a joy of a visit

A few weeks after hosting all of the grandparents for Christmas, my mom returned...but with my sister Joy! She's living across the world, and we miss her so much! We try to keep in touch with calls, Skype, etc, but there's nothing like a visit with her!

We celebrated her birthday while she was visiting. The boys made this HUGE sign, and the local grocery store went overboard with the buttercream icing. No one complained.

We did a lot of this...just spending time together.

She joined us for an interesting time at the barn. I love the action in the next picture. Joy's observing everything, while Buddy fights to keep his horse Target from grabbing a snack, while I get friendly with another horse who was nibbling my hat!

 

 

Nugget LOVES dogs.

This is Nokie, who is one of the sweetest, friendliest dogs I've ever met.

 These next two shots are so "Joy" but don't mistake her face for frustration. My sis is more low key than I am...she adores her nephews, and she kept Nugget entertained. I am grateful that they have such a loving aunt! 

 

 

 

 

 My precious, whole family...and a cannibal cow serving steak?

Joy, we love you, and we miss you and we can't wait until your next visit! Thanks for coming to our little town, putting up with the dirt and cold, and for loving on our boys. I love that you are my sister!

bottomless lakes state park

During the first week of January, we drove to Roswell, NM for a camping trip. Actually, Sandman and I had an AWANA conference to attend, but we knew there were some cool campsites there, so we pulled the trailer down to make a long weekend of it. It's a fascinating park: lots to learn about at the visitor's center, a number of trails, and a series of sinkholes. The entire time we were there, the boys called them "dipholes" which, to us, sounds....really wrong. HA. But the sinkholes and how they are formed allowed for some geology lessons and cool exploration.

 

Here's Buddy earning his keep by helping us set up the camper.

 

 

Yes, that's snow around them as they stand in front of a sinkhole. It was FA-REEZING the first day and night we were there. I'm actually really impressed with

our boys' attitudes....maybe they won't understand complaining about the cold until they are teens.  

 

This is one of the bigger sinkholes. 

If you follow along the tops of these sinkholes, you eventually reach this lookout point. This lake....pond...whatever...is the largest, and the section over to the left has a depth of 90 feet! Divers come here when the weather is warmer, so Sandman is already plotting a diving trip. In the middle of the picture, you can sort of see a beach area for swimming, and they have paddleboats and canoes and that sort of thing during summer months.

 

Nugget is so photogenic, yes? Seriously, he's not mad.

 

And now he's a cheese face.

 

This panoramic view is along a boardwalk trail through a marshy area. You can see our four little shadows! 

 

 Can't go on a hike without some sticks for protection and your trusty dino (who is hanging out on his pants loop.)

 

Another footprint lesson. The boys are getting better at identifying different critters,

and this swampy marshy place had a wide variety!

 

 

 Awesome golden hour shot of Buddy, the mesa line, the CCC buildings and lookout tower.



 

Great state park! I'd love to go back, but there are quite a few more on our list. This one would be fun for a spring trip when it's warmer but not too hot that we're miserable. I'm hoping we can head up to Colorado during the miserable summer....