I am so glad that you got your ear pierced! I really thought you had an earring the one day I looked at your mom’s posting. So are you now looking at earrings instead of tiny beer bottles?

PaPa and I have been living at Aunty Chissy’s and Uncle Chet’s place since we returned to California. Actually, we are living on the street! Our motor home really “cuts up” their back yard, and besides, they need the room back there for their cars. (When we arrived, they had three cars in the yard – they had borrowed Matt’s (from next door) big van so they could take Chet’s Aunt and Uncle around. Chet’s Aunt and Uncle live in Wisconsin, and they were out here for about a week. We met them and they are really nice people!

So we are parked in front of their house. We don’t have any water connection, but we do have electricity. That means we have to wash our dishes in their house, and we use water only for brushing our teeth and stuff like that.

PaPa and I have been visiting the doctor’s – just getting regualr check-ups. We did get our eyes examined and will get some new eye glasses. Also, we’ll get our hearing checked, and I may get a new hearing aid. (Then I’ll be able to hear you kids when you talk!)

Next week end is the Memorial weekend Camping. Aunt Chris and Uncle Chet will take the girls up there, and PaPa and I will take Juliana up to camp, too.

(Aunt Miriam and Uncle Paul and Paul David will stay here in the city and get ready for Paul David’s graduation.) We will go up on Friday and come back on Memorial Day. Aunt Chris and Uncle Chet will go from camping over to Yosemite for a couple of days. Right now, Yosemite is flooded! There has been so much rain in California this year, that the waterfalls are spectacular – but so much rain and (snow earlier) has caused flooding in the valley. We hope it will be dry enough for them to have a visit there. PaPa and I will bring Juliana back here because she has school on Tuesday.

Besides getting the storage room up to shape, we are getting some things taken care of to the Lazy Daze and our little “Element” – then we’ll be ready to travel again!

We just hope we see you and the family before we return to Baja in September.

We we leave here and go to visit Aunt Michelle. By the way, next time you visit Wisconsin, you won’t see Aunt Michelle, Uncle Slade, Cody, Graham, Sebastian and Zane at their “old” house. (That nice place where we all had the “Smith Grandkids 2004 Summit” last year.) Aunt Michelle and Uncle Slade will be moving to Minneapolis, MN this summer. They just bought a new house (a very big house) and they’ll be moving in a couple of months. When we see them, we’ll take pictures and post them so you all can see their new place.

Paul David will have a graduation on June 4th – we will all go to his graduation, then head for MN shortly after. Maybe we’ll see you somewhere along the way………

Lots of love to each of you,

TaTa

I have been “away” from my computer for awhile. But today I finally found some time to read the recent postings.

The swim out to the corrals sounds exciting and lots of fun. I have never used a snorkel nor gone under the water to look at the fish. It sounds as though the water there is very clear and the fish are very colorful! A great combination!

Mom says you kids are enjoying the “Tom Sawyer” book. Not a long time ago we bought that book and the “Huckleberry Finn” book to read. Both PaPa and I had read the books many years ago, but they are so good, we decided to read them again! I’m glad you’re enjoying them!

Your cousin, Paul David, has been playing a game called “Lacrosse” – it is actually a game played by the Native American Indians. They taught the “white man” to play and it became a favorite of the early settlers. However, it sort of “died out” some years ago, but has recently been taken up by a number of players. It is the national game of Canada.

Paul David played two games last Sunday, and another two games today. We all drove down to Morgan Hill, where the “tournament” was held. We were there all day – (PaPa and me, Uncle Paul, Aunt Miriam, Juliana, Auntie Chris, Becky and Catie (and last Sunday, Uncle Chet went, too).

The day was plenty warm, but we also had a strong wind. That means that it was not too hot, but lots of things got “blown around”.

After we all returned from the games, we decided to go to “Chevy’s” and have our dinner. We had a good time eating together (Becky made a big mess with her meal – most of which landed on the floor!)

PaPa and I miss each one of you VERY MUCH. We have been going up to Euclid Avenue to work on the storage building. It is a mess, and I’m getting things straightened out there. PaPa is working on the walls and we hope we can get it inspected and passed soon.

When Uncle Chet is working, we spend a little more time with Becky and Catie, helping out Aunt Chrissy.

But soon we will be heading toward the east – to see Aunt Michelle and Uncle Slade as well as Cody, Graham, Sebastian and Zane.

Good luck to each of you trying to decide what to do about the palapa and life in Mexico. PaPa and I are planning to return to San Felipe next September.

Please give your mom and dad a hug from us, and we send special love to you and Pike, Felicity and Ellen.

TaTa

WOW……you guys write soooo well, and with soooo many interesting things to discuss!! I really enjoying reading what you have written……you must get your writing skills from your Mom…….and that is good. I sure do wish I had had the opportunity to do what you guys are doing……back when I was your age (a long time ago). Keep up the writing…..keep reading….and enjoy that wonderful life.

John Howser