Daniel is One!

My baby Daniel has turned one!  He had a Mickey Mouse birthday party with family.  I'm not saying he's spoiled, but. . .  Oh never mind.  I spoil the heck out of that kid, we all do.

Look, my mom made me a cake shaped like Mickey's Clubhouse.

Yum, Mickey's ear tastes good.

Wow, now my own chocolate cake!

Opening gifts with my aunt Katie.

My family on my dad's side came all the way from Taos to see me.

And so did my grandma, grandpa and great grandma.

And this is what I looked like one year ago.

What Photographer Ally Does as I Sleep

The title says it all.

Summer Getaway 2012

Henry and I had not had a vacation with just us and the kids in over a year (since California in March 2011).  We knew we would be going to Disney World in October, but we wanted to take a little vacation before then.  Some time to spend with just the four of us.  So, we rented a class C RV from Cruise America, and headed to southern Colorado for a week.

We did not have an itinerary, we just wanted to spend sometime together.  We drove up to Durango, found a great campground and saw the sites.  We camped in Durango for three nights then we drove to Fun Valley and camped there for two nights.  During it all we went rafting, horse back riding, sledding down a mountain, rode pedal boats, rented bicycles and cruised Fun Valley, walked downtown Durango, and spent some great family time with just the four of us.  Henry also taught the kids a few card games that we would play every evening.

I would definitely recommend renting one of these to anyone.  It was easy to drive and had plenty of room for all of us.

Me and the kids crossing the bridge over the river.

I love the expression on Ryan's face.

Ally flying high.

Um, side note.  This is not a good idea for a kid, like Ryan, who is afraid of heights.  But hey, he tried it.

Our kids have an awesome father who love us very much.

Little Bear Fire

A couple weeks after church camp, a wild fire started in Ruidoso.  Within a few days, it had spread to over 44,000 acres and burned 254 structures.  We were watching the news, on the progress of the fire, with Henry's parents, who were visiting for Ryan's birthday.  Henry's mom said, "I wonder if mom (who lives in El Paso, but has a cabin in Ruidoso) knows about this fire".  She decided to call her right away and ask.  As soon as she said "Hi mom, did you know there is a fire in Ruidoso?" we quickly heard her say "Oh shit, I'm so sorry mom."  A neighbor of Grandmama's in Ruidoso had just called her and informed her that her cabin had burned to the ground.

We soon found out that the fire, which is called The Little Bear Fire, had also burned many homes around church camp and the gymnasium.  The bathhouse was also destroyed.  This was so difficult to hear partly because we were just there.  We had just climbed the rock walls in that gymnasium.  And now it was gone.

A couple weeks after hearing that news, Henry and I and the kids, met Henry's brother (and his family), Henry's parents, Grandmama (owner of the cabin) and Aunt Irene in Ruidoso.  We went to sift through the rubble and see if there was anything salvageable.

A side view of what was left of the trailer.

The cinder blocks are where the porch, that Grandpapa had built, was.

This is a solidified stream of melted metal that occurred during the fire.

Grandmama holding up a coffee cup we found in the rubble.

A good bye picture of Eileen, Aunt Irene, Grandmama and Saul.

The cabin is where my in-laws, Eileen and Saul, began.  Even though they were both from El Paso, the met each other when he was 16 and she was 15, in Ruidoso.  Grandpapa had built the cabin as a summer getaway for him and his family.  Every summer, Grandmama and Grandpapa would head from El Paso to Ruidoso.  They took the kids there, then their grandkids and Grandmama even took her great grandkids to the cabin.  Lot of memories there.

I had never seen the destruction of a wild fire.  I was surprised to see that the fire would obliterate one house and not touch another house that was 20 feet away.  It all seemed so random.  But as Grandmama said, "thank God no one was hurt".  Amen.

Spending time in Taos

After Ryan's birthday, we spent a few days with Grandma and Grandpa Cookie in Taos.  There is not a whole lot to do in Taos, plus it was hot, plus Taos doesn't believe in air conditioning.  We ended up spending one afternoon in Twining, playing in the river.

Ryan turns 7!

Ok, pretend that I am posting this on June 12th.

Ryan is now 7 years old!  Seven years ago, a nine month pregnant me, woke up on a Sunday morning and said, "that was a terrible night of sleep."  Once I went to the bathroom and realized I was in labor, our wonderful son was born three short hours later.  He has always been in a hurry, my little speed racer.

Ryan continues to be very inquisitive.  He constantly wants to know why, what, where, when or how  It has taken me quite a long time to understand that Ryan is not always being non-compliant.  He just wants his questions answered.  True, he comes off as non-compliant when you say something such as "put your shoes on so we can go to the store" and he asks why.  "Because I said" is not a sufficient answer for this boy.  He wants answers.

Ryan continues to charm everyone he comes across.  His kindergarten teacher loved him.  His first grade teacher fell hard for him also.  He loves to make people smile and laugh.  He got a good dose of  silliness from his Grandpa Cookie.  On the other hand, if he is not in a silly mood and someone who is playing with him is, he gets very upset.  If I get silly with him and he is not in the mood, he will say "Stop mom.  I'm serious" in a very stern tone.  Whenever he says,  "I'm hungry" I will reply, "Hi hungry".  Oh, that gets him going.  "Don't call me names.  Be serious.  I'm serious".

He still loves legos.  He is very meticulous when looking for a specific piece (again, this reminds me of his uncle Travis).  He continues to love guns, swords and light sabers.  Seriously, this kid has an arsenal.  And he somehow always convinces one of his grandparents to buy him another gun, sword or light saber.

Here's Ryan at his birthday party at the park.  He loves to smile.

     

Church Camp 2012

For the 4th (?) year in a row we attended Grace Getaway in Ruidoso.  We love church camp.  Starting in February we begin to talk about church camp.  By April we are counting down the days.  We love the fellowship.  We love disconnecting from the rest of the world.  And we love camping.

Ally and I both did the zip line (8 stories high) our first year at church camp and every year since.  The first time Ally did the zip line was pretty amazing to me because Ally is often afraid of so much.  And, she went before I did!  Every year we ask Henry if he is going to do the zip line and he gives us a straight "no".  Well, this year when we asked him, Henry said he would think about it.  This was huge.  He never said he would think about it.

Quick side note.  Henry's older brother, Travis, is terrified of heights.  Like bad.  And Ryan seemed to inherit this fear. Since Ryan could toddle on his own, he has been terrified of the stairs by my classroom.  The stairwell is in the center of the hall way, and half way down there is a landing where you turn to continue down the stairs.  So, it is very open.  Ryan will, and always has, walk along the wall, sucking in his belly, trying to get as far away from the stairs as possible.  Well, I always suspected Henry also had this fear of heights but just was not willing to admit it.

Well, Henry not only thought about the zip line, he did it!!!!!!  I was so proud of him.  I laughed a bit when he was on the top of the platform and the attendant told him to step off.  He looked down to the ground, then back at the attendant, and asked "are you sure?"  He attempted to step off about 5 times, each time taking a step back.

Finally, He looked at the attendant and asked, "what's your name".  She replied "Michelle".  Henry then said, "Ok Michelle, this time I'm going to jump."  And he jumped!

Ally and I also did the zip line, two times each (that wiped me out MS-wise for the rest of the day - but it was worth it).  Look at the smile on Ally's face as she is flying down the zip line.

Since Ryan is afraid of heights, he did a much lower zip line.  I was pretty proud of him for doing this, because two years ago he would not have even attempted this one.

The weekend was nice a calm.  We played miniature golf, dance some square dancing, went swimming, hung out with great friends and much more.

Like always, we are looking forward to church camp next year.