Lucky Charms Anyone?

After the kiddos are in bed, Eric and I crack out the snacks each night. Our new favorite 8PM treat is a big ol' bowl of Lucky Charms. Eric got me this bowl the other night. It was ridiculously huge and we had a good laugh.


Then I ate the whole thing!

Time with Grandpa

No one loves you more than your grandparents.

For My Brothers...

Since my brothers like to think I can only make toast and I still eat noodles with butter, here are the photos of me making Thanksgiving dinner! :)

I even had time to help Elise and Maddie make turkey hand placemats.

There is lots to be thankful for...I wish could have been together. I love you guys!

Road Trip

Grandpa and Grandma's house in Phoenix was our final destination for Thanksgiving, but we decided to "road trip it" with the kids and enjoy west central NM and east central AZ.

After Socorro, we drove past the VLA. You might remember it from the movie "Contact" with Jodie Foster.

We stopped in Pie Town to have lunch and some awesome homemade cherry and apple pies at the Pie-O-Neer.

We camped at Lyman Lake State Park near St. John's, AZ.

We drove through the White Mountains in the the Salt River Canyon. WOW!

We enjoyed all the mountain driving into Globe, AZ and were saddened to enter into the hazy smog of the city. But we ended the road trip with an evening at Amazing Jake's for merry-go-round rides, bumper cars, mini-golf, and lots of food.

Beautiful Bosque Birds

We went to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge just in time to see the thousands of cranes, ducks, geese, and other birds settle in for the night. It was AWESOME! The kids all loved it and I was teary -- my mom had been there, she loved birds, and she watched the sun set every evening.

"Dad, which desk is yours?"

We all took a few extra days off before Thanksgiving to make our trip to Arizona. We decided to head south through Socorro, NM and see where Eric is going to school. He started his PhD in math again at New Mexico Tech and has been been commuting 2.5 hours each way every Tuesday since August. The girls couldn't wait to see where he studies, where he eats lunch, and most importantly, where he sits in class. Eric took them to the student union for an ice cream treat. When we asked the girls what they wanted to study when they went to college, Maddie said nuts -- to find a peanut that kids won't be allergic to. Elise said, in between licks, "I want to be a popsicle taster." :)

Maddie's First Gymnastics Meet

Maddie loves the monkey bars at school and asked if she could try gymnastics this year. She had her first meet before Thanksgiving and did a great job!