Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Mitch returns to Arizona

Mitch returned from his mission to Texas, McAllen Mission on November 6, 2008.
It is sooooo exciting to have him back with us. He reported his mission on Sunday and did a wonderful job, though it was a bit of a culture shock for him - he said there were tooooo many people and there wasn't enough "brown" in the building! He'll stay around Tucson for a little while. He's already helping coach wrestling at Marana High School. I think he'll be a good wrestling partner for Rhett! He'll also start school at Pima College in January and hopefully help at the Middle School with their wrestling season as well. And in his spare time, he'll work for Joel's Mobile Service washing cars.
Mitch had a good mission and it was very hard for him to come home. He spent most of his mission on his bike and went thousands of miles. His Spanish is quite good - he rarely spoke English as he was on the Southern border for 23/24 of his mission.
Somethings about Mitch remain the same (noisy, breaks things, etc.) some things have changed - he realizes what life is all about and that some things are very important. It's just been a delight to chat with him and get brief glimpses of his life during the past 2 years.
Welcome home Mitch!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

A Bunch of Grandkids

This weekend 6 of the 7 grandkids were in Tucson for a visit!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Joyce comes to stay . . .


In mid November, Cindy Meekin the counselor at Marana High School called and said that Joyce van Vianen, a gal from Holland (who we knew from the swim team), was looking for a place to live and wondered if I knew anyone who she could stay with. My response was almost immediate that she could stay with us. However, I quickly decided that I better run my decision past the "boys" in the house before making a committment. They were pretty much in agreement and just before Thanksgiving, Joyce moved in. Her mom stayed with us for a few days to help in the transition and then she returned to Holland. It's been fun to have another female in the house - which is not something the boys are very familiar with - though I must say, it hasn't really changed their behavior much - there's still lots of burping and gas passing . . . sorry Joyce . . . it just comes with the Baker territory!
Joyce is a Senior at the High School and will graduate in May, so she will be here until then. Who knows what the future has in store for her, but until then, we'll enjoy her as part of our family.

Thanksgiving 2007




All the Baker Bunch, minus Mitch (who is spending Thanksgiving in south Texas), gathered in Eagar at 715 S Burk for a weekend of thanks.

Karen and Rand currently reside in Eagar; the Obers came from Idaho; Greta and Spencer came from Thatcher; Grani, Poppie, Rhett and our new addition Joyce, came from Tucson.
We laughed so hard when we played the sign game, ate lots of good food, shot some rockets high into the air, played with the animals at the barn, took pictures, burned weeds and just enjoyed being together. It's a weekend that will remain "warm" for several years to come.




Tuesday, November 6, 2007

my new blog . . .


At some point, starting to record the events of the my life will need to be done - now is as good a time as any . . . so pictures and dialog will soon be sent to this blog spot to track the activities that fill my time . . . Welcome to the Arizona Baker Bunch Blog . . . DeAnn