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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Road Trip 2012 {Red River}

I was determined to blog about our Road Trip to Red River, New Mexico before 2012 ended.  Back in the summer before school started, I wrote about Santa Fe, our drive on the High Road from Taos to Santa Fe, and the first stop on road trip Amarillo, Texas and Route 66.  School started at the end of August, and I had very little free time after that.  The relentless pace of our fall schedule picked up and I rarely spent time on the computer, therefore I never completed sharing our road trip photos.  Here's the post about Taos

I hope I can remember most of the details of our fun and relaxing vacation.

We stayed in Red River for about a week.  We were fortunate to have a family friend who owns a condo there and we stayed at it.  We shared the condo with Mark's parents.  The boys loved having them with us and we were able to have a fun night out on Mark's birthday because they could watch Will and Ben.

One afternoon Mark and I decided to ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain and look around while Will and Ben stayed back with Jerry and Carol.  It was really sunny on the way up, but once we were on top of the mountain it started to thunder.  That made me really nervous so we didn't stay long.  We asked someone to take our photo before we headed back down the mountain.

The views from the ski lift were majestic.



One of the neatest memories from the vacation was a Native American dance in an open area near the shops at Red River.  I'm pretty sure they were called the Taos Pueblo dancers.

He was so talented.

Will and Ben posed for a photo with the dancers.  The people from this Native American tribe have won awards for their dancing and singing performances.

What was even cooler was that Will and Ben joined them for a big group dance!  I was surprised that Ben would join in, but he did since he could hold Will's hand.  Will and Ben are in the green and yellow and have their backs to us.  They had a blast!


After the dancing, there was an old-fashioned, Wild West gun fight.  Several days during the week there's a bank robbery and shoot out at Frye's Old Town.  It's local business owners and community members who do the performance.   I think we all agreed it was funny but mostly corny.  The boys really enjoyed it, and it attracted a pretty large crowd, but, in my opinion, the Native American dancers were the true highlight.

We had dinner one night at a local dive, The Dairy Bar.  I had the green chili stew.  It was amazing!

One day we met at the community center for a hike. 
Will, Ben and Jerry are waiting for the hike to begin. 

One of the stops on the hike.  This is the view from the bridge.

Ben is serious about his safety tips.

Carol, Ben, Jerry and Mark

One of the rustic buildings in Red River.

Will got a ride from Papaw.


It was Mark's birthday while we were on vacation so the boys made him a birthday cake. 

One of my favorite days was the day it rained and we didn't go anywhere.  I remember drinking hot tea and reading a book.  It was so relaxing.  That's what vacation should be!

I thought this was such a cute photo of Ben and Mamaw!
He loves his mamaw!  How sweet!


A few more of my favorite photos from my phone.


Mark on his birthday

We watched Hugo at the Community House on the night of his birthday.

Will and Ben the day before we left. 

View from our hike. 

One last view from our balcony. 


 Amazing scenery when we were driving into the mountains before we arrived in Red River.





Road Trip 2012 {Taos}

I'm going to do back-to-back posts about our summer road trip to New Mexico because things were so busy in August and this Fall that I never got around to sharing these memories.  We stayed in Red River, New Mexico and drove to Santa Fe one day and Taos another.

The weather was exceptional the day we were in Taos.

Our first stop was a Latin-French restaurant, Gutiz.  This photo was taken outside of it. 

The food was delicious.  I liked all of the unique items like my drink, desert pear lemonade. 

Shopping at the Taos Plaza.

I'm not sure if you can see their faces, but Will and Ben were not enthusiastic about shopping.

Picking out some souvenirs

Will and the big chief

A few more pics from my phone





Our other 2012 Road Trip photos can been seen Texas here, High Road from Taos to Santa Fe here, and Santa Fe here.


Saturday, December 29, 2012

White Christmas

I can't believe that Will and Ben have had a white Christmas twice! 
 
It snowed in 2009 for Ben's first Christmas and again this year. 
 
I know for many people this is common, but for Texans this is exceptional.  Any snow day is special, but snow on Christmas is extraordinary. There's a reason that "White Christmas" is a classic song.
 
You can tell in this photo that the snow was really coming down.  We didn't spend very long outside because it was extremely cold and the wind was blowing the snow everywhere.
 
The playset was already covered.
 
 
I love this photo!
 
I love this photo, too!
 
The boys are making a run for it.
 
It's a snow fortress now.
 
 

Friday, December 28, 2012

The Merriest

Every year I think that we've had the best Christmas ever and this year is no different.  The boys are getting older and the anticipation and excitement leading up to Christmas made it so special.  This is the first year that they  had specific things they asked for from Santa.  It made my heart happy to see their faces when they opened each gift. 
 
Will got everything on his list: markers (3 packs to be exact), legos, and a football.  He and Ben also got Nerf guns and when Will opened his he said, "Santa brought me extra gifts!"  I told him that he must have been extra good.  Will's best gift was his boxes of art supplies.  He's creative and now his imagination can run wild with all of his new crayons, markers and map colors. 
 
Ben has wanted the Eagle Talon Castle since he first laid eyes on it.  Santa brought it to him along with some of the knights and animals.  He's had the best time setting up epic battle scenes with his knights and the castle toys.  Ben's other big gift that he really wanted was the Batmobile.  He's all about superheroes.  He got an Ironman and Hulk costume to play dress up.   Ben's too cute when he gets into character.  He's very serious about playing superhero.  Will and Ben both got some Imgainext superhero action figures, which they've played with non-stop.
 
I'm not great with my camera but I love this photo of the boys before they opened gifts.  It was cold and rainy on Christmas morning and very dark outside.  When I look at this it makes me feel happy and cozy.  That's how I felt on Christmas morning.
 
Will's is excited about his markers.  Just what he asked for. 
 
The Batmobile!  That's genuine happiness on Ben's face.
 
One of the books we read before Christmas was The Sweet Smell of Christmas and in the book the little bear receives a Christmas orange in his stocking.  I used to get an orange in my stocking when I was little and Will and Ben both got one in their stockings.  Will is saying in this photo, "A Christmas orange!"
 
Ben and the Eagle Talon Castle that he asked for! 
 
Wow!  Thank you, Santa!
 
Our family
Christmas 2012
(Please don't judge my Griswold shirt, ha!  I found it at Target and had to get it!)
 
 

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry & Bright

We wish you a very
Merry Christmas!
 
 
 
I hope your day is
merry & bright!


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