We made a quick decision to go to College Station, TX last week & surprised Brenda & Joel's family.  Courtney's baptism on Feb 1, was a very special occasion & we were so glad to be there. We had a great trip; drove our pickup truck 2,925 miles total round trip!

 We went by way of Roswell, NM on the way back home and got caught up in the Alien Experience.

Visiting Carlsbad Caverns in NM was one of the highlights of the trip.  We spent 3 hours walking the 2 1/2 miles throughout the caverns & were oohing & awing the whole way.  It's a must see!

So cool!  Pictures just don't do it justice.

We enjoyed a visit with Ben & Jill's family in Silver City, NM before heading back home. 

 Lynn & Joie Tucker from northern Utah came to Quartzsite to visit with us for a couple of days just after we got back.  It was good to see them again and show them the local sites.

The adventures keep happening.

Thought we better do some updates as to our most recent adventures.  During the holidays, we were treated with a visit from Ralphie/ Jason  ("The Christmas Story") modelling his bunny suit.

 We got to have a fun sleep-over at our house with 12 of the grandkids & their parents.

All but 5 members of our family got together for a fun-filled afternoon of games & food for the annual holiday party.  Thanks to Adam for the location & games.

We were back in Quartzsite, AZ the first part of January & were thrilled to have some wonderful friends stop in to visit us for a couple of hours - Turpin's & Hammond's.

 Salvation Mountain was an interesting spot to see.  Story goes that this man was travelling in a hot air balloon & it landed on this mountain where he decided to stay.  He's sculpted & shaped his mountain into this 'attraction' & uses whatever paint people donate to his cause.

 Touring the site with us is Roger Cox & Sam Kerksiek, friends from Beaver, UT.

                                               Do you like our new trailer?

 We discovered some mud pots bubbling up hot mud and building up craters around themselves.

 The US Mormon Battalion monument at Yuma, AZ is a great attraction to see.  These friends from Beaver were able to identify their ancestors who were part of the Battalion:  Sandra Bradshaw & daughter Holly Hansen, Sam & Marian Kerksiek, Roger & Arda Cox, & Janet ?

 Cloud Museum is quite a place; it's chuck full of all these antique vehicles, etc.

We took a great 4-wheeler ride with a group of 5 other rigs and got ourselves into some tight, rough places.

 

 Petroglyphs covered a lot of the rocks around Dripping Springs area.  They were so cool to see!

Several old abandoned mining camps/cabins around the Quartzsite area.

Our fearless leader got hung up a little on this journey.  Luckily, a Jeep was able to winch him out without any trouble.  So much fun & lots of things to see & do.  

We enjoyed a great visit with Ben & Jill's family in Silver City, NM.

What a mom!  Giving all 3 kids a piggy-back ride at once.  They LOVED it!

 Cody is quite the little guy who loves sending everything down the slippery slide.

Three happy kids before Kimber & Holdyn head off to school.  Hugs & kisses to you all!
We hated to leave but decided we better get home for the holidays  Thanks for a great visit!
This is what greeted us when we got back home - snow!  This had been here over a week.

Getting this ice & snow off the driveway was not a fun project, but Dad worked hard to get it all cleared off.  The same day we shoveled off snow, we also raked leaves.  All the leaves came down, then it snowed & stayed cold for over a week.  Who would have thought here in 'sunny St. George'.

A little slow in getting this updated, but here's the progress in Quartzsite.

 To get back to the bedroom, we had to carefully balance on the beams.

In both the kitchen & bathrooms, we had clear view of the ground outside.

Bedroom vanity area had to be removed to get into the shower wall to replace plumbing.

 Our yard was full with a trailer for hauling damaged flooring away &a trailer with equipment & tools along with construction workers' vehicles.

 Finally, on Tuesday December 10, we were able to move back into our home with completely new vinyl & carpet.  Can I just say that it looks GREAT! and so nice to have it all done!

We enjoyed our completed project for just 1 night, then headed off to Silver City, NM to visit Jill's family.