Cousins

Near the end of last week we had a fun, albeit very quick visit from Laurie, Kylin and Koleson. It's been such a fun treat to have visits from nearly all my sisters in the last week and a half! It is a reminder to me of how much fun it would be to have more of our family members closer.
Laurie and Kylin picked up their new (drum roll please......) mini-van! Laurie will now be cruising around West Des Moines, Iowa in heated leather seats and fancy automatic doors that close when you push a button. Those will, no doubt, come in handy when that much anticipated baby girl arrives in January! We can't wait to meet her...finally a little girl to buy those adorable little clothes for.

The highlight of their visit was watching those two little boys of ours play together. Koleson is about 6 months younger than Asher, but the two of them didn't fight once! They were so cute and it makes me so excited that Asher has cousins that are close in age on both sides of the family; something I never had. I think Asher was really missing him when they left on Friday. Thanks for the fun visit you guys!

These two pushed each other around in wagons and ride on toys. Asher thought he'd even help feed him (Koleson was a very good sport).

I know it looks like Asher is trying to drown Koleson, but he was laughing his head off, I swear!


Great future big bro.

P.S. Koleson smiles on demand for pictures. It's like pulling teeth to get good pictures of Asher. I am so jealous!

Balloon Fiesta 2007

The Balloons:

(These are more spectacular in person, but you get the idea...)

(Does anyone know what that green thing is? We were downright stumped!)

The People:

A school bus you say...what's the big deal? Well, apparently we fulfilled one of Asher's lifelong dreams. He LOVED the bus. We had to wait in a line for the park and ride to Balloon Fiesta Park, and when the bus left without us (or so he thought), he started bawling. He stopped immediately when the next bus pulled up to pick us up. It was the one redeeming part of the evening, since they announced the balloon glowdeo was canceled due to wind...after they drove us all the way down there. The bus trip made it all worthwhile! We did go the next morning at the crack of dawn for the mass ascension though...very fun, and Asher got another bus ride.

I think Asher may have been a little overwhelmed at just how many balloons there really were!

Jen and Josh were up for a visit for Blaise's baptism, and Balloon Fiesta. We had a great time hanging out with them. We are still sad we didn't get to play the bean game again!

Jen and Josh...playing with nephews (Josh's sisters kids), and eating a breakfast burrito, mmm!

This last one is for Corey's Dad...Smokey the Bear!

Autumn in New Mexico

Those of you who live or have lived in New Mexico will know that Fall is the season to come for a visit. Seriously, there are lots of reasons that it seems to be everyone's favorite time of year here. First of all, there's the fantastic weather. Yep, I just donned my first light jacket yesterday for a walk with the dog. Call it an Indian Summer, unseasonable warmth, or just plain nice...the weather is great! (We are not talking Phoenix warmth, mind you, but 80's is still good) Secondly, the green chile. There is nothing to compare it to that I can think of, but you know fall is here when you catch the smell of roasting green chile wafting from the parking lots of every grocery store and farmer's market in town. Ahhhh, that smell, so good. And the green chile itself is delectable too (we have our annual 30 pounds in freezer baggies just begging to be used). I have definitely been converted to this New Mexico culinary treasure since my move here some 9 years ago, and I don't think I could live without it now! Thirdly, the Balloon Fiesta. I remember growing up in Utah, and seeing an occasional hot air balloon, and just staring in awe. That is an almost daily occurrence here, and especially on the west side of town where we live. It is a very cool thing. Now, multiply that by several hundred (or more), and you have the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. It is held the first couple of weekends in October every year, is 15 minutes from our house, and is quite a sight to behold. Balloons literally dot the sky, and the 'special shapes' balloons make it even more spectacular. Looking to the sky, you'll see Darth Vader, Smokey the Bear, a Russian Doll, the Old Lady who Lived in the Shoe, a Dragon, ....I could go on and on. If you've never seen it, put it on your list of things to see because its the biggest in the world and if you like hot air balloons, its a definite must see (and really, who doesn't like them??) Anyways, I am starting to sound like an advertiser for the fiesta, but my whole point in all this rambling was simply that fall is a nice time to live in the Duke city.

Last year we tried to get Asher to take notice of the big balloons all around him, but all he could do was watch the cars and people passing by. What did we expect? He wasn't even a year old. So, this year our hopes were fulfilled. We drove around on Saturday morning to give him a glimpse at all those balloons, and he absolutely loved it. He was running towards balloons going down near us, and pointing to all the ones in the sky yelling "b-loon, b-loon!" Too cute. He was really mad at us when we put him back in the car. That was his first taste for this year, and this coming weekend we will go down to the Park to give him the full experience. It's so much more fun showing these things to your kids, isn't it? We just loooove it!

This last one was just a pic still on my camera that I had to add on.
He brought this hat home from a b-day party and played with it for
several days afterward. He won't wear a hat for me though- I guess it
just has to be his idea.

The Big 3-0hhhh!

For the past few weeks I have been getting reminders from people that my 30th birthday was coming. First of all, I did know this. Second of all, I didn't want to be reminded. I had dreamed up a few alternatives such as: flying to Australia...on that flight home you actually miss a day, and if I planned it right, September 7th 2007 would never happen for me; turning 28 this year...maybe nobody would notice if I just started getting younger instead of older, maybe I could just stay 29? Nobody was letting me skip this big day, so I have succumbed to my fate, and to be honest, it's pretty great!

And so, this past weekend marks the beginning of a new decade in my life. Whew, how time flies. Didn't I just turn 20? Corey made this an extra special birthday for me by surprising me with a trip to Utah so I could spend my birthday with those who matter most...FAMILY! He did a good job of keeping his plans a secret, although he did spill the beans earlier than he had hoped. But, Corey has a tough time keeping secrets, so for him it was pretty impressive. As I thought back, I realized that I hadn't spent my birthday with my family since I turned 21! So, a million thanks to my sweet hubby for realizing a fun weekend with my family was just what I needed to usher in "the best years of my life."

In the 3 days we had, we enjoyed every second! Asher had no lack of playmates since Grandma, Grandpa, aunts and uncles all entertained him to his hearts content. We went to the Utah State Fair too (Corey and I love the fair), where Asher had his first pony ride courtesy of Grandma/pa. They just couldn't resist. We ate, talked, and laughed. We almost got to see Jen and Josh's softball game....(oops, we were really late!). We finally got to go to IKEA; there isn't one in NM, so we had really wanted to check it out after getting catalogues for the past couple years. I think Corey regretted that decision after a while though...He wanted to know if he was being punished. I guess his shopping meter had run out! We also got to see Kayla's wedding dress, which I was pretty excited about. She looks GORGEOUS!! I will not be posting the pictures I took of her, however, just in case Jake happens to see my blog. I'd hate to ruin that surprise!

This crazy cat(Ruckus) actually let Asher "pet" him

Grandma, Asher, and the sheep.

Ridin' the pony with Grandpa. Giddy-up lil' cowboy!

"Thirty and Flirty"....said the birthday cake. Corey, Jen and my Mom agreed on that one. The cake was yummy, and everyone was so sweet. What a fun party with great people and great food (I think I ate a gallon of Jen's homemade salsa). Asher got into the festivities and became entangled in a bunch of balloons. They followed him everywhere he went...Asher and his balloon entourage. That night Corey surprised me yet again and took me to a cute B&B in Provo called the Hines mansion. It was a very romantic room with a huge jacuzzi tub (my favorite). What a sweet guy! He helped make my birthday special and relaxing too. Nice job, sweety!

Future Y fan?

The Ikea survivors.

The victorious out-fielder after her
softball game.

Okay, I do have one bit of explaining to do on this next photo. I have never been a tiara girl, I've never been a princess, pink isn't my favorite color, and I don't have a little purse-dog named Tinkerbell. I never understood why people whore those crown-ish tiaras on their heads, and certainly never intended to wear one myself. Well, I changed my mind. While we were at the bridal shop waiting to see Kayla's dress, Jen and I were trying on tiaras on display for fun. Wow! You put one of those babies on your head, and suddenly you feel beautiful...those crystals sparkling and shimmering on your head make everything look better! At the party, Jen pushed a little bag towards me, insisting I open it first. The card said, "Everyone deserves to be a princess when she feels like it! We love you... Love, the other princesses in the family!" I, of course knew what was inside, and although I was a little embarrassed, I was secretly excited to stick that sparkling strand on my head. I wore it the whole night! So, thanks to "the princesses" for such a fun gift. Now I can be a princess whenever I want. Don't worry though, our dog Dion won't be wearing clothes or getting his nails painted anytime soon.

Thanks to everybody for making this such a fun and memorable birthday. I am now happy to be 30, and so excited to see what the next 10 years will bring. I guess I better start making a list
of goals to accomplish by 40, eh?