New Mexico

Our nephew, Tobey, graduated high school last week, so we took a trip down to Las Cruces, NM for a quick visit with family.  Most of the trip consisted of hanging out at the pool with family.  The Parkes family is really trying to get rid of our terrible farmer's tans.


 

 

Pic #1, Jack getting ready to hit Luke
Pic #2, after the fact
Pic#3, keeping Luke quiet

  

Luke LOVED the pool.  He had no fear by the end of our trip.  To some extent, I wasn't happy about that, because I think that a healthy dose of fear can keep kids safe.  We had to watch Luke extra to make sure he stayed safe!

Here Luke is counting on his fingers with Howard before he jumped into Daddy's arms.

Notice Jack...he hung out near or on the stairs the whole time.  He has an unhealthy dose of fear when it comes to swimming.

I have a feeling Luke will be swimming independently before Jack.

Erin had a blast!

 Silly boy!

 My favorite picture of the grad with his brother, Tommy.

 Luke did so well potty training on our trip.  I wasn't going to press the issue, but he insisted.  He actually stayed dry they whole drive home.   I can't say the same now that we are back home.  It's like he forgot what a toilet is!   Luke is mad at me while I took this picture...he's not going #2.

 One morning we went down to Old Mesilla and looked at the shops.  This mini mug is in memory of my mom.  She had a huge mug collection.

 Jack was so excited when he saw this picture frame.  He thought it was a TV leapster. 

Another day we drove out to Elephant Butte Lake.  It was AWFUL! The wind was so bad that we left after about 45 minutes even though it was a 90 mile drive each way. Howard said it was comparable to the wind and sand in Iraq. We ended up getting stuck and having to be towed out (so thankful for the angels who had a tow hitch to get us out), and had our picnic in the van because it was unbearable.  We salvaged the rest of our day by swimming in the hotel pool and going out for Chinese food.  If you notice in the above picture, the wind is really pushing on the tents and I took this picture from my van.  Luke and Jack were out of the van for about 5 minutes before they got back in.  You know it's bad when a toddler and preschooler would rather be in a vehicle than play in the sand at the lake.

The Organ Mountains as we left Las Cruces on highway 70. What a sight!  This picture doesn't do it justice! 

Sorry to the family members who were on the trip to NM and I didn't post your picture.  I tried to include everyone, but some of the pictures I have either didn't turn out or they were not flattering.  I thought you would appreciate that.  Sorry!