Winding down....

   The year is winding down...Only about two weeks to go and we will usher in 2014. We had a quiet Thanksgiving, a day where we worked in the office and then later joined about 100 others for a nice dinner in the Activity Center. We traded a few days with our good friends Jeff and Stella so they could go home to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving, and then in turn they will work a few days for us so we can head home for Christmas. It was a very cold and wet Thanksgiving week. We were grateful to have a place to spend with friends and enjoy dinner but we sure did miss being with family!
   In just a few days we will be loading up the truck and heading over to Oceanside...Lucas just turned 5 so we will be spending Saturday the 21st at Legoland and Sunday the 22nd at Disneyland to celebrate! Add our two little grandson's in Oceanside and it should be a wild and crazy weekend!

At home Lucas celebrated with his cousins, Olivia, Makayla and Abbey T while they decorated the Christmas tree!

 Here in the desert we began getting ready for this very special time of year...Our awesome neighbor Jeff went out into the desert and took a photo for our Christmas card....

We decorated our 5er a bit with a few things we brought from home. I do miss the smell of a fresh cut tree though! I brought the tree from home that I always would decorate and put in the kitchen...this year it was loaded with ornaments!

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Out in Colorado David and Sarah and Mister Jax put up their tree too! Is this a precious little mister or what??! 

   We are so looking forward to being home in Plumas Lake for several days and seeing more family and some very dear friends. Does it get any better than that?! David and Sarah are flying in on the 23rd with little Jax for Christmas...it should be a wonderful week!

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We were so blessed to get to spend some time before we leave

with some very special friends from home in Plumas Lake. George and Pam are now living in Phoenix so we were able to hook up at their church, Foothills Baptist, and then go out to a delicious lunch at Longhorn Steak House. What a fun couple! George has had a few health problems but really looks amazing! I couldn't quit commenting on how good he looked. We look forward to having them come down our way and check out where we are residing!

After we got home from Phoenix I just wanted to go out and see

the desert before settling in for the night. I NEVER tire of the beauty of the desert....the sun was just about to set....

   One thing I have learned here...all Saguaro's are NOT created equal. You will never find two that are the same. This one above is very, very old.

  The three saguaro's in the foreground are somewhere around 20-25 years old. The one in the back is well over 100 years old..it could be 150 years old. I love them!

    The sun was getting ready to set...what a peaceful place. The bench is there for anyone that might want to sit and just enjoy the desert, the quiet, the beauty.

    There is a bit of debris out in some of the wash areas that has been there for many years. Someone with a sense of humor made these little faces in the sand in several places.
   Again, please click on the photos to view them full-sized!