Don't call her Baby!

This little two year old cutie is my great-niece, Madison Taylor Gaston. My sister and mom call her "Baby", but I prefer to call her by her real name. My sister babysits her when her parents have to both work at the same time so I got to see her quite a bit while in Tucson. She loves music and singing and dancing...especially "What does the Fox Say?" This is the game we were playing in the first picture. I am holding a cow that says "Moo!", a mouse that says "Squeek", etc...





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Selfie From the Desert

Tubac

South of Tucson near Nogales on the Mexican border is a little town called Tubac. It is home to Arizona's first state park and is a growing artist community. For tourists that want all the advantages of shopping in Mexico without having to cross the border, Tubac is a good place to stop.





There is something for everyone on your shopping list like javelina yard art.





Or a friendly chief or two...





And no yard can be complete with one of these guys...Take your pick on which way you lean...


Or pick up a beautiful Rock Cock.



You can wander around in ghost rivers (washes to Arizonians)



Or explore the museums....




There are no bargains here today. This little guy cost $10,000. He is a rock carved coyote!





A friendly guy took our pic for us!





Trails abound as well, but look out for those desert critters.





We happened upon Luz Maria's cousin, Juan Jesus Morales Garcia Mendoza Hernandez. She said he has changed a lot over the years since the last time she saw him, he was still a little jalapeño!

Savaya

My favorite Organic Coffee Shop in Tucson is Savaya. The mural on the back wall carries you to a coffee plantation along with the sweet smell of roasting coffee that fills the air. It is by far the smoothest coffee I have ever had and is always worth feeling bad a couple of hours later. It's one of the few things I indulge in that I know will make me sick, and I'm glad I'm only tempted when I visit Tucson. Once is always enough to tide me over for another year!

FishEye

Emilie gave me a Fish Eye Lens for my iPhone for Christmas so I'm trying to get the hang if it!

Happy Birthday Papa!

My father turned 86 today. He is a proud and independent man who has survived The Dust Bowl Days, World War II, Korea, and the Vietnam War not to mention other world events since retiring. He is having a hard time accepting help from anyone even though he is the full time care giver of my mother who suffers from dementia.





The path he is walking on will only continue to become more rocky over time. It is a struggle for me to know how hard to push. I don't want him to feel like we are taking away his right to make his own decisions, but I need to know that they are safe and healthy when I leave. I'm feeling overwhelmed on what I can do when he rejects all of our suggestions. I pray that God will give me the wisdom I need to make the right decisions.

Memories

Moses loves eating raw cranberries even though it makes his face look like this!


Curt organizing the Play-dough brigade...


Oh My! I've never seen a Reese's the size of a small pie! Holy Peanut Butter Batman!


June in one of Emilie's old dresses. She really is a girlie girl!


There is one thing these two cousins have in common...getting the Amish look when a movie is put up on the screen!


Hey UPS Man! What did you bring me today?


June hugging Moses goodbye since he will be leaving in the morning.

Winter Fun at The Children's Museum

The next day after we had our family gathering, we set off for a trip to Indianapolis and The Children's Museum.








Kati was content to read, but Moses sacked out before we even reached Kokomo. Marlin & I were envious that we are too old for car seats!








One of the highlights is always the carousel. The looks on their faces says it all.



































Little Dinosaurs...








On the train...first we look this way...









Then we look that way!

















Meeting one of the cast members after the play. It was a great time, and the kids were tired when they left, but still in pretty good spirits. While they took turns going to the bathroom, we watched many families walking by with at least one child having a meltdown. Yep, it was time to leave before our kids caught that bad virus!

Christmas With the Fam

When I think of Christmas, I think of Family...not because I was raised that way, but because that was something I tried to instill in my children during their growing up years. I only spent 1 Christmas with my Grandparents during my lifetime. Being raised in an Air Force Family, I was not given that opportunity at Christmas, and it left a part of me undone....incomplete... To be honest, the holidays were depressing to me at one time because it always meant time spent away from family. Yes, I was one of those. It used to bother me that typically, there were no grandparents present in my children's lives at Christmas as they fled for warmer pastures in the winter, but those days are over. Marlin says Christmas is what we make of it and we can't rely on others for our happiness. We now have a blending of generations in our household. I don't get as hung up on the actual day as much as I do the season. I bask in the warmth of family and enjoy watching as 8 little pairs of feet run from one end of the house to the other squealing with the excitement of spending time with their cousins and warming the heart of their Oma! What a glorious season!