Visiting the guys in Fresno!

On Monday we had lunch with Craig and Claire.  They are both on break from law school.  Craig is working full-time in the law firm and Claire works part time in her Dad's law firm.  They are very busy with wedding plans!  It will be the second biggest wedding of the year, just a bit smaller than Englands Prince William!!!!

Last night we had dinner with Chip and Hailey and Stephen and Marissa.  All but Chip have finals yet this week.  Marissa leaves on Friday for Missouri with her family for a week. 

We have more get togethers planned with the kids this week but today Ted and I are going up to Coarsegold to meet our friends Judy and Clem (red lippers from Ted's High School) for an early dinner and a little gambling at Chukchansi Casino!  It rained yesterday but is showing partly cloudy for today and in the 50's so we don't think we'll find any snow!

Family and "vice"..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Red Lips Christmas Party 2010

It's Sunday evening and we are in Fresno recouperating from the Red Lips weekend!  What a fun time.  Our hosts Billy and Vicky Whited (from Sweetwater High, Ted's high school) are the best. 

On Saturday, Billy and Vicky's son Jeff, who is in a band, had some of his fellow muscians over to play some good time rock and roll music!  The band was great and Billy and Craig (party attendees, even sang some songs with the band)!

We took pictures all day long, here are some new classics:

As you can tell, we were already having fun and then came the gift exchange.  Each person brings a $5 gag gift and a $20 good gift:

Vicky picked one of Phil's gifts last year, Glen.  This year she tried really hard not to pick Phil's gift...oops!

One gift that keeps on giving each year is Mr. Dickhead.  You remember Mr. Potatohead?  You can use your imagination on that one!  You can bet that 2010 is NOT the last time this one will be seen!!!!!

After the gift exchange, there is always a group picture.  Unfortunately this year Marion wasn't feeling well and so she and Pat had to head back to San Diego.  Craig also had to leave before the gift exchange, but here is the rest of the gang that attended!

This morning we had breakfast together and then everyone went their separate ways:

Great fun, food and friendship..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Atwater, California 2010

Today we left Sacramento and headed south to Atwater.  We are staying at the Air Castle RV Park and Air Museum.  We are now official members of the Air Museum.  They add new planes all the time and is a large, interesting museum.  The RV Park is a parking lot with a park!  But they have 50 amps and sewers so life is grand!

I haven't mentioned it, but after all the trouble with our truck registration, it is now official!!!!  We have truck and RV registered in South Dakota!

Attending Christmas parties with friends..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Raining in Sacramento!

Sunday was a rainy day watching the Chargers lose!  Sunday night was rainy and extremely windy!  We went over to Yuba City on Monday, north of Sacramento to look around and pick up some groceries.

Yesterday we met our friends Joel and Lale for dinner.  They are looking well.  Lale had a pacemaker put in a few months ago and is doing so much better.

Today it's raining again and we are just planning a trip over to Camping World to pick up some RV stuff.  Pretty boring to write about but nice relaxing days!

Tomorrow we leave for Atwater to party with our red lip friends!

The first party of the holidays..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Sacramento December 2010

We had a fun 24 hours in Fresno.  I got my hair cut (thank God) and we saw the kids.  We had happy hour with Craig and Claire before they went to Craig's office Christmas party!  Claire looked beautiful and Craig handsome, but unfortunately I didn't have my camera.  We did some Coldwater Creek shopping before heading home!  On Saturday before leaving Fresno we met Chip and Haley and Stephen (Marissa was unavailable) for breakfast. 

The kids are all doing great.  Chip's getting pretty good hours at the company and is getting paperwork together to substitute teach (including being to coach wrestling) at the high school.  Haley is doing great at Fresno State and has been accepted to the graduate nursing program and is excited about school.  Stephen is working a lot at the bike shop for Christmas and doing well at Fresno State.  He's changed his major and plans to go into real estate law, so law school after Fresno State!  Marissa is doing very well at community college and is thinking about the nursing program for her future.  Craig and Claire are very happy and are doing well in law school!

We are now up in Sacramento to visit some friends.  From our campsite we can see quite a bit of snow on the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

A quick visit with the kids..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Enjoying the Valley of Fire!

Yesterday we took a drive in the park.  We hiked back to the "Mouse Tank".  It was named this because of a renegade Paiute indian who caused great trouble for other indians and settlers.  He used this area to hide because of all of the nook and crannies.  There is a "tank" made from a stream worn basin which traps and holds water for long periods of time!  We were surprised at how much water was being held in this rock. 

Along the way we saw many petroglyphs.   There are some writings that we couldn't figure out how someone could have climbed up to write on the rock face!

We also hiked to the "petrofied logs" that were found in the park.  There was a forest several miles from the park made up of Pine trees.  From the "age of reptiles" over 150 million years ago the floods carried the trees to the park.  They were buried under sand, silt and seawater.  The water around the logs deposited the minerals in the logs crevices.  The pretty colors were caused by oxides of manganese or iron.

This morning we left Nevada and are in Bakersfield tonight.  We will spend tomorrow night in Fresno.  I need a haircut and we will see the guys!  We will be back on the 12th to spend more time with them.

Seeing the sights of the Valley of Fire..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Camping in the Valley of Fire

We left Las Vegas on Tuesday morning headed for the Valley of Fire, about 55 miles north and east of Las Vegas.  It is really gorgeous here.  The campground is surrounded by red sandstone and is so nice, has water and electric only, and lots of space between campers.   It was 45 degrees at 2:00 when we arrived and stayed in the low 30's all evening and this morning.  Max is really enjoying his walks and sitting on Dad's lap!

We leave here tomorrow morning and will end up in Fresno so I can get a hair cut.  We will then head up to Sacramento to visit some friends before heading to Atwater for a Christmas party with our RLS friends!

Enjoying the peaceful scenery and the red red rock..."Ain't Life Grand!"