2009

Happy New Year! As we groggily wake to a new year (the kids tried to stay up to midnight again last night; Isaac fell asleep on the floor around 10:30, and by 11:15 Summer and I had given up and sent everyone--ourselves included--to bed for the night), here are some plans for the next 12 months.

We set individual and family goals for the year based on the six areas of self-reliance taught by the church--physical health, education, employment, resource management, emergency preparation, and spiritual strength. Our physical health goal as a family is to go on more regular walks/hikes, which we hope to begin later today in the foothills. At least once a week we would like to go somewhere around town for an hour-long walk.

Our first few trips will be separate vacations: in March I will go to Arizona for spring training with Dad and Nathan, and in May Summer's going to Women's Conference. The timing of both trips is good--I'll be ready for a break halfway through the semester, and Summer can get ready for the kids' summer break with her trip.

Also in May, we would like to take the better part of a week for a nearby camping trip--either southern NM or northern NM and southern Colorado. We're working on going south to Carlsbad and White Sands or north to Great Sand Dunes.

I'd like to catch 4-6 Isotopes games with the kids and Summer, and maybe one or two by myself. Earlier in the year, beginning as soon as late February, the Lobos have home baseball games, so we might catch a few of those as well.

The big thing this year will be Ryan's baptism, followed by a trip, likely to Mesa Verde, with my parents and siblings. Carolyn's supposed to be looking into cabins/lodges near Durango. Everything I've found is a bit off, but this may be a starting point for further research.

Over Christmas we're planning a trip to somewhere. Summer proposed Disneyland, but that may be too expensive, so we may go with my suggestion of Zion or the Grand Canyon. You can see what we're considering here.

We also hope to do lots of fun ABQ things--the BioPark, Explora, the Nature Center, Old Town, the foothills--and find new things to do and enjoy here.