Albuquerque

I mentioned in my last post that Mike's mom had to miss Christmas this year! Unfortunately her brother in law Leonard lost a long time battle with his liver, among other things. Leonard had been sick for quite some time and December 22 he went to be with our Lord! Mike's mom quickly got on a plane to be there with her sister Linda and the rest of the family. On Dec 26 Graydon and I, along with Mike's dad, sister and her boyfriend got on a plane to fly there as well. Mike drove that same day, 10 hours straight! Although we would have liked to have been there under different circumstances we had a really great visit. Most of Mike's Mom's family hadn't met Graydon yet, so it was wonderful to spend some time with them. Leonard's funeral was beautiful and I'm glad we were able to attend. Graydon also got to meet his cousin Jaymz who is about to be two. They got along really well, with the occasional push and hair pull here and there! Graydon did really well playing with him and was really well behaved on the drive back. Yes, we drove with a one year old for 12 hours! Well, 5 to Lubbock one day and about 6 to San Antonio the next. But still, I wouldn't reccommend it! He was really good until about the final 3 hours. Who can blame him though! I wouldn't want to be strapped into a seat for 11 hours either! Here are a few pics from our trip. Here we are on the shuttle van after getting off the plane! It was 75 degrees when we left Texas and about 30 when we got to New Mexico!Graydon and Jaymz had almost the same pjs! We had to take a pic, although Graydon wasn't really in the mood!Graydon eating his first biscochito (its a hispanic thing, like a sugar cookie, not sure if I spelled it right). Graydon and Jaymz playing. Below is a picture of sweet little Jaymz! He's named after Jaymz Hetfield of Metallica! Mike's cousin Eric is obsessed with them! In a good way though. We had such a great time watching the boys play and being able to hang out with Eric and his wife Amy. They were nice enough to let us stay with them the 3 nights we were there! It was fun, but makes me think twice about having another baby for a while! Two little boys were a handful!

After we left Albuquerque we drove to Lubbock and stayed in a hotel. This was Graydon's first hotel experience. He had such a good time running around, playing with things. Including the ice bucket, which is on his head in another picture. He even had fun jumping on the beds, with Daddy's help of course. All in all, we had a good time visiting family and taking our first family road trip. I was so glad that everyone got to see Graydon, I just wish it would have been for a different reason. Leonard was a great man and will be missed greatly! We love you Leonard!