Greetings from sunny, beautiful blue skies, just perfect Surprise!!! Wow, what a gorgeous day! This is what the Palo Verde trees look like when they are blooming - spectacular!!I thought I better catch up on my "correspondence" with my friends. So here I am :) Actually, my daughter, Noelle, has been bugging me to update my blog. I have lots of time, so what's the problem. Who knows :) I think retirement gets in the way some times :)
We had the most wonderful Christmas ever!! All our children and their families were here to help us celebrate our 1st Christmas in Arizona. We rented a "villa" in our community and two of the families stayed there (Jeff, Lori and Lliam and Noelle, Geoff, Kayli and Hudson). It made it really nice so that when their babies needed to go to bed, they took them to the villa and put them down for the night. It gave them time to enjoy being together. Shauna, Derek, Dominic, Devin and Shaela stayed in our guest quarters. As you can imagine, our house was rockin'!! and we loved every minute of it. We had such a good time laughing, playing, and eating together. Having them all here was the best gift I could have ever asked for.
Dominic celebrated his 10th birthday on the Dec. 23. It's hard to believe my first grandson is 10 now. The top of his head is up to my neck. He's gonna pass me up real soon :)While everyone was here, we arranged to have a family picture taken. We had one taken two years ago; Noelle was pregnant with Hudson, and only God knew about Lliam (he wasn't yet formed and adopted by Jeff and Lori).
This time, we got them all and both sons-in-law were here at the same time!! YEAH!!!
This time, we got them all and both sons-in-law were here at the same time!! YEAH!!!It was very sad when they all had to go home. I miss them all, especially my grandkids. I love having their arms wrapped around my neck!!! Or giving the older ones zerbers :)
In January we drove to Las Vegas and took care of Dominic, Devin and Shaela while Shauna and Derek flew to Hawaii to celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary. We stayed with them for a week and had a grand time. Shaela and I went to see Disney on Ice and enjoyed our special time together.
We took all of them to an old western town and romped around a bit. They had some interesting animals in their little zoo. Very fun! We also took them to a home-schoolers skating party and had lots of fun. I even roller skated with my grandkids. I can't remember when the last time was that I skated - all I know is that it was a lonnnnnnnng time ago. I only fell one time and was laughing because I couldn't get up. I'd been skating around with Shaela and she fell and as I tried to pick her up I lost my balance and down I went. Great sight!! I didn't have anything to hold on to and one of the male skate rink employees came out and helped me up. I was a little embarrassed, but hey, I laughed, got up and skated on. 
even got to go to one of Shaela's soccer games. She played goalie and did a great job!
We took all of them to an old western town and romped around a bit. They had some interesting animals in their little zoo. Very fun! We also took them to a home-schoolers skating party and had lots of fun. I even roller skated with my grandkids. I can't remember when the last time was that I skated - all I know is that it was a lonnnnnnnng time ago. I only fell one time and was laughing because I couldn't get up. I'd been skating around with Shaela and she fell and as I tried to pick her up I lost my balance and down I went. Great sight!! I didn't have anything to hold on to and one of the male skate rink employees came out and helped me up. I was a little embarrassed, but hey, I laughed, got up and skated on. 
even got to go to one of Shaela's soccer games. She played goalie and did a great job!We're really enjoying our new church - Calvary Chapel Surprise. We joined a Supers Six and have met two wonderful couples. One of them is getting a new house ready for their move in the end of this month. Painting with new friends is a great way to get well acquainted. We had a lot of fun, but got the job done too. We also started attending a Bible study on Thursday nights and have added more great people to our new circle of friends.
We're comin' up real soon on our one-year anniversary of retirement. WOW!! We are thoroughly enjoying the relaxed pace, time to walk and get in shape, and lots of activities to keep us busy. We've even gone to a couple of dances. It's been lots of fun and keeps our bodies moving too. Some of you know that Harry and I took East Coast Swing dance lessons several years ago so we know at least one style of dance to use as a springboard for the rest. In case you're thinking we've gotten liberal or something . . . we only dance with each other - no one else!!
We have some trips planned coming up pretty soon. Sue and Joe Lopez are coming to visit in late March and we're taking the Grand Canyon railway from Williams to the Grand Canyon. That will be lots of fun and we look forward to their visit.
In June we're going to Israel again with Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. There's nothing like walking on the very ground where Christ walked. Our first trip to Israel in 2004 was fantastic and I can only believe that this one will be no different. We purchased a camcorder so we can record all of the teaching along with the pictures so I think we'll enjoy it more when not trying to take notes that make sense :)
One last trip this summer will be a cruise. We're flying to my cousin's in Portland and then the four of us will fly to Rome together. From there, we'll take a cruise from Rome to Ephesus, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Naples, Sicily and other ports along the way. Needless to say, we're very excited about this, being able to see where Paul traveled.
We love and miss you all. Come visit us soon.
As you can see, we're quite relaxed and want to introduce you to this wonderful lifestyle :)
Blessings to you all and be sure to write back,
CC and Harry :)
