TIME WITH FRIENDS FROM OREGON

Friends, Tim and Judy Lundeen from Oregon arrived here in SunLife yesterday afternoon. New residents were coming in fast and furious about lunch time, so they had to wait in line on our street to get checked in. I guess it was because it was the first of the month.
After they got set up for the few days that they will be here, we had dinner here at our motorhome, outdoors, believe it or not. We finally have a moderately warm and very sunny day.  After eating when it began to cool off, we went inside and visited a couple more hours. Lots of catching up to do.

We made plans to take them to Sunshine Acres Children's Home for a tour FRIDAY.  We love to show off this Home as it is so beautiful and so Christian oriented, as well as the fact that they are fully a charitable organization, not accepting state or government funding to survive.

The tour guide for our two carts of touring guests admitted after the tour that it was only the second tour that she has conducted. Since this is one of many tour guides that we have had here, we were amazed how knowledgeable she was and how well she presented it!!

One of the children's homes which house ten children
and a set of house parents in an apartment, connected.

Judy and Tim

I am sharing this Home with you again so soon because there was so much more new information that we gleaned today!!  Along the vein of charitable donations that they received, we learned of a man who just yesterday donated more than a million dollars to build them a new activity/gym center for the children. The plan just days before was to turn their small old cafeteria into an activity center after they build a new larger cafeteria.
Now they will have to come up with another use for the old cafeteria. It is amazing how it all falls together.
We had also heard that the zoning rules for swimming pools last year in Mesa area have changed so much that the old pool that they had was going to cost them $l00K to upgrade. Thus the new pool that I showed you in the last Blog.  A local organization did three golf tournaments to raise the funds for that new pool. They also had a tennis court built by the Kiwanis, with local tennis players coming in to teach the children how to play tennis!! It seems the upgrading is never ending.
Another money saving for them is the two solar panel banks that provide 93% of the electric power that they use. Amazing!!

Today we got to go inside the church, which was new to the Lundeens. They told us that the Pastor has been there for four years now and his wife is the pianist. The children do well with this influence along with all of the love that is shown them through the homes and people working there. They have had a parent family in one of the homes who stayed for 23 years in the 60 years the Home has been in existence. There have been a couple of others who have been here for 14 years each.  They have parents who alternate in the homes to give the house parents two days off per week.  The parents give full family function in these homes that they would give in a home of their own; shopping, cooking, cleaning, transporting for school functions, doctor and dentist, and for any medical needs.
When the children are old enough to drive themselves for their transportation needs at school functions and working job outside of the home, they will qualify to drive after a year when they have saved enough money to provide their own insurance.
New pictures from more of the homes - - -

Gary was inspired by this picture!!
I'll bet that it becomes the inspiration for one of his drawings.

Each bedroom houses two children,
not always the same age. Whoever is
accepted next moves in to any empty
bed available. They truly become a family!

Check out these headboards and more to come in other pictures.

Another House family tree. Seems the house mother is an
accomplished photographer!!
Not a poor amatuer like me, Don. I need to take
one of your photography classes, or two or three!!

These room decorations are all donations made to the Thrift Shop here and also the work of a woodworker who is on the premises. This is all done under the direction of the grand-daughter of the founders. These two do an awesome job!!  No two bedrooms alike.
We spent time and a little money in their Thrift Shop again. The Shop is one of their largest form of fund raising, though it is not by my buying!!
Cathy, I found two Nordic Ware muffin egg cookers for the microwave. I new if I looked long enough, I would find them!! $1 each.  I can always find something. Now I need to find a replacement Corelle casserole dish for the one that I broke a few weeks ago and another little thimble display box that I have been hunting for a long time for the condo. My list is not too long!
After leaving Sunshine Acres, we stopped at the Red Mountain Cafe' for lunch/dinner.  Two of us ordered the fish/all you can eat and took enough home for another meal just from their first plate served. Their prices are so reasonable too!!
Judy and I stopped at a Goodwill also while the guys went into a Solar Store before returning  home for a rest. I picked up a couple real little things, but put them back on the shelf when I found that all isles were at least six carts long!! I didn't need anything enough to warrant waiting in line that long.
Here are a few pictures taken from our front windshield, thus the views that we have when we have the curtains open - - -

We have to drive around this flower bed to be able to
back into our parking area beside the motorhome.
But that's okay!

View down our street to the right going toward
the park's entrance.

This view is the street going across the park
from in front of our motorhome.
We really like our location!!

Tonight is an unscheduled Gospel Quartet Concert here in the park. So the day is not over. And it is just ten homes from us to the Ball Room for the show. We will meet Tim and Judy there and I will show the pictures from that show in my next Blog, so stay tuned.