good bye summer

Is summer almost over???  We will miss our little swimming pool and picnic lunches.  We've had fun road trips and good times discovering new parks.  You have given us the perfect summer Albuquerque, your weather is the best!

camping in colorado

We met up with all of the Denver Granges this weekend for some good old camping in southern Colorado.  Mom and Dad Grange rented an R.V. for a more comfortable camping experience.  The girls and babies got to sleep all cozy inside while the boys (including little Ryan and Andrew) slept in tents...in the rain.  It rained and rained and rained!  In fact, it was raining so much we had to cut the trip short :(  We did mange to get some good family time in and did enjoy the time we had together.  We visited the Sand Dunes and found a gem of a place called GatorLand.  It is this random place in nowheresville, CO.  It turned out to be well worth the money.  You just don't expect to see a whole bunch of alligators in Colorado!

Ryan got to hold an alligator and was given an award of bravery that the alligator signed (it bit down on the paper)

The alligators were close!

And this is the kind of place it was....nice fence huh.  

On My Honor...

Spencer is on a scouting trip this weekend.  As I dropped him off, I told him we needed to have a girl someday so at least I could have someone to go to the movies with or something while all the boys were off doing who knows what (I hear it's best that mom's just don't know what really goes on) in the wilderness somewhere.  I feel for my mother-in-law who had all boys and a scouting husband.  In all fairness, I should feel for my dad too, who with three girls, I'm sure he was left out of stuff too!  Anyways, I am happy for Spencer to be a scout again.  Besides ward librarian and ward clerk, it is one of the callings he aspires for.  

But Ryan is very sad that he didn't go camping too.  He told me it is his most favorite thing to do (he's been once).  He keeps asking me how old he has to be to be a scout.  

I hope Spencer isn't mad about me posting this picture...but isn't he the cutest scout ever??

p.s.  Is anyone else a slacker mom when their husband is out of town?  When Spencer leaves us, we eat out, I rent the chic flick movies I've been wanting to see that Spencer won't watch with me, and my kids watch a lot of T.V.  I would be a bad single parent!

"oh, what do you do in the summertime?"

Thanks grandpa for the fun slip n slide! Even Spencer couldn't resist sliding away (although he was pretty sore the next couple days, what an old man!) The box said it is for ages 5-12...hmmm...we have nobody that fits in that category. Andrew loved it the most. Spencer would hold him and run and slide him across. He thought it was hilarious and as soon as he got up he would get back into sliding position and try to slide himself again.

more of Albuquerque

The Petroglyphs

Cross of the Martyrs Monument in Sante Fe

The Loretto Chapel, home of the "miraculous staircase". It has no supports holding it up. It was also a miracle that we actually paid $2.50 to see it.

The oldest house in the U.S.

The oldest church in the U.S., the San Miguel Mission

By now you should be thinking to yourself, "gee, Albuquerque looks like a great place to live!", or "I thought the Grange's were crazy when I heard they were moving to New Mexico, but it looks pretty cool".

(these posts are helping to convince MYSELF that Albuquerque is great.)

Happy 4th of July

Ryan got to participate in a bike parade at church. He was too lazy to ride by himself, so I got to be in the parade too!

"Why you should all want to be a New Mexican"

I think my next couple posts will be dedicated to convincing all of our family and friends that Albuquerque is an awesome place and with the hope that you will all want to visit us...or even better yet, decide that it is such a great place that you just have to live here. My parents are in town so we have been getting in lots of the tourists hot spots. We rode the Sandia Peak Tramway (the longest tramway in the world I might add) the other night. It was a beautiful view and it was nice to leave the desert behind to get up into the woods. Spencer met us right after work, which should explain why he was dressed in dockers and dress shoes on a hike.