Hi Everyone! Yes, I am still alive and have some updates for you! I just got back from Arizona last night visiting Kaye and her family and spending some time with Mom while she is there. We had a very nice visit!! Mom is there until this weekend. I got home last night to snow here in Portland. I was supposed to go into work today but, since I wasn't on shift, blew it off to stay home and get caught up after being away. (Steve said I was playing hookey!)

Great Grammie with 14 month-old Ethan! He stole all of our hearts!

The visit in Mesa was just wonderful! Mom got there on the 14th and I joined her on the 20th. Kaye and Mike's two sons took the day off on Wednesday the 21st and went with us to Quartsite to see Uncle Pete and Aunt Janet! We had a bit of a delay since I forgot my passport for geting out of Mexico and had to wait for Fex Ex to deliver it. Ugh! Steve was nice to get it sent off for me. I thought of it just as I was landing...oops!

We had a wonderful time with the Felins! Uncle Pete entertained us with his new toy Segway. Even I can ride that thing. Its really fun. I can just imagine him tooling around Quartsite with folks running to take cover when they see him coming!!

Uncle Pete and Great- Grand-Nephew Ethan!

Danielle, (Nate's wife) having fun on Uncle Pete's Segway! She's a natural cruiser!

Uncle Pete took us all out to lunch and then to the Big Event! There was a huge Flea Market in Quartsite the day we were there. We wandered around looking for something fur-lined that Uncle Pete wanted...didn't find it though.

The "kids" headed back to Mesa and Mom and Kaye and I said good-bye to Pete and Janet and headed to Yuma. (2 hours south of Quartsite.) We spent the night there and went into Mexico across the border in California at Algodones. We wandered around and shopped some, getting pestered at every turn by people selling their wares. I bought a yard decoration of a bird. We were laughing that I paid $14 for a couple of rocks! It's really fun, though. (I put it out in the snow today here in Portland. I hope it doesn't crack!)

Nate and Ethan. So serious, guys?!

Nate, Kaye and Mom in front of Officer Peterson's home!

We got back to Mesa late Thursday night and headed over to meet Nate (Kaye's oldest son) and Danielle' to tour an olive grove. We enjoyed our afternoon and then headed over to Nate's home. They have such a charming home in a beautiful development. Danielle stays home with Ethan and is currently 5 months pregnant with baby no. 2! Her due date is June 30th so I'm hoping for June 28th which is Dad's birthday. It could happen!

Kaye's son Chris treated us to dinner at The Outback that evening. They all sure treated us like royalty!

Kaye's "boys" Chris (21) and Nate (24). The waitress thought they were twins so they posed for us! (You'd better stretch a little more Nate if you want to look as tall as your little brother.)

Girl's Day Out! Kaye, Danielle, Mom and me. (Can you even tell Danielle is 5 months along?!)
On Saturday it was girl's day out! Mom, Kaye, Danielle, Danielle's mom Donna and I all went out for a pedicure and asian food. We basically indulged ourselves all afternoon while the guys had the "chore" of keeping care of 14 month-old Ethan. Except for Danielle getting a break, the rest of the women - Great Grammie, Grammie, Nona, and Auntie Sandi, would have enjoyed having Ethan with us!

Four of us showing off our toes!! Can you guess which "little piggies" belong to whom?

On Sunday after church, Kaye and Mom and I went to visit Kaye's friends Gene and Loraine whose home sits on a former grapefruit orchard. Every time we are in Arizona this time of year, these folks let us come and pick all the grapefruit we want!! It was like old times when Dad used to come with us and we could pick all we could use in a matter of minutes since the fruit is so big. I brought home a second suitcase full of grapefruit and lemons. Yum! Nothing like that wonderful fresh fruit!! It didn't get smooshed in the commute, but I did have a friendly note from the airline that they inspected my bag. I guess the delicious smell of citrus was just too compelling for TSA to pass it up!

"Lemon Tree - very pretty!" Ok - it's grapefruit, but you get the idea. Ahhh! The smell! The taste! The sunshine!!! Kaye and Mom were posing for the blog.

Mom is staying until Saturday although the snowy weather forecast may persuade her to linger in the sunshine a little longer. Here are some pics of the snow in Spokane...would you want to return home if you had a choice?

Mom's Driveway in the sunshine.

Twilight on the front lawn. Beautiful blue snow scene. Spokane had 6 feet of snow!!

Hope this finds you all well and enjoying winter. We are all doing well and looking ahead to new things in 2009. I am hoping to go to the Grand Canyon and to Washington D.C. this year and to Florida to see Tyson. In the back of my mind is Hawaii and Chicago. Ahh...so many places and so little time. I'll try to do a better job of keeping in touch via the blog. Stay warm however you can! See you next time.

Blessings!