Our Weirdest Christmas Ever!

We (Judy, Roger and I) celebrated Christmas a week early with the family and then headed west to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Parade on December 22nd. Traveling through west Texas is always such a joy! We spent Christmas Eve nestled in with all the truckers at a Travel America in Wilcox, AZ. They protected us from the raging wind! We woke up to see the mountains and our cars covered with snow! Unusual in southern Arizona! We were fortunate the roads were clear and the closer we got to Tucson to snow melted. It sure changes the desert scenery to have the rocks and cactus covered in a blanket of white!

Christmas Day saw us "boondocking" in Quartzsite, AZ at the base of the mountains. We were too early for the big Rock and RV Show which begins in early January but there were vendors there already! I waved at her before I realized she is a mannequin!

We are now "vegging" in Joshua Tree National Park. Planning on golf tomorrow and then will drive into Pasadena on Wednesday morning. Judy is probably re-thinking her decision to travel with us but how else could she check off so many items at the top of her "bucket list!

Samantha and Emily

I got tears in my eyes when we got these new pictures of the girls for Christmas! They are growing up way too fast. They are as beautiful in spirit as they are in the pictures! We are proud of Kyle and Heather for raising such lovely young daughters. Family is the best gift of all!

Emily - 8

Samantha 11 - our "flower child"

Family Blessings!

Our family is expanding - Mel and Ray have two new granddaughters! Imagine they will be traveling to Texas frequently - grandchildren are strong magnets!

Joel and Rachel's second daughter, Caroline Paige, was born on November 9th and Charlotte is a great big sister.

Kyle and Rachel's first child, Avery Lilyan, was born yesterday, December 19th and Mom and baby are doing well.

We are so blessed - our family circle is a loving reminder of what is important in life!

Texas Classic

We have been as busy as Santa's Christmas elves since we arrived in Houston! Judy has joined us so it's fun family time.
I joined Heather and both Samantha and Emily's Girl Scout troops at the Nutcracker Ballet - they all learned "theater etiquette" and earned a GS badge. It was a great production and the girls had their pictures taken with several of the ballerinas.

At the Nutcracker

Samantha's 11th birthday party at her gym with all her friends was great. Her real birthday is on the 17th so we'll celebrate again next week-end! She asked everyone to bring donations for the animal shelter instead of birthday gifts and we couldn't believe all the great items everyone brought! She has such a kind heart!

Claire and Samantha

A new 6,000 seat event center is opening near here and they asked for volunteers to help with the "check list." So Heather, Judy and the girls went to the "flush off" on Saturday! They had to evaluate all the seats and check all the toilets and report any problems to be fixed before the grand opening next week-end. Leave it to Heather to find weird things to do! We are going there to the Christmas program on Sunday.

Mexican food and the traditional Christmas decoration scavenger hunt finished our Saturday. Team Kyle, Heather, and Samantha won. Team Judy, Kathy and Emily just needed a Santa on a roof top to tie! Roger was our designated driver both because we needed someone to watch where we were going and also because the rest of us had too many margaritas at dinner!

Yesterday was Samantha's first gymnastics competition in Galveston. We drove down early and went to the Ice Festival at Moody Gardens. They give you warm parkas to wear as you walk through the display but it was still very cold! Amazing colored ice sculptures and a fun slide at the end! Judy and I slid down the slide and then realized we forgot how hard it was to get up off the floor when we landed!

Judy, Emily, Samantha and their Elves!

Amazing detail on the turtles!

Kyle, Samantha, Heather and Emily

Heather and I were more worried about Samantha's performance than she was - just wanted her to have fun and do well! And she did! Her smile says it all! She won medals for her balance beam, floor exercise and vault routines. Emily got an award for being such a good little sister during a the l-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-g meet!

Her smile says it all!

A Hiking We Will Go!

We finally got out and got some real exercise on Saturday! The 3 mile loop trail along a small river in Emma Long Park in West Austin was great. It requires hikers to cross and recross the river about 10 times - the girls were the explorers finding just the right stepping stones! It was a beautiful day so there were many families and dogs out enjoying the weather.

Megan filled her big bathtub with warm water and then she and the girls did the "polar bear plunge" into the pool! Well, Samantha needed a little assistance! Then they all ran into the bathroom, jumped into the tub and warmed up! Aunt MeMe is always there for a new adventure! I have a video of the event but it is too big to download into the blog - here they are in the tub! Judy and Mel - does this bring back memories?!

We finished the day with margaritas and Mexican food - a wonderful family week-end!

Thanksgiving 2016

Roger succumbed to TV marketing and bought a "Mastercraft Butterball XL" indoor turkey fryer for this year's feast! Not a cheap turkey dinner - the oil cost more than the bird! But, it was cooked in 1 hour and 20 minutes and was super moist and delicious! You can't stuff the turkey so we baked the dressing in a casserole - gravy was a challenge but McCormick's helped with that! Everyone contributed their favorite recipes and we all over indulged!

It was so nice to enjoy family time in Carlos and Megan's beautiful "new" home! Our family was joined by friends Rod and Jennifer and their son Jameson, who will be 1 year in December, and Rod's mother, Clory. The girls were great playing with Jameson. Emily was distracting him while he was eating a snack and Heather asked her to leave him alone, to which she responded "Oh ya, he's like a dog, you shouldn't bother them while they are eating!"

We were all in Austin on Wednesday so Megan wanted to go hiking on this new trail she heard about. Carlos opted out because he wanted to go to Home Depot and Costco -  Roger decided to keep him company - then Emily decided to stay with Grandpa. Kyle was on a business trip and didn't fly in until the evening. So that left us 4 "girls" - when we got in the car, Samantha said "Do we have to go hiking, Aunt MeMe? Couldn't we just go shopping?" So we went on an "urban hike" in and out of the stores! We met the guys for lunch and when Roger asked how the hike went, I said "It is a beautiful day for a hike!" and winked at Samantha! Not a lie!

Going out to dinner tonight and then us girls are going to see "Annie" while the guys "veg!"

"Northern Hills" Friends

We spent a fun evening with friends from our first neighborhood in San Antonio last Friday. Gary and Lynn are always such great hosts and it was nice to play "catch up" with everyone! We are blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives!

Roger, Kathy, Jerry, Judy, Gary, Lynn, John, Phyllis