Take Us Out to the Ballgame

We went to Colorado Springs for a quick Memorial Day outing. We stayed with the Hamilton's, we hadn't seen them since last July and Jamie was SO excited to see his friend, Spencer, again.

(Justin, Jamie, Spencer & Ryan)

We met fellow Alamosan's (the Astalos') at Security Service Field to watch the Sky Sox game. It was fishing rod & reel night so the kids all got free fishing equipment and got some pre-game casting instruction.

(Michelle & Coleen braving the cold)

Again, it is Memorial Day weekend...the "unofficial" start of summer and we're at a baseball game...can't get any more summer than that, right?
We were all bundled up in coats and blankets and could not last past the sixth inning because it was SO cold. We gave up the post-game fireworks for coffee at McDonalds.
WHEN is it going to be warm????

Summer (???) Vacation

Tomorrow is the start of the Memorial Day weekend which, traditionally, marks the beginning of summer vacation.
It might be easier to grasp if it wasn't freaking snowing outside!!!!!

Last Day of School

Bill forgot to take the official "last day of school" photo this morning so we did a quick re-enactment when we got home this afternoon. It is just hard to believe that the school year is over, it went by so quickly.

The End of Kindergarten

It's hard to believe that Jamie's kindergarten year is over. Jamie loved his teachers, Mrs. Rodriguez and Ms. Mimi, and his classmates.




watching "The Bee Movie"

















one last hug from Mrs. Rodriguez
















BFF's (Joshua, Jamie & Parker)

Surgery Success

My surgery was successful, no complications and I am home, resting comfortably. I walked out of the hospital this morning a little after 9:00 and enjoyed a chai tea latte at the East West Grill before going to Jamie's school. He was so excited that I was there and I am so happy that I got to be there, it was important for me to be there. I am feeling pretty good, considering...I'm tired and sore but really, the headache I have is causing me more pain than the surgical site. My mom is still here, pampering me and taking good care of Jamie. Thanks to all who sent good thoughts and well wishes.

Pirate Day

I snapped this photo of Jamie (doing his best pirate impersonation) before he left for school and I headed to the hospital for my surgery. Bill has strict orders to take Jamie's official last day of school photo tomorrow morning and I am still hoping to be released from the hospital in time to go to the ice cream social.

Going Under the Knife

So, tomorrow morning I go in for surgery to remove an organ that has caused me a lifetime of nothing but pain and grief. Years of labor-pain-like monthly cramps, years of fertility treatment that was unsuccessful...finally the fibroids and endometriosis are symptomatic enough to medically justify a hysterectomy. Those who know me well, know that my catch phrase for my predicament has been "why do I keep having to change the oil every month when the engine isn't running!". Tomorrow, the engine is getting removed and I have no regrets.

It's a laparoscopic procedure so it should be fairly simple, barring any complications. I'm not looking forward to the overnight hospital stay and hope to get released on Wednesday in time to go to Jamie's end of the school year ice cream social. I hope to feel well enough to go to the Sky Sox game in Colorado Springs on Saturday. My mom is here to help with Jamie and I have great friends who are pitching in as well. This is a busy time of year for Bill but, of course, he will also be available. I'm hoping that recovery will be quick and easy.

Farewell uterus...good riddance!

Hat and Flip Flop Day

Sixty Trees

Every year the Colorado Forest Service offers tree seedlings to landowners to create windbreaks and reduce erosion. To qualify, you must own at least 2 acres (we own five!). You have to purchase a minimum of 30 seedlings ($48) of each type of tree you want. This year, we bought sixty trees, 30 Colorado Blue Spruce and 30 Narrow Leaf Cottonwood. They've been sitting in our garage for almost a month because the temperatures at night are still getting below freezing. We decided to plant today and hope that the worst of the spring weather is over.

We were NOT looking forward to digging sixty holes. We were relieved to learn that a friend owns a gas powered post hole digger, making the job so much easier.

THANKS Weinmeisters!

Colorado Blue Spruce

Narrow Leaf Cottonwood

So, we're doing our part to green up the environment and hopefully create a decent windbreak for our property. We're keeping our fingers crossed that these seedlings will take root and actually grow into trees. Our main job this summer will be to make sure that they get lots of water and TLC (and hope that we don't run them over with the mower).

Doin' the Dunes

We, and two other families, are involved in a Saturday kid swap. We each take a Saturday to watch all of the kids and, in turn, have two Saturdays off to do grown up stuff. Today was our day to watch "the boys". Jamie had two soccer games in the morning and then we (Bill, Julie, Jamie, Justin & Ryan) headed to the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve. Parker had a birthday party to go to in the afternoon so he didn't get to go with us this time.



We met the Get R!eal (Colorado's youth movement against the tobacco industry) group from the middle school at the Sand Dunes for lunch.

After lunch, the middle school group left and we were ready to PLAY! The boys changed into their swimsuits, we unloaded the toys and headed for the dunes.

We crossed Medano Creek and found an empty spot on a small "island"...perfect for digging in the sand and playing in the water!












Medano Creek flows in waves caused by surge flow.

Water accumulates, especially when sand ridges called antidunes form below the surface. When they break, the increased water volume surges and creates waves of up to a foot high.

The weather was nice, a little cool with a slight breeze. The water was not as cold as we thought it would be but once you got wet, the breeze felt very cold.






The boys kept busy building rivers, dams, waterfalls, volcanoes and just digging holes to sit in. Ryan took his job as the water carrier very seriously!

Bill took a nap!







Julie took photographs but because of the sand and water, didn't dare let anyone else use the camera. So, no photos of Julie...

Justin was the first one to get too cold to continue playing in the water. He and Julie went for a small hike up the dunes but didn't go very far because the wind was blowing the sand around pretty good.























Except for the minor (ha!) excitement caused by lost car keys, we had a great day at the "beach". Luckily, the keys were found and we were only an hour late in getting Justin and Ryan home. We were invited to eat pizza at the Astalos' when we dropped off the boys, a very welcome treat.

O, Give Me A Home...

...where the buffalo roam.
So, these are cows, not buffalo, but it was still interesting to have them in our backyard this evening. We should look into this as an option to keep the grass cut.

Modern day, mini cattle drive...thanks to our neighbor, on a four-wheeler, who drove the cows back where they belong.
(They aren't even John's cows, so he went way over and above his neighborly duties today!)

Silly Sock Day

Crazy Hair Day

The school year is winding down. Jamie has one week remaining and it has been deemed "Spirit Week".
Today was "Crazy Hair Day" so Jamie wore this wig. He thought it was so funny!

Spring Program

Jamie's kindergarten class had their Spring Program on Monday. His partner was Emily. They sang eight songs plus a medley of Nursery Rhyme songs.


They will be taking their show on tour this Friday when they perform for Boyd Elementary School (2nd-3rd grade) and Evans Elementary School (4th-5th grade).

Happy Mother's Day - Geocaching 101

Some friends went geocaching last week and had so much fun that I decided that I would like to try it on Mother's Day. Geocaching is an adventure game for GPS users. Individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once a cache is found, you sign the log book and can take items in the cache and leave items for future treasure hunters. Click here to get more information about geocaching.





Jamie was excited about going treasure hunting. Our first cache was an easy one near a potato field southwest of Center. The coordinates were right on and Jamie took a tennis ball from the cache. We left a hacky sack and signed the log book.

We had to do a bit more exploring to find the second one, a multi-cache, but we had fun climbing on the rocks. We saw three deer and a lizard. Jamie took a toy jet plane and we left an alien eraser and an American Idol toy.






The third cache took us to La Garita Arch where we happened to run into our friends, the Hollands.










We climbed up to the arch and "threaded the needle" before looking for the treasure.




Bill & Jamie climbing to the arch------------------------->
































<------------------Julie & Jamie sitting in the arch














Cactus in bloom
















the hidden cache















opening the treasure...
Jamie took a United Airlines barf bag that contained a dollar bill. We left a candle and a pink mini clip.









Our day of adventure ended with dinner at Chili's. It was the best Mother's Day ever!

Amish Community

A little known fact about Alamosa and the San Luis Valley is that, not only do we have an Alligator Farm and a UFO Watchtower, we also have a fairly large Amish population. We were driving to Monte Vista last Sunday and passed by this small house where the Amish community was holding their Sunday worship. It was quite a sight to see all of the buggies and horses parked outside of the house and quite amazing to think that all of those people were stuffed into the small house.

Boys & Cars

The Alltell race car came to Alamosa last weekend. It was worth backtracking so that Jamie & Parker could investigate. Parker says that he is going to drive it one day and Jamie says that he will drive the truck and trailer. Sounds like they have it figured out.

What is it they say about the difference between men and boys? I guess some guys (and gals) never stop playing with cars!

It's a girl!

This afternoon we took a drive to our pastor's house in San Luis to see the new baby. Rachel was born on Wednesday and mama and baby are doing well.

Soccer Video

I finally got some video of Jamie playing soccer.



Jamie was a little upset that the defender took the ball away from him!