In the mountains…..10 of us together!

The morning that we left for our high desert mountain town of Pine, we all went for our traditional breakfast at the Leisure World Rendezvous Cafe.  We have enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the Cafe EVERY single time that Soren and Sebastian have stayed with us at Nuestra Casa.

Then we headed to the cabin for two days.  We had so much family fun….all 10 of us playing, talking, and laughing together!

We all had so much fun!  

It was so hard to say goodbye to Soren and Sebastian when they had to leave for home.  It was particularly difficult to see them go this time, as Soren is graduating from High School next month, and it may be the last time we have these two “boys” here together during their school breaks.

Grandpa and I are crying both in sadness…and gratitude that we have so many beautiful memories of our days with these dear grandsons.

Celebrating Easter blessings with our grandsons, Soren and Sebastian

Soren and Sebastian asked if they could spend their Spring Break with us, and we said, “YES!!!”

Luckily for us their vacation began with Easter weekend.  Let the fun begin….

Easter Bunny Grandma hopped around hiding the Easter baskets and piles of eggs….

Grandma is such a good Easter Bunny that it took over 10 minutes for the “boys” to find their baskets!

After all the eggs were found, Grandpa FINALLY found his basket!

Soren said a very moving prayer and gave thanks to God before we enjoyed our breakfast of bacon and eggs (and Easter eggs).  Thank you, Soren.

 

Then it was time for our very own original production of El Paso. This was our first (and only) take, and it was a “wrap.”  Sit back and enjoy!

Here’s our masterpiece scene by scene….

The entire cast of actors and musicians taking their final bow….

Now this may not seem like a very religious Easter, but it was a good day in our lives….and we are very thankful to God for giving us this day and these dear grandsons, who we love so very much.

The Hashknife Pony Express still delivers the mail!!!

The cowboys of the Pony Express are still riding ….every year, for 68 years, but just one time each year.

A year ago the Hashknife Pony Express scheduled their annual ride on January 31st, my Danny’s birthday! 

I thought, “What fun! I’ll send a letter to Holbrook for the Pony Express to carry on my love’s birthday….down south through our little town of Pine, to Payson, and all the way down the Beeline Highway to the Valley, ending in Scottsdale.”  

The letter should have been delivered to Nuestra Casa right before Valentine's Day.

So I enclosed three little gifts for my husband in the envelope that I sent to the Hashknife Pony Express riders in Holbrook, Arizona. 

A 1949 birthday card….the year that Danny was one year old!

A Valentine’s Day card with a police officer (me) stopping a motorist (Danny):

And a special vintage postcard:

Then I eagerly awaited.  This was the best birthday and Valentine’s gift ever….an envelope carried by real-live Pony Express cowboys to the front door of my own cowboy, Danny!

I waited….and I waited.  I finally figured that my letter had gotten lost in the mail.  And I had almost forgotten about my excitement to have a letter delivered by Pony Express cowboy to my dear husband, who was raised on old westerns in the 1950’s, whose favorite actor is John Wayne, whose favorite movie is The Searchers….and who had his heart valve repaired with a cow valve.  So now he is truly a “cowboy!”

I almost forgot about the letter that I had sent to the Hashknife Pony Express in early January of 2025…until I saw in the Payson Roundup, that the Pony Express rides again.  

I was sad that my loving gift for Danny had been lost over a year ago.

Then look what arrived in the mail…my letter with the official Hashknife Pony Express stamp, and carried over 200 miles by horseback to our front door!

The mail may be late, a year late, but you can always count on the cowboys of the Pony Express.  They delivered the mail to my very own cowboy!

Goodbye, God bless you!!!

We spent yesterday getting our “Little House in the Mountains” ready to live in during the hot season in Arizona.  We worked so hard that we were both exhausted and achy when it was time to leave….5-1/2 hours of constant moving, lifting, bending over, and standing up again is more than either of us have in us.

But now our Little House (as my Mother used to say) is, “As cute as a bug’s eye.”

In fact, as cute as it is, our little grandchildren are SO much cuter….we’re sure that you’ll agree with us!

Robert, Vernon, and Hannah enjoying the new kiddie chairs that we brought for them, while we were working on our Little House.

Papa pushing Vernon on the swing that he made for the children at Christmas time….

Robert playing with Vernon’s “gun.”  Don’t you just love boys….a stick is ALWAYS a knife, sword, or a gun.

All three children love little baby Gideon so much, that (all together) they smother him with kisses….

Maybe too much loving can be a little scary for a three-week-old baby.

Whenever we leave the Cabin (and now also our Little House in the Mountains) the whole family waves to us, as they ALL holler until we’re out of sight AND ear shot, “We love you, drive safe, come back soon, goodbye, God Bless you!”

Of course, we holler back to them too!

We did find that there’s a leak somewhere in the toilet hose system, but Owen said that he’ll fix this for us.  Which is good, because we’re headed back up for more fun in the mountains next week with our grandsons, Soren and Sebastian.  

We’ll have six grandchildren all together….Soren, Sebastian, Hannah, Vernon, Robert, and  Gideon.  We can hardly wait!!!!