JUST LET ME SLEEP!

Becca grabs 40 winks on the drive back from the lake to Plymouth. Mommy and Daddy had to stop at Lowe's, so Daddy had to stay in the car and monitor sleeping beauty. This was also the weekend we received more than 11 inches of rain. Most of Northern Indiana and Southwestern Michigan flooded, but not Plymouth! We had our turn last January and February

Right?

WOW! THAT'S COLD!

During the dog days of summer, Becca enjoys a swim in Barry and Crystal's pool during Ethan and Trevor's joint birthday party a couple of weeks ago. The weather had started to get cool, down into the low 70s during the day, and in the 40's at night. The water was a bit chilly, the pool about 4 feet deep, and Becca dove in, no problem!

Of course, the peels of joy were actually the howls of shock upon first entering the water (hehehehe!). Becca used just a floatie and has become, at 4, quite the fish. Her inspiration? "Waterhorse! Come save me!" Of course, we all know who "Waterhorse" is, don't we, Colton?

MEET US AT THE WELL!

Charles has been working on our church's design team to help create a third worship service. Our church, First United Methodist of Plymouth, added a second pastor, Matt Pickut. The church wanted to add a contemporary worship service, one that met the needs of members of our community who desired something different and unique.

This is our logo. The Well represents that one place in a community where people gathered. Jesus met the woman at the well, and declared that He is the water of life.

We made a commercial at our dress rehearsal in August and you're welcome to go visit it at our church's website at: http://www.meetmeatthewell.net/Media.htm If you watch closely, you'll see Becca for a split second.

We absolutely love the evening worship service, as we spend a lot of our time at the lake on the weekends and cannot quite make it to morning service (we usually get back to Plymouth in the afternoon in time for evening service). Charles digs the contemporary service and will be participating with the Drama team. Bizzy is aching for an open mike night to show what she can do (and we all know that she sings so well!). Becca bails after praise and worship to head upstairs for Kids Connection.

More news soon. Take care and God Bless!

D.D. and Me on the back porch!

Becca and D.D. relax on the back porch while waiting for Mommy to get home from work. D.D. has adjusted quite well to being at Plymouth house and manages to escape Becca - most of the time. Other times, she just gives up and lets Becca carry her around like she was her baby.

Yellow House is nearly done!

After spending nearly the whole summer helping Dad rehab Yellow House, Charles and Biz went back to school, and the siding installers finished with the siding. Biz chose a cream color in order for the name "Yellow House" to be kept.

It covered up quite nicely. The inside is nearly done as well. At the time this photo was taken this past week, the kitchen and bathroom cabinets were being installed. All that's left is finishing the lights, outlets, switches, baseboard, and floors! Although it still seems like a lot, Dad says he's planning on having it all done before he heads out the door for Arizona in late September.

This weekend, Labor Day, we're planning on installing inside doors and finishing up trim. The plumber then comes in next week or so to finish up tying the water system to the house.

By next summer, Yellow House will be ready for company. All that's left for the winter is to bring in some furniture, of which Bizzy and Charles have plenty to spare at Plymouth house!

THIS IS TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL!

Colton Hill has joined 250 other student basketball players from around the country for four days of Basketball fundamentals with the University of Notre Dame Men's Basketball team and staff.

He will be staying in the dorms on the campus and playing basketball in the main stadium and gym complex, the Jacc Center.

Everyone is excited to go and see him play at Notre Dame in Indiana

Yellow House rear addition

This shot shows a part of the rear addition. To the right, the white pipe is the venting for the guest bathroom. Where Bizzy is standing is the utility room, where the laundry and water facilities (water heater, pump and treatment system) are located.

The center part of the addition will be the new kitchen. Grandpa decided it was easier to run the new plumping under the new addition rather than try to plumb under the old part of the house.

Where the ladder is standing will be the master bath off and the door beyond the ladder goes to the master bedroom. Most of the bathroom walls have been insulated, much to the teasing off lots of people. We all point to mom and dad's house in Bullhead City and tell them we'd rather insulate than have guests hear when someone flushes!

Can you send up a Diet Coke?

Charles pokes his head through the attic entry and smiles at Bizzy as she snaps this shot. Charles was up in the attic helping Grandpa string electrical wire from one side of the house to the other in order to run power to the new additions. Most of the old electrical circuitry was bypassed and shut down, with the exception of two good circuits running the three main rooms in the center of the house. Everything else in Yellow House will be virtually new electrical wire.

We don't know where to start!

Uncle Rod looks over the electrical wiring that Grandpa, Charles and Bizzy pulled during the previous week. Uncle Rod said he was impressed with the work thus far and promptly got out of Yellow House before being recruited to inspect the attic.

Charles was thankful that Uncle Rod showed up, because he so needed a Diet Coke break (don't worry, there is more bottled water than Diet Cokes in Charles' cooler!).

This part of the new addition belonged to the old front porch. Behind Charles, on the other side of the stud wall, is the front entry way and beyond it, the living room. The doorway in the extreme rear goes into the master bedroom.

The blue green walls behind Uncle Rod belong to the old kitchen, which now has become the dining room. Behind the wall to the left is another existing bedroom, above which is the attic entry in the peak. Where these two are standing will become a third bedroom/den/office.

Yellow House NOW (sort of!)

With the exception of the front windows, which have since been replaced, this is about what Yellow House looks like now. We're waiting on siding to arrive and we're ready to drywall inside (see above posts).

Yellow House sits on an acre-and-a-half with a one-car garage in the back. The idea, when Dad bought this last November, was to build a pole barn on the back of the lot so that we'd have a place to store the boats. Yellow House sits approx. 4 miles from Bass Lake.

While we were working on the house during June, we discovered a mommy deer and two baby fawns feeding from the droppings beneath our one apple tree at the rear of the lot. Every night at dusk they come out and we watch them feed.

Yellow House THEN (February 2008)

This is the same side view as the post below. The attic opening is in the peak. We had the front porch sheared off and built a new addition with entryway. The far bay window (extreme right rear) is the front living room. Our goal was to try our hardest to keep the rounded window bays.

Yellow House NOW

As you can see, the two new additions nearly dwarf the old part of the house (the center part with the peak). The opening in the peak goes into the attic, which Charles had to climb into to help Grandpa run new electric wires to both sides of the house (see above).

Yellow House THEN (February 2008)

While we waited for the weather to warm up, we started making plans, the first of which was to shear off the back addition (the one with the makeshift chimney and back door) and the front porch and add two new additions. In the post following, you can barely see the rear peak as the new roof covers the old one. The wood shingle siding has been totally removed all the way around. Where you see Becca walking in the picture below, she is to the right of the old grill, but 10 feet away from where the old building was.

Yellow House NOW

This is the back side of Yellow house with the new addition. We'll be receiving siding this week with the hopes of being covered next week. That's Becca exploring.

Our newest addition!

We recently added to our little family. This is D.D. (prounounced "DeeDee"). When we first began looking for a dog last fall, we found an Amish dog breeder near one of our favorite Amish towns, Nappannee. He breeds Pomeranians, and we fell in love with his adult dogs - one male and three female - all of which reminded us of our beloved Sandy and Tigger.

When Mom and Dad picked up Abe (pronounced "Aay-Bee") they purposefully gave him a name that Becca could say, at the same time learn the alphabet. A unique idea, and we wanted to follow suit. Becca decided that our new puppy should be named either C.C. ("CeeCee") or D.D. (see above). She liked D.D. better, so we now have D.D., or her appropriately named AKC moniker, "Biz's Darling Dog".

She's smart as a whip. At 13 weeks, she's nearly potty trained, can do several tricks and loves Abe to the point that when they go out together, she's hanging off his ears!

That's my Peanut Butter Sandwich!

Becca and Grandpa enjoy a quiet moment on the deck at the Bass Lake cottage over the Fourth of July weekend. Grandpa is feeling much better after two week-long stints in the hospital in May and June.

In May, Grandpa Claude felt like there was something wrong with his heart, but the doctors couldn't find anything wrong, adjusted his medication and sent him home. He started feeling better, but was having some pains in his lower torso and knew, just knew that he was sick. He went back into the hospital two weeks later and doctors found an intestinal infection - Diverticulitis - and treated him. After five days, he was sent home to recuperate, which took another three weeks.

He's feeling much better now and is back working in Yellow House. More to come!

Update coming soon!

I know it's been awhile, but I will have an update posted this week! For those of you who check periodically, we thank you for reading. I have pictures of Yellow House, fun at the lake, and summer school to come.

Thanks again and check back soon!

WITNESS TO A 21ST CENTURY HISTORICAL EVENT!

While trying to finish up some last minute details as the final month of school opened, Biz received a phone call from Hillary Clinton's advance team wanting to know if President Bill Clinton could make a campaign stop at Plymouth High School. As Biz's principal was in meetings most of that day, he delegated that she should be the event coordinator for the former President's visit. For the next two days, I saw very little of Biz, as she spent hours with Hillary's advance team, members of the Secret Service, and our community's emergency services personnel to plan this event.

Last Saturday, after waiting for nearly three hours, more than a thousand people turned out to hear what President Clinton had to say. I, of course, wanted to be a witness to this one-time only event, as I'm sure President Clinton and I would never again cross paths.

I stood at the far edge of the crowd, thinking I was at the spot where President Clinton would exit once he left the stage after shaking many hands. Instead, President Clinton walked all the way over to where I stood, and shook my hand first! I was so caught off guard, I was speechless. I recovered quickly, and encouraged the former President to shake the hands of a couple of my students standing nearby, which he gladly did. He then proceeded to move along the wall of people that you see in the picture, shaking hands and greeting well-wishers.

All of my fellow colleagues at the school have been jabbing me of late, kidding that I, as a Republican, was the first listener and potential voter to shake the visiting former President's hand.

The rest is, as they say, history. Hillary went on to win Indiana in Tuesday's primary, but lost to Obama in North Carolina. I don't care; I got to shake a former President's hand, even if I never voted for the guy.

A PRESIDENTIAL VISIT

Never before had a presidential primary election season heated up communities in Indiana as this season has. Last Saturday, former President Bill Clinton made one of his 15 stops on a 3-day swing through Northern Indiana at Plymouth High School.

After a modest introduction, President Clinton proceeded to speak on the merits of Mrs. Clinton's bid to become President. Nearly a thousand people, both Republican and Democrat, turned out to hear what he had to say. From the perspective of a former journalist-turned-teacher, it was a wonderful social studies event just to be a witness of history in the making.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

Many of Biz's students at Plymouth High School turned out for former President Bill Clinton's visit while campaigning in Indiana for his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton.

OUR NEW FAMILY ADDITION

After Becca returned from Arizona and Grandma and Grandpa arrived at the lake, we got a call from our Amish Pomeranian dog breeder. Two of his female Poms had puppies three weeks apart. Each had two, one had two boys and one had a boy and a girl. He called us to come look at this wonderful little creature.

She's four weeks old as of last week, and we will get to bring her home about the first of June. We timed it so we could spend the summer training her - that is, with the help of Grandma and Abe (Mom and Dad's Datsch-Pom mix). Charles still has some fixing to do with the back yard to ensure that she will not get out this fall.

After two years of letting Abe out the back door, Grandma has finally requested that Grandpa and Charles build a doggie door at the lake house, especially if this cutie comes to visit this summer.

We'll keep you posted.

EASTER AT THE LAKE

After Aunt Leslie's visit in February, we hunkered down and waited for Spring. Before Spring could arrive, however, Easter weekend ushered in a chilly Spring Break for us. We spent the weekend at Bass Lake, and got ready for the Easter Bunny, which meant coloring Easter eggs.

As you can see, Becca has become quite adept at using a fine-haired paintbrush. Anything she can do when it comes to painting, she enjoys.

As the weekend came to a close, however, Charles said bye-bye to Becca and Bizzy, who both flew to Las Vegas on Easter Sunday, Bizzy to drive back with Grandpa, while Becca remained in Bullhead City, Arizona. Bizzy stayed for a couple of days, but then drove back to Indiana with Dad, who wanted to bring his tools and the pickup truck to use this summer.

Becca, on the other hand, stayed with Grandma and Aunt Leslie, and remained in Arizona for four weeks. Charles and Biz spent the first week after Dad flew back to Las Vegas, wondering what to do and how to talk to each other without a little one around. It was quite unsettling at first, but everyone survived and Becca is back with us.

I'm sorry it has taken so long to get a post on the blog. Becca's absence, at first, gave me quite the writer's block. More to come . . .

IT'S MY PARTY . . . II

Becca celebrated her fourth birthday with a party at the Bass Lake House last weekend (her birthday was actually the 20th). A special visitor arrived and surprised Becca Saturday morning. Leslie flew out of Las Vegas Friday evening and Charles drove to Midway Airport in Chicago to pick her up at midnight. Leslie's flight was delayed until 1 a.m., however, and it was after 3 a.m. when they finally reached Bass Lake.

Meanwhile, Biz took Becca to Bass Lake to warm up the house and get everything ready . . . only to find the furnace had quit and the temperature inside dropping as rapidly as outside. Uncle Bill and Cousin Barry came to the rescue, helped Biz with arranging repairs and waiting for the repairman to arrive, which he did at midnight. By 2 a.m. the furnace was fixed and the house warm by the time Leslie and Charles got there. We held Becca's party Saturday afternoon, and spent the day with Aunt Leslie. Uncle Bill and Aunt Gloria, and Barry, Crystal and the boys came over and had lunch and cake with us.

We spent a quiet Sunday with Leslie, who returned to Las Vegas Monday night. She had President's Day off, while our schools were in session. Charles went to work, but Bizzy took the day off and she and Becca spent the morning with Leslie. Cousin Claudia, who was also out at the lake, ran Leslie into Midway Monday afternoon.

It was a great weekend, one everyone enjoyed, and Becca got her "Auntie" fix, which hopefully will last her until summer. We hope everyone's February is nice and warm, while we weather out this cold snap and try to stave off the sniffles, coughs and colds.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECCA!

Aunt Leslie gave Rebecca a special birthday present by coming to Indiana and spending the weekend with the Indiana Ratliffs. Fun was had by all, albeit inside because it was cold outside (brrrrr!), and Becca celebrated her fourth birthday with an early afternoon party at the Bass Lake house.

Besides Leslie, Uncle Bill, Aunt Gloria, Barry, Crystal, Ethan and Trevor all showed up to wish Becca a Happy Birthday.

That's Charles in the middle who just happened to be in the picture.

FLOOD OF 2008 (the 2nd) Update . . .

The river continued to rise, this time reaching last month's mark. It's expected to crest sometime today, but with all the flooding in town and around the county, school was cancelled (again!). It really looks like we will be making up snow and flood days into June.

This is the historic Magnetic Park clubhouse two blocks over from our house. If you look closely, that is the gazebo in the back. The water has almost reached the point as was pictured in previous posts.

Our friends tell us this is unprecedented. Northern Indiana had just been declared a disaster zone by President Bush and FEMA for January's flood, then this happens. The Boys and Girls Club had just reopened with all repairs completed last week, then turned right around and was flooded, again.

We continue to perservere. Keep us in your prayers that as the water doth rise, so must it flow downstream. The upside of all this, the lakes are full and waiting to be used in the summer. We can hardly wait.

THE RIVER RISETH . . . Again!

With a mixture of snow and rain pounding an already saturated northern Indiana, the Yellow River has breached its banks yet again!. Officials say that the river will crest tonight or in the morning at 14.7 feet, a mere 6 inches shy of last month's flood stage of 15.1 feet. This all in just two days, as opposed to the week it took to rise and crest last month.

As we have said before, please don't worry about us, our house sits higher than the flood plain and we're still dry . . . for now. The picture shows a familiar area behind the Plymouth Boys and Girls Club, just south of our house, but only two blocks from Charles' school (downhill from, he adds!). Notice the piles of snow that had been plowed from roads, and the new slush in the lower part of the picture. No, the snow pile is not floating by. It's as stationary as an iceberg can be.

If you really want to see something familiar, click on the Pilot News link in the far column and look at their front picture for Thursday's newspaper. The pictured gazebo is the one in Magnetic park down the street from our house.

WHAT'S UP WITH THIS WACKY WEATHER?

Just a quick update: On the heels of a massive flood, one not seen since 1982, the weather turned cold again and we saw several inches of snow. That melted, and we warmed up again and a major wet-front came through. We started to get rain last Tuesday night, and right in the middle, an artic blast roared through. A major rain storm changed into a major snow storm right in front of our eyes. We got just a couple of inches, but the roads were wet and slick underneath the snow. School was canceled on Wednesday.

Then, the snow melted some Thursday morning, but by Thursday night, another cold front came through and dumped fourteen inches on the ground. School was canceled Friday.

By Friday night, the roads were cleared and on Saturday, everything was fine, except for a little snow shoveling, which Charles absolutely hates. We're waiting for the end of season clearance sales to come through and Charles is going to buy a snow thrower - that is, if all the companies that make them don't run out of stock before then!

It's Sunday morning and Becca is sporting another new dress that Bizzy found in California. She picked it out herself, put it on herself and Bizzy helped with the hair do. What did Charles do? He helped Becca pull on her tights - what a job for a Daddy.

Please keep thinking of us - as we are thinking of you - and pray this wacky weather straightens out before winter is up in six weeks or so!

More to come later!

"I'M STAYING WARM!"

We woke up this morning to temperatures at or below zero (South Bend, just north of us, reported -3 at 7:30, while Argos, just south of us, reported 0!). We braved the Artic chill and dressed for church. Here, Becca is sporting one of her new red dresses Biz picked up for her while shopping in California on break.

Our gas stove continues to keep the front part of our house warm during these frigid temperatures.

SINCE THE FLOOD . . .

Sorry I haven't kept you up to date, but as they say, "No news is good news." Well, the good news is, the Yellow River crested early Friday morning at a max peak of 14.9 feet, some 8 feet or so over flood level. The river is back down, you can see all of the gazebo in Magnetic Park, and the town is almost back to normal.

The park, on the other hand, is still waterlogged with massive sized ponds still waiting to drain. As the river went down, so did the temperatures, and now we're having to contend with frozen ground that won't drain. We're sure the waters will go away when the temps come up again . . . just so long as the water is gone when the mosquitos come out to play. Ugh!

Also, over the weekend, Becca got her hair cut and is enjoying sporting the short hair cut look. Bizzy says she almost looks like a real kindergartener, and is as big as one, too! As you can see, we did get a little bit of snow earlier this week, but it's not sticking around long. Right now, we're waiting for the arctic blast to hit us, driving the temp down to single digits by the weekend (at the time the picture was taken it was 31).

Update . . . FLOOD OF 2008

January 10, 2008

THURSDAY - The Yellow River continued to rise, at least another two feet and washed over several roads in Plymouth. This major artery, East Jefferson Street, serves Plymouth east of the Yellow River.

The Boys and Girls Club has been closed since Tuesday, and the river bends to the left behind. Much of the neighborhood behind this is flooded.

From where we live, we're at least 25-30 feet higher than this part of town, as Michigan street, which runs north-south through town, just beyond that orange sign in the distance, is high ground above the river.

If you click on "The South Bend Tribune" link, you can see the news stories about the flood. If you go to Friday's edition, you can see Biz's students bagging sand. As the sun went down tonight, it started raining, again, and is supposed to turn to snow.

We're once again on a two-hour delay, and if they call school, it will most likely be tomorrow (Friday), as most of the access points in town that buses have to get through are becoming waterlogged. The river is supposed to crest Friday afternoon, depending on weather.

NEW WALKBRIDGE TO MAGNETIC PARK

Last Spring, the city finished this walkbridge over the Yellow River, one of three such bridges, and gives you an idea how wide the Yellow River is. That's Magnetic Park in the background and Becca's Jungle Gym is to the left of the trees. What you don't see is the park, which now looks like a lake.

This does show you how high the river is running . . . and running . . . and running . . .

THE SIGN SAYS IT ALL . . .

The entrance to the Magnetic Park clubhouse is under water. It's actually a walkway and motor vehicles aren't allowed. You park on the street and walk down the asphalt walkway. This is also an entry point for Plymouth's new Greenway Trails Project which runs along the river.

IS MY JUNGLE GYM SAFE?

I took Becca by the Jungle Gym at Magnetic Park this morning to check out the flood waters and we discovered that the river had risen another two feet or so, to the edge of the upper part of the park. Here she wonders if the waters are going to flood her jungle gym.

In the extreme background, where the green grass meets the water, is where Becca sleds on her snow disc. At that point, the park descends 10 feet or so to the lower part, so the water is pretty deep in the background.

It almost looks like a lake . . .

MAGNETIC P ARK GAZEBO - THURSDAY

If you look at the picture from Tuesday afternoon (the previous post) you can see that the water has risen another two feet or so. We're expected to crest tomorrow, but more areas of town are under water.

The white thing at the bottom of the picture was a berm of sand placed to prevent water from reaching the clubhouse at Magnetic Park. The water went right over it and flooded to the edge of the clubhouse.

FLOOD UPDATE - WEDNESDAY

The Yellow River has risen another two feet. I didn't take any pictures, but if you look at this gazebo, the water would be up midway from where its at to the roof line (it's already halfway under water!). The actual river bed is beyond the gazebo in the tree line some 100 yards beyond.

Roads in Plymouth are starting to flood and several neighborhoods that border the river are under water. Evacuations have begun in some parts of Plymouth and sand bags are now being put out.

We are on high ground and the only thing we have to worry about is the inch of water standing in our basement (knock on wood!). I'll take some more pictures tomorrow; we are under another two-hour delay, but so far we have not had school cancelled. However, with the new rise - the river is not supposed to crest now until Friday at Noon - Charles' school is cut off on three sides with road closures and river walk bridges unsafe to tread, who knows? We might end up with a flood closure day.

WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE! AND MORE THAT WE CAN SPARE!

We arrived home to rising temperatures, melting snow, falling rain and flooding rivers.

On the first school day (today), our local Yellow River flooded over its banks and filled Magnetic Park, which is only five houses down the street from us. Here, Becca is picking up sticks to build a dam to hold back the flood waters.

Don't worry; she's actually at the bottom of her favorite sledding hill (refer to January 2007 "First Disc Run Down the Hill" post) Becca is standing at the halfway point of the disc run. If there was snow on the ground, her disc would carry her more than 30 feet further out, now covered by flood water.

As I post this, the rain has begun again, and most local school districts will be on a two-hour delay, possibly facing cancellation if the waters continue to rise. Forecasts has the Yellow cresting on Friday, at 1 a.m. We are under Flood Warning until January 15.

Somebody call Georgia and ask if they need any water.

HAVE A WONDERFUL 2008!

If you are reading this post first, scroll down to Becca's Christmas pictures that were posted in December and read the blog from the bottom up. Thank you for visiting our blog.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you a very Happy New Year.

Our fondest wishes,

The Ratliffs, Sanders, Mays and Colton Hill

IS THAT FLIPPER?

For an hour, the dolphins (see post below) flitted about the boat and gave us a wonderful show. They truly made the voyage worth taking. Yes, many pictures were taken, but this says it all.

WHALES? I DON'T SEE ANY WHALES!

We capped our Carlsbad Adventure with a trip out of Oceanside Harbor to go see the migrating whales heading south for the winter (I thought birds did that!).

Here, Mom is enjoying the ride on the calm sea, with no hint of seasickness on the horizon.

We did manage to see a couple whales, but they only snorkeled - meaning they came to the surface to get air, but not to blow. One did, however, a few times, but both did not stick their tails in the air in their signature dive manuever.

After an hour of cruising on calm seas, we motored out 8 miles and ran into a school of 40 or more common dolphins (they act like flipper, but look like miniature versions of Orca). We steamed right through the school, and the dolphins played about the boat, jumping and somersaulting all around.

I'M A HYDRONAUT! (THAT MEANS WATER)

Colton tagged along with us to Legoland, California, and enjoyed himself almost as much as Becca. Although many of the rides were meant for little kids, at 13, Colton found rides more to his liking.

He went on the Hydronaut, which spins you around in a circle while friends on shore spend money and make underwater mortars send water bombs at you. This is one ride that gets you soaked compared to "Splash Battle", where you ride in pirate ships and shoot people with water guns.

Then there's the faster roller coasters that Becca didn't ride on, but Colton did - dragging Charles on the Dragon Coaster and Bizzy to the High Tech coaster.

LOOK AT ME! IT'S THE MIDDLE OF WINTER AND I'M ALL WET!

As the temps soared and reached 67, we decided to let Becca cool off in between rides at Legoland, California. We let her take her shoes off and run through the water fountains.

Don't worry . . . Mommy brought spare clothes along; which makes me wonder - did she know that Becca would get wet? Or, did she think . . .? Naw, that couldn't be it.

Anyways, Becca sure loves the water.

MY LEGOMAN IS TALLER THAN YOURS!

After New Year's, Bizzy, Charles, Becca, and Colton spent a day at Legoland, California, which, interestingly enough, is located in Carlsbad, California.

We spent the day touring the theme park; Becca went on her first roller coaster ride, her first Pirates Splash Battle water ride, and her first Hydronaut water ride. The temperatures approached 67, and we got lots of sun!

At the end of the day, Becca had her face painted and looked like a nice pink kitty!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA

After spending several days in windy Bullhead City, we headed out to Carlsbad, California, for New Year's on the beach.

Here, Becca adorns herself with New Year's Eve paraphernalia (yep! The same kind of stuff she used when she got into a war with Claude Eric last New Year's). We rang in the New Year's and spent the week sight-seeing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

After Grandpa Claude picked us up in Wikiup, Arizona, he delivered us to Grandma Jan's in Bullhead City, Arizona, so that we might spend Christmas with the Sanders Family.

Here, Claude Eric doth protest a bit when Bizzy snapped his picture (well, maybe just a smirk:). After a few tense moments when we thought Becca was going to shy away, she finally latched onto her uncle and pestered him non-stop through Arizona and California. She hadn't seen her Uncle Claude since last New Year's when the two battled it out with New Year's Eve paraphernalia and we thought the sticking of tongues out would continue, but the pestering prevailed and the love shined through!

The family spent Christmas Eve together. On Christmas Day, we toodled over to Laughlin, Nevada, and had dinner at Chris and Leslie's house. We spent a few days in Bullhead, taking a side trip to historic Oatman, Arizona, to let Becca feed the burros. Then, it was off to California!

THE RATLIFF's: THE NEXT GENERATION

The Ratliff kids got a chance to spend some time together and Becca experienced life (if only for a couple of days) around older cousins. Although she spends her summers with Colton when he visits Bass Lake, Becca spent the weekend before Christmas with (from left) Ailey (Larry and Kristy), Evan (Russ and Kira), Ashley (Lee and Monta) and Caius (Larry and Kristy), her Arizona cousins. She's invited the kids to Indiana when next the opportunity arises and looks forward to dunking Evan in the lake!

The rambunctious five took five so that we might snap this keepsake. Here, they are standing in front of Russ and Kira's fireplace in the family room of their new house. Russ and Kira now live quite near where we boys grew up in North Phoenix.

Having come from freezing weather, we experienced temperatures in the 50s and 60s in Arizona and California and loved every minute of it!

THE FOUR RATLIFF BROTHERS TOGETHER FOR CHRISTMAS!

We began our Christmas 2007 vacation with a quick trip to Phoenix to see the boys, whom we hadn't seen in almost two years. We finished the year on Dec. 21 and flew into Phoenix on Saturday, Dec. 22. Biz, Becca and I stayed at Russ and Kira's new house in North Phoenix for two days.

Then, on Christmas Eve, Russ, Kira and Evan drove us to Wikiup, Arizona, and passed us off to Grampa Sanders, who drove down from Bullhead City to take us the rest of the way to Grandma's House for the Holidays.

There were many people we desired to see, and didn't, but know that we love you all and will catch you on the next swing through.

All our love and Happy New Year!

Merry

Christmas!

Love

Becca,

Bizzy,

and Charles