Christmas in the Desert

We had quite a group for Christmas in the desert this year. Shay and Travis had not been to the little house in Wikieup for at least ten years. They both brought their families. Travis and his family left Christmas Eve and Shay and his family stayed until the day after Christmas.

There is nothing like the holidays with grandkids around. We had half of our grandkids with us. These two families haven't spent much time together by themselves, so the cousins had a good time getting to know each other better.

Emily (Shay's third) just loved little Josh (Travis's youngest), along with everyone else. Who can resist a 2-year-old!

Sean got a B-B gun for his birthday in September. He was doing some target shooting with his dad and Grampa.

These pictures remind me so much of the first time we went to Wikieup with our six kids and my sister Lorrie and her two kids in 1988. They love to roam the desert.

There was not quite as much wildlife to see in December as there was in March when we used to always come. In fact, on our very first walk in the desert 20 years ago, Travis had Mom's shotgun and killed a snake the very first day on a walk like this one.

Shay and Heidi brought their early Christmas gift. Terry tried to keep up with him on "Little Red," but couldn't do it!

They were a big hit with the kids. Travis' boys Nathan and Josh are ready to go. I think the older kids made a permanent rut in the circle they road in front of the house.

The solar electricity held out even though the batteries are not carrying a full charge this year. There was enough for the kids to have some quiet time before bed to watch a movie. It's fun to see Nicholas and Josh with cousin Tyson,

and Marissa with cousins Spencer and Nathan.

The kids came running one day and told us they had found a big spider. It ended up being a 3-4 inch tarantula! He was trapped in a 5-gallon bucked buried in the ground to protect the opening to a septic tank down from the house. It reared up on it's hind legs when we put a stick in the bucket to help him escape.

When Mom and Dad first moved to Wikieup, they grew a "wine tree." Of course, that was one of the first rules with the B-B gun, second to not shooting any one's eye out, to not shoot the bottles on the wine tree. But, as you can see, rules must be made to be broken.

We figured that the bottles would be too much of a temptation for the "mighty hunters." At least no one got their eye shot out.

After Travis and his family left on Christmas Eve, we went to Burro Creek. The first time we went there, many years ago, we actually saw some wild burros. We looked really hard for them, but didn't see any. It was pretty muddy down by the river.

This is Terry and Shay's family sitting on the stone stairway on the way to the Creek. It seemed to be a natural "Kodak moment" spot.

After getting back from the creek, everyone spent time cleaning the mud off of their shoes.

Terry and Sean are in front of the Cactus Garden at the Burro Creek Campground. They have a little pamphlet that tells all of the names of the cacti. This is where our family learned the names (I know, 20 years ago!)

Well, after counting down the days, Christmas morning finally got here and it looked like Santa found us. We were a little worried, being out in the middle of the desert!

The kids were excited about checking out their stockings. And, the empty plate of cookies and carrots proved that Santa and his reindeer were really here!

Terry is relaxing in his new chair. He also got some float tube waders. I took pictures but he wouldn't let me post them on the BLOG. He said I could if I would also include a picture of me in my new nightie, then I could post his picture. That ain't gonna happen! So, kids, I will send you some private pictures. Thanks to all of you for the things you gave us. It was great!

Before Shay's family left, they had to have their picture taken in front of our "picture postcard" cactus.

We had a great Christmas. We want to thank the daughter-in-laws for putting up with a few inconveniences (namely the outhouse). They were good sports and we hope the grandkids made some wonderful Wikieup memories.