Sister's 40th Birthday

The birthday girl is the one behind me with the rabbit ears...I guess you are never too old to be a kid. Then our parents bring us home matching T-shirts and hats to wear at her party by the lake in PK Texas which makes us look young again too. We played a game called ladder ball that my sister's grandson brought and David and I really liked it so he came home and made one for us to play. I guess my sister turning 40...the baby in the family...turned us all back into kids for a while. Not a bad birthday present for any of us! Have fun...we are!

Friends at the Catwalk

My friends Pat and Heather and I went to Glenwood last monday to walk the Catwalk National Forest Trail. The first pic is me and Pat tightening our shoelaces. The next is me and Pat stopping along the walk for a pose.
Then you should see Heather looking at her camera after taking a pic through the grate of the river below. Then me and Heather posing in front of some rocks and finally one of the waterfall with a swimming hole under it. The catwalk is only 1.1 mile to the end but it is rather humid there this time of year and a rather difficult walk for some of us wimps. I being the youngest, in this case only by one year, still had the hardest time of it. We did treat ourselves on the way home to my favorite restaurant in Reserve so that made up for any hard times. We had a great time and I hope the pics convey that for you!

Oregon

On our way to Amanda's house in Fall Creek we stopped at a lake (can't remember the name) with Diamond peak in the background. It had snow on it in July. We were in the Cascades and it was just beautiful. Our second day we went to Eugene and hung out with some ducks on the Willamette river. I forgot my camera but on the third day we went to the Oregon Country Fair which is a very big deal in Eugene and is a huge hippy fair. Too bad I didn't take my camera cuz there were many topless young things about. Maybe next time...
Next day we went to the Big fork of Fall Creek which was extremely cold. I got in which took about 20 minutes to get myself submerged then I headed for shore. Amanda and Isabelle swam a little bit before getting out. The water fall was at the spot we stopped at and was just the thing.
We left the next day and brought Isabelle home with us. She was a wonderful traveler considering it took 3 days to get home. We are safe and sound and she is learning to weave already!

Zion trip on way to Oregon

David and I just got back from visiting daughter Amanda and granddaughter Isabelle in Oregon. On the way we stopped to visit friends that are working near Zion park. We had a short but wonderful visit with them and here are a few pictures of our adventures. In the morning we went on a hike to a cave that has some old and not so old petroglyphs. The first photo is of David and Jerry with the pics in the back. The next is on the way to the cave, just some outcropping of rocks that I thought were cool.
The dark silhouette is us looking out of the cave.
The next pic is what we saw when we first drove up an evening shot. One of the rocks looks like a monkey. Can you see it?
And finally, we went up a 25 mile road to see the sunset over Zion but we were just a tad too late. It is so cool and nice up there. The temp was 60 up there and 90 when we got back to the bottom at 9pm!
Thanks to Jerry and Judi for putting us up and showing us such a good time.

Denver in June

Some people I know get to hike in Zion every week. Others live in the wilds of Oregon but me I get to go to an Infection Control conference in downtown Denver in June. You know, I never once saw the Rocky mountains once I was safely escorted from the airport to my hotel room. I did get to see a little bit of downtown and it was nice and a bit fun even. I saw the Coors stadium but chose not to go to a game on my last night...too tired from all that learning at the conference. I got taken to a very nice french restaurant by one of the vendors (me and about 13 other folks) wow what a bill that must have been. It has taken me 3 days home of naps every day to recuperate but I think I might be done now. Soon we are leaving for a 10 or more day road trip to visit friends at Zion and family in Oregon so we will know how the other people live! David stayed home to work and feed chickens while I was gone.

Water Canyon Fir

Took this picture of this beautiful tree while Josh and Nichole hiked around a bit and baby Jamie lay asleep in his car seat.
The mountain behind it is the Magdalena Mountains and I think up in that area is where the new Magdalena Ridge Observatory is located. They had the road closed, not that I could have made it up there in my Honda Civic, but they are still doing construction on the observatory grounds.

Isn't it a beautiful day in New Mexico?? ~sigh~

It is well into June and the high is in the mid 80's slightly breezy and just a great time to be out if it weren't for a bit of pesky gnats and flies...oh well, can't have everything.

Going to Denver next week for a conference and staying in a big hotel downtown. I will take a few pictures if I get a chance. I could go see a CR baseball game but just not sure...I could just swim in the hotel pool and hang out!!

I quit crying after the kids left finally but I sure do miss them! I have a MySpace account now to show off and look at my grandkids pictures. It is protected by my ability to invite only friends and family so if you want to or already have an account...look me up and I will hook you up to my site.

My son Josh and his wife Nichole and their 10 month old baby Jamie were here to visit this past weekend (sat-tues) and we had a great time. I took them to Pie Town to have what else? Pie! We went to the Pioneer which of the 2 restaurants in the town is my favorite.
On Monday we went to see the VLA and toured Magdalena and then went to Water Canyon which is the first place we stayed (camped) when we came to these parts when Josh was 7. That night he wanted to sleep in a tree he was so enamored with the huge cotton woods. Me being the conservative mom I was said No. Today he is glad that I wouldn't let him, being a parent and all himself! It was a complete joy to have them and I have been very sad today. It isn't fair to live so far away from your kids and grandkids!