Celebrating Creativity and Diversity

What a busy Saturday it was. I was scheduled to photograph a wedding, Collin's "Celebrate Creativity" day and Kayla's "Celebrate Diversity" day were taking place at the same time.
We had to call in help! Luckily Grandma Elephant came to the rescue.
She stayed with Kayla at the big Gilbert Celebrate Diversity day festival while Tim took Collin to both his soccer game and his preschool art celebration.
Phew! And I got in to my black wedding photography garb and ran to both kids celebrations to see them in action and snap a few photos before my wedding.
Every child in Collin's preschool put their favorite art creations on a large presentation board and set them up in the gazebo area by his school. All of the parents came and walked through, meeting the artists and viewing their work.
There was a picnic, games and drawings and prizes. The kids had a blast!
Kayla's Brownie troop got to take part in the big Diversity parade. They each got to carry a flag for a particular country and dress in clothing to represent that county.
Kayla was Sudan. What a beautiful learning experience!!






Collin's Creativity Day

Apes and razors

Another awesome part of our 10 day roadtrip this month was the conversation.
We talked about so much and I love hearing the kids' ideas about things.
While Collin wins for the best one liners of the trip, one of my favorite conversations was with Kayla about evolution.
I don't remember how it came up but we were discussing the biblical account of creation and the scientific theory of evolution.
I asked her what she thought. She said, "I think that God put apes here and after awhile the apes started shaving. I think God liked how it looked so he went with it."
That had to be documented. Too funny!

The trip back

Our trip back from Austin was fun-filled and educational. And because we shared it with Nana and Papa we will always remember it and we're so glad we had so much fun together.
First we had Easter in my cousin's beautiful home in Dallas. The kids decorated eggs, had an amazing Easter Egg Hunt and woke up to baskets the bunny left for them overnight.
We had so much fun with our Texas relatives, Amy, Jamie, Carl, Amy and Caleb, Heidi and Danny and Aunt Barb.
On our three day trip home we stopped at many wonderfully fun places.
Roswell was the first stop. There we visited the alien museum and looked over many documents, pictures, stories, models and more. The kids learned all about what took place in Roswell in the summer of 1947 and got to speculate as to what they thought the truth is. When I asked if the alien stuff was scaring Collin he said, "nah this stuff isn't scary. Now a half breed chihuahua on my roof at night... now THAT would scare me." Ummm Okey dokey.
We stopped in San Petrillo next and visited the Michael Hurd Gallery... what beautiful work. In the same town there was a house where Billy the Kid used to visit a girlfriend.
Then we hit Lincoln, NM... the mother stop of the trip... for me anyway!!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Billy the Kid history. We got to see the actual original John Tunstall store. Across the street and up a bit was the Murphy store. Those damn Murphy Boys. They hated how successful Tunstall was becoming so they had him murdered. Billy and his friends were very unhappy about that and we saw the exact spot that the sheriff was shot down (who apparently killed Tunstall).
Then we saw the jail where Billy was held and the window that he leaned out of and shot the deputy so he could escape.
Interestingly enough, the people of Lincoln were very very loyal to Billy the Kid and claimed that he was a really good guy and that he didn't kill 21 men. That was legend. He really only shot a few men... all deserving.
Who knows the truth but it was such an interesting afternoon.
Next day we stopped at the Very Large Array (the huge satellite antennas and the place the Jodie Foster movie, Contact was filmed)
There we watched a film about space, radio waves and satellites.
I was joking with Collin saying, "we're about to see a move about lawn care OK?"
And he said, "No Mom, this is going to be about space and technology. Come on!"
OK smartie pants.
We had fun with the railroad tracks near the VLA and took some pix there.
All in all, an AMAZING trip!!!!






The alien museum in Roswell


The alien souvenirs the kids picked out at the gift shop






You can see the huge satellite antennas in the distance.

Chris and Kelsey's wedding

What a beautiful day it was! The ceremony was great and Uncle Jim was the officiant.
He did an outstanding job. Chris and Kelsey put together such a great ceremony and reception and their vision came together perfectly. Guests were asked to share any advice or thoughts and many sweet and emotion filled words were said. Sweet Kayla made a little speech too.
She said, "when I was little I always told my Mom that I wanted to marry Uncle Chris. But I am more happy for Kelsey than myself." And then she cried. Soooo dang sweet!
The food was vegetarian and very yummy.
And after there were lawn games, hula-hoops and bubbles.
We all had a blast and it was very special!
Best of all, the kids have a new aunt!! Yay!

Trip to Texas

Our trip to Texas was filled with fun.
We decided to take our time over two days and sight-see. As usual, we did our trip "old school" and the kids had library books, coloring and books on CD to occupy them. Kayla had an atlas and books on Billy the Kid and the old west. She read to us and quizzed us on state capitals. We learned all about New Mexico and Texas too.
Much to Tim's dismay, I really did stop at every historical marker we drove by.
Our two BIG stops were Mesilla, NM and Fort Stockton, TX.
In Messilla we visited the courthouse where Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced.
I have always been fascinated by Billy and his history so I was thrilled to be there!
We visited a local chocolate shop and ate our chocolates in the town square where all the hangings used to take place. I reckon our afternoon there was nicer than many people's of the past. :)
Fort Stockton was our next stop on day two of the drive. It's a historic army fort.
We got to see the original buildings, the jail/dungeon where prisoners were kept, the officer's housing and the army bunks. There was also a great museum where many of the historical items were kept, from weapons to personal effects.
We learned a lot and truly enjoyed the afternoon.
We drove through an adorable little German town, Fredricksburg on our way to Austin and I wish we could have spent more time there. The food and shops looked amazing.
I love car trips because you experience so much as a family together with all there is to see in our country!!
New Mexico is full of color!




Collin got to see what it was like for a prisoner at Fort Stockton

What a treat this was for us to see this moon when we pulled up to our hotel.

More catch up

The world wildlife zoo with Bev and her kids.
What an AWESOME time. We loved the skyride and all of the wonderful animals.
My favorite memory is of the monkeys in the trees angrily shaking their fists
at the ducks and birds swimming up to their island.




Collin took this picture himself!


We gave Collin a fauhawk. Love it!

We had a visit with Aunt Wanda, Uncle Johnny and Tim's awesome cousins!

Kayla drew this awesome picture of a shark.

We opened up the pool in March.


Lastly, Kayla had a minor office surgery. Tim was out of town so Nana went with us.
When we got home Tim had sent her flowers with a bear hugging the vase. It brought tears to her eyes! JuneBug was extra cuddly with Kayla when she got home.