Old Town

The week that we moved here we desperately needed a break from unpacking, so Alain decided that we should see Old Town. He had been there before from a business trip, so he was excited to show us around a little bit.

The boys loved this fountain. It is surrounded by a bunch of little shops. It's cute.

Just chillin'.

There's that Chuckie face again :)

These are some of the views of Old Town. It's not very big, and there's really not much to do there, but it's nice. There are a bunch of shops surrounding this park. It reminds me lot of Jackson Hole, WY.

Back to School, ABQ Style

Look at this stud!!!

I literally cannot believe that my firstborn is in 5th grade!! Next year he'll be in middle school, and I don't know that I'm ready for that.
This was Logan's first day of school. We rushed to move so that he could be here on or near the first day of school. ABQ starts school way earlier than LV, so we moved as fast as we could, and it paid off. He started on the second day of the school year which wasn't too bad since the first day was a half day anyway.
So far he loves it and is thriving at Tierra Antigua. It is a new school that only opened last year. Coming from LV, it is an amazing school. It's awesomely designed, two stories, huge playgrounds and fields, instead of the brick prisons we've been used to.
Logan's only request was that he have a boy teacher. Unbeknownst to us, he got one!! He was so bummed because we knew in LV that he was going to have one, so he was very upset when he learned that he was going to have to switch schools. So far it's turned out ok, and he loves his teacher. I like TA because they are preparing Logan for middle school. They switch teachers throughout the day just like they do in middle school. So even though I don't think he's ready for middle school (he's my baby, and I taught middle school, so I know what it's like!!!) they're trying to prepare him as much as they can for the crazy experience he'll be having next year.
Good luck, Logan! I know you'll do and be great this year. I love ya!

Bye-Bye Las Vegas :(

Many of you may not know, but Alain and I have lived in Las Vegas for 12 years until about 2 weeks ago. We moved there a year after we were married, so we felt like it was going to be home for forever. All our children were born there, and we created many special memories. However, Alain was let go from his job last November due to the economy. Nine months later, he got hired at a firm in Albuquerque. It was a shock for us, but we know this is where we're supposed to be.
We had a little get together thrown for us before we left. Thank you to all who came and said good-bye. We miss everyone we got to know in our years in Vegas, but we know we'll make new friends here in ABQ. This is just some pictures of the people who came to support us on this new journey.

Heather and Justin Williams. They were our neighbors for 7 years, and great friends. There were many a day/night when they were there when we needed them.

Lucien and Delight Paet. I was her visiting teacher, albeit a very bad one. Sorry Delight!!

Annie and Brandon Barkhuff. I taught their son Aidan in my preschool. I loved him!

This is Alain's friend, Catherine. She is one of the sweetest people I think I've ever met.

Leslie and Joe Terry. What can I say about the Terry's? We miss you guys a TON!!

These are some of the people Alain worked with at his old firm. (They are the good ones :)

Kelley and Reese Howell, Jennie and Rob Ogden, and Allison and Chad Waldron. They are all too much fun! They were always good for a hoot and a holler :)

Lindsey Sechrist and Brittney Herlean. I don't think I'll look at sushi the same again after this meal we had. OYSHI!!

Good-bye San Diego :(

When we went to San Diego this past July we knew that it was probably the last time we'd be able to go because of Alain's new job. We tried to make the best of it.

Since we were so excited to go we were so devastated when our tire blew out about 45 mins. out of LV. It was HORRIBLE!!

It took them about a half our just to figure out how to change the tire and where everything was. Cars were honking at us, as if it was our fault we got a flat tire. Alain got a massive burn on his elbow from trying to look for the spare and touching the hot muffler.
It was a great experience (can you sense the sarcasm) that I hope to NEVER have again!

While we were in SD Alain went on his yearly "brothers trip" to Comicon (can we say GEEKS?) while me and the boys spent some time at the SD Zoo. We were all able to go to the Wild Animal Park, the beach (which was FREEZING), and La Jolla. It was extra special since Uncle Clint was able to be with us too.

Three of my four handsome boys.

This was cool because they could go in the turtle thingy and be spun around. They loved it!

Cole was the only one who wanted to feed the deer. He has no fear!

We had lunch near this hill, so the boys enjoyed rolling down it. It brought back many memories of my childhood when we would go to the church near our house and roll down their hill. It seemed huge at the time, but I know now that it was a tiny little thing.

Me and my Cole-buddies.

Ty loved the beach. A little too much in fact. He kept on racing into the water. I don't understand why because if was unbearably cold. The whole vacation it was cold, but I didn't mind coming from 110 weather.

Logan spent his time trying to make a little kiddie pool so Ty wouldn't dive into the ocean. Isn't that nice of him? It never worked though because the water kept on seeping into the sand. Nice try, Logan!

Here's Cole helping his older brother out. Isn't he a sweetie?!

Our last trip was to La Jolla. It was soooo nice! It brought back memories for Alain and I since we went there when we were dating. It was also great weather, and just all around beautiful.
This here is Uncle Clint and Uncle Michael in the look out with the boys.

Isn't it gorgeous?

There were so many pictures I took that were gorgeous, but I didn't want to bore all of you with them. Here's one of my faves.

Good-bye San Diego, you've been good to us. We love you and will miss you tons!

First Girl's Trip.... Take 2

This is the Disney Concert Hall. It looks kind of like a ship, don't you think? It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. We both want to go back and see a concert there.

There is a famous restaurant called Phillipe's. It is famous for it's roast beef sandwiches, so we had to try it. Who would've known that the night we went there they would be all out of roast beef? It was ok, though, we just went back the next day, and boy was it good. They need to have a sign on their squirt bottles, though. What I thought was a mild horesradish sauce turned out to be a hotter than hell horseradish sauce!! I literally felt my sinuses open up. We had the best lemon mirengue pie there. It was to die for. I didn't get a picture of the goods, though, because we were so hungry. It's probably for the best since you'd all be jealous ;)

Isn't it crazy? There were a ton of people there! It's really cool because the floor is covered in sawdust. It also had a bunch of old-fashioned telephone booths.

Next is what I like to call Little Mexico. It is LA's Garment District where there is a ton of clothing and other stuff. I can't lie, I was totally scared, kind of like the time I went to Tijuana, but I got the cutest stuff there for dirt cheap. Leslie and I get comments on our $5 purses we got there all the time. We would've loved to have gone during the week when all of the stores were open, but that would've just added to my anxiety and Leslie's pleasure ;)

Of course we went to the Hollywood Star Walk of Fame (that's what it's called, right?).

We drove around and around this twisty-turny street to get a picture of this sign. We were no where near it! Thank goodness my camera has a great zoom thingy.

Chinese Grauman's Theatre (or however you spell it) was cool, and I had no clue it was right next to the Kodak Theatre or that it was on the Walk of Fame.

It was cool seeing where all the stars have their award shows.

There was so much more that we saw and so many more things we got to do, ie: Dodger Stadium, the Ronald Reagan Library, shopping, every "Town" there was, more shopping, eating, and of course more eating. I can't thank Leslie enough for taking me and making my life so relaxing that weekend.

Anyone up for a Second Girl's Trip?!

First Girl's Trip.... Ever!!

Believe it or not, but I have never been away from my family for any type of vacation. My good friend Leslie heard this and decided that after 13 years, it was time to have a" Girl's Trip." I rightfully agreed, with much pleasure, and we set a date. I can honestly say that it was AMAZING!!! We just went to L.A. for a weekend, but still, I loved every minute of it. I had never been (crazy, I know) but Leslie had; however, she had never been to the places we went, so it worked out perfectly! Thank you so much Leslie for being such a good friend and vacation buddy :)
Our first stop was to Leslie's Aunt Becky's house which she so lovingly let us crash at. Her house is amazing!! The first night we just did a little retail therapy, where Leslie showed me how to really shop :)

The next morning we set out on the town.Can you tell how excited we are?!!?!?

The first stop was the L.A. temple. I had never been there and couldn't believe how massive it was! We saw at least 6 different brides in a matter of like 10 minutes. I can't imagine how busy it was inside!
Next we visited Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive (totally not what we expected at all!). It might seem weird to some, but we literally just drove around and took pictures from the car. What's the point in walking around somewhere where you can't afford anything anyways?!


Does anyone recognize this hotel? Yep, Pretty Woman!!


We thought it was funny that these Orthodox Jews were walking right down the street next to our lunch joint, which was Pink's Hot Dogs! We were going to take a picture of them, but missed due to traffic. Funny thing was that when we turned down some odd street, there they were!! It was so funny that we had to take a picture of the poor guys :)

Here's the famous, original, Pink's.

We waited in line for a little over an hour, short by most day's standards, but it was totally worth it!!

Doesn't this look deeeelicious?!!? It was :)

Our husbands are huge LA Ink fans, (who am I kidding, so am I) so we decided to stop by and take a peek.

It was totally different inside than what I imagined.

On TV it looks huge, but it really isn't. Can you say JEALOUS, Joe?!?!??!

There's a ton more to post about, but I think this one is long enough. Stay tuned :)

Thirty-Five Years Young

It's official! Alain's an OLD man ;) He turns 35 tomorrow, so we had our family celebration tonight. In attendance: his dad and step-mom, his mom and youngest brother Michael, Jake and Emalisa, and our family. It turned out well, if I do say so myself. He wanted sliders, so I did 3 different kinds with fries and a strawberry salad. As always, we had Black Forest Cake for dessert, which was a rather abstract version
that turned out mighty cute :)
I love you hon!It looks kind of gross, but it really was appetizing!One year older and wiser, too! (We hope.)

Ty's Mess

I was cleaning out the pantry this week, and our little rascal snuck out a box of cereal when I wasn't looking and did this:

Not even an hour later the pantry door was obviously left unlocked and I heard, "Not again!". Yes, he had done it again, and it looked like this:

Alain was so mad!! He went storming to get the vacuum. What did I do? I went to find the camera! :)