Snow Day!

If there's one thing I've learned about New Mexico in the winter, it's that you can't trust the weather forecast.  Once there was a winter storm warning and not a flake fell from the sky.  Last night there was not even a winter weather advisory, and we've ended up with several inches of snow--and a snow day!
 

Benji was so excited to have Daddy home all day!

This was a wonderful blessing, since Jonathan was sick and I felt like I was getting sick, and we all needed some rest.  We ate lunch at the Plaza Cafe and while Jonathan played basketball in the afternoon, Benji and I went on a snowy walk.  Rehoboth is beautiful in the snow!

Happy snow day, everyone!  :)

Benji's First Christmas

Our Christmas Break this year was a wonderful whirlwind as we traveled to Maryland, North Carolina, back to Maryland, then back to New Mexico, all in two weeks!  Benji was a great traveler and seemed to enjoy his first Christmas.

Our first stop was Walkersville to spend a few precious days with my Mom and Dad on the farm.  We took several nice walks and just spent quality time together.

On Christmas Eve, we drove to Greensboro, North Carolina to join Jonathan's family for Christmas.  Christmas morning brought fun surprises for everyone, but the best gift was watching Benji have fun with our family!  The whole Newman clan came the next day for a meal and gift exchange.  It was cool to have the "four Harolds" together for a picture!

Next, we spent about 24 hours in Winston-Salem and packed in a lot of good time with the Trollinger family, at Hope Church, with Larry and Susan Jones, and Genavee and her family.  We really appreciated all of their hospitality and loved getting to see everyone!

From Winston we drove to the mountains, where the Newmans spend New Years with the  Miller family.  The NewMillerman get together is always a big hit, and this time was no exception!  Highlights included board games, dinner at Makato's Japanese Steakhouse, a visit from Genavee, a beautiful snowfall, and (of course) ringing in 2015!

On our way back north we stopped at the Cracker Barrel near Elkin, NC to have brunch with Tim.  I wish I had pictures from this event, but our time was so short I forgot to take any!  We really appreciated Tim driving over an hour to spend this time with us; it was great to catch up.

Back in Maryland, we were joined by Emily, Wade, Caroline and Andrew for the last two days of our vacation.  We also got to see my grandparents, aunt and uncle, and Kelly and Jeff Money while we were there.  Benji had a great time with his cousins!  It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone, but with school starting on Monday, we had to head home.

It was a wonderful Christmas; we want to thank all of you who made it so special for us!

Benji's favorite part of Christmas dinner was sucking on a dill pickle!  :-)

"America's Sweetest Race"

This weekend I had the chance to participate in "America's Sweetest Race", the Hot Chocolate 5k, in Scottsdale, AZ!  Jonathan and Benjamin came along and we had a great time exploring a new city!  It was a lot of driving in two days (about 10 hours total...) but even the drive was beautiful.  We came down from the Mogollon Rim to see these gorgeous mountains and tons of saguaro cacti.

Then we entered Scottsdale to find GREEN grass and palm trees!  Here was the view from our hotel:

The race started and ended at Talking Stick Park where the AZ Diamondbacks and CO Rockies do their spring training.  On Saturday we went to the park for race packet pick-up and Benji practiced his ball skills on the baby ball diamond...particularly that slide into home plate!

Safe! at home plate

My friends and I got up before dawn this morning and drove together to the race.  It was cold at first, but as the sun came up over the mountains it turned into the perfect morning for a run!  With the lower elevation, I felt really good and ran faster than usual!  (It probably helped that there was chocolate at the finish line, too...)  :-)

We did it!

At the post-race party we got hot chocolate and chocolate fondue with lots of things to dip in (banana, marshmallow, pretzels, etc.)  Benji enjoyed dancing the Cupid Shuffle.  And I went home with a super-soft zip-up hoodie.  Best of all, we got to spend time with good friends!  Let's just say it was the best race ever!

Post-race chocolate

My faithful fans

Before leaving Scottsdale, we had a delicious lunch at a vegetarian Indian restaurant...

...then made the drive home.  Benji was really great in the car, and did well the entire weekend.  I'm thankful for a good trip and safe arrival home!

Mogollon Rim overlook

Bethany Craft Sale and other Fun

This has been a really fun weekend so far!  Yesterday we got to help celebrate the birthday of my friend Olivia with dinner and ice cream cake:

Then today, Olivia and I took part in our very first craft fair at Bethany Church.  Every year I've lived in Gallup I have really wanted to sell at this sale, but never had the time to prepare for it.  This fall, Benji's naptimes have been my craft times!  I made knitted sheep ornaments, "Thank Ewe" notes, and photo stationery:

Benji "helping" me get the lamb ornaments ready

Olivia lent me her beautiful Nicaraguan Christmas tree for the display which just worked perfectly.  We had a great day selling crafts and enjoying some baby-free girl time between customers!

This evening the fun continued with an early Thanksgiving dinner at our friends' house.  Benji got really jealous watching us eat that delicious food, so we slipped him a taste of sweet potatoes...I also had my first taste of green chile apple pie, which was fantastic!

We are getting very excited for the holiday season and a visit from Jonathan's mom, dad, and sister in about a week!  :)