Merry Christmas from Casa Grande, AZ

Monday, December 23rd.

I woke up after nearly 11 hours of sleep ... boy does that Nyquil help you sleep. Still feeling this cold but Ray is better so hopefully this is the last day for me.

A cloudy day today as predicted. After a leisurely morning, it was time to hit the road for the short hour and 1/2 hour drive to Casa Grande. Unfortunately when Ray was checking the tires before leaving he noticed that the rear inside tire on the passenger side was flat as a pancake ... absolutely no air in it at all!

Fortunately it was Monday instead of Sunday and the Big O Tires was less than 5 miles down the road from the Lost Dutchman. I called them and they took us right in. Two hours later we were back on the road. Apparently we picked up some "red waxy stuff" that blew out the valve stem? They had to put two valve stems together to be long enough to replace the faulty one, as to order a part would not come until after Christmas. Seems to hold air AOK. The bill was a grand total of $17 plus dollars. Wow. Great people at the AJ Big O Tire.

We arrived at High Chaparral at 3 pm and set up in short order. My cold is much worse today so we only stayed outside for a short happy hour with our friends so I would not contaminate them lol. By tomorrow I should be over the contagious period so the Christmas Eve function should be okay.

After looking after Freya for her meds and dinner, at 6:30 it was off to bed with me. Watched a little TV and then lights out at 8pm. Ray spent a little more time with our friends outside before coming in around 7pm as it turned too cold outside. Fortunately he had leftovers to eat for dinner and I just had toast.

Woke up Christmas Eve day feeling much better. Made waffles for Ray and I for breakfast and threw on a batch of bread. My washing machine is working great and I have been keeping it running. lol

Sure rained ... some people were prepared with their "ark" and toy boats not to mention ducky just randomly floating everytime the puddles got bigger. Ha Ha.

For lunch traditional nibbles were made. Bacon wrapped water chestnuts and stuffed mushrooms. Makes us feel Christmassy.  Ray is ready for the party. lol

Karen and crew picked us up at 2:30 and we made our way over to the "Big Tent" for the Christmas gift exchange. Ray ended up being the last "man" to get a gift and ended up with a $25 gift certificate to IHOP. Perfect for the guy who loves the odd big breakfast. I managed to keep my gift which was a bottle of rose wine and a wool shawl. Most of the stolen gifts this year were booze, Crown Royal and Jack Daniels in particular.

John, Karen and Wayne

Ray and Sandy

 The rain finally stopped so we did not get wet going home.

After feeding and walking Freya we went over to Wayne and Karen's for a nightcap. Had a great visit catching up with them and then home by 7:30pm. We watched a little TV and then lights out again at 9 pm.

December 25th, Merry Christmas

We were up at 6 am as per usual, made coffee and filled it with coffee improver of course, then we opened up our stockings. Stuffed with small items that we should have brought from home. lol

Freya really enjoyed getting some treats and played with her new Lamb Chop, her favourite toy. Her other one has been slobbered on so much it is definitely in the "grey" category instead of white. lol

Ray got me a lovely picture that lights up.

Had a nice morning with Ray cooking me breakfast or rather reheating some extra waffles I made yesterday. lol Then it was time for a walk while the sun was out. Ray said he even saw Pigs Fly!

We also noticed that this cactus that was "cresting".

Whipped up my Christmas Offering, Sweet Potato and Carrot casserole. Hopefully it tastes as good as it looked with a bread crumb and pecan topping.

We all headed over for lunch at 1 pm. Another great event here at High Chaparral. There were probably 120 people who attended. More than enough food for everyone. After a couple of hours everyone left the "tent" and since the sun was out we were all able to sit outside at Karen and Waynes for a few hours. Freya loves going over there with everyone together. A lovely Christmas Day with friends.

Garrett and Kat had a house full in Squamish for Christmas. Kat's parents, brother and Aunt and Uncles all came for the big day. Everyone helping in the kitchen cooking the Prime Rib and Kira, Garrett's dog, all played out from chasing the drone. Her most favourite thing.

Garrett and Kat with her family. I have only met her mom and dad before, Bill and Ana, with the white sweater and red shirt and Kat's brother Philip in the green t-shirt.

Kristi and Jason drove down from Nanaimo to Victoria, first visiting one of Kristi's longtime friends, Theo, and her husband, kids and her parents before heading over to Jason's parents for Christmas Dinner. .... no one took any pictures. lol Lovely that Kristi had Christmas off this year.

Boxing Day morning was spent putting Christmas back in the box, vacuuming all the mud that the dog had brought in with all the rain we have had, and last loads of laundry. Next up was prepping appies, chicken wings and crackers and dip, for our last HH with Wayne, Karen, John and Sandy. Fortunately the sun came out for a brief visit around 2 pm. Wayne lit up his campfire in a can and we managed to hang out until 6 when the rain began again and we all scurried back to our homes PDQ. A great Christmas with friends with lots of laughs and old and new stories. Tomorrow we head to Quartzsite. Freya will certainly appreciate more space. I think she is kind of done with being tied up all the time by herself. We have not been sitting outside very much due to the weather and so she is thoroughly bored.