A Tree for Me Please

I love real Christmas trees. I love finding them with my family. Off we go! We unnecessarily stopped at the BLM station in Fredonia. Now permits are purchased online. We still posed with Smokey the Bear.

Mark wanted to help chop down a tree!

We got one for us and one for Grandma Campbell.

After we decorated the tree, Aunt Rachel was in a craft fair and I bought this ornament from her. She said people were interested in a Christmas tree ornament on a Christmas tree. I was drawn right to it!

Thanksgiving 2022

Starting off Thanksgiving with exercise. I'm thankful that my body recovers and gets strong. I'm grateful that my family likes to be strong too.

We had Thanksgiving at Grandma Campbell's house. She and Grandpa are down in Tucson at Megan's house because she had a baby girl named Madeline! 

 Mom and baby are doing fine!

We spent time with Jared and Emily's family. Their girls made this huge charcuterie board!

We ate all the good things and played a few card games.

Maxine is down in Buena Park with Sister Jones for Thanksgiving. Right by Knott's Berry Farm. 

 

Baja 1000

I've repeatedly asked when is the Baja 1000.  Merril has informed me that the Baja 1000 will be the weekend before Thanksgiving for the rest of his life. Never plan on him. This year instead of just watching, he wanted to race it. A bunch of friends jumped on the plan. They've been prepping for a month, maybe longer.  And now it's time to gooooo!

Two teams of riders were participating. Ryan, Dillan, Wade, Merril, Shawn, and Darryl. 

Sponsored by Lovesac, of course.

They were having a good time taking beauty shots on the beach.

And all the other dumb stuff that goes on when you group a bunch of friends together.

 They started the race with Merril and Shawn on leg one. They got to the checkpoint and switched riders. Wade and Darryl took off on the second leg. After a technical bit turned into a sandy wash, Wade was going very fast and hit a rock. He ended up dislocating and breaking his hip a little bit. He was airlifted out. He was taken to a clinic in San Felipe. Merril dropped out of the race to make sure he was being taken care of. They ended up driving him in an ambulance to Mexicali because they couldn't put his hip back in at the clinic. They reset his hip in Mexicali but decided not to do surgery. They life flighted him back to St George Regional Medical Center for surgery. 

Wade's going to be okay but it's going to be a long road of healing and recovery. This took two days. By the time Merril saw him off, the race was almost over. Merril drove back to Ensenada to the finish. The two teams finished! Merril is a little sad that he didn't get to race more of it but knows it was important to help Wade. He's jonesing to ride solo next year.

Merril was able to hitch a ride home on a plane. He got home quick to see me. 😍

 

Tigers Got Talent

Juliet made it through the preliminaries for Tigers Got Talent and moved onto the finals! She played Dumb Song by John Schmidt. 

Juliet won the judge's choice in her category! Her friend, Nathan, sang with a quintet and won the people's choice.

Juliet was super excited! She received a gift certificate to Classic Sports, Pick Me Up, Coral Cliffs Cinema, some candy and some soda and a $50 check!

She was so cute and really hammed up her performance. She sat on the piano keys at the end. She did so great! 

 

How is my Daughter 20!

Maxine turned 20 today! I can't believe it's been 20 years since I became a Mom. Juliet asked if it made me feel old and I can honestly say no. It hasn't felt like 20 years. It's felt shorter than that. We talked today and she was going to eat sushi for lunch and a member was going to make birthday cheesecake for them to go with dinner. I love that people are taking care of my girl when I can't!

Sema and Joshua Tree

Merril went to the SEMA Show in Las Vegas and also needed to set up a radio repeater by Joshua Tree National Park and decided to take Mark and Mikayla. 

Trips with Dad involve a lot of driving in the truck. When they get out, things can get a little silly.

They found sculptures.

They found a rock called skull rock.

They found a pond with some ducks and fed them Fritos.

Mark said he climbed all the way up a mountain and it was hot to help Dad set up a radio repeater. Mark said there was a coat up there and he did parkour. Mark and Mikayla had a great time. 

My pals!

I love to get together with these ladies! Friends who lift me up and are fabulous examples to me. People who help me build my testimony in Jesus Christ. Love Val, Sara and Laurie.