Snakes & Streaking

Santa Fe

One day we went to Santa Fe. Nash still has a thing for Indians. Oops! I mean Native Americans. Oh, wait I think I mean American Indians. Whatever the proper terminology Nash wanted a glimpse of the old west. We traveled to Old Town Santa Fe New Mexico, which happens to be more than 400 years old.  We toured some old churches. Nash bought some beads and pottery from a Navajo woman, and we enjoyed the culture of the Spanish Mission.

In all of the shops, my favorite things were the textiles. I love bright colors and if I only had an unlimited supply of money I would have gone bizerk buying this stuff.

Harley & the Horses

Harley loves animals. She never plays with a baby doll, but has a stuffed animal with her always. So, as you can imagine animals were Harley's favorite part of Colorado.  She loved the dogs, the pigs, the cows, but most of all she loved the horses and the kitties.  Harley's love of the kitty prompted us to head to the animal shelter as soon as we got home to adopt one of our own. Sadly, we were "unable to adopt at this time."  Apparently, there are better qualified kitty parents out there somewhere. Yeah, I am pretty sure I could get a kid easier than I could get an animal where I live.

Learning to Ride

When there are only 700 people in your hometown, you have a lot more freedom than you do in the big city. The boys rode their bikes all over town and thought they were pretty big stuff when they were able to walk to the country store by themselves for treats. While biking and roaming the streets was really cool for an 8 & 5 year old boy, one of their favorite parts about Granny's is getting to ride the 4-Wheelers and the motorcycles.  Atley improved his riding skills this year while Nash learned to ride for the first time.  He did a great job UNTIL he had a horrendous wreck that sent him over the handlebars, over a barbed wire fence and into a pile of scrap metal. His shoes went flying and landed about 10 feet away from the scene of the crash. Even our neighbor from across the street, (aka my cousin Tyson) came running when he saw Nash flipping through the air like a rag doll. I am pretty sure the whole town heard me swearing as I watched the whole thing unfold in slow motion. Fortunately, or should I say miraculously, he hopped right up and exclaimed, "That was AWESOME!"

Cousin Clay giving Nash a quick lesson. 

He is off! 

We made an obstacle course for Atley. This was his first try. He knocked at least 6 seconds off his time by the end of the trip.

Colorado

We are settling back into life now that we are home again. I took so many pictures on our trip that not only can I not remember where I saved them all, I have no clue how to organize them on my blog if I ever do find them again.  What I do know is that every year when I go home I get inspired by my family and friends. I always gain a different perspective while I am there. I am  reminded about the importance of working hard and enjoying the simple things in life. I am so thankful for where I was raised and the people who raised me. That includes my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

One Sunday afternoon we went to the cemetery with some of Scott's family. We visited the graves of some of our ancestors and friends, including Scott's grandfather Morris Miller.  As we were leaving I noticed Nash standing by his Great-Grandfather's grave. He put his hand on his heart and just stood there reveretnly for several moments.  Nash never knew his Grandpa Great on this earth, but his reaction made me wonder if he remembered him from some other time.

4th of July Knockout

Luckily, our power came back before the 4th of July.  We decorated the kids bikes for the neighborhood bike parade, and boy was it hot!  Nash & Harley only made it through half of the parade route.  In the evening we barbecued with our friends the Johnson's and Scott's parents, then walked to the fireworks show at Langley High School.  When we got home, we busted out our personal stash of fireworks and the kids took turns lighting them.  It was during this portion of the festivities that I got knocked out-cold on the patio.  Nash was leaning down getting something and I leaned over him for something else.  He raised up quickly nailing me in the eye with his noggin.  All I can remember is thinking I am going down, next thing I remember Scott was hovering over me trying to pick me up, Atley was yelling at Nash, "You killed our mother!" and Nash was crying and saying he was sorry. I am told I was only out a few seconds.  I was nauseous and had a headache for two days, but my black eye/cheek is finally getting better. 

Ft. McHenry

On day number 2 without power and a heat index well over 105 degrees we abandoned our oven of a home and went to Baltimore.  We took a water taxi from Inner Harbor to Ft. McHenry.

What should have been an uneventful ride on the water got a little scary when we spotted a body floating in the water. The boat approached and thankfully it was a dummy that the crew heroically rescued. Apparently, the coast guard was conducting man overboard drills.  Nash was a tad traumatized, since he already has a boat phobia. He was convinced we were going to hit an iceberg.

Ft. McHenry was particularly important during the War of 1812, when the new nation had to prove themselves against Great Britain once again.  In June of 1814 the British began the siege of Baltimore.  An attorney named Francis Scott Key was sent aboard an enemy ship to try to negotiate the release of some American prisoners.  While aboard, the British began attacking Ft. McHenry.  The bombardment lasted all night and it wasn't until "dawns early light" that Key would know if the U.S. fort had withstood the British canons.  When he saw the flag being raised over Ft. McHenry he knew that the British were unsuccessful and it was then that he wrote The Star Spangled Banner.

Visiting the fort was a great precursor to the 4th of July.  We were able to watch them fire canons and explore the fort for most of the afternoon.

Atley's Baptism

It should have been no surprise that any event for Atley would be unique and memorable.  The night before Atley's baptism we had a terrible storm. The weatherman called it a Derecho.  Anyway, 1.5 million people lost power. We were no exception and neither was our church building.  We went ahead as planned. Atley was baptized in the dark, hence the grainy dark photos. It was a wonderfully spiritual day for all of us and certainly a day Atley will not soon forget.  Thank you to all of our friends and Scott's parents who spent this special day with us in the dark. 

Atley was baptized and confirmed by his dad. Nash and I gave talks on the Holy Ghost and Baptism respectively. Nash did a fantastic job. He spoke clearly, loudly, and remembered everything we had practiced.  He was rewarded with lots of melting chocolate cake.

We barbecued in the church parking lot and had tons of food.  No one wanted to go back to their hot and dark houses so we all stayed for as long as we could.

We are so proud of Atley's decision to be baptized.  He is such an amazing little man. We feel so lucky to have him in our family.

Sand & Sun

We were able to squeeze in a beach day after school got out and before we left for Colorado. We spent the day at our favorite beach in Delaware-Rehoboth. We only had a couple of hours before the lightening required us to pack up early. Nash and Harley had so much fun splashing in the waves. Atley was still a little nervous of the water due to his last beach experience. Nash is fearless at the beach and a total chicken in a pool and Atley is the exact opposite.

Butter Beer

My boys are obsessed with Harry Potter. Atley is almost finished with Book 5 and Nash and I are just starting book 3.  Even Harley runs around the house with a butter knife yelling, "Avada Kedavra!"  A few weeks ago I found a recipe for Butter Beer. They were very excited to try the Three Broomstick's speciality and pretend they were in Hogsmeade for a day.

Here is the recipe:

2 liters cream soda

2 tablespoons butter extract

2 teaspoons rum extract

Mix and pour into a glass.

Cream Topping

1 7oz container of marshmallow creme

1 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon rum extract

 Mix together until smooth and drizzle over the butter beer.

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