NEW MEXICO - DAY 4

JULY - 2012

Today was a very special day, in that

one of my Mom's friends, Deanna, offered

to share her love of horses with the boys.

This is Gunner - the Gentle Giant.

Grey was instantly smitten and 

kept giving Gunner kisses.

Luke on his first ride

Miss Deanna explaining to Grey where

he is "supposed" to hang on. 

Grey on his first ride.  Note two things...

he is "driving" all by his self (remember the 

boy has no fear), and notice where he's holding on.

They were instant BFF's

sooo Sweet, Gunner nuzzling and giving Grey kisses

I loved the smell of the leather saddle

I think Luke was in love too

Just look at that smile

Just love all the detailing and beautiful leather

This is the precocious Miss Caper

The boys didn't want to leave, but it was HOT!!

their pasture

What an Amazing morning.  Miss Deanna told the boys

that whenever they come to visit, they can

come ride horses with her.

I'm positive, they will take her up on that.

This water pump originally belonged to

my Mom's Grandparents, who had it on

their homestead in Illinois.  Throughout my

childhood, it stood in our back yard, and is 

now prominent in Mom & Dad's front garden.

Just another chapter to... "I can sleep anywhere"

he appears to be a Sweet Angel

Of course Grey couldn't be left out...

note:  he's peeing INTO the wind.

Later in the day, we ventured down the street

to friends of my parents, so the boys

could go fishing.  They have a huge

Cottonwood in their backyard.  I love

the sound of the wind through it's leaves.

Mr. George leading the boys down to the water's 

edge to do a little fishing.

a Crazy amount of Catfish

Luke - the serious fisherman

Grandpa has a new nickname for Grey...

Mountain Goat

this is how he got his new nickname...

note** Crocs are not the greatest type of

shoe for rock climbing

he did fish a little bit...

but then he got into trouble (wouldn't stop the

rock climbing), so we had to go back up to the house

New Mexico doesn't have Saguaro cacti, but they

do that Jumping Chollas

this is where we had to climb down to

so focused

the beginning of a beautiful sunset

prickly pear

Miss Joyce provided a little sunset entertainment

blowing bubbles

View of Sunset from their back yard.

Another view of the sunset, a little later

taken from Mom and Dad's front porch.

What an Incredible and Fun Filled Day!!

NEW MEXICO - DAY 3

JULY - 2012

I did get up in time this morning.

And I am so Glad I did.

This Sunrise was Gorgeous!!

Right after I shot the photo above, I looked down

and saw this Black Eyed Susan starting

to turn it's bloom towards the morning sun.

Based on what else we wanted to do for the rest of the

week, and the weather, we decided that

if we wanted to go out on the water again,

it would need to be today.

So, that's exactly what we did.

After lunch, we went over to the marina

so the boys could feed the ducks.

Before we left, I caught Luke

watering the desert.

As soon as the ducks saw us approaching

the water's edge, they came a swimmin'.

We had cat food for them, but they also like corn.

I don't know why this poor little guy

was getting picked on.

Love the coloring on this one.

Despite the horrible heat, the boys had fun.

On the way back through town, I spotted this old

building and had Dad circle around the

block so that I could photograph it.

Sadly, the week after we returned to Virginia,

this building was torn down.

So Glad I got these images.

On this particular evening,

we had a little Family Portrait Session.

Of course, I had to get a Great one 

of my Mom and Dad.

 Then I snuck into one when trying to get one

of the Grandparents/Grandsons.

The sunset tonight was Incredible.  

Dad and I planned on driving up on the plateau

so that I could get an unobstructed view,

but as we turned onto the road to get there,

I had him stop so I could get this...

The plateau shot was pretty amazing too!!