April 27, 2019: Kayaking on the Rio Grande with the Jessica and Sebastian!

Saturday, April 26th: We finally got to take Jessica and Sebastian on the river with us! It was fun to kayak together on the Rio Grande while the water level was high. Seb's first kayak, which was a small white water "shoe" type, got filled with water in the back and tipped over! So I pulled off to the side to get out of my larger "sit on top" kayak and ran barefoot on the dirt above the bank back to where we put our kayaks in. We decided that Seb should try using my kayak while I attempted to ride in his smaller one. It was a great success! The only bad part was that poor Seb got a painful sunburn on his thighs and legs! And he also got a backache from riding on my kayak. We're definitely going to find a larger kayak to purchase--for tall guys!

It's become a tradition now to stop at Freddy's in Rio Rancho before heading home. We enjoy their steak burgers, chili cheese fries, and custard!

Our Jess and Seb ready for an adventure

"Putting in" on the Rio Grande River

My first attempt in the smaller "shoe-shaped" kayak after Seb's mishap!

There's our Jessica!

And there's Seb in my bigger "on top" kayak

Love this man's face and dimples!

And love this girl's happy smile

 

My good friend Patti Waseta enjoying the river

This was pretty fun!

Colorful Kayaks on the brown river!

Early 2019: A new guest room, a new Jeep, and new outdoor plants

This spring I decided to turn my sewing room into another guest room for company. That was fun to do! I found an ivory colored queen bed set with a matching small dresser on Craigs List and got the furniture for $450 altogether. The bed came with a newer mattress and boxspring too.

Our first guest room, which used to be Jessica's bedroom

Our new second guest room with an ocean feel

Our 2006 Jeep Commander kept having problems,
so we decided to trade it in for this fully loaded (silver) 2018 Jeep Rubicon

Parked inside our crowded garage, it actually takes up less space than the Commander did

One of our many drives to the river--and now we have a new trailer to carry the boats back home

Beautiful new plants to spruce up our porch and front yard. This one is Spanish Lavender

This is a lilac bush, which Mike had me return. It would get too big for our front yard

This is a Ballerina shrub. Mike wants us to replace it already because it's not that pretty afterall

This one is a lovely Spirea shrub that we put in our backyard 

I also returned this pretty Red Crepe Myrtle shrub because of it's potential size

Our rock garden with new orange Poppy plants and Golden Spirea before the plants got bigger and fuller

Funny license plate on the back of a Jeep!

March 30, 2019: Spring Party and Celebrating Sofie's 1st Birthday

Saturday, March 30th: Time to gather the family together for a spring party! We had outdoor games and picnic-type food. It's always wonderful to see my kids and grandchildren 💖. And Sofie turned one year old on the 28th!

Easter egg races. Look at the concentration on Tyler and Beau's cute faces!

It was windy, and these plastic eggs were a challenge!

Time for the grownups

  

Looks like it took a long time to get started, but Mike just snapped a lot of pictures
We also had three-legged races and Bean Bag Toss. Everyone got an Easter basket prize

Get from there to this wall as fast as you can without dropping your egg!

This is how I cook bacon the easy way in a 400 degree oven. I put real bacon in my baked beans.

Frosted chocolate cup cakes for everyone