I loved every minute of this vacation, very refreshing but I did a horrible job of taking pictures of some very memorable things that happened. The kids were good on the long, long, long drive although the minivan looked like a tornado hit it in the inside by the end. While driving through New Mexico, we saw this.
Hundreds of hot air balloons. It was the annual Hot Air Balloon festival in Albuquerque. We loved looking at the tons of different balloons and made for a fun morning. Rachel was especially excited.
Allan attended his very first Priesthood session with his Dad in the Sharon East Stake Center. This is the chapel that I attended church as a little girl, teenager, and where I was baptized. I can't believe that in seven short years, Allan will be leaving on a mission. While Allan was gone, I hung out with Allison, Bonnie, and Andrea. We also visited with Grandma Dudly, Aunt Sonny, and Aunt Cindy. It was fun to hear some stories of Gayle's childhood and eat dinner in the cool breeze in Utah fall weather. Emily and Eliza played dressup.
We watched the Sunday morning session with Bonnie, Charlie, and Allison and attended the Sunday afternoon session in the Conference Center. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. We had great seats and it made a great impression on the boys. Thanks to Kevin and Melissa for watching our girls. They had so much fun playing with their cousins.
We celebrated Grandma Brooke's Birthday. The kids secretly decorated while Grandma was busy.
We loved being there for Bonnie and Charlie's wedding. The whole event was special and it was fun to be there to see all of the details from the decorating to getting ready for the big day. Kevin Brooks did a great job of capturing the events of the day. Go here to see the slide show. http://www.brooksburg.net/2010/10/charlie-bonnie-wedding-slideshow-v1.html I, of course, showed my tender side while I cried during the ceremony. The highlight of the day for the kids was decorating their car. Super fun!
For the remainder of the week after the wedding, we mostly just hung at Grandpa and Grandmas house.
The kids loved picking raspberries from their bushes, exploring in the backyard, playing with Odyssey (Andrea's dog), playing four square, and picking apples.
We also had fun spending a lot of time with Andrea. She is so nurturing and thoughtful. We had fun going to the park with her and Odyssey.
We loved seeing the mountains and the beautiful fall colors.
Rachel is my little monkey. She hangs like this on our bunk bed at home.
The kids ran up and down the hill here and even made a couple laps with Odyssey.
Allan looks forward to all of his time visiting grandparents. He spent a lot of time across the street at Grandma Dudley's. Aunt Becky came to visit for the week. She introduced me to my new favorite snack - pita chips with humus. Yum!
The kids loved helping Grandma decorate for Halloween, especially putting this scarecrow together.
Emily overcame her fear slightly of bugs. Emily HATES all bugs - flys, mosquitoes, bees, spiders, etc... so her brothers will sometimes torture her about it. She finally held a grasshopper! Admittedly, it was injured with one leg so she knew it couldn't really jump.
Jacob's Birthday - 10.10.10 - We celebrated Jacob's 37th birthday at Melissa's house. We ate pizza cooked on her new stone. It was delicious.
When we drive to Utah, we always stop at Amarillo to Mark and Katie. It is so nice to see family and stay in a clean place.
