In Memory Of...

Six years ago. Wow, seems like such a long time ago, but then again at times it seems like only yesterday. Six years ago, today, a beautiful little girl was born. My first, natural granddaughter, Haleigh Nicole was born to my daughter, Kimberleigh. It was Kimberleigh’s 1st child. A completely normal, easy pregnancy with no complications. Until today…six years ago. I was in Northern California for Haleigh’s upcoming birth. I didn’t want to miss it…I was there early! We waited…and waited! Finally it seemed like Kim was in labor. We went to the doctor and it was confirmed that indeed Kim was in labor. They had us go ahead to the hospital since the kids lived over an hour away. We were excited. We were happy. We had no idea that our day would end in great sadness and disbelief.

Kimberleigh did wonderfully. On Haleigh’s due date, April 28th, Haleigh Nicole Dickerson was born. I was in the delivery room of Sutter-Roseville Hospital’s Birth Center and was able to witness that great miracle of birth! Haleigh was a beautiful baby with a head full of dark hair! Within minutes of her birth though, the atmosphere in the room changed. Although the nurses were busy cleaning Haleigh and doing what seemed “normal” there quickly became a tension in the room. I heard a nurse on the phone, but I didn’t hear what she said. She was giving Haleigh some “extra” oxygen and then they told us that they were taking her to the nursery to clean her up and weigh her. Her dad, Steven, followed along. What followed turned out to be our greatest nightmare.

I was still in the delivery room with Kim when I heard the loudspeaker outside call “Code Blue Nursery”. I’m not sure how I knew or why, but I knew it was our baby! I told Kim that I would be right back, stepped out into the hall and then literally ran down to the nursery. I arrived in time to see them close the curtains and Steven came out. He told us that Haleigh had needed some assistance and that everything was o.k. I went back to Kim where I told her that it was Haleigh. I wasn’t sure what was wrong but I would try to find out. It took a little while and they came to tell us that they thought Haleigh had a hole in her heart. It turned out to be much worse…worse than we could ever imagine. It seemed like hours, but I don’t think it really was when they came to tell us that they were transporting Haleigh to a Level 1 hospital in Sacramento where they were better able to take care of her. I think it was then they told us she had a heart defect and they would be performing a procedure to “tear” a hole in her heart. At that time we were just waiting for the “Transport Team”. Kimberleigh hadn’t even had a chance to hold Haleigh and I asked if she would be able to at least see her before they took her. I was told that once they “packaged” her up, they would bring her by if it was possible. Imagine having your newborn whisked away within minutes of her birth and not even getting the chance to see her, or say “good-bye”, in case… They did bring her by but it was almost impossible to see her through the tubes and equipment that was surrounding her. Kim was able to touch her hand, but moments later they took her away.

Steven followed the ambulance and I sent the rest of our family home to Kim & Steven’s. Kim was put into a room and we waited, cried and prayed while we waited to hear from Steven. I think our biggest question was “why”. Kimberleigh’s doctor came by and told us that they would release her in a few hours so that she could go to the other hospital to be with Haleigh, but they wanted her to be there for at least 4 hours. At some time Steven called us to say that the procedure was finished, but he didn’t really have any other information. As soon as we could, Kim and I headed to Sacramento. We had our first good look at Haleigh a few hours later. She was so small and hooked up to so many machines! It was heartbreaking to see her. She was on a ventilator and the machines kept beeping and flashing. I don’t remember all the particulars but I know that we were told we were “waiting” for a doctor that was on vacation or something and he wouldn’t be back for a few days. We were also told that Haleigh had “transposed great arteries”. The arteries going in and out of her heart were “transposed” so that the blood that was supposed to be going in was actually going out and vice versa. I remember at the time that they were quite optimistic at that point that she would have heart surgery, her arteries would be reversed and although she still had a long road ahead of herself, she should survive.

My mom, Kimberleigh, Steven and myself became fixtures in the NICU waiting room. We were there for the duration. Kimberleigh and Steven were set-up at the local Ronald McDonald house. If you’ve never had to become familiar with them, they are fantastic and make it so much better for families with sick children. To this day, I can’t say anything but great things about them and what they offer to the families. My mom and I drove back and forth from Sacramento to Beale AFB so that we could take care of the animals at home. Someone from Beale (Steven’s commanding officer?) made sure that I was given a pass so that I could go in and out of the gate without a hassle. They offered to do anything they could for the kids…

On Day 4 Haleigh was taken off the ventilator and put on something that gave her oxygen via nasal prongs. We were finally able to hold her for the very first time! It felt wonderful to get to hold her even though we didn’t have too long. We were able to take pictures with everyone…Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and even Great-Grandma! Kim was hesitant to spend too much time with Haleigh because she had a cold and couldn’t think of anything worse than making Haleigh even sicker. Every time she went in, she wore a mask. Later that day Haleigh was placed back on the vent. It was heartbreaking for all of us.

I think it was about Day 11 when they decided to do an EEG on Haleigh to determine what her brain was doing. I don’t think anyone had ever told us that they feared she had brain damage. That was one of the longest days. You knew it was bad when they asked for Kimberleigh and Steven to come to the hospital to talk about the results. I’m not sure if they gave us false hope or if we were all just in shock, but I truly felt that when they said they would repeat the test in a few days to see if there were any changes, that there could have been…

Even amongst our shock, disbelief and sadness we had a moment of laughter. In the NICU they never turn off the lights. They dim them, but they are always on. At times they would cover Haleigh’s head to shield her from the lights, but there was one day when the lights were dimmed and someone turned them up. Haleigh kind of blinked and looked at us as if to say “hey, turn off those lights”! I know I wondered how they could say she was so brain damaged and yet she would have that kind of reaction. It was so hard to see her, you felt so badly for her. She had monitors all over, the tape that was on her face left her face so red and raw and at times her face and body would be so swollen. It looked so painful.

By this time Haleigh’s outlook looked pretty grim. Steven’s mom flew in from Texas and a day or so later, Don flew up from Southern California. The doctors repeated the EEG and told us that there was severe brain damage and no change from the last test. Basically they told the kids that they would support whatever way they decided to go, but that there was really no hope that Haleigh would ever be a functioning child. She would never be off the respirator, she would never walk, talk, crawl or do anything that a parent would expect her to…and before that would even happen she would still have to survive the surgery to correct her arteries. Her chances were minimal as her kidneys and liver were already beginning to shut down. The decision was made to take Haleigh off the ventilator…

On May 9th, Haleigh was baptized by the hospital chaplain. We were able to dress Haleigh in a dress my sister, Kathy, had given to Kim for her baby shower and wrap her in a beautiful white blanket that my mom had made especially for her. It was the dress and blanket that Kimberleigh had planned on taking Haleigh home in. We were given a private room for the family…in fact it was a room that Kimberleigh had used many times while she was pumping her breast milk for Haleigh. We were finally able to hold her, change her and give her all the love that we could. A nurse came in and took her footprints, handprints and cut off a lock of her hair for Kim and Steven. One of my very favorite pictures of Haleigh is after her handprints when we were cleaning off the ink from her hands. We spent the entire time we had with Haleigh taking turns and holding her and rocking her. She never really ever cried…she only had a whimper or two. I spent a few hours in the middle of the night holding her, singing to her and telling her everything I could think of that I wanted to tell her while Kim tried to get an hour or two of sleep.

The hours quickly drew to a close as we spent time holding Haleigh as her breathing grew shallower and shallower. On May 10th, 2000 Haleigh Nicole Dickerson gently passed away. She was held and surrounded by her family, Mommy – Kimberleigh, Daddy – Steven, Maternal Grandma – Vicki, Maternal Grandpa – Don, Paternal Grandma – Sue, and her Maternal Great-Grandma – Frances.

Even though it’s been six years today, Haleigh is missed, loved and remembered.

Haleigh Nicole Dickerson (April 28, 2000 – May 10, 2000)

“Some people only dream of angels. We got to hold one in our arms”

Getting a Grandma "Fix"

Since we were in Sacramento it seemed like a perfect time to fly east and get a “Grandma Fix”! I was only gone for a few days, but I hadn’t seen Ashleigh since the beginning of November and it would be another few months if I didn’t take advantage of our location! Left Don in the care of our friends, Larry and Carol and they took very good care of him while I was gone!

I had the chance to see Ashleigh’s new pre-school but didn’t get to see her new dance class. She really wanted me to leave another day so I could see her at dance. When I told her I HAD seen her dance class before, she informed me that it was her MONDAY class and not her TUESDAY class! Jeesh, Grandma’s should know the difference!

Of course, she loves to put "make-up" on with Grandma. Can you believe I actually let her use my expensive make-up brush AND make-up? Grandma's sometimes do the silliest things!

Ashleigh loves looking at the pictures as I upload them to her mom’s computer! I also showed her some “older” videos that I had taken on previous visits…she loved watching those and I must have shown them to her a hundred times! She and I laughed and laughed at some of them! They were so funny that everyone had to see them at least once and twice was even better! It’s amazing to see how much she has changed in such a short time! I swear that her legs have doubled in length in the last year…and the baby fat has just turned into the sweetest little girl ever! Hard to believe that in just a few short months she will turn 5 years old! Of course, her personality is ever changing and she is getting so very independent! Her favorite saying “I can do it all by myself”! Got lots of hugs, kisses and playing time in but every visit is way too short and has to end. Ashleigh and I both cry, it’s so much easier when I know when my next visit is to be!

My flight changed planes in Las Vegas. I had a short one hour layover and spent just a few minutes at the slot machines! Won big…$30.75 (it only took me $5.00) so I cashed out and headed over to my gate to wait! Got home (to Sacramento) and the next morning found out that my mom had spent the night in the emergency room. She was later admitted to the hospital for possible diverticulitis. It’s not a good feeling when you’re hundreds of miles away and a family member (mom, dad, sibling, child, etc.) is in the hospital! Thank goodness for cell phones as I was able to keep in touch with my mom and sister and keep updated on her “condition”. Good news to report…she was able to come home today and she’s feeling so much better than a few days ago! I drove 2-1/2 hours to see her and take her home from the hospital and 2 hours back (don’t ask why the ½ hour difference!) but I would do it again in a heartbeat to get her home!

The weather report here in Lancaster? Why should it be any different than some of my blogs lately? Weird weather is forecasted here in Lancaster as well! It’s been very windy yesterday and today, but the worst is yet to come! Rain (so what’s so unusual about that), cold temperatures (really?) and possible snow in the next few days (and my point is?)! We are headed for the Monaco pre-rally (pre to the FMCA rally in Pomona, CA) and thankfully we are all supposed to be parked on blacktop…that really helps when you have these big, heavy motorhomes in rainy weather!

Rain, rain, go away...how cliche!

We’ve had some weird weather lately! Arrived in Harrisburg, OR to have some service work done on the motorhome. A few days later we had some snow flurries! Of course, record lows had to hit the area while we were there as well! Yikes! It was bitter cold! There were quite a few nights when we had to leave the hose disconnected and even one or two when we pulled the slides in so the awnings wouldn’t freeze! We left Harrisburg when we heard there was a winter storm approaching so we wouldn’t get snowed in as we went over the Siskiyou Mountains heading towards California. While we didn’t encounter any snow, we did hit rain…and more rain…and even more rain!

We stopped in Redding, CA which is where we had planned on stopping, but what we didn’t plan was for our alternator to go out! We were driving when Don noticed the amps were discharging or something of that nature. This was Sunday of course, and anything that could repair us in Redding was closed! Drove into the Freightliner Service Center where they diagnosed the alternator. Of course, they didn’t have one to fit. There WAS one in Harrisburg and Las Vegas! How convenient! Monaco over-nighted one for us and we were on our way. A day later, but on the road once again!

Now, I forgot to mention the battle we had the same day as the alternator! We have a satellite dish on the top of the motorhome and I’m sure we’ve been the subject of a few conversations…especially after Monday! On Sunday, we pulled into the camp site, put the satellite dish up and no problems! On Tuesday, pulled into the same exact spot. Only this time the car was unhooked and we were straight! Oh yeah, wait a minute, I forgot on Sunday we had to move into this site from the one right next to it…there was this beautiful tree that was just starting to bloom…right in the way! So I asked if we could more over…no tree…no problem…that is, until Tuesday! Now we didn’t pull up as far so we could reach all of our connections and the car isn’t on back, so we didn’t have to worry about it beign in the street. Well, we can’t “see” the tree that seems to be in the way! Way…way across the street! So we move backwards a few feet. Guess we aren’t looking exactly where the dish is, ‘cuase it still can’t seem to get the signal. Move back a little farther, nope, no luck. Move forward…nope, no luck. I say to Don “we were up a lot farther yesterday, let’s try that”. Now why don’t men like to be corrected? Guess what, it worked! (Gloating here…I tried to tell him there was a tree in the way!) Of course, satellite is SO VERY important! It holds the key for the t.v. AND the computer! 

Today we finally made it to Lodi (close to Sacramento). We are parked in front of some old friend’s house, Carol and Larry Bonadurer (Don used to work with Larry…and I’m not implying that they are old, just an old friendship!) but tomorrow we will move to an RV park so I can do laundry! Plan on staying in this area for about a week and then we are headed south to Lancaster! 

Camp Monaco...

 
 
Here’s where we are…Camp Monaco! Camp Monaco is in Harrisburg, OR where one of the service centers for Monaco Coach is located. It’s about 12 miles from the factory in Coburg. We made this appointment in September 2005. We probably could have gotten in sooner, but there were holidays and other commitments that got in the way!

We had several issues that needed to be corrected but that is pretty typical of a new motorhome, especially considering that as you drive down the road in one of these it’s like a virtual earthquake! Camp Monaco can actually be fun (at least for me)! Of course, there’s bad along with the good! The bad…you have to be up and have your coach “road ready” (slides in, unplugged, unhooked…ready to go) at 7:30 each morning! Ugh! For those that know me…I’m NOT a morning person! The bad…you can’t have your home ‘set-up” unless you want to put it up and take it down every single day. The good…your motorhome gets all the bugs fixed. The good…they keep you well entertained! The bad (according to Don)…I get new ideas for things to spend $$ on! Barbara is the concierge, if you will. She does a great job arranging for us to do different crafts each day. While at Camp Monaco I made picture frames (2), bracelets (3), earrings (4), note cards using several techniques (4 or 5), also decorated a plate for Easter and a clay pot! I think there was something else, but off hand, I don’t remember! She also has lunches and potlucks, movies, cards (where you can win prizes – I won twice!) and on occasion a margarita party or two!  While there we had polish dogs and chili, soup, a Valentine’s Day potluck, root beer floats, margarita cake and a few other things! Yummy and fun! There are also seminars for the guys and various “vendors” for the ladies! We had Mary Kay and Tupperware parties while there.

You also meet a lot of nice people from the Monaco employees to the other Monaco coach owners (Monaco also owns some other “brands” such as Beaver, Safari, Holiday Rambler, etc.) While there we met some “new” friends and ran across “old” friends! You really find out what a small world it is…we ran into acquaintances Nick and Joann Backer in Bismarck, ND (knew them from our So. Calif. days). They parked RIGHT NEXT to us! Also had their appointment the same time as we did! Had a few meals out with them and got to know Joann much better! Met some new friends, Jerri and Lloyd Wood who are also from So. Calif. They were just moving into their new coach. Had a great time crafting with Joann and Jerri! Joann kept telling us that she was craft challenged! She found several crafts that really appealed to her! She and Jerri were so funny together! We also had a great time when we went over to Mike & Lucy Bassett’s house (Mike was our salesman and now also our friend). They have an incredible house about 30 minutes away. Lucy is an incredible cook and a very talented lady! Enjoyed a night out when we reciprocated with dinner at the Outfitters, a local hang-out in Harrisburg! It seems like we ate out a lot because we also had dinner out at “Outback Steakhouse” with Jerri, Lloyd, Nick, Joann and also Jerry and Sue Truelove! That was another fun evening! We were treated to our last night in Harrisburg, to a dinner in Jerri and Lloyd’s new motorhome! Another fun evening…but then again…I can’t think of any evening with Monaco friends that hasn’t been fun!

The other “bad” thing about Camp Monaco is when you leave or those friends you meet leave. The atmosphere is always changing with the coming and going of different people and personalities.

An Unexpected Bonus!

Since we weren't able to get a campsite in Arizona, we came back to So. Calif. It turned into an unexpected bonus for us as we were able to attend our granddaughter, Allison's 6th birthday party just days before we were leaving for Oregon! I don't know who was more excited, Allison or I! Another unexpected bonus was getting to see Allison's first lost tooth! She was so excited to show us both her tooth (she saved it instead of leaving it for the tooth fairy...another story) and the space it used to occupy! :-) She was so cute! She asked us to call her "6 year old" instead of Allison, but just for the day! Her party was held at a place called "My Gym" and I think she had a wonderful time! It's a great place to have a party...I know that the kids go home very tired and ready for bed! Allison went home, opened up all her gifts and then she was ready for bed! She told me it was one of the best birthdays she has had! I enjoyed the time watching her and playing with our grandson, Brian. We had missed his first birthday when we were waiting for a radiator. That's the biggest downfall to being a full-timer, we can't always be where we want to be, when we want to be, as fast as we would like! You can only cover so many miles a day! We had a great day spending time with our grandchildren and taking lots of pictures!

Quartzsite, AZ - AKA The Dust Bowl

This was our first time in Quartzsite…we had heard many things about it, but until you experience it for yourself – you haven’t DONE Quartzsite!

We met up with our friends from the GS Kountry Kampers at a campout the weekend prior to going to Quartzsite, in Banning, CA. On Sunday, there were 7 couples that caravanned from Banning to Quartzsite. Soon after crossing the border into AZ we stopped for fuel and at that point, we left the caravan. We were parking with friends from our MCOA (Monaco Coach Owners Association) group in another location. Ironically, we were probably less than 1/8 mile from each other and we walked past “their camp sites” every time we went to the RV show tent, Rice Ranch, or the other shopping areas of Quartzsite!

You know you’re in for an adventure as soon as you “crest the hill” coming into Quartzsite and the surrounding areas. There are motorhomes, trailers and RV’s of every size, shape, and vintage…some even home-made…parked anywhere and everywhere in the desert, in between the cactus! It’s really quite a site! There are a few companies that take aerial shots just to show you how amazing it is!

Anyhow, once we got off the Interstate we were greeted over our FRS radio by our wagon-leader, Lew Anderson! Don was getting a little panicky about just pulling off into the desert, so Lew actually met us at the ranger station! Sure eased Don’s mind! We paid our $$, unhooked the car and Lew led us into our “site”! We were greeted by Dottie (Lew's wife), Ostrander’s, Bahnson’s, Roe’s, Morrison’s and Rea’s. Clarkson’s joined us a few days later. Once we arrived, got set-up and had our chairs out the fun began! We had plenty of shopping at the different venues in and around the desert! There are swap meet type booths set up just about everywhere you look! I think you could find just about anything your heart desired from food, jewelry, clothing, tools, RV based products, etc., etc., etc.! The ladies in the group had fun finding all three of the craft stores that are in Quartzsite and had a few “mini” classes on their own! We also found the local grocery stores as well! The men sat around drinking beer and $2 Buck Chuck (a favorite of theirs) and solving all the problems of the world and of course discussing (and disecting) our Monaco products! Lew became our own resident barber! The women kept the men fed with hors devours and their regular meals…some shared and some on our own. Don talked the group into getting $1 burgers one night! $20 fed a lot of people with some pretty good hamburgers that came with buns and grilled onions. We supplemented them with condiments, cheese, chips, and of course, dessert! We enjoyed many toasty nights by the camp fire with plenty of wood, marshmallows and peanuts! Dottie likes hers burned to a crisp (I think she likes to see them catch on fire) where I like mine nice and evenly browned! Forgot to mention we had a potluck one night where Linda Clarkson shared some of her yummy chili! It was so good that she had won a chili cooking contest with it (she says one of her secrets is buffalo)! We also had some really yummy macaroni and cheese that Glenda Roe made! Lots of great hors devours and food - we never went hungry, that’s for sure! Seems campers of every kind do plenty of eating!

Even though we were in the middle of the desert, we had several visitors! My mom, sister, Kathy and her husband, Jon came to Quartzsite on Saturday to experience Quartzsite. Bill & Kathy Corroum, new MCOA friends that “rescued” us while we were in AR came over (they were parked elsewhere in Quartzsite) and a friend of mine from an online, tole painting list, Robin Cramer and her husband, Steve also stopped by! It was fun seeing friends in the middle of nowhere! It makes you realize just what a small world we really live in!

Don and I were going to stay in AZ for another week or so before beginning our trek to Oregon, but it wasn’t to be…there were no reservations available, so we headed back to Nuevo, our “holiday destination”! I thought it was kind of sad as one by one, each of us headed off in different directions and by the following Sunday, we all packed up and headed off for new adventures! We had a lot of fun with our MCOA friends and look forward to meeting up with all of them again! Once back in Nuevo I spent about 4 hours cleaning the dirt and the dust that seemed to find it's way just about everywhere in the coach! Remind me about that next year when we once again think about going to Quartzsite! :-)

Here we are in 2006!

The holidays are over, the Christmas decorations are put away and now we are into a brand new year! For us, it's started out with a BANG! Don had knee surgery last Friday...what a way to start out the new year! :-) It had been bothering him since we were in the mid-west, don't remember exactly where it began to bother him. A trip to the doctor once we arrived in Arkansas, gave him temporary relief. By the time we had reached sunny, So. California, it was time to see our long-time doctor. An MRI showed a torn meniscus and a large ganglion cyst. Another trip to our doctor to get the results and then some quick finagling to get in and get it taken care of! We saw our doctor on Tuesday, they referred us to an orthopedic doctor, they managed to squeeze us in the same day (you just have to explain that you travel for a living) and that same day we went to the hospital for all the pre-admit stuff! No time to back out or get too nervous by not having much time in between!

We were able to enjoy our holidays with family and friends, spending the week before Christmas helping my sister get ready for her wedding (don't ask...we've already told her she was crazy for planning a weddng at the time of year)! We spent Christmas with our family in Nuevo, ran off to Aguanga (Outdoor Resorts) to spend New Year's with some of our friends that own lots there and then off to the Rose Parade! (See Blog below for THAT story)! After returning to Nuevo we were able to join up with some of our Monaco friends for pizza (and beer) and hope to join them and more Monaco and non-Monaco friends in a few days in Indio for the FMCA Western Area Rally. That's the beginning of our whirlwind few months coming up in the first few months of 2006!

Happy New Year and a Rainy Day Rose Parade!

Who would of thought that we would have rain...and not just any rain, but torrential rain at the Rose Parade! Of course, it hasn't rained in 51 years! Figures it would rain on this one!

So this year we took my niece, Katrina and her two children, Harmony (3) and Justice (6). They live in Hawaii so they were freezing! The kids and I made it for almost the entire parade, but about the last 15 minutes. Katrina and my mom made it the entire parade...Don watched the entire parade on t.v. and in the comfort of a dry motorhome! I have to say, he was probably the smartest of the bunch! We were completely soaked once we came inside, even with the plactic bags, trash bags and umbrellas! Well, at least it's one parade we won't soon forget!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Started out from Little Rock, AR on Saturday morning. It was a little later than we like, but hey, at least we were on the road! :-) NLR Diesel did a great job in getting our old radiator out and the new one in, they were just a little more laid back than we ex-Californian’s are used to! Made it to Oklahoma City, OK where we spent the night. We thought it was cold in Little Rock, but it was colder in OK City! The temps at night were low, low 20’s! Yikes! It was pretty nippy when we started out on Sunday a.m. The transmission temp of the motorhome was ONLY 31 degrees! Finally made it to the low – mid 40’s by the time we got here…Tucumcari, NM! It’s supposed to be in the low teens tonight here as well! Just keeps getting colder…until we get back to So. California that is! Just doesn’t seem like Christmas Day though when you have to have the a/c on because the temps are in the 80-90’s! Saw that there is a “chance” of snow showers here tonight! What? The entire time we were in Arkansas, Don wore shorts! It got mighty cold, but there he was in shorts! I didn’t think he was going to change into long pants until we got back into California, but guess what? This morning he put them on! Just went to take Tess out and guess what he asked for? A jacket! I think the temperature (or maybe it’s the altitude) is beginning to get to him! :-)

Had an e-mail message that one of our camping friends, Chuck Bashaw had passed away. He had been suffering from cancer for awhile now. While you always hate to have anyone pass away, I cherish the thought that at least they are no longer suffering. To have “quality” of life means a lot to me. Chuck was always one of the first that would volunteer and he was always one to help many of our single or older members when they needed help – in any way! Chuck and his wife, Norma were charter members of our camping chapter, Kountry Kampers so we’ve spent lots of campouts with them! Chuck was our best fire tender! He loved to feed the campfires often to Norma’s consternation! Don and I will miss Chuck!

The bottom picture is the view from our door...the field Tess loves to run in! I wish I had taken this picture right after we got here. The colors were spectacular! Now it's just nice! The picture here is just driving down the street!

Bad news/good news today! Last week our radiator finally arrived. It was the day before Thanksgiving though, so no work last week. They thought they might be able to get us in by Wed. of this week. Today they called and told us the earliest they would be able to get to us was the END of NEXT week! Not! Don and a new friend of ours drove into Little Rock and found another place to have the radiator replaced at! They were going to pick up our 400 lb. radiator today or first thing in the morning! They hope to get us started tomorrow! We might be on track after all!

It will be kind of sad leaving here...it's gotten pretty familiar after 6 weeks! Have had a chance to do a few things with our kids, that's been fun! I'm certainly not looking forward to getting back into the fast pace, crowds, and busy freeways! While we've been here we've gotten an education on weather! I think we've had at least 3 tornado watches/warnings while here! Since we don't have "local" channels (only east and west coast feeds...not sure what good THEIR weather would do us), we have no way of knowing when a weather condition exists! That's when the "Weather Bug" we have on our computer comes into play! It "chirps" whenever there is severe weather around us!