and more Photography class photos

I've been taking a lot of photos for my photography class. Here are a few samples of my recent work.

Silos at Fort StantonCross Cutout in Capitan

Piece of wood

Plumbing pipe in our front yard

Aspen trees against the beautiful blue sky

Happy Halloween 2007!!

Here are a few pictures of Kinsey from Smokey Bear Park and Museum. We went to a community party there tonight then went Trick-or-Treating.

Fall has arrived!

Fall has arrived in the Lincoln National Forrest. We drove through Nogal Canyon and around Bonita Lake this weekend. The leaves are changing and it's just beautiful. Here are a few pictures I took on our drive.

This last one is us at a beautiful cabin in the woods. Neal was showing us a new subdivision being built near there. This house was gorgeous. The house of my dreams. I'm sure it's going to be someones vacation house. Someday........

The playground is done!

The playground is finally done! We went to two birthday parties there last weekend and it was a lot of fun. This past weekend, my Mom was visiting so she and I took Kinsey and my nephew to the park. Here are a few pictures I took.

Kinsey at the top of the tower


Cade on the fire poleKinsey and Cade in Smokey Bear Park

It takes a Village...........

to build a playground. Neal and I participated in the building of the new playground in Capitan. I helped by sanding and sealing this swing structure. I was only able to do as high as I can reach. I don't trust myself on ladders any more so I held the ladder for someone else to do the top beams and top 1 ft of the uprights. I also sanded and sealed a few other smaller things.

Neal had to work for part of the morning but when he got there he helped build the firetruck. The theme of the whole playground is Smokey Bear/Ranger station since it's beside the Smokey Bear Park.

The main structure is a fire tower with climbing wall, slide, and a rope climb.

The kids are going to love it once it's done. There were not nearly enough people there to help but those that did show up gave it their all!! When it's completed I will add a few more pictures.

Has it been a month already?

Back to school and pre-school starting has kicked my butt this year. We have a lot of younger kids in pre-school this year and they take a lot more work than our previous years. We also have a few more babies that before. Two days a week we have a 7 month old...wow! I think we forgot how much work a baby is.

At the beginning of the month, I went to my Mom's retirement party in Pecos. She worked for over 40 years and decided to retire this year. The next day we left to go to Central Texas to visit family and go to my great-Aunt's 90th birthday party. We had a great time. I got to visit Waco, Tx where I went to college. It was interesting to go back and visit places I used to go and work. Here are a few a great picture of the suspension bridge over the Brazos River.

This will give you hope

Kinsey was playing outside and called me to come look. This is the view I saw. It's the Baptist church across the highway. Beautiful isn't it?

It's almost rodeo time!

Next weekend Kinsey and I will attend The 125th Annual West of the Pecos Rodeo. No we don't participate but we are spectators. I grew up in Pecos, Texas "Home of the World's First Rodeo"and have attended as many years as I've been able to. Kinsey has gone pretty much every year of her life.

Growing up I wore jeans, boots, and western attire. Now days I wear shorts, flip flops, and the coolest shirts I can find...lol! Pecos is hot in July usually averaging about 110 degrees during the day. When we want to take Kinsey to the park to play we wait until 10pm to go so it's cooler. You would be surprised at how many people are out there at that time of night.

The following week we will be back home and attend the Smokey Bear Stampede and Parade. It's the local rodeo and festivities. The parade is amazing because it has so many fire trucks in it. Trucks from all over the area come to participate. You just have to hope there's not a fire any where because all the fire trucks are here...lol!

ps. this fire truck picture was actually taken in May at another parade...that's why the trees don't have leaves yet. All but one parade in Capitan have firetrucks in them...lol! The Christmas parade is a non-motorized parade so there aren't any trucks in it.

Look what happens when you eat watermelon

Kinsey was sitting here eating watermelon when she suddenly felt her top tooth fall out! The dentist had told me there was nothing holding it in so I'm not surprised that it finally fell out. Now she has two more on top that should come out soon since they are wiggly! I guess the tooth fairy needs to make sure she has the appropriate amount of money for tonight ;-)

By the way, check out how long Kinsey's hair had gotten. She decided she wated to grow it out again so we've only been getting trims. She wears it in a ponytail a few times a week.

Lincoln National Forest

We decided to take a drive up past Bonito Lake yesterday and check out some camp grounds. We want to go camping but fuel just about kills us if we drive to far. We decided that since we live in a National Forest we should just go camping around here. We found a few places that we want to try in the near future. Kinsey wanted to play in some water but there were so many people fishing at the lake and the river that we finally just let her play in a low water crossing. There is a little stream that runs down from the mountains to the lake that has very very cold water. Kinsey played in it but didn't stay in the water to long...lol!


Here are a few pictures of some pretty wild flowers I found while Kinsey was playing in the water.

And lastly a picture of why we left and headed home.

Hens and Chicks

My chicks are out growing my hens. I guess I'm going to have to start pulling them off and replanting them. I would love to make another rock garden but I'm not sure where. I love how this little one looks around the water spigot.

I want to ride my bicycle!

Kinsey has started riding her "big" bike she got for her birthday. She needed a little more time on her little bike to get comfortable riding without training wheels. Yesterday we pulled out her big bike to see if she could ride it and now she's riding all over the place!

Does anyone know where my title comes from?

Camping at Bottomless Lakes

We went to Bottomless Lakes State Park this weekend and had a great time. I took a few pictures...surprise, surpriseKinsey and Neal playing in the water.Kinsey after we made Smores.

One of the smaller "lakes"

I love the reflection on this one

This is my favorite picture of all that I took. I'm looking down into the "lake" and it's reflecting the clouds back up at me.

All of the lakes are actually sink holes that are fed by springs. The water in them is salt water. The largest lake has a beach with sand and a great swimming area that is roped off. You can rent paddle boats and paddle boards to go out in the deeper part of the lake. The camping area is very nice and has a great bath house. We use it instead of trying shower in our camper (aka "the smallest shower in the world").

Graduation

I just realized I forgot to post graduation pictures! Here are a few from Kinsey's graduation that was held on May 16, 2007.

A few Kinsey things

I keep meaning to post pictures of Kinsey's end of the year awards. Here she is with her Perfect Attendance for the Year Award (she also got a 4th quarter perfect attendance award that looks like the other 3 I've posted).

Kinsey also participated in an art show at the Hubbard Museum of the Southwest that I was not aware of until the picture came home. We were sent a note home but it was not clear on weather our kids had art displayed or not and Kinsey didn't know either. I wish I could have gone to the art show to see it but here she is with her picture.

We went to the dentist yesterday and Kinsey got a great report! No cavities and her teeth are coming in great. Then dentist said she should be loosing her other top middle tooth this week but he doesn't know how long Kinsey's teeth like to stay in ;-) Anyways, she did great for the dental hygienist and dentist. We were in and out in 20 minutes for X-rays, exam, and teeth cleaning. I'm so proud of her.

As promised, a few more pictures from my trip

Blue bonnets we found on the side of the road near Sweetwater, Texas














A blimp that landed in Pecos when were there.






















Flowers and a prickly pear cactus that I took around Pecos.