Ha'11oween

This past Halloween I was able to celebrate with some of the girls from the youth at our church. We had a blast eating a delicious dinner hosted by our dear friends, the Delanos, and then we played a rousing game of telephone charades. It.was.hilarious. Not to mention watching middle and high school girls acting out hilarious things while in costume. Thankful to be serving with these fun girls and for building deeper relationships with them!

Beautiful Princess Rebekah

Micaela and Lee (our host) the nerds of the group :)

G-pa Rachel...aka old man Rachel

Ahhh, Alissa cracks me up.

bahaha

Thug Kristen acting out Elvis I believe.

The whole gang, minus a few who left earlier.

Rachel (far right) has the best face ever! :) Caught Ruth (far left bottom) unprepared! :)

Thankful for the youth group that Jack and I get to help serve. They are a blessing and blast and a half.

Tent Rocks, Cochiti Lake, Old Route 66 all in 2 days work...

Back in October Jack and I decided we needed a weekend of adventure so we invited some friends of ours [the Moodys] to help come up with a plan of something local yet fun to do. We've been enjoying getting to know our friends better and this was a good way to spend more time and enjoy some outdoor activities together. We decided to check out Cochiti Lake which is only about 20 minutes south of Santa Fe and do some camping and then hike in Tent Rocks National Monument the next day. Jack and I arrived a few hours early and picked out a campsite then we hung out until our friends arrived. The campsite was beautiful, new and right on Cochiti Lake. We had fun that night hanging out, playing with their son, Ethan (2 yrs old), and grilling steaks for dinner. Jack did a great job with them and everything tasted great! The next morning we woke up and packed up after some delicious breakfast burritos thanks to Nate. We headed out to Tent Rocks NM and enjoyed the slot canyons, the hoodoos and beautiful vistas. After hiking for a few hours it was off for some off-roading adventure!! Nate and Daniela have a Toyota Land Rover that was made for off roading and boy did we have fun! We decided to try the Old Route 66 (used in the 1930s) that traveled up La Bajada Hill. It was fun and we were thankful for the Moodys' vehicle! Some parts of it Daniela, Ethan and I walked and others we decided to ride but all in all it was a fantastic trip and we are thankful for our fun friends! Looking forward to the next adventure with the Moodys!!

view from our campsite

we took a little hike before the Moodys arrived

sitting by the lake's edge...like glass

view across the lake

it's a no wake lake so a small little boat caused all those ripples!

Ethan!! He loved playing with his little trucks...Alinna, I think this will be Ruby's husband one day ;)

sunset from the campsite

breakfast burritos thanks to nate [and ethan]

Jack the worm...it was a chilly morning

we had fun testing out sleeping in the Flex...worked grrrreat!

Thought of Brian with this picture

gotta love this adventure seeking fun kid :)

determined.

on our hike at Tent Rocks

this is called a hoodoo...the ball forms because different layers of the rock decay at different times

slot canyon!

gee, I wonder how the park got it's name...

loved how Ethan was collecting rocks

gotta love that New Mexico sky!

the whole gang at the top of the mesa :)

posing with our Chicken in a Biskit!

it was the rage of the hike...not just from us but from other hikers as well :)

headed back down

on our way to Old Route 66!!!

Daniela and I decided to hop out and walk...until we saw....

This guy...then we decided to ride a little longer

we came across 2 fences but they were easily moved out of the way :)

not sure what these guys found but they were having fun

view from the top of La Bajada Hill...what a fun weekend!

Delightful December Desktop Decadence!

Welcome December, I'm glad you're here! So much fun to come and what an exciting month. Thank you Geninne for a GREAT December desktop calendar. By far my favorite thus far. :)

Go get yours, too!

via