Christmas In Arkansas

We woke up to a winter wonderland Wednesday after Christmas

Christmas morning the kids had some surprises in their stockings.

Joy dressed to the nines for Christmas eve.

Josiah dressed up, too, and brightened up for the occasion of gift opening. (He fought a fever that finally broke Friday afternoon.)

Our children received this manger last Christmas. Joy set it up this year, notice the angels on top of the stable.

A Great Concert In Missouri

We had a terrific concert in Republic, Missouri.

Josiah shared some great sounds. He and Joel have been working on a song they call "The Train." They also played "Jesus Loves Me."

Then Joy had an opportunity to play the ukelele and violin.

California - Pacific Coast Beach

We had a great time at Newport Beach.

This was the first time Joy and Josiah got to run on the beach of the Pacific Ocean. They had a great time running from the waves and got wetter than planned.

They even found a chance to just walk away from us.

Grand Canyon National Park South Rim

Pictures just cannot do justice to landscape after a global flood!

We met a family in the Grand Canyon who had visited two years earlier when the ground was covered with three feet of snow and the temperatures were in the teens. We had lots of sunshine and night temperatures in near 30 degrees. Who could ask for more?

We parked south of Tusayan, Arizona less than twenty miles from the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park. We had no neighbors during our four days of boondocking among the trees.

Anniversary Number 22!

We celebrated our anniversary while spending time near Grand Canyon National Park. The food and service, by Jesus, at the Coronado Room were great.

New for 2012

We left South Dakota on December 26th while the weather was holding. The most snow we saw on our way to Arizona was in Grants, New Mexico where they had had two storms: one brought 14 inches of snow and the other brought 8 inches. The city isn't prepared for the removal of that much snow, there were rutted streets and piles of snow everywhere.

Family Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with Finnesgards one week early at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Bismarck, North Dakota. All of us were together with the exception of our nephew, Jesse Baade.
This is only a portion of the gifts and givers. We had a terrific time and enjoyed being together.


Monday before Christmas my Dad, Lu, visited us. We had a delicious meal at the Centerville Steakhouse with him one evening.