Christmas Eve Eve

Oliver dances with Cowboy Santa! HO, HO, HO! Oliver walks...with a little help.

Oliver and the Grinch pants

Alyssa told me about an online auction for Grinch "longies" and when I checked, the bids were up in the $200's!!! I showed a co-worker, Anneliese, who knits and in no time, she presented Oliver with his own Grinch longies! Thanks Anneliese! Great job!

Pies for Teachers

Some of the kids from our youth group got together after church to make pies for the teachers in the neighborhood for Thanksgiving.

Making tamales

We all got together at my mom's house to make tamales. 1) Bake the seasoned meat for hours until it is falling apart. 2) Alyssa separates and soak the husks in hot water for an hour and a half. 3) Add lard and seasonings to the masa. 4) Liz kneeds the masa. Mary finishes up the meat. 5) Liz makes sure the masa isn't sticky. 6) Mary shows us how to spread the masa on the smooth side of the husk. 7) Liz, Mama, Mary, Alyssa and I add meat and roll up the tamales while Lowell watches. 8) Mary, Michelle and I roll more tamales. Bundle the tamales in groups of 6 or 12. 9) Steam for an hour and a half. 10)Remember to have fun!!! Enjoy!

Oliver, Dancing with the Stars!

Oliver and the screen door.

After much determination and practice, Oliver now can come in and go out the screen door.

Naked baby climbs stairs!

This just in... a naked baby was caught climbing stairs all by himself at his Granddad and Grandmommy's house!

I'm worried...

I'm worried about my nephew Michael. The good news is he's taken up ballet - they say it helps the balance and strength. The bad news is... he's gaining weight and dressing like a girl! scroll down...

I miss you Britty!

This is for Britty, she misses Oliver, we all miss "all-of-her"!

Our little Pumpkin!

I forgot I had a blog! I took pictures of Oliver yesterday in the pumpkin patch and very carefully emailed pictures to family and friends. Then, I remembered more people and sent more emails. Just now, I remembered...I have a blog! I could have just posted the pictures here!!! Sigh! Here we go:

Dawn Patrol

Dan isn’t feeling well, but we got up at 4:30 this morning for the Dawn Patrol. A number of balloonists take off in the dark around 5:45 and fly until it is light enough to see to land. They are so beautiful in the dark. I was shivering from excitement! Or maybe it was the cold. I later found out it was about 42 degrees this morning! At 7:00 am, they held the Flight of Nations mass ascension where there were balloons from 23 other countries! They were all beautiful! And fun! There were all kinds of designs and shapes! We even got to touch them!!! More than 600 balloons registered for this year's fiesta. I don’t know how many balloons there were, but we watched them take off one after another, sometimes simultaneously for about 4 hours and when we left, there were still quite a few still on the ground. I think we saw most of them!

The Torquoise Trail

We drove to Santa Fe after a breakfast at another Range Cafe. We drove up the Turquoise Trail and stopped in Madrid. Accent on the first syllable. It’s a tiny hippie town of about 300, with gift shops and art galleries. We talked to a young man selling bunches of lavender he has wound with twine. They smelled heavenly. Madrid is were they filmed Wild Hogs with John Travolta and Tim Allen. We drove on to Santa Fe where we shopped all day, stopped for a late lunch at the Coyote Cafe, then headed back to Albuquerque.

Porky Pig! and Darth Vadar!

Monday morning: We were getting ready to go get Britt for breakfast when we looked out our hotel room and saw balloons galore, some flying right over our hotel. Dan was so excited, “Robyn, there’s Porky Pig! and Darth Vadar!” Finally we got in the car! Before I knew it we were on a chase to see the balloons landing. We actually saw one land in a field, the basket tipped over, a man jumped out with his arms raised in excitement of his successful achievement! We had breakfast at the Range, then Dan went to Moriarty to fly a glider (you'll hear all about it!) and Britt and I had a pedicure, then went shopping at Buffalo Exchange. Then we went to a movie, The Women. We met back up with Dan and went to dinner in old town. We called it an early night because tomorrow we’re going to Santa Fe.

Making the most of the day.

Sunday, we had planned to awaken at 4:30 am to get to the Balloon Fiesta Park to see the mass ascension of the hot air balloons. For the first time since Britt and Zach arrived it rained cats and dogs all night long. They called off the mass ascension for the morning. We had lunch. Dan and I went to check into our hotel, the Nativo, and Britt drove Zach to UNM to ride the bus with about 6 or 7 other students to Chaco for their dig. Britt met us at the hotel, then we went over to the Balloon Park where we were 3 of just a few people. There was no charge for parking or entrance fee. A handful of vendors had opened up, so we walked around checking them out. It looked like another storm was coming, so we headed to the car. We started driving and ended up at the Petroglyph National Monument. A petroglyph is an etched drawing in rock. We hiked around a bit and saw a millepedeand a red tailed hawk. We got back in the car and started down the road. We saw a road runner. Then, as if written into a cartoon, running down the road was the scraggliest coyote I have ever seen! Well, I’ve never see one before, but trust me this one was scraggly! Britt and I kept yelling commands at Dan to back up! Slow down! Turn around! Hurry up! Basically we were herding a coyote with a black Lincoln Navigator! It was getting late in the afternoon, so we headed back to the Balloon Park. Things were happening, so we got charged to get in this time. We hurried over to one of the picnic tables and claimed a spot. Before long, 4 older women joined us. We started talking and 2 of them had taught in the Cupertino school district where our kids had gone. Never taught our kids, but it was kind of cool. The main woman, Lydia, ended up giving me her old family recipe for adevado. Pork roasted in red chiles. They were a lot of fun! The balloon trailers started pulling up in the grassy area, unloading their baskets and gear. Dan - not one to sit back and watch, wanted to get up close. We soon realized we could walk all around the hot air balloons and see everything that was going on. It was amazing really. First they get the basket out, then they unroll the balloon on the ground. People hold it open while big fans blow air to fill the balloon. (We even got to step up and take pictures of the inside of the balloon!) Then, when there is enough air, they fire up the fire into the balloon to heat the air. It happens very quickly! There were balloons for as far as the eye could see in every direction. For this event, they didn’t (intentionally) leave the ground. They just all inflated, then when it got dark, there was a countdown. Then all the balloons lit up with their burners at once. It was beautiful. The pictures don’t do it justice! We were overwhelmed. One woman who was about 65 said it best as she was running from one balloon to the other, “I feel like I’m nine years old!”

We arrive in Albuquerque

Dan and I arrived in Albuquerque. We decided to relax and take things at a snails pace. We unloaded our bags at Britt and Zach’s and headed over to Sadie’s for dinner. The line was out the door! There was going to be up to an hour and a half wait. We scouted out people in the bar whose little buzzer-thingy had just lit up and hovered over them until they left the table to be seated for their dinner. We ordered margaritas and nachos - a mountain of chips, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, beans, chicken, beef and jalapenos. Just when we were about to dig in, our buzzer thingy went off and we were whisked away to our dinner table. We had things like stuffed soppa pillas, but Zach’s was most impressive... a cheesburger covered in green sauce and queso! We went away fat and happy.

Grace Bible Church Youth Ski Trip 2008

Jonathan Katie, Jonathan & Michael Our skiers!

New Mexico ski trip with Grace Youth Group

Dave and Cindy Roberts Michael Robyn & Liz Jonathan Grace Bible Church Youth Grouup Katie, Jonathan & Michael