Travel Tales with Pics to boot!

Hello and greetings from sunny New Mexico! Dan and I took the boys on a mini-vacation this weekend. Gone less than 36 hours but BOY did we shove it full of activities! We headed out about 8 am from home, hit up McDees for breakfast and headed on down the road to Willcox, AZ to meet up with EK and Linda. Once we got there, we all had lunch at the local KFC and then wandered down to the historic district where we toured the incredibly boring Rex Allen Museum...LOL! Then we spent a few happy hours browsing up and down the quaint main street with it's shops and boutiques. Pat got to have his picture taken where Warren Earp was shot..so exciting! Then we checked into our hotel while EK and Linda took care of a package they had in the car...we settled in and the boys went swimming while we awaited their return...then we played several rounds of domino's while enjoying each others company. After they headed out, we went to dinner in an old train car that had been turned into a BBQ restaurant. YUMMY! Then we all enjoyed our cozy beds for the night and slept in...err, at least Dan and I did...hee hee! After enjoying a sumptuous FREE breakfast, we slowly checked out of the hotel and headed out again...in hope of finding the Ft Bowie site to explore. Well, 50 miles later, we gave up and turned around...LOL! We were going to head to City of Rocks State Park but found Silver City on the way and spent several hours there touring MORE boring museums and shopping in fun little shops up and down their main street. The boys were really getting anxious about City of Rocks so we loaded up again and picked up McDees on the way out of town and arrived at the Park with about an hour to climb before sunset...then we packed up one last time and headed home...tired, full, worn out and ready to see home once again. As the lights of Las Cruces came into sight, Dan and I both sighed and said, "Look, boys, it's home!" As far as we travel and as long as we're gone..there's still no place quite like home!! *sigh!!* A few pictures to supplement our happy adventures and we're done! Thanks for reading!!

Much Love,

Kristy and the Man Crew

More Thankfulness

Dear readers from wherever,

Thanks for following along with me as I've travelled down memory lane this past month, dug through some of my old history and recent life to be grateful for the people God has placed in my life. I've found old friends, rememberd some that I nearly forgot, found ways to be grateful for my failed attempts at relationships and even laughed at some of my own stupidity...LOL! Oy, that's what happens when ya start digging in the sands of time, right? Anywho, as I was gone over the weekend, I didn't have a chance to complete my own challenge...so I want to finish that now, if you don't mind. I'll start with my visit with EK and Linda and keep the last one for a surprise!

*EK and Linda~OH my, what FUN we had this weekend with them! How many friends do YOU have that rould drive 3 hours just to have lunch with you?? They drove from Tucson and we drove from Las Cruces....had lunch together, caught up with each other and played several rowdy sets of Dominoes...Good TIMES! We even found time to browse the downtown shops of Willcox, AZ, see the Rex Allen museum and get our picture taken where Warren Earp was shot...a busy day indeed! They filled us in on all of our friends from our home church in IL and we just laughed and carried on like old times! Ah, God is sooo good to suppply us with such great friends! So, we are extra thankful for them this weekend! Here are a few pics from that great trip!

OK and now for the lat one....drum roll please...............

***Dan, I know, he got top billing this month already a few times with being the first on the list and having a b-day, but he's my most favorite husband, best dad, great travelling companion and super Monkey, ever! We had SUCH a great time on our vacation this weekend...he is a trooper, doing all the driving, wrangling kids and still making time for lil' old me! He swerved around tumbleweeds to make the kids laugh, didn't get frustrated byt the long hours behind the wheel and even was kind enough to allow us to eat out after our return so the vacation feeling would last! Is he great or what?? He helped Derek climb the huge rocks at the City of Rocks state park, played dominoes with EK and Linda, fixed the DVD player so the kids could watch movies, reminded me a time or two that it was a vacation for the kids too, so they could have a bit more candy, took the day off so we could go at all, and then took the kids to the park on Sunday so I could enjoy a few minutes of quiet...seriously...he ROCKS! Anywho...all in all, he's a great guy and I'm sooo glad that he picked me! Well, I chased him until he caught me, but that's another story...LOL!

Thanks again for reading this from wherever you are....give yourselves a big hug or a high five from us out here in the wilds of NM....

Blessings,

Kristy

Chasing My Own Tail

Greetings from sunny and warm NM! Another week has FLOWN by and I find myself wondering where it all went. We had a good week of school...especially since we decided to only do 3 day weeks and just read on the other days. They boys are enjoying the extra 'free' time, although I keep filling it up with chores. I have figured out how to make up a huge batch of bread dough and only baking up what we need for a few days and freezing the rest, that way I can just take out a loaf or two as needed, let it rise in the pan and poof, none of the hassle of mixing up bread dough each day...yeah! That is saving me some extra time so I made sweet rolls this week and I think they are the best batch I ever made! YUMMY!!

Dan is eagerly anticipating his birthday this week (as are mom and Lily) and game night/b-day party will be on Wednesday so that we aren't missing game night to go visit EK and Linda over the weekend...ROAD TRIP! Late Tuesday night, Alec will arrive and we are so excited about seeing the red haired wonder again...it's been too long, as it has with most of you. Speaking of which, I need to practice Guitar Hero today...LOL! Most of this week, I have been poring over my new book called 'Managers of Their Homes' and working on my schedule. Still haven't gotten very far, but I will get there! I'm excited about putting some more order to our days and squeezing a bit more productivity out of our hours. I've spent hours researching exactly what I need from Abeka for next school year and also researching My Father's World stuff since their Science, History, Art, Music and Bible curriculum are all in one, PLUS multi-grades in one, so I can teach one class each day and cover James, Pat and David all at once. For Derek's pre-K year coming up, I'll be doing mostly lapbooks and writing my own curriculum (how is it that he's ready for this already...isn't he still a baby??) Anyway, that's where most of my week went. Dan spent all of last weekend working a side job that he bartered his services for so that he could have that HUGE new fishtank. He even bought 20 new fish yesterday for it and it still looks almost empty...LOL!

I need to catch up on my daily thankful Blog for my Feb challenge...since Game night was last night I missed one...just a reminder...those are in NO PARTICULAR order (Winks, Kelly) so if you are last, doesn't mean I love you the least, OK?? I love you all and miss you, too~ Have a great week, loved ones!!

Blessings,

Kristy

Catch up Time Again

My goodness, has ANOTHER week flown right on by?? Wow, I'm so not ready to be done with this week and at the same time, I'm relieved it's over, does that make sense? It's been another long, somewhat stressful week...you know, school getting derailed several times due to interruptions, my very first (and thankfully, really short) migraine, my house is trashed, anxiously awaiting results from the Dr, and having to have a difficult and humbling chat with Jodi that involved ME admitting I needed a bit of help here and there...don't die of shock...yes, I KRISTY, asked for help. **GASP** On the other hand, several things went really, really well this week...Karen and I had TWO coffee and chat mornings this week, Dolli and John bought a house in Cali that is LOVELY, my chat with Jodi went very well, I officially became UBER~crunchy (ask if you want to know,) my bread baking skills have survived the test of a month's time and the boys are still asking for it daily and Dan brags about it at work, I am really enjoying the pastor's sermon series on the New Testament's Double Dog Dare about living the radical Christian life, I got my book in the mail "Managers of Their Homes" a book series designed specifically for the Christian homeschooling family, and Dan and I had a fun evening last night, just catching up with one another and goofing off. Ahh, life is good! I am sooo enjoying doing my daily blogging about people that I'm grateful to have in my life. Pat got a turtle, in case you missed that short update, and it driving me crazy trying to drag it out 83 times a day. Anywho, all in all, life is full and busy, but wonderful. On Monday, I go back to the Dr to see what's going on inside of my wacky body...LOL! School will resume after this short break, Dan is doing a small side job this weekend in exchange for a HUGE fish tank, and life goes on. Anywho, many things to look forward to, Alec's visit at the end of the month, Dan's b-day, Mom and Lily's b-day, a visit with EK and Linda, and hopefully soon a visit from Kelly...yeah!! Thanks for stopping by to catch up with us MeYeR's again this week. Ta Ta For Now!
Kristy