Recent Happenings

Boy, it's been a long time since I posted on this blog! We have been a very busy family this spring. We took both boys skiing at Sipapu Ski Resort in February. Carter really got the hang of it and Hayden gave it a lot of effort but eventually decided he'd rather play in the snow. Carter started soccer this spring and Hayden started playing t-ball. Can't go wrong when the t-ball coach is the head coach for the highschool baseball team. :) Our weekends are full with their games till the end of May. So fun seeing the little ones play sports!

During spring break we went to Winters to visit Heath's family for Easter. His sister and her husband came from Boston and brought their baby, Mikey, whom we met for the first time. He's so adorable! The boys enjoyed interacting with him. I'm sure next time they'll have Mikey running around with them all over the farm!



Hayden at t-ball practice

boys at the miniture golf course in Los Alamos




playing around the statues at Ashley Pond



we made pinecone birdfeeders for our backyard


Easter egg hunt at Gran and Gramps'!

boys with the tree we planted at Callie and Belle's graves

Grandchildren with Gran and Gramps

Family picture--Easter 2012

Carter skiing

playing on the snow castle at Sipapu Ski Resort

AWANAs Yacht Races

Each year at AWANAs they have an event called "Yacht Races." The kids start with a simple block of wood and some basic guidelines and they create boats which they then race in gutters. Heath and the boys had so much fun designing their boats. Gramps even helped some when he was here. Carter's was a camo boat with a sail made out of a milk carton. Hayden's had an arrow motif with a sail made from a plastic cup with a propeller inside. Hayden's boat actually won the "fastest yacht" and the "best design" in his age group. Although Carter's wasn't the fastest, he did place 1st and 2nd in 2 different heats. We took the night off from our small group Bible study to watch the races. It was so much fun! Carter came home already designing his for next year.

Hayden's Birthday

I can't believe my little Hayden is 4! We sure had a good time celebrating his birthday. He had a gymnastics birthday party at Los Alamos Gymnastics and had 11 friends there to help him celebrate. What fun! The theme of his party was Hotwheels Battle Force 5 and Grammy made his birthday cake this year. Miss Jennie also made some awesome cupcakes to share. Gran and Gramps drove in from Texas for the occasion. The Monday following Hayden's birthday I brought cupcakes to his preschool. They ask the parents to bring pictures of the child to share with the class so I brought Hayden's baby book. He was really excited to have me share pictures of him with his friends.

celebrating at preschool

Happy Birthday Hayden!

cake and cupcakes

the proud parents

stretching at gymnastics

Carter on the zipline

birthday morning donut

What We've Been Up To...

Since Christmas we have been getting back into the normal routine around here. Lots of playdates and birthday parties, hiking when the weather is warm; homework; PTA; AWANAs...

The boys both started gymnastics classes on Wednesdays. Carter will switch to soccer in April. Heath and I are enjoying our small group Bible study/fellowship group that meets during AWANAs on Wednesday evenings. Still looking for a house but nothing's really on the market. Carter (and probably myself) will get to go on an amazing field trip Monday to the San Ildefonso Pueblo Feast Day celebrations. No pictures though as they are not allowed. Here's some snapshots from the recent weeks.

Carter's class science fair project

my silly boys

3 guys doing their homework

mom brought Saguaro cactus lollypops back from Tucson.

Our favorite #5, Ian Kinsler

Boys showing off their Texas Rangers jerseys that Santa brought

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

Our Rudolph


We made this snowman ourselves!

Cutting our Christmas tree

pictures with Santa

Our first "real" tree

Halloween 2011

Our first Halloween in New Mexico and it was a lot of fun! We went to the pumpkin patch/fall carnival one weekend with Steven and Jennie. A few days later we carved our jack-o-lanterns and I roasted the seeds. The Friday before Halloween we took the kids uptown (Los Alamos) to do some Halloween-themed science experiments at the Bradbury Science Museum and then to trick-or-treat on Main Street. The kids really enjoyed the afternoon, but it got chilly fast in the shade so we went home a little early. They had plenty of candy though! The following night we went back for the pumpkin glow which was awesome.

On Halloween itself Hayden wore his costume to school and they had a pumpkin patch there as well. Carter got to walk in the annual costume parade at Chamisa. The evening was filled with trick-or-treating in our neighborhood as well as a trunk-or-treat at the Baptist church. Fun, fun!

the loot!

dinner (mummy dogs and ghost bananas)

Halloween parade

Chamisa Elementary

spooky science at the Bradbury Science Museum

my Power Ranger and Lego

jack-o-lanterns

pumpkin patch

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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