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!

Carson Park National Forest

We had no idea what today would bring but we soon found out per GPS that we'd be in the car all day! We started just outside Cimarron, NM on a dirt road. The view was fantastic with the color changes...mostly yellows. We saw a cattle round up, climbed up rocks, and enjoyed 70 miles of dirt road. We actually did and the kids did great. We drove through Red River on the way home and ate dinner. We started about 11am and got home around 10pm. Talk about at day.

Raton Homecoming Parade

Kaleb had never seen a parade so we walked up to downtown area and watched the festivities. I think the part they enjoyed the most was all the candy being thrown a them! =) Pretty good size parade for such a small town.

Memorial Day weekend...

On Saturday night we called up some friends we had met at convention to see if we could come and visit for Memorial Day! (We kind of throw ourselves out there!) Thankfully they were glad to have us come. We left Sunday afternoon for about a 3 hr trip west of Santa Fe to Espanola. Damon and Serina have 2 kids - Antonia and Liam. They invited another couple over for supper Sunday night - Roarke and Leatha Murphy who have one 2 year old, Rheann. So wonderful to meet new friends. Kaleb and Mariah were glad to see some kids close to their age.

Memorial Day Happenings....

We met up with Nathan's gma's sister (Cookie) and her family in White Rock on Memorial Day. It was unplanned but I got to meet some family I had never met before. Rocky and Amy live in Colorado...there 4 kiddos are precious. We ate a quick lunch at the park with them and then they had to get on the road to go back home.

We climbed up several ladders to the point up in the rocks to see how the Pueblo people lived.

We visited the Bandalier National Monument after lunch at the park. What a breath-taking view. The park has preserved several homes of the Ancestral Pueblo People. The main attraction of the monument is the Frijoles Canyon, containing a number of the pueblo homes, kivas (ceremonial structures), rock paintings and petroglyphs, Some of the dwellings were rock structures built on the canyon floor; others were 'cavates' produced by voids in the volcanic tuff of the canyon wall and carved out further by humans.

The Ole Time Favorite

Nothing like bubbles to bring kids some joy!

Good Bye to Darren

We were glad for an overnight visit from Kelvin and Darren. However, we are sad to say goodbye to Darren although we know the Ukraine is gaining a very special worker indeed!

Sadness for Mariah....

So....to deal with Mariah's sadness, she decided she wanted some chocolate! Always helps a girl! =) She is struggling with her bubby going to school. I suggested it to her even though I don't like chocolate. Anyway, she made it through her day. She had to sit in her camping chair for a bit with her feet propped up on the foot massager. She would not smile for the picture....drama!

Kaleb Starts School

We've had a busy week getting registered, doing a Jump Start class, filling out more paperwork, etc. Kaleb has been counting the number of sleeps before he gets to go to school for the past month.

Weighing in at 51 pounds, my Kaleb Jackson has started school today! I can hardly believe it! He set out his clothes last night and wanted me to set an alarm clock for him. Funny thing is....he slept right through it...ummm, sounds like he's got his mommy and daddy's younger genes! =) He also did his hair...love the little gelled spike in the front. He was so excited to go this morning but Mariah did not want him to go...so, she has cried off and on all morning! Oh boy, big adjustment!

New Mexico Chilis are Here

The smell of roasted chilies is in the air here in NM...nothing better. Just bought a whole burlap sack full! I won't tell you how many chili, melted cheese, and tortillas I've had today! I'm hoping the chilies are burning up the FAT! =)

Sunflower Display

These are considered an nuisance here but seeing fields and fields of them is very beautiful indeed!

Bachelor Time for the Elk

Driving down I-25 to take a Sunday drive we finally saw some elk but we got a special treat by see 4 bull elk. It's their bachelor time as friends before they start fighting for the cows. Fun to see 4 especially when we've only seen a few herds this year.

Moon Lit Nite

It was fun to set up my new tripod and experiment with long exposure times on this moon lit night! The colors amaze me!

What a Shot!

Here is a picture of the 2 prairie dogs that we were able to recover
that kaleb shot! He shot a total of 4 but the other 2 fell down in
their hole where we couldn't get them.

He used my old .22LR with scope. We set up the truck and he stood in
the bed and used the roof as a rest. I would adjust it to get the dog
where he could see it and then it was up to him. Most shots were 80 to
115 yds out!!

Then I had Mariah in the back and she was our reloader. We had such a
great time that we lost track of time. Went straight thru lunch and
ended up spending 4 hrs out there just shooting away.

Hands on Hips

A normal stance of Mariah! Watching Kaleb play soccer. She loved to stand and yell at him, "Go bubby."

Kaleb's Soccer League

Kaleb was on a soccer league this summer! He loved it and did really well.