Here's our sign

We finally found someone to make us a sign for a reasonable amount -- so here's our sign. (It's very small, but if you look really hard you can see the red heart she put on about where Moscow is located.) We decided since we have South Dakota license plates, we should have something to let people know where we're really from!

We are enjoying Arizona and at this point looking forward to Spring. The forecasters are saying that Arizona is about 1 1/2 inches above normal for rainfall so far this year. That usually means the desert will be in bloom. We're looking forward to it and will take lots of pictures if it is! We'll stay in Arizona area at least until the end of March (so Betsy can get her new crown) then we'll head east to Sherman, Mississippi again for some warranty work on the coach.

Saturday, Betsy got to go to a brunch at the Ward we're visiting here in Phoenix. Our friends, Diane & Mike Martinez, from Moscow, go to this Ward so it's been fun to get reacquainted with them since we've been here. It was fun to visit with all the women at the brunch and get to know them better.

Yesterday we went to the Scottsdale Fine Arts Show. WOW, over 100 talented artists under one roof. Lots of talent and lots to look at! There were 2 artists from McCall, 1 from Cambridge, and 1 from Lewisville. The one from Lewisville was Gregory Sievers. We had to go back and ask him where Lewisville is located (between Roberts and Rigby). He asked if we knew where that was and we told him we did, because we had 2 children go to Ricks College. He also does church historical paintings and has a painting in the temple at Winter Quarters and one in the Conference Center! He said it was very humbling to have his paintings chosen to be displayed! It was very interesting to talk to him.

This morning we tried SKYPE for the first time. We called our friends Jack and Sandy in Florida. It was so cool to be able to see them as we visited with them. It made us realize how much we have missed them! We need to get more of our family members on SKYPE too!!! (hint, hint)

Family Pictures

Not a bad shot of Mom and Dad!

Loriann always takes a good picture.

Brian and Grayson.

The Prescotts: Di, Rick, Koby, Dean, and Tessa.

The Jones: Jenn, Jason, Karson, Kate, and Claire.

Grandma with the youngest grands!

Grayson, 8 on Jan 26.

Koby, 7 on Jan 24.

Karson, 6 on October 1.

Dean, 4 on January 15. (He was tired.)

Kate, 4 on February 2.
Claire, 1 on October 14.

Tessa, will be 1 on February 14.

Quite a family if I don't say so myself!!!!

This week

This week we went to doctor and dentist appointments. We have to go back for fillings and Betsy needs a crown -- what fun! We also decided to drive out to Luke AFB to get us a new Retired US Army sticker for our car since the old ones went with the 5th wheel and pickup. Just as we were leaving Luke AFB, we spotted jets doing touch and goes. What a fun thing to watch!

On Friday, we got to go to Grayson's 8th birthday party at the Pump It UP (inflatable toys). The kids had fun and Jill even went down the slides! It was a really fun night.

What a December!

December 28th all the girls and families arrived in Phoenix. We cooked.

We got pictures taken. (Hope they are really good!!)

We got tired (and hungry)!

And got lots of loves!!!!

We ate!

We shopped. (We like to start them young!)

We discovered friends in cousins.

We went to the Phoenix Zoo (and walked A LOT!)

We had a campfire and made SMORES. That was really fun!!!

We tore out a wall in Brian's house.

Then we put it back in.

The kids even got to tour the new home. They liked our new "condo on wheels."

On January 3rd we took the Prescotts to the airport, saw the Jones off and collapsed! It was a super fun week and we can't wait to do it again!!!!

New home; a work in progress

We got to Sherman RV about 10:00 this morning, did our paperwork and started moving into the new coach. I took this picture as it was getting dark (about 4 p.m.) We moved everything over and then from about 5 - 6:30 put stuff away! We had a lot of stuff in that small RV!

I can't wait to get Christmas decorations up, then I'll take pictures again so you can see the finished product.

We are staying in Sherman tonight and will start our journey back to
Phoenix tomorrow. Hopefully the return trip will go as well as the trip here.

Hope everyone is having a really good weekend and getting all your Christmas shopping done. This has been a different holiday year, but it's always like that when you move around Christmas time.

This is the kitchen (please notice the full-size refrigerator) I love it!!!!!!!!!

Waiting in Tupelo

What do you do while waiting for your coach in Tupelo, MS? Visit the house Elvis was born in (already did that); drive the Natchez Trace (already did that, too); go to the Tupelo Battlefield with marker, maps, and cannon (very interesting and actually 3 battles fought here); visit the Oren Dunn City Museum and Veterans Museum (we always enjoy area museums and this one was interesting); visit the Tupelo Automobile Museum with over a 100 cars dating from 1899 to 1994 (that was really fun too!)

I only got a few pictures of the Tupelo Battlefield, but it was interesting to
stop there to see the area, especially the map that showed all the skirmishes that were in the area.

The museum told not only the history of Tupelo, but the area. Tupelo was a capital of the Chickasaw Nation and wasn't settled until just before the Civil War. Union soldiers blew up tressels and bridges on either side of the settlement and set up some sort of headquarters here. Interesting history.

The Automobile Museum had several cars from the 1800s and quite a few from 1900 through about 1920. They were sure different! The '60s cars we liked were the Vet and the Tbird right next to each other. There was one car that had 14 made 0 sold and of course there was an Edsel.

I took a picture of the hard top convertible because I remember the television commercials. There was also the car from "The Great Race" and LOTS of other neat cars.

We also made a trip to Sherman RV yesterday ... and ... WE SAW OUR NEW COACH!!!!!! They have to go through it to make sure everything is good to go today, but they said we should be there tomorrow morning so we can do the paperwork and move in! YEAH!!! Then we get to drive 1700 miles to Phoenix again.

I promise to take pictures as soon as I can and get them on the blog. The coach was in a garage when we saw it with all the slides closed so I wouldn't have been able to get a good shot.

Hi, from Tupelo

I only took two picture all during our trip. This is the bridge over the Mississippi at Vicksburg, MS. The next picture is of the Mississippi River.

We left Phoenix Thursday at 1 p.m. We arrived at Tupelo tonight at 5 p.m. THAT'S A FAST TRIP!!!!! We don't like traveling this way. We will now crash for a few days.

Our coach should be ready this week. As soon as it is ready, we will head back to Phoenix. We're hoping to get back before Christmas and if all goes as scheduled, there should be no problem.

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a less hectic one than our 1700 mile drive -- TWICE!