...And We're Back

Back in Houston.  Back online.  ALMOST back in the swing of things.  The past month has been busy and crazy.

Josh had his last day at the Albuquerque Veterans Hospital on the 12th of August, and we left Albuquerque on the 15th.  Moving out went smoothly this time.  Instead of being three days behind schedule, we were only three hours behind.  After what happened trying to get out of Houston and move to Albuquerque, I count that a great success.  Not only that, but we left with a graduate who had a diploma on its way in the mail.  Finally!  It's funny how an 11 x 14 piece of paper can bring such relief.  Congratulations, Josh!  Now we're looking forward to that other piece of paper that we hope to get by the end of the school year.

Though he didn't walk, here's the official grad picture.

The diploma was too large for the scanner, so this is only some of it.

We took a different route back to Houston.  We went down through Carlsbad and then on over through San Antonio.  Though we've been to San Antonio several times, we had never been to Carlsbad, so we took the opportunity to see the caverns.  They were amazing.  We really enjoyed seeing them.  Eli was so quiet and subdued while we went through the main room.  He whispered the entire time because he didn't want to disturb the sleeping bats.  He wanted to see some, but we were only there in the morning, and we had to explain how they sleep during the day and come out at night.

Unfortunately, though our move-out went smoothly, our move-in did not.  That's why it's taken me this long to blog about the experience.  We just got our internet installed on Friday night.  It took three weeks for them to come and install it; it's never taken that long before.  In the meantime, we had problem after problem with repairs and cleaning, etc., but I won't bore myself  (or you ;-) ) with the details.  Needless to say, I hope I don't have to move for a while...at least nine months. :-)

I had a birthday somewhere in between all of this. :-)

 As for the verdict of whether it's great to be back in Houston or not...well, besides the issues we had with moving in (and moving out for that matter), it is good to be back.  We're in the same ward, and though it's crazy how much it's changed in just four months, it's nice to know so many people.  We live in a different area, but the places are still the same.  Though I've heard many negative comments about Houston over the years, it's been a great home...humidity, hurricanes, and all...well, maybe not the cockroaches. :-)  Having said that, however, we really did like Albuquerque (especially having a house and garage), and I'm sure I would have felt the same way about it after living there for six years.  So, as cliche as it is, I guess home truly is where the heart is...and for me, that's with my husband and my son.      

Let Them Eat Cake!

Josh celebrated another birthday yesterday, and he requested chocolate cake.  Those who know me know that I don't eat chocolate (though I don't have any problems serving it to my family), so Josh and Eli had and still have a lot of cake to eat.  It was fun to make the cake even if I didn't eat it, but it is difficult to cook/bake without being able to taste-test.  I made Eli my taste-tester, and he loved it!  It was a chocolate cake with raspberry filling and chocolate cream cheese frosting, and I will say it was very tempting.  We only put 25 candles on the cake because we were running out of room, and I was afraid I wouldn't light them fast enough before wax dripped everywhere.  I didn't even know Josh when he was 25!  That makes him sound old, doesn't it?  :-)

 

Family Visits

The past two weeks we have been blessed with visits from family members on both sides.  First, my parents and my sister Monica came out for a visit, and we got to spend the 4th of July with them.  Then, my sister-in-law Megan and her husband Matt flew in to visit us for a few days.  Though I think we all enjoyed it, I'm pretty sure Eli loved it the most.  He wasn't ready for anyone to leave and certainly shed some tears.

Most of our time spent with my parents and Monica was up in Red River, NM.  My parents invited us to share their timeshare with them, so we drove the 3 1/2 hours up to Red River.  Though it's in New Mexico, it's a tourist attraction for Texans, so we felt right at home.  It was nice to get out of the heat of Albuquerque and see trees and greenery instead of desert and dirt.  In fact, I had to put a jacket on a couple of times.  That's not to say it didn't get hot though.  Because of the higher elevation, I still got burned a little--right on the hairline where it's oh-so-attractive when it starts to peel. :-)    

Unfortunately, we didn't get to do any hiking since they closed off the trails due to the many fires here in New Mexico.  We still did lots of fun activities though.  Eli had fun playing in the stream and at the playground.  The water was incredibly cold though.

 We rented bicycles and rode around town for an hour.  Eli was very upset that he couldn't steer, but because of his age, he had to ride in the basket in front.  He still had fun ringing the bell, but he hated it when he thought we were pedaling too fast.

 On the 4th, the town had a fun parade in which Eli got quite a stash of candy, thanks to Grandma Grant. ;-)  I think she was more eager to get the candy for Eli than he was to get it himself. 

Eli and Josh drove a race car (a.k.a. go-kart).  Eli was so excited to drive one, but then he discovered it was kind of scary and wanted Josh to hold his hand the whole time, which was kind of hard to do given that Josh had to steer.  After it was over, Eli kept saying, "That was scary."

We went horseback riding up the mountain, which was a lot of fun.  Eli rode with Josh and loved it.  The only downside was the bruise I got afterward--either because I rode my horse the wrong way or because I'm a little on the bony side. :-)

 We also rode the ski lift up the mountain, which I thought was going to be scary, but it didn't end up being too bad.  Grandma Grant had no desire to ride, so she napped with Eli while the rest of us went.  It was a LONG ride up there, mostly because it was going in super slow motion.  Monica dropped her cell phone on the way up.  Luckily, Josh saw when it dropped, and it wasn't too far from the beginning.  Any farther and she would have had to say good-bye to her phone or had quite the hike up the mountain.  I also got stung by a bee right before coming down, so we had quite the adventure.

Josh had to go back to Albuquerque for work, but Eli and I stayed the rest of the week.  Eli was so excited to go fishing with Grandpa Grant, but then he discovered that fishing requires a lot of patience.  Holding still and waiting are two things that Eli does not do very well, so he wasn't as in to the fishing as he wanted to be.  Both Grandpa Grant and Aunt Monica caught some fish though.

Eli took this picture of me all by himself.

We went to Taos on one of our days there.  It's about 30-40 minutes from Red River.  On our way, we stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  It's the 5th highest bridge in the U.S., and it felt like it.  I didn't get very good pictures because I was scared to death walking across it and standing anywhere close to the railing. 

Matt and Megan flew into Albuquerque the day we drove back from Red River.  They didn't get to stay very long with us, but we went to Petroglyph National Monument with them.  We hiked a different hike than what we did with Nana and Bampa Pratt.  If it looks like a hot and Sahara Desert-like hike, then you would be correct.  However, Eli enjoyed riding on Uncle Matt's shoulders, and it was fun to be together.

We said good-bye to my parents and Monica on Sunday, and Matt and Megan left on Monday morning.  We had a great time with everyone! 

Albuquerque Zoo Pictures

On Josh's day off this past Friday, we went to the zoo.  I thought for sure that Houston would have the bigger and better zoo, but I was wrong.  I think I like Albuquerque's zoo better.  We had a lot of fun!

Eli is complaining about the smell of the flamingos; we think it was the water.

The tiger was very active as he was jumping in the water.  It was one of our favorites to see.

You can't see it very well, but just above Eli's head in the picture is a koala.  It's hidden in the leaves.

If there's a train, you can bet Eli wants to ride it.

Eli was trying to be goofy by turning his hat to the side.