Winter?....... or summer?

Dec. 30 Today was so hot, we

couldn't remember if it was summer
or winter- so we went swimming-

and hiking (with our friends, Russ

and Liz from Canada. The friendly
man at the Y let us all in for free,
maybe because we were a bunch of

happy zealous Canadians, who knows. The kids loved it, we had the place practically to ourselves
except for the 2 old men in speedos who happened to do a 45
minute stretch routine in front of our very eyes. Oh well, anything goes at the Y.

Elena and Liam had a blast playing together

this week. She will miss him!

North Mountain reserve park near

Scottsdale is really beautiful. The hiking was

great for kids with nicely paved

paths. Dan made us wear our Peru shirts from his mom. (She just went there.) There was a brown family that was smiling at us real big so maybe they were from Peru, who knows. My shirt said (in Espanol)- someone who loves you very much bought you this shirt in Peru! Ha ha, the kids loved them. Thanks mom.

Thanks for visiting us and showing us a great time Russ and Liz. You guys are great, we will miss you!

Holidays!

Christmas holidays have been fun at our house this year. I look out my window every morning and feel an instant uplift from the bright sun shining out at me. I see the green field with 200 sheep and wonder how I was so lucky to end up in a place that is just summertime all year long.

Elena got this keyboard from Santa this year, she has been attached like glue to it ever since.

Sierra got this scooter for

Christmas and she was

thrilled to ride it outside

on Christmas day!

This preying mantis caught the kids attention for a while, they loved it.

Our friends from Canada came to visit us for a couple days. They arrived in shorts and t-shirts. I couldn't help laughing because when the sun goes down, it actually gets quite cold here.

Fun times on Christmas day caroling and games with my cousin Maria and her family.

Merry Christmas!!

We do a family letter and picture every other year. So this is last year's picture. Since we aren't doing a letter this year I will just say Merry Christmas to all friends and family. We miss you and hope you are doing well. We are looking forward to having lots of company come stay with us in January and February. As our blog suggests we are very happy living here in Arizona. Dan's work is great, and he couldn't ask to work for a better company. Frito Lay, ~lots of free chips and good benefits.
The children are doing well in school and making alot of friends. Dan keeps busy as the Young Men's president and I keep busy with little Maysa at home. We have been blissfully enjoying the 70 degree winter in the Arizona desert and continue to discover beauty all around us. We have good faithful friends here and hope to buy a house in the very near future!
We plan on staying in Casa Grande permanently as it is everything we had hoped for plus more. The immigration fees and 2 year wait time was well well worth it. Hope everyone will have a fantastic Christmas, thanks for reading today!

Ten Years - We got it!!

So we have ten years! Dan and I celebrated our anniversary by climbing to the top of Picacho Peak last Friday. The guy that took our picture said, "wow ten years and still in love?" Dan said- "even more so".

Love you too Dan! Even if you didn't touch the "sissy ropes" -even once- and by so doing stopped my heart on several occasions! You are the best. Even if we are still a little immature at least you make me laugh every day. Even if you are my big handsome trucker dude at least you're strong and bring home the bacon. Even if you forgot the roses at least you went back to get them as soon as you came home. You are the sweetest best husband a little Canadian farm girl could ask for. Don't you forget it.