Isn't this picture awesome?  Lindsey's mom, Sue, sent it and some other ones from the same artist to me in an email the other day.  This one in particular has become my phone's background and my personal favorite.  This picture was taken in Hawaii but I'm not sure which particular island or beach.  So many things came together at this one instant to create the image and when I think about that it just reminds me of "perfect".  I also wonder how many photos and how many sunsets were spent at the beach in order to achieve this one shot?  No way this was captured on the first try and hopefully there wasn't too much photoshop used either.  Anyway, this picture reminds me of summer, the main reason people become teachers you know ;)  It seems like lately I have been longing for those warm summer days as mornings here have been in the 20 degree range and it is very easy to ignore the alarm and stay in the warm bed a little longer.  Every week a new cold front moves in and I get that much closer to buying a treadmill.  I hope you like the picture and here's to summer, 105 more school days to go.

DISNEYLAND

So we spent our Christmas vacation at the magic kingdom of Disneyland to celebrate the new year and Lindsey's birthday.  We had a great time for sure and I'm glad we had a 2-day pass as we learned our way around the first day and then really hit it with an almost 14 hour day at the park on New Years.  The park was very crowded and there were some long lines but once we figured out the fast pass stuff we were in business and never waited more than 20 minutes for a ride (some lines were close to 2 hours!).  We did not get to visit the entire park but we did visit the legendary teacups, it's a small world, the haunted mansion, space mountain, the matterhorn, splash mountain, pirates of the caribbean, buzz lightyear, star tours, and winnie the pooh... Just to name a few!  Emma's favorite ride was splash mountain because we got pretty wet and my favorite was the big thunder mountain railroad coaster.  As you can see we had a very full day on New Years and as much as I tried to keep Emster awake for midnight she fell asleep right on my shoulders as soon as the regular fireworks display was over.  I didn't think much of it then but she was pretty heavy and awkward to carry to the hotel and now today I tried to go for a run and my back seized up on me and I am in some pain :(

Here is a teaser of how we spent our Christmas vacation!  More to come later...

Socorro got it's second dusting of snow yesterday and it was just enough to build a little snowman this morning.  Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and enjoy continuing or starting new family traditions.  We've already driven around to look at lights and we're getting ready to open a gift, make reindeer food, and settle in with Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Another Great Day...

We were welcomed with beautiful weather today. Steven and I both got our runs in and spent good quality time with the girls. Now that Grace is getting older and not needing me so often to eat...I can use that time to work out, do homework, and spend time with Emsters. So, when Steven got back from his run Emma and I went for a bike ride. We rode through Tech, collected Mistletoe, and played at the park together. We climbed on a swing together and sat like a "spider". We laughed and laughed, the higher we got the more we laughed! I felt like a kid again. No worries or responsibilities, just magic. It was a lot of fun, just the two of us.

When Grace was six weeks old I started running again...only to pull a muscle in my stomach. So, I stopped running for a while and have now recently started again....thanks to my husband, and friends Emily and Fran. Without them I would not be able to get myself out the door on a regular basis and go more than twenty minutes! So, our longest run was Monday...a ten miler in the drizzling rain. It was really beautiful. I got home and plopped myself on the couch. Steven and Emma both said "Are you ok, you were gone for forever"! It was perfect timing though because Steven had hamburgers on their way...special delivery by his mom. I really enjoy getting out with Emily and Fran; they are very encouraging and supportive. It feels so good to be running again and I really like that Emma sees me doing it. I think it is really important for her to see her mom for more than the one who takes care of the babies!

Socorro saw snow for the first time in a while! Emma enjoyed playing outside, running around, and throwing snowballs! She stayed outside last night until about 7:00pm playing. I even got a night run in with Fran and Emily...lots of fun!