Angel Fire Vacation 2013

We spent about 10 days in Angel Fire this summer in late July.  It was a great chance to get away from work and the Texas Heat.  We didn’t take a ton of pictures but here are a few.

On Saturday, we hiked Middle Fork Lake in Red River.  Hannah hiked most of the trail herself, but we eventually made her get in the pack because she was going so slow.

Here we are leaving the trailhead

It was a pretty trail.  We saw several waterfalls on the way up

Hannah was all geared up

Here we are at the top

That evening, Mama Jo and John stopped by on their way home from Colorado.  We had fajitas on the deck for Nana’s birthday.

We had lots of fun watching the hummingbirds.  Hannah tried to get one to land on her finger (you can see her trying in the background of the above picture)

Every evening, dozens of hummingbirds would come to eat

Hannah liked the ones with the pink neck.  She thought it was funny that the males had pink on them.

 

Hannah worked her puzzle

and Nathan laid in the dog bed with Louie

On Monday, Jennifer and I hiked up Touch Me Not.  It was a tough trail, but we got some good views

We went up to the top of the ski lift one day

At the bottom of the mountain, the kids played in the bounce house and Hannah did the euro-bungy

We typically would take a walk around the loop, or a short hike in town after dinner to tire the kids out.

Here are the kids by the big tree (compare to last year)

One evening we got ice cream and walked around the lake

We had fun at the lake.  One day we paddled around in the canoe and then had a picnic

For some reason, Hannah wanted cantaloupe and pink lemonade all week.

The kids also spent lots of time bird watching with their bird books.  This Steeler Jay stopped by a few times which was a big treat

Overall, it was a great week.  We spent as much time outside as possible.  We can’t wait to go back at Thanksgiving!

July 4th

We spent the 4th of July at home this year.  When we moved out here, everyone told us that fireworks were a big deal, but we couldn’t have anticipated how big.  We heard fireworks every night for a full week, and the actual 4th of July was like a war zone.  Booms were coming from every direction.  It turns out that Broady and Nathan were pretty terrified of the fireworks, so it made for a long week.

The evening before, we went down to the First Fridays event with free music and kids activities.  Nathan liked the race car.

On Saturday morning, Hannah and I did a flag craft.

That evening, our neighbors had a party and we went over there. There were lots of kids the same age running around.  We had a really good time.  Here is Nathan and his friend from across the street.

They loved the trampoline!

Here is Nathan preparing for fireworks.  Our neighbor put on a pretty good show, but he had one fall over and shoot towards the crowd and start a small grass fire. That was the tipping point for Nathan and I had to take him home.  It was probably for the best because I found Broady in a full panic when I got home.

Hannah liked the fireworks.  She had a big time at the party.  I think she ate about a dozen cupcakes.

This looks like it might become an annual neighborhood tradition.  Hopefully Nathan likes the fireworks better next year!

Galveston

In July, we headed down to Houston to celebrate O’s retirement.  We drove down on Friday and arrived just in time for the luncheon.  They threw him really nice party in return for his 35 years of service. 

After the party, we went to Devers for the weekend.  This was the last weekend before Candace, Kolby and MIcah left for Russia, so it was nice to spend some time with them. On Saturday, we went to Galveston and played at the beach.  This was the kid’s first time at the beach, and they had a great time.

Uncle Will helped the kids build a well fortified sand castle

Here are all the cousins with Aunt Candace (except Nathan)

It’s always a party when we all get together!

64th Annual Fling Reunion

The second weekend in June, just like I’ve done for the past 30 years, we headed to the lake for our family reunion.

Actually, the kids and I went down to my parents house the week before the reunion to get some more time in with all the family.

We did a little horse riding…

a little tractor riding…

and a little visiting with loved ones we don’t get to see that often.

Then, after all this fun, we hit a rough patch. My mom got a REALLY bad virus and I had to watch all the kids. A big thanks to O and Mimi for saving us on this one. I took all the kids (mine and my sisters) over to Devers while Mom fought the virus on her own. I ended up coming down with the same thing before we left for the lake and then Hannah had her own version of it a few days later. BUT, did we let it keep us down? No way!

On Friday, we headed to the lake and had a great weekend full of too much fun and too much sugar!

The kids both participated in the fish tournament this year and although they didn’t win, they each “caught” a fish.

Hannah wasn’t interested in fishing until I showed her the trophy she would win and then it was game on…she got serious.

Hannah and Betsy were pretty much inseparable all weekend. They fought as much as they played I think.

Here they are holding hands and jumping off the pier. I used to do this exact thing with my cousins off this same pier. Pretty neat.

Little boy had a great time, too.

He really loved the golf carts.

Then on Sunday, Hannah and Nathan led us in song before my Dad led the devotional. We didn’t think they would sing, but they didn’t shy away from the microphone and the approximately 100+ crowd of Flings.

We were so proud of my dad for speaking so honestly about his struggles and his faith with the family. It was a true testimony of the redemptive work of Christ and it had a tremendous impact. Thanks, Dad!

Dance Recital

Hannah had her first ballet recital back in June and it was OH. SO. CUTE! She was so precious up on stage and knew all the steps for both her routines, tap and jazz. I have to admit I cried the whole time during the ballet dance. They danced to Come to Jesus by Chris Rice and although it sounds cheesy….trust me…if you where there, you would have cried to.

We gave her flowers after her performance and she thought that was the best thing ever.

She was also very proud of her medal!

Good job, Hannah Mae!

Memorial Day in the Hill Country

Sorry for the radio silence on the blog.  We’ve had a busy summer and now its time to catch up on some posts.

To kick off the summer, we had a great time at Lake LBJ with some friends over the Memorial Day weekend.  We all got there on Friday afternoon/evening and stayed through Sunday morning.  It rained on and off which kept the temperature cool, and it was just nice to get away and catch up with some good friends.  This was also the first time for all our kids to play together, and they had a blast.  We didn’t do a whole lot, just sunned by the lake, played with the kids, took boat and tractor rides (Thanks Papa Steve!), and generally just ate too much.  In the evenings, we put the kids to bed and stayed up late visiting and talking.  We try our best to relive our college days when we get the chance.  We didn’t take many pictures but here are a few that we stole from Carrie.

Hannah LOVES baby Micah.  We couldn’t keep her away from him.

We ate outside several times which was nice.

Nathan stayed busy on his bike.

The lawn tractor was popular

Group shot

Special thanks to the Zinneckers for hosting us!!  Hopefully this becomes a Memorial Day tradition.