The Boys at Home

The older kids are back in school, and I was off work this week, so I was able to observe both Isaac and Evan in their natural habitat. Here is what I saw.

First, Isaac speed-reading the first Harry Potter book:
And here Isaac tells Evan how it is:

After their little chat, Evan decides to try this sitting up business:

The object of Evan's interest here is, as one would guess, his mother. He's gotten to the point that he can sit like this for a minute of two before toppling over.

Sun Bread

The kids and I found a great book at the library called Sun Bread by Elisa Kleven.

In it some animals, who are tired of the long winter, make sun bread to call the sun back. On the back there is a great recipe to make your own sun bread. On Sunday, after a drizzly, gray day we decided to make sun bread. It turned out a little darker than I wanted, but still just adorable.

We all enjoyed eating it as well.

My New Camera

On Christmas I got a new camera. I have started taking pictures with it. It is silver and I can
put new covers on it . I have taken a few pictures with it. They will start being on a blog.
I will start doing more and more blogs once in a while. I will start blogging a lot now.

A New Year of Hikes

To celebrate the new year, the kids and I went to the Elena Gallegos open space on Tuesday and tromped through the snow for a few hours. The Pino trail leads east up to the mountains, eventually meeting up with the 20 mile Crest trail that runs the length of the Sandias at 10,000'. We didn't hike that much...

About 1/2 mile up, we paused for a picture of the kids:
After nearly a mile we reached the edge of the Forest Service wilderness area, where we decided to turn north and circle back to the parking lot. The trail was more involved than we expected, so our short hike turned into 2.5 miles, with a lot of up and down. The kids were great; here they hit one of the hills:

One of my favorite parts of this area is the topography of the Sandia foothills. Here's a shot of the northern edge of the mountains from about halfway along our hike:

And this is a view south from the same spot:

The snow from a few weeks before was mostly melted on the south-facing slopes, but, as seen above, in the shade and on the north-facing slope, there was still a bit of the white stuff. Much of the trail was muddy from meltoff, especially in stretches where mountain bikers had dug ruts.

And here is my favorite vantage from the hike--looking west across the valley. From this far up, you can see 12,000' Mt. Taylor, an ancient volcano that resulted in the lava fields of El Malpais, near Grants.

The Last Hike of 2007?

On Saturday the kids and I set out on what may be the final hike of the year, as cold weather may make Monday a no-hike day. We visited the Volcanoes area of the Petroglyph National Monument. The area includes trails around three extinct cone volcanoes. the smallest and closest to the parking area is JA Volcano, seen here in the distance behind the kids:
The volcanoes were sacred sites to the ancient inhabitants of the area, which is in part why the escarpment to the east of the cones is dotted with thousands of petroglyphs. And because the area is still considered sacred to the Pueblo people of the Albuquerque area today, hiking atop the cones is prohibited. But the trails skirting the sides of the volcanoes make for a good hike; altogether there are about 5 miles of trail around the three cones.

We hiked toward JA Volcano, then turned north to circle Black Volcano before returning to the city overlook at the base of JA. Here the kids pose with the city behind them:

And here the kids sit at the overlook before embarking on the return trip to the car. All told, we hiked about 2 miles. When the sun was out from behind the clouds and the wind was calm, it was a very pleasant hike. When the sun was hidden or the wind picked up, well, it felt like a December hike. But it made for a very nice end to a year of fun outings in and around New Mexico. Here's to more adventures in 2008.

Open Space Visitors Center & Cranes

To celebrate Boxing Day, the kids and I paid a visit to the Albuquerque Open Space Visitors Center, a new facility housing information about the city’s open space in the foothills, along the river bosque, and in the west mesa petroglyphs. The center is a renovated house on the western edge of the bosque, near farmland and trials. On Monday I visited the city’s website and saw that migratory sandhill cranes were in the fields near the center, so we went by today.


The courtyard outside the visitors center is decorated to represent the Rio Grande running through the state, with rock outcroppings representing the mountain ranges of the region. Three cone-shaped hills represent volcanic field in the western portion of the state. Each of the kids sat atop a volcano and slid down.

We then visited the overlook to the west of the open field where nearly 200 cranes and several dozen ducks frolicked. Here the kids pose in front of the cranes (the cranes are the small dots in the background).

We also paused to see the Arbol de la Vida—the Tree of Life. This sculpture was carved into the standing trunk of a lighting-struck cottonwood, decorated with reliefs of the native wildlife of New Mexico.

Merry Merry

Christmas came and went with much joy here in the desert southwest. A smattering of snow fell Christmas day; nothing stuck, but we got to call it a “White Christmas.”

The kids had a wonderful time. Here is Allyson with the gift from Nathan, as well as slippers form Isaac and pajama pants made by Summer.
Here Ryan plays “Jumpin’ Monkeys,” a game we got from the Kimbers. Ryan is the best monkey jumper in the house, and the game is more fun than it really ought to be.

Isaac’s big present from Santa is this wood work bench. I put it all together after all the gifts were opened, causing me to quip, “I need a work bench to put the work bench together.” In the future, Santa will assemble his presents beforehand.

Thanks to all our family for both gifts (grandparents were, as always, generous and thoughtful, and Nathan, Heather and Dave, and Cheryl and Jason all gave some wonderful presents) and, more importantly, the great joy and love we share with you. The greatest gift we enjoy is found in our loved ones. And may you all have a happy and safe New Year.

And for all you chumps going back to work before mid-January, have fun at the office…