Santa Fe

On Saturday we went up to Santa Fe with Brad and Lisa - we figured we needed to see what all the talk is about before we move on next week! Our first stop was the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi . One of the statues here is the oldest depiction of the Virgin Mary in the United States and the church itself was founded in 1610 - the year that Santa Fe itself was founded. To read more about the history, click here. The outside is currently being restored so we didn't get a picture of that, but the inside was gorgeous. Here are a few of our favorite pictures:

This was an off limits area, so you can see the details on the window I'm shooting through, but you can also see the reflection from the opposite wall. So beautiful!

After that, we walked around for awhile and visited the plaza. There were so many cool shops! Someday we'll have to go back there when we actually have money. After that we decided to try out this restaurant called the Bobcat Bite. We'd heard that it had gotten a lot of recognition for its amazing hamburgers, so we were excited to go!

My family would TOTALLY love this place. It's in the middle of nowhere (just off the Old Las Vegas Highway to be exact) and it's in a building the size and look of an old trailer with about 7 tables total - including the counter. The Bobcat pictures on the wall made it completely awesome and the burgers were EXTREMELY good. They were huge and juicy and they even had green chile burgers, which is a must have in New Mexico. Dad, this is one hole in the wall you have to try!

Lastly, I just had to show that the bannister has claimed yet another victim...

A Child's Prayer

"Dear Heav'ly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you that we could go to Music Makers. I am so sad a'cause I want to stay there and Mommy said no. Please help us have a good sleep. I just so sad. The name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Sandia Peak

Last weekend we went on the tram up to Sandia Peak. The cars are a lot bigger than the Banff Gondola - it was really cool to try something different. Landon was super excited to ride on a real cable car (we just read a book about them last week).

The view from up top was gorgeous. Our guide said that you can see almost half of the state from there!

Parker was slightly freaked out by the sheer drop off on the other side of this bench...

When the boys started to get cold, we went into the ski locker area to wait for the next car. They were playing a video about a volcano - apparently we were both really into it :). Ever since then Landon has said to me "Mommy, if you see a volcano, don't touch it! It's really hot!"

Our cable car approaches...

Landon couldn't wait to get on!

Parker wasn't the biggest fan of the wind up there.

When we left, this is what the sky looked like. The sunsets here are unreal!

Yes Oui Can(ada)

If you want to see a good post about Obama's first trip to the Great White North, check out my sisters blog at: http://hampstergravel.blogspot.com.

Holy Tumbleweeds

A week or two ago it snowed here - the kids loved watching the flakes come down even though it didn't stick for long. During the storm it was super windy. Windy enough that three of these HUGE tumbleweeds flew over the wall into the backyard! It was pretty crazy to watch!

A day or two later Brad got the lovely task of removing these things...

And even though this next picture has nothing to do with tumbleweeds, I just had to document how obsessed Parker is with Peter Pan. Well, mostly just the Peter Pan hat. He loves to put it on and walk around saying "Pee Pan!". Brad and Lisa found this hat and a Pirate hat in their costume box, so the boys have been having much more realistic sword and hook fights these days!

Parker's a Walkin'

Well, here he is in all his glory! Hopefully he'll start realizing it's something he can do ALL the time instead of just using it as a game!

Valentines Part Deux

On Valentine's Day, Scott woke up with the boys and made heart shaped pancakes - with chocolate chips, of course.

Landon was in heaven!

Scott surprised me with these beautiful flowers - even though they only last for a few days, I really love having fresh flowers on the table!

For lunch Landon and Parker each got to have a treat from their party - Landon chose a fundip. He loved dipping the stick into the "batter". This is how his tongue looked afterwards!

Then we had to surprise Daddy with his special Valentine from the boys. You can see at the bottom how Landon signed his name. He told me that it says "Love Landon, Parker and Mommy".

After the kids went to bed, it was time to party!

I made Scott one of his favorite dinners:


Then dessert! We've had a tradition of having fondue on Valentines, but of course I always make too much. Now we have two whole bowls of Toblerone fondue in the fridge! I'm sure we'll find a use for it...
Then we got all dressed up and went to the Stake Valentines Dance. We (along with one other couple) did the decorations for the dance and it ended up looking great! I took a few pictures of everything, but they're on Lisa's camera, so I'll have to post those later. This is us ready to go. Can you guess which decades we're from?

Happy Valentines Day

We kind of celebrated Valentines Day all week! First, the boys made Valentines for a party they went to. Landon tried so hard to write his name:

Then we had to make some Valentines cupcakes!

Then came the party! We've been going to "Music Makers" - it's a music group in the ward for kids and it's really fantastic. This is a friend who dressed up like Cutesie the Valentine for the kids. So cute!
Landon really likes singing with the puppets. The Santa puppet is his favorite!

Parker with all the girls :)

These are some of the Valentines bags - the boys were so excited to get and give Valentines, and of course treats!

American Idol Mistake

I'm not sure if any of you watch American Idol, but last night they kicked off someone who Scott and I thought would be amazing on the show: Jamar Rogers.

Here is his last performance:

Seriously! How could they have kicked him off!? Anyway, I found this petition online - who knows if it will do anything, but sign it if you think Jamar should be back on AI!! http://petitionspot.com/petitions/bringjamarback

Our Weekend

We had a lot of fun together this weekend. First, I had to buy a few more things for the Stake dance this weekend, so we headed over to the dollar store. Landon and Parker both got to spend $1 and I bet you can guess what they used it for.

Landon bought cars! I know, that's a shock.

Parker chose a ball - balls are his favorite right now!

Add in some sidewalk chalk and they were very happy to play on the driveway for awhile.

Can you see the chalk outlines? The boys think this is pretty funny:

Then we went inside and baked cinnamon rolls. They were SO tasty! I love baking in this big beautiful kitchen!

On Sunday we went out to "Lisa's Farm". It's actually Lisa's parents house in Bosque Farms where they have a few chickens. That constitutes a farm in Landon's mind! While we were there, Brad decided to help out with a few farm chores.

Here he is trying to catch the rooster...

Success!

And, well, you can see what happens next. Many of you probably know that this is not the right way to slaughter a rooster - someone has to hold the neck!! Brad figured that out the hard way on this one, but I put my farm experience to good use for the next two. At least my Barbie shoes didn't get splattered with blood this time...haha.

Lastly, here's a quick picture of what happened after the weekend - it snowed! It was so fun watching the flakes come down even if it didn't stick for very long. This tumbleweed blew right into Brad and Lisa's yard! I haven't seen one this big before!

All About the Animals

Last week it was really warm out, so we headed over to the zoo. I have to say that Albuquerque zoo is fantastic! It's small enough to do in a morning and the animals are all extremely close to the path. At one point I realized that I could totally reach out and pet a mountain lion if I wanted to...but I really didn't want to!

Here's Parker watching the zebra's eat:

Here's a snow leopard - see how close we are!?

Landon checking out the rhino:

Landon, Parker and Sam looking at the monkey's:

Landon and Parker thought it was pretty fun to play with this little guy!

They had this really cool climbing structure that the kids loved!

We ended up at the duck pond. It's surrounded by a huge grassy area where they hold concerts every weekend in the summer. Hopefully we'll be able to experience that at some point!

Brandon, can you see the cut on his head? Yes, superglue works wonders :)