The Holidays. . .

I know it's New Years Eve, but I haven't posted anything about Thanksgiving or Christmas yet. This will be my attempt to cram it all into one or two posts.

Thanksgiving is easy, in that we have done the same thing for the last 12 years! For those of you who don't know, our families and our extended families all invade my mom and dad's house for the day - or the weekend - depending how long everyone is able to stay. My in-laws come, my sister's in-laws come, and anyone can bring anyone they'd like as long as they let my mom and dad know how many guests to expect! We have been doing this since the year before Jason and I were even engaged - and my future in-laws came to that one as well! I could post lots of pictures of people arriving, preparing food, eating food, napping after said food, but I think I can boil this one down to one picture.

I call it "COUSINS".

Vaughn, Susannah, and Louisa

These three faces are the embodiment of the last 12 years, and they are the best reminder of all the things we have been blessed with as a family during that time. What GREAT reminders of what we have to truly be THANKFUL for!

I'd like to thank. . .

All those who made my running of the Route 66 Marathon possible:

My Fan Club. . . Thanks Jason for being available to take over with Vaughn when I needed to train - even if it meant coming home early from work, only to go BACK to work after I got home and/or V went to bed. Also, thanks for making the entire weekend possible - from boarding the dog, to hotel reservations, to great pasta dinners. I love you!

Vaughn - you were a great training buddy! I will always remember pushing you in the stroller while you waved your arms and shouted "You can DO it, Momma!"

Thanks to my sweet friend, Cara - my cyber training buddy and the constant voice of encouragement in my ear! The power bars were YUMMY!!

. . . and you know I love daisies!

And to my mom and dad, who sent, not 1 but 4 cards in the mail the week before the big day to let me know they were proud of me and that they knew I could do it!

I love you all very much and thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me reach this goal. I am a better person for it!
Love, Betsy

13.1 miles. . . one step at a time

It is official. I did it! It took me 2 hours, 29 minutes and 38 seconds. The goal was under 2.5 hours. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I ran my first (only?) half marathon the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It was the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, OK. I found about it from a friend in my mom's club (thanks Stephanie) and somehow the notion of completing it and being able to say "I did it" took hold. I started training right after Jason and I got back from our trip to Vegas in May and now it is done! I have NEVER been a runner, and there were times during the training that I wondered what in the WORLD I had signed up for, but now I am HOOKED! I don't know if I'll run 13 miles at one time again, but I have found I really like running, not to mention the great race day atmosphere and all the festivities. Here are a few pictures from the "family weekend" in Tulsa (what a beautiful city! We loved it here!).

Me and my "coach" before the race. During my training, Vaughn and Walker "ran" with me up to about 6 miles.

The starting line. . . I am SOMEWHERE between the signs marked "10 minute pace group" and "11 minute pace group".Vaughn and Jason tried to find me at mile 6 but just missed me. Here I am just after mile 10 - still smiling! Jason and Vaughn took this picture from a skywalk bridge above the street. I just HAPPENED to look up at the last minute and see them! What a pick-me-up. . . just in time to help me finish strong!Just about to cross the finish line. . . the guy pushing the stroller was just steps away from finishing the WHOLE marathon - in less than 2.5 hours - while pushing the stroller! He was trying to set the new world record. I am just glad I am still standing and smiling!My fan club - and two of the biggest reasons I can say I did it. Without Jason's commitment to help me succeed (countless days coming home from work to watch V so I could run)and Vaughn's constant encouragement when he would see me putting my running shoes on (You can DO it, Mommy!), I don't know if I would have seen this through. Thanks boys!A photo-op with my finisher's medalVaughn . . . just minutes after he was strapped in for the ride home! He wasn't the only one who snoozed on the ride. Thanks, Jason, for acting as chauffer!

Vacation Memories

So. . . we took this vacation back in September. . . and I know it is NOVEMBER. . . but here are some of our favorite moments.

Vaughn LOVES trains and he enjoyed getting out to stretch his legs and play on this caboose at the welcome center in Raton, NM.

We stayed at Antler’s Lodge and this was our view from the  campsite.  Not too shabby!

This is a picture of the RV forman – Mr. Wayne.  He and his wife – Mary – are from San Antonio, but spend 6 months a year living at Antlers.  Vaughn loved him from the word go and we found out they (Vaughn and Mr. Wayne) share the same birthday – 60 or so years apart!

  The property at Antler’s has a lodge and 5-star restaurant, cabins and RV sites.  They are also home to several sheep and goats (you can see their barn in the background).  Here, Vaughn is sitting on an antique hay rake that “dresses up” the property.

Because it was SO cold in the early mornings (down in the 20’s and we even got snowed on a couple of times!) we spent the mornings in the trailer playing games, reading books and generally goofing off.  Here is photographic evidence!

Once the day finally warmed up – to the low 50’s – we would get dressed up and set about exploring.  The Rio Grande river runs through the property so invariably, Vaughn would want to walk down to the bridge that spans the river and connects the property to the public lands behind it.  He spent HOURS throwing rocks off of the bridge into the river below.

One happy boy on his way to the river!

  THE bridge.  Vaughn’s vacation would have been complete if we’d spent it all right here!

Make no mistake – time spent on the bridge was not a waste of time for us (me and Jason) either.  This is the view upstream from the bridge.  If you look just to the left of the the first cabin, you can get  a feel for where the RV spots were in relation to the cabins and the river.  What a great spot!

Vaughn’s face says it all:  I love this place!  Here he is kissing Bruce the Moose’s catch of the day.  Bruce is a giant stuffed moose dressed in fishing gear who greets all the visitors at Antlers.  He stands on the deck of the lodge and restaurant .  We visited Bruce and his “catch” daily.

We didn’t spend ALL our time in Creede at the campsite.  And during a couple of our outings we were lucky enough to spot these two beauties.  The top is a cow moose we spotted on our way to Lake City and the bottom picture is a bull moose we saw as we were driving to Alamose to catch the train.

And speaking of trains. . . one of the BEST parts of the trip was the train ride from Alamosa to La Veta on a restored steam locomotive.  The scenery was beautiful and Vaughn did GREAT – and we were on the train ALL day.  We rode to La Veta where we stopped briefly for lunch and then made the return trip to Alamosa.

Waiting with daddy. . .

The boys enjoying some fresh air on the open-air car.  As you can see the weather was less than ideal, but that didn’t deter them!

Vaughn loved everything about the train. . . except for the conductor.  As you can tell by the look on his face. . . he wasn’t quite sure about him!

Although we brought back MANY memories, the favorite souvenir from this trip HAS to be these cowboy boots. 

I’m so far behind. . . I think I’m ahead!

So many goings-on and so little time!  I have the time to take the pictures, but don’t carve out the time to edit them, put them on the blog or write about them, and now I just want to skip ahead to the “and to top it all off” story, but that would be unfair to my 4 faithful readers and I wouldn’t get to showcase nearly enough pictures! So. . . .here is the Reader’s Digest version of the last 2 months!

First, there was the week Daddy spent in New Mexico for work.  He traveled to The Lodge at Chama (in Chama, NM) and a couple other  nearby spots to meet with several elk breeding operations that use Record Rack (Cargill’s Elk and Deer Game Feed).  Here are a couple pictures for you big game hunters out there.

 

And for those of you who don’t hunt big game, but are married to those who do, this picture is for you!

This is the lodge at Chama, where you can relax, read, knit, nosh, or snooze to your heart’s content while your guy is out bagging game or hooking trout .  Not too shabby!

 

While Daddy was away, we busied ourselves at home, counting the days until his return and hanging out with Nonni and Pop.

NEXT, Daddy came back (He ALWAYS comes back) and we took a family adventure to Arbuckle Wilderness, a ride-thru wilderness and wildlife park where you can feed the animals from your car (read: the camels will climb in your window with you!)  If you don’t believe me, check out the photos below!

I also got to feed the giraffes from the other side of the car, but Jason was too busy trying to keep V from climbing out my window to take any pictures!  

We also took in a little thoroughbred horse racing this Labor Day.  There was a big to-do out at Remington Park (bounce houses, 1$ hot dogs, live music, face painting, etc) and we took Vaughn to see the horses.  He was so busy running from fence post to fence post looking at the big green tractors and all the beautiful horses, I was only able to get one picture, but it did turn out pretty cute!  He and dad enjoyed the good eats!

Finally, in the last couple of months my son has discovered a few new favorite activities: 

Paying the Bills

and

Dressing Up like a Cowboy

Oh. . . and did I mention he had his first dentist appointment?   He handled it like a champ and we got his first (of many, I hope!) no cavity reports!

So, I think you are all caught up now. . . more on “to top it all off” tomorrow!

Practice makes Perfect. . .

. . . or at least it makes you aware of what you need to keep working on.  And while I still have a long way to go getting to know my camera, (someday I hope it is all just an extension of my arm!)  I am really having fun practicing.  One of the most fun things to do (for me, anyway) is to frame the picture in a less than predictable way.  Here are a few of my favorite pics from a recent backyard “photo shoot”.  Thanks to Aunt Missy for the great Curious George umbrella prop!

Don’t you love how it looks like he doesn’t even know I’m there?

There doesn’t ALWAYS have to be a smile centered in the frame.  I will treasure these little feet forever!

Again, just a different perspective.

  I can hear the familiar music. . . “Just Singin’ in the Rain!”  This is our nod to Gene Kelly!

I have also been taking a few close-up shots and FOOD is one of my favorite subjects – It doesn’t wiggle NEARLY as much as my son does!!  BTW -These blueberry muffins were delicious!

Playing at Church with Friends

Ok, technically, it's called Parents Day Out, and most of the teachers there (of which I am one - in the 4-5 year old class) call it "school" but I cannot bring myself to say that Vaughn, my baby, is in "SCHOOL" just yet. . .so we are currently calling our "outings" that last from 9-2 on Tuesdays and Thursdays "Playing at Church with Friends". Here is a picture of our big boy on his first day. He informed me, prior to the picture, that he needed to sit down because his backpack was too heavy, and he could not hold his lunchbox for the picture because it was too full of food. He has since developed the muscle strength and coordination necessary to handle BOTH bags at once. I am so proud!

(BTW . . . that is Lucky Louie - a bobble head doll from the horse races we went to on Labor Day - in Vaughn's hand. The two have been virtually inseperable since we brought Louie (a giveaway) home from the racetrack!)

I am still on auto. . .

as far as my camera is concerned. . . but more on that later. As the month of August winds down, so does the summer. Kids everywhere have started school, and thoughts turn to college football, instead of to trips to the beach or to the pool. That being said, I thought I’d take a few minutes and share a few high points for us from the end of this summer.

Vaughn and I went to visit Molly and her family in Abilene for several days. We wanted to spend some time with family while Jason was traveling (for work) and we also wanted to see Louisa perform in Abilene’s rendition of Willie Wonka Jr. Here are a few pictures from her big night on stage. She played Varuka Salt (not sure I got that name right – she was the bratty little rich girl from the movie!).

Eager theater goers on their way to the big show!

A few shots of various cast members. . . Louisa is the one in pigtails!

The following morning we all ventured out to the “very best donut shop” in all of Abilene.

After a nutritious breakfast we headed to the Children’s Museum. . .

All this was great, but the BEST part of the visit HAD to be our trip to the zoo!

And the HIGHLIGHT at the zoo was definitely the Giraffes!

So, thanks to Molly, Brandon, Louisa and Susannah for a great time in Abilene!