New Mexico Road Trip

We were able to take a road trip this spring to visit Clark and Kjerstin in New Mexico.  We split the drive up over a couple of days to keep us sane, and we were able to see lots of fun things on the way up and down.  We also brought our car DVD player and lots of snacks!

White Sands National Park is really close to Las Cruces, so we spent an afternoon there sledding down the sand dunes and playing around.  The weather was really nice, so we didn't get too hot.

We were also able to take a day trip to Carlsbad Caverns.  It was a long drive (8 hours round trip), but it was pretty cool and definitely worth it!  We hiked into the caves through the natural entrance, then took the elevator out once we were done exploring the caverns.

This was the Whale Mouth formation that we saw on the way down.  Pretty neat!

 It was hard to take photos in the low lighting, but this is a pretty good representation of what it was like down in the cavern.  It was a lot more spacious than I expected.

 This is an old ladder left over from early cave explorers.  Looks a little questionable to me!

On Sunday before church, we took a little drive out to the middle of absolutely nowhere to see an old mining ghost town.  It was pretty interesting, but also very sketchy...

 We visited a few things around town: Saturday Market, Mesilla Old Town, Clark's dentist office, and Clark and Kjerstin's favorite Mexican restaurant, Miguel's.

On our way home, we took an extra day and visited Santa Fe for a half day.  It was the perfect amount of time to see a few things, but not long enough for the kids to get too restless.  We visited the Santa Fe Children's Museum (waste of money, but they had fun) and the downtown area.

On our last day, we went to Arches National Park for a few hours.  We had enough time for a picnic dinner and three or four easy, kid-friendly hikes.  It was a great break after being in the car all day.

 Girls and Delicate Arch in the background.  The upper viewpoint is perfect for little kids.

We had so much fun on our trip, and overall the kids did an amazing job being in the car so much.  It was great to spend more time with Clark and Kjerstin in New Mexico.  Can't wait for our next vacation!

D's 1st Birthday

D had a great 1st birthday!  She loved having everyone over for a party and eating her cake.  She was kind of into her presents but didn't really know what to think.  Happy Birthday, sweet baby D!

Valentine's Day 2014

We had a fun family dinner for Valentine's Day this year.  I made Icelandic pancakes, chocolate-covered strawberries and pretzels, and Chris brought the roses.  It sure is fun to do something a little different on occasion.

 M's valentine's for preschool kept along with her birthday party theme-- zebra cakes!

M's 5th Birthday

M's 5th birthday this year was so much fun!  She wanted a zebra theme and everyone that she has ever met to come to her party.  We compromised on that one and just had a cousin party.  We went to the trampoline park, since her birthday is in February, and everyone had a great time!  She really enjoyed her special day and is already planning her next birthday party.