Happy Thanksgiving

We were able to enjoy our families for a full week this year during Thanksgiving. It was full of playing with cousins, cooking with grandparents, riding tractors and driving trucks through the pasture…a toddler’s dream!

I love that Hannah is wearing her princess dress while riding the tractor with Dad.

There’s always fresh deer meat around Thanksgiving:)

We love our time at the farms!

Camping

Well, the whole family decided to go this time. Scott packed us up and got all the gear ready for a one-night stay at a nearby park. Everything was going great…at first.
We set up the tent…


went on a little excursion down by the water…



skipped some rocks…


roasted hotdogs, made smores, drank hot-chocolate….


and just hung out by the campfire.



They even went to bed really easily.
Piece of cake, right? WRONG. Nathan woke up around 11 o’clock screaming. very. loudly. Then, Hannah woke up and started screaming. very. loudly. So there we were, with two babies and did I mention they were screaming? The campsite was full, so I know we woke everyone up. By the way, it was pretty cold at this point. We were warm in our sleeping bags, but once we were out…it was cold! After about five minutes of screaming and getting nowhere, we decided to call it a night and pack up. I put the kids in the car and drove around while Scott packed everything up…again.
I’m sure the scout troop beside us was so glad a family with small children decided to go camping beside them….sorry boys. Just wait until you make eagle scout and get all your little badges. You will have a family one day and probably think it’s a great idea to take your 3 year old and 21 month old camping. Which it was…until 11 o’clock pm.
We got to the apartment around 12:30 I think. We were exhausted.
But…I have to say, besides all the screaming and driving home late, it really wasn’t that bad. Maybe we’ll try again in the spring. Boy scout troops be warned!

Nathan’s first Haircut

Our little man was sporting a pretty good mullet, so back in November, we decided it was time for a hair-cut. I told her to keep it a little long because I’m not quite ready for him to look like a big boy yet. He sat up straight and didn’t cry at all. He will do anything for a sucker:) They say bribery is ok in all those parenting books right?

Merry Christmas from Aledo!

More to come soon

30 in Angel Fire

We took a week off to visit Angel Fire at the end of October.  There were a few reasons we decided on this week.  First, Nana and Pappy recently bought a new vacation house in Angel Fire that we hadn’t seen yet.  Second, it had been 1 year since Anne passed away so we thought it would be good to get away and spend some time with family.  And third, I was turning 30.
We had a good relaxing week enjoying family, nice weather, and the great outdoors.  We really enjoyed watching Hannah and Nathan hiking and exploring the great outdoors, and they LOVED it!  Jennifer and I spent a couple of days by ourselves towards the end of the week thanks to Nana and Pappy (they took Hannah and Nathan back to Canyon).  We got a massage, dinner, and a movie in Taos on day, and then spent my birthday hiking.  Here are a few pictures from our trip:
Stopping for lunch on the way up there (can you tell it’s gameday?)

We took the kids on a few hikes.  They liked walking but also liked riding the in pack.  They couldn’t decide which was better.



Hannah by the “Big Tree”


We found a hiking trail and picnic table near the house so we went down for a picnic one day for lunch


Nathan kept climbing on all the rocks and yelling “Ta-Da!”

Jennifer and I did the Eliot Barker trail on my birthday.  We thought about climbing Touch Me Not Mountain, but a local gear shop advised us that it was elk season and there were lots of hunters up there camped out, so we stayed closer to town.  I had hoped to get to the top and then say “I’m 30, touch me not!" but it didn’t happen.

Here a few pictures of the house


Views of Wheeler Peak, the highest peak in New Mexico:

We can’t wait to go back in the winter to ski.
On the way back through Canyon, Nana (and Hannah) made me a birthday cake and we had steaks for my birthday dinner.

That’s a lot of candles.

Halloween

Thanks to Nan, the kids were properly outfitted for the Halloween season!

Pumpkin carving night.

On Halloween, Scott made orange jack-o-lantern pancakes. The kids thought they were great. Anything Scott does is pretty amazing to them.

We went back to our old neighborhood to trick-or-treat. I had to hold back tears…I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

Anyway, aren’t they cute? Hannah wanted to be a Princess, then a Fairy, then a Queen, and then a rabbit. In that order. I finally convinced her that a Ballerina was the best decision (mainly because this required not having to buy a costume). She reluctantly went with it.

Nathan’s costume was actually Scott’s when he was a little boy. Check this out. Don’t they look like Nathan and Hannah? Hilarious.

First, we stopped by Mrs. Wanda’s. She had a whole table set up just for them with tons of candy. She is so precious…even if she pronounces our name “Huberly.”

Then we saw Mrs. Wood.

Nathan got the hang of getting candy pretty quick. All he had to do was watch his sister. She’s a pro. She had explained to him earlier that you say “trick-or-treat then they open up the door and throw candy at you.”

Nathan would walk up, put his bucket down, get the new candy and try to eat it immediately. Check out his wranglers…thanks, Cousin Sam.

Back at home going through their loot.

As always, we let them have a few pieces and then Mommy and Daddy ate the rest :)