California

Well, I don't have many pictures for this awesome trip we went on, since I took most of them on my mother's camera. SO, I will just put the ones I have! It was such an awesome trip, despite the fact that Bradley and I were sick for most of it, and SO wonderful to see so many colors besides brown (I'm forgetting they exist).

So here are the pics we have, with more forthcoming (I hope my mom sent me a CD in the package she sent out?) If not, she is COMING TO VISIT in a month, so I can get them then. :)

Me, Megan, and my favorite little niece!

Our family

Bradley with his Grandpa Smed

Dad and Brad coming down the slide. I don't think he liked it too much.

Everyone after some ride at sea world. I think Jess enjoyed it the most. :)

Me and Brad headed to the pool. We look rad, I know.

Random Note

Our old blog has now been switched over to this blog. So, if by some random chance you are looking for an old post/video, it is now right here. I love google for helping me figure out how to get my wordpress blog to blogger!

Catch up

Okay, I know I just posted, but I have some pictures from the past few weeks that I want to post but haven't had the time. Here are some fun things we've done lately.

There is actually grass in Albuquerque. You just have to search for it a bit. This is a park near our house.

Bradley's first time swimming. He doesn't know what is about to hit him. The water is cold here.

Mom and Bradley in the tent on Brad's first camping trip.

Bradley enjoying our hike.
It was a BEAUTIFUL hike near Santa Fe

He woke up when we got back to our car.

Life as we know it

I feel like it's been a while since I've posted anything. We are going on vacation tomorrow, so things have been a little hectic. Still are. So technically, I shouldn't be posting, but I'm procrastinating. :) Life has been exciting here. We are finally adjusting to New Mexico. Mike loves his internship so far. They are a really good company. And, believe it or not, I am loving Albuquerque. I love the heat!! Although, it always smells like campfire these days, because the smoke from the Arizona fires has been blowing here for the past week. I figure I shouldn't complain though. I would rather have to deal with the smoke than deal with my home and all my belongings going up in flames, which is what some people in Arizona are dealing with. But I digress.

Things have been exciting here. On Wednesday, I got so much stuff done. I cleaned the house (spotless), worked for 4 hours, transfered a bunch of videos to dvd for my mom, played with my son, and did laundry, all before Mike got home. I felt so accomplished. I thought, I must be really lazy most of the time. I'm going to stop being lazy and get that much done every day. So I started Thursday out really optimistically. And that is when God figured I should be brought back to reality. Bradley took a way short morning nap, and woke up super cranky. House was a mess. (I swear I cleaned it the day before). Bradley and kitties getting into everything. Because Brad was so tired, he would not eat his lunch. So finally, I figured he was done. I left for 3 seconds to get more paper towels to wipe his face and...

Apparently he WAS still hungry. He just had a better way to go about it. It was all over him, all over the kitchen. So, I picked him up and plopped him right into the tub, which I'm positive was his diabolical plan all along. I wish he could just talk and say, "Hey mom, I want to get in the tub".

Anyway, I felt like God taught me an important lesson. The days that nothing gets done are not my fault, and the days that I get a ton of stuff done are no reason to gloat. But, as my mother always says, I just need to "enjoy the moment".

As an example of true faith (or parental misguidance, you can be the judge) here is Bradley taking a dive of faith.

So, this past week, Brad has learned a new game with Kim and I, which we call chase. He'll chase us giggling the whole way, or we can chase him with the same giggling result. Enjoy!

Bradley's First Hike

Bradley takes a moment to prepare for the arduous hike ahead. Titan helps him in his meditations.

After Bradley has prepared himself, and Kim and I have loaded up everything for Bradley's diaper bag (you know, everything including the kitchen sink and then some), we are off.

In Albuquerque there's hot days, really hot days...well I think that's it...oh yeah there was that one day where it was kind of cloudy and rained a little. Well, on a day when it's 95 degrees outside, what better than to go on a hike in the desert (this is why Brad needed to prepare himself). Well, we actually went to the one part of Albuquerque where it's green, which is right by the river, a little oasis running down the middle of town. The hike was short but fun. Bradley seemed to enjoy himself. The hike went along the Rio Grande River, right in the middle of town.

Little does Kim know it at this point, but she is soon going to come face to face with something she now fears as much as fire.

That's right, a snake. On our way back to the car, I saw a branch and some sticks on the trail. I just walked by them, but as I was doing so, Kim jumped back and yelled "Snake!" I looked down, and, sure enough, about a foot and a half away was a yellow snake a few feet long crossing the trail. It wasn't coiled up and didn't have a rattle, and just kept moving to the other side of the trail.

So, we survived Bradley's first hike by the Rio Grande River.