The Merry Month of May

We left for Spencer and Brooke's place on the 9th of May. We had wind, rain, snow and sleet until we got to Denver and then the rest of the trip was pretty nice. We saw a huge avalanche going through the mountains before we got to Denver. It had stopped just short of the freeway. We arrived the day before Abby's pre-school program and last day of pre-school. Here she is after her program in front of the church where she went to pre-school. She loved school and will miss it. Now it's off to kindergarten.

Abby had been waiting since her birthday in February for us to get there with her birthday present. We told her it was too big to mail, so then she was really curious. She and grandpa spent one whole afternoon putting it together.

Grandpa had a productive visit. Carter asked Grandpa if he would help him build a doghouse, so they did. They don't have a dog. Spencer thinks maybe Carter is trying the theory "...if you build it, he will come." However, it was a great little project. Abby and Carter did all the painting. Before we left, Dennis put the door on with a hinge and a handle. The three little humans were the ones playing inside it. Spencer and Brooke's new home is lovely. Their blog pictures make it look great, but even they don't do it justice.

We took the southern route home and detoured to Lubbock, Texas for a visit with Bishop and Sister Curtis. We enjoyed catching up on things with them and got in a session at the Lubbock Temple. I intended to take some pictures, but forgot until it was too dark. I had never been to Santa Fe or Taos, so we came home that way. We spent the afternoon walking around the old downtown and found it interesting. This is a statue of the first native American woman to achieve sainthood by the Catholic Church. The cool rainy weather caught up with us again in Santa Fe.

We walked around the state offices and state capitol building. I just thought this was funny. The ivy apparently does not always stay attached to the walls. This was probably 25 feet tall before it bent over.

We looked all over downtown and finally had to consult a map to discover that this was the New Mexico state capitol building....very unassuming.

Except for the distinctively southwestern architecture, we weren't particularly impressed with Taos. It seemed very much like a Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, Park City....very artsy, very touristy and lots of high-end shopping. This was Kit Carson's home/now museum.

About ten miles west of Taos, you cross a bridge over the Rio Grande River. The gorge was impressive. I was astonished to be crossing the Rio Grande. I've always associated it with the Texas/Mexican border and didn't realize that the headwaters are in the Colorado Rockies.

We were driving along in this very remote part of New Mexico and we come upon this lovely little Mormon Church. I wrote down the name of the little branch somewhere, but can't find it now. They were part of the Santa Fe stake and even had their own satellite dish! The drive through the mountains to Durango, Colorado was beautiful. (I didn't know there was anything that pretty in New Mexico!) We got in a real blizzard though. Spring is having a hard time arriving in this part of the country.

We got back home in time for Nathan's pre-school graduation. He did a great job on their little program. Nathan asked Grandpa if he would come to all his graduations. Dennis said he'd sure try. Nathan said, "Good! My next one is Haydn Peak." Haydn Peak is the elementary school where he will start kindergarten next fall.

Nathan with Mrs. Hermansen, his teacher. Nathan got to keep his cap. We thought it was perfect for pre-school--especially the fruit loop tassel.