Spring!

Wow...I am not sure where the time has gone.  But, I am sure, that somewhere in this crazy winter, we have all suffered through, we have been lost in time...or maybe, we have just been in hibernation. But, non the less, I have been off the grid with not much to blog about!

So, with Spring in the air...it makes me feel like new beginnings...so I thought this would be a good time to find my way back on the grid. But, while there is no way I could even begin to remember everything that has happened since my last post...and, even if I could, I think all you would hear about is how we tried to stay warm...yes even in South Texas. So, maybe, we can hit a couple of high points of past, present, and future.

Time in the past...and the spot where I last blogged!

We, returned to Texas after our great summer vacation with the grandkids in Colorado where we hung out for the remainder of the summer and early fall.  We always enjoy the family time at home!

And, talk about where does time go, in September, we celebrated Andrew's 16th birthday.  Oh, my, how he has grown up...all the way to 6'5".

All the grandkids are growing up right in front of me...In October, we celebrated Zachary's 13th birthday.

By this time, Poppa decided it was time for us to head to South Texas for the winter...little did he know, that to be warm, the Rio Grande Valley was not going to be quite far enough South!  But, if I had gone any further South, I would have had to use my passport to get there!  But, we survived, and it was a lot better than any point to the north!!

Once we were there and settled in, it seemed like we had arrived home.  Catching up with friends and neighbors at Retama is like catching up with family. Mark and the guys picked up right where they left off.  And, they already had lots of projects in mind to spruce up the gun range.  They made some new target stands and did some general maintenance to the grounds.  In spite of the weather, they found lots of nice days to spend at the range!  Then, on those not so nice days, they always seemed to arrange for a day trip to a gun store, pawn shop, or a trip to Bass Pro or Academy...and it always included a trip to Rudy's, Willies, or Firehouse Subs.

Mark took on the project of draining and replacing the antifreeze in the motor home.  After recovering from that little job, he decided it was time to replace all six house batteries and the two start batteries.  Think we should be good to go!!

I kept busy with a few projects of my own...

I taught a generic Weight Watchers type class.  We call it WOW for watching our weight.  It kept me on my toes preparing lessons for our weekly meetings.  We took a look at the approach of Clean Eating.  As a lifetime Weight Watcher, I was surprised to see just how close the clean eating plan is to WW program.  My Fitness Pal, an app for your smart phone or computer is a great way to journal.  It has a great food database, and is super easy to use.  The class became a great support group and we were able to congratulate one of the members for a 50lb weight loss!  And, as you all know, when you put a bunch of RVer's together, all socializing is surrounded by food.  So, a weekly meeting to help keep us on track was a welcome addition to our activities.

Leaving the motor home in Mission, we traveled home for Christmas and New Year's, and, again enjoyed sharing time with the family.

After returning to Mission, we were in for a real taste of winter.  It seemed there were more not nice days than the usual beautiful warm winter days we go there for!  In fact,  I think I could count on one hand the number of days I actually got in the pool and enjoyed it!  So, we found other ways to pass the time.  There were always the afternoon games of Rummikub with the girls, a few shopping trips, and like the guys, we could always stop for lunch.

One of the highlights of our girl time, was the day we went to the club house kitchen to make Potica.  This pastry was a favorite of Sue's when she was growing up.  So, she had the recipe and we tried to duplicate it...

There was close measuring of all the ingredients...

lots of hands on mixing and

letting the dough rise!

Once the dough was risen, we

got to work rolling, and

rolling, and

rolling!  Then came the

filling...yummy honey, and sugar, and pecans, and more pecans!

Once the filling was spread, the dough was

 

rolled up like cinnamon rolls and placed in a pan to rise one more time.  Then it was off to the oven.  The final product

was then ready to enjoy!  Yummy!!!  But, caution, don't try this by yourself...it is definitely a group project.  But, just for fun...Goggle, Potica!

Thanks Sue for sharing both your recipe and your memories...so much fun!

Before we knew it, days and weeks had passed us by.  It was early, but, with other obligations in our future, we had to start thinking about leaving Retama behind us.  And, shortly after the first of March, we were heading back to Fort Worth. And,

 

this is where you find us today...parked in the barn at Karen's.

But, don't get me wrong...things are never dull here and we are busy every day.  We had a great spring break with all the grandkids except Zachary, who was having a great time at baseball spring training in Arizona.  While most of the family is Texas Ranger fans, Zachary is a diehard Angels fan and loves every minute he spends with the team during spring training.

Now, that everyone is back to school and work, we are busy unloading all the unnecessary items from the motor home and reloading and rearranging for the next several months.  We have just a few weeks until we head out and will be gone for the next several months.  First, we will make our way to Goshen, Indiana for the the 54th Escapades.

In fact, Mark has been busy getting ahead on a few

 

of the decorations that we will use for Escapades.  We are looking forward to a great time there and seeing lots of old friends and making new ones along the way.  Hope we see you there!

After Escapades, we are looking forward to spending the summer in Alaska.

So, now that

Spring has officially sprung, and, we are officially out of hibernation!  We are looking forward to the next adventure and the places it will take us!!  Hope to see you somewhere along the way.