Our First Adventure of 2011!

We started going on "Adventures" when we moved down here back in June. First I think Ben and I did it to keep the kids occupied and give them something to look forward to every week. We usually go on Saturdays, but we haven't been on one in awhile because life has been pretty busy. We have been wanting to take the kids to a ghost town. Ben did all the research and decided where we were going to go. He is always so good about that. He knows everything about the place before we go. I love that. This town ended up not being the type of "ghost town" we were thinking of, but it was a ton of fun. It is a couple hours from our house in Oateman, Arizona. It is done up as a old west town and it has a stage coach, gun shows on the weekends, and wild donkeys roaming the streets. The kids loved it. We got to drive on the real route 66 (we told Gregor we were driving on the same road as Lightening McQueen and he still thinks he saw Mater!) I have loved our adventures. I would have never dreamed a year ago that I would be living in Las Vegas and enjoying it. Life was extremely different last year at this time. My dad was fighting for his life and Ben was working for his dad at the dealership. Little did we know what 2010 had in store. We have been in Vegas for 7 months now and we can say that we really like it. We know without a doubt that it is where we are supposed to be. It still gets hard to be so far away from family, but we have found a lot out about our little family. I didn't think it was possible but we are closer as a family than ever before. Mine and Ben's relationship is better than ever. We make efforts down here that we didn't up north. And yes we are loving I mean loving the Vegas winters. I don't know if I have put on my snow coat down here yet. Usually just jackets or sweatshirts. I don't know how I survived the cold for so long. As I look back over 2010 I am thankful my Dad is still with us. He had a rough year. He was in and out of the hospital for a good 7 months and really wasn't out of bed until Labor Day. He is doing really well everything considering. I have amazed myself. I had a pretty rough summer but I have found that I can survive away from home. I don't like it most of the time, but I am stronger than I thought. I am thankful for Ben's job. In an economy like it is you have to be thankful for what you have and Ben's job is amazing. Our kids have grown so much this past year both in size and mind. I think we have all found that we are stronger than we thought. We have realized the importance of each other and our families back home and in Erie. We have some amazing friends, some old and some new. We are truly blessed. We welcome 2011 and will have some good memories and lessons learned in 2010. Can't wait for our 2011 adventures.