Our first stop on our road trip was Albuquerque, to visit some friends from our Indiana days. They relocated to NM the summer before. It was so good to see our friends. Brock and Paige are the same age and have been friends since he was born. When we all lived in IN, they were together all the time. The best of friends. It didn't seem long for them to get reacquainted from the years of living in separate states.
Our families had a great time. We went to the park, visited Old Town Albuquerque and journeyed up to Sandia Peak. Here are some pictures from our adventures:
Jathan enjoying some B-ball with the kids.
The kids had fun at some of the shops in Old Town.
A very old church in Old Town that we visited.
When we got back from Old Town, this little thing was on their driveway. Thankfully Jill saw it before she ran over it. It happens that it was a runaway from the neighbors. But the kids enjoyed playing with it for a short time.
Around lunch time we headed up to Sandia Peak for a picnic and a hike. It was a bit foggy at first, but soon it cleared to where we could see the view.
I am not sure if Brock got quite the view he was hoping for :)
On to the hike.
We hiked to a shelter that was built for rock climbers to have as shelter. Boy did it have a view (see picture above.)
As all good things do, our time had to come to an end. After just two nights, we headed to our next stop.
I know that it has been a while since my last post. But there is a good reason. We've been gone, on a really long trip. 4500 miles of traveling in our minivan. So there really wasn't time to blog and several times I didn't have internet access anyways. The trip was great, though. Jathan named it our "Meet 'M' Tour". And boy did she meet a lot of people. We stopped in New Mexico to see friends that had relocated there from Indiana, stopped in Kansas to see Jathan's sister, Sullivan, IN to see my extended family including grandmas, cousins and aunts and uncles, then to Indy to see Jathan's parents and several of our Indiana friends. It was so nice! I will post more about the trip later along with some pictures.
I have to admit that I was a bit nervous before the drive. I loved traveling by car when I was growing up, and my dad and I drove across the country when he helped us move here, so I was so excited to take the kids on the trip and really see some of the country. Then I started thinking or rather realizing, traveling just me and Dad in a minivan is way different than Jathan and I with 4 kids. So the nerves got a little tight. But it went beautifully! Seriously, I really can't wait for another road trip. I have to share the beginning of our trip with you. We were just getting the final things packed in the minivan and the kids were dying to get in. I told them we would leave soon enough, to just get some more wiggles out, by the time it was time to go, they were already in their seats very excited. So then we were off. We hadn't even made it to the freeway, which is about a mile away, when Clay says from the back seat "I am really enjoying this trip" Jathan says, "Yes, the first two minutes have been great" then he turns to me and says "They have no idea what they are in for".
But seriously the best part of the trip is that after the start of the traveling "M" started calling us Mommy and Daddy all the time. I haven't heard Melissa from her since our first day of the trip when she called me that once in Albuquerque. That is such a praise. It may not sound like a big deal, but it helps the bonding so much!!! It wasn't always easy thinking of her as my daughter when she called me Melissa. So we are Mommy and Daddy all the time! She really did well. She didn't seem to get overwhelmed and as my grandma said, she seems to have been in the family forever. We are truly grateful.
These posts are a little random as I am trying to catch up over the summer on what we have been up to.
Our college friends came to visit over the holiday weekend. Kevin and Suzanne have 3 kids close to our kid's ages. We had a great time hanging out, talking, playing Settlers of Catan, swimming, and visiting Sequoia National park.
On the actual day of the 4th, after church, Suzanne, myself and a couple of my friends went to Panera Bread to have some girl time while the guys took all the kids swimming. After that we all met at our house for dinner, then we joined our neighbor's party and set off fireworks in the street. I believe there were around 50 people. We had a great time.
Paige and Clay opened a museum yesterday. The museum has a collection of gems, a seagull bone from the coast, an artifact from South Korea (circa 2008) and various other things. There is even a children's play area where the kids can play while their parents do research. (They have thought of everything.) Each of the collections are displayed in a way visitors can get a good look at them, the gems even have a magnifying glass to view at a closer level. There were several visitors yesterday and they are hoping there will be more today, so if you are in the area, stop by.
When my mom and sister came to visit in June, we took the kids to the zoo. "M" had been asking to go, so I thought it would be a good time while they were visiting. Here are a few pictures from our adventure. There were so many good pictures of ALL the kids, but I can't post those! :(
Below: Trying to pet the stingrays I really don't know why Clay has the look on his face.
I looked over my blog and realized I haven't posted pictures for about 2 months. I haven't posted too much of all really in the last two months, but what I have posted is all text no color. Sorry. I have sooooo many pictures to post. But when you can't post pictures of one of your children, it kinda takes all the fun out of posting any. Especially since she is in most of the good ones (I have 5 years to make up for you know!) But I will post a few today, just in case you forgot what the rest of us look like, or really what Jathan and the kids look like, cause I don't make it into many pics since I am the one with the camera in my hands.
So today, I am taking you back exactly one month ago to Jathan's birthday. He is still young, but we he did have to add another year on, we celebrated all day long...
First stop: Lunch at a local BBQ place.
They have a giant tree house that the kids can play on so they had a blast.
Yes, Jathan did ride the bull (it was free because it was his birthday!) How did he do? Well, lets just say he isn't going to quit his day job and joining the rodeo.
Next: Dinner at Joe and Gloria's house.
We had yummy tacos and cake.
Last: We headed to a farmers market/swap meet. For those who are unfamiliar, it is kinda like a Mexican Flea Market. Mexican music, cheap things to buy, Mexican food, produce and a big open space for the kids to play.
The above picture is of Paige playing football with a bunch of boys. Daddy was very proud when she held her own and even caught a few touch down passes and one boy said "wow, does she play football!?!"
There are definite pros and cons to having two 5 year olds in the house. A con would definitely be the bickering over toys and the way the other looked at them or said something to them. But most of the time, within minutes of the "fight" they are laughing together. For sure a pro would be that they are guaranteed to have someone laughing at their jokes because they honestly think it is funny.
Hi, my name is Melissa. My husband, Jathan, and I have 4 beautiful children, 2 by birth and 2 by adoption. Jathan is a pastor and I am a stay at home, homeschooling mom.
You will find me writing about my kids, my husband, God, adoption, homeschooling, our travels, life events and everything in between.
