Ruidoso

Snow on the mountain the day everyone left (except me and the girls)


We returned from our big trip to New Mexico last night. We had lots of fun with Jammie and Papa. We flew down last Thursday (Matthew, Vail, Katy, and me)and spent that night in El Paso. Friday we got up and Micah and Nat were there (they flew in later than us). We all piled into the nice rented mini van and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Ruidoso. The weather was fantastic. It was Aspen fest weekend. Friday we surprised Jammie at school. Not much of a surprise though when the secretary buzzed your room and tells you you have visitors before the visitors even get in the building. We took her to lunch at Mr. Burger for green chili cheeseburgers and cherry limeades with cream. After that the we went home and put the girls down for naps. The boys went to the driving range and then we went and ate at Casa Blanca. I know so far our trip has been planned around eating. Isn't that how all family get togethers are? Saturday we went and ate breakfast at Lincoln County Grill (see) and then staked out our seats for the Aspenfest parade. The girls had so much fun watching everyone go by and collecting all the candy that was thrown at them. I am pretty sure Vail had about 10 suckers while we were sitting there. Later that afternoon Natalie went to one of our favorite stores and to part of the craft fair they have every year. We bought some really great Lavendar body cream (Nat is hoping it will help prevent stretch marks. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.) That night Jan prepared a wonderful lasagna and garlic bread which we ate with Nat's awesome salad. After the girls went to bed we played a really dumb card game and then ended up laughing at funny videos on the computer. The next day Micah, Nat, and Matthew left to come back home and the girls and I got to spend some good ole TLC with Jammie and Papa. The girls were spoiled (so was I). Now we are going through detox. Katy still randomly says Shammie (Jammie), Papa, Caca (micah) and Nat like they will magically appear if she says it enough. Yesterday I flew home by myself. Pretty uneventful. The girls were very good. They only got cranky towards the end of the second flight. By then Katy was crying for her Daddy and I think Vail was just tired. We made it all in one piece. The girls were excited to see their daddy and so was their mommy. On a side note my kids were the only kids on both of my flights yesterday. It was very strange. I also didn't see any kids when I was in the Houston airport either. It was crazy. There was a nice guy who was checking us onto the plane who let us preboard instead of waiting for family boarding. Vail said something a bit loud while we were in the airport and this guy in front of us turned and glared at us. I laughed because I thought it was the appropriate response to his inappropriate glare. :)Another side note is Matthew's dad Jace discovered that he could get a gate pass at the ticket counter and go all the way with me to the gate. Of course we didn't find this out until too late but next time it will be a big help. I don't know if they do that at all airports but next time I am flying alone you better believe I will be seeing if Matthew can help me through security all the way to the gate and wait with me until I board the plane.


Meeting Jammie at school.

Meeting Papa for lunch.

Mmmm...Casa Blanca



Wrestling with Papa

Katy with Grandma Billie

waiting on the parade

Katy grabbing her candy.



Jumping on her pretend trampoline.


Coping what Uncle Micah did previously.


The beautiful aspen trees this time of year.