Vacation Part 2: Land of Enchantment

Every time we go to New Mexico I fall more in love with the beautiful, and dramatic scenery.  We spent more time in Taos this year and it's my new favorite place. It is so funky and laid back and  art and flowers are everywhere. 

Shopping in the plaza.  I bought this shirt at the Wal-Mart, which was also made of adobe.  Or at least painted adobe.

My favorite part of the plaza.  So many cool stores, especially if you love jewelry.  

Outdoor metal art installations.  They turn in the wind. 

Doesn't this look like every Southwest calendar you've ever seen? All I need is a dreamcatcher and a howling coyote.

The amazingly cool free hippie playground in Taos.  I don't think we could have made it through the day without this. 

I love her little legs. 

Eating at the Alley Cantina, the oldest restaurant in Taos.  So maybe we caved in a little bit on the old pacifier. Only for vacation!

The beautiful valley surrounding Eagle Crest as we were leaving.  This water is so still and blue.

Vacation Part 1: Fun times with Mimi and Doodad

After our 4th of July in Ft. Worth we made our way to Red River, New Mexico. This was my 3rd time to go with Ben. The weather and scenery in Red River are so perfect. At night it got down to 40 degrees and it never got over 80. So you can imagine how I am not loving the triple digits we have now even more than usual. I spent 5 years growing up in Colorado so I have never learned to accept the heat and I still miss the mountains every day.

This picture cracks Ben and I up. It's such a perfect action shot that it looks totally posed. Like a little running mannequin.

Watching the hummingbirds with Mimi

Snuggling with the bear footstool. The rule in Red River is that everything must be decorated in a bear or moose motif. The last time Ben and I went to Red River we actually saw 3 bears by the garbage cans. This time we just saw their paw prints on the bins.

The wildflowers in New Mexico are gorgeous. They're in every yard and windowsill.

Trying on DooDad's glasses. She's very Urkelesque in this pic.

Swim Lessons and 4th of July

It's really convenient to have a swim instructor in the family. It's not as convenient when your swim instructor lives 3 hrs away. We made good use of being in Ft. Worth and enlisted Anna to help Aidan in the pool.  Aidan's greatest joy in life besides flushing entire rolls of toilet paper is making me out to be a big fat liar.  So of course I had made a big deal about how badly she had done the last time we had been at the pool (Mandy you can vouch for me). Which means that she was of course pretty perfect for everyone else.

Oooo Swim Instructor face.

First jump into the pool

Mom, I'm getting really sick of all the lies you tell about me. I have always had perfect pool etiquette. You're just jealous. 

After we got little Michael Phelps out of the pool we headed out to Ben's grandparents in Granbury, TX.  This has kind of become our annual 4th of July spot.  I think Texas has good 4th of July celebrations because they don't really have to decorate. The state is pretty much draped in red, white, and blue at all times. 

Exbibit A: Texas Sports teams are already the necessary 4th of July colors. 

Our little firecracker

Going for a ride in her Papa's walker. 

I have no idea if the fireworks were good, I was passed out in bed dehydrated from the scalding heat. But judging from the sounds I vaguely remember hearing  in the neighborhood, either I was dreaming about Beirut or Granbury did it up right. 

Newsflash

We'll be out of town for almost 2 weeks but I would be remiss if I didn't break the news that Aidan peed in her potty for the first time on Tuesday night at her Mimi's house. We plan on being pretty laid back about potty training but this is a fun first step. She was so proud!

Chris and Anna's Wedding in Pictures

Chris and Anna's first dance to "Lucky" by Jason Mraz. They were so adorable. Later I learned that my mother-in-law and Ben's Uncle Ed are really good dancers. You should see them do the twist!  Ben's Richardson grandparents won the dance off for the couple who had been married the longest, 61 years! I missed Ben's dancing since I was off trying to perform an exorcism on my daughter but I heard it was pretty fun too. 

The view of the reception from the dock. Ben's entire family and all of their friends worked so hard to make this wedding fun for Anna and Chris. Ben did a great job with the ceremony. I was proud of him. 

I would love to show you multiple adorable pictures of my angelic flower girl daughter but unfortunately she failed to make an appearance for the weekend and was possessed by something slightly more demonic.  P.S. I really loved our bridesmaids bouquets they were gorgeous.  You can't really see it but I have a really pretty orchid in my hair too. P.S.S. I am not naked. 

I don't think Ben's dad sat down all weekend. Not that there's anything unusual about that fact. He managed to calm Aidan down several times. She LOOKS angelic at least. And she walked down the aisle very nicely which is the most important part. 

Now you can start to see Ben and I's eyes glaze over from the exhaustion of trying to make Aidan behave.  In fact while we were taking this picture she headed straight for the lake but fortunately Zack Ward intervened. 

 This is my favorite picture that we took of the Falcon's. The sunset was so beautiful. I just love Anna's dress. She looked like a supermodel. I hate her. Not Really!!!! Just a little, just her arms. 

Anna and Chris make out behind her brother's back. It's okay Ben they're married!

Oh look Aidan came back to us! With lovely morning after flower girl hair. Your hair really does get bigger in Texas. You should have seen mine this morning. I looked like Dolly Parton. Strangely there are no pictures. 

Random Picture Fun

We have been so busy lately with baby showers and weddings! Ben's sister's wedding is next Saturday and Ben is now doing the ceremony too! Also I got an Iphone and I'm not going to lie sometimes it's hard for me to drag myself away from it and get back on my actual computer. They need a Blogger app! My pictures have been sitting on my camera forever so I need to get back in gear.

Aidan and I on Mother's Day. Aidan calls earrings pretties.

Aidan with her Mimi and Aunta in Ft. Worth

Aidan on the night of her first Sonshine School Program.

Chris and Anna modeling our his and her's snuggies. Now available in hospital green.

This picture of Vivian and Aidan makes me laugh every time I look at it. Please enlarge this and see the funny face Vivian is making.

Here's a gorgeous picture of you Viv, so you can't be mad at me.

I just realized that every single item of clothing that Aidan is wearing in this blog post came from her Aunta. Thanks Anna!

Aidan's 2nd Birthday

I'm sure I'll have a couple of posts on Aidan's birthday but I wanted to get some pictures up tonight.In case you can't tell the theme was Finding Nemo. Subtle huh?First of all can we talk about how amazing this cake is? Katie did such an unbelievable job. I almost couldn't cut into the cake. It just seemed wrong. I wish I had taken a picture of Aidan's face when she first saw the cake. She was soooooo excited and kept yelling cake and Nemo!

Blowing out the candles with Daddy.

Going for the first bite. She was much neater this year.

Yum!!!!

Aidan and Viv playing with the train that Aunt Lindsay sent. Let's just pretend they played this nicely alllll day.

Librarianpalooza 09

I went to a librarian conference at Harding University this week. Believe it or not I actually had a pretty good time. I had to do a presentation on some new cataloging formats which I was pretty nervous about but after that I got to relax and have a good time.

After our meetings we went to the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. It was so interesting and we got to have a backstage tour of the archives. The night before we were lucky enough to get to hear from a professor at Harding who worked in the Clinton White House. He was a great speaker and absolutely fascinating. He had some hilarious stories about working in the White House and his favorite people in the administration were Hillary and Tipper. It was really interesting to hear his insights and he was kind enough to come with us to the library and give us some juicy info that wasn't in the exhibits. Ask me about the Buttmaster. Trust me:)

After the library we were able to visit Little Rock Central High School made famous by the Little Rock Nine who fought for integration in Arkansas public schools. It was really eerie to walk up the same steps they did and imagine how scared they must have been with the mobs screaming at them. The other librarians were so sweet and funny and I heard some hilarious stories.

Fancy Smancy Harding, I guess it pays to have a football team and be BFF's with WalMart:)

Presenting, I was so nervous.

Dr. Jack Shock. He was so funny and interesting.

Clinton Presidential Library

Inside of the library, it was huge.

Replica of the Oval Office. This was so cool.

Little Rock Central High School. It was enormous.

Little Rock Central High School Museum