G.U.S.

My Uncle Steve (my dad's youngest brother) was a big part of my life growing up. It's so fun to watch him duplicate this role in Presley's life. During our trip to Little Rock in September, Uncle Steve and Presley really hit it off so he decided to make the trip to visit us in Albuquerque. Presley definitely has him wrapped around her finger...who else would want to play "awake-sleep" (getting in the bed under the covers and turning the lamp off and on) for almost an hour?!? We all had a wonderful visit and I can't wait to watch this special relationship grow. We love our U.S./G.U.S! (Uncle Steve/Great Uncle Steve)

family fun

With a bye week and 2 away games, we've had the pleasure of having Jon around on the weekends. We decided to venture to Santa Fe and the Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument for a day of family fun. Santa Fe was a slight bust. We went down to the morning farmer's market, but found it a little difficult to get around with the kids. We tried to find a recommended burger joint, but it was closed for the week. After grabbing some local fare at McDonald's, we headed to the Tent Rocks. We managed to complete the 1-mile hike through the rocks. Jon was a trooper and carried Pres most of the way. All-in-all, it was a good family outing and another memory of our short stay in New Mexico.

handy halloween

Most of you know that I LOVE Halloween. I get so excited to decorate and plan our costumes. Martha Stewart is the Queen of Hallooween, and I love getting project ideas from her maganize. Last year it was newspaper bones covered in cast plaster, and this year it was plaster hands molded from my own hands. I was able to find the material to make the molds locally, which saved me tons on shipping. The stuff is as light as air but has to be temperature controlled so it was going to cost me an arm and a leg to get it. I did a couple of test molds of my thumb and then ventured to make larger molds of my hands. I am totally hooked on this stuff and wish I could make molds of everything. You have to be  pretty still for 5-8 minutes while the mold sets so getting molds of the kids is definitely out. 

 Waiting for the mold to set.

 After I pulled my hand out.

 The mold filled with plaster.

 Peeling away the mold.

The final product.

what a difference 3 days makes

Our first snow! We were looking for something to do as a family last Saturday so we decided to head back up the moutain so Jon could have a look. Things were a little different from our trip just 3 days earlier!

The mountain recieved 6 inches of snow overnight!

reunited and it feels so good

We also got a very special visit from our best friends last week. Aurora and Jett made the trip to Albuquerque from Lubbock to play for a few days. Jett was a little standoffish at first but soon he and Presley were running non-stop and squealing with delight. It was great getting to show them around our new home.

Not quite sure yet...

Good to go.

A trip to the zoo.

Gorilla time out.

Hear no evil.

We had to google to find out how long a mama kangaroo has to carry her kiddo around.

This is was best jump place I have been to.

They let the grown ups do everything and this slide was super steep and fast. I screamed the whole way down!

Aurora & I took the big kids up on Sandia Crest. It was a beautiful drive and the view from the top was amazing. The wind was blowing really hard and it was about 40 degrees.

We made plans to get up and go to the Balloon Fiesta on Wednesday morning but rain the night before made the field too muddy for the balloons to fly. Luckily things cleared up and we were able to attend the special shapes event on Thursday morning.

up, up & away

The 2011 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta just wrapped up and we enjoyed several days of really exciting balloon events. My folks came out back in 2009 and were hooked right away. They made the trip again this year and showed us the ins and outs of the fiesta. Presley loved it all! The weather was wonderful the first day of the event and we had a great time watching close to 350 balloons take off within an hour. The only down side to the fiesta is that you have to get up around 4:30 am to make it through traffic and get to the field where the balloons take off. By 10:30 you are ready for lunch an a nap! The first year my parents attended the fiesta, my mom took about 800 pictures. I can totally see why. It's such an amazing experience getting to walk amongst the balloons and watch them fill the sky. Here are some of my favorite pictures of the fiesta.

My mom celebrated her 60th birthday during the visit.

We celebrated by taking a walk across the Rio Grande.

You can't really tell from this picture but there were probably 50 balloons still up in the air.

They looked like tiny blow up balloons.

Landon doesn't really like to take naps in his bed anymore but will sleep for hours in the swing. I am so worried that he is going to fall out on his face so...