It's time to update you on where we are in our travels! We said goodbye to Texas after 5 months and headed off 1000 miles further west to Arizona. We did some sight seeing stops along the way like visiting the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces, NM and the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in AZ. In one of our overnight lunar landing type RV stops, we came across this flower blooming in the middle of desert sand. God's reminder to bloom where ever He sends us.
We arrived in Phoenix to be warmly welcomed by the other DMD familes that were already here. 
Rachel blessed us with a fully prepared meal for the weary travelers. I was so grateful. All the DMD kids were soon reunited and happy hugs were all around. The next day we visited cousin David and his family, where we had birthday pie and had a memorable time getting reacquainted. It was so good to reconnect with them.
David and Jamie flew out with their younger children and we all had a fun filled week together going to the movies, Sunday afternoon company picnic at a nearby park, pizza while being entertained by an incredible pipe organ, fun afternoons by the pool. As moms, the five of us were able to sneak away for dessert and coffee one evening for fellowship and lots of laughter. It’s always fun when the Durrua’s come into town and everyone makes time to get together. Jamie definitely spoils us.
Birthdays, birthdays and more birthdays. We have been having fun celebrating the girls' birthdays here in Arizona. We celebrated with the cousins as Lisa made us delicious meals and we brought the birthday cakes. The cousins have been having lots of fun hanging out together while the old grownups enjoy chatting. Kimberly had a movie date and ice cream with Cindy and Greg’s daughter, Stephanie. We had cake at the campground with the other DMD families as well. 
Having two birthdays three days apart is a calorie rich ordeal that we all suffered through shamelessly. Yum Yum. The girls are growing up so fast. Our youngest daughter turned 8 and is quite the mother’s helper. Our eldest daughter turned 13 and had some new privileges added to her life. Help! I now have two teenagers in a 32 ft camper …plus does the word peri-menopause cause you any concern? Pray for us all!!! Only kidding. We have the best kids in the world and their teenage years have been and are going to be our best together ever. Pastor Tom back home always shared that the teenage years don’t have to be the dreaded years. We are so fortunate because we really enjoy sending time with them. They are so funny and such fun to be with. We are so blessed.
Phoenix this time around has been different. We have been staying in a more central location so access to everything has been soooo much easier than last year. Rachel and Shannon have the routine down on the best way to save money grocery wise with weekly sales etc so I have been so blessed to glean from their findings. Seeing the three familes’ children interact again has been fun as everyone has grown up so much in the year we’ve been apart. It’s a blessing for the little ones to have friends to play with and for the adults to be able to hang out and have a little fellowship. There are some other DMD employees here as well. Between the families at the campground, visiting Cindy and her family, (my 10 yr old son is having a blast with their 10 yer old son), visiting cousin David and his family, we have been filling up our love tanks on company. 
But the piece de resistance was on the 18th of April when my cousins Eric and Eleanor were driving from Trinidad, Colorado to San Diego, CA where they are relocating to and they had an overnight stop in Phoenix. We surprised the younger kids (I couldn’t keep it from the teenagers so they were in on it) when we drove up to the hotel and there was their aunt and uncle and their cousins unpacking their van. They were so thrilled to see their cousins, and to go out to dinner together. Then we topped it off by staying at the hotel and had breakfast the next morning with them as well. We ended up spending the weekend at the hotel. Oh my, I can’t begin to tell you how fun it was to stay in two adjoining rooms where each room alone was soooo much bigger than our camper. Oh happy day to not have to cook, clean or school for two whole days. We just relaxed.....
Here's a pic of us at the Casa Grande Ruins, helps you appreciate how 'grande' they really were
Last but not least, our latest motley crew photo
Till next time...
P.S. Happy 87th Birthday Grandma Wood!!! Hope you liked your surprise!!!
