Off we go!

We left Phoenix, AZ today and headed to Yuma, AZ to visit our dear friend Rob Wallace and his new fiance, Lindsey.  We were made so welcome and are looking to spending New Years eve with them.  Looking forward to good friends, good food, and good times!

Merry Christmas!



Lumara, Lee & Steve




Steve, Lumara & Lee



We had a wonderful Christmas day. Steve, Lee and Lumara all came for Christmas breakfast. We had ham, eggs, sweet rolls and fruit platter. YUM!

Our gift exchange was quite fun and it was great to see all the thought and care the kids put into selecting gifts for each other and us. One of our gifts was a picture of the kids. Here they are. Don't they look great!

We want to wish all our friends and relatives a wonderful holiday and a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!

All I want for Christmas...

I think as a roving member of the TTT's (Travel Trailer Trash) I deserve this wonderful inflatable yard ornament! Sadly, Lowes is sold out!

Golf Cart Parade

We are having a great time here at this RV park. There are continuous activities and Saturday was the Golf Cart Parade.  Residents decorated golf carts, ATV's, bicycles and themselves for Christmas and paraded through the RV park.  It was great fun watching and we are definitly considering participating next year. We found out they had 7 stops along the way complete with snacks and libations. That sounded like fun!

Vegas Baby!

 



Steve in his dress uniform



Our son, Steve, is in the Marine Reserves and doing his 2 weeks active duty in Las Vegas collecting Toys for Tots.  He won't be back in Phoenix until December 22 so we decided to have a little road trip and visit him for the evening.  It was a quick trip but the drive was nice and we did get to see the Pawn Stars location.  We love watching that show on TV but we were sure disappointed in the shop. It is basically just a location for filming and most of the stuff for sale were expensive trinkets, cups, shot glasses and t-shirts with Hoss and Chumley's pictures on them. 

Diesel $100
Motel Room $100
Pawn Stars $0
Seeing our son Priceless



The Moon

I have always been fascinated with the moon since we moved to Phoenix, AZ several years ago.  In Oregon and Northern California, when you look at the moon, the crescent points are more from top to bottom. In the southwest, the crescent points are more from side to side.  This is a picture of our waning moon. I am always asking Laton to straighten the moon for me so it will hang correctly. LOL

Crop til you drop!

Carrie & Mari, our hostess!

I first started scrap booking when Scraphappy Sisters opened up near our home in Arizona, several years ago. They always have a Friday night Late, Late Nighter Crop from 6 PM to 12 PM. I used to go at least once a month when we lived here. I have really missed it. I was able to go tonight and hang out and work on some Christmas ornaments and cards. FUN! Here I am having a good time with Mari!

Yep, it is all about the Snowmen!

My Haul of Snowmen!

I attended another Christmas party tonight, which included another ornament exchange. This one was with my original group of sorority sisters, Xi Nu, now called the BFF's. What fun hanging with old friends, some I have not seen in a couple of years! Some of us were quite vicious about stealing a snowman for a particular collection. We don't want to mention any names, but Jeeves was at her grabby best and poor Ann really suffered! LOL.  When the dust settled I was quite happy with my little snowmen collection I came home with!

Annual Christmas Luncheon



Pam & Murphy



QWest Babes



 Pam Herring (friend and former co-worker) has an annual Christmas luncheon and ornament exchange for all her friends. It is an annual event and is tremendous fun to catch up with everyone once a year. We made it back to Phoenix in time for me to attend (hence the marathon drive on Friday). I missed it last year. The ornament exchange is done as a Chinese Gift Swap. It is hysterical and a lot of fun. This year snowmen and angels where the most desired ornaments.

Settled for the Holidays

We are parked for several weeks at Pleasant Harbor. What a fun place; daily activities, friendly people, and a pool and spa. We are thinking this just might be our winter destination each year :-) Went to get a holiday haircut from my favorite stylist, Ivan. Sitting in the chair was my friend and co-worker, Kathy Hayes. What a surprise and how fun to catch up with my old friends (and be grateful I don't work there anymore, so much stress). My daughter, Lumara, spent the afternoon with me. Fun times.

Hard Driving

We got up at 4:30 am and hit the road. 14 hours of hard driving brought us 700 miles into Phoenix.  The 4-legged kids were wonderful. It helps when they get several potty-exercise breaks (helps mom and dad too!) lol. Unfortunately, we ended up with a flat tire on the trailer in the dark so we parked in front of our friends, Cory and Margie Schwarzkopf for the night. Thank you!

Monihans Sandhills State Park, TX

Javelinas hanging out at the campground

What a fun place for equestrians and ATV'rs. Check it out here! There were lots of wild javelina and we could hear coyotes in the distance yipping and yapping. We don't have much time to enjoy the area as we plan on getting up early and trying to make some miles to Phoenix tomorrow.

Friendship is a wonderful thing!

 

Carrie keeping warm!



Tim and Laton were joined by
Captain Morgan and Jack!

We got to Ft. Richardson State Park, TX about 4 PM and our friends, Tim & Stacey, were waiting for us at the campgrounds. They drove down from Oklahoma this afternoon. We went out to dinner and had good Texas BBQ complete with fried okra and lots of conversation with the good ole' boy at the next table (whether we wanted to or not! lol). Then back to the campground for an evening telling tall tales around the mesquite campfire.


Laton even brought out his special cigars he picked up at JR Outlet in North Carolina at the "World's Largest Cigar Store" lol!