The beloved middle and ring fingers

Tom's developed a fancy for a couple of his fingers. This photo could be taken at about any point in the day...or night.

Ski Trip to Santa Fe

Last weekend we drove up to Santa Fe for a little ski trip. We stayed at a great place called the Santa Fe Motel and Inn. It is an old place near the middle of town and very reasonably priced. We brought the port-a-crib for Tom and enjoyed a comfy night's stay. They had an excellent breakfast in the morning with homemade oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, eggs, fruit, and orange juice. Yummy!!

It snowed about three inches overnight and made for a magical setting - there is nothing quite as unique as southwestern, adobe buildings with fresh snow. It was really beautiful.
Luckily the Subaru does pretty well in the snow, so we were set to head up to the ski area.

Tom got to stay in the day care area with the older kids. We came back at one point and Tom was asleep with all the other kids gathered around him watching. He's a crowd pleaser. Unfortunately, he got a bit of a cold, but he is recovering well. I got to try out the new snowboard I got for Christmas. It was very nice - I went into the ski shop to tighten the bindings and I got a lot of comments like "nice ride, dude" and "sweeeeet". The snowboarding was excellent. The terrain wasn't as good as Solitude, but it was pretty close. The snow was perfect and got even better as the day went on and the snow continued to fall. The snow also cleared out all the people (although there really weren't many people there) and flocked Steph's hair quite nicely.

All in all a great trip.

Cute kid

Steph got me a digital photography book for Christmas. I think it has helped me get some better shots. Of course, Tom's a pretty cute kid, so it ins't hard. It's an excellent book, by the way.

Backpack with desired features not mentioned in the owners manual

Tommy got a groovy backpack from the Andersens and Durhams. We have been waiting for a while for him the develop the torso strength and control to saddle up. Well, we finally tried it a few weeks ago (top photo). Unfortunately, the timing could have been better - we tried it right after Tom had finished eating. As you can see, the backpack is apparently an effective emetic and directs vomit directly onto the wearer's shoulder. Nice shot!

Cereal Face

Tommy started eating food! Last night was the first time he had some rice cereal, and he slept through the night! Since we don't have a high chair, he is sitting in the seat area of his bathtub for support. As you can see, a lot of the food last night ended up on his face, but he did better tonight - I guess he likes to eat!

On other notes, the snow, sadly, is melting away. Albuquerque public schools are finally reopening tomorrow. The news showed a poor school maintenence person trying to clear the walkways with a spade shovel - I guess they had to just wait for it to melt!

We finally have Christmas packed away. Dave hates lugging the artificial tree around and suggested we just leave it until July for the movers to deal with, but he relented and it's now packed up and in the garage. So, I suppose life returns to normal....

December photos

This is our house on Christmas Eve. Luminarias, a New Mexico tradition, line our driveway and walkway. Tommy is bundled up in my jacket.


Baby Santa with his older counterpart.


Dave and Tommy go for a hike on Christmas Day while Steph works in the ER. Tommy is zonked in the backpack.





Lots of snow in Albuquerque!!! Here are photos of our house, backyard and the hill behind our house where Dave did a little snowboard run. It's strange to see the cacti covered in snow! Of course, while all these pictures were being taken by Dave, I was stranded in the airport with Tommy. (We're glad to be home now!)