Home from the Holidays

Would you believe that I left one of my favorite item in ABQ when we went to AR for the holidays....my camera! Well, I'm sure glad I brought my most favorite people....Nathan and my kids! So, not one picture was taken for the 2010 holidays! Sad news.

We obviously had a great time seeing family and friends but the time is never long enough. We got home early Friday morning the 23rd and left friday the 31st.

On our way home we were able to pull over outside Amarillo and meet Abe and Lori with the girls! They were headed home from their ski trip! So great to see our close friends breifly! I miss them soo much!

Kaleb starts school again in a couple days so lots to get ready for.

ABQ Apartment Living

We feel so fortunate to have found these apartments in the NE side of town near the Sandia mountains. It truly is the more beautiful side of ABQ. It has a pool and a park with several young families with children. We look forward to our short time here.

Albuquerque

We finally made it to ABQ on Sat evening. On our trip down we got caught in the Santa Fe pass because of a car accident for about 3 hours. It made for an interesting story when adults were needing to use the restroom and there was no where to go except up a mountain or like one lady did, just used her horse trailer!

Sunday we met our new meeting at Sherman Gibson's - Anthony & Laura Lewis; Mara Abashian; Owen and Susan Henderson; Clifford & Esther Hughes; Harold & Barbara Lerwick; Bo Murphy; Susan Stanton and her grandaughter. Loren and Lisa Morrison had us over for lunch. What a warm welcome!

Monday I had a 9 am interview with the University of NM Trauma Center. I was very anxious but excited all balled up in one. The interview was before a panel of 7 people - supervisors, charge nurses, educators, etc. They asked very hard questions like, 'tell us an experience where you had to over rule the doctors decision for the safety of a patient; how did the experience turn out?" "Tell us about a situation where you had to be in charge and all is chaotic, how did you handle that situation?" All I could do that whole interview is sweat and keep saying, 'I apologize, it's been 2 years since I've worked and really I leave ALL at work when I am done with my shift.". I felt horrible especially as each of them graded you for the question you answered. Very humiliating!

However, that afternoon they called and offered me a job! However, it was for a 7p-7a shift only which is not what I was interested in for my family. BUT, they told me a different area of the ER was also hiring and gave me that supervisors name and number. I called her and she said, "I heard you did well in your interview, we'd love to have you! When can you start?" "Really, I did great." So, I'll start in January full time in a 11a-11p shift! I am super excited.

Monday afternoon and Tuesday I unpacked in our new apartment. Wed noon we left for Arkansas for the Holidays! yay! Can't wait to see our family!

Raton Friends

Here are some of precious Raton friends that we met with on the first Sunday of every month.

Betty Barnett, Bud and Rose Brown; Bill and Shirley McFetridge; Anna Brown; Jim and Marge Atwater. We will miss each and every one. Richard Soliz and Kenneth Oldham are not pictured.

BIG SNOW

The snow had to fall right before we moved! I'm glad the kids were able to have a few hours in it! They had such a great time with snow fights!

Tomorrow we move to Albuquerque from Raton. I can't believe we have been here since January. It's been nice to be settled this last year. We will miss our little meeting...Bill and Shirley McFetridge, Bettye Barnett, Kenneth Oldham, and Richard Soliz. It's been sweet to get to know so many others that we would of never had the opportunity of knowing.

Workers for a Visit

Glad for our workers Tarcis and Doug! Enjoyed having them! It's been good for Kaleb to have some men worker influence! The first couple of years we had Glenda, Ruth, Christina, and women influences which were wonderful but Kaleb thought to be a worker you had to be a girl!

Texas For Thanksgiving

Nathan's jobs are beginning down in ABQ area and so he is spending his weeks there and then home on the wkends. We are anxious to get moved to ABQ as soon as Kaleb is done with school (Dec. 17th). Nathan got in Saturday from Phoenix...he had to drive a truck back for work. Monday morning he left for ABQ again and then got home on Tuesday late afternoon. We left as soon as he arrived and spent the night in Sweetwater, TX. It is about a 12 hour drive AND more from Raton! I'm glad the kids are so good at traveling since they've been doing it for the last 2 1/2 years. We did break it up for our sanity! We stopped at Robert and Linda Klepzig's for about an hour on our way in and then on to Aaron and Emily's where we will stay a couple of nights. We were at Don and Jeannie's for mtg tonight and was able to see my dear friend Kelli and her husband, Randy! I miss our rooming together days....we had some fun times as single girls but glad we both got some winner husbands.

Thanksgiving Day at Aaron's

My grandparents with Aaron and Emily

Their new house

Uncle Lee, Aunt Tammy and my cousins

Joy and Aunt Tammy

Aaron and Emily got married in Antigua last Friday, November 19th. So, to celebrate, Aaron and Emily had BBQ catered and several family members came to enjoy. My Uncle Lee and Aunt Tammy (my mom's sister) and their boys, who live in Dubai, were able to make it! It's been years since we've seen them so I was so grateful it worked out. Even my mom's cousin, Joy, was able to come! Several of Emily's family came. It was a perfect Thanksgiving day...so much to be thankful for! We are excited to add Emily to our family!

Grandpoppy and Granny (Kathleen)

Thought this was funny of Mariah trying to text while holding Ana (this is the newest grandbaby to our family....Kathleen's son, Andrew, and his wife, Sophema, had Ana 3 months ago!) She is absolutely precious!

Emily, her mom, Phyllis, and Mariah

Friday, we went up to Dad and Kathleen's place, Harmony Ranch, and had a traditional Thanksgiving meal. My grandparents came; Aaron and Emily; Sophema and Ana; and us. We had such a wonderful time together! Of course the kids had a great time riding the 4 wheelers, and fishing, and hunting, and horseback riding and shooting the guns, and the list goes on!