Spring Break Trip to New Mexico!!

We took a road trip to New Mexico over spring break and had so much fun. The kids are at a great age for traveling and think it is so cool to stay in other people's houses (we rented a vacation cabin). Alli kept talking about how nice it was for those people to share their house with us. Yes, nice, with a price tag! We stopped at Carlsbad Caverns along the way to break up the trip. At the entrance to the cave. It was a LONG hike down, but lots of cool cave formations to look at... The whale's mouth.

Dwaine's stalagmite-tall and skinny.

The lion's tail.

We decided to wait for the elevator ride back out- about a 45 min wait- but well worth it to not have to hike back up and out- the kids never would have made it.

At the winter snow park the next day. No real snow but the fake stuff was still fun for tubing.

I think Dwaine and I had just as much fun snow tubing as the kids did (maybe more).

Souvenir shopping in Ruidoso!

We fed the deer at our cabin every morning and they definitely know the routine!

TJ having fun with the walking stick. Such a boy! Alli was the photographer on this one.

Valley of Fires.

Lava Rock as far as you can see- pretty crazy.

Three Rivers petroglyphs- Indian drawings from 600 or more years ago.

There was a ton of them- I could bore you with all the pictures but I just picked a couple of my favorites instead. I don't think I realized TJ's eyes were closed in this one when I uploaded it- oh well.

We went to White Sands on the way home- a huge hit with the whole family!

I'm so glad that I convinced Dwaine that this would be worth our time. He couldn't understand the fun in going to a beach without the water, but now he gets it! The sand is totally different- very powdery and soft. And we had a blast sledding down over and over...

Sand angels!

Taking a little rest. Alli is under the disc. Climbing up that hill is tiring!

More photography by Alli.

He is such a trooper. Alli wasn't quite as determined as he was. But she was happy to rest, take breaks, and sled when she had the energy.

TJ's footprints looked so cute in the sand.

My little model

Imitating his sister

Scenic drive on the way home.

We stayed at White Sands way longer than we anticipated so we didn't get home until VERY late. Thanks to Dwaine, we got home safely. I tried as hard as I could to stay awake and keep him company but finally crashed about an hour before we got home.

The kids can't wait to go back- hopefully when there is some real snow to play in and maybe even ski down. Maybe we'll head a little further north next time!

The only negative about the trip was the NASTY, NASTY stomach bug that TJ picked up (I'm assuming from a public restroom). He got sick the day after we got home and was down for an entire week- he looked so sickly and lost a lot of weight. "This is the worstest sick I've ever been" he said in a pathetic little voice. Somehow, none of the rest of us caught it- praise God for that!

Jump Rope for Heart!

I thought I had already posted this, but just found it as a draft, so apparently I didn't. Well, here it is now... Alli did jump rope for heart at school awhile back and she took the challenge VERY seriously. She practiced non-stop for a couple of weeks before the event. That girl was jumping rope all over the house- using a scarf no less- she said it worked better than her jump rope. She's so funny sometimes. She also prayed for the little boy with a heart condition on the American Heart Association video they watched at school. She has such a sweet, caring heart.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Alli and Dwaine look forward to this event all year. The theme was Garden of Enchantment...

At home getting ready after a very long day at school which started early with a cowboy breakfast and then was packed full of Rodeo Day activities (that will be another post)

Mommy had fun shopping, getting her dressed and fixing her hair for the special night. I liked her do so much I had to get a picture of it.

Waiting for Daddy!

Ready for dinner and dancing.

They were both completely worn out about halfway through the dance and decided to sit in the lobby and rest until the balloon drop at the end which could not be missed. She was a little disappointed that she missed the chicken dance while they were sitting out but not too disappointed since she had already done it once that day for her western dance performance at school. I'm telling you- it was a very busy but fun day for a little girl.

Spurs Game with Daddy!

Alli won a ticket to a Spurs game at school for displaying the value of respect. Awesome right? Well, the catch is that you have to buy a ticket for the parent. But, they at least offered discounted rates, so we figured it would be a fun outing for Dwaine and Alli.

It was her first Spurs game and she absolutely loved it. Dwaine said she was mimicking the dancer's movements in the aisle during the halftime show. That's my girl! Then she started to ask if it was time to go, but she hung in there and was even standing and shouting GO SPURS GO at the end- it was an exciting close game! When she came home, she ran over to me and said "Mommy, WE WON! WE WON!"

She even got to see her teacher on the way into the stadium right as Dwaine was explaining that it wasn't likely that they would see her because there would be sooo many people there. So she thought that was pretty cool too!

Family Birthday Celebration!

Maddy, Alli and Gavin have birthdays within one month of each other, so we decided to meet in Schulenberg, halfway between San Antonio and Houston, for a family birthday lunch. Not sure why it took us so long to decide to do that, but I'm glad we did! It was nice to get to see the family even if for a short while and the kids had fun celebrating their birthdays together. TJ was the only one that had a problem with it- he was pretty bummed that he didn't get to be one of the birthday kids.

Alli, Gavin and Maddy blowing out the candles. They each had their own little bundle with the appropriate number of candles. Notice TJ in the background doing a little blowing of his own. I'm telling you- he was really wishing it was his birthday too.
Alli loves her new jacket! "I've always wanted a jacket with fur on it!!" she said when she opened it. We've been able to use it a lot this year and she often gets compliments on it. So cute!
The birthday kids: Gavin (7), Maddy (8), and Alli (6)

Hard to believe there is only a 1 yr difference between Alli and Gavin.

All the cousins- Lainey, Gavin, Maddy and Cade in the back and Alli and TJ in the front. One of the better pictures we have of all of them- wish there wasn't so much craziness in the background- oh well!

Alli is 6!!!!!

The Birthday Girl!!

I love this picture of her.
This year, I made some last minute plans and threw a party together with very little pre-planning. But it turned out great and I didn't get stressed! We let Alli pick a fun place to go that she had never been to before and then we invited a few friends to join us. She picked Kiddie Park- a small amusement park with carnival type rides. We had a good turn out and the kids had lots of fun.
TJ and Lydia on the carousel.


Grant LOVED the boats.

A bus full of cuties!

TJ and Grant on the old school horse carriages .

Jetson style UFO's.

Alli asked for a cat party. This cake was actually a grey kitty the night before the party. I'm not sure what happened over night, but when we got to the party and I uncovered it- we had a green cat! Oh well, it still tasted good.

I couldn't find any generic cat decorations so I ended up buying Hello Kitty thinking she would be excited when she saw it. When she pulled it out, she said "I guess you got Hello Kitty 'cause you couldn't find anything else." Ha! Yes, actually. That's exactly why I got it. Then she said "Oh, cause Hello Kitty is a cat. I wanted a cat party, not Hello Kitty, but that's ok."

She didn't ask for a green cat either, but we just laughed about that.

Lydia, Ava, Matthew, Jake, Grant, Alli, Brynn and Camdyn. TJ was already strapped into the car with daddy :-)

They when we got home, she decorated a cupcake for herself and I sang to her again. She was very proud of her creation.