Reunited with Sister!

What a day yesterday became!

While visiting with Jerry's sister JoAnn, Jerry got the opportunity to reunite with his sister Sandra as well.  

Unfortunately it has been about 15 years since they have seen each other due to living in different cities and states.  Hopeful there will be more visits than separations in the future! 

JoAnn, Jerry, Sandra

Friends, Family and Memories

H-E-L-L-O again….  We haven’t vanished off the face of the earth, just been kicking back in Shawnee, Oklahoma visiting family and friends.  We even got a surprised visit from our friends Barb & Jim as they stopped by for a few days when coming through Oklahoma heading to Arizona. 

Ryan, JoAnn, Jerry, and Gene

 The weather hasn’t been what we would hope for, as it has been mostly rainy or cool/cold – Cold?  Guess it all depends if you ask Jerry or me – LOL.  After purchasing another motorhome, we had plans to do a total clean out and only take things we know we will use and store the rest.  Then Jerry had some electrical things to get completed before heading to Texas, but the weather has put a damper on getting any of this completed.  Oh well, guess it gives us more time to visit with family and friends!!  :) 

Ryan with his first love - entertaining family!

We even received yet another surprise once we got here; our oldest son Ryan has decided to take an employment opportunity in Florida, and he would be leaving in a few weeks.  WHAT? WAIT!!!  We haven’t seen him in a year and now that we are here, he leaves – LOL.   We wish him nothing but the BEST in life, plus it just gives us another reason to visit Florida. 

 Once Ryan got his things settled in Dallas, he made the drive up to see us.  Yay, because we got his full attention for three days, not something we get too often.  You know how single men are --- don’t you?  The family couldn’t believe how much he has grown –up and out!!!  They knew him as a young teenage who was all bones – think that has changed a bit!  

“A smile happens in a flash, but the memory can last a lifetime”    We love your smile, the gentlemen you have become, and the desire to go after your dreams.  Dad & Deb

 

Spring is in the air….

Spring is in the air here in the Arizona desert; plants are blooming, citrus trees are producing their fruits – grapefruit and lemons, and people are starting to head out to their next destination.  

 

As we try to nail down our next destination; we are staying quite busy trying to make sure the rig is all set to roll when the time comes – probably at the end of March.  

~Jerry has finished up our solar project (if there is such a thing); as you may recall we started that process back on our Living off the grid blog.   We had a Samlex 2000 watt inverter installed, so we can just plug and use our 110v appliance…. SWEET – no more having to run the generator, plus we got a nice night light out of the deal ~ LOL =).  

~He also got the pleasure to put in a new radiator in the “toy” aka Toyota Land Cruiser, however we can’t complain- after all it did have its 38 year old original radiator in it.

The old one...

 ~Plus we did a little remodel project to our rig.  Before leaving Texas, we decided to take out the dinette in order to put a chair in for Deb.  So we decided to add some cabinets in order to gain some storage that we had lost.

Deb has been having fun learning how to make some new recipes like the perfect lemonade, fresh yogurt, jam and a new version for potato salad.  She just hopes there is time to try her luck at fresh bread and cinnamon rolls.    

 Just image how wonderful the rig would smell!!!!   

        IS YOUR MOUTHWATERING YET?  

 Deb’s sure is; as cinnamon rolls are just one of her weakness – ice cream being the biggest!!  :D   Must give a HUGE shout-out to Jan for all her time and great recipes!!! Thank you.

                            Where is all the time going?

Oh, we hope we haven’t miss lead you ~ as it has been far from All Work and No PLAY… it’s actually been right the opposite!  That’s why we chose to live this lifestyle after all!!! ;o)   Recently we have got to enjoy looking for fossils in the rocks,  had several camp fires and eating with great friends.

We would like to send a BIG congratulations to Deb's nephew on his first child.   Braden, welcome to our family!!  

Sunset during a sand storm

What do you enjoy most about the "Spring Time"?   

Merry Christmas To All

The holiday's are a time to spend with family and friends, reflect back on memories, play games, watch football and of course eat, eat, eat and then take a nap. :)  However, sometimes it just doesn't work out that way, so you improvise and do the next best thing, which is exactly what we had to do this year.


You see; we are sitting in the middle of the desert outside Quartzsite, AZ so it would be a long drive back to Texas or Oklahoma to be with our families.  And of course, our families couldn't get out to us either, so we meet several of our new desert friends at Blue Water Casino in Parker, AZ to feast on the all you can eat buffet.  Although we didn't gamble, Jerry did find a nice shirt to purchase for his bride. Sorry no pictures, maybe at a later time.


Once back to the rig, it was time for a nap - at least for Jerry, as Deb and Max played outside.  Actually Max decided to catch a little lizard and oh well, you can imagine the rest. Later in the afternoon, we decided to take a walk and let Max run a little down the wash, as we usually like to do each evening, however this turned out a bit different this time.  Deb twisted her ankle coming out of the wash, and of course we were still about an 1/4 of a mile from home. She was a good sport and was determine to walk home instead of letting Jerry go get the truck.

One fat ankle, guess that will slow her down a bit

It has been a great day, as we are blessed to be healthy, be surrounded with good people, wake up to many text and e-mails, and a chance to talk to most of our family members.

So we will leave you with a few Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness.  To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart.  To a customer, service.  To all, charity.  To every child, a good example.  To yourself, respect.