It is Christmas Eve and while we wait for Santa to arrive in Prescott at Grandma Alice's house, I thought I would catch up on all the fun we have been having... First off an actual picture of the "Camper Van" as we have been calling it. Maybe an actual name will come about on this trip, but so far Camper Van is it.

We spent several days at a few different campgrounds near Tucson, the picture above is at Patagonia Lake. The kids have been having fun playing in the dirt, throwing rocks in the water, and hiking around the desert. One spot allowed fires, so we toasted up some marshmallows one night...of course Piper was a big fan of that! She would have eaten the whole bag if we let her.

Nice simple times, perfect for cherishable family memories. I am so happy that all three kids seem to really enjoy being outside. Piper can hike like a champ when she chooses, sometimes we have to lure her along with "Once upon a time" stories. But she does love being outside. And the boys love getting dirty! I might be putting my foot in my mouth when I say I look forward to them walking, but I can't help but cringe with all the hands and knees crawling through all the dirty places. Especially since everything is still going into their mouth.

After a few days on our own we headed back to Tucson to hang with Judah, Kristen and their son Preston. Such a nice family, we received a warm welcome from their four year old Preston with a sweet kiss for Piper and holding her hand as he lead her inside to show off his room. It was a fun filled couple of days with watching the kids play, going to the zoo and even made it to the evening Christmas lights parade downtown.

Before squeezing in one more night camping near some beautiful saguaro cactus, we met up with David's 98 year old Grandfather for lunch. He is always fun to visit with because he is full of stories and twinkly eyed smiles. Grandfather seemed so smitten with his great grand kids, it was cute to watch their interactions.

Next we were off to Camp Verde to spend a couple days with Grandpa Richard and Grammy Lynn. They live on the river amongst several pecan trees and we were just in time to harvest a big box of nuts!

Piper loved riding the tractor, such a great grandpa/grand kid activity.

And boy, did we eat well here. Rich and Lynn are quite the chefs in the kitchen, so we spent our time eating and playing with the kids and eating some more.

Now we are back in Prescott for Christmas spending time with lots of family, even Uncle Topher made it home for the Holiday. It was fun getting the cousins together and for the great aunts and uncles & great grandparents to be surrounded by all the energetic young blood.

Here are several fun pictures of Xmas eve and Christmas morning. Santa brought Piper balloons, just like she asked for and the boys were given talking Elmo and Cookie Monster! Christmas on the road was a sucess and a special time to be with family. Thanks again to Grandma Alice and all the AZ family for hosting a wonderful Christmas. We all had a great time participating in the family traditions and just spending time with everyone.