2011 Year End

Wow!  It’s been a long time since we sent out a Christmas greeting.  We didn’t send anything last year because of our extended trip to Alaska.  After living in the motorhome for 14 months it was time to get back to NM, but we still had our good renters, Dylan, Amy, Zed, Talmage and Wes Matsumori

in our home so, it was July before we got to move back into our house.  But, before that we had some more travels.

 We had an unusual winter in Las Cruces.  The freeze was so hard and long that it killed many of the palm trees throughout.  We lost  3 on our property.

We actually arrived back in Las Cruces in November, 2010 and lived in the local RV park, Coachlite Inn, close to where Bernice worked as office mgr. for Mesilla Valley Pecan. We took off again in April to attend our annual event, the Moab Jeep Safari in Utah, and then went to Sacramento for granddaughter Brittany and Brandon’s wedding. 

 

We had a great visit with Bernice’s children before traveling to Richfield to spend some time with Melissa and family.  Jack took off from SLC for a week in Alaska to help our friend Shari dispose of her husband’s archery collection, and Bernice got an extended visit with daughters Shelly and Melissa, as well as visits with her Dad and sisters Christina and Pauline.

 Last year, on our way back from Alaska, we got our 24th grandbaby, Victoria Hwa Hsu, born to Julie and Tim.  We were fortunate to be able to attend her birth in 2010, and to spend some time with that sweet granddaughter, when we were in Denver this past June.  We also got to visit with Jack’s other children, Joel, Andrea and Ashley and their better halves.  Jack got to introduce Tim, Jason and Zac to the sport of Archery!  Then, it was off to Texas, where we got to see grand nephew Patrick Beasley perform in a play outside of Dallas, before heading to Houston, where Jack shot archery in the 2011 National Senior Olympics.   After Houston we toured San Antonio, and enjoyed the River Walk, dinner with grandson David, the historic missions, and reviewing the history of the Alamo.

 Jack shot at Houston with 2 of his Las Cruces friends, Jimmy Head and Gene Bates.

In August we took a quick trip back to Utah to help Bernice’s Dad, Jay Murray, celebrate his 95^th birthday!

September took Jack to his 50^th college reunion in Nebraska, where he had a good week of visits with good friends, relatives and reliving fun memories.

We had a great time at the Ruidoso, NM Cowboy Symposium this past October.  We were fortunate to work the event, which gave us entry to everything.  Some of the highlights were working the Mel Tillis concert, listening to the many great country and blue grass groups, as well as helping with the Robinson’s Cook Wagon for the cook-off event. 

We loved the early morning walk on the sandy beach.     

We managed to get in some jeepin’ in Las Cruces, and even visited with friends and family in So. California.

Visits with David, Krystal and Scott  were both unexpected, and sweet treats.  Love those grandkids!  

We had a very good year, and thank the Lord for our good health.  We hope the best for you and yours. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Oct 2011 Cowboy Symposium

What a great time!  Shirley & Mike Gray invited us to work the Cowboy Symposium with them in Ruidoso, NM.  We have tried to do it for several years, but finally we made it happen.  What a good time.  We took tickets, seated people for the  very entertaining Mel Tillis concert, and helped at a cook camp - the Robertson's with a dutch oven cook-off.  The participants use old time covered wagons as their kitchen.And for this we were admitted to everything at the event for free.  We took the motor home, so we had a camp out in comfort for the weekend.  We really enjoy being in our motorhome.

Later in the month, we made a trip to So. California.  This is not a trip we take often, as Jack doesn't appreciate all the traffic.  We had planned to visit a few friends early in the spring, but the wedding of Brittany (granddaughter) & Brandon Nobel changed our plans.  So, we decided to drive the Sebring and go for just a few days.  They all invited our dogs to come, too.  First we visited my longtime girl friend, Jaynita and husband John Spencer in Riverside, the city I grew up in. Jaynita had just completed the remodeling of her beautiful kitchen,  then went to Laguna Beach to spend some time with Jacks college friend Duane & wife Karin.  They have a lovely home with a beach front view.  Then we went to San Diego (Vista) to see Shari Harlow & her mother Reina, and friend Dennis. Shari is the good friend we spent the summer with in Alaska.  She has since moved to Vista after the death of her husband, Art.  It was good to see her again and see the new Shari - new body, new hair, and new goals.....