Headed Home

Still Smiling
Just a few more hours
Launa got to play on the top section over the cab for about 10 minutes. One of her few bouts of freedom while in the motor home.

After visiting the Wiggly Play Center, we headed back to Bedford for dinner with our friends. We left for home when it was bedtime (they have two kids). We decided we would drive straight through to avoid the storms that were coming on Friday. We made it home around 7am on Thursday. We were so glad to see our house and to sleep and shower in our own home.

Wiggly Play Center

Being a Wiggle.
Samuel didn't quite figure it out.
Drue on the zip line
Even Dad had fun
Launa sliding down

During out second visit to Texas, this time to stay with friends in Bedford, we visited the Wiggly Play Center in Frisco, TX. The kids had a blast. They were so worn out and hungry that they asked us if they could leave. It was an indoor playcenter decorated with more Wiggles colors and murals than you could even imagine. Each room had a different Wiggles scene painted on the wall.

Papa Larry's Plane

These pictures are a little out of order.

We went to Uncle Larry's (Lance's uncle) and the boys flew on his plane. They had so much fun. Launie and I hung out on the trampoline and played with the dog.

The kids call him Papa Larry, I guess because he is their Papa's brother.

In the air.
All loaded up and ready to go.

Getting everyone strapped in for the ride.

Mema's

Slinky time.
My baby is not so little anymore.
Time with Granddaddy.
I wonder what they are talking about?

We spent Christmas day at Mema's house. It was great to see (almost) the whole family. I rained the majority of the day so we moved the whole shabang into the garage. The kids played in the rain and entertained us all. One more thing they don't get a whole lot of out here.

The Freitags

These are June's grandchildren. She has a few more but they were either unable to make it or had already left before picture time.

Tina, Hannah, Logan, Victoria, Isabel, Lisa and Lance (counter clockwise)

Launa with Larry's first grandbaby.

This is Les's (Lance's dad) mom and brothers and sister.

Front: June and Gwen

Back: Cindy, Rusty, Gary and Larry

We spent December 24th with Lance's family in Orlando. Most everyone was able to make it and the kids enjoyed playing with their cousins. June (Lance's grandmother) is now living in Prescott, AZ but was visiting at the same time we were.

FLORIDA

The guys, Stash, Dad and Stephen, (Lance participated occassionaly) stayed up way too late one night singing while Stephen played Lukas's guitar. It was absolutely hilarious (I mean wonderful!) Seth (Stash's son) and Lukas wrestling.

Sydney (Stash's daughter) and Lukas

This is my parents back yard. The kids rode the jeep and motorcycle (in the ditch) down this hill the whole time we were there. They don't get the opportunity to play in grassy areas that much out here.

Too much football on TV.

Opening her first Barbie doll.

Could they get any closer to that tree?!

We spent two weeks with my parents in Florida. My older brother, Stash and his wife, Krys, and their two kids, Sydney and Seth joined us for a few days and my younger brother, Stephen and his girlfriend, Erica also joined us. I really don't remember how long each was there as the days kind of ran together. All I know is that when we were all together there were 14 of us, 6 of which were kids (5 of them six or under) and there were a million different things going on and I ate entirely too much food. We had a wonderful time. Too bad we don't live closer and could do that more often.

Mobile, AL

In the USS Alabama.

USS Alabama

Not sure why the little ones are running.

In the tunnel.

Not sure if this is the right one.

Dick Russell's BBQ. Our office manager, Harvey, recommended this place.

We visited the USS Alabama in Mobile, AL on Wednesday. After the ship the older kids and Lance went into the submarine. After this we went to my Aunt Karon (another sister of my dad) and Uncle Mike's house in Foley. My cousin, Christopher (18 yrs old), took the older three on a walk in the woods to look for deer. They didn't find any deer, but I think they saw some tracks. For some unknown reason I did not get any pictures of our time there. This was our final stop before heading to Grandma and Granddaddy's in Florida.

New Orleans, LA

Mason, Lukas, Sam, Launa and Drue.

Lukas + Mason = A LOT OF ENERGY

Launa spinning.

Lukas and Mason racing their scooters.

A friendly football game. Not so sure who won.

Half the sign.

What a gang!

We arrived in New Orleans on Monday night. There we stayed with Elaine (my dad's youngest sister), Johnny (her husband) and Mason (their son). The kids had a lot of fun together. We began the day with a tour of downtown New Orleans. We really enjoyed seeing the different atmosphere. And during the day New Orleans is nice to drive around and see. After lunch, we let the kids go just outside the apartment and play on the playground. Our kids had just received scooters before the trip, so they were breaking them in. Mason had much more practice on his and almost beat Lance in a race. They enjoyed the playground, especially the merry go round. We only had a few minor injuries. Lance went out with Johnny that night while he was on duty and saw the New Orleans night life. He said he had to cover his eyes for a lot of it. Elaine had already told us that we would have to see it during the day as it was too inappropriate to see after dark. After hearing Lance's reports, I am glad the kids and I missed the night life. However, he had a great time with Johnny and I think they really got to know each other. A little New Orleans coffee and beignets (pronounced bin-yeah) and you can't stop the talking!

Launa and Rebekah

Finally, both looking at the camera.

Playing together.

Climbing stairs.

Having a snack.

Pretty hair!

Launa and Rebekah, the youngest Benson, played so much together. Launa has never really been around someone her own age. I was amazed at how well they got along. Because their communication skills were on the same level, they rarely had any problems understading one another.

Arlington, TX

Drue and Amanda playing Monopoly

Lukas and Carolyn

Some of the people we met.

Our goal was to get a picture of each state sign.

We arrived in Arlington Saturday night. We stayed with Seth and Lori Benson and their family. We met Bro. Seth when he was traveling through Phoenix this past summer. He said we should come out and stay with his family if we ever got the chance. We smile and said, "Well, we have four kids." He laughed and said, "That's ok. I have eight!" We found out when we arrived that number nine is on the way. I don't even think they noticed our four kids were there.

They have kids from 18 years to 18 months. Amanda, their nine year old, and Drue played the board games the whole time we were there. They stayed locked up in a bedroom and we rarely even saw them. Lukas spent his time with Carolyn, five years old, with Samuel tagging along. They did not have one his age. However, their 18 year old spent a lot of time playing with Sam.

Launa even had her own playmate. Their youngest, Rebekah, is a week younger than Launa. I have posted their pictures separately as we took a lot.

We did not do any sight seeing as we knew we would be coming back through. We just enjoyed the visit with Bro. Seth and Sis. Lori. They also had a few families over on Sunday afternoon. It was such a wonderful time.

First Stop--Albuquerque, NM

With Jim and Carol Danek.

Welcome to New Mexico!

Our first stop was Albuquerque, New Mexico. We discovered that the driving in a motorhome was taking longer than driving in a van, so we were not able to do much sight seeing in NM. We did get to see a lot of things from the road. The pictures are of some Indian Reservations. Evidently, they move into these duggout areas of the mountains and live and work there. We saw lots of tipis on the mountains and in those carved out areas. We didn't experience any snowing, but did see lots on the ground as we were driving. We stayed with Jim and Carol Danek while we were there. Lance had met them a while back when he was in NM and they wanted to meet the whole family. Their living room as full of games and toys. The kids had so much fun there. We only spent the night and headed off for a 10 hour trip to Texas.