Time for a little R&R and the New Mexico Bar!!!

So it's been awhile since I last posted but we have been out of town, Internetless and relaxing away from technology. Alan had the 22nd of July-31st off for state issued study days for the New Mexico Bar. He was going to have to travel to Albuquerque to take the test on the 28th & 29th, so we took full advantage of this time and headed up to my parents place in Ute Park, NM where, there isn't central heat/ac, there isn't a phone and barely cell service, there isn't Internet and unfortunately the tv was broke so it wasn't even possible to reach local stations.

Oh Yeah, just outside of Clovis this owl decided he wanted to commit suicide in our grill, then hitting the hood, windshield and making his final resting place on the luggage rack where he rode at 75 miles per hour for 4 hours!

We spent lots of time outdoors since the high was only in the 80's. Isabella went fishing with Papa (her very first time) and they even caught a fish!! She LOVED to play in the stream and at the log in the canyon. She didn't flinch one bit despite the bitter cold of the water.

Isabella's First Fish!

Mady LOVED the fact that she could just run free, chase balls and Frisbees and just relax on the porch!

Maybe someday I will have a piano player--she would pull her chair up to the swing and pretend to play!

This is the log in the canyon!!

We had a blast playing in the creek across from the house!

Balls are one of Isabella's favorite toys. Grammie bought this for her to kick and toss around the yard.....maybe a piano playing soccer player in the works...?!?!?!

Yes, she was lapping water up off the front porch...the things kids do!

She also got very excited when we would head out in the evenings to the deer run to see elk, although after she had seen, one/two/three elk, elk #156 was of no interest to her. On most evenings deer would graze in our yard and one evening she was able to feed a doe some saltines and cheerios out of her hand. Not for long though because if you know Isabella, we sometimes call her MEGAPHONE, her excitement would over come her and in return scared the deer away. We also were able to spend some time with Uncle Jimmy. We always have a good visit with him and wish we could get to see him more often than we do. Unfortunately Alan spent most of his time studying and there was very little play for him, but he did get to enjoy himself a little on study breaks.

On this particular evening one of the deer got brave enough to allow us to feed her out of our hands. The deer LOVE saltines and cheerios!!

Uncle Jimmy & Cookie came down to the house for dinner Sunday evening!

This is how Alan looked most of the week! Only change was maybe his clothes on a daily basis and the fact that he got a tad bit hairy on his chiny chin chin.

On Monday he headed to Albuquerque to take the Bar on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday evening he returned and then Thursday we (Alan & I) set out early morning on our adventure to Las Vegas, NV for an early Happy Anniversary to us trip!! Isabella stayed behind with Grammie, Papa & Madisyn to play and make her second trip to Colorado to the nearest Super Wal-Mart. Then she made the trip back to Wilson with Grammie and Mady on Saturday. We had a wonderful and relaxing time in NM and although I know Alan did great we will find out towards the end of August-first of September his results.

P.S. - I managed to work on some of my scrapbooking while we were relaxing in NM, since I am 2 years behind with Isabella and 5 years behind on the Alan & Christin album. Here are some of the finished/almost finished pages I worked on!

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Sean Francisco & Caitlin!

Isabella & Caitlin holding hands....best of friends!

Hugs! They play so good with each other. They take turns being the ringleader!


Hollie & Sean sharing a kiss after the cake!

Hollie & I

Hollie, Kayse & I

Saturday we headed to Monahans for Hollie and Sean's wedding. It was very short and sweet and ended in a beautiful reception. Hollie looked gorgeous!! Isabella and Caitlin had a blast playing together at the reception while I spent time catching up with Kayse. Congratulations Hollie & Sean on your marriage. Best Wishes for your family! We Love Y'all and had a wonderful time spending your special day with you.

Isabella had a BLAST popping the bubbles as Hollie, Sean & Caitlin were leaving the reception

Kayse got down and blew bubbles on Isabella's level....so much fun!!

She was so precise on which bubbles she was going to POP!

Today we went to Midland Community Theater and saw Footloose. The Pickwick Players did a wonderful job! Upon returning home we went for a swim to try out Isabella's new swimsuit that Grammie had bought her.

The Nicholas Train

Hop, hop, hop in the pool!

We had a really good weekend and although it was a bit sleepless due to Isabella having night trerrors and not sleeping very well and the traveling we did, it was actually a pretty relaxing one! We hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend and a good week ahead of them.

I Did It!

I chopped my hair! Yes I mean CHOPPED and I LOVE IT!!! Those of you who know me, know I have been wanting to get it cut for sometime....I've been asking for suggestions for stylists(BTW, thank you for all of the suggestions)....but for me cutting my hair it takes a process and takes preparation time once my hair gets long. Pretty much anytime I go for more than a trim it is a spur of the moment decision. So I had obtained this card through Ricky (and him, from his boss) for a hairstylist here in Lubbock. The card is green with zebra print...hey...that prolly means she's a pretty hip, in-style stylist right? So Friday I give her a call....no answer....I do decide I will give her one more call an hour or so later and she answers. However, she tells me the bad news that she can't get me in till the end of next week, I sigh and say ok and she tells me to wait a min. She comes back on and says, "I can get you in at 4:15 but I won't have time to style it," I said, "I'll take it!" So I go in and through the course of getting it cut she tells me that she could tell in my voice that if she didn't squeeze me in, I probably wouldn't be getting my haircut anytime soon. I didn't know I was that obvious but I am very skeptical about getting my haircut and about hairdressers. Yes, your hair will grow but you must live with it till it does and if you hate it and have cut it all off, there isn't much you can do about it but live with it and I'm not very good at that! So my only requests for my new do were.....short but still long enough for a ponytail (even if it is a little nub), layered, thinned, low maintenance and STYLISH!! She was able to manage all of the above and here is my new do........

This is after getting it cut...it is unstyled by a professional, hair dried, finger styled and very little product in it. I did borrow Ricky's MINI flat iron and I mean MINI to help the hair out around my face (although if you could see it, you know it wasn't MUCH help) but for the most part it was an organic fixing!

Side View of my layers!

Since she was unable to style it and show me how, I'm still working on it and trying to figure out what looks best. I LOVE it though and so does Alan. For a change, my mom actually likes it and she never likes when I do anything crazy with my hair (ie. cutting it more than a trim)

Isabella Knows She Can Dance!

All Smiles

Making a mess with Ghost Turds!!

My mom came into town yesterday and she had finally received my college diploma (from...oh about 6 yrs ago) from the guy that framed it. It looks great, now I just need a place to hang it. Anyway, Isabella was SUPER excited because this meant that she got a box and what we called as a child, ghost turds, to play with! She had a blast making a mess. Later in the afternoon she put on her boots and went to feed with Grandmother. This is one of her favorite times of day! Alan and I mowed the lawn, we all ate dinner and afterwards we relaxed for a little bit over at Grandmother's visiting with Grandmother and Grammie. Isabella decided she wanted to watch Barney and it just so happen to be the one with BJ and the Rockets. If there is one thing she loves more than Barney, it's Music!! She decided she was going to bust out with some of the best dance moves I have seen her do. Sadly, I think she inherited some of her mommy and daddy's rhythm.

Headed out with Grandmother to feed Oscar an apple and the cats/kittens milk!

Isabella watching Barney with her two babies and Grammie!

A Visit from Aunt Corney!!

Courtney using her jewelry to play dress-up with Isabella

The final product

Until Isabella got into her unmentionables...she told us that the bra went on her "boots"!!

She was trying the thong on for size!

Our lil fashion model


Aunt Corney.......although she is a ball of fun and a barrel of laughs....this just so happens to be how Isabella says her name! For those of you who don't know Courtney, she is my best friend from college!! We had so much in common and even though I'd like to say we hit things off on our first meeting...it took some warming up to each other before we became great friends!! But after 10 years, many stories and many shared moments Courtney and I are still best of friends! Anyways, Courtney came into town on Tuesday for work. We went to Lubbock several times during the week to go to dinner and hang out at the hotel with her. She kept Isabella well entertained with her costume jewelry, unmentionables and shoes. They had a blast putting on bracelet & necklaces and then Isabella discovered Courtney's unmentionables and had to try on every pair she could find. Then Friday afternoon Court came out to the house and spent the rest of the weekend with us! We cooked out, swam, ate birthday cake to celebrate Court's birthday, her and Isabella cuddled on the couch and shared popcorn while we watched a movie, we went to Lubbock and did some Tech apparel shopping and took some pictures on campus (which included Court using my 2 yr old as a partner in crime for her dip in the Tech fountain). All and all we had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed having Courtney visit. She is an awesome "Aunt" to Isabella!! She is wonderful with her and Isabella is crazy about Courtney. Courtney will one day make an awesome mom and I can't wait to be an "Aunt" to her kiddos!! We were sad to see her go but September is just around the corner and we will be joining her in her realm of the world...HOUSTON, enjoying something we all love....TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL!!

Cooking out Friday evening...until the mosquitoes drove us indoors

Courtney's cake that I made!

Happy 28th Early Birthday Courtney!!

The Gang Swimming

Isabella & Courtney

The before....

Best Friends!

What a cute family!!

Best Friends Again!

The During...

I think the water was a bit on the chilly side!

Isabella was way more interested in the fountains than posing for a picture

The after....How do you explain to a two year old that she really wasn't swimming in the fountain and that it's not a pool....Baskin Robbin's Ice Cream did the trick!