Still Here...

Yes, we're still here! Things have been crazy for us around this place. A lot of seasonal business of course but also rehabbing Bronze, keeping up with school and adding baby watching to our daily routine just to name a few things. We had a nice Thanksgiving and Christmas and it was nice to have Bronze around for the holidays for the first time in 7 years! 

We are having a relaxing day around the house today and trying to recover from sniffles that have come over our household during the last few days. For the mornings entertainment we are feeding hot sauce to Christmas Furbies and listening to them scream, fun stuff I tell ya!

Meet Shrew

Shrew, meet the world!

Now that formal introductions are out of the way, I can tell you about our new little friend. 

Shrew, who's namesake reflects his creature type, came to our family last Saturday as we were leaving Bronze's first therapy appointment. As we were walking to the car this little round fuzz ball dashed across the sidewalk and snuggled up to my shoe. I was caught off guard and even though I was filled with surprise my soft spot for critters immediately took over and thought how lost and cold it must be and that it was trying to find a warm, loving being to take care of it. Later, of course, as I read about the shrew I realized how far from the truth that thought was and that he was really just looking to see if I was something he could eat. Since I wasn't aware of these facts at the time, we scooped him up in a brown paper bag and brought him home to a warm house and hearty meal. Upon researching him we found out a lot of interesting facts. For instance,  he is not a rodent. The shrew actually have teeth more like a dog or cat and there are venomous groves in them. Not to fear though, the venom can kill mice like there's no tomorrow but is believed to be helpful for migraine headaches and the treatment of high blood pressure! And though I wouldn't nessesarilly call it vicious, according to an article I read it is known as the 'Terror on Tiny Feet' and perceived as more ferocious than a grizzly!

It has been a great educational experience and tons of fun and laughter. And the best part of it all, our tiny ball of entertainment has only cost $1 that was spent on a supply of crickets! I'm not sure how long Shrew will have a home with us, but for now he's hanging around so if you have a headache or your blood pressure is on the rise,  feel free to pop in and give Shrew a visit!

Post Op Therapy

Surgery went well. It took him a little while to get back to feeling like himself after anesthesia and I now have a couple comments to blackmail him with but he's doing well.

A Big Day

After 2 & 1/2 months of waiting and trying to figure out what needed to happen, here we are.

It's surgery day! And even though we are not 'worried' we still appreciate your prayers.

Pumpkin Patch 2014

Last weekend was our trip to the pumpkin patch.

We decided to try something new this is year and went to a place in Winfield. There were fun activities for the kids that were a little bit different than where we had been before. 

There were blow-up bounce horses.

There was a really fast slide. 

I didn't get any action pictures because the kids came flying so fast off the thing that I had to have my hands free and my footing secure so that I could catch them without getting knocked over myself!

There was a big inflated jumping pillow.

Elee was even brave enough to go out there by herself and try it out.

But when it came to the barrel ride that drove off into the distance she opted to hang back since no adults were allowed to ride along.

I think everyone's favorite thing though was the corn box.

The boys took turns getting buried and were full of corn in every nook and cranny by the time we finished up.

There was also a petting area next to the corn box. The donkey thought this was great because he got to help clean up all of the corn that had spilled out of the box the kids were playing in. 

We were thankful it was so beautiful out that day. It was a nice morning together!

Spoils from Santa Fe

When we go to Santa Fe there are a couple places we like to stop by before the end of our trip. One place is in Española, it's a family run farm where you can get fresh, natural foods foods. The other is to get green chili. We've never made it to the actual chili roasters before but this time we did and got a bushel of fresh roasted green chilis to bring home.

One of the first things we did after getting home this week was to use our fresh blue corn Masa to make tamales and I peeled and chopped up the chilis to make a sauce. It was a delicious way to reminisce over our trip!

The Send Off

After 10 days in New Mexico it was time for us to head home. We have a tradition of grandma putting music on the stereo and letting the kids dance off energy and providing last minute entertainment for everyone. 

Elee wasn't interested in being the center of attention that night but the boys shared the dance floor. Ardon's dance was more of an interpretive/tap dance style as where Eliad showed off his break dance moves that came from no where and surprised everyone! 

We had a good time and laughed and laughed until it was time to load up. 

Bandelier

The day before we were going to head home we had planned a trip to Bandelier. 

Bronze remembered going to a place when he was little where there were old Indian dwellings in the ground and sides of cliffs. We checked in to it and found Bandelier.  Bronze doesn't think this is the particular place he remembers but it was a really cool place to visit anyway.

There were steps and a path built up along the side of the cliff so you could go up and explore the cave dwellings. 

There were so many little nooks and crannies to peer in to.

One spot even resembled a face. 

We made our way to the first dwelling that was open for exploration. 

And up we went!

I was really neat inside, there were adjoining rooms and you felt really high up looking out the entrance! 

I don't know if these were originally intended for shelves or beds but we tried them out as the latter.

We asked the kids if we should pack up and move into one of these places. The boys thought it was a great idea but Elee is partial to her own room.

On our way out Bronze took the kids down so we could snap shots of how far up the cliff the dwellings were for perspective. 

It was a blast exploring everything and we would have stayed all day if we could have! We are hoping to go back and visit again when Bronze's knee is better so we can hike the 2 miles down into the canyon area and traverse the multi level ladders to the highest dwellings!

Another Day of Fishing

Thanks to Uncle Tom, the kids all have new fishing poles, which has allowed us to do a lot of fishing while we are on vacation. 

We went out again today to the river here to catch some dinner.

But didn't have much luck this time so the kids spent a lot of time playing in the mud and ice cold mountain water!

They had so much fun and got completely messy!

After a while though it cooled down and after playing in water someone had to borrow a jacket from grandpa. 

I went to catch some grasshoppers to use for bait but came across this guy on my way.

I brought him back so the kids could see him and Eliad snuggled on the blanket with him for a while.

It started to rain when we were finishing up so the kids hid out under the umbrella.

(With the snake of course)

We loaded up after several hours of fishing with 3 small fish. Since we figure the fish wouldn't go very far we stopped at the only restaurant within miles, Dairy Queen, and grandpa treated us to a bite to eat.

If we can find time we are hoping to go out once more tomorrow to see if we have any more success. I sure hope so because the fish here taste completely different than back home and we'd like to eat them one more time!

Back to Santa Fe

Early this morning we had to pack up and head back from Red River.

We took the 'scenic' route back to Santa Fe which was beautiful and wound us all through the mountains.

We also saw some interesting sights on our way back too!

After relaxing for a bit we took the kids to play at the park before dinner. Ardon took off with grandpa while Bronze and I did team teeter tottering with Elee and Eliad.

The weather is beautiful here and a bit cooler than at home so we are all enjoying spending time outdoors. 

Tuesday in R.R.

Today I started out with a morning mountain run.

I could definitely tell I was running at a much higher altitude but nothing could beat the view!

We also did some more fishing today.

The boys didn't have much luck today but Elee and I were able to add 2 more fish to our collection which totaled 12 between the 2 days.

After a couple afternoons of fishing the 2 youngest decided they were tired of sitting around and opted to climb on a rock pile fore a while.

They had fun though and were completely filthy by the time we had finished up.

We headed back to the 'cabin' and cooked up our catch for dinner!

Red River

This time on our trip to Santa Fe we are actually doing something we've never done before.

Uncle Tom and Aunt Netta rented a cabin in Red River for all of us to stay in! It's a couple hours North of Santa Fe and very pretty here.

Today is our first full day here and we saw this critter running out of the park we had just sent the kids to run through!

We watched it run across the street to stop by the gift shop on its way home. Eliad told me "no, deers live up mountains, not buildings mom!"

This afternoon we took the kids fishing, it was the first time they've ever been and they were so excited!

But fishing takes a lot of patience. Eliad caught a fish fairly early on but everyone else waited a long time.

Then, just before we were going to pack up and leave I saw Elee's bobber go under while I was going to grab something out of the car.

I ran back and helped her reel this in. She was so excited and kept saying "thank you for letting me finally catch a fish!"

Within seconds of pulling hers in we heard commotion from further down the pond, Ardon had just caught a fish too! The kids had so much fun and I'd be lying if I said Bronze and I weren't enjoying ourselves too!

It was a fun day with nice relaxing soak in the hot tub after dinner!