Back from our travels ... and off again!

It was really nice seeing the snow in the mountains when we came home from our 2 month adventure in the south.  It's great being on the road and seeing the beautiful sights, but it is always great to be home.

When we left Phoenix we had planned on allowing two nights on the road to get home.  We ended up just staying in Las Vegas for the first night and then Gary drove the rest of the way to Dayton on the second day - we actually came home a day early.

Of course, our dogs were thrilled to see us.  We tried to share the beads with both of them but only Lady would have anything to do with it!

Lynn was happy to see us, too.  She held down the fort and took care of our dogs while we were gone.  She was kept very busy helping out our parents so I don't think she had much time for herself.  We told her we would take over as much as we could so she could get caught up on some sleep!

Lynn's cat, Tiki, loves to sleep by the fireplace.  She and Lady like to soak up the heat.  I need to get a picture of Apollo in here, too.  Maybe the next blog will have him pictured.

Gary and I started a diet the second week we were home.  We needed a before picture to be able to show and compare with the "after" results.  We hope to post a successful picture .... I need to lose more than Gary but we are working on it together.  The first week we each lost 5 pounds.

It was nice to share Easter with our family.  Heather & Jason came over Saturday night so the girls were busy dyeing Easter eggs.  David just added commentary as they worked!

We got out some of our Mardi Gras beads and let the grandkids have fun.  David chose the gold strands, Becca tried a few colors and Ahren looked through all the special ones.

Amanda likes bling!  The kids each took some of their favorite colors, but not as many as they are wearing in the pictures.

Becca has so many beads on she was getting a neck ache!

I think these are Heather's feet ... but Ahren took the time to look at all the specialties.  I don't remember if she took any home for herself besides the Pete Fountain necklace.  (He's a famous jazz clarinetist from New Orleans)

On Easter Sunday we had an Easter egg hunt and the kids looked all around our very neglected yard.  I guess we need to stay home and do some maintenance on our property.

 Heather has lost about 65 pounds .. doesn't she look great?  I think she inspired me to get on the ball and get the weight off.  Jason lost about 20 pounds, I think and the two of them are like newlyweds!

Mom & Dad were with us, of course, as we celebrated Easter.  We had chicken and vegetable kabobs grilled on our BBQ, a salad bar and deviled eggs.  It was delicious.

We are now in Banning, CA to participate in Gary's RV Service Net Rally.  This is the third time we have gone to the rally - twice in this camp and once in King City.  Gary has already been talking "ham radio" to the people who are already here.  I spent a little time talking to the wives today.  We will be doing some crafts when the guys are doing their radio stuff.
We will be here in Banning until Thursday and plan on being home again next Friday.  Still have plenty on the calendar to do.... Copper Hills Sams campouts each month, Family campout plans, graduation for Mackenzie, maybe a weekend for a small family reunion, and a little more work for my old school.  Somehow it will all work out and we will get all of it done.  We also hope to go up to our property in Oregon and spend a few days.  Geeeeeee....I don't know how we did it before we retired!!!
Enough for now, we hope to keep posting to the blog on a little more regular basis - at least once a week!  There will be some more postings about the Rally this week.