Dear friends,

Not much travel news from Swansboro this time; just family stuff. Kevin gave us tickets to fly out to Tacoma for Morgan Ann’s graduation from Bellarmine Prep. It was a wonderful few days; big party, big graduation ceremony, big milestone, big gift for us. Morgan has grown into a beautiful blonde, reed-slim young woman, with beautiful big eyes and Lord knows how many thousands in her gorgeous mouth (teeth). She has turned out well. Wants to be a vet and will head to Washington State in late August. She and best friend Lindsey are currently on a graduation trip to Maui; Mom and Dad only mildly stressed. Not worried about Morgan getting into trouble, but you can’t help but be concerned about trouble wandering down the beach.

When we were in Tacoma seems like all we talked about was North Carolina and smart kids, beautiful kids, warm weather, etc., etc. Now all we are talking about is Tacoma and how special Morgan is and the yard was gorgeous and Kevin and Shelly took such good care of us. Why do we do that?

Last job was in Greensboro, North Carolina. We really liked the area, halfway between Raleigh and Winston-Salem. There are ten colleges in the immediate area, and an important history of civil rights. They have taken the old Woolworth’s Dime Store where the first sit-in occurred and made it into a civil rights museum; really interesting. We have been in other cities that were predominately black (Montgomery, Alabama) but Greensboro was very comfortable.

We are parked in Jason and Jamie’s driveway, sweltering. Found a really good dentist and are getting our teeth stuff done. When we were in middle Georgia I saw a Chiropractor for a low back strain and he did such a good job, I said, “My bite is off a little, bit, is there anything you can do for a jaw problem?” One of my bigger mistakes of the year. By the time we got here, 6 weeks later, I was in constant pain, and it was big pain, right up there with brain surgery pain! Wuh! I couldn’t tell whether it was my jaw, a broken tooth, or some kind of abscess. Awful. Anyway, getting my teeth worked on made it worse, of course, but the doc put me on a muscle relaxer and now, two weeks later, I’m nearly cured. Feels like a miracle.

Jason has been tapped as Bishop of the Havelock, NC ward of their LDS Church. We always knew he would serve as a Bishop somewhere, and even though this may not be the best time for him to have to invest the time and effort, they need his leadership and he will do well. The Mormon Church operates as kind of a WINGS personal growth program: They get together and evaluate and pray, and pick someone for each job that needs to be done. No one is a professional at the task assigned, but somehow everyone ends up doing what he is supposed to be doing, and doing it pretty well. They help one another and humility is embraced, vulnerability is acknowledged and success is celebrated. The ritual of ordaining a new bishop was very touching and we were very proud to see how Jason is respected and loved. We were also impressed by the Church’s tradition of approaching Jamie first, asking if she could sustain Jason in his role of Bishop. This is a huge thing, as he, of course, still works full time and is taking courses for his PhD, and as Bishop will have a flock to attend to. Jamie doesn’t get much of his time now, let alone with this new role. So they are in it as a unit, for the next five years or so. I’m sure there will be rewards (Dave was hoping for a car, but I think the rewards will be more in the area of spiritual strength). (Maybe a lawn mowing from time to time.)

Today is a typical Saturday for the Swan family: Jason started digging out the ditch in the front yard, to shore up the driveway, but he has gone to officiate his first funeral. Dave is taking an apprenticeship on brick cutting (for the ditch project) from neighbor Charlie, hoping to help Jason later. It is Jamie’s birthday, and she has already made two trips, before noon, to deliver/pick up kids for parties, shopping. We are taking J and J out to dinner tonight for her B’Day while Susie stays with the kids. That’s if Susie and Becca get finished with the makeover they are giving Jamie for her birthday. Xander and Katie had a sleepover with us in the bus last night and are still reeling around in pajamas, cartooned out. I’m watching the World Cup and making a quilt for my brother’s newest grandson, due in August. Life is good. (As good as it can get living in a metal tube at 94 degrees in North Carolina. We’re trying to work the air conditioners to keep it cooler, but we have limited amps available.)

We are going to Nashville early July to meet Carole, Dave’s sister, when she is inducted into some big, secret role in the Moose. This recognition is long overdue for her and we are very excited for her. I was especially excited, because I have discovered where the large black ladies shop and made some happy purchases. Actually, Indians and Blacks have similar tasted: Indians prefer things that flutter and sparkle, whereas Black seem to like sparkle and drape, but we both like bold color and the bosom reigns! Wouldn’t you know I can’t go to Carole’s coronation (because it’s SECRET), and I just know my new Tops would be admired, with a corsage of course. Poop. I’m going to wear them in Nashville anyway.

Love you all,

Sam

How we be #100!

We be leaving Georgia. There’s a chance we’ve been here too long. After three months of cold and rain, three weeks of glorious warmth, the Sultries are here. I have known Ms. McSteamy before, in the Cook Islands and North Carolina in July, but it never bothered me enough to be put off by it. Well, I’m put off. I feel as if I have fallen naked into a bed of stinging nettles! Every day some nasty little voice, or sometimes a perfectly incredulous little voice says, “Migod, you’re 70 years old!” Now that voice is whining, “You’re 70 years old and your skin is like paper and when it is damp all the time and gets rubbed (or creased or pressured), it stings and COMES OFF!!!” Gawd! I hate to complain about damp and hot when so many of you are still wet and cold, but … I’m just sayin’….

We’ve been at Richard Russell State Park on the Savannah River, which borders South Carolina. We spent a day in Augusta last week, ate poor boys at Beamies on the River (James Brown Blvd) and soaked up some southern style. Did you hear them talk about the privacy afforded golfers at Augusta National during last month’s Masters? Private really doesn’t cover it. The course is on the main highway from the NW and is as densely screened as any convent or prison. A solid green vegetative screen, no doubt with a fence in there somewhere, and uniformed security at the gate, one tiny little sign: Members Only.

The other day I was getting in the car, ready to go to work, and a slim, sprightly lady walked up to me and said, “How do you do? I’m Geraldine Pugh.” (Rachel, I swear this is true!) Turns out it was Geraldine’s husband Walter we had seen circling the bus earlier and sure enough he showed up for a lengthy tour. Walter is retired; Geraldine works at the prison “over to Zebulon;” administration would be my guess.

We find it interesting that once people find out we’re from Oregon, they strain to think of someone they know in Oregon. Walter says, “I have a half brother, Ed, who lives in Grants Pass.” To which Dave predictably replies, “We call it Grass Pants,” and Geraldine says “I didn’t know you had a half brother.” Ed inexplicably explains, “Well, my first wife knew … I guess I just forgot.” After that we talked about the dog Daisy, who eats what they do, and if Daisy can’t go somewhere, they don’t go. And when Daisy indicated she wanted to leave, Geraldine and Walter wished us safe travels and passed out of our lives, perhaps to review their relations.

Times like this we’re reminded once again how lucky we are to experience and enjoy the hundreds and hundreds of little pictures that make up the big picture. And to enjoy them together.

Next stop, Greensboro, North Carolina.

Love, Sam

To quote your average Georgia conversation, “Ah’ll tayell yew whuuut …” This area LEAFS out in the spring! We’ve been here before in March and April, but this year, what with all the Jan’Feb rain, and the cold March, a few days of 80 degree weather and Georgia EXPLODED in buttery greens and dogwood pinks and whites and redbud galore. The azaleas are out in every color, the wisteria hung like heavy purple grapes on every upright surface, and the pollen? Oh, Lord. We’ve never seen anything like it, either. During the worst of it, everything was covered in a fine yellow soft suede dust. wuh.

We had a wonderful time with Jason and his family at High Falls. We managed to get to the Bluegrass Festival, the wildlife park, the downhome barbecue, and had lots of s’mores! The kids went out on the lake in paddle boats and only one fell in … poor Becca, a year ago she wouldln’t have cared, Grampa called her “Gater bait,” but she has turned into a girl and is probably still checking her hair and clothes for leeches.

We just finished another Georgia job, a park in the northeast, about 60 miles NW of Athens. We were startled to find the town of Elberton is known as the granite capital of the U.S. One-third of all the granite monuments, memorials and markers come from this little town of about 15,000. Elberton was the home of Old Dan Tucker and many Revolutionary war heroes. The town surrounds a granite bowl seating 2,000 people, some seats being benches carved right out of the bowl. It’s home to the high school Blue Devils … gimmee a B!!

There are 45 quarries and 87 processing plants, with 1,800 employees here in the granite industry. Everything is granite: mailbox posts, address markers, benches, buildings, counter tops,, and the grave markers of everyone who has died here in 150 years. Elberton granite has a fine grain in the mix of feldspar, quartz and black mica, and a pleasing, smooth blue hue. Not surprising, when your town is built on the granite industry, everything looks like a monument.

Elberton is home to Richard Russell State Park, which we just mapped, and now we are at Elijah Clark State Park, 60 miles away, but also on the Savannah River. This area is known for really big bass and wild turkey. Lots of fishermen in both parks. Elijah Clark looks across the river at McCormick, South Carolina. Greg and Cathy Jensen paddled right by our site here, on their journey cross country by canoe back in the day.

Occasionally one of you will ask for photos of the people I talk to, in particular the people whose amusing accent or words I submit for a chuckle. I’m so aware that I’m nearly making fun of folks, and I couldn’t possibly ask for their picture, and then put it on my blog! And be aware, that a fair number of these folks are wall-eyed and missing teeth … how could I? I can share one picture, though. This is Andy Mathis, a veterinarian in Elberton, who has a great sense of humor and is a very fine watercolorist. Really fine. Thanks, Andy.

Love, Sam

April 2, 2010

We were in Reidsville the last time I wrote, a sweet little park in a wholesome southern town without a penny to its name. We worked hard for a week and couldn’t make a sale. This, of course, following a park outside Savannah where we couldn’t get enough sales to make a map. Wuh. So we moved on, with the park’s total understanding, to a private park in Statesboro, who still had 2/3 of the maps left from what we made last year. And the same iffy economy. With the owner’s permission we put that one back in the hopper for someone to do in the fall. Many of these private RV parks have had to take in semi-permanent renters to stay solvent; they end up looking like blue tarp city and advertisers don’t see any value in participating in the map.

So here we are in High Falls State Park, at Jackson, Georgia, about 60 miles south of Atlanta. This park has 149 sites and sees close to 700,000 visitors each year. It is just off US 75 and catches all the snowbirds, coming and going. Situated on the Towaliga River (Towaliga is Creek for “roasted scalp,” same old bad Indian story.), this park is beautiful. Think Tumalo State Park except larger. Lots of long-leaf pine, which grows very tall and straight, and branches at the top. Plus hickory, sweet gum, some kind of maple and oak. Ornamental trees are all in bloom now, with red bud and dogwood and pear trees blooming. Lots of these trees seem to be like the tulip tree, showy blossoms before really leafing out.

We are finished with this map; did very well (maybe our best ever, anywhere), and are ready to move down the road and finish up Indian Springs State Park. That park is equally beautiful, and features the springs which had healing powers for the Creek Indians. People still come with their gallon jugs and take it home. It’s supposed to be the oldest State Park in the country.

Georgia has flower festivals all month: Macon has the cherry blossom festival, the local town here has the Forsythia Fest. I’m always just amazed at the use of silk flowers when the real thing is so readily available. The Chamber of Commerce is in a newly remodeled 150 year old brick building,very large open space and beautiful inside, with large flower arrangements that have to be dusted every week! The public bathroom is mauve and black and dominated by a large, stainless steel urn full of feathers and curly sticks that come disconcertingly close to one’s eyes when using the toilet. Decor is VERY important in the south. I find very few quilting shops but hundreds of fabric shops featuring drapery and upholstery fabric.

We amuse ourselves at noticing how comfortable we are in this part of the country now. We hardly notice the lack of proper grammar, or the familiarity in conversation. There was a time and place where I would have been offended by a 25 year old waitress calling me “sweetie,” or “shug.” Asking for directions the other day, a woman told me to turn right “down at that light what tells you whoever gits there first can go.” I knew exactly what she meant (blinking red).

It is warming up, finally, 84 degrees yesterday and looking good for the next couple of days. Jason and Jamie and the kids are coming tonight to camp for the weekend. We are looking forward to it. (Hope the Easter chocolate in my closet hasn’t melted.)

Number one son Kevin sent us tickets for our birthdays, tickets to come out to Tacoma for Morgan’s graduation from high school. What a gift!! Counting our blessings, it’s no question, our kids are at the top of the list!!

Happy spring!

Sam

March 6, 2010

We left Savannah yesterday. Probably just as well, as the city is preparing for St. Patrick’s Day. This is the nation’s second largest celebration of the green, and they do it VERY well! If you aren’t ready to join in, you’d best get out of the way.

President Obama was here this past week. Didn’t seem to create much of a stir locally. I talked to several folks about it and mainly they just wanted to know why he was here.

It may be warming up, finally. The night time temp is still between 26 and 36 degrees. we’re amused at how the cold affects the locals. I can’t believe they would even SELL fur trimmed parkas in this part of the country! Florida is chilly, too, and in an RV resort, you’ll find most of the snow birds are on blood thinners!

On our way to our next stop, we traveled Hwy. 204/280 through the communities of Ella Bell, Pembroke, Daisy, Claxton and Hagen. This is raw country. No, actually it is kind of ugly. Lots of scraggle pine and dirty roadside bogs. These rural parts of Georgia are very poor; houses are old single wides or decrepit little crooked boxes. I’ve been in waiting rooms and heard women talk about their mothers getting $256 a month from Social Security.  It’s hard to even think about that; can you imagine…?

There are cotton fields out here, 60 miles west of Savannah. Georgia Pacific is around close; we see trucks full of sagging, scraggle trees, good only for chipping. The road is newly resurfaced with stimulus money. Religion is a vital part of the society, as evidenced by the Upper Room Deliverance Center and the Prince of Peace Lumber Yard.

So here we are in Reidsville, Georgia, at a tiny little State Park (29 spaces) that hasn’t had a map since 2006, and they still have 1,000 maps left out of a shipment of 3,000. Hmmmmm. (Reps don’t like to work a park where they can’t make any money.) The last map had four ads. I’m up for the challenge.

I’m not getting as much done as I used to. Quilting and painting have sort of given way to afternoon naps. Plus, our kids went together and got us a 68 inch (seems like) flat screen TV that holds me like a magnet. My eyes were rectangular slits by the time the Olympics were over. And I was TIRED! Remember, we’re on east coast time and I had to see it all, live events, recaps and reruns of the early stuff I missed. We watched a lot of curling and really liked it.

We are parked on a little lake, daffodils are blooming all around, the happy little eastern Blue Bird is at my feeder, and both Dave and I are over our colds. Life is good.

Love, Sam

February 28, 2010

Can’t believe it is almost March. We are still in Savannah, in the southwest area, on the flood-stage Ogeechee River. The Red Bud is out, Cyclomen is blooming and the Cherokee Rose is starting to bud. Georgia’s State flower, the Cherokee Rose is a vine (imported from China) and has a beautiful Dogwood-like flower. We often wish we came to Savannah in April instead of January-February.

We had a most happy connection at Skidaway Island State Park. One day we spotted a distinctive vintage Bird that could only be Suska and Lou, acquaintances from a Bluebird Rally last year, now dear friends. From Cape Cod (Chatham, Mass.), they are, like us, not your typical RVers. Not really joiners, reluctant potluckers, history buffs, wine drinkers, liberal thinkers, never heard the word “cute” applied to their persons or anything they own, with the possible exception of Suska’s bicycle. We cooked for each other and reveled in our good fortune. As we topped off a great meal with Lou’s dessert, ice cream and rum sauce over grilled bananas, and just a wee glass of Port, we laughed at the idea folks have about RVers  roughing it.  Makes us very glad we were at Skidaway in February this year, instead of April!

One thing you can count on in this lifestyle is sharing nearly everything. Dave caught a cold about three weeks ago, and all I could do is wait for it. I’ve got my fingers crossed that I can get over it without going into asthma. Wuh.

The weather is finally, finally seeming to get a little warmer. It has been cold since Christmas. Of course everything is relative and most of you are a lot colder, but somehow we feel like we should be warm: We worked hard enough to get here, because it’s SUPPOSED to be warm!

Love, Sam

Feb 9, 2010

We be on the road again, leaving Jason and Jamie and the kids (and the dog) with a minimum of tears. We plan to be back through here in June, after we finish our Georgia parks. We’re changing our route this year, going north in June, instead of west. I’d like to see Prince Edward Island where my maternal grandmother was raised, and I have a cousin in Quebec I’ve been corresponding with. We’ll go to Seattle across the top of the country, instead of the bottom.

Jason continues to do well at L3 Communications. His team is currently working with the Navy on some program that detects undersea mines. Or something. (He’d have to kill us if we knew more,) He continues to work toward his PhD at NC State in Instructional Design.

Jamie is developing into a very good portrait photographer. Dave is impressed with her eye and the creativity shown in her images.  She is not working now, and volunteers as assistant coach for a Havelock city girl’s basketball team. It’s quite a contrast, this pink cheeked redhead, working with a large, loud black guy. When we comment, it’s like Jamie hasn’t noticed. (The team is all black too, of course, except for Becca and another girl.) She loves basketball and she likes the coach, even if she can’t always understand him. You go, girl!!

The girls all love school. All three got straight As this past term. Oh, someone got a B+. Competition is in the closet. We never hear a neener, neener, neener. Susie is 13 and has changed her name to SIOUXZY. She’s as tall as I am, and just beautiful. Last year it was a battle to get Becca to change her jeans. This year (age 11) she is an ingenue, right off the pages of 17 Magazine. She combs her hair before dinner!! Katie is 9 and struggles to find her place. She is playing the piano so well; we felt bad that we missed her recital. Xander is still a cute little boy, age 5, very talkative and precocious. As soon as he got his tonsils out his speech improved. he wasn’t able to say his Ks, so it was “Tatie” and “Betta/” After surgery, his treat was to go to his favorite, Cow Cafe. And he could say it!!

From Myrtle Beach. SC to Charleston, Hwy 17 is a flat gray ribbon, traipsing along the coast through little settlements and plantations turned to golf courses. The road is four lane but there is no shoulder. The grass grows right up to the white line. Every 500 yards or so there is a little stick built display stand selling sweet grass baskets. A couple of old darkies in bib overalls and straw hats sit in lawn chairs, waiting for customers. A real southern tableau.

We like the signage along this road: “Keep moving. Change lanes later.” Stretches of the highway are named after folks, presumably local. We passed Maxine Wentworth Intersection and Juanita T. Sikes Crosswalk. When we cross the Coosawhatchie River, we know we are deep in Dixie. Savannah is celebrating the 100th birthday of Johnny Mercer – crossing Moon River brings us to Skidaway Island, our home base for the next two weeks.

Weather here is warmer than North Carolina. We got here through a window of calm and it looks like this Georgia coast area will not get the cold that is hitting everywhere else. We wish you all an early spring.                                       Sam and Dave

Our Christmas Season was busy but lots of fun with old and new traditions. Getting the tree this year was different than any other year so far. Jason didn’t come with us so it was just me and the kids driving the VW. Well we picked out the tree and Susie suddenly thought she was a Super Hero or something…it was over 6 ft. tall but she didn’t hesitate at all and she wouldn’t let me help but she let Becca. She lifted it up, carried it over to the van and then heave…hoed it over onto the top of the VW!!! Good grief…all of us laughing our heads off at her too. People in the parking lot were staring at us like we were crazy, one guy came and offered to help. Nope Susie wanted to do it on her own. And then she got to do the fun part. Tying it down. This is Susie remember who has been tying knots into things…anything she could get her hands on since she was 2! Well we did it, picked it out, brought it home, set it up, and decorated it! Whew! I told Jason that next year if he didn’t help I was going to buy a fake tree (and as many of you know in Jason’s mind that is grounds for divorce!!!)

We also decorated the tree in our back yard that we designated as Olivia’s tree. Most of her ornaments that we have used every year were getting so worn out so we used red balls and icicles instead. It looked really pretty.

Uncle Davey and Aunt Jackie sent us their traditional Christmas gift, a Gingerbread house. This year it was HUGE!!! The kids were so excited and thought I was the meanest mom ever because I wouldn’t let them destroy it right away. I wanted to enjoy how it LOOKED for awhile….so the countdown to when we could eat the gingerbread house ranked right up with the countdown to Christmas Eve, Yarn Balls, Christmas Day and of course Xander’s birthday!!!  It is such a great gift that the kids look forward to each year! It had all of us on it, even Roxy and then we had a surprise when we did finally tear into it, inside was G’ma and G’pa! Very cute!!!

We went Caroling with the Martins again this year. It was so fun but much much much colder this year than last. We had to go back and stock up on more blankets and coats after the first house we went to. Brrrr! The kids were so cute hollering out Christmas songs! So fun!

Finally Christmas Eve arrived…The long awaited night of YARN BALLS!!! It’s hilarious that even though the kids are getting older they still really look forward to this tradition Jason does with them. He did do it a bit different than previous years. Instead of hiding them he lined them up and they had to guess which one belonged to who and he did have a clue on each one, a very hard to notice clue…he had tied the end of the string with knots…13 for Susie, 11 for Becca, 9 for Katie and 4 for Xander. It took them awhile to figure it out but they did! Even Roxy got a special New Years Eve gift from G’ma!

Christmas Eve tradition also includes new PJ’s for the kids. Well I got a great big fat F for this year. None of the girls PJ’s fit them….not one! Xander’s were fine but I failed miserably for the girls! Urgh!!! And both Katie and Xander contributed to the goodies left for Santa and all the reindeer!

Xander has been so cute this Christmas season, so excited for everything, the tree, the lights, the gifts, the magic of it all. As it got closer and closer to Christmas I think he was getting a little worried about which of Santa’s lists he was going to be on. At night he would ask me, “Do you think I’ve been good today?” Xander got lots of fun things for Christmas. He was super excited about his Cowboy vest and chaps! He was lookin’ good!!! He also loved his star wars light saber for the Wii we got the kids! I caught him checking himself out in Becca’s mirror!

Katie is at an age where she has been concerned about what she is hearing at school about Santa. She had numerous discussions with us through the month. As it got closer she came to us and showed us her letter to Santa. It was very sweet, hope you can read it. Basically listing a bunch of stuff and then the most important thing she want is to know Santa is real. Well Santa left her a very special gift, a photo of Santa leaving the gifts at our house, one of his elves took it for him. She also asked Santa when his birthday was. He wrote back that it is August 15…Did YOU know that??? She was in awe as she showed everyone the picture Santa gave her. It was really neat. She has it taped to her school notebook so she see’s it everyday! She was also very excited to get Dance Dance Revolution. She is one of the fastest kids in her class at DDR!

Becca is such a tween!!! All she wanted for Christmas was a gift card from Rue 21! She scored big time when she went to spend it. They had just marked stuff down to $2-$3 bucks! She was so excited at all the stuff she got! She was also excited for guitar hero!!!  We had to chuckle at her gift from Wyatt. It was the green shirt, before she put it on it looked like it would only fit a doll… it had a note from Wyatt that said on it “call for explanation” I thought that was so cute! She put it on and it ‘stretched’ perfectly!

Susie’s favorite gift was the clothes and jewelry she got. Porter gave Susie the neatest watch and necklace! (Katie got one too from Parker, very cool!) Santa also loaded her up with WAY too much makeup! What was he thinking??? Susie and Becca were hilarious…several weeks before Christmas we were driving to church and the kids were asking what everyone wanted for Christmas. They asked Daddy and he randomly answered “underware”(where did that come from??? He doesn’t even remember saying that) Well Susie and Becca thought it was hilarious and they came up with this great plan…they wanted to buy him great big HUGE boxers with spongebob or some other character on them and wake up in the middle of the night Christmas Eve and sneak downstairs and take everything out of his stocking and put the boxers in with a note that says “Hope they fit!” They laughed and giggled over their plans and had so much fun keeping it all a secret from him. They were so silly and cute about it. Well they even got G’ma in on it and it turned out perfectly. We all laughed and laughed when Daddy went to get into his stocking and all he pulled out were these obnoxious undies!!! (didn’t get a picture, I was laughing too hard!) Oh and the S.C. stands for Sarcastic Children NOT Santa Clause!!!

Of course Christmas isn’t just for kids…we had a great Christmas too. The gift giving and receiving is lot’s of fun but the most wonderful part about Christmas is being together with our family and enjoying the blessing of our knowledge of Christ and His birth and his great love for each of us…

Last tradition…we actually did it after Christmas…we invited our friends the Andrews over to make gingerbread houses. It was so fun. The kids were very creative and had a great time!

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Season this past month. We started out the month with Katie’s concert at school and her piano recital. The concert was really great, fun songs! (she filled our home with these songs for weeks and weeks before AND after the concert…she does love to sing!!!) For her recital she did a beautiful job. Wish the room wasn’t so crowded so we could have gotten a decent photo of her…Katie loved having our friend Raelyn come over for a birthday dinner. This is Ms. Raelyn that took Katie and Jason to Disneyland! And of course a photo with Santa…and the last photo’s were after Christmas was over. Katie was feeling pretty tough taking the tree out to the street!

Becca and Katie both started basketball. Katie kinda fell through the cracks..I am wondering about this league here…she never got a phone call from her coach so I finally called and they gave me the info. We got to practice (she’d missed 3 already) and they had put her on a team with kids way older than her, add that to missing 3 practices and the coach was awful (her 2nd practice, coach’s 5th…he got there sent them running to warm up then threw a temper tantrum and yelled at the girls that he wasn’t coaching them today!!! I am not kidding…and then he left. All these kids left with no adult supervision. Well there were still a few parents there but there were 4 or 5 girls that were wandering the halls wondering what to do. OOOOHHH I was so ticked. I called the head of the League and let him have it! They actually let the guy coach a couple more practices until they could get themselves together enough to make a decision about the guy. Crazy, so I pulled her from the program. Not a great experience for her!  Becca was placed on a team that was older than her on purpose, when I signed her up the coach for the U14 really wanted her! She is doing really great with these older girls. I just wish she enjoyed it more! I am having a blast being the assistant coach. I guess it is good one of us is having fun right??? Sigh!!!  I was released as Primary President and the next week we were talking about Primary and Becca said “well I guess you are a Primary Veteran!!!” I thought that was so cute! Becca and Susie had a concert as well for their school chorus. Susie loves Chorus, Becca has been counting down the days for the semester to end so she doesn’t have to go to chorus anymore…does she sound like a moody pre-teen or what? Becca has done a little bit of art this month.  Becca says she started out drawing a portrait of Xander but it looked too feminine so she turned it into a girl.  I think she drew Olivia and just didn’t know she was…She looks very similar to Susie and a little bit like Lana, but not quite, has her own look. I’ve always imagined Olivia looking a bit like my sister Lana and she obviously would have looked like our other kids cuz as you can see we have what my mother in law calls “cookie cutter kids”!!!Becca also drew a boy and when she was done she came to me and told me she wanted to give it to Sister Hill for Christmas. She said sister Hill is always telling her how talented she is and what a great artist she is, she said she thought sister Hill would like to have a drawing from her. Very sweet, Sister Hill felt honored!

Susie has been really into music this month. The school concert I already mentioned. She has also continued her voice lessons and has been preparing to sing in sacrament meeting ALONE!!! She sang “Mary did you know?” the Sunday before Christmas. She did an amazing job. She didn’t seem nervous at all. I knew she was but she was very composed and sounded beautiful. She sure had her Daddy in tears! She has done some babysitting for friends in the ward throughout the month. I think she has been dubbed the best babysitter in the ward. She really enjoys those kids. She brings activities and does a great job taking care of everything. The kids all love Susie! She has also been involved in 4H focusing on horses. She has had several meetings and activities.

Xander has been super busy with preschool, he loves it. He has also learned how to snap his fingers and he is so proud of this!!! He will say “when I snap my fingers once that means yes, when I snap them twice that means no” when I ask him a question. And he just wanders around snapping away. “Hi Mom…snap snap…what’s for dinner…snap snap…” So cute! He also discovered that he loves tangerines because he can peel it all by himself (yep saves the seeds). One day he asked me to peel it for him, I said “no buddy, you can do it” he flipped his fingers up towards me and said very dramatically “I can’t peel them…you cut my nails off!!!” He was right, I’d cut his nails the night before! This other picture was such a crack up. We got home from somewhere and Xander was wearing his Santa hat. Well he kinda disappeared for awhile and when he showed up again he was wearing his red turtleneck and he had gone into the bathroom, filled the sink with soap and made himself a Santa Beard! It was so adorable. So he posed for me with his ‘Santa bag’ and even gave us some ‘ho ho ho’s.  Too cute!!! We also dogsat another dog, this one was Molly. Xander loved Molly, loved to help me take care of her and play with her. He started begging for a dog of his very own. I’d tell him we already have Roxy, so he started begging for any kind of pet of his very own. He got stuck on the idea of his own fishtank with his very own fish. So he asked Santa for that for Christmas along with a ‘bunch of oranges’. That was his list! Well Santa came through… And as you can see from the last photo Xander is into that age of picking out his own clothes! Good one Buddy!!!

Jason has been super busy with work and school and trying to keep his motorcycle running and of course the on going maintenance of his saltwater fish tank. It is really looking good. He is so proud of it and will show it off to anyone! I have finished up my photography course. Learned a lot but still have ton’s of additional material they gave us to go through online. I took a bunch of picture of several families for Christmas cards, this one is of our good friends the Martins. Molly is there dog. She came and plunked down when I was taking photos so I had to start snapping away at her too! Her poor sad face in time out! . I also included several from photo’s I took of our kido’s in the same area.

Hi everybody!

Just a quick note update on our travels.  After four days in the RV park in Asheville, experiencing the biggest snow Asheville has seen in the last 20 years, we managed to creep out of the park on icy roads and reach the dry highway .  . .  and head east on I-40 once again. We had snow on the roadside until Raleigh (the second day of travel) but the highway was dry pavement. Arrived and Jason and Jamie’s on Tuesday, and are now parked in the driveway enjoying the sunshine and 50 degree weather during the days.  We plan on being here a month or so.

We hope all our friends are enjoying their Holiday season as much as we are, surrounded by great kids and grandkids.

Merry Christmas.

Dave & Sam