2009

Thanksgiving, Keiger's B-Day & more

Even though we weren’t able to visit any family, we still had a great Thanksgiving this year. We ate with some friends and their family, and it was fancy! All of the food definitely had a southwestern flair. I’ve never had such spicy mashed potatoes! I guess I should be getting used to hot food by now.

Once again, we ventured out into the woods to cut our Christmas tree. Thankfully, we had a wee bit of a snowstorm this week so there was enough snow in the mountains to be able to play. The kids got tired of looking for a tree pretty quick, so we sledded while Jake tromped around the forest. I don’t think he minded that, and he ended up finding a fantastic tree. Sage got pretty brave while we were sledding and decided to go solo. She had a few good runs…and a few good biffs. Jake managed to capture this sweet sequence on photo.

We were able to meet up with the Glecklers while they were visiting family in Albuquerque for Thanksgiving. It was really nice to see them. Jacob is seriously very cute, and such a good baby.

Ski season has opened here in Taos, so I’m super anxious to go. Even Sage says she’s ready to try again this year. Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Keiger celebrated his 2nd birthday this week. I can’t believe we have two-year-old! Kei was basically afraid of everything during his b-day. He was totally scared to unwrap presents, and there was no way he was going to blow out the candles on his front-loader cake. I’m glad we have a boy so I could finally create that cake!

Jake had meetings in Albuquerque this week so we stayed with him in the hotel and had a great time swimming and playing at the children’s museum. We also got to hang out with the Munns, which was very fun. Bailey is getting sooo big, and so pretty! She has such gorgeous eyes! We went to the River of Lights Christmas show at the Botanical Garden. Sage was so excited to lead us all around. She was running all over the place! And Beth and Chance were super kind to watch the kids so we could go to the temple which was really nice.

Oh, and if anyone cares, Chicken has finally started laying eggs. We just happened to look into the nest on Sunday and low and behold 3 eggs! It must be a combination of more food, light during the night (we rigged a heat lap up to keep the water from freezing) and the kids not torturing her.

Twilight

So I went to see Twilight last night with some friends, and yes, there were a lot of "oohs" and sighs from the audience. A couple who went with us who hadn't read the book, kept asking why everyone was chuckling and oohing when a new character appeared in the movie. I thought it was well cast. Jacob and the husband of one of the ladies I went with kindly refused to go. I don't think they were interested in a vampire movie that a bunch of girls wanted to go see. Anyway, it's crazy how this series has reached so many people, young & old. It's been so fun to be able to connect with so many people at church or around town because I've seen them reading the Twilight books. Who'd have thought that Sage's speech teacher, the manager at my gym, a friend from storytime, sisters from Relief Society, me and my mom, and so many others, would all go ga-ga over a vampire book? I love it. So thanks to Katyanne for introducing me to Stephenie Meyers way back in our Moscow book club. And if you see the movie, let me know what you think!

Happy Halloween

You can’t imagine all the comments we got when people saw Sage’s stylin’ Halloween costume while we trick or treated. Things like, “Oh, what a…cute costume.” Or, “What are you? A pumpkin? No, a fairy!” So imagine our surprise when one nice young lady looked at Sage in her planetary get-up and said, “You must be Jupiter.” Jaws dropped, and I asked how on earth she knew. She replied, “I saw the big red spot.” Good for her. So all of our planning and effort paid off, and I think we made a pretty convincing Jupiter costume for Sage. And she played it up big time. She loved how bouncy the costume was. And during the costume parade at the ward Halloween party, Sage marched down the runway and rotated on her axis by spinning around. We were so proud. Next year she’s convinced she wants to be a chicken. Sage did say to my mom one night, “You could be a ghost for Halloween, instead of an old woman!” We love grandma and grandpa!

Keiger loved his football costume. He insisted on wearing the jersey around (night and day) for days. Although he was not too sure of the big helmet. At least Daddy made use of it.

It was balloon festival time again in Taos. This year we managed to get up early enough to go over to the mass ascension, which was well worth it, although it was chilly! It was crazy to see so many balloons go up at once.

My family came to visit, and we put my dad to work building a new fence for us. Our old one was falling over. So we took it down, threw out the rotting posts, and cemented in new posts. Now we have to wire all the latilla poles back on. That may be a bit time-consuming, but already it looks so nice. I’m anxious to get it finished so we can let the kids out to play in an enclosed area again. The house feels so naked without the fence!

We also celebrated Jacob's 29th birthday on the 30th. I think his best present was that he ended up getting an elk tag, so he's off hunting again this weekend.

(Hey, who said you can't eat the antlers!-)

And, lastly, here’s a picture of a four-year-old’s attempt to reach the Halloween candy hidden on the top of the fridge - and one of here with her beloved "flufferbelly".

Random Chicken Stories

Honestly, I think it is so funny. Whenever we start to write a post, we have to ask, "What have we done lately?" Jacob: "Uh, I don't know." I love it. That's our life. Really, though, we've been pretty busy lately. We're trying to enjoy the fall while it lasts. The mountains got their first bit of snow last week! We took a hike up Ski Valley last Monday for FHE. And we finally finished up the canning yesterday. Lots of yummy applesauce and salsa. Wendy seriously has the tastiest salsa recipe. General Conference weekend was wonderful--our family just played happily together, and Jake and I thought, "So this is what it must be like to have harmony in your home." Then Monday came. At least we know what to work for. It must be all the football books. Kei has been reading a lot of football books lately (it's great to hear him say 'quar...ter...back'), so our kids are a little obsessed with tackling. Sage wants to be the linebacker so she can do all the tackles. I'm in the kitchen the other day while the kids were out back playing. I see Sage stumble up to the screen door window, lugging the chicken in her arms. She yells, "This chicken is heavy!" But that didn't stop her. I then watch her take the chicken with her down the slide and tote it all over the yard. No wonder the poor animal has yet to lay an egg. She's seriously stressed with this 4 year old chasing her around all day. Sage does love her, though. This weekend, she has been consumed with birthday party plans for Chicky. Apparently, tomorrow is Chicky's birthday, so Sage has made chickens out of paper plates and salt dough to decorate with and little signs that say "Happy Birthday" written on a birthday cake. Even today in Primary Sage stood up and told everyone that tomorrow is Chicky's birthday and she is having a party at 1:30. That was news to me. Oh, the fun we have in Primary. Honestly, though, I love it in there and am so excited for the sacrament program coming up. One other chicken story. Sage has been lugging around these little chicks she made out of cotton balls so many months ago (she just discovered them in a the bottom of a pair of tights a couple days ago). Anyway, she had them with her on our latest trip to Walmart and lost one while we were in the store. I refused to go back through the store looking for it and all the while Sage was lamenting, "But what if we come back and find that the chick has been run over by a cart! We can't let a cart run it over!" Sage was so full of despair, I almost felt a bit sorry for the chick myself too. But we still didn't go back. So enough with the chicken stories. And yes, Sage still wants to be Jupiter for Halloween. Any ideas on how to create that costume?

Fall

I just love the fall, especially here in Taos! On Saturday, while Jake was cutting up his deer in the garage, I dragged the kids (they were really into petting the deer head...gross) to the annual Trade Fair at the Martinez Hacienda. It really is like a step back in time walking around the beautiful autumn grounds of this old adobe fortress. There were mountain men re-enactments, vendors, and entertainment. Sage loved watching the Spanish dancers because of their frilly dresses with the big skirts—I looked into getting her into classes, but unfortunately the dance troupe was out of Sante Fe. Too bad. We got fresh bread from the kiva again this year. The ladies from the Pueblo who baked it were super nice. They said to look them up on the San Geronimo Feast Day later this month, and they would feed us. Anyway, it was a fun way to pass the time while Jacob was carving away. I took this picture just because I liked that guy’s hat.
So Jacob was able to shoot a buck with his bow this year. He got it on his last day of hunting. For a full and incredibly intense account of his hunt, go to the hunting blog, www.moscowhunting.blogspot.com. We are all very happy for him.

The town had a “Touch-A-Truck” event a week or so ago. They had all sorts of vehicles: fire trucks, police cars, construction trucks, garbage trucks, tractors, even a Zamboni. The kids could climb in and honk the horns. You can imagine how my super sensitive kids enjoyed it. I think the picture pretty much says it. Yeah, we weren’t there for too long.

Earlier that morning, I did take the kids over to the Harwood Museum for these African dance and drumming workshops that they’re doing this month. It was hilarious to watch Sage AND Keiger learning the harvest dance. These kids can move!
I’ve got the canning bug. We went to the raspberry ranch last week and picked a ton of raspberries so I made a bunch of jam and froze the rest. I’ve been going to the Farmer’s Market to get a handle on prices so now I’m just waiting for our tomatoes in the garden to ripen enough to can salsa. I think we’ll tackle applesauce this week. I’m reading this book by Christ Stewart called “Driving Over Lemons.” It is the story of how he and his wife moved to this remote farm in the mountains of Spain. I am so enjoying it because it is very engaging and humorous in a friendly way, but mostly because it feels so much like northern New Mexico. Things aren’t nearly as primitive here as the way they live in this Spanish farming valley, but the people he describes and the way they act are so similar to here. I never thought I would like reading about acequias so much either. It has been a fun read.
And last of all, I guess it’s never too cold to run through the sprinklers. My kids still love it!

VACATION

We’ve been on vacation to Oregon for the past two weeks. Our little family took a few days to camp on the coast, which was completely fun. We got to spend a day with the Laus around Coos Bay. Their little girls are so cute and such good babies. Jeff and Lea are amazing parents. We also spent time with all of Jake’s siblings and their kids for a family reunion. I’m really glad Sage and Kei got this time to play with their cousins and grandparents. Finally, we spent some time with the Smiths in Silverton. Sage thought having a sleepover with Miley and Addison was the best. And baby Payton is just precious. After our flight home, we got to stop over at the Munns’ apartment in Albuquerque and see baby Bailey, who is too cute. Beth is doing such a great job being a mom. These past weeks were jam-packed, so we figured we’d just post a lot of pictures to show the fun memories we are grateful to have made.
Playing dress up with Macie at Gilbert House Children’s Museum
Rolling in the sand at Honeyman State Park
Haceta Head Lighthouse
The Laus
Trying to get the kids to smile at botanical gardens in North Bend
The coast at North Bend near Laus home. Looks like Sage is afraid she’s going to fall in!
Jeff showed us how to crab. You can tell how much Keiger liked them!
Beach-combing at Newport Beach. We all loved gathering interesting shells. We got into our campsite at 10 pm the night before!
All of the cousins on Grandpa-great’s six-wheeler
Sage on the tire swing at Grandpa-great’s where we had a family photo shoot
Stayed a few days with all the family at a condo near Redmond. Went on a little hike to a waterfall.
Our day at OMSI in Portland
Sage, Miley & Addison as cute as ever

Fishing at Minto Brown

The petting zoo at the Fair

Wind Rivers

Where is the summer going? We got back last week from my dad’s annual backpacking trip to the Wind Rivers. This was the first year I was able to go since Sage was born, so you can imagine I was sucking air on the hikes Jacob led. He has this way of picking out the craziest route possible to the top or bottom of things. Anyway, we all had a lot of fun. Thankfully, we all had good tents since one night it dumped on us for a good two hours straight—it even hailed on and off for the whole storm. I made a break for the tent while Jake stuck it out under the kitchen sun shade thingee. Our camp was a puddle of mud. Jake named the camp “Moose Haven” since we would wake up to moose munching around the tent. We also saw a few deer and four “nice bucks” (according to Jacob) on our hike up Sky Pilot Pass. My mom watched our kids for the week, so I spent most of my spare time reading a book (heaven) and we fished. It had been a LONG time since I’d picked up a fly rod, so I am happy to know I can still catch some, even though Jake does it far better than I do. Here’s a pic of me with my dad and Vern, my dad’s 80 year old cousin. He’s in better shape than I am…probably Jake too. Maybe. We drilled him on what he has done to stay so fit. He’s always been pretty active and eats healthy. In fact, Jake was eating some peanut M&M’s (he was eating the whole trip) during this discussion and asked Vern, “So I probably shouldn’t be eating these, should I?” Vern leaned in a little closer and said, “You haven’t seen me eat any of those, have you?”
The lake we camped next to.

The moose that "camped" 20 yards from our tent.
Peak Lake cirque

While we were in Utah, we were able to meet up with friends from Moscow and Ricks, even high school, who are living on the Wasatch Front. It was really nice to see what everyone is up to and to see how cute their little kids are growing up. It was sweltering HOT, though! So it was a fun visit, though I feel bad that with such a large group we weren’t able to visit with everyone more. Hopefully, there will be other times. Thanks everybody for coming!

Sage had a pajama party the other night before one of her little preschool friend moves to Colorado. Watching the pillow fight was pretty funny.
I get my copy of the next Twilight book tomorrow, and I can’t wait. I warned Jacob that I’m going to disappear for the rest of the week until I finish it. One last note from Jacob: If anyone wants to come visit us in New Mexico from August 31st thru September 22nd, that would be great so Jake won’t feel so guilty about being gone for hunting season. It has begun! Hey, you’d be impressed. Jacob actually planned a surprise date for my birthday. Jaws are dropping everywhere, I know. He hired a babysitter—this is only the second time we’ve had a sitter since we had Sage. We’re cheap. We went to a movie and then out to a fancy dinner at Taos’ “most romantic” and “best restaurant.” I can probably find the receipts for proof that this actually happened, if you’re still skeptical. Too fun.