Our Sunday Morning Visitor

A couple of Sundays ago, Colin opened the front door to discover that we had a visitor coming up the sidewalk. It was a turtle! The second one that has dropped in on us in the 8 years we have lived here. The funny one about this one is that it was walking up the sidewalk, at a pretty fast pace for a turtle, like it really was here to visit us! It came all the way up to the door and we had fun watching it!

After letting the kids each hold it, we set it back down in our little flower garden in the front and finished getting ready for church. We would have loved to have kept it, but knew the dogs would probably bother it, so decided to just let it go about its business.

Toward the end of the week, after going outside to retrieve Piper's dog dish (that Roxy likes to carry off and hide), Colton ran back in all excited yelling that the turtle was in the backyard! We went out to see and, sure enough - there it was. We didn't know at the time that they dig under fences and were very confused as to how it got there! We believed it must have liked us, though, to pick us as the home it wanted to hang around!

We saw it everyday for the next couple of days, and then didn't see it again until four days later and it was outside in the front again, headed towards the sidewalk. I guess the dogs (mainly Roxy) were too much of a bother and it was looking for a new home. We miss it, but hope that it found a happy one that is dog-free!!

Our Kinder Girl

Everyday Cady tells us how many days she has been in Kindergarten and I think that Monday was Day 25. She doesn't tell us because she is ready for Christmas Break already (that's why I count down, lol) - she tells us because not only do they go over it in class every morning, but she is proud to go to Kinder everyday! She really loves school and is doing very well. A little hard to get up in the morning, unlike her brother, but once she is up, she is happy and excited to go.

Even the homework is exciting to her! She brings home her homework folder every Monday with a 4-page handwriting worksheet that is not due back to school until Friday. I try to get her to do 1 side on each evening, but she usually does 2 sides and takes it back on Wednesday.
Her handwriting is really showing improvement already:

In fact, her first few weeks at school were practicing writing sentences using, "I am a...". She really got the hang of it and one night a couple of weeks ago, all on her own, she drew a picture of her playing soccer and wrote underneath "I am a s plr". The "s" was for soccer and the "plr" was for player and she did that all by herself. Colin and I were very excited that she was trying to write sentences on her own already!

Then, one Sunday morning not long ago, she got a pencil and paper, and sat down and wrote this for me, again, all on her own:It made me cry and I wouldn't let her do anything else to the paper because I want to keep it forever - just like it is!!

She has had one big project in school so far, and that was decorating a little house with things that told about her. It was a family project, but the guys were hunting, so it turned into a mother/daughter project, which was ok because we had fun! Here is the outside of her house that she painted all by herself:I helped her glue the boa around the roof to make it fancy, just like her! Here is the inside with pictures of our family, her closest friends and her in action doing things she enjoys like soccer, crafts and archery:

We also used buttons and stickers to show other things she likes and does such as ladybugs, riding her bike and a cross for church. On the day she took it to school, she came home and said that no one had as many pictures as she did, and I told her that's just the way we roll!! :-)

Last week, she had her Open House and we were all very excited to go see what she has been doing (especially Colin and Colton since I volunteer every Wednesday and see things on a regular basis). In the hallway, leading to the Kinder wing, there were life-sized cut-outs of each of the kids that they had done a couple of weeks ago. Here is Cady standing below hers:

She had also just been named Star Student for that day, so her name was still on the board:Here she is with her two wonderful teachers, Ms. Hallsted and Ms. Helen:

They were Colton's Kinder teachers, too, and we just think the world of both of them!

Finally, this past Friday, as I was cleaning out Cady's backpack, I found a certificate for "Showing Respect" and signed by the principal and vice principal. I asked her about it and she got all excited and said that they called her name at an assembly and went up to the front to get it! I was so proud of her!

We took her and Colton (who both had also done a great job at their annual school jog-a-thon - pictures to come later) to Chuck E. Cheese's that evening to celebrate!

We love our kids and are so proud of both of their accomplishments and all their hard work so far this school year!

Red Ranger Soccer is in Full Swing!

Fall is in the air and soccer games have begun. Practice has been going on for over a month now and the kids have each played 2 games. The Red Ranger "franchise" has expanded to 3 teams this year - U-10 (Colton's team), U-8, and U-6 (Cady's team). Some of Cady's teammates from last year, who are a year older than her, moved up to the U-8, like her friend, Mckynze. Colin coaches U-10, Michael coaches U-8 and Jeff coaches U-6 and then they all kind of help each other out, along with another friend, Matt who has lended his expertise to all 3 teams.



The big changes this year have been with Colton's team. U-10 plays 6 on 6, instead of 4 on 4, they play positions (goalie - yay!) and they play on a lot bigger field with much bigger goals. Returning teammates include Colton, Mckaela, Jagger, Travis, Tyler, Taylor and newbies include Arianna (a school friend of Colton's and Taylor's), Abbi (Mckaela's BFF), Cameron (a friend of Tyler and Travis) and three that none of us knew before; Ethan, Lilly, and Shelby. Twelve kids this year!!



The U-10 fields are across town from the little fields and when we arrived last Saturday for the first game, none of us could get over how big they were! It was quite a change! Here's the team with the ref before the game began:
Colton played goalie and did a fantastic job. Here he is throwing it out of the goal to Mckaela, after keeping the opposing team from scoring:
My handsome goalie:

Tyler and Colton showing some teamwork:
Cady is still on U6 for one more year. Other friends that returned are Carly (shown below) and Kaci. Then there is Hunter, Ryan, her good friend Jackson, and her friends, Mackenzie and Emily from her preschool.In the picture below, from left to right, are Emily, Carly, Kaci, Cady and Mackenzie:

Jackson and Cady:Cady has yet to score a goal this season, but she's come very close and more importantly, has shown a lot of improvement over last year! She seems to pay attention to the ball more, has more control over the ball when dribbling, and is a little more aggressive, not afraid to get in there where the action is.

Here are Carly, Cady and Kaci with the first kick-off of the opening game:
Get that ball, girl:

Cady and Hunter working together:

It is going to be a fun season for both kids!! Yay for soccer season!

Braggin' On My Hubby!

As some of you already knew from my (sometimes pathetic) facebook posts a couple of weeks ago, Colin was in Denver, Colorado for a week and a half for an important class and huge test. Although the kids and I missed him terribly, as he did us, it was an exciting time, because it was the grand finale for something he had been working hard on for quite a while now. Maybe I should go back to the beginning.

Colin graduated from New Mexico State University in December of 2006 with a BS in Agricultural Business. After jobs with Norwest Financial, Norwest Bank, Boeing, and one I can't even remember the name of (!), he started with Farm Credit of NM as a farm and ranch appraiser in May of 2004. This was actually the first job that he felt he was really using his degree and doing something agriculture-related that he loved. Shortly after starting there, he graduated with a Master's Degree in Agriculture Business, again from NMSU.

Since starting with Farm Credit, he has been working toward his ARA - Accredited Rural Appraiser - designation. This would not only make him more marketable and/or allow him to start his own appraisal business (not that he ever would - he loves his job), but it would also give him those fancy letters to put behind his name! ;-)

Well, after 5 years of experience, over 300 hours of classes in places such as Denver, Dallas, Baltimore, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Phoenix (each with an exam he had to pass), a 150-page demonstration report that he wrote himself, and a 2 day exam, I am very proud to say that HE PASSED and is officially an ACCREDITED RURAL APPRAISER!

The kids and I are so incredibly proud of him and all his hard work! In November, I get to celebrate with him in Orlando, Florida where we will be attending the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA) National Meeting, to be held at the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World!! On one evening, there will be an Accreditation Ceremony where he will be recognized and honored for his accomplishment. The picture above is one I took that he sent in and it will be shown on a large screen, along with a quote from him, as he is recognized. I am sooo happy that I will be with him for this honor and very excited to be going to Disney World, and Florida, for the very first time! A little sad to be going without the kids, but we are going to "scope things out" for the future when we can all go as a family! Colin and I are looking forward to a trip alone, too, though, and to be honest, the kids are very excited that Gramma Suzy is going to be staying with them and taking them to school during that time!

Colin, congratulations and thank you for all your hard work! We love you so much and are so very proud of you!! I am counting down the days until our trip together (45 to go)!

Meeting Aunt Dorothy

Colin's Aunt Dorothy lives in Sacramento and was able to come visit Las Cruces where she stayed with Grammy and Grampa Mac for a few weeks. The kids and I had never met her, and, Colin met her for the first time when he went to his Grandpa's funeral this past January.

We all love her and enjoyed getting to know her, although next time she is here, we hope to have more time to spend with her.

Our "3D" Weekend in the Mountains

I was so ready for this past weekend! Colin was finally home with us, the kids were out of school for three whole days and we were heading to the cool mountains of Cloudcroft - what could be better? When picked Colton and Cady up from school on Friday, Cady was very excited to inform me that they had a "3D" weekend!! It was so cute, I really didn't even want to correct her, but I did. :-)

We didn't head out until Saturday morning, but we arrived before 10 and discovered that all the surrounding campgrounds were full. We really weren't surprised, though, with it being Labor Day weekend and all. Plus, we went to WalMart to do our shopping the night before and knew it wasn't a good sign when all the marshmallows and graham crackers were sold out!! Seriously! So, we headed down a dirt road that wasn't too far from town and found a primitive camping spot. It didn't have water and electricity hook-ups, but it was a beautiful area surrounded by aspen trees, and far away from any other campers. Besides, we have a generator and we knew our friends, the Giffings, who were camping with us, had one, too, so hook ups weren't necessary.

Jeff, Joy, Jagger and Jackson arrived a little while later and we got camp set up. It was the perfect spot and I named it Aspen Cove! :-)
We had grilled steak and corn-on-the-cob for dinner that night. Jackson and Cady enjoyed it:Then it was time to relax by the fire a bit. Loading up and setting up camp always takes a lot out of us! It is always worth it, though.
Jagger and Colton are waiting patiently for the fire to be hot enough to roast marshmallows for s'mores:
Jackson and Cady were having a great time! They are only 6 months apart and play so well together, as you can tell from these pictures:They were so fun to watch!


The next day, before lunch, we went on a hike up the canyon behind our camp. It was so beautiful up there that we had to take more pics:Jackson was so sweet! He picked a flower just for Cady:
The hike was just long enough to wear Roxy out! She crashed on our bed in the camper when we got back:
The kids kept on going, though. There was this area with a lot of fallen trees that they had a ball in! It was so great to see them all out there playing together and using their imaginations. That is hands-down the best part of camping!
After some lunch, we drove into town to let them run off some more energy at the two playgrounds they have there:

They all really enjoyed the swings:

We finished up our trip into town with some ice cream and then it was back to camp where Jagger and Colton helped to gather firewood for another campfire:

That night, Jeff and Joy did dinner and made wonderful shrimp and chicken kabobs! We eat very well on our camping trips, if you couldn't tell! While they were cooking, Colin and I were sitting with the kids (and the dogs) around the fire and listening to the wonderful sound of a bulle elk bugling nearby, with a cow elk answering back with small chirps. It is a sound that I heard many times from our house in Mimbres as I was growing up, but a sound that I could never get tired of hearing! I still get goosebumps! Roxy wasn't so sure about it, though:

Piper didn't care, as long as someone was still petting her:
Colton and Jagger wanted to go find them:

Cady and Jackson were scared, though, and while Cady crawled in my lap, Jackson went to his big brother for safety:

The bugling got further and further away, though, until we could no longer hear them. We continued to enjoy the fire, the food and the company for quite a while longer.

Here is Jagger with their dog, Hank:

Cady and Jackson being their silly selves again:
Our little firebug, Colton:

It was another great night!

On Monday morning, it was time to gather, clean and lad, as we got ready to head for home. Not before taking a few more pictures, though! Here is the Giffing clan:

Then, they took one of us (minus Piper who was already in the truck, ready to head for home, silly dog):Cady and Colin:
The kids played a lot on the hammock that morning while we were getting things ready to go:

They also helped us pick up trash, whether it was us who left it or those who camped before us:

It was then time to bid Aspen Cove farewell and drive back home. It was a wonderful weekend, though, and we all agreed that wouldn't be our last camping trip there!