Christmas is Almost Here

Hi Everyone,  I'm sorry I haven't written in quite some time.  We have been beyond busy since we got back to Wilderness Lakes.  First I will post a few pictures from Palm Springs, and then try to catch up on everything else.

These two pictures are of the neighbor's camper and his dog Freddie.

 We thought this was really cute, and we noticed that they are now just down the road from us here at Wilderness Lakes.

 I took this so you can see just how crowded this park is with palm trees.  It makes parking a large RV pretty difficult.



I wasn't thrilled that Jim took this picture.  He said that despite my sore toe, which it turns out is broken, I still had to go shopping at Wal-Mart.  It certainly helped that they had the riding carts!

On December 13th, we packed up early and left there to get to Menifee as early as possible.  We were not able to find a 50 amp site, but this one (30 amps) is a nice, larger site with room for all of our stuff, our car and a visitor's car too.  We got all set up and put out some of our Christmas decor.  Ollie South is again watching over us from the awning.  
We set up our EZ Up canopy and are parking the car under it.  Our owl family has grown a little more too.
 
 This is Goldie and she hangs around in the kitchen to keep me company.

 This guy has not been named, at least not yet.  Jim got a kick out of his top hat.  He is hanging above all of Jim's baseball caps.
I'm sure I showed this cookie jar before, but now we have salt and pepper shakers too. 
 
Last, but surely not least is our new coffee mugs.    
Life is owl-ishly good.  
Now for all the news since we got here. 

The day after we got here, I had a doctor's appointment.  After examining my right foot and toe, she thought I might have fractured the toe AND a bone in the foot, so I was sent for an X-ray.  Only the toe is broken, but the earliest appointment I could get with a podiatrist is on January 8th.  Alas, it may be all healed up before that.  
The next day was Jim's surgery for the large kidney stone and the enlarged prostate.  We didn't have to get there until about 11 am.  Tony came here on Thursday so he could look after our furry kids while we were gone.  Donna & George came to the hospital to keep me company while Jim was in surgery.  It was a huge relief when the doctor came out and said the surgery went very well.  About an hour later Jim was moved to a room for over night.  They provided me with a recliner to spend the night in.  I appreciate their thoughtfulness, but the chair was NOT comfortable and neither of us got much sleep at all.  It was well after 12 noon before we got discharged from the hospital and started for home.  We were so very happy to get back here and get comfortable.  Jim has spent most of his waking hours in his recliner chair.  It was not easy keeping the dogs from jumping on him.  The dogs were really glad to see us, and acted like we had been away for a year!  I couldn't even go into the bathroom without Millie following me there.  It was early to bed that night.  Jim has also taken naps most afternoons since we came home, but I think he really needs to.  I want all of you to know that am NOT complaining at all.  However, since I have been making Jim take it easy this week, and I have been doing the things Jim usually does, I now appreciate just how much work he does around here!  I knew he did a lot of the chores, but I didn't realize just how much he did.  This week has been better than I had expected, but still Jim is kinda sore, and will be glad to get his catheter removed tomorrow.  I again wish to thank all of you for your prayers and calls and emails of support.  All of them were appreciated, and we love you for them.  

I finally got around to taking a couple pictures of some of the Christmas decorations around this area.  I hope to drive around tomorrow night and get pictures of some more.

Here are two shots of our Christmas tree.  I used a flash on the first one but not on the second one.

This is across the street from us.  The lights that are ON the front of the motorhome are set to twinkle and change color.  Very pretty at night.  If I get more pictures tomorrow  night, I will post them on the next blog.

We will be having a quiet Christmas here this year.  As usual, we will be attending a candle-light service at the family center on Christmas eve.  They have a wonderful service each year, and it draws a large group of people.  I really look forward to the service and the music.  We are not exchanging gifts since we have all we need.  Instead we have donated money to several charities we believe in.  As I have said before, we wish the spirit of Christmas could last all year long, so we contribute to organizations that help animals and also veterans, and people who are less fortunate than we are.  It's easy to not notice the less fortunate around us, but this time of year we have a chance to help them out.  Please pray for guidance and inspiration to know where you can help too.  I wish each of you a very Merry, and Blessed Christmas and a Happy, and Healthy New Year, filled with love and faith.  Please be kinder than ever to those you meet each day.  Smile at strangers.  That might be the only smile they see all day.  If you see someone who is really struggling, lend a hand.  Offer a kind word to others.  It will give them a lift, and it will make you feel good inside too.  
That's all for now.  Love and blessings to all.