Come, walk with me.....

It was quite a week! Quite a week of unpacking boxes, breaking down boxes, wondering where in the world are we going to put "this." And lots of "Why do we still have "this?"

But, we had fun. A lot of fun. There was lots of joking around, laughter, and a little bit of down time. But we did pretty much kept our nose to the grindstone this week. We had decided early on, that in order to go to Albuquerque on Friday we needed to really work hard. So that's what we did.

Sunday... Mother's Day! It was a nice day at our house. I made one of my favorite foods - fried dough.


I love it with a deep, undying love. I ate as much as I wanted, I dipped it in powdered sugar (raw sugar ground in a Vitamix!), enjoyed every piece, and never had an ounce of guilt. It was great!
We couldn't go to church because both Eve and Judah had a cold. And of course I had run out of zinc! So, we basically just hung out as a family all day, and it was great.

Monday... We were knee deep in boxes! And laundry! And snotty-nosed children! But, we got a lot done, and we had a good time doing it. Eve and I played "Pizza delivery" with a handful of rose petals for pretend toppings.



Daniel and I had a blast watching Eliza squeal and smile as we floated a sheer curtain over her little body.





Judah had a haircut - it wasn't too torturous this time. At least for me! He had pretty much lost his voice from having a cold, plus I had Daniel to help me.

So, no screaming due to his voice loss, and no hands grabbing at the clippers because Daniel was there to hold them. It was great!

And I did dishes. A lot of them. Please, tell me I am not the only one who takes pictures of their clean dishes masterpiece. Please? I know Tarrah does so I won't feel too crazy if no one else does!
That night Daniel and I watched a stupid movie, but it was awesome to just be hanging out together. Bedtime... 2:30am. Um, yeah, we were tired on Tuesday!

Tuesday was HOT!! I have this strange aversion to air conditioning. It bugs me for some reason. I think it's the noise and it makes my nose stuffy, plus I am use to it making our electric bill skyrocket. I didn't turn it on and we were fine. BUT, I found out today - because I had to turn it on, it's really hot here - that I can't even hear it! I've never had a house with central air before. I am in love...
More boxes unpacked, more stuff put away, more of the garage could be walked it. Tuesday felt like a day well spent.


Wednesday was cold and rainy. Yuck. Especially when I had really become use to the hot beautiful weather. No walk, no open windows, but strawberries and chocolate for the fotofest festivities!



We worked on more boxes ( are you seeing a trend yet??) but not too hard. We took the afternoon off and had people over for dinner instead. I made Pioneer Woman's lasagna - it was deeee-li-cious! I've made this dish a bunch but it never tasted as good as that night. I hadn't eaten any cheese dishes since Eliza was born, up until Wednesday - I was in heaven! And wonders of all wonders, Eliza didn't seem affected by it at all. I was quite pleased!
It was nice having people over for dinner again. It's been so long since we have done anything of that sort, and we sure did miss it! We love, love, love having company over. I find such joy in cooking a meal, whipping out a tablecloth ( too bad I couldn't find the iron!), and relaxing with some friends. Of course, our friends of choice are in Vermont, but new friends are quite nice too. It's tough when you don't have any history, though. I am looking forward to the day when we have friends over who we can just "be" with, instead of trying to get to know. Am I making any sense at all?

Thursday... our noses were back at the grindstone. We got A LOT done that day! The kids played well inside, as it was still drizzly outside. We made a huge dent in the garage. That felt good. We could actually walk through it by the end of the day. Whoo-hoo! It has been challenging to find the right spaces for all of our belongings. We had a basement in Vermont where we kept the boxes of overflow items. Not so here! No basement and no attic. This means that I have been getting rid of stuff left and right. If there isn't an appropriate place for the boxed item, it goes. No ifs, ands, or buts.
We are all kinds of having a garage sale. And I hate having garage sales, so this is serious business! I hate clutter more than I hate holding a garage sale.

Waiting for his waffle

Aaahh! Breakfast!

We headed over to the library Thursday evening. I picked up three "Fancy Nancy" books for Eve. How cute are they!! I love those books. They are perfect for my "fancy" little girl. I really appreciate our base library - friendly librarians, beautifully kept books, and a great atmosphere.

Friday... Zoo day!! We got into Albuquerque around noon; it was an easy trip in. The kids did awesome, and it was gorgeous weather. I think it was in the high 70's and sunny.

What a great time we had at the zoo.

"Hi monkeys!"

The kids were incredibly happy and well behaved. They had a blast running from each exhibit to the next. Daniel and I had a blast just watching them!

Eliza hung out in the Macpac the whole time. Amazing!

I loved the Rio Grande Zoo, and I am kind of a zoo snob. If it's dirty, unimaginative, and smelly, I am very unhappy. What makes me most unhappy, is when I see the animals living in squalor. That drives me nuts! I hate to see any human or animal mistreated, so every zoo gets my very critical eye.

In this picture there is both Judah and Eve. Can you see Eve?

I love peacocks! This one scared the crap out of Judah when it made squawked in the tree he was standing under. I might have laughed.

This polar bear kept pacing back and forth. I think he was trying to decide which one of us he wanted to eat!

After the zoo we headed over to Trader Joe's to stock up on some good health food. I took the baby in because she was awake but everyone else was sleeping. We had such an enjoyable time in there! It was busy, but the store was clean and neat, so finding what I needed wasn't a problem. I had two carts full of bags when I left... yikes! But, it was good. I needed to stock up. Fitting it in the van... well, it was a creative venture to say the least! And it only became more creative as the day progressed because we also went to Whole Foods and Costco! We headed back home at about 8:45pm. An incredible sunset was our parting gift.

Daniel did great driving - he and I had some nice conversations, listened to new music, and just enjoyed being together. The kids passed out after their movie and went right into bed after we got home. Daniel and I were pretty awake still so we ate ice cream, and put away the cold groceries. What a fantastic day!

Saturday... Otherwise known as the day we put away groceries.


Friday night we put a bunch away, but Saturday was dividing up all the flour etc.

Breakfast was a feast! Relaxing and delicious. A great way to start our Saturday morning.

Afterwards we went for a walk, but got caught in a thunderstorm. It was really kind of hilarious! The kids didn't appreciate it, but the baby loved it! She smiled and squealed as the rain poured down on us. We finally had to run from porch to porch of uninhabited houses, as we made our way home, because the rain started to really hurt!
We ended up taking our walk later that evening after the weather had cleared up. We were audience to another spectacular sunset.

Overall it was a good, no, great week. We made the most of it and created some treasured memories.

Thanks for walking with me again. I always enjoy our walks together; you're pretty great company, you know! See ya next week....