I know it's been a while but we've missed you.

Yes, I know that many people thought we had disappeared or stopped this amazing full-time lifestyle but it's not anything like that.  There are a few reasons that this update took so long. We have been rather busy and also threw in a knee surgery; but I won't go into them all the long drawn out reasons. We are also in Tucson, AZ again. This is actually the first place that we have returned to that we have camped in.  (With that said, when we sit, we have a bit less to share (or I think so) so we waited.)  We were in Tucson from Feb to Jul last year and left.  After we left here 5 July, we headed due north and did 7 states, 2 countries, 22 National Parks, 14,000 miles and met some amazing people.  So, here we are again in Tucson for a few months to see friends, have knee surgery, and have a few things done to the RV. 

Here we go for a little catching up...

We left March Air Reserve Base after having to say bye to Leo (our four legged kiddo) and headed South through California.  Our next destination was Coronado Island in beautiful San Diego. After originally reserving 4 days, we loved it so much that we stayed 2 weeks. The park was nice, right on the bay and we had lots of kayaking and paddle boarding time.  We also got to catch up with friends from our church in O'Fallon, IL ; that was a blessing. We also met a ton of new folks, many of who were liveaboards (those who live on a boat full time) in the marina.  We met an active duty Navy family and had a blast at his 60th birthday party...found out Kamryn has a love of dancing thanks to this party! We spent some time on their boat and a few others and hung out on the docks for many hours.  We also met a family who just retired from the Navy and will be sailing full time for mission work.  We spent an afternoon with them and went out for lunch and had many stories to share on both sides   We were able to get free tickets for the whole family to Sea World just for being military veterans and had a wonderful day checking out ocean animals and fun rides. Kelly and Zachary wanted to take surfing lessons, but after checking prices against our budget, we decided we would teach ourselves! For the price of 1 lesson, we were able to rent boards and wetsuits for Kelly and the boys. When David came for a visit on his college break, we went surfing again but this time was a special present from their Aunt Karen. We did some stretches and watched YouTube videos and had a blast tryin to surf. All the boys were able to stand up and catch a wave...Kelly was thankful to stay on the board and ride on her belly!  David of course wanted to go above and beyond, so he decided to get stung by a stingray...new story to be told!

Taking a tour of a friend's liveaboard.  We could do this!

Kamryn knew just what to do.  She came up to the deck and yelled, "Permission to come aboard?!" It was a highlight!

Another liveaboard boat that was quite different than the other that we were on but just as neat. 

Thank you Sea World for a free day of fun!

Loving it!

Had a Great conversation with this young lady. 

We decorated for Christmas a little more than last year and had a blast starting the season in San Diego.  There was so much to do at the RV park and there was a boat lighting and RV light party and all of the full-timers had a little shin-dig.  We hung lights, bought a 18 in tree and decorated our house.  It was great!

Funny story...in San Diego in Nov, Kamryn saw the people next to us pull in and walk their cat on a leash. So, of course she jumped off of her bike and shared her pet love.  We got to know them and say bye when we left.  Yesterday, (3 months later) they pulled into Tucson, Az right next to us!  They had even been to Minnesota and back.  It was a great reunion!  Small world.

Kamryn and daddy gathering shells in San Diego. 

Day 1 at Cloninger Surfing Academy

Kamryn practicing "popping up" on a boogie board getting ready for her surfboard. 

Round 2 at the Cloninger Academy of Surfing

This is David Lee and Baywatch talking about his stingray sting. 

This is daddy treating David Lee's stingray sting at home!

Another on the list.

Decorating for Christmas is quite an occasion of small proportion. 

The marina/fam cam held a Christmas shin-dig with food and crafts. 

Gingerbread houses were monstrous with these kids!

"Eating out" in San Diego with no utensils and no bread.  We forgot!...whatever, we'll survive. 

While in Sand Diego, we played tourists...I stand corrected...my wife freaked out and wanted to see all of the Top Gun sites that she could.  I obliged as a loving husband and we went to a number of the sites form the movie.  We even ate at the restaurant in the movie and had a neat day of seeing some cool sites that we would not have other wise seen. 

I don't know if you can tell but that is really Kelly and I. 

Happy girl!

This was at a National Park but the house I the background was in Top Gun.  Well, and there's a few good looking people in the picture also. 

The marina in San Diego where we were parked.  This was our yard. 

We were right next to the Navy Seals base so we got to watch them train. 

We visited an old mine and boy was it a site!  This is the toxic runoff in the bottom of the pit. 

We left San Diego and headed back to Tucson where we had left 5 months and 14,000 miles previously.  This is the first place that we have returned to and had a great welcome!  We have settled right back seeing the  people that are still here, the church we attended, our Bible study and more.  It is nice to be back.  A bit different to return somewhere but nice to see wo many people again.  This also gave us a chance to get some stuff done that we needed to do.  The RV needed some repairs to include a leaky pipe, toilet maintenance, and a major repair of the axles (very thankful for extended warranties!).  We also found something that was needed on the truck and will be getting that taken care of.  We met a couple from Alabama that we have spent tons of time with and have made them learn to love us.  There is also another full time family who retired and started their journey a year ago across from us with three kids.  We have really enjoyed getting to know them and spending time together.  The list goes on and on...we have seen people we knew before but have grown closer to this time around.  Jim, across from us wants us to adopt him and his pup so he can travel with us!  The fun just continues!

Ewwwwwwwwwwww!  We had some toilet work to do. 

This is Jim.  He wants us to adopt him and he loves to get things for the kids...like 3 foot tall teddy bears and snacks.  He also got the kids a small stuffed animal and bought them stuff to make it a house. 

Christmas was a blast.  Last Christmas we were in Texas and this one was in Tucson.  We were house-sitting and got to bake some cookies for friends and spend Christmas morning (after presents) with a great couple who just had a new baby at their house.  It was a Blessed day all around and made for another memorable holiday. 

Christmas cookies!

Christmas in an RV!

Big ol' Christmas dinner completed with decorations!

We had a fire one night and Jim and the kids had a "who can make the biggest meat cheese and cracker stacker" contest!

Although it is baseball season and this is about the time that we arrived last year to register and play baseball, this year we have decided to travel on and take another break from ball for travels.  Kamryn got to do some gymnastics though...the girl is a natural!  She had a great time and can't wait one day to be able to pursue it again. 

This is Lucy.  A puppy of our friends from Alabama.

Some 'hood kids over to play Xbox. 

Zachary and I took a "man trip" for his 13th birthday.  I planned a trip to Scottsdale for him and I to attend the Barrett Jackson Auto Auction, stay in a hotel together, I designed a ring for him that has a great meaning behind it, and we spent a few days reading the Bible, talking, praying, sharing and focusing on what being a man is about and what I feel God's expectation are and what my expectations are.  We saw Dale Earnhardt Jr, Floyd Mayweather, Burt Reynolds and others.  This was his "coming of age" trip and it was magnificent.  He found a place that sold exotic cars and he wanted to see Floyd Mayweather's Bugattis and asked if we could go and we did.  We ended up walking through two airplane hangars with $60+ million of vehicles in them (about 55 vehicles) and the guy treated us like we were royalty.  It got even better when he found out that it was Zachary's birthday trip.  He let him sit in and start a $500,000 Ferrari F 12 and Zachary about passed out!  There was no one in this place and he took us and taught us about so many cars and what made them so expensive.  Although I don't get the whole expensive vehicle thing, it was quite a memorable time for Zachary and also for us to experience it together.  Then, for John, the salesman, to take the time to spend so much time with us when he knew that Zachary just wanted some pictures, made it even better. 

Just arriving as a happy boy at the Barrett Jackson Auction. 

We got to ride in the world's fastest, most powerful production sedan..and we did it three times!

After Zachary and I had our trip, we cam home and shared our stories.  A knock on the door and a friend gave us tickets to go back to the auction because they couldn't go.  So, we packed up everyone this time and drove back up to Scottsdale and made it a family trip and got a hotel!  The girls had a night out and the boys went back to the auction to see cars that sold for $2 million. 

Right after the kids got this picture, we walked down in front of the stage and Kelly's mom sent me a text that said, "Did you just walk in front of an orange car on the stage?"  I replied, "Yup, sure did."  They saw us on TV.  It was a blast!

Last year we had our party in Houston.  This year in Tucson.

This was a Valentine's Day dance.  I didn't do much because of my surgery and my man stick (others call it a cane) but everyone else had a blast.

The kids danced all night long!  Kamryn danced with everyone.  Caleb asked every lady over the age of 60, "May I have the pleasure of this dance?"  he danced with about 25 people and won them all over.  Zachary even got asked to dance but at the end of the night, we received rave reviews of the fun that everyone had with the kids and how great they were. 

The original site of the famous gunfight in Tombstone, Az.

This is a famous tavern in Tombstone that many of the cowboys that we have heard stories about have been in. 

Zachary's 13th birthday celebration. 

This was one of the hangars that we went in to see the cars.  He was in awe. 

This was the other hangar and he is beside Mayweather's Bugatti. 

He is loving it!  I couldn't afford the hood ornament in this $500,000 thing!

Zachary came running to me and yelled, "I fist bumped Floyd Mayweather!"

I was rather excited at this one...Burt Reynolds!  The kids said, "Who is that?" 

The boys went on a field trip with our friends one day to see a titan nuclear missile.  Cool!

I guess this is what Zachary does when he gets bored...he sticks his hands into a Teddy Bear cactus.  This was quite a story when they got home!

They were hiking with friends. 

...and a little dental work!

So, as you can, out travels are far from over but we just took a hiatus on the typing our story.  Everyone is doing well and growing quickly.  Dave had knee surgery here in Tucson and we chose to stay and extra two weeks to let him heal and also get our list of stuff completed. 

We are continuing to pray about where to head to over the next few months but we are getting the itch to do some more volunteering.  First, we are heading to Joshua Tree National Park to complete our 70th National Park.  Then on to Nevada to fill that sticker on our camping map to complete our 38th state.  We are also meeting some marvelous friends in Las Vegas to celebrate their 1st Anniversary with them and so excited that they have chosen to spend their special time near us!  Then, we will be leaving Vegas for a few weeks and marking off a few other National Parks before heading back to Las Vegas to check off one of the top items on our family bucket list..it has been on there for years and years and years...it is about to come to a checkmark people...wait for it...drumroll please...


We are  going to the Monster Jam World Finals this year! 

That didn't excite you as much as it does us?!?!?!  Sorry.  After that and some time with family in Vegas we aren't totally sure of a plan yet but we are talking about heading back to the Midwest to spend time with family and then head north to do some volunteering during the summer.  But, anything outside of a few weeks for us is a guess though so...

...until next time...