O Christmas Tree

We went to the mountains in search of the perfect Christmas tree. The weather was so nice. There is not much snow yet so our search was fairly easy. We saw three potential "keepers" and finally decided on this one.






Jamie was excited to help with the tree and used his toy saw to cut "lots of things".





It's hard to believe that we're already decorating for Christmas but we are looking forward to a fun holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent the holiday at home. After some quick, last minute cleaning, we enjoyed a relaxing day watching the Macy's parade on TV and then watching football.The Broncos played the Cowboys (and WON!) which made for extra celebration and thanksgiving.

The Hamilton's roasted the turkey while Julie prepared all of the necessary side dishes. After we all had our fill of yummy food, we watched "The Polar Express". We missed spending Thanksgiving with family but it was nice to be home and share it with good friends.

Paradise FOUND!

Jamie was invited to a birthday party at the Sand Dunes Swimming Pool (AKA The Hooper Pool).

We have lived in Alamosa for 17 years and had not yet discovered this SLV oasis. It is a natural hot artesian heated swimming pool that is open year round. It has a kiddie pool that goes from 1 foot to 2 feet in depth and is PERFECT for Jamie. He had so much fun playing in the water with the other kids and didn't have to cling on to either one of us. He felt completely comfortable and independent wading in the shallow water or floating on his swimming noodle. The water going into the pool is about 118 degrees but cools down to between 98 and 104. They also have a therapy pool where the water is 108. We all had a great time and will definitely spend more time there now that we know more about it.

A perfect day to climb a tree...

Jamie was having fun playing at the park with his friend, Parker, when they both decided that they'd try to climb this tree. I couldn't resist the photo op!

FCC Craft Show

Julie & Jamie were in Denver but Bill was at home in Alamosa putting on the 5th Annual Craft and Bake Sale at our church.
He really enjoys his scrollsaw hobby and looks forward to the holiday season when he can show off his masterpieces. This year he has done craft shows in La Jara, Albuquerque and Alamosa. His next show is Dec. 2 & 3 at the Villa Mall in Alamosa (not a real mall, just a strip mall).

Chuck E. Cheese

Julie & Jamie and Emily & Shelby went to Denver for a Colorado PT Cruiser Club meeting on Saturday.
We spent most of the time running errands and decided to reward the kids for their "good behavior" with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. They had a great time!

Remembering Granddad

Julie and Jamie spent this past Veteran's Day weekend in Albuquerque. This was the one year anniversary of Julie's grandfather's death. Her cousin, Esteban, also came in from Los Angeles to be with family and remember.

Saturday, Julie & Esteban searched high and low (really, we even went to a casino) to find the USC vs. California football game on TV. We ended up at Hooters and had a great time watching the game and catching up. The Trojans won...still undefeated and still number ONE!

Later that night, we met at Gram's and were talking about different things when the subject turned to our family history. With Esteban's laptop and my Gram's wireless DSL (yes, my 89 year old grandmother has wireless DSL), we started digging. We came up with a few names that I'd not come up with yet which triggered Gram's memory with even more names and information. She then remembered an envelope of family history information that one of her nieces had put together and sent to her over 10 years ago. Wow, it was like hitting the jackpot! They had to kick me out and send me back to my mom's at midnight just so they could go to bed.

On Sunday, Owen & Shelby and Wanda joined us at Gram's for yummy roast & turkey dinner. We all went to the cemetery to place flowers on Granddad's and Everett's gravesites. I had not been to the cemetery since the funeral and had not yet seen the headstone that had been designed by Esteban. It was a beautiful autumn day and it was sweet to see Jamie & Shelby playing near the gravesite...almost as if they were playing in Granddad's lap. Granddad's memory and legacy will forever shape our lives.

Happy Halloween!

Jamie was so excited for Halloween. We thought he was going to be Thomas the Tank Engine but he changed his mind several times before deciding on Buzz Lightyear. (He went as Bob The Builder to the playgroup party.) We went to the Harvest Festival at the Waverly Church where Jamie and his best friend, Spencer, had a great time together. They played all of the games, including ring toss, bean bag throw, cake walk, field goal kick, free throw shooting and bowling.

Jamie & Spencer

We had so much fun at the festival that we got a late start on the trick-or-treating. We only made it to four houses for the boys to belt out their well rehearsed "Trick-or-treat!" As you can tell from the contents of the pumpkin, they were well rewarded at those four houses.

The LOOT!

Playgroup Halloween Party

Jamie's playgroup had a halloween costume party and we were able to get a group photo with 16 (out of 19) kids willing to show off their costumes. (It was an amazing accomplishment to get this many children to slow down long enough to pose for this shot!)

We are fortunate (and maybe a little insane) to have a large group of kids and moms that we get together with once a week for playtime and lunch. The halloween party was at Ryan & Justin's house and we had lasagne, fruit kabobs, breadsticks, waldorf salad and spider cupcakes for lunch. YUMMY!

Jamie had been planning to dress up as Thomas The Tank Engine and has been sleeping in his costume for almost a month now. He changed his mind at the last minute, though, and went as another of his favorite characters, Bob The Builder.

Jack-O-Lantern

Jamie is so proud of the jack-o-lantern he carved at daycare/preschool. His teacher said that he actually carved the left eye ALL BY HIMSELF and then told her where to cut everything else. He is looking forward to Halloween and dressing up in a costume to go trick-or-treating. He's been practicing saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" and is looking forward to lots of candy!

Cutting firewood in Rock Creek area

Another beautiful day in the SLV. It was so nice that we decided we could always use another load of firewood so we headed to the mountains. We packed sandwiches and snacks and met our friend, Geo, on the Rock Creek road. Geo is the chainsaw master and if it weren't for him, we'd have no firewood. I don't want to sound mean but Bill is extremely mechanically challenged and has a hard time when it comes to operating any type of machinery. Geo does the cutting while Bill loads the trucks, it's a good arrangement and works well for each of them.

Jamie was so excited to go to the mountains. He helped Bill load the truck for a little while but didn't like being around the chainsaw too much as it was noisy. The mountains are a good place for a little boy to find a lot of dirt to play in. We were smart enough to bring along his big dump truck, which he had a grand time filling with dirt, rocks, twigs, pine needles and whatever else he could find that would fit. He'd fill the dump truck, "drive" it a few feet and dump the load, then go back for more. It is amazing how long he can keep himself occupied with such a simple task!

One reason we LOVE the San Luis Valley...

The sandhill cranes migrate through the SLV each spring and fall. It is an awesome experience and we are so lucky that our house happens to be right along the migration track. Words cannot describe what it sounds like to hear the cranes as they fly overhead. I took this photo today, in the hay field to the south of our house. Today was a perfect autumn day in the SLV with a beautiful blue sky, snow topped peaks in the distance and the cranes in the field. Today was a picture postcard perfect day!

Cubbie!

Jamie has been attending weekly AWANA meetings with his friend, Spencer.
AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed) is an international, Bible-centered children's and youth ministry that provides weekly programs for students in preschool through high school. They are learning the creation story and are memorizing short exerpts of Bible verses. Jamie came home with his vest last night and also his first patch for completing his first Lamb path. He is very proud of his accomplishment and SO ARE WE!!

Paul's Peloton

Just wanted to let you all know about our friend and the amazing thing that he is doing. Paul is a road-bike rider and has ridden in several long distance events. He is inspired by Lance Armstrong's riding success as well as Lance's dedication to cancer treatment & research. Each year, Austin, TX, holds "The Ride For The Roses" to benefit The Lance Armstrong Foundation. Paul has ridden in this 104 mile ride the past two years and this year decided to take it a step (actually 800 miles) further. He is riding his bike from his home in Red River, NM to Austin, TX and then will participate in "The Ride For The Roses". Today is Day 5 of his journey and he is in Roscoe, TX. He is promoting The Lance Armstrong Foundation and the town of Red River on his ride.

Paul is documenting his ride in his personal blog (http://paulspeloton.blogspot.com/) which gives a day by day description of his ride, the weather and the great people he's met along the way.

The mission statement for Paul's Peloton is "One person can make a difference". Sometimes it seems like we are overshadowed by corporations and politics and we may feel that our voice will never be heard. Paul is out to prove otherwise and I admire him greatly. He will certainly make a difference and give others hope to create change as well. I am honored to call Paul my friend and am amazed at his compassion, diligence and determination. Paul, you are my hero!
LIVESTRONG and Ride On!

First SNOW of the winter

We woke up Monday morning (October 10) to a light dusting of snow. Bill took these photos early in the morning, because it melted off quickly. It was a very wet snow and left lots of mud and fun puddles for playing in later in the day. As you can tell from the top photo, our aspen trees still have not dropped their leaves. The colors were an awesome contrast to the white snow. This is the BEST time of the year in Alamosa!
It is rare to get snow this early in October and the "old-timers" warn that this is just the beginning of what will be a long and cold winter. This is not so great news with the anticipated 60% increase in heating costs. We have a good supply of firewood and plan to make good use of the woodstove this winter.

Gymnastics

(top photos: Jamie doing back arch stretch, Jamie doing backwards roll & Jamie walking on balance beam)
Jamie has been enjoying his gymnastics class this semester. There are 6 kids in the class and Ms. Brandi is the best teacher he's had (this is his third gymnastics class). She makes everything age appropriate and, unlike previous teachers, is actually organized and prepared for each class. The kids are having fun and Ms. Brandi wants to continue the class past the original 6 weeks. She said that she just needs to have enough interest from participants...Ms. Brandi, you can count us IN!

(bottom photos: Jamie doing forward roll on balance beam, Jamie doing pull up on uneven bars & Jamie balancing on uneven bars)

Balloon Fiesta, cont.

Jamie had lots of fun at the Balloon Fiesta. He did enjoy the balloons but he was in little boy heaven when we found these piles of dirt on the west end of the field. I don't know what the actual purpose of the dirt piles was but, it sure made Jamie's day. He is such a dirt magnet and it was fun to watch as he ran and jumped and rolled in the dirt. He was covered from head to toe and even swallowed a couple of mouth fulls. All in all, a good day for a busy boy!

Dirt + Busy Boy = FUN!!!

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

We went to Albuquerque this past weekend for a friends' parents' 50th wedding anniversary. It also happened to be the first weekend of the Balloon Fiesta. We woke up at 4:30 am on Sunday and made our way to the park. We got there in time for the dawn patrol show, had breakfast and then enjoyed the many different colors and shapes filling the skies. The weather was perfect. We go almost every year and we have hundreds of photos but you just can't help yourself, it is so amazing that you have to take more photos each and every year.

Haircut - Before and After

Bill gave Jamie a haircut and it was an amazing transformation. Before the haircut, he was a cute little boy. Afterwards, he was a handsome little man. He couldn't get enough of himself, either, he kept admiring himself and talking to himself in the mirror.

An afternoon on the farm

Jamie getting settled in for his first potato harvest. This was not an ordinary tractor!

We spent the afternoon at a friend's house. They have a huge farm and were in the middle of potato harvest. Jamie rode on the big tractor and had a great time!

The boys in the band...

Yesterday, Jamie & I hosted our play group at our house. We had a great turn out with 13 kids and 7 adults. Jamie had so much fun and was excited that his friends came to his house. We had hot dogs and chili dogs for lunch with yummy salads and vegetables (OK-the adults were the ones eating the salads and vegetables) and homemade peanut butter cookies. The kids had fun playing with the train table and with the trucks in the sand box. My favorite thing was when these three boys got together and decided to "make music". I flashed forward 10 years and imagined these same three boys in our garage practicing music for their rock band with real instruments. Good thing we live out in the country where they will be able to make lots of noise without making the neighbors mad.

Merrily they go around...

After eating breakfast on Saturday morning, we went to the park so that Jamie and Shelby could run off some energy. They swang on the swings until Grandma thought her arms would fall off and then discovered the merry go round. They took turns pushing each other around for a while but then enlisted Bill to push "really fast". I tried to take photos but they were going pretty fast and I didn't get very many good shots. Needless to say, they had fun! I don't know about Shelby but Jamie was worn out and fell asleep in the car as soon as we hit the road to return to Alamosa.
**The Explorer made the trip to and from Red River without any problems!!!

Shelby's SpongeBob Birthday

Shelby had a huge crowd at her 8th birthday party. The theme was SpongeBob with pizza and cake for everyone. She had at least 15 school friends on hand to help her celebrate as well as several adults. The gift table was loaded and she made quite a hefty haul, from DVD's to clothes to Polly Pocket to a portable DVD player. Jamie was excited but overwhelmed by the noise of all of those children. He started out sitting with Shelby but it wasn't very long before he wanted his daddy. After everyone cleared out, we went back to Shelby's house and watched her sort through her loot. By that point, she was in a birthday fog and oblivious to the rest of us but we did have fun with her bunny, Snuggles. All in all, a good day for the birthday girl.

Shelby's birthday

Brooks family

Today is Shelby's 8th birthday and we will be going to Red River this afternoon to celebrate with pizza and cake. It is so hard to believe that she is eight years old! Jamie is so excited, he's been talking about her birthday since they were here over Labor Day. Jamie and I wrapped Shelby's gifts today and Jamie told me how he was going to unwrap lots of presents and blow out the candles. I tried to explain that Shelby gets to do those things today because it's her birthday and that he'll get to do those things when it's his birthday. We'll see if my words made any impression. Nevertheless, he has it in his mind that we're all going to hide and say "Surprise!" when Shelby walks in the room and he thinks that's pretty cool. I think he has a book about a surprise birthday party for Thomas (the Tank Engine) so that must be where he got that idea.

We finally got the Explorer back yesterday. YAY!!! I'm so happy to have my stick shift back. Nothing against automatic transmissions but I have ALWAYS driven a stick and I have missed it. Our poor Explorer has over 200,000 miles and there have been a couple of times that we thought it couldn't be resurrected but, it seems to keep hanging in there. We had to replace the water pump over the summer (much better than the blown head gasket that the local Ford dealer diagnosed) and this time we had to replace the clutch...again. This is the second clutch since February and at least the seventh one in the 10 years we've owned the car. I love my stick shift but this clutch has given us major grief. We are lucky, though, that the mechanic we've used since living in Alamosa now is the Auto Shop instructor for Alamosa High School. We get the same quality work that he's always provided but now we only have to pay for parts (he can't charge labor). What a deal! To his credit, this is only the second clutch that he's put in.