Happy 45th Anniversary

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad! Thanks for being such a great example to your children of a strong, Christian marriage. You take your vows seriously and we appreciate that immensely.

Thanks also for getting married on Halloween. It sure made it easy for your children to remember the right date! The wedding was originally planned for sometime in December, but Dad was in the Merchant Marines and got shipped out to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba to help evacuate American civilians during the Cuban Missile Crisis. At that point, it didn't look like Dad would be available for the December date, so his commanding officer told him that he could have a pass for two days when they stopped back in New York. Dad took the pass and met Mom for their wedding on the revised date, which happened to be Halloween. Two days later he was back on his ship and headed to Europe.

Happy 45th - we pray there are many more to come!

The Final Leg of Our Camping Adventure

Friday morning we got all packed up and headed out of Chama, NM to begin our trek home to Texas. We decided to break up the drive so instead of going straight home we turned south and drove to Ruidoso. We had never been there, so we decided - why not? We arrived just in time to set up camp and fix dinner. This was the tightest fit we've had so far at an RV park. The spaces were very close together, but Jim handled it like a pro. We quickly got set up and had our dinner outside. While we were dining we were joined by two bucks. They hung out about 20 yards away from us across a dried-up creek-bed. They just spent their time watching us, apparently wondering about these new people who had shown up at their campsite. The kids thought it was neat that we were eating by the deer.

Saturday morning we enjoyed breakfast then headed into Ruidoso to explore the quaint little mid-town area. We found out that there was a parade going on and mid-town was already blocked off. So, we headed out to the Billy the Kid Visitor Center to lok around while waiting to get into mid-town. It was really quite interesting and we spent a good hour or so there. After that, Jim humored me and let me browse through some of the mid-town shops while he entertained the kids. (I have a good man!) We found the local bike shop and got directions to some trails. After we had had our fill of shopping, we went to get Jim's bike and then dropped him off at a trailhead. While he was busy riding, the kids and I found a fitness trail that we explored. They had a lot of fun trying to do all the exercises that were posted at different stations around the trail. After everyone's trail adventures were finished we went back to our campsite for one last night in the camper.

Bright and early the next morning (I'm sure our neighboring campers appreciated the noise in the pre-dawn, but we did try to be as quiet as we could!), we hitched up and headed home. It was a great 10-day vacation and our longest one since getting our camper a year ago. We all came home refreshed and with some great memories. What more could you ask for from a family camping adventure?

Camping Adventure Birthday

The next day of our camping adventure was an important one. Thursday, October 4 was Reese's 3rd birthday. Needless to say, she was very excited about this day coming and had been anticipating it for quite some time. She had even been practicing holding up the proper number of fingers to show her new age. She was quite happy to show this achievement when she first got up on her birthday morning.


After a nice leisurely breakfast, we headed into the town of Chama to just look around a bit. Jim and Zach were very gracious about keeping the kids occupied so Meg and I could check out some of the local stores. We enjoyed the shopping time and the kids enjoyed playing in a little park area. They even got to sit on an elk (statue, of course).

After our downtown excursion, we celebrated Reese's birthday back at the campsite complete with butterfly birthday cake and presents. She had already received her fishing pole, but was excited to get a magnetic "paper" doll from her siblings and a big girl water bottle from mom and dad. Of course, the gift that topped them all was the one from Owen and Clay. Apparently, while shopping in Sams with his mom, Owen spied the "perfect" gift for Reese and proceeded to load it into their shopping cart before Meg even realized it. When asked why he was getting this item, Owen replied that Reese would be a "pwetty pwincess and it has shoes even!" Owen was right - Reese loved her new Sleeping Beauty dress-up dress. Sleeping Beauty is the princess that she pretends to be - well, she calls herself Sweeping Booty - close enough. :) It cracks me up that at the ripe old age of 2, Owen already knows my daughter so well!

Several little ones (and big ones) took afternoon naps following the festivities and the rest of us just enjoyed being outside in the beautiful fall weather. We wrapped up our last day with one last joint dinner and then began the process of getting ready to head out the next morning. What a great camping adventure so far!

Great Sand Dunes National Park

On Wednesday we got going a little earlier and headed off to Colorado to visit the Great Sand Dunes National Park. This was definitely my favorite destination so far. We had explained to the kids that it was going to be somewhat like a really large sandbox, but of course they didn't really have a concept of what to expect. Of course, our first stop was at the Visitor's Center to pick up our Junior Ranger packets. That has become our thing to do at all the National Parks we get to visit. It is a great program and the kids have thoroughly enjoyed it. After looking over the booklets we set out on our first Junior Ranger task. The kids had fun playing Great Sand Dunes bingo and searching for various plants and wildlife that live in the park. After that task, we had a picnic lunch and then got to listen to Ranger Patrick talk about some of the hidden treasures at this national park. It is amazing what has been found over the years - mammoth teeth, Spanish jewelry, gold, and weapons to name a few. Ranger Patrick also pointed out some of the live hidden treasures. All the kids loved getting to see Sally, the Tiger Salamander. She is a type of salamander that lives in the sand dunes and buries themselves in the cool damp sand on their quest to find water.



After this interesting talk we headed off to the big sandbox! I commented to Meg on the way that I was pretty sure two of my kids would take off running in the sand. Sure enough, Trent and Paige hit the sand running and never looked back! In fact, they got so far ahead of everyone else that Jim had to go after them before they went over another sand hill and out of sight! We then had a refresher course of the Junior Ranger Rule #3: Never wander off. After that little reminder we all proceeded to rid ourselves of socks and shoes and explore the dunes. Zach Knight found a great "slide" for the kids to go down. It was about 40 feet from top to bottom and went almost straight down. The kids had a blast!


They slid down on their bottoms, on their stomachs, backwards, forwards, whatever way they could think of. My oldest three took to it like fish to water. Reese needed a little convincing so I ended up sliding with her. Whoo - did my legs ever get a workout helping her climb back up that steep slope! We let the kids play for quite a while before gathering for the obligatory family picture. We really didn't take too many pictures of this adventure because we didn't want sand in our camera. The wind was quite strong and sand was blowing a bit as you can see by looking at our family picture.




The Knights had a bit better luck in getting everyone to look at the camera. After our fun in the sand, we finished up all the Junior Ranger packets and then headed back to get our badges.


The kids have now completed four Junior Ranger packets and are starting quite the collection of badges from national parks. After being sworn in as certified Junior Rangers, we all packed up and prepared to head back to our campsite. Since it had been a long, full day, we decided to stop in Alamosa, CO on the way back to Chama for a nice sit-down dinner. We found a great little place there, enjoyed a relaxing dinner, and then headed back to our campers for a well-deserved night's sleep - after cleaning out lots of sand from our clothes and hair. Another fun day in our camping adventure!

Chama, New Mexico

Part two of our camping adventure began on Monday, October 1st. We enjoyed our last morning at Palo Duro Canyon and then packed up and headed out to Chama, New Mexico. Google maps says that Chama is a 6 1/2 hour drive from Palo Duro Canyon State Park. We left early since we figured that we would take a bit longer than that. It is a good thing we did since it took us 10 1/2 hours to get there! We knew we would be stopping for the kids and lunch, etc., but we did not realize just how much slower we would be moving since we were pulling a trailer in windy weather and gaining a LOT of elevation. Oh well - lesson learned for next time. :)

We pulled in to the lovely Sky Mountain Resort RV Park right at dinner time. Our good friends, the Knights, were already there and had a delicious dinner waiting for us. We managed to get our camp all set up in the quickly falling darkness and then enjoyed the fruits of our friends' labor. I'll tell ya, if you ever get a chance to camp with the Knights - go for it - they know how to cook while camping! Yummy! The kids got some energy out exploring the new campsite before dinner. Then, even though they had been sitting all day in the car they still fell asleep quickly that night - thank goodness.

Tuesday morning we had a scrumptious breakfast prepared once again by the Knights and then headed out for our adventure of the day. (Before you think that we were are totally living the good life and are having our friends cook for us, let me explain. When we camp with the Knights we take turns cooking dinner and breakfast. One family takes care of dinner and the following breakfast and then has the next dinner and breakfast off. It really works out great. I must say, that at this point in time we are coming out ahead on this deal since we have four kids with large appetites despite their small stature. I have a feeling, though, that in the near future the Knights with their growing family will catch up with us in the eating department.) On our way to the adventure for the day we got to see a genuine steam-engine train rolling along the tracks. We stopped to watch it and get a few pictures of it as it passed by. I know that it was quite the speedy mode of transportation back in its day, but I am glad of all the advancements we have made since then!

On to our adventure...we went on a little hike up into the mountains that ended at a waterfall. It was a great place for lunch and the hike itself was just right for all the little ones. After dining at the water's edge, we hiked back out and went in search of a good fishing place. We found one just down the road. At this point Reese got to open her birthday present from mom and dad a little early. Amazing coincidence - she got a Disney princess fishing pole! She was very excited to be able to join her siblings in the relaxing pastime of fishing. Of course, if you know Reese, you can guess that this relaxing pastime held her interest for about 10 minutes. Then it was time to get moving again. She did have fun, though, so we suspect that as she gets older there might be another little fisherwoman in our family. The other three (and Owen Knight) had their poles and enjoyed the quiet time of fishing. On a sidenote, little Clay Knight provided the afternoon's entertainment when he decided that the lake water was just too enticing to stay away from. He got a little too close to the edge and...oops...in he went. His dad was right there and promptly pulled him out, but Clay did have to get a fresh set of clothes. The water was a little slimy. :)

After our fishing excursion, it was time to head back to camp. After all, it was our turn to cook!

Pain on the Plain

On Friday, September 28, we left town and headed to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. This was the beginning of a 10 day camping trip for us. Our first destination in the canyon was for "Pain on the Plains," a TMBRA (Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association) event. We arrived on Friday evening and were joined by Paul and Sue (Jim's parents) who pitched a tent on our campsite since every spot in the state park was full. Saturday morning Jim went and prerode the course and then came back to get ready for his race. His race was Saturday afternoon. Jim entered in the beginner class for his second attempt at mountain bike racing. We all headed over that afternoon to the start/finish line to watch him go. He did awesome! He finished 2nd in his age group and 3rd overall in the beginner class. Yay, Jim! After Jim's race came the Kids' Kup. All four of our kids participated this time and did much better than their first attempt. Kudos to Jim and Paul for helping Paige and Reese get their training wheels over the course! After the race we headed back to our campsite where we found that Paul and Sue's tent had partially been blown down by the strong wind that was blowing all day. Jim went over to see if he could help fix it. He walked around the side of the tent, and just as he was going around I saw him jump back rather quickly. He had walked right up on a rattlesnake! Thankfully, the rattler warned him not to get any closer and he heeded that warning. Of course, everyone at our campsite and a few of the neighboring ones had to come look. Then the snake was "taken care of." This was rather interesting since the only weapons anyone had were rocks, logs, etc. Anyway, after this adventure the rest of the evening was rather tame. On Sunday we went and watched the other races. These were the sport and expert classes. The beginners and sports raced the same course, the sports just did it twice. The experts were pro/semi-pro riders and they had a somewhat different, MUCH longer course to ride. After the expert race the park started clearing out a bit. Before Paul and Sue left, they let Jim and I go on a ride together while they watched the kids. We followed part of the race course and I have to say - it was a lot of fun. Perhaps when the kids are a little older we can all race! :) We just hung out and enjoyed the quiet and the views on Sunday night and Monday morning before heading out to the next part of our camping adventure.

October 4, 2007 - Happy 3rd Birthday, Reese!

Our baby is three years old! I can't believe it. Reese, our pleasant surprise baby, has been an enjoyable addition to our family since the day she was born. This year, we celebrated her birthday in Chama, New Mexico while on a camping trip. She was the princess of the day for sure! Reese has been quite the entertainer in our family the last three years. She loves to be the center of attention and will do anything for a laugh. She also likes to laugh at herself. In a family of fairly quiet children, Reese's voice can be heard loud and clear. It is amazing how far her little voice can carry! (Especially when she is saying something I wish she wouldn't while in line at the grocery store.) Her favorite color is pink. She likes green beans and broccoli, but not hamburgers or potatoes. Her favorite food is usually macaroni and cheese or peanut butter and jelly. She loves playing dress-up and always wants to be a princess. Reese loves to swing on the swingset and would do it all day long. She also likes playing in the sand. Jumping on a trampoline is a blast for her. Her latest accomplishments have been figuring out how to pedal her bicycle and how to button a shirt. Of course, her most beloved object is her pacifier, or paci, as she calls it. She might just go to college with that thing. Over the last few months her speech has become much clearer and she always has a lot to say. It seems that she knew from day one that she was the fourth and would have to stand up for herself. She is quite opinionated and not shy at all about letting her view be known. She has a great smile and sparkling, mischievous eyes. We are so thankful that God blessed

our family with her.

Reese through the years

Baby Reese

Triker Babe

Don't take my paci!

Center of Attention

Can you say attitude?

Reese, we love you and are so glad that God made you just the way you are. We pray that you become a woman of God and follow him with all your heart. Happy birthday, sweetie!

September 30, 2007 - Our 12th Anniversary

September 30 marked our 12th anniversary. I can't believe how time has flown! This year on our anniversary we were camping with the kids in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. We were there for a mountain bike race, and Paul and Sue (Jim's parents) came along. They graciously watched the foursome on our anniversary so that we could go on a mountain bike ride together - just the two of us. :) It was just the type of trail that I like - nothing too rocky or technical, just fun riding with a few challenging spots thrown in. It was a nice way to spend our anniversary afternoon - doing something we like together. It was especially nice since doing something with just the two of us doesn't happen very often anymore.

Jim, the last 12 years have been great. I constantly thank God for blessing me with you as my husband. Of course, we've had our ups and downs, but really, I can't think of anything I would rather be doing than spending my life with you. Thanks for loving me always and for just being you. We make a great pair. I love you lots - more every day. Happy Anniversary!