As summer is slipping into fall, I have realized that I'm ridiculously behind on blog posts, so I'm just going to back it up a little and update about my major adventures of the summer a post at a time...
On August 12th we departed for an excellent vacation- Millie's first vacation to be exact- to see our very good friends Russ, Jamie, & Amelia Collins in Albuquerque, NM for a week. It was nothing short of a fabulous time full of laughs, playing catch-up, loving each others' little girls, sightseeing, relaxing, eating delicious NM fare, relishing the perfect dry heat days and cool mornings, and soaking up every precious moment with our friends who we miss and love so much! Here's the play-by-play followed by a slideshow of tons of pics:
Day 1- Flying to Albuquerque with the little one. Well, turns out that she was an excellent flyer. We packed lots of toys and treats and we couldn't have asked for a smoother time. We arrived in Albuquerque that evening around 8:00. Perfect timing to go to the house, have some delicious NM take-out and put our tired traveller to bed.
Day 2- The Rio Grande Zoo. The girls had such a great time. There's a whole slew of pictures in the slideshow! Millie & Amelia's favorites were the polar bears, big cats, & monkeys.
Day 3- The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. Millie had a bit of a meltdown at this museum, but we were able to learn a thing or two. There were some interesting and informative Native American dancing demonstrations. That night we had a delicious dinner cooked by me & Jamie and took some goofy pics.
Day 4- Old Town for shopping. We hit some of the touristy stops in this area and bought some pink moccasins for Millie. It just so happened that the Salsa Festival was going on in the square, so there were lots of people and street vendors plus live music. We stopped in several small art galleries and sat a spell by a fountain to watch a native woman weave a blanket while an old man played a Dobro in the background. It was like a movie! Perfection. We wrapped up with a lunch in the garden of a nearby restaurant. Perfect day? I say probably yes.
Day 5- The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Museum. Albuquerque is home to the nation's largest hot air balloon festival in October. I imagine the next time we go out for a visit, we'll be going for this event. We visited the museum to learn a little hot air balloon history. Millie made her own history as she gave us her wildest it's-my-naptime-and-I'll-scream-if-I-want-to fit of all time. We followed up the museum visit with a nap in the car on the way to a picnic lunch at a park.
Day 6- Date Night for the Smiths. We had a delicious belated anniversary dinner by taking the trolley to the top of the Sandia Mountains (2 miles above sea level) to have dinner at a restaurant overlooking the whole city. The night was nothing short of magical. I fell in love with my husband all over again. The pictures say everything!
Day 7- The Natural History Museum- We took a very quick afternoon (post-nap finally) visit to see some fossil records and other bits of space and earth history at this museum. We all three loved the dinosaurs, and my personal favorite were the dozens of natural gems/rocks from the southwest. I loved all that bling-o-nature.
Day 8- Home Sweet NWA. Millie travelled pretty well on the way back thanks to Praise Baby on the lap top.
About their house: The Collins' live in a gorgeous historical house which is the home to their new college ministry on the University of New Mexico campus. If you are reading this and you like to talk to Jesus, please ask for His blessings upon their ministry. These people have beautiful servants' hearts and there is a need for their gifts exactly were God has placed them. It was such a need part of being there... knowing that God is working in that place. He's so cool like that. I love the stories of how God has met their needs perfectly and miraculously. I'm excited to hear of how God is using Russ, Jamie, and Amelia to reach His UNM kids. :0)
Enter slideshow!
 |
 |
| Make a Smilebox slideshow |
