SM's First Diet Variation

Don't call me a baby!  Babies can not do this!

Yes, I, SM can now sit up.  This opens a new world of possibilities...

One of those possibilities is eating things other than formula and rice cereal.  Things like pureed peas!  Serve them up!

You'll notice one of the perks of living in the LOE is the relaxed rules regarding outerwear.  I got served with no shoes, no pants, and no shirt.  Score one for freedom.  The peas started off okay.  But then I started to taste them...

I haven't tasted many things in life, but there is a reason peas share a name with a bodily function...

I wore this face until the second course (pureed carrots) was served.  That made me happier!

Harry & David pureed peas is not an acceptable Christmas gift this year!

Happy Fifth Birthday M!

It's that time of year again!  Yes, M turned five and she did with much aplomb.  This picture was snapped as the town bus drove along our road in the background!

The Beastie Boys once wrote, sang, and performed a song entitled "She's Crafty".  They were obviously singing about my beautiful momma!  With apologies to Hank Williams, Jr., look at the aprons she made since "All my Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight".  (BTW she ran out of the letter A and I and had to buy more).

We got to decorate our aprons, our cupcakes, and our own individual pizzas.  The pepperoni ran out when it reached JC.  Big surprise.

But kudos to him for not dragging down my birthday party with any guy humor.  Oh wait, he did do that!

After the eatin' came the openin'.  The openin' of presents that is...

Later, came my family party.  We asked Neville for a recommendation for a good restaurant.  He suggested the Dubonnet.  Imagine our disappointment when we got there and it turned out to be a supper club!  Next time we'll ask Dorcas.  In the end, we ate at Sonic.  A truer restaurant, quite frankly, doesn't exist.  Afterwards we opened family presents.

I got many presents, but this was the only one that gave me this face...

The greatest present, however, was saved for last.  The late, great Alan Rickman (i.e. Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest [ i.e. the only movie that's better than Unstoppable]) once said, "If you could build a house on a trampoline, that would suit me just fine."  M concurs.

Thanks for all the presents!

Ladies and Gentlemen...a Talent Show!

This is M's choice of activity for Family Home Evening.  This is either the beginnings of Cirque de Soleil or two kids who have had way too much sugar.  You decide...

Looks like a trend has been started!

Free Museum Night in Santa Fe

Finishing our summer activities....my beautiful momma is a notorious planner.  The funny part is that she doesn't usually plan for important things like meals.  This time she did.  Only the place, La Chozo, wasn't open yet.  Oh well.  After a good Santa Fe New Mexican dinner, we went to Free Museum Night in Santa Fe.   Since the museum didn't like us taking photographs inside,  we took our shots outside.  Here is Gram, count her as enchanted, as she has been an honorary member of the LOE C Clan now for several weeks.

Here is the actual carriage used to make my dad pee his pants in the classic Sean Connery film, Darby O'Gill.

This tree is outside the governor's palace that has been in existence since 1608.  It is the biggest tree we have seen so far in NM.

SM was there, too.  But she mostly slept and ate.

The sunset greeted us on our way home.  This shot doesn't do the sunset justice, but it does do justice to the Echo that ran off the road trying to take a picture of it.

It was a fun night - thanks mom for your pathological planning.

It's Official...1st Day of Kindergarten

She's ready to go!!!

The three amigas ready for action

Mrs. Sims and her class waving good-bye

Valles Caldera Before and After...

Has the dead horse been beaten too much yet?  Here are photos from the caldera at the top of the volcano we live on.  It's a huge grassy plain with it's own ecosystem at 12000 feet.  We're pretty sure Edgar Rice Burroughs lived somewhere along the rim.  These photos are from August during my dad's job interview.

And here it is after the fire...

You can clearly see where the fire ran out of fuel to the west...

The fire got so hot, it just left chalk outlines of the burnt trees...

Here is one of the roads that acted as a fire break.  Look at the right and then the left.  Amazing how the left escaped any flames.

Okay okay.  We hear

Choosing between the Avett Bros is like Choosing between my Children...

I have relieved M of her writing duties so that I, B, could write about my beloved Avett Brothers.  After a leisurely drive, the Red Rocks Amphitheater came into view.  Finally!  A venue as beautiful as Scott.

As we drove in the parking lot we came across the Pink Party Bus.  We thought it looked exciting but then we got down wind and, well, it wasn't our scene.

Once inside, we had to listen to Someone from Vermont (not their name but they were forgettable).

Look, I brought my husband with me.  He felt quite underappreciated for the entire concert.

Ah-ha!  There they are!  The Governor of Colorado's favorite band, and mine as well.  In the background are the bright lights of Denver.

Here is a close-up of the adopted Asian Avett Brother...

Here are a couple videos from the concert.  Mmmm....