Almost Home

Once we got to this road we called it quits and walked it all the way back to the cabin.  We though being on pavement would make it easier for everyone to walk themselves home, but we were wrong again.  Even walking out on the ski slopes that the big kids had skied in March wasn't entertaining enough for the children, although it was breathtaking for Kyle and I!

Hopefully we can all stay in our beds tonight and wake up refreshed and ready for our last day in this beautiful place.

Perfection!

The colors could not be more beautiful and the mountains in the background coupled with Norah's perfectly tousled hair (expertly adjusted by her right before the picture) and sweet face despite the meltdown she had had moments earlier about walking up a mountain made this photo my favorite!!!

The Girls

It was so fun to be up in the mountains and have such a pretty place to hang out with.  The girls were trying their best to stay tough in their dresses and I think I was the only who got any scratches on their legs.

All Boy

Both of these guys have been spending as much time as possible outside the cabin hitting things with sticks and pretending to chop things up.  We had a talk about what was ok to chop and with all the dead trees/shrubs laying around they have not run out of things to play with!

Sunday Hike

The Aspens were really beautiful, making our after church hike so gorgeous!  The colors and mountain views were too much not to photograph.  It really made us feel like we had made the right decision.  Of course at the end, though there were tantrums and we barely made it back to the cabin!

Adobe Church

The ward for the mountain house is located in Toas, just outside the canyon and in an adobe!  Not really, but a stucco building that was made to look like an adobe.  We weren't sure how long we would all last with such little sleep and strange surroundings, but everyone did awesome!  The kids were fine going to primary by themselves and even talked about the new friends they had made.

The ward was very welcoming to all of us, the people were so humble and there was no air of perfectionism, just people being themselves.  It was super refreshing.

Deer Watching

 

After a busy and exhausting day, we headed back to the cabin to get the kids ready for bed.  While I walking upstairs I decided to open up the blinds and BOOM there was the first stag any of has ever seen!

He was so big and so close, standing right outside window.  He even looked at us when we approached the window to watch him.  He moved around a little searching for some tasty plants, but since he didn't seem to mind our presence the kids went out on the deck and watched him from there.  He was seriously so fearless.

All the kids were able to say good night to the deer from their bedroom windows since he moved around the house for about an hour before disappearing.

Very Merry

After lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Taos and a trip to Wal-mart, we decided to grab some pastries and head back to Angel Fire (about 45 minutes through the canyon) to play at the park for a bit.

Fall Clean-Up

Well, we actually did it, we closed on the mountain house this past Tuesday and made the drive yesterday around 10:30 after picking the kids up early from school (they were having a half day anyways and Monday is a holiday for us).

It was a hard choice to make, since not only is it financially risky to own a vacation rental out of state, but buying the cabin 10 hours away from our home in McKinney means that we will be staying in Texas for the time being (something we have considered changed for awhile now). 

When we drove in last night, the cable installer had been kind enough to leave the lights and TV on for us, and driving up the completely dark mountain for the first time at night made having that beacon more helpful than he could have ever known.

No one slept great last night, but that's to be expected.  We got up this morning and headed over to the Angel Fire Fall Clean Up, in hopes of showing the kids how important it is serve in your community.  Everyone was extremely excited about the neon vests and the contest for weirdest item of trash collected.  About 45 minutes into it, though, everyone was ready to be done.  We finished our areas and headed Toas for some lunch and shopping for supplies for the house.

Topfen Kuchen

Last night Kyle made homemade quark for the third time just so he could also make this delightful pastry for everyone to eat for breakfast!  The quark alone took almost 8 hours to prepare (a lot of proofing in the oven) and then to make this cake with a blueberry filling and a streusel topping!!!!  We are so spoiled by his skills!

Fishing in Paradise

It was such a beautiful day today, thank goodness we had some friends over to fish and play outside with.  Looking at these pictures helps me realize that we already live in a scenic place (even if there are no mountains around).

Infestation

About a week ago, we had some friends over for dinner and they pointed out a few bees flying in and out of a weep hole by our front door.  I quickly forgot about it.  Fast forward to two days ago and some friends brought us some crusty bread they had found at Central Market.  They pointed out the same weep hole and the very large amount of wasps that were flying in and out!!!

Kyle and I fought over whether it was a bee nest or a wasp nest, and an expert in the area settled our feud and we were able to get our new pest control company to come out and exterminate it!  Crisis averted.