Turtles

These are three of the eight turtles living in our backyard. They are Arizona box turtles. We have one male and the rest are females. Alex has named them all! We have two babies but they do not come out very often. Everyone (except Jay) has been bitten by the turtles and for little guys with no teeth their bites sure do hurt!

Daddy's Helmet

Since Jay got his motorcycle a few years ago Alex has been fascinated by bikes, helmets and anything related to riding. One of his favorite things to do right now is play with dad's helmet. He already knows what type of bike he wants when he grows up and it is going to be a Harley and it has to be silver!

Canada comes to NM

We were so thrilled that David and Amy, Liam and Ava were able to spend almost two weeks with us this summer. We kept them very busy seeing everything that Albuquerque had to offer. We all had a ball!

Family and Good Friends

Maifa's and Andy's

Collingwood with the McKennas

Wasaga with the Deasy's

Summer 2011 in Canada

My mum and Sarah at Alex's swimming lesson!

I got to celebrate my birthday with Ava-what fun!

Yeah! Tee Ball

A lot of standing around wondering what they are supposed to be doing :)

Alex is the one in red. Always wears his Canada sweat shirt.

Getting some tips from the coach!

Not sure how to get this one the right way up :(

This is the moment I have been waiting four and half years for! Alex to start organized team sports. However, I was very wary about giving up our precious family time but the tee ball season does only go for two months and the summers off so here we are starting baseball. These are pictures from his first practice. He is on the Red Sox team and his coach is Coach Adam (who is the nicest guy ever!). Alex was so super excited to start baseball just like his little friend Cooper. He wants to do everything just like Cooper does. The first practice was hilarious, a few of the players had actually played before but it was clear that most of them had never even hit a ball. He has practice every Monday and games on Saturday. I live for this stuff!!

Our New Bath

Jay said that Alex should wear his Tee-ball hat into the tub and get it wet so it would fit him better. Cool!

Not sure how I feel about our bath at our new house. It is called a soaking tub and it reminds of the tubs we had when I lived in Japan. You definitely can not stretch out and read a book but on the plus side you do get completely covered in water. I will let ou know how I feel when we get our first water bill. Alex on the other hand loves it, that is when he feels like taking a bath (which as of late is not very often-always a fight).

Tingley Beach

No, Albuquerque does not have a beach, but the little man made lakes sure are fun to fish in. This was my first time fishing ever!!! Since Jay has been on nights I took Alex out for his first real fishing experience. He had been asking to go ever since jay bought him a pole (which he promptly broke). There were lots of people from Fish and Wildlife there to help me set up the pole and put the bait on etc. Alex had a great cast and reeled it in like an expert. We did not catch anything which I think is a good thing, as Alex had the opportunity to reel in a fish and freaked out when the fish came near him! It was actually very funny and everyone around apparently thought so too. Lots of fun and we definitely be going back soon.

The Roadrunner

Being Silly on the train.

Playing at the Children's Museum.

Living in the hotel was definitely an experience. Although the suite had two rooms and a living room you could hear everything going on in every room and with Jay working nights and sleeping days Alex and I had to leave the hotel every day. So we played tourists doing all the things that I have never done in Albuquerque and seeing all the new things that have opened since we left. We were excited to take the Roadrunner train to Santa Fe to visit the Santa Fe Children's museum. This train did not exist when we left Albuquerque five years ago. It ended up being quite the adventure. While the train is great fun it is not so much fun being a slave to the bus schedule once you get there. That being said we realized once at the museum that we would have to leave right away in order to get back to the train on time. Luckily a very nice man overheard our conversation and offered to drive us to the station. Normally I would have said "thanks but no" but he had two young kids with him and an extra car seat and to top it all off he was CANADIAN so it was a no brainer. We had a lot of opportunity to chat and he and his wife (both veteranarians) had just moved from NC but before than Vancouver. Really nice guy!!! His kids also went to Montessori school and his oldest son was named Alexander. Very cool chance encounter. I might have to open another chapter of Canadians in Albuquerque in Santa Fe! I haven't even mentioned the Ragin' Grannies for Healthcare Reform on the train, but that is another story.

Albuquerque Zoo

Loved it so much we even got a membership. We spent 8 hours there! Especially loved the gorillas-not so much when one of them through poop at us. Not sure what that meant. I found the gorillas so fascinating-so human-like. They even clapped and tapped on the window when we would knock on it. Alex loves telling the story of the poop-what 4 year old does not love a good poop story.

Tori and Earl's Wedding

Tori and Earl finally tied the knot January 1st, 2011. They had a beautiful ceremony at their Lutheran Church and then the reception was at the Radison Hotel in Las Cruces. We all had lots of fun helping Tori with all the wedding plans particularly putting the biscochitos in their little boxes, and then eating the broken ones of course. Tori had all her family there to help too. Alex cut lots of rug on the dance floor showing all his breakdancing moves to everyone. Tori made a beautiful bride and we are so happy for the two of them! Congrats!

Alex and the Dogs

Alex with Otis. The newest member of the family.

Grandpa with Sydney, Sydney loves to sit up there with Grandpa.



Alex on the couch with Otis and Riley, always a fight for a spot on the couch.