lots to catch up on :)

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Hellllooo EVeryone! Happy Easter!! YAY!!
We have lots to report- currently we are staying with the gracious Bautch family (Tom, Jan, Kara, and Cullen ) on the west coast here in lovely San DIego, CA. The weather is apparently dismal for this area but we have also found it's probably the warmest place in the country right now ( Holla! ) So if you need a little heat, we'll try to send some ya'll's way!
New Mexico is called "the land of enchantment" and it wasn't long before I found out for myself! Driving through on HWY 10, suddenly this 'sparkly' feeling came over me and I was like "Ahh, Caleb!" and he said "Nici, you're just enchanted." So I got enchanted in New Mexico.
We had a perfectly wonderful couple days with Art and Marilyn Feyereisen in Paradise, AZ- we went to a Rangers v.s. Padres game and the Rangers got WIPED. We had so much fun with them, eating grapefruit, picking oranges off of real orange trees ( this, among many others, was a very new experience for me ) Marilyn and I went to a Gospel concert put on by the musicians of Paradise and we also went to Luke Airforce base to watch their air show. Lots of new and fun things.
Last weekend, we met Joe Spadino and the lovely Kate in Moab, Utah, and backpacked it up into "Negro Bill's Canyon"- which, mind you, is right by "Jackass Canyon" (I'm not joking here) and made our camp for two nights on the top of a mesa like area overlooking the creek and red cliffs. It was so beautiful, quiet, and wild. I felt more alive than I had the entire trip- it was like I was just starting to realize that this isn't a dream- right here, right now, right in God's country.
Caleb and I went to the Grand Canyon and stayed in their campground and Caleb made a really sweet fire that made this HUGE plume of smoke. I was so proud 😊
We camped again in Prescott, AZ Tuesday and Wednesday nights, a night at a rest stop right inside the Californian border by the Imperial Sand Dunes- we could hear dune buggies racing into the night- and then came here.
The Bautch family has been so kind, giving us a tour of San Diego yesterday and then taking us to church with them this morning- a Catholic chuch with the most beautiful sanctuary I've ever seen. I hope you all are having a wonderful Easter day, remembering Jesus and His intense love for us.. I miss you all very much and am praying for you!
Hugs and Kisses,
Nici ( and Caleb )

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