Labor Day Weekend

I tell you what - we are sure lucky to have Aunt Sethrina in our lives! She always makes a special effort to stay connected through phone calls, Skype visits, birthday calls, and VACATION PLANS! This year, she and her darling family came to visit for Labor Day weekend and the theme of our visit was "The Outdoors!" We did as much as we could outside. As a treat, the Stoddards made us delicious chicken-bacon pasta for dinner one night followed by berry cobbler. They also introduced us to a wonderful, thrilling Netflix series, Stranger Things.

Friday, 9/7 - Zoo Train

Sethrina treated us to a new experience: feeding the giraffes! Hannah jumped when the giraffe stuck out his long black tongue! The kids had the most fun playing on the jungle gym - and the mamas enjoyed watching Calvin and Hannah climb the slide together. Later, we watched a wild animal show and had ice cream cones. 

No matter how many times we ride this train, it's always a good time!

Feeding the giraffes

Forget about the long necks ... those tongues were insane!

Couldn't quite keep this crazy woman still during the animal show

Climbing the slide was definitely the babies favorite attraction!

Saturday, 9/8 - Sandia Crest Hike

What a gorgeous day!

Cute little man in the meadow

Calvin was such a great little hiker - he's already walking!

Daddy's Girl preferred riding with her best friend!

Hudson excited us all with the discovery of this "huge spiky frog with a tail!!!" I found out today that it's called a Texas horned lizard.

Enough pictures already, Mom! I could just kiss this silly face!

Can't believe how big this guy's getting!

Beau kept collecting big rocks, wanting me to pack them out ... no thanks!

Love Hudson's pose in this one! Ha ha!

The whole gang!

Trying to capture a boy cousins shot ... just missing little Noah Bruce

I could just eat that cute little Beau right up!

Three blondies

Hudson got a kick out of grabbing huge handfuls of ladybugs - they were everywhere!

Mid-hike cousin picnic atop the mountain

The ladybugs almost looked like berries!

Sunday, 9/9 - Mud Play in the Rio Grande

I was just called as the second counselor in my Young Women's presidency, and with that calling comes the opportunity to plan mutuals each month and occasionally teach ... YIKES! I taught my first lesson the Sunday the Stoddard's were in town on "Being in the World and Not of the World." I did a test run of my lesson on Seb and Sethrina, and they helped me polish it up. The lesson went wonderfully and the spirit was clearly with us. I am so excited to share the next while with our amazing girls!

After church, we walked along the Bosque and found a wonderful little patch of muddy beach for the kids to play in. Josh was the first to jump right in and we all followed suit!

Good ole farmer Hudson

What a blessing it is to have a family! Love my peeps!

Beautiful Sethrina with her sunscreen streaked chubby man!

What a shot!

That poor diaper filled up with nasty mud water!

Having the time of their lives!

Let's hope that's mud and not poop!

My sexy guy! :)

They just kept getting muddier and muddier ...

Mind you, I had just deep cleaned the inside of my van the night before ...

Including washing the inside mats with soap and water ...

J+S so kindly offered to take the kids home in their rental car! Ha ha!

Oh man! Cute tiny Josh!

Sethrina, would you have married Josh if he were this little?

No, Josh, no! Get out of the quicksand!

She's done!

Who is this wild bush child?

Monday, 9/10 - Tent Rocks & El Pinto

We took a chance on a place called Tent Rocks that we'd never been before - it was totally worth it. The hike was pretty easy, the rock formations awesome, and it wasn't too far away. A very kid-friendly hike full of twists, turns, and adventure!

The boys loved this little cave

Neat exposed roots

What the heck is supporting this huge tree?

Ooh la la - nice shades, Sweetheart!

Matching pink girls!

Our cute little family

At some points in the hike, only one person could fit on the trail at a time! There were so many neat twists and turns!

Had to make a stop at the old El Pinto!

Hannah slept so well during most of dinner!

Tuesday, 9/11 - The Park Above

Josh headed home (well, back to work) Monday after the Tent Rocks hike, but Sethrina and Calvin stayed with us thru Wednesday. Seb went to work, too, and Hudson back to school. The rest of us had a fun morning at The Park Above (this really neat city park with unique play equipment). My kids LOVED playing in the sand! And so did I!

Wednesday, 9/12 - The Botanic Gardens

Before Sethrina headed out, we spent one last morning all together at the Botanic Gardens. Until next time, Sethrina and Josh! Thanks for coming! We had a ball!