Clevelands.

The Houston special meetings were last week, and the workers’ meeting was here at PG so our worker residents could attend. We sent the picture before, but here it is again with red lettering instead of yellow. The yellow was difficult to read.

After the workers meeting, the workers came to the residence and the local friends helped with lunch. There were about 65 of us together. Wonderful fellowship! Our visitors the night before were Joe, Lyle, Ray and Emmy.

February being the shortest month doesn’t seem to slow down our visitor rate! We have had several visits from old friends, as well as our special meeting rounds. We had a lengthy visit from a few New Yorkers here to see Fern. Two sisters, Pearline Smith and Angela Obuseli, along with their friend Eleanor Derrick. Here they are posing with Fern, then with Karin, Dylan, Katelyn and Marilynn. Fern and Gilbert Reese are in the same nursing home, Park Manor Conroe. Here’s a better picture of Fern with Kathy and Ken, and Gilbert with Elton.

We also received a warm visit from a few of Elton’s East Coast friends, Jeff and Tracy Chenault. Jeff grew up around Ken and knew Jack from way back. Here they are together visiting Jack, with Elton, and at Milles’ with Milles and the 3 ladies from NY.

Elton was the main character for a while. He had several visits from dear friends, all back-to-back! Here he is with George and Maureen Aliprandi from Connecticut, and Maureen’s mother Ernestine and her husband, John Richardson, from Louisiana. Also visits with Fern and Gilbert at the nursing home.

Elton also had a great time with a quick visit from Gerry and Margaret Gunderson. Margaret brought Elton’s favorite: Fudge! Here he is displaying his prize.

Eileen Weiss visited the Schroeders on her way from Colorado to special meetings in Mexico. Becky Hapner brought her mother, Joyce Thompson, for a visit. The Trobaugh family, Brandon, Alisha, Summer and Autumn, visited, shown here with Clarence. Kathy’s sister Kim and Scott Schneider visited from Minneapolis.

Clarence Mounce went to be active in the work again after special meeting on Sunday! He’ll be in this field with Rich Raschke for a while. We enjoyed having Gwen Farmer, who spent a few weeks here at PG recovering from a fall. Here’s Clarence with Marie and Gwen with Joyce.

Today is Mimi Mille’s birthday. We missed Dominique, who is in France visiting his mother. Kyle Overby is here visiting his grandparents, Wayne and Dawn, and was in the study with us this morning. Mimi helped the Schroeders on their very difficult jigsaw puzzle. Earlier in the month their son Don came to visit and helped them get going on the same puzzle.

This is the last day of February… wildflowers already! We’re happy!

The short month of February has been wonderful and busy! Thanks for your interest in us here.

Ken and Kenny