Renae's visit

My cousin, Renae, and her family came to visit us last weekend. They drove here from DFW and stayed in Albuquerque for a few days enjoying the Balloon Fiesta and other activities. They arrived at our place on Saturday afternoon and stayed through Monday. We had such a great time reconnecting! We went to Bandelier National Monument on Sunday and hiked through the ruins. Monday we drove up in the Jemez Mountains and hiked at one of our favorite spots. The boys had a great time with their cousin, Ellen. Lots of good memories were made! Looking forward to seeing them again--maybe next time in Fort Worth.

My boys at Bandelier

Renae & I

Las Conchas Trailhead, Jemez mountains

Daddy & Hayden at Bandelier

Carter peeking out

Carter & Ellen at Bandelier

misc. picture of my sweet boys in their AWANAs gear. They love going each week!

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Homecoming parade!

On Friday all the schools let out early for the Homecoming parade. This was the boys' first parade and they had a blast! They each brought a bag to collect candy and boy did they rake it in. We definitely have enough candy to last till Halloween. The parade included the high school band; athletic teams; the middle school athletic teams; the local Boy and Girl Scout Troops; and other community organizations. Mom went with us and it brought back so many memories I have from my childhood. Go Toppers!

gettin' candy

floats

old fashioned fire truck

Cheering for the Toppers

ready for the parade to start

Birthdays!

Wow--the last 2 weeks in the month of September are always so busy for us with Carter and Heath's birthdays on the 28th. This year the celebrations started with a visit from Gran and Gramps on Sept. 21st. We were so glad they came to see our new place and our new city! They went to AWANAs with us; Farmers' Market; hiking; Rancho de Chimayo; and Carter's birthday party on the 24th.

We had Carter's party at Rover Park and invited 10 of his friends from school. I was so glad he'd made friends so quickly since we just moved here. Mom made the birthday cake which was delicious. The theme of the party was "Beyblades--let it rip!" The kids battled their Beyblades, played on the playground, and played soccer in the grass. Near the end of the party Heath and his dad shot off the rockets they had made the day before. The kids loved being able to help launch the rockets.

For Heath's birthday my mom surprised him with brownies a la mode (his request) and gave him a book of Los Alamos Trails. The kids and I got him lots of hiking gear. We already tried out a new trail last weekend that Heath picked from his trail guide. Lots of fun!

Happy 7th Birthday Carter!!

birthday cake!

Grammy & boys with the cake

family @ Overlook

launching rockets at the birthday party

Science Night

Thursday night was "Science Night" at Carter's elementary school. They had a ton of kid-friendly science exhibits with lots of parent helpers (including Heath). The boys enjoyed making a rocket; seeing a cloud in a bottle; putting their hands through a sheet of bubbles; experimenting with sound; and many other fun things.

Had to add the picture at the end because it's so cute. Carter and Hayden love to chase bandits in the courtyard and they dress for the part too.


Hayden with magnetic skeleton puzzle


Carter shaking hands with his brother thru a bubble

Vortex




Lasers and Holograms

my 2 "bad boys" ;)

1st Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for both my kiddos in NM. Carter is in first grade and Hayden is attending his first Montessori school. Carter was super excited to "have 3 recesses and work all day", but Hayden was a little upset at the idea of going back to school. Once we got to his school though, the tears stopped and he had a great morning. When we picked up Carter he had already made a new friend. So excited for another school year!

Carter and his new friend, Gabe

boys with Daddy

boys with Mommy

my precious boys--preschool and 1st grade

Trip to Colorado

In the midst of the moving process (before most of our stuff arrived from Texas), my mom took the whole family (including Steven's girlfriend, Jennie) to Three Rivers Resort in Gunnison, Colorado, for a relaxing weekend. We stayed at a great cabin in the beautiful Gunnison National Forest near Crested Butte. On Saturday morning we rode horses--Carter's first horseback ride! Steven and Jennie generously offered to watch Hayden while we rode since he was too little to ride. That afternoon we hiked and ate dinner on the beach of Taylor Resovoir. Sunday morning we did a rafting trip 9 miles down the Gunnison river. Hayden was allowed to go on this trip with us so the whole family went. Good memories!

Carter riding "Freckles"

Mom, Alison, & Kristen

Carter & Freckles

Our new adventure!

As most (if not all) of the readers of my blog know, we recently embarked on a new adventure--leaving our home of 12 years in Fort Worth, TX, and moving to the northern mountains of New Mexico where I'm from. This relocation was approximately 2 years in the making as Heath and I had decided we wanted to make some changes for our family and try out a new opportunity. Heath accepted a job at Los Alamos National Laboratory working on their proton accelerator.

We put our house on the market at the end of July and arrived in Los Alamos on Aug. 1. The first week we spent looking at rental properties, elementary schools and preschools. There is not much available on the rental market here, but we were fortunate to find a place that suits us well. It is an adobe townhome with a lovely private courtyard and shared community park in the back. It's 1500 sq. ft., 3 bedroom, 2 bath. Can't wait to move in and make it home! We will also do some landscaping which we are excited about.

We are deciding between 2 elementaries and 2 preschools for the boys. Most preschools here are Montessori and it has been interesting learning about that method of instruction. School starts for Carter Aug. 15th and Heath starts work Aug. 22nd.

When we haven't been house hunting or looking at schools this week, we have been walking, hiking, riding bikes, going to parks, and driving in the mountains. The weather here is so wonderful--about 75-85 during the day and 60 at night. We've also enjoyed our time with my sister, brother, and mother.

Check back for more updates as we begin this new adventure!

2 views of the courtyard in our new rent house