Christmas in Yuma….

Friday, we had plans to spend the evening with friends…Pizza & Cards. This is a weekly event so Mac & I had to make a run to the grocery store to pick up supplies to make snacks for tonight, Saturday night, and a fruit salad for Christmas dinner.

We went over to Mike & Bette’s about 5:30pm. Mac & I, Mike & Bette, Bob & Phyllis, Bill & Nancy, Knute & Hanna, John & Kendra, Buzz & Carolyn, and Dave all had a great time visiting and playing 2 games of Chase the Ace. Knute won the first game & Bill won the 2nd game. We always have a great time with these friends. Sorry no photos….

We had a wonderful time at Mike & Bette’s on Christmas Eve! Lots of snacks, great friends and more Chase the Ace!! Mac & I both won a round each and Phyllis won the other round. We are very fortunate that we have been welcomed in to this great group of friends here! Who would of thought when we came to Yuma last year not knowing any of them, that we would be spending so much time together and become such good friends!

Here is a little something that I posted on Facebook yesterday…enjoy!

CHRISTMAS EVE POEM

It was Christmas Eve in Yuma…
And everyone was laughing & having a good time.
Mac & Nette scattered about some food for the reindeer
And left hot dogs on the grill, and cookies for Santa,to eat this year.
The lights were all glowing in blues,whites and reds
While their RVing friends had visions of Santa floating in their heads.
The presents were wrapped and under the firewood tree
Bob & Phyllis, Mike & Bette, Bill & Nancy, Knute & Hanna, John & Kendra, Buzz & Carolyn, Mac & Nette, and Dave sat at the table playing Chase the Ace... looking as happy as could be.
Nette read a book to her RVing friends...
About the manger, where the Baby Jesus laid his head.
Mac & Nette looked up at the sky...
To see if Santa’s bright light could be seen nearby.
Mac said that Santa wouldn’t come before bed
So the rest of us ran to our RV's, and covered up our heads.
We listened for Santa, and thought we heard a sound
A deep laugh, quickly rang out all around.
Santa was hungry, and saw the hot dogs on the grill...
He rubbed his big tummy the whole time he ate.
He left lots of RV toys, and turned around in two quick twirls
After all, Mac, Bob, Mike, Bill, Knute, John, Buzz told Santa that Nette, Phyllis, Nancy, Hanna, Kendra, and Carolyn had been very good girls this year.
He left just as quickly... once the reindeer finished their snack
And said, “Be very good... and next year we’ll be back.”
With a twitch of his nose... the sleigh took off in flight
With a a big belly laugh, you could hear him shout....
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a blessed night.”

 

We had a late night(2am MST) phone call from our daughter’s Dana & Teri and Mac’s sister Linda….they were having a great time!! We talked to the for about an hour and finally got to bed a little after 3am…I borrowed this photo from Jamie…looks like they were having a wonderful time!!!

We will be heading back over to Mike & Bette’s for Christmas dinner today and more time spent with special friends….

We had a great dinner with lots of socializing and then on to “Chase the Ace” We played 2 rounds tonight and I won one of them…$12.00 pot and Carolyn won the other one. WOW…that’s two wins in two days for me…$22.00 total and Mac won once…a $10.00 pot.

 

 

Great time with wonderful friends….

Christmas is almost over for another year….hopefully the weather starts warming up here soon!

Stay tuned for more of our adventures in Yuma!!

Celebrating our 27th Anniversary

Today is our 27th Anniversary! It is really hard to believe that we have been married that long….but when we see our children grown and  some our grandchildren almost grown….I guess it is true!

 

Mac & I married back in 1984 and blended our families to make one. I think overall we have done that pretty well. We’ve had great days, ok days, and some really rough days with our blended family…but I still think it has all been worth it! We have 5 children with spouses, 17 grandchildren, and now 6 great-grandchildren! We love our kids & grandkids more than anything in this world and I really hope that they know that. We try to show them this as often as we can.

Here’s a little look at our family….

Dana & Family…before Carley & Treyson..back l-r Cody, Dakoda, Samantha, Russell, Tryel…front l-r..Britny, Ashley, Dana, Crystal…babies…l-r…Caiden, Jaelynn and Brylee…whew!

 

Britny, Cody & Carley…

Jaelynn & Treyson…(Ashley’s)

Dusty & Chris

 

Teri, Kyle, Samantha, and Lynnie

Jaden

Ryan & Kailynn

Kami

Kailynn(Kami’s daughter)

Clyde, Jenni & Natalie

Justyce

Gloria

Jordan

Troy, Kathleen, Michael, Morrissey, and Patrick…this is an old photo but the only one I had of them together…hint, hint…

We Love all of you guys!!!

 

Mac & I are not only husband & wife, but we continue to be best friends after all these years! Of course, some day's I would really like to hit him over the head with a skillet, but whatcha gonna do…LOL.

We are loving our retirement! We actually get to see the kids more now than when we were both working…still not as much as we would like. Hopefully we can spend more time with all of them this next Summer & Fall.

We have also made so many new friends on this Full-time lifestyle that we are living that we probably would have never met otherwise! We are so grateful that we have had this opportunity to meet and become friends with all of these people!!! Hugs to all of you!

Hopefully Mac & I will have many, many more anniversaries to celebrate together! I Love you, Mac!

Stay tuned for a very busy Christmas weekend!!

(((HUGS)))

 

Just Hanging out in Yuma…

I think, maybe, I am almost back among the living…lol. I caught a stomach virus somewhere and have felt like crap for about 3 days. Today is the 4th day and I thought I was feeling better, but…..I guess, not as well as I thought. I hate being sick! Mac & I missed the Parade on Friday night and the Friday night Card games with the friends.

Saturday, I just pretty much laid around. Mac went to the store and picked up a few things. He worked outside getting some other things done. He has been working on the outside patio area. He got the lights all put up around the patio and the firepit area.

Sunday morning I am still not feeling very good so Mac went to the Bloody Mary Sunday without me. I’m just not comfortable to be away from home until this virus goes away. He’s supposed to bring me a sandwich…we’ll see if he remembers. LOL

I have been reading quite a bit and playing with the Kindle Fire. I really really love it! I can check my email, do Facebook, browse the internet, play Words with Friends, and read my books. It has been fun checking things out on it. The only thing you have to remember with the Fire…is that you have to have WiFi if you want to be online. I use mine off of my Cradlepoint Router with the Verizon Aircard. I’m due for a new aircard and I think I’m gonna check out the Mifi if they will let me bring one home to test it out. I don’t want to go to 4g because I will have to change my plan and I have the 5g plan now and if I go to 4g I understand that I will only get 2g with the option to increase that for more money. Anyhow, I’m gonna check it out.

Monday we had some chores to get done and a couple of errands to run…nothing exciting…Post Office, UPS, and to Fry’s Grocery. About 4:00 we headed out to the Moose Lodge for Wings and Karaoke. No, we didn’t sing…LOL. We met all of our friends there and spent a very nice evening.

Tuesday we had plans to take a Bus Tour to see the Christmas lights here in Yuma. $9.00 each + 4 cans of canned goods or non perishables. The lights were very pretty. I even uploaded a couple of photos to Facebook. The tour lasted a little over 2 hours and then we were back at the Tour Bus Business. We all agreed we were not ready to head home just yet so we met at the Moose for another drink and listen to some more Karaoke. We made our plans for the rest of the week…Friday night Pizza & Cards, Christmas Eve Get-together, and our Christmas Day dinner gathering. It has been so great to be pulled right in to this tight group of friends. We love them all!!

Tomorrow, Dec 22nd, is Mac & my 27th Anniversary. I can’t believe we have been married for 27 years!

 

Stay tuned….we’re going to get busy this weekend!!

(((HUGS)))

 

Our Winter Home….

We arrived in Yuma about 2pm on Thursday, Dec 8th and started setting up. We are anxious to get things done so that we can start relaxing and spending some time with friends.

We took a break about 4:30 and headed down to Parrishes to have a sandwich for lunch/dinner. While we were there, Phyllis called and wanted to know where we were. So we hurried and finished our sandwiches and headed over to their lot for “Social Hour” and to see everyone!

Friday, we did some more around here getting things put where we want them. We went to Mike & Bette’s for Pizza and cards about 5:00. We have such a great time with these friends that we just met last year!. Mike & Bette, Bob & Phyllis, Bill & Nancy, John & Kendra, Knute & Hanna, and Dave were all there. Neither of us won at Chase the Ace, but we had a great time!

Saturday we headed over to Algodones for the “Welcome Party” at Paraiso’s Outdoor Plaza. Bob & Phyllis, Mike & Bette, Bill & Nancy, Knute & Hanna were all there too…. From 11:00 – 2:00 there was FREE Margarita’s, Beer, & Food! 

Mac & I

Bob & Phyllis

Mike & Bette

Knute & Hanna

Bill & Nancy

and the group…

I wasn’t feeling very well, so we left about 1:45 and headed back to the RV.

As you can see…we have been pretty busy these first few days…

Sunday, we went to breakfast with Bob & Phyllis and Buzz at “Bottom’s Up. They said the Moose was almost impossible to get in to on Sunday mornings now….that’s too bad. We ran out to the Flea Market to look around a little while. Mac was looking for some light fixtures for the RV but didn’t find anything…so I guess we’ll order them through Camping World. The rest of the day we just hung out at the RV and watched some TV and relaxed.

Monday we had a few things to get done around the TV. About 4:00 we went to the Moose for their Hot Wings and to watch Karaoke for a little while with Bob & Phyllis, Mike & Bette, John & Kendra, and Buzz. We got home about 8:00.

Tuesday, we didn’t do anything…it rained almost all day so we stayed home and relaxed…watched TV, read blogs….and then I made a pot of Chili for dinner.

Wednesday, Mac and I went to the Yuma Visitor’s Center to pick up some information on some things that we can do this winter. Lots of activities are going on.

We are starting to settle in here in our site. We will really enjoy the time we have to relax. It’s been pretty cool here, but hope that it will start warming up real soon!

Worked on Christmas Cards this morning and getting them ready to mail…whew…..there were lots of them just for family!

Mac went to the Moose this morning and got our tickets for the New Years Eve Party with our friends…we have a table of 14 for the night! Should be lots of fun!!

Stay tuned……lots more going on in the next few days!

 

(((HUGS)))

Tucson and on to Maricopa

While we were in Tucson, we went to visit with Mac’s aunt Vernis. She is 93 this year and is getting around great! We had a nice long visit with her and promised to stop again next if we come back this way.

Mac and Aunt Vernis

Monday, we had decided to go to the Saguaro National Forest-West Loop. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and looked around. We also watched a movie about the dessert. There were lots more Saguaros on this side than the ones we saw last year at the other one. These are amazing. Here are just a few photos that I took….

This is what a Saguaro looks like when it gets old and the cactus part falls off…

and our view on the way back to the RV…

After we got home, we started getting things packed up for our travel day to Maricopa, AZ to see our friends, John & Brenda Brown. We haven’t seen them since last winter in Yuma. We arrived about 1:30 and JB was outside waiting for us.

We got pulled in and after lots of hugs and a little visiting we got the RV set up for a couple of nights.

Brenda cooked a wonderful dinner for us…Steak, Twiced Baked Potato Casserole, Salad, Bread, and a wonderful Pecal Pie Cheesecake…OMG!  YUMMY!!!

Borrowed this photo from JB…

We visited for quite some time after dinner and then headed over to the RV to get some sleep.

Wednesday, we went in to Casa Grande where JB & Brenda took us to Eva’s for some Mexican food. It was very good!!

Of course we had to make a stop at WalMart….LOL

Since we had such a large lunch, Brenda made some Cheesy Corn Chowder for dinner with some of her homemade Buns and some Garlic Bread. This is something that I will make in the future. It was really good! For dessert we had a choice of the Pecan Pie Cheesecake or Lemon Gooey Butter CAke that I had made….or both!

We had a great evening visiting and making some plans in jello for them to come to Yuma and a trip to Algodones. All too soon it was time to head over to the rig and bed. We packed up things as we were going to Yuma on Thursday…..but that is another story….

 

Stay tuned….

(((HUGS)))