January!

These are actually photos taken back in December... the theme was "Audrey Hepburn" (cue the black on black!).

Walker and Chase working on signs for their car wash. Their baseball team held a fundraiser and the boys raised over $500. It was pretty fun seeing them all work together to accomplish a goal!

a truly spectacular sunset the other night

Walker and Ben went to the Cowboys/Bucs playoff game in Tampa. Go Cowboys!

I have to show off my beautiful orchid. I've kept it alive and (re)blooming since May!

AND! I resurrected a dead/dying plant that has been in our family for years... I'm so proud of myself! :) And the plant since it did most of the work.

HOME and Back to Reality

crazy dog

Frozen Iguana Alert...

Gracie was FASCINATED.

"WAKE UP and PLAY with me!" She is such a predator.

a "frozen one" in our bushes

Waking up. Thawing out. Poor thing.

Proof that Ben does like the dog.

He is the ONLY one she will do this with.

Aannnddd...here's Belle. She's as sassy as ever.

Eating her lettuce.

Walker with friends Jacob and Chase at the Parkland Carnival

Lainey with friends Emma and Adriana (both from dance) at the Parkland Carnival

Walker and Chase :)

We saw SpaceX's "Falcon Heavy" in the sky! Shortly after its launch at Kennedy Space Center near Port Canaveral, Florida. So cool! 

Albuquerque to FLORIDA (Finally)

We found a Whataburger in Albuquerque.

This is Ben asking if we can have their hanging Christmas decorations. :)

spotting this poor woman as she takes down a hanging sign

our loot from Whataburger :)

The kids, piled in our tiny SUV (but we we were so thankful for that SUV!).

***

We arrived in Florida well after midnight and were SO thankful to get home. :) 

Leaving Colorado, New Year's Day 2023

SUPER snowy

My dad, getting smoked by his Big Green Egg. We had the most delicious beef tenderloin before we left for Durango.

My favorite view!

falling snow...

Paco helped us change sheets on the beds.

so snowy

sweet boy

elk in the road

treacherous drive to Durango

Ironically, we heard this song "Wolf Creek Pass" while driving.

***

LONG story short...about 20 minutes outside of Durango we learned that our flight the following day had been canceled. We were planning to stay overnight in Durango on January 1st in order to catch an early flight on January 2nd. BUT, due to the snow, that flight was canceled. We thankfully were able to rent an all-wheel-drive car at the Durango airport that we then drove to Albuquerque (in the snow storm, with avalanche warnings) to catch a flight home the following day (January 2nd). On January 2nd, we flew from Albuquerque to Chicago to Fort Lauderdale, finally getting home around 12:30 a.m. on January 3rd. Crazy!

We were sure excited to see a Whataburger in Albuquerque. :)