Happy New Year

I'm not a big fan of reading 'the best of' reviews of the past year.  After all I've already read it but here I am, thinking about what a great year this has been and wanting to think about it all over again. There were the emotional ups and downs in dealing with ridding ourselves of a home of 22 years and making the move to be permanent residents of Arizona.

The highlight was the celebration of 50 years of marriage with all our kids present.  We invited both John's and my family to attend.  My sisters and cousin came along with some of their children and we had a wonderful in Colorado.

Another highlight was my trip to Indy for Sam's birthday.  It was an incredible trip.  Amy and her husband John were wonderful hosts. I fit nicely into their household (it seemed) and we shared many laughs, meals and conversations.  Carson and I were able to spend time together each day as we made our daily trip to Starbucks then to take her to school.  An hour of wonderful conversation and music.She has matured a great deal in the past year. Sam made time for me to go to lunch several times.  She is a delightful young woman and we are all so proud of her. We checked out some new places to eat.  Jake also gave me the pleasure of his company as I drove him to work several times.  It's been a tough year for him but life is on an upswing now and I'm proud of him for how hard he is working at it.  It was fun as well to spend some time with son John and Sandy.  They let me bring over a couple of meals and share some conversation.  John even ate my vegetarian entree.  I definitely want to make this trip again.

The 3 year old twins have definitely been an important part of our life this year.  Margaret and Erick are most generous about sharing them with us.  They are old enough to have overnighters at our house.  A queen size air mattress fits perfectly in the living room of our trailer.  They like to go 'camping' at Mimi and Papaws. We are fortunate to be living close to them.

We ended up the year buying a more permanent structure in the RV park.  It has a real kitchen, a large bedroom and a deck with a unobstructed view of the mountains.  We can't wait until we move in there.  Guess that makes us official Arizonians.  But our hearts are spread around the country with our friends and family. We are truly blessed.