Happy New Year

We now realize that after spending 5 months here in SC that we enjoy being near Amy, Noah and Sarah and can fly to San Francisco to see Chuck, Becky and Lucy when we want to. Bob enjoys the salt water activities, especially shrimping and oystering. The waters off of the coast here are such that boating can be done with a small craft. We have made friends here whom Bob has enjoyed boating with. Sue enjoys the beaches and the lifestyle here at the campground.

We have taken a long term camping site at the KOA in Mount Pleasant and will do some traveling from here. To all of you who follow our blog we will try to do a better job of keeping it updated this year. May you all be healthy, happy and prosperous in 2011.

Christmas with the grandchildren

The joy of seeing Noah, Lucy (through video) and Sarah brought back many fond memories of when Amy and Chuck were young and had that special twinkle of Santa in their eyes. The presents were plentiful along with cookies and goodies. Sue made her traditional sweet rolls for Christmas morning in time to send some to CA for them to enjoy.You never realize which of Santa's gifts will awaken the spirit in the children. No matter which gift it is, that special twinkle in their eyes made Christmas for us.

Papa Christmas noise makers

If you listen closely you can hear both horns.

Thanksgiving

Sue cooked a turkey with all of our favorite dishes and we enjoyed a lovely day with Amy and the children. The weather was exceptionally warm and you can see from the photos that Noah and Sarah are learning to their bikes. Sarah's photo shows one of her greatest joys which is getting into dirt. Whenever she plays outside and there is dirt around we know that her face will indicate its presence. Bob has been working with Noah on bike riding and Noah is enjoying the learning process.

Halloween

Noah was definitely old enough to enjoy Halloween. He chose to be a spider and his costume was appropriate. He asked his mother to also dress up and she obliged by dressing as a bat woman. Sarah wore a beetle costume and did not quite know what to make of holiday. Amy, Sarah and Noah joined their friends Scott and Dani while trick or treating. They also participated in a costume parade at their daycare. We have been here long enough now that the children are very comfortable with us and it's been fun sharing most days with them, especially the holidays.

Noah & Sarah

It didn’t take Noah and Sarah too long to remember who Papa and Memere are.
It is wonderful getting reacquainted with them. You don’t realize how quickly young children change and we had only been gone 7 months. It has been extremely hot and most days too hot to be outdoors with the children.
A lawn sprinkler, in the shade of their backyard, was a way in which to stay cool. One afternoon after we pick up them from day care we let them play under the sprinkler and they had a blast. You can see from the photos that they were not afraid of the water or the mud. Bob did take Noah swimming one afternoon and Noah wants to be able to swim as well as his friend, Griffin, who is 6 months older than he is. With a little work and patience, Noah will be swimming before the cold weather sets in. Sarah is definitely feisty and not much seems to bother her and as long as she has a clean diaper, her bottle nearby and is fed.

Mount Pleasant, SC

We arrived on July 29 a few days before scheduled. The trip across the country was quick and we put on 2,848 miles. Amy and the kids have settled into a lovely house in Mount Pleasant close to her friends, Stacey, Jeff and Griffin.
While we were traveling across the country Chuck, Becky and Lucy came out to Mount Pleasant for their annual visit. They took the kids to have their portraits taken and the children were not in a co-operative mood. The attached photo is of Chuck, Amy, Noah, Sarah and Lucy.
After the disc is reviewed I will include some additional photos.
We have settled in at the local KOA campground.